#26: The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Oslo cop Harry Hole is a fish out of water in the Australian Outback, tasked to find out who murdered a minor Norwegian celebrity (and salvage his career at the same time) in Jo Nesbo's initial novel in this crackling crime series, The Bat.

A good mystery, but also interesting as a study of a very flawed protagonist (and almost equally flawed supporting characters) as well as perspectives on Australian life.

Nesbo was already a big star in Norway when his newer books began to come out in English, so publishers have scrambled to shore up the gaps in his bibliography.  In this post-Stieg Larsson era, I recommend Nesbo and Arnaldur Indriðason to anyone trying to fill the void after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I found this in a used English-language bookstore in Rome and read it on the long flight home.

#25: The Prone Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette

A super-cool killer tries to get out of the game, but naturally nothing goes as planned in Jean-Patrick Manchette's existential crime novel The Prone Gunman.

In my readings of international fiction I have often seen Manchette name-checked alongside the works of people I really enjoy, like Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Claude Izzo, and Sebastien Japrisot, so when I saw a paperback of The Prone Gunman in a little English-language used bookstore in Rome I snapped it up.

Manchette definitely tries for a Jean-Paul Belmondo/Alain Delon kind of cool in his protagonist, but infuses the story with the ambience of Camus' The Stranger.  It is at the same time a crackling spy novel as well as a deconstruction of the genre. 

Overall highly rewarding for those readers interested in this style and time period.  I consumed this very quickly over a night or two in Rome.

#24: Blessed Are Those Who Thirst by Anne Holt

Tough Oslo cop Hanne Wilhelmsen hunts a serial killer targeting immigrants in Anne Holt's Blessed Are Those Who Thirst.

Holt writes very hard-nosed mysteries with rich characterizations, making a satisfying read overall. 

Holt arrived on the English-language scene with 1222, a very tightly-wound locked-room style thriller, and now her older novels are rightfully being translated and filled in, like other successful Scandinavian writers before her finding hungry readers in the States.

I bought this in a used bookstore in Chicago but read it very quickly on a recent trip to Italy.  I need to look for more of Holt's novels featuring Wilhelmsen.  Recommended for Scandinavian mystery fans.

#23: A Beam of Light by Andrea Camilleri

World-weary Sicilian cop Montalbano deals with a spate of crimes as a long-time relationship falters in Andrea Camilleri's A Beam of Light.

Camilleri has written a long-running series of police procedurals that have been popular in Italy and world-wide, and I grab one whenever I find one (this one I landed for a shiny quarter at a library book sale).  They are in general broadly comic, with gritty crimes (though this one sports an especially melancholy ending).

Here there are arms smugglers, art thieves, and other general criminal types, all framed by a prophetic dream Montalbano has at the outset of a trying week.

Camilleri's novels are solid mysteries with an international flavor.  I read this in a few nights while, ironically, in Italy.

#22: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

The drama of the Cultural Revolution ultimately leads to the rise of an alien invasion from a relentless, seemingly unstoppable foe in Liu Cixin's mind-blowing sci-fi epic The Three-Body Problem.

Readers of this blog know that I consume books voraciously, so I don't take lightly writing that The Three-Body Problem is the most astounding science fiction novel I have read in a long time--one has not altered my thinking so much since I finished Samuel R. Delany's Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, which turned me away from lantern-jawed Heinlein heroes to trippy Philip K. Dick antiheroes in an instant, never to look back.

I definitely skimmed a bit over the math and science, but just the sheer volume of ideas, and originality of thought, had my subconscious burbling for a long time.  Even though the novel is several inches thick, I read it in record time (although a long flight helped).

The Three-Body Problem is getting a lot of buzz and attention, and rightfully so.  It is on track to be my pick of the year, and I am recommending it to all fans of science fiction. 

I nabbed this off of Amazon in paperback and am on the prowl for the sequel.

#21: A Legend of the Future by Augustín de Rojas

A spaceship is damaged, and the survivors try to navigate the failing craft back to Earth while hanging on to their own minds and bodies in Augustin de Rojas' A Legend of the Future.

A Legend of the Future is a classic slice of Cuban science fiction but lives right in the same neighborhood as Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky Brothers, and director Andrei Tarkovsky; and if this makes you rub your hands together in glee seek this novel out immediately.

It is a world- and time-spanning mindbender with political overtones and some unique storytelling even as it follows the conventions of the Soviet Bloc Sci-Fi of the era. Relentlessly downbeat throughout as we follow the struggle of our radiation-sick cosmonauts (and one disembodied brain), though with a surprisingly upbeat finish.

I bought this from Restless Books and consumed it quickly.

#20: The Treacherous Net by Helene Tursten

Irene Huss and the cops of Goteborg, Sweden are on the trail of a murderous child predator in Helene Tursten's The Treacherous Net.

The "net" of the title is not only the internet, but refers to a cold case being followed by her soon-to-be retiring boss, where a father and son were murdered decades apart with the same gun.

And the title also refers to spy networks, and events during World War II in Sweden.

All in all a very satisfying new police procedural from Tursten, who has deftly mixed often gruesome crimes with Huss' personal family drama over a number of novels.  I have read several of them and enjoyed them quite a bit.

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

#19: Styx by Bavo Dhooge

A serial killer called The Stuffer is on the loose in Ostend, Belgium, and it's up to crooked cop Rafael Styx to capture the killer and save his reputation.  But when he is himself murdered by The Stuffer, and comes back as a zombie, the story tilts in a different direction in Bavo Dhooge's genre-bending and mind-bending Styx.

The first chunk of the book is straight police procedural, before taking a lunatic left turn into a world that includes a pocket watch with time-traveling powers and the ghost of Marvin Gaye.  I found Dhooge's writing to be very fresh and original, but certainly will require an open mind and sense of humor from the reader.

Plotting that includes the Belgian Surrealists and the Congolese sapeurs add interest, as if it wasn't interesting enough already.  Recommended for fans of something different in both the mystery and horror genres.

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

#18: A Superior Man by Paul Yee

In the 1800s, Yang Hok has worked helping to build the railroad across Canada; just as he is about to return to China, triumphant and with money in his pocket, a Native woman deposits a previously unknown son at his feet, sending both father and son on an epic journey through the wilderness in Paul Yee's A Superior Man.

A Superior Man is at first glance a brawny, sprawling Western, with violence brought on by racial tensions veined throughout, but at its heart is a wry story about the relationship between a man who didn't know he was a father and the son who didn't know he had a dad.

Yee writes great characters, set against an unforgiving backdrop, for a memorable story showcasing a slice of history--the lives of Chinese workers building the railroads--not often profiled in fiction.

I would put this novel in the same category as works like True Grit and Little Big Man and would recommend it to those readers who enjoyed those books or movies.

I checked it our from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#17: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

A young woman is the first to leave her remote village and go to a prestigious college across the galaxy--but when aliens board her ship en route, her future shifts dramatically in Nnedi Okorafor's Binti.

This slender sci-fi adventure, with its undertones of tolerance and acceptance, could easily be a young adult novel, although I don't think it has been billed as such.  It is accessible to any reader with its clever protagonist, unique aliens, and some well-developed world-building.   

Binti ended sooner than I might have liked, but hopefully might be the opening salvo for future adventures.

I bought this novel for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.  I was interested enough to start looking for more writing from Okorafor.

#16: The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura

A college student finds a gun at what looks like the scene of a suicide attempt, and rather than calling the police becomes morbidly fascinated with owning the weapon in Fuminori Nakamura's creepy novel The Gun.

I have read several novels by Nakamura and find him to be adept at getting under your skin with unsettling characters and situations.  The Gun isn't so much a mystery or thriller as it is a skin-crawling character study about a young man slowly unraveling, as he fantasizes about murdering various people and becomes more distant from friends and the normal world.

Nakamura's disturbing narratives aren't for everyone, but he is an adept writer and storyteller for those looking for inky-black tales.

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

#15: Juba! by Walter Dean Myers

Juba! tells the real-life story of a free black man in 1800s New York with a notable talent for dance, whose rise to stardom begins when he is noticed by no less a person than Charles Dickens in Walter Dean Myers' interesting young adult novel.

I have been reading Myers since I was a young adult myself and still dip my toe into his work when something catches my eye.  Unfortunately this is Myers' last work, and was published posthumously.

I found Juba! to be nicely done but slight, although of interest to show the history and perception of race and race relations in that time period.

I listened to an audiobook version on loan from the Morrisson-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana, with a really good reading by Brandon Gill.

Juba! is worthwhile, but even more so I hope it introduces new readers to Myers' large and solid body of work.

#14: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

The barriers between the normal world and the magical world of the Djinn are breaking down across the planet, unleashing a war between good and evil that lasts 1,001 nights in Salman Rushdie's Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights.

This is an epic, sprawling novel, alternating between whimsy and windy, panoramic scenes of battle contrasted with intimate scenes of romance, as several disparate characters--including an aging gardener who can suddenly levitate, a graphic artist whose superhero creation seems to come to life, and a social-climbing trophy wife imbued with murderous powers--band together to try and restore the world to normalcy.

The storytelling, obviously harking back to the Arabian Nights while keeping a contemporary vibe, is unique, and the large cast of characters--magical and mortal, human and ghostly, and so on--keep things interesting.

I would say the overall impression is a little uneven, but many readers looking for something different will find something worthwhile.

I bought this for myself with Christmas money and enjoyed it throughout.

#13: The Case of Lisandra P by Helene Gremillon

A psychiatrist's wife plummets from a balcony, and he becomes the prime suspect; but a troubled, alcoholic patient believes in his innocence, and starts an investigation of her own in Helene Gremillon's psychological thriller The Case of Lisandra P.

This novel is set against the backdrop of Buenos Aires in the 1980s, a time of political unrest where citizens disappeared or came under torture from a military regime.  The protagonist's daughter is one of the disappeared, and the psychiatrist's possible role comes under scrutiny as well.

Gremillon writes a tight, relentless thriller, presented in a unique format including transcripts, drawings, and even sheet music.  Overall it lends to a unique style, with a lot of energy despite a downbeat ending.

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

 

#12: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaVelle

In 1920s New York, a Harlem street hustler/street musician is asked to play a gig at a mysterious old house, leading him down a path of madness and murder in Victor LaVelle's The Ballad of Black Tom.

LaVelle's jumping-off point for his novel is H.P. Lovecraft's The Horror at Red Hook, which when seen through contemporary eyes is rife with racism and general xenophobia.  LaVelle flips the story from the eyes of a white policeman to that of the black characters, with compelling results.

But LaVelle's novel is more than just a clever exercise; it is distinctly creepy and frightening in its own right.  The most chilling moment for me came when Tom decides he would rather have the vast indifference of cosmic gods than the close attention of white cops on Earth, an interesting take on Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

I would recommend going back and reading Lovecraft's story after as I did, as a study in contrast, but The Ballad of Black Tom is a solid horror story for fans either way.

I bought this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#11: Crossing the Line by Frédérique Molay

It's Christmas in Paris, but the stalwart cops of La Crim' and their chief, Nico Sirsky, have a tricky murder on their hands in Frederique Molay's French thriller Crossing the Line.

It seems as if a cadaver donated to science has a dental filling which holds a secret message, leading the police on a trail that includes mysterious disappearances and shadowy medical practices.

Molay's novel is brisk and undemanding, focusing more on the procedural than the police in this police procedural, but flashes of life in Paris over the holidays are welcome.

This novel comes from Le French Book, a publishing house bringing French beach reads to the U.S.; I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond Indiana and enjoyed it.

#10: The Reactive by Masande Ntshanga

Three knockabout friends in Cape Town hang out, use drugs, and also sell them--primarily HIV drugs--in Masande Ntshanga's episodic novel The Reactive.

This slice-of-life novel, set in South Africa, tries to frame its story around a mysterious masked man who wants to buy a large quantity of drugs from the trio; but the novel is more rewarding when it peers into the thoughts of the characters, and their lives on the fringe of a ramshackle neighborhood.  How each of the friends became adrift, sniffing glue and dreaming, is really the core of the book.

I liked Ntshanga's writing, especially his characterization, and found this to be an interesting, change-of-pace slice of literary fiction.

This was sent to me by Two Dollar Radio and I read it quickly.

#9: MemoRandom by Anders de la Motte

A cop has a stroke and gets in a serious car accident, awakening to find he is in hot water for forgetting the identity of a confidential informant called Janus; meanwhile, a young Iraqi man blames his brother's death during a police shoot-out on an underworld figure also called Janus. 

Naturally, these two men's paths collide, with explosive results, in MemoRandom by Anders de la Motte.

MemoRandom is an electrifying, cinematic thriller brimming with action and alarming twists and turns.  It is a straight American-style beach read with an overlay of Scandinavian winter and the brooding characters it produces.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller novel and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre.  If you also enjoy Scandinavian thrillers, it's an added bonus.

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

#8: The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

A crusading journalist at a failing magazine lucks into a hot story involving the murder of a computer genius; at the same time, a famous hacker (and his sometimes lover) decides to get involved in the mystery as well in The Girl in the Spider's Web, a continuation of the Millennium Series.

The series, which began with Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, seemed to open the floodgates for interest in Scandinavian mysteries and crime stories.  Unfortunately Larsson died abruptly after completing only three novels, and in his wake was quite a bit of controversy about writing he left behind as well as his estate in general.

I decided I would read Lagercrantz's novel on its own merits, outside of the controversy.  I actually found this to be a largely seamless transition to a new author, capturing Larsson's knack for earthy storytelling and larger-than-life villains. 

Blomkvist and Salander have a more cerebral adventure this time out, dealing quite a bit with Artificial Intelligence and Autism and political maneuverings, peppered with action.  Lagercrantz definitely left elbow room for another book, if this one goes over well, and I hope it does.

I listened to a very good audiobook version of this novel on loan from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#7: The Night of the Panthers by Piergiorgio Pulixi

A band of cops called The Panthers rule a city nicknamed "The Jungle" with their own tarnished code of ethics; but when an especially murderous criminal kingpin is on the rise, they pull out all the stops in Piergiorgio Pulixi's The Night of the Panthers.

This very tough crime novel in the World Noir line is as amoral a thriller as I've read, as the cops try to out-bad the worst of the worst. The novel moves at a lightning pace, and has looks into Italian life, but a constant barrage of murder, rape, and torture make it not for all audiences.

About as bleak a crime story as you'll find, but Pulixi's colorful characters and breakneck storytelling is of interest.

I was sent this by World Noir, a part of Europa Editions, and have enjoyed all of their offerings thus far.
 

#6: Zero Saints by Gabino Iglesias

Fernando is a low-level drug dealer in Austin who crosses paths with high-level baddies from another realm in Gabino Iglesias' Zero Saints.

Zero Saints is a tightly-wound street-view story of revenge, if that story was penned by H.P. Lovecraft.  This genre-bender finds our edgy narrator getting knocked on the head and waking up to a murderous scene with a whiff of the otherworldly.  Naturally, as much as he would like to snake away he keeps getting drawn back into the path of a gang who might have made an unholy pact or two on their rise through the mean back alleys of Texas.

Meanwhile, our tarnished hero makes a few deals of his own, including befriending a pack of unnaturally intelligent dogs and grabbing a handful of holy bullets.

Though marred a touch by an abrupt ending, this is a crackling read, with some unsettling undertones, and long stretches of Spanish, Spanglish, and English.  Worthwhile for those interested in both horror and noir genres.

I bought this one for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.  I will definitely look for more from Iglesias.

#5: The Square of Revenge by Pieter Aspe

The quirky, hard-drinking cops of Bruges are on a strange case that seems to point towards the Knights Templar in Pieter Aspe's enjoyable crime romp The Square of Revenge.

This is the first of Aspe's books to be translated into English, and he is apparently already a big hit in his native Belgium.  I can see him having a successful run here, between descriptions of life in a beautiful medieval city and an unusual crime story (that begins with crooks melting all the gold at a jewelry store and ends with kidnappers proposing a bonfire of priceless paintings).

The story wraps up on a somewhat serious note, involving deep family secrets, but the colorfully-drawn characters really carry the day.  I will look for more work from Aspe.

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

#4: The Intruder by Hakan Ostlundh

A photographer brings his family to a remote farm on the Swedish island of Gotland, hoping for a fresh start, but trouble finds them anyway in Hakan Ostlundh's The Intruder.

In winter, my mind turns to Scandinavian mysteries, and this one has all of the hallmarks; a little morose, with frightening violence, and a plot that focuses more on emotional drama than the crime at hand.

Here the photographer has quite a few secrets, both in his family history and in his marriage, as does the lead police detective, who is just coming back to the force after a serious injury.  He has been given a strange but rather mild case that starts with somebody trashing a vacation rental, but quickly escalates from there.

Ostlundh has written a solidly gloomy little thriller that I enjoyed more for its exploration of relationships than for the mystery.

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

#3: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Three young men make a blood pact; later one becomes part of the VietCong, another is part of the South Vietnamese army, and the third--our protagonist--lives somewhere in between in Viet Thanh Nguyen's debut novel The Sympathizer.

This is a great debut novel, written on a broad, panoramic stage but full of wry human insights about relationships. 

The novel opens with the fall of VietNam in 1975, and two of the young men narrowly escaping to America on one of the last planes out (with the help of a shadowy friend from the CIA).  After our protagonist makes a memorable visit to a movie set as an advisor--think a coded version of "Apocalypse Now"--the seeds of a dramatic return begin to form in his friend.

Both are alienated from America in ways that are both funny and terrible, and volunteer for a suicidal mission to start a new rebellion against the Communists.  The latter part of the book details their misadventures, topped with a harrowing final coda.

The Sympathizer is just a really fine, literate novel showcasing an interesting part of world history, from a different perspective than what we might typically read in the States.  I will definitely look for Viet Thanh Nguyen's follow-up work.

I was given this book by my daughter for Christmas and read it quickly.  Recommended.

#2: The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Two soldiers and lovers--born with extraordinary, hidden powers--are part of a caravan attacked by a supernatural beast, and soon pledge to end its reign of terror in Kai Ashante Wilson's genre-bending fantasy The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

This brief plot summary does not do this slender volume justice, as it is packed with ideas; at one hand the novel has literary overtones--complete with footnotes--on the other it is a brawling adventure/fantasy, with undercurrents of far-future science fiction.  It is a crazy mind-meld of Gene Wolfe, Fritz Leiber, and Samuel R. Delany, with a soundtrack by NWA.  If any or all of these artists appeal to you, this is your next read.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps is a very fresh slice of fantasy for those fans looking for contemporary takes on an old genre.  Recommended for fans.

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