Hard Case Crime - C/D, S/D

Westlake/Stark is awesome. I just finished the "African Novel" which was fun although I tend to prefer the Parker stuff.

The Black Lizard stuff is uniformly good, but it really is just the tip of the iceburg. I wish that there was a sci-fi imprint that was as nice as this.

http://www.sohopress.com/crime.html

i still have a bunch i need to read. i started buying them cuz i'm a fan of Janwillem van de Wetering's Amsterdam Cop series. Which, in case you have never read them, i can't recommend enough. so funny. great writing. zen cops. they are hard to beat.

SEARCH:
charles williams 'a touch of death'
jack clark 'nobody's angel'
richard stark 'lemons never lie' (i am a big westlake fan, but this is the best of the ones they'e done with '361' a closer runner up)
peter blauner 'casino moon'
lawrence block 'lucky at cards'
robert silverberg 'blood on the mink' (fun g-man story. i don't read much about g-men.)
shepherd rifkin 'the murderer vine' (cool story about going down south to kill racists.)

DESTROY:
John Lange novels (Crichton pseudonym)
Brett Halliday "Murder Is My Business" (i really wanted to like this, to give myself a new series to read, but it's a little bit by the books)

MIXED FEELINGS:
lawrence block "killing castro" and "a diet of treacle" (a diet of treacle starts v v slow before working itself up to a decently gripping climax; killing castro is fun but pretty silly)
ed mcbain 'gutter or the grave' (this was fine but a bit by-the-numbers)
max allan collins's various Quarry novels -- these are fun, quick reads but don't really give you much to think about -- that is to say that below the surface-level adventure and murder story there doesn't seem to be a ton going on...

READING NOW:
bruen/starr 'bust' -- this seems alright so far. kinda funny. the one dudes obsession with huge tits is a little annoying tho.

I have a ton more sitting on my 'to read' shelf too, including Collins's Parker pastiches, the new Ariel S Winter that's getting rave reviews, a robert bloch twofer...

oh and i searched for this thread cuz i bought 'little girl lost' by ardai/aleas for a buck today at the salvation army.

how are the david dodge ones? wade miller? those have seemed interesting to me.

:(

I liked Bust, in the end. Funny. Bad people getting fucked over by other bad people. Had a nice driving pace which I enjoy inna thriller. Good ole ripping yarn stylee.

Never knew we had this thread. David Dodge books pretty good but and worth a look but didn't feel they were must read. Really liked Little Girl Lost and the follow-up, did he write another in the series, I know he wrote that one referencing the first bunch of HCCs. Used to read a ton of Ken Bruen and Jason Starr and then the first collabo but took a break when I to a reading of Max or Slide at which KB didn't show and JS smirked through entire thing. Read that one John Lange book that took place in Jamaica and it did nothing for me

I think KB is actually a character in that one collabo so at the reading one guy filled in and did a comedy Irish accent.

i started buying them cuz i'm a fan of Janwillem van de Wetering's Amsterdam Cop series. Which, in case you have never read them, i can't recommend enough. so funny. great writing. zen cops. they are hard to beat.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, June 30, 2006 10:40 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This! Just finished Tumbleweed yesterday. Really odd sense of humor, felt somehow like it was translated from Japanese, and the police work was so haphazard and goofy. Gonna stick with this guy.

Never could get into that guy. Maybe time for another try.

The John Lange in Jamaics, "Grave Descend", was one of the worst things i've read in the last five years.

I'd like to read some Bruen or Starr solo stuff; Bust was fun and propulsive, which I really enjoy in a thriller. What is the Aleas book referencing the first bunch of HCC? I've got Little Girl Lost to read when I get back to NY.

Fifty-to-One, ian. He published it under his real name, Charles Ardai.

The first Bruen book to read is probably The Guards. Most Jason Starr I read was good, something makes me want to recommend Lights Out.

tbh i have been watching the jack taylor series on netflix; my wife hates it but i kinda like it.

Didn't know about that series, will check it out. Although to be honest I stopped reading the Jack Taylors around the fourth or fifth book - I have a high tolerance for the self-pity and the screwing up but it grew to be too much at some point.

Any, I can give you my copies of any books by those two guys if I find them.

ms sang freud sez: Really loved Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block and Money Shot by Christa Faust. Also enjoyed all the Quarry novels because they were fast paced and I grew to like Quarry's quirks.

Anyway I meant to start with

i am always into free books! reading nonstop these days.

Ms. Sang Freud is SO COOL! Please give her my best. I enjoyed The Girl With The Long Green Heart as well. Have not read Money Shot.

i passed up on Peter Pavia's "Dutch Uncle" today at the used bookstore in Providence; anyone read that one?
I was buying books for my dad at the used bookstore today. I got him a Scudder book, and an Elmore Leonard.

Dutch Uncle okay, not a must