#74: The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason

During World War II, in an Iceland awash in Allied troops, a young woman known to date soldiers is found murdered; many years later, an elderly man is killed in his bed, with threads tying back to that long-ago unsolved case in Arnaldur Indridason's The Shadow District.

The Shadow District is the first in a new series from Indridason.  His novels about morose Reykjavik cop Erlendur are noteworthy (start with Jar City and keep reading), but these have a totally different vibe, with a military police investigation in the 40s and a contemporary storyline following a recently retired police detective who gets an itch to solve this cold case.

The parallel timelines are interesting, especially if you aren't aware of Iceland's role in World War II (which I wasn't).

This is a very solid police procedural from one of my favorite Scandinavian authors.  I will look for the next in this series.

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

#73: Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner

An upper-class New York marriage has seen better days, but is being held together by the shared love of a daughter; when outside forces threaten the young woman, the whole family is changed in Matthew Weiner's slender study Heather, the Totality.

Weiner is best known as the creator of the television show Mad Men as well as a turn as a writer on The Sopranos.  This has a splash of both, but I would wager that Weiner has made a close read of Philip Roth and John Updike at some point in his life. 

Much as Mad Men mirrored a time and place, Heather, the Totality reminds me of the styling of both Roth and Updike.  Fans of those writers will enjoy this piece, whether they have heard of Weiner's other work or not (somehow).

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

#72: Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishigiro puts together a masterful collection of short stories, lightly threaded together with themes of music, of evening, of relationships and friendships on the wane, in Nocturnes.

If you have never read Ishigiro, chances are you've seen a movie based on one of his books, such as The Remains of the Day or Never Let Me Go; other titles include The Buried Giant and When We Were Orphans.

This is a great way to dip into Ishigiro's writing, catching little glimpses of unraveling lives, from a visitor inadvertently crashing his friend's fractured marriage, to a never-was musician having a midnight adventure with a bigger star, to a fading singer wanting to serenade his wife one more time.

The storytelling was really elevated by an excellent audiobook version I listened to, with different readers doing each story.

I checked this out from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and listened to most of it on a long drive back and forth to Michigan.

#71: Death on the Bozeman by Paul Bedford

Tough-minded western has three former Confederate soldiers, now traveling companions, clashing with the Army, hostile Indians, and a ruthless gun-hand called Slade in Paul Bedford's Death on the Bozeman.

Death on the Bozeman is a sprawling and brawling western, written in a classic style but with contemporary sensibilities in violence and situations.  An appearance by the real-life Jim Bridger adds value.

Black Horse Westerns has done a good job in putting out a steady diet of these type of western stories for many years.  I enjoyed this outing by Paul Bedford and will look for more from him.

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

#70: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

A professor finds herself searching for a missing pupil, leaving the dreamlands for the waking world in Kij Johnson's The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe.

The title is a riff on H.P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and features characters and situations from that novel. 

I have read a lot of work recently by people trying to process their appreciation of Lovecraft's writing versus his themes, as seen through contemporary eyes; race in Victor LaVelle's The Ballad of Black Tom, sexual identity in Paul La Farge's The Night Ocean, and now Johnson's look at gender in this novel.

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe is vivid and imaginative, but grounded in the story of a middle-aged woman looking back at her life.  A solid, award-winning fantasy read.

I bought this with an Amazon gift card and read it quickly, then sent it to a professor friend I thought would enjoy it.

#69: A Bullet for Sartain by Frank Leslie

In the Old West, a Cajun gunslinger named Sartain, but called The Revenger, goes into action when an old pard is killed and two others are threatened in Frank Leslie's A Bullet for Sartain.

Frank Leslie is in reality Peter Brandvold, who has written a lot of westerns under his name and others.  He contributed to the long-running "Adult Western" series Longarm, and much of that vibe is here; Sartain has one eye for killing and one for the ladies, and even his horse is on the lookout for a filly.

But Brandvold doesn't stint on the action; every character is rude and ready for gunplay at a moment's notice.

A satisfying action-oriented contemporary western for fans.

I received this book in the mail from Brandvold, a double novel with Death and the Saloon Girl as the second offering.  I look forward to reading it.

#68: I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson

In the early 1970s, two Welsh girls share a friendship built on their love of David Cassidy; years later, fate brings them together to fly to Vegas and see their childhood crush in Allison Pearson's I Think I Love You.

Pearson mines Nick Hornby territory in this novel, a humorous story of relationships built along the lines of Hornby's About A Boy and High Fidelity (with maybe some of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones thrown in).

I Think I Love You is highly enjoyable and largely pretty breezy, with bonus points if you were alive when David Cassidy was at his peak. 

Even though I was somewhat aware of Cassidy's fame, he was even more famous in Europe, and his concert at White City Stadium in London is a critical juncture in the story.  An epilogue, where Pearson interviews Cassidy, adds value.

I listened to a good audiobook reading of this novel on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library.

#67: Last Chance Canyon by Jim Austin

John Fury is a wandering gun-hand who comes across a dying man delivering mail, catapulting him into a war against a ruthless band of claim-jumpers in Jim Austin's Last Chance Canyon.

Jim Austin is in reality James Reasoner, a prolific author who has wrote five novels as Austin and countless others under many names.  This novel is dedicated to western author Len Meares--known as Marshall Grover and other pen names as he himself knocked out over 700 westerns.

If you are familiar with either Meares or Reasoner you have a pretty good idea what to expect; a solid western that hits all the right beats in action and storytelling.

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

#66: The Transmigration of Bodies by Yuri Herrera

In an epidemic-ravaged Mexico City, a peace broker called The Redeemer tries to negotiate a Romeo and Juliet-type situation between two crime families in Yuri Herrera's The Transmigration of Bodies.

Herrera's tight novel is a bit of a genre-buster, reading like a hard-boiled noir but--with characters called Neeyanderthal, Three Times Blonde, and The Unruly--also has elements of parable, with hallucinogenic imagery.

Our laconic hero spends half the novel trying to find an open pharmacy--his neighbor has finally given in to his advances, but he is out of condoms--and the other half dealing with deadly adversaries, all against a haunted, emptied landscape.

I read a lot of noir, and found Herrera's work fresh in a lot of ways.  Recommended for those who enjoy hard-boiled fiction and would like to try something new.

I bought this with an Amazon gift card for Father's Day and read it quickly.

#65: The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst

In the long shadow between WWI and WWII, a French aristocrat and spy in Poland tangles with vengeful Nazis, sneaky Soviet spies, and more in Alan Furst's The Spies of Warsaw.

Our protagonist comes across a German plan for a tank invasion, which his superiors find hard to believe, while a romance with a League of Nations representative begins to bloom.

Furst has written a long series of spy novels set in this era, and this is a sturdy entry, reading like early Graham Greene or Eric Ambler.  It's a good old-fashioned outing for those interested in this time and place.

I listened to a good audiobook version on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library.

#64: River War by Jim Austin

Wandering gun-hand John Fury meets up with an old pal, now a prosperous shopkeeper with a target on his back, in Jim Austin's River War.

Soon Fury is working as a sort-of bodyguard for his friend, and has his plate more than full.

Austin and the (brief) John Fury western series were written by prolific author James Reasoner.  As a seasoned hand himself, Reasoner hits all the right beats, with plenty of gunplay, as well as a dangerous riverboat trip, hostile Indians, a buffalo stampede, and a prairie fire, among other misadventures.

Reasoner creates an enjoyable outing for fans of the genre.

I borrowed River War, and one more John Fury book, from the Parker City Library in Parker City, Indiana, and read this one quickly.

#63: The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo by Ian Stansel

Long-feuding brothers finally end their acrimony with gunplay; and when the surviving brother sets out on a horse to escape, the other brother's widow leads her own horse in pursuit in Ian Stansel's contemporary western The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo.

What sets the long feud off is a rivalry over a hat; how this then plays out with horses and property the brothers own, and a struggling business they run as horse trainers, is the backdrop for the story.

Stansel has created a lyrical, engaging tale of family dysfunction set against a backdrop of a rural California at odds with itself.  Well-drawn characters, and an involved sketch of the horsemanship world, add interest.

Recommended for readers of contemporary fiction in general, but western fans will see classic parallels to enjoy.

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

#62: Shock Value by Jason Zinoman

Jason Zinoman writes an interesting account of the cultural changes that led to a shift in horror filmmaking in the 70s in Shock Value.

This is the era of horror film I more or less grew up on, and is especially interesting to me.  And even for me, there are some stories--like William Castle wanting to make Rosemary's Baby--that I was unfamiliar with.

To me, the most enjoyable element was Zinoman giving the proper due to Dan O'Bannon and Dark Star, to me an underrated figure and film of that period.

For those unfamiliar with the era, there are great accounts of directors such as George Romero, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, and Brian De Palma, and how they got their starts, sometimes by hook or by crook.

Worthwhile, for horror movie fans and general film buffs.

I listened to this on audiobook checked out from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library.

#61: Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou

Moses is raised in a socialist orphanage, runs the streets in a gang, and becomes an errand boy in a brothel, leading to a sad end in Alain Mabanckou's Black Moses.

This vivid slice-of-life story is set against a backdrop of life in the Congo in the 70s and 80s, helping create a fully-realized sketch of time, place, and people.

Mabanckou's novel crackles with life, alternating between darkness and light humor, with bursts of violence. Ultimately, the novel talks about the universal bonds of friendship, accessible in any society.

Mabanckou has written an entirely readable novel from a point of view less-seen to the average reader and is enjoyable throughout.  Recommended for readers interested in international and particularly African fiction.

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

#60: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Somebody has died at a parents' kindergarten mixer; slowly, we go back in time and unravel what happened, and who it happened to, through the viewpoints of three different moms in Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies.

I became interested in reading Big Little Lies after watching the popular HBO miniseries based on the novel.  It is rewarding, with good performances, and with a few notable exceptions hews close to the novel's storyline.

Moriarty's novel starts out somewhat comic, but as we delve more into the three womens' lives we find more sobering truths--one has a daughter acting out, one has a son who was the product of a violent encounter, and one is in an abusive marriage.  These threads play out against a broader landscape of all the little trials and tribulations of navigating a classroom, and the other parents you are thrown in with.

It's a solid read about family and relationships of all kinds, with a vein of mystery running throughout.  Worthwhile in both novel and television form.

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

#59: California Split by Lou Cameron

Two hardcore gamblers--one carefree, one obsessed--try to get one big score in Lou Cameron's California Split.

California Split has one of the most unusual pedigrees of any book I've read.  It's a novelization of a screenplay by Joseph Walsh, an actor who based the story on his own gambling addiction.  The movie version was directed by great 70s auteur Robert Altman, but remains one of his lesser-known works of that period (and features George Segal and Elliot Gould, who allegedly played a version of himself).

The novelization was done by Lou Cameron, who did tons of other adaptations and novels but may be best known as the creator of the "Longarm" adult western series.

All that aside, it's a pretty cool little story, a slice of early 70s life with a noirish feel.  Our sad-sack protagonist and his motor-mouthed friend brush up against the underworld and various low-lifes, prostitutes, and loan sharks as they try to stay one step ahead of their addictions.

I found this for a quarter at a hospital book sale, and mainly picked it up out of curiosity.  But it stands on its own merits as a hardboiled tale of the gambling world.

#58: The Deadly Amigos by Barry Cord

An ex-ranger goes undercover with a vicious gang who killed his brother, a ranger in good standing, in Barry Cord's The Deadly Amigos.

Cord was actually Peter Germano, a highly prolific prolific writer and magazine editor who wrote pulp fiction, television scripts, and more. This novel is actually the flip side of a nice Ace Double also written by him, Two Graves for a Gunman, a tidy little western about a young trail boss who tries to understand the outlaw he's killed.

Where Two Graves for a Gunman would make a good episode of Zane Grey Theater or something else television-sized, The Deadly Amigos is pure spaghetti.  There is a lot of gunplay and cruelty, as the gang falls in with a band of Mexican revolutionaries causing trouble on both sides of the border.  Overall pretty tough and action-oriented.

I grab Ace Doubles wherever I can find them, and this one I picked up at goodbye prices at the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention in Chicago.  Fun for western fans.

#57: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

A writer with a number of problems lucks into reporting about the maiden voyage of a luxury cruise ship; when somebody goes overboard--and nobody believes her--the tension ratchets up in Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10.

Ware's novel follows the trend of unreliable female protagonists seen in thrillers from Gone Girl to The Girl on the Train in recent years.  This outing is an agreeable entry for those that enjoyed those novels.

At times, it seems Ware relies more on luck and rickety coincidence than her contemporaries, but a breakneck pace and interesting plotting smooth it all over.

I listened to a good audiobook reading of this from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana, on a long drive back and forth from Pennsylvania.

#56: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Young Willie Lincoln dies, and his grieving father visits the gravesite, stranding the boy between the worlds of the living and the dead; so it's up to three ghosts, also hanging in limbo, to help the boy through his passage in George Saunders' offbeat literary sensation Lincoln in the Bardo.

Saunders uses an unusual structure for his story--almost like an oral history--with literally hundreds of voices, some historic accounts and others fiction, in a fragmented style.  I am guessing its presentation is not for all readers.   In its setting and framework it most reminded me of Thorton Wilder's play Our Town, and perhaps because of this I think I enjoyed it the best way possible, as an audiobook.

Lincoln in the Bardo has been billed as the first all-star audiobook, and there is an argument to be made there; voices include Nick Offerman, David Sedaris (a great audiobook reader of his own work), Ben Stiller, Julianne Moore, Rainn Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Don Cheadle, Megan Mullally, Bill Hader, Keegan Michael-Key, and many more.

Saunders' book is challenging in its style and interesting in its ideas.  I would recommend the audiobook version experience.

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

#55: No Gun is Neutral by Marshall Grover

Nevada Jim is drifting, but drifts right into a war between ranchers and farmers, in No Gun is Neutral.

Marshall Grover (in reality an Australian writer named Leonard Meares) was an extremely prolific author of westerns, and Nevada Jim (also called Big Jim) drifted across the plains in lots of novels (as did a pair of cowpokes called Larry and Stretch, who figured into another long-running series).

This tight western tries on, rather curiously, a Romeo and Juliet style subplot between a ranch family and a farm family, but still leaves plenty of time for shooting and fighting.

Although I first learned of Meares through Piccadilly Publishing, who has done admirable work in bringing these oaters back to a digital generation, I bought this in a lot of vintage westerns from eBay and read it quickly.

#54: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Zombies are on the brink of taking over the world, as zombies are prone to do; but in a fortified school/prison, a group of zombie children may hold the key to the future in M.R. Carey's The Girl with All the Gifts.

M.R. Carey is also Mike Carey, a comic-book writer with popular Vertigo titles like Lucifer and Hellblazer to his name; I especially enjoyed his series The Unwritten, which is why I picked this novel up to read.

The Girl with All the Gifts is fast-paced, thrilling, and cinematic (in fact there is also a film version), and is enjoyable in all the right ways.

But I can't help but feel the novel is also enjoyable because it has so many touchpoints from films I enjoyed in the past.  28 Days Later and Day of the Dead draw obvious comparisons, but the somewhat downbeat/somewhat hopeful ending pays direct homage to I Am Legend (in my opinion).  The novel Lord of the Flies is owed no small debt as well.

Overall, though, an enjoyable thrill ride for fans of zombie movies and horror in general.

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

#53: The Persian Cat by John Flagg

A cynical former spy, rattling around after World War II, helps an old friend (and former French resistance fighter) track down a woman who supposedly aided the Nazis.  Pretty soon, he begins to question the motives of the woman, his friend, himself, and everyone around him, in John Flagg's The Persian Cat.

The Persian Cat is an extremely hard-boiled spy novel that reads much like a private eye outing.  There is plenty of tough talk and rough action.  The setting, a Tehran completely different than the one we know today, adds a lot of interest, as does a full and colorful collection of supporting characters.
 
Flagg's book is part of the Black Gat line through Stark House Press, which puts out an admirable line of forgotten noirs and other similar titles. Flagg, actually John Gearon, wrote a string of these for Gold Medal in the 40s and 50s, though this is the first time I had encountered him.

I bought this from Stark House Press and read it quickly.  Recommended for fans of the spy genre and hard-boiled fiction.

#52: The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Slightly burned-out Copenhagen cop Carl Morck now heads up Cold Cases in a dank basement, and--because of his meticulous assistant Assad and insouciant secretary Rose--reluctantly solves the case of murdered teen siblings in The Absent One.

The Absent One is the second in Jussi Adler-Olsen's highly regarded Department Q series, which has also spawned a trilogy of hit movies in his native Denmark.

This novel follows the pattern of its predecessor, The Keep of Lost Causes, with almost comedic scenes in the office contrasting with crime elements that include rape, torture, animal abuse, and more.  It can at times be somewhat jarring, with strong subject matter for the casual reader.

But Adler-Olsen is a great mystery writer, and The Absent One is recommended for discriminating readers.

I checked this out on audiobook from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library.

#51: Cruel is the Night by Karo Hamalainen

Two Finnish couples, made up of old friends, spend an evening having dinner in a luxurious London apartment--only to have it end with one left alive--in Karo Hamalainen's Cruel is the Night.

Cruel is the Night is an inky-black comedy of manners centered around a dinner party where every attendee brings something hidden to the table, be it infidelity or fraud or other vices, as well as a lifetime of resentments.  Unfortunately, an ornamental sword and a variety of poisons end up too readily at hand.

Hamalainen's novel ranges from riotously funny, to frightening and shocking, taking the reader on quite a ride; an Agatha Christie novel as told by Brett Easton Ellis.

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

#50: Tender Wings of Desire by Catherine Kovach

An independent young woman decides to slip from a dull engagement and forge her own path, quickly learning that path leads into the arms of a rugged sailor, in Tender Wings of Desire by Catherine Kovach (writing as, of all people, Colonel Sanders).

Tender Wings of Desire was offered as a free Kindle download as part of a Kentucky Fried Chicken promotion. It was very interesting to me, because of the thought that a fast food franchise believed that somebody might want to read a book, instead of play a game or mess around on an app.  And they were right, which is really something to meditate on.

The second surprise is that the novella is pretty straight-faced, and hits all the right beats for fans of the romance genre.  The setting is sort of quasi-Austen, and the characters hit comfortable notes.  Despite the trappings, Kovach took her job seriously, and delivered for fans.

Tender Wings of Desire is a quick, accessible read and worthwhile, especially for readers of the genre.