#15: Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo

Three guy friends, and the girl they all love, grow up poor in Marseilles; one guy becomes an average cop, and the other two guys become average criminals.  But when murder tears the group apart, the average cop becomes an avenging angel in Jean-Claude Izzo's Total Chaos.

The World Noir line of novels has largely focused on what is called "Mediterranean Noir," and the father of this movement is often pointed out to be Jean-Claude Izzo, so after enjoying several of these novels I sought him out myself.

Izzo's Total Chaos is an exceptional noir, and not only a good representative of the genre but a great novel in its own right.  It is dark and fatalistic, but also darkly humorous and crackling with energy.  Izzo tries to make Marseilles a character the way others have tried to make L.A. or New York characters in their own detective novels, and it adds to the flavor.

I highly recommend Total Chaos and think I can argue it as one of the best noirs of the second half of the twentieth century.

#14: Doctor Who: A History by Alan Kistler

I used to read Terrance Dicks Doctor Who paperbacks in the 70s without ever having seen the program, yet still enjoyed them; so I was pleased to find out, when I moved to Wisconsin in the late 80s, that Doctor Who was shown on PBS Sunday afternoons. 

The first I saw of the series was Tom Baker and The Keys of Time storyline, which was an awful good place to start.  I have been a fan ever since.

That made me eager to read Doctor Who: A History by Alan Kistler, a guy who is a bigger fan of Doctor Who than me.  This nonfiction account of the first 50 years of the program has a lot of interesting stories and sidebars for the more serious fans of the program, but is a good primer for new viewers.

I listened to this on audiobook, read by the author, and enjoyed it immensely.  Recommended for fans of the current and classic programs.

#13: The Magician by J.R. Roberts

Clint Adams, an Old West gunslinger called the Gunsmith, mixes it up with a traveling circus under the thrall of a mysterious magician in The Magician by J.R. Roberts.

The Gunsmith is a very long-running series of "Adult Westerns" written by J.R. Roberts, the pseudonym of author Robert J. Randisi, an author whose work I enjoy. 

I believe Randisi has written one of these a month for several decades, and this one is somewhere around 150-something, so you sort of know what you're getting if you've read many of these.  It's a standard enough western with some mild sex scenes mixed in, overall just an okay affair.

I found a few of these at a flea market and thought I would try one and read it very quickly.  Your mileage may vary.

#12: Trap for Cinderella by Sebastien Japrisot

Two French girls, one wild and outgoing and one a follower, are caught up in a house fire, with one survivor; but which one, and why? 

Mix in a mysterious nanny and some creepy boyfriends and Trap for Cinderella is a solid French noir with an ending that isn't fully revealed until the final sentences.

I had heard of this classic noir of the early 1960s but had never seen a copy until I found one while wandering along the South Bank in London a few summers ago.  I had this one salted away for a rainy day and was sorry I waited so long.

The author, Sébastien Japrisot, is apparently well-known in France but not known as much here.  I will definitely look for more from his bibliography.

#11: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Two teens in a support group for kids with terminal cancer start a relationship with a certain end in John Green's The Fault In Our Stars.

I was interested in this novel because of the buzz surrounding it as well as that it takes place in Indianapolis, where the author lives.  I also enjoyed an earlier young adult novel of Green's, Will Grayson Will Grayson.

Definitely produces sniffles, but also has some funny moments, and interesting characters.  A trip to the home of Anne Frank is curious, but of interest.  Really for teens and above, as there is enough sophistication to keep older readers interested but too much for young readers.

I listened to a very good audiobook reading by Kate Rudd, that I checked out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#10: Summertime, All The Cats Are Bored by Philippe Georget

A cop, out of steam in his career and in his marriage, finds himself galvanized to find an abducted tourist as the disturbed kidnapper continues a cat-and-mouse game in Philippe Georget's Summertime, All The Cats Are Bored.

Georget's first novel comes from the World Noir line, quickly becoming one of my favorite imprints with (mostly) hardboiled noir from around the world.

This novel takes place in the French Mediterranean town of Perpignan, and in addition to a solid mystery interested me in someday visiting this area.

For mystery readers looking for a change of pace, this novel has a decidedly European flavor, both in its dealings with police life as well as marriage.

I continue to be very satisfied with the World Noir line and will also look for Georget's next book.

#9: Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason

Dogged but unremarkable Icelandic cop Sigurdur Óli reluctantly tries to help a friend being blackmailed with explicit photos, but quickly gets involved in a complex, murderous scheme in Arnaldur Indridason's Black Skies.

 I am a huge fan of Indridason's police procedurals featuring flawed but insightful detective Erlendur (the first translated into English was Jar City) but this novel features a supporting character from the earlier novels, one of Erlendur's colleagues.  It is a change of pace in tone (including some lighter subplots), but still features much of Indridason's very solid storytelling.

I am always on the lookout for more of Indridason's writing.  This one I checked out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read quickly.

#8: Alley Girl by Jonathan Craig

A crooked cop interviews a murder suspect's wife, and finding her attractive, carefully begins to frame the husband for murder.  Meanwhile, his younger, less experienced partner begins to get suspicious in Jonathan Craig's hardboiled noir Alley Girl.

This, to me, was a very tough read for the 1950s, with plenty of sordid plotting and a fairly explicit conclusion.  The identity of the "alley girl" of the title is a surprise as well.

I didn't know anything about Jonathan Craig before seeing this for my beloved Kindle for the goodbye price of 99 cents. I will definitely look for more of his work.

#7: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A young woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, naturally putting the husband in the police's sights; but nothing is what it seems in Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.

Despite the contemporary trappings, this tale, told in both spouse's points of view in alternating chapters, is a classic example of a favorite subgenre in noir, the unreliable narrator.  The reader will be kept guessing through one surprising revelation after the next.

Gone Girl is a quick read, but is a notch above the average thriller with clever, sophisticated plotting and characterization and solid writing overall.

Not surprisingly, Gone Girl is about to be what I suspect will be a popular movie.  Recommended for thriller fans and beach readers.

My enjoyment of the novel was lifted more so, I suspect, by a very good audio book version that I borrowed from Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#6: The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

The Lincoln Lawyer returns when a pimp, accused of murdering one of his prostitutes, seeks out Mickey Haller on the advice of the dead prostitute herself in The Gods of Guilt.

Michael Connelly has built an admirable legal thriller series alongside his touchstone police series starring LA cop Harry Bosch (threaded with the legal series as the two are half-brothers).  This second series has garnered more attention perhaps since the movie starring  Matthew McConaughey (referenced in the books as well).

This is a good entry in the series as Haller finds he has additional impetus to solve the prostitute's murder, feeling somewhat responsible because of events going back a number of years.  Some nice surprises throughout make it a solid read.

I checked this out from the Farmland Public Library and read it quickly.

#5: Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith

Russian cop Arkady Renko is back, looking into the death of a crusading journalist, in Martin Cruz Smith's Tatiana.

This is a great police procedural series that has been delivering the goods since Renko's first adventure, Gorky Park, in 1981 (and I think I have been reading him since then).  Martin Cruz Smith has charted the rises and falls of Russian life during what has turned out to be a tumultuous time in their history.

But ultimately it is the honorable, philosophical, flawed hero Arkady Renko that buoys the novels, and fans of the series, or tarnished cops in general, will enjoy this latest outing.

I'm not sure Martin Cruz Smith's novels are getting the attention they once did (since the Gorky Park film adaptation), but this is a very solid novel the equal of previous in this series.

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

#4: Operation Breakthrough by Dan J. Marlowe

Drake, the Man with Nobody's Face, is doing a covert bank job for the the government; unfortunately, the job ends up botched and with his partner in the hands of an unfriendly nation, leaving Drake to fly solo to the rescue in Operation Breakthrough.

Dan J. Marlowe wrote a series of these undemanding spy novels in his latter years.  I am a bit more partial to his earlier Johnny Killain series of private eye novels, but as Marlowe had a colorful writing and personal life I feel like I should dip deeper into the well before drawing conclusions.

I would not place Drake in the same category as two of my favorite contemporaries, Joe "the Nullifier" Gall or Sam Durell, but would put him above a lot of the generic spy fare of the era.  That being said, your mileage may vary.

I bought a big stack of these from a used bookstore in Muncie, Indiana, and read this one quickly.

#3: Lynch Law Canyon by Frank Wynne

A gang of owlhoots hold sway over a remote town, until a reluctant gunfighter is pushed too far in Lynch Law Canyon by Frank Wynne.

This western is actually written by Brian Garfield, perhaps best known as the author of Death Wish, and is a very tough, very satisfying oater.  It is on half of an Ace Double (the other side is Stampede at Faraway Pass) which might make it easier to dismiss.  But it is worth seeking out if you are a fan of Elmore Leonard's westerns in the same vein.

Ace Doubles are always a treat, and often a rare one as well.  I found this one at a yard sale and kept it for a snowy day. 

#2: VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave by Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, Gavin Edwards

As somebody who stayed up with their mom and little brother to watch MTV on its very first day, I was very interested in The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave, an oral history of the early days of the video music station, as told by its five founding DJs.

That there was a lot of craziness and excess was not surprising (though I thought Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter were more frank than Martha Quinn and Nina Blackwood), but learning how MTV found its way in its early years was enjoyable to someone who was watching it unfold.

Although JJ Jackson has since passed, his story is also included, along with many other amusing anecdotes, especially Live Aid, and the fate of the Pink House in the John Mellencamp promotion.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana, and read it quickly.  Enjoyable for people my age who grew up with MTV.

#1: Assignment Karachi by Edward S. Aarons

U.S. super-spy Sam Durrell is off  to Pakistan to tangle with various villains in Assignment Karachi, part of the long and enjoyable spy series by Edward S. Aarons.

This entry, from 1962, is of note for the presentation of a very different Middle East than we see today, with a totally different political and cultural landscape.

Otherwise I found it to be a serviceable entry in the series (I have yet to find one that truly lays an egg, and I've read a lot of these). A slam-bang ending in the high mountains against various forces is a high point.

Readers can jump in anywhere in this solid and underrated spy series, and they are worth a look.  I have a big stack of these I got from ebay a long while back that I have chewed through at my leisure.

2013 In Review

For the first time in many years, I didn't make it to 50 books.  But that's okay.  If it wasn't for the intervention of my brand-new grandson, the first baby born at Cincinnati Mercy Hospital on New Years' Day 2014, I might just have made it.  All in all a good reason not to have made it to 50.  2014 is a new start.

Here's what I liked best this year:

NIGHT FILM by Marisha Pessl I have been recommending to everybody.

THE THIEF by Fuminori Nakamuro has stayed with me.

SWEET TOOTH by Ian McEwan, a literary author working in the spy genre.

I'M NOT SCARED by Nicolo Ammaniti is a top-notch thriller (and the movie version is good too).

THE QUANTUM THIEF by Hannu Rajaniemi is very dense and cerebral sci-fi, but rewarding.

THE CUCKOO'S CALLING by Robert Galbraith is a good mystery even if it wasn't written by J.K. Rowling.

11/22/63 by Stephen King is a good one for King fans and general readers.

COUNTDOWN CITY by Ben H. Winters is an unusual genre-bender.

FALSE NEGATIVE by Joseph Koenig is a very tough noir.

X FILMS by Alex Cox goes on my shelf as inspiration as a screenwriter, and is of interest to anyone who likes independent film.

#48: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

A famous fashion model plunges to her death on a London street, but her brother thinks it was murder; it's up to down-on-his-luck private eye Cormoran Strike to find out the truth in The Cuckoo's Calling.

The Cuckoo's Calling was reportedly the first novel by Robert Galbraith, and it caused a minor sensation when the world learned it was actually J.K. Rowling writing under a pseudonym.  It seems more obvious now, as this novel is written more in her whimsical, humorous style, playing with character names and offbeat situations.

Strike is a fully-realized character, a former military policeman who lost a leg in the Middle East, and more famously the illegitimate son of a legendary rocker father.  His Girl Friday, Robin, a temp with a secret love of private eye life, is an interesting foil.


But The Cuckoo's Calling is definitely a novel for adults, and as far afield from Harry Potter as Rowling could go.  Why she wanted to write this under a pseudonym is certainly worth speculating on.

But nonetheless this is a solid, legitimate crime novel and I would hope--Rowling's outing as the author or no--that Rowling writes more about Strike and Robin. 

I checked this out as an audio book from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and finished it at the very end of the year.

#47: The Oxbow Deed by Clement Hardin

Fresh out of prison and wrongly accused, an aging cattle hand--and a hot-tempered friend he made behind bars--come home to find the ranch he left behind overrun by owlhoots, backstabbers, and other villainy in Clement Hardin's The Oxbow Deed.

Hardin, actually Dwight Bennett Newton, had a long run as a Western scribe, and this outing (the other half of an Ace Double on the flip side of Kincaid, which I reviewed earlier this year) is a highly serviceable read.

There are lots of standard characters--a blustery but fair ranch boss, his innocent daughter, a sinister gun hand who's actually a coward--but a few nice surprises and a satisfactory wrap-up.

I found this Ace Double Western at a flea market at a goodbye price and read both sides.

Undemanding but enjoyable, and I will keep my eyes peeled for more classic Clement Hardin.

#46: Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers by Sean Howe

Fans of Jonathan Lethem and Michael Chabon will enjoy Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers, a collection of essays where contemporary writers weigh in on their love of comic books, both reading and collecting.

This is an eclectic collection which covers everything from mainstream titles like Teen Titans to cult comic American Flag to classics like Little Nemo in Slumberland and a little of everything else along the spectrum.  Casual to hardcore comic book fans, or fans of some of the authors included (Brad Meltzer, Glen David Gold, Jonathan Lethem himself), will find something of interest within.

I was given this as a Christmas present from a friend and read it very quickly.  Enjoyable.

#45: Assignment Black Viking by Edward S. Aarons

American secret agent Sam Durell is after a device that controls the weather--which has inconveniently fell into the hands of the Red Chinese--in Edward S. Aaron's spy thriller Assignment Black Viking.

I think Aarons' Sam Durell books are underrated, considering the long span of time Aarons wrote them, and his ability to sustain an overall quality spy fiction series that is comparable to anyone.

This one, from the late 60s, tries for some of the outlandish plotting of the time period, which doesn't sit as easily on the normally sober agent called The Cajun.

Although I would consider this a minor Durell adventure, it is still enjoyable, especially as Durell deals with the deranged Scandinavian of the title, a seemingly unkillable foe who inexplicably wants to return the world to medieval times.

After a serious binge I had set aside Edward S. Aarons for a while, but I sense a return.  Recommended for fans of classic spy fiction.

#44: The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martínez

A young mathematician teams up with his mentor to solve a series of murders seemingly tied to a mathematical problem in Guillermo Martinez's The Oxford Murders.

If you are a big fan of math, and a big fan of mysteries, this novel is for you.  As I bottomed out in high school Algebra II in 1983, I found myself skimming some of the brainteasing parts and focusing more on the very tidy little mystery (although it was marred, I thought, but a jarringly enigmatic ending). 

Overall nicely written from the point of view of the protagonist in the future, writing about arriving in Oxford in the distant past, with all the memories surrounding what became a significant event in his life.

Loaned to me by a colleague, I read it quickly.  Nice for mystery fans.

#43: Poisons Unknown by Frank Kane

Swinging P.I. Johnny Liddell is in bad old New Orleans, where he quickly gets mixed up in a voodoo sex cult at the center of multiple blackmail and murder schemes in Frank Kane's Poisons Unknown.

Liddell was a popular creation of the pulp era who appeared in many slam-bang thrillers, quick with a snappy retort, prone to fisticuffs and gunplay, and easy with the dames.

I had forgotten that I had read another Frank Kane some time ago and instead got hooked by a lurid paperback cover I glimpsed at a little used bookstore in Muncie, Indiana.  I picked this up on a whim and chewed through it quickly.

A fun read, but definitely a product of its time and place for more prudent readers.

#42: Solo by William Boyd

James Bond gets involved in African post-colonial politics in William Boyd's Solo, set firmly (and enjoyably) in the time of the original 1960s James Bond series.

Boyd is the second author, after Sebastian Faulks and his novel Devil May Care, to root his contemporary Bond tale in Ian Fleming's timeline.  Faulks' novel gave off more of that swinging 60s vibe--including a villain with a monkey's paw for a hand--than Boyd's more sober meat-and-potatoes Bond, but it is a grand adventure nonetheless (with some potentially politically incorrect elements given a more contemporary spin).

I have enjoyed William Boyd as more of a literary author so I was quite surprised to see him tackle a James Bond book.  It is a worthy addition to Fleming's canon as well as a good spy novel in its own right.

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

#41: 10,000 Ways To Die by Alex Cox

After visiting Italy three summers in a row I renewed my interest in Italian cinema, especially on the pulpy side; spaghetti westerns, poliziotteschi (police films), sword and sandal epics, giallo, eurohorror. 

I came to a strange intersection where I learned that offbeat film director Alex Cox, whose film Repo Man was a touchstone of my teen years, was also considered somewhat of a spaghetti western expert.

This lead me to 10,000 Ways To Die, Cox's opinionated but notable collection of essays about the genre.  His depth of knowledge, and his love of the work (presented without irony), makes this an important work for readers who find the names Django, Ringo, and Sabata bringing a smile to their faces.

I enjoyed this book as much as his filmmaking book I read earlier this year, another tome that should be on the shelf of any filmmaker.  Cox is an engaging writer and probably a pretty interesting person, and fans of the spaghetti western genre will not be disappointed with this purchase.

I found this on Amazon and consumed it quickly.

#40: The Prophet by Michael Koryta

Two brothers who have gone their separate ways--one, a highly respected high school football coach, the other a bail bondsman with an unfulfilled life--find their lives crashing together once more as a young woman's killing mirrors their own sister's death years before in Michael Koryta's The Prophet.

The Prophet is a big, solid thriller, in a beach read vein, but with rich, intriguing characters and a compelling plot.  Of most interest is the relationship between the two brothers--the coach, on the cusp of a state football championship, his brother on the edge of darkness--and the memories of their sister that have pulled them together even as they try to tear each other apart.

This is the first novel by Koryta that I have read, although I have been interested in him for some time as I know he is a fellow Hoosier.  I will definitely look for more of his thrillers after enjoying this one.

I listened to this on audio book on loan from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.