#6: The Siberian Dilemma by Martin Cruz Smith

Renko is a world-weary Russian detective, but is moved to action when the love of his life--an investigative journalist writing a story about oligarchs and oil in Siberia--is suddenly in danger in Martin Cruz Smith's The Siberian Dilemma. 

Renko is the star of a long-running police procedural series, beginning with Gorky Park, which has charted the changes in the Soviet Union right in step along the way.  Renko has also accumulated a handful of supporting characters, including a quasi-foster son/chess wizard, a drunken but philosophical partner, and a scheming politically-sensitive boss.

These novels are always solidly plotted, with interesting characters, and in an interesting setting.  I always look forward to the next one.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

#5: The Gun is My Brother by Cy James

Sam Spur is a hired gun who is forced to kill a preacher, and finds an entire poisonous town turned against him, in Cy James' first Spur novel, The Gun is My Brother.

James was actually Matt Chisholm who was actually prolific Australian writer Peter Watts, an author who wrote multiple western series at a breakneck pace.  His Blade series is pretty action-packed and mindless, his McAllister series is much more serious and hard-boiled, but this Spur novel is probably darker and bleaker still.

Spur gets bushwhacked and shot up near the outset, and spends a lot of the novel just trying to stay alive, until he is finally pushed into gunplay that shrinks the size of the town by some measure.

I have read a number of McAllisters but will definitely get another Spur novel soon.  I got this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#4: Blues for Outlaw Hearts and Old Whores by Massimo Carlotto

A melancholy, blues-loving criminal called The Alligator and his crew hunt a murderous snitch, and take on sex traffickers, in Massimo Carlotto's Blues for Outlaw Hearts and Old Whores.

Carlotto is an Italian author who writes very hard-boiled novels, as the title of this one might suggest.  I like his style and find his writing, though uncompromising, enjoyable and often surprising in its twists and turns.

The Alligator lives in a world where the criminals have honor and a code, and the cops and prosecutors can't be trusted. 

At the outset, his crew becomes outraged when they are framed and then blackmailed by the cops to hunt a killer they can't reach, even though his crew justifiably belongs in prison and they wanted to kill the person anyway.

A globe-trotting chase ensues, with a pretty downbeat ending.

This is part of the World Noir line that I have enjoyed for a long time.  World Noir sent me an advanced copy of Carlotto's latest, and I will look forward to his next adventure with The Alligator.

#3: Don't Cross My Line by Tom West

An outlaw poses as a lawman to sneak back from Mexico, then needs to go undercover as an outlaw (?!?!) to roust a dangerous gang, in Tom West's Don't Cross My Line.

Tom West was actually a British writer named Fred East, and has a following as a western scribe.  West packs enough plotting in this one for about a dozen westerns, but plenty of action smooths over the hazy motivations of the characters.

This was one half of an Ace Double with Ben Elliot's Contract in Cartridges on the other side, which I am eager to read after learning this was actually Ben Haas (who wrote most often as John Benteen).  Most Ace Doubles I've read are pretty light, and this one lighter than most; though I continue to enjoy Tom West when I find him.

I got this one in a big lot of Ace Doubles from a friend and read it quickly.

#2: A Noose for Slattery by Steven C. Lawrence

Slattery comes to town to join a cattle drive, but the town's boss takes to murder to keep it from happening, in A Noose for Slattery by Steve C. Lawrence.

Slattery seems to want to make his money in normal ways, but being a lightning-fast gun hand ends up being his stock in trade.

I had never heard of this author or series when I found A Noose for Slattery in a three-for-a-dollar box at a flea market in Frankfort, Indiana. 

Thus I was genuinely surprised to enjoy the writing in this one, and probably more surprised that more experienced reviewers than myself don't seem to have the author and series on their radar.

Not I'm on the hunt for more Slattery books after finding this one quite enjoyable.

#1: The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson

A French cyclist begins to realize that a series of accidents and mishaps on the Tour de France are anything but in Jorge Zepeda Patterson's The Black Jersey.

Our reluctant hero is former military, and thus is forcibly recruited to investigate, all the while feeling the threads unravel on an old friendship with the Tour's front-runner, a Hollywood-ready American.

His girlfriend, an old mentor, and the colorful collection of other cyclists make up a fully-realized cast in a thriller that moves, literally, at deadly speed.

This was an entirely refreshing novel with a unique setting and characters, and a great way to ring in 2020's reading challenge.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

Best of 2019

I read 63 books this year; I struggled a bit to pick a top ten, but my top five all blew my mind in different ways, and could be recommended to anyone wanting a fresh read.  Enjoy!

Destroy All Monsters by Jeff Jackson

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle

The Ready-Made Thief by Augustus Rose

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag

 Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Big Sister by Gunnar Staalesen

My Sister is a Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris

Orson Welles's Last Movie by Josh Karp

#63: The Ready-Made Thief by Augustus Rose

A troubled teen runaway runs afoul of a vast, baroque conspiracy in Augustus Rose's debut novel The Ready-Made Thief.

Every once in a while I come across a novel that is completely fresh, and this one is it; it has the trappings of a contemporary thriller, but has at its core the work of avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp, and delves deeply into his works.  There are unsolved codes, hidden rooms in art museums, a deadly secret society, and more, all cleverly tied to some of his famous pieces.

Contemporary influences include the dark web, the rave scene, and the sex traffic world.  It wraps up in an appropriately hazy fashion.

I can already think of several people to recommend this one to, and got it in just under the wire in 2019, having been gifted it for Christmas.  Recommended for readers wanting to hit genre beats in an unusual fashion.

#62: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

Multi-talented actors and married performers Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman riff on life, marriage, and fame in The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.

Your interest in this will be measured by your interest in their careers, especially in the TV shows Will and Grace and Parks and Rec.  Both had fan-favorite roles in their respective programs.  But their theatre and personal lives are as interesting.

I listened to this on audiobook, performed by the couple, and I can't imagine actually reading it; it seemed like they were riffing and chatting during most of the recording, which added to the enjoyment.

I checked this out from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library and consumed it quickly.

#61: The Devil's Dollar Sign by Joe Millard

The Man with No Name is hunting bad guys and gold, while an alleged preacher--who has a gun hidden in a bible--hunts him in return in Joe Millard's The Devil's Dollar Sign.

Millard wrote a series of spin-off novels from Sergio Leone's Man with No Name film trilogy featuring Clint Eastwood, and these paperbacks seem somewhat elusive in the wild.  I was happy to find one in a three-for-a-dollar bin at a flea market in Frankfort, Indiana.

I was a bit disappointed in the story.  The protagonist really doesn't act much like the Eastwood character, and the book feels overwritten; but perhaps I was expecting a more laconic experience that would mirror the movies. 

The over-the-top trappings of the spaghetti western are more or less intact, however, with not only the gun-toting preacher but a murderous Apache chief and a mysterious hermit who might not be as crazy as he seems.

I would be inclined to pick another up if I found one for collectability but found it only an average western that I read quickly over holiday break.

#60: The Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

In late 60s Baltimore, a woman leaves her husband and becomes a newspaper reporter, finding herself in the middle of two murders--one a white child and the second the young black woman of the title-- navigating both the men's world of the newsroom and the attentions of two killers in Laura Lippman's The Lady in the Lake.

Lippman paints on a broad canvas, vividly recreating a time and place, with a vast cast of characters-- from reporters to cops to waitresses to the victims themselves, and even a famous Baltimore Orioles player of the era. 

To me at least, this constantly shifting POV diffused the narrative a bit, and the story seems to more or less wrap up about three-quarters of the way through.  But I enjoyed the setting and storytelling well enough to seek out more from Lippman.

I listened to a good audiobook read of this on loan from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.

#59: Mad Shadows by Marie-Claire Blais

The disturbing family dynamics between a mother and her two troubled children, and eventually the lovers they draw into their whirlpool, is at the center of Marie-Claire Blais' debut novel Mad Shadows.

I read an article about Quebec author Blais and then decided to seek out her acclaimed debut novel, released in 1959. 

Mad Shadows is a dense allegory with underpinnings of child abuse, incest, and mental illness, and emotions running high throughout.  I could see why it made a splash when it debuted, and can still evoke strong emotions in a reader today.

I am glad I learned about Blais and read this novel, and would recommend it with some reservations.  I may seek out more of her work at some point, but would like to leave a little space between novels. 

I checked this out from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and read it quickly.

#58: The Sun on My Head by Geovani Martins

Brazilian author Geovani Martins presents a slice of life from the poor side of Rio in The Sun on My Head.

Martins offers roughly a dozen short stories featuring low-level drug dealers, street hustlers, troubled youths, and crooked cops, set against a vibrant neighborhood background.  It is written from a culture and set of experiences I was unfamiliar with, but is written with energy and wit and is engaging throughout.

This debut collection from Martins has already made a big splash for the author, and I am interested to see what he comes up with next.  I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

#57: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

A varied collection of necromancers, from rival houses, gather in a rotting old castle to vie for the attentions of their immortal emperor in Tamsyn Muir's irreverent, genre-breaking debut novel Gideon the Ninth.

Muir throws supernatural horror, locked-room mystery, and a little far-future space opera into a blender and comes out with something unlike anything I've read in a while, all written in a hip, contemporary style.

I had to keep flipping to the character list, and list of rival houses, at the beginning of the book to keep everyone straight, but the storytelling just cooks along, right to the point where it wants to jump off into a sequel, which I am eager to read as soon as it comes out.

This was a genuinely fresh novel, and recommended for horror or science fiction readers.

I checked this out from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and read it quickly.

#56: Under the Cold Bright Lights by Barry Disher

A retired cop comes back to the Cold Case Squad, and uses some unorthodox methods to close some files, in Barry Disher's Under the Cold Bright Lights.

Disher is a well-established Australian crime writer, but this is the first of his novels I have come across.  I enjoyed the characters especially, and the storytelling was interesting. 

Our lead detective has complex relationships with his ex-wife and daughter, and has a big, rambling old house where several people from all walks of life have ended up, and interact.

The cases include an old body found under a concrete slab, a doctor who may or may not have killed several ex-wives, and an accident which might have been a murder.  Another storyline follows a lodger at the cop's house who has an abusive husband. 

And more than one of these storylines are resolved in surprising ways.

This was a very solid police procedural with above-average characterization and plotting.  I would look for more from Disher.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

#55: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

A hard-drinking Texas Ranger, on suspension after a racially charged standoff, heads to a small Texas town to investigate two murders on his own--one of a black man passing through and one of a white local waitress--in Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird.

Locke is a writer and producer for the TV show Empire but is also a solid fiction writer; this thriller cooks right along, with strong characters to bolster the story.

What makes Bluebird, Bluebird a cut above contemporary crime writing is drawing a vivid portrait of race relations, as well as a fully realized characterization of rural Texas (Locke is from Houston).

Locke has a sequel to this one coming out, and I am eager to read more from her.

I listened to this in a good audiobook read on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana. 

#54: The Tuscon Conspiracy by Matt Chisholm

Joe Blade is on special assignment for the governor of the Arizona Territory to root out some bad men, but when the governor's evil twin (!) gets the upper hand mayhem is unleashed in Matt Chisholm's The Tuscon Conspriracy.

Chisholm was steadily prolific British writer Peter Watts, whose McAllister series of hard-boiled westerns I have really enjoyed.  Blade is another series character whose adventures rely more on high adventure, and seem less grim and gritty than McAllister's. 

My taste runs more to the former, but lots of action here keeps this one agreeable.

I bought this for my beloved Kindle from Piccadilly Publishing.

#53: Kill McAllister by Matt Chisholm

McAllister's trail boss is killed, and the cattle run off, changing McAllister from cowpoke back to gunhand in Matt Chisholm's Kill McAllister.

Chisholm was an insanely prolific Australian writer named Peter Watts who wrote several western series characters, but none I have liked as well as McAllister.  These stories are lean and hard-bitten, but often feature colorful characters and situations.

This one is a bit more epic than some, taking McAllister on a long journey through a hard winter to get vengeance on the rustlers.

I got this in a big lot of paperback westerns from a friend and read it quickly.

#52: February's Son by Alan Parks

Harry McCoy is a cop in tough 70s Glasgow, hunting a mentally unraveling gangster while trying to hold his own past at bay in Alan Parks' February's Son.

This is the second of the new series from Parks, and picks up just a few weeks after the end of the last novel with McCoy back on the force, but with his own past--and abuse at the hands of various adults--still very much present.

McCoy works on one crime spree while he and his old friend, a crime boss in his own right, begin to hatch a separate revenge plot based on finding a childhood tormentor.

Parks writes a very hard-boiled story, and this one--with gruesome violence and sexual abuse--is for discerning readers, but worthwhile.  I am interested in this series thus far.

I was sent this novel by World Noir and read it quickly. 

#51: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

After World War II, two British youngsters are left by their parents in the care of a mysterious lodger they call The Moth; years later, the young man reflects on all that happened, and all that was revealed, during that unusual time in Michael Ondaatje's Warlight.

This is a literate novel, with espionage overtones; first in the past and then in the present, as the young man works for a British spy agency himself, and gradually learns the fate of his mother, father, and other characters swirling around in his youth.

The espionage elements are interesting, but perhaps not as rewarding as the musings on family, on time and place, and on the secret, unknown lives of the people around you, especially as children.

I like Ondaatje's writing, and a good audiobook read by Steve West added value.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#50: The Hummingbirds by Ross McMeekin

An aging film star, her unscrupulous producer husband, and the gardener who lives in the guest house make a volatile triangle in this literate California Noir.

Ross McMeekin's The Hummingbirds would read like a pretty traditional thriller except for the extended, ultimately creepy, backstories of both the producer and the gardener, whose troubled early lives play into a hair-raising final act.

Although the storytelling framework is pretty traditional, McMeekin pushes hard on the interpersonal elements, and that raises the stakes enough to provide interest throughout.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#49: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

A down-on-her-luck tarot card reader gets a mysterious letter proclaiming a lost inheritance, and ends up in the middle of decades-old family secrets, in Ruth Ware's The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Ware's novel is a straight-up, reverent (but contemporary) take on the old-fashioned gothic, with a rotting old house, a menacing housekeeper, and a cold attic bedroom (with mysterious bars on the window, naturally), among other standards of the genre.

Even though I started piecing it together about halfway through, the storytelling is engaging throughout, and never takes its foot off the accelerator.

I enjoyed the audiobook reading by Imogen Church, which added value.  I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#48: Cherokee Lighthorse by Gary McCarthy

After a brush with renegade Confederates, a family escapes from the Civil War with a handful of prize horses and heads west; but problems continue to dog them in Cherokee Lighthorse by Gary McCarthy.

Cherokee Lighthorse is the second in a series called The Horsemen, and is a solidly plotted contemporary western.  The element of raising thoroughbred horses, and a high-stakes horse race that takes place at the story's climax, add interest.

The one thing that took me out of the action a bit was the very poor editing, including characters that went from holding a cigar to a pipe, or even changed names, from paragraph to paragraph, shockingly bad for a mainstream publisher.

This is the first novel I have read from McCarthy, and it seems as if he has been prolific in western writing on a variety of more interesting subjects.  I would look for more from McCarthy.

I checked this out from the Parker City Public Library in Parker City, Indiana and read it quickly.

#47: Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon

In Harlem, a teenager goes to prison for killing his father, but keeps up with his high school girlfriend over the course of years, in Kalisha Buckhanon's epistolary novel Upstate.

Engaging storytelling really floats a lesser-seen literary style, which frames the proceedings in the form of letters.  We see the two main characters grow from unpolished high school students to wiser adults, with compelling twists and turns throughout.

I listened to this novel on audiobook (on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana), and the work was absolutely elevated by high-level performances by Chadwick Boseman and Heather Simms.

I thought this was a really good coming-of-age story, presented in a unique fashion.  Worthwhile novel from Kalisha Buckhanon.

#46: Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer

A Minnesota TV reporter is gifted an unsolved murder case by a retired police detective, and in the middle of a ratings war finds the case suddenly heating up, in Julie Kramer's Stalking Susan.

This storytelling is smart and snappy, with believable characters, and a two-pronged mystery--the unsolved murder case, which ends up being tied to others featuring victims named Susan, and what at first seems like a throwaway story about an unscrupulous vet.

I worked in television and television news for a while, starting in Wisconsin, and found a lot of the elements rang true.  A protagonist with an interesting backstory was also welcome.

This is the first in a series from Kramer, and I would be interested in the next one.  I borrowed this in a good audiobook version from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.