Adam Thirlwell: Politics: A Novel (P.S.)
One would think this book is about sex, And while it is, since the characters have so much about it, some of it is kinky, and threesomes play a big role in the narrative. mostly POLITICS is about everything else: the mechanics, the logistics, the emotional minefields, the awkward questions, the moral dilemmas, and, well, the politics of what it is to be with someone you love or someone you don't, and how an act that should be simple is anything but. Thirlwell was disgustingly young when he wrote this but he absolutely understands that to make this book work, there must be an underlying sweetness and sincerity to the entire story. Now I want to see what he's up to more recently.
Amazon | Indiebound | B & N | Borders | Powell’s
Jennifer Mascia: Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir
Years ago I was blown away by Mascia's Modern Love piece describing her parents' secret past: her father was a mobbed-up convicted murderer, and her mother not only knew all about it, but aided and abetted her husband when life required being a fugitive, selling drugs, and living at great highs and crushing lows. Mascia's book tells a more whole story about her peripatetic life, and even with every new shocking revelation what remained consistent was how much she loved her parents, no matter how deep those lows went, and how much she misses them now that they are gone. Unconditional love never goes away, no matter if those who receive it deserve it.
Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N | Powell’s
Juli Zeh: In Free Fall
Give me a novel of ideas and if the story is good and the characters are believable and entertain me, I am there. Give me a crime novel of ideas, where two physics professors, friends and rivals, opposites but startlingly similar, do emotional battle on an intellectual canvas, raise the stakes through betrayal, the possible kidnapping of a child, and embroil a romantic-leaning police detective in the complicated machinations of quantum theory, and holy hell, I think I have myself one of my favorite books of the year.
Powell’s | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N
Simon Lelic: A Thousand Cuts
It appears to be a crime with an easy solution: a disgruntled schoolteacher shoots up his place of employment and kills several students in the process. But really, Lelic's novel is about the catastrophic consequences of bullying, and how this act is hardly limited to kids turning on other kids, but burrows deeply into adult relationships as well. He evokes empathy for the killer and sympathy for Lucia, the investigating officer who has to fight for every scrap of dignity as she pieces together the far more complex truth of what really happened at the school.
Powell’s | Amazon | Borders | Indiebound | B & N
William Lindsay Gresham: Nightmare Alley
I cannot stop raving about this book to people. The circular narrative structure, the demented feel of a traveling carny troupe, and the extraordinary rise and precipitous fall of Stan Carlisle give off the persistent, raging feeling that hell is always with us, and success is basically a sucker's game. No matter what the biographical evidence on Gresham's state of mind leading up to and after the book's bestseller (and movie basis) status in 1946, I don't think we can really know what demons plagued him to produce this marvelous noir gem.
B & N | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | Powell’s
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My thoughts are with you, Sarah.
Posted by: Gerald So | February 25, 2007 at 05:11 AM
Poor Sarah! Hope your hand heals quickly.
Posted by: CAAF | February 25, 2007 at 08:07 AM
Sarah, that's awful. My sympathies.
Also, the template is way beyond my capabilities, but Stasio's crime column is in the Times today. She leads with McDermid, giving THE GRAVE TATTOO the glowing review I think it deserves.
Posted by: Laura | February 25, 2007 at 09:15 AM
Ouch! I hope you heal quickly.
Posted by: KimH | February 25, 2007 at 09:44 AM
Okay, here goes...
The always insightful David J. Montgomery offers up a double dose of reviews.
In the Chicago Sun-Times, a bunch of bestsellers plus some guy named Morris (James Patterson, Lisa Gardner, John Lescroart, Steve Berry and Bob Morris):
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/271831,CST-BOOKS-mysteries25.article
In the Philadelphia Inquirer, more on Steve Berry's latest (in general, a mixed critique):
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/books/16767358.htm
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | February 25, 2007 at 10:25 AM
Sarah, i hope that you will make a quick recovery
Posted by: Jason | February 25, 2007 at 10:48 AM
I'm so sorry, Sarah! Hope you heal quickly. And remember--scars are cool.
Posted by: Twist | February 25, 2007 at 10:58 AM
I hope you heal up nicely, Sarah.
Here's a link from the Australian to do with a decades-long serving constable whose written a memoir
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21275035-5001986,00.html
Posted by: David | February 25, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Oh no! Well, rest those typing fingers, enjoy the painkillers, and here's hoping you're hand is back on its feet again very soon. . . .
Posted by: SD | February 25, 2007 at 11:10 AM
Now THAT'S noir!
I haven't seen The Wire but I know a lot of people here and elsewhere are big fans, so pointing them to a really interesting piece in today's Telegraph about its creators and the whole vibe behind it -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/02/25/svwire25.xml
Posted by: Kevin Wignall | February 25, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Take care of that hand!
Posted by: Bill Crider | February 25, 2007 at 11:30 AM
Tetanus shots are the insult to the injury. Feel better.
Posted by: David Thayer | February 25, 2007 at 11:41 AM
BRIAN McCLUSKEY appears quite
fond of a new Pulp Fiction
offering by Paul Malmont
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril
http://living.scotsman.com/books.cfm?id=297682007
Posted by: Steve Clackson | February 25, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Did you pour whiskey on the hand to clean the wound like they do in the movies?
Seriously, hang in there.
VG
Posted by: Victor Gischler | February 25, 2007 at 11:49 AM
Wait a minute.... painkillers?
Hmmm... where's that window...
Heal soon!
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | February 25, 2007 at 12:05 PM
With wishes for your speedy recovery!
Also in Stasio's Sunday NYT column is a kind review of John Shannon's great new book in the Jack Liffey series, THE DARK STREETS. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/books/review/Crime
Posted by: Diane Stewart | February 25, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Oh no! That IS noir, I am so sorry--hope you did not have an awful long wait in the emergency room...
Posted by: Jenny Davidson | February 25, 2007 at 12:14 PM
Happy healing, Sarah. Hopefully you'll have a hard-ass scar to show off.
What, isn't that what people want?
And I don't have any links, because if someone isn't gonna get them for me, I really can't be bothered. Generation Meh.
Posted by: Ray Banks | February 25, 2007 at 01:03 PM
Oh that sounds awful. Yes, please do heal fast - and we linked to your great thriller roundtable at the new ITW
blog. http://tinyurl.com/35c8sg
Posted by: MJ | February 25, 2007 at 03:14 PM
Feel better, Sarah! Stitches suck.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2007-02-19-finn_x.htm
Finn continues to get good buzz this week...
Posted by: JT Ellison | February 25, 2007 at 03:30 PM
Oooh. Ouch. Not fun. Feel better soon.
Posted by: Stephen Blackmoore | February 25, 2007 at 03:33 PM
Hang in there, Sarah!
Stacey
Posted by: Stacey Cochran | February 25, 2007 at 03:48 PM
No link to offer, but I did just read a great story in the May issue of Ellery Queen.
"Boy Inside the Man," by Sarah Weinman.
Fantastic job, Sarah!
Take care of that hand.
Posted by: Paula J. Matter | February 25, 2007 at 03:49 PM
So sorry about your hand, Sarah. Rest now and speedy healing to you. A few contributions to the cause:
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: James Green's mixed take on Michael Lesy's MURDER CITY: THE BLOODY HISTORY OF CHICAGO IN THE 1920'S ..."an impressionistic look at the murder capital of America in the 1920s--Chicago" and "a kind of sequel to "The Devil in the White City." http://tinyurl.com/2dy4b9
THE SCOTSMAN shares an 'exclusive extract' of Alexander McCall Smith's new Mma Ramotswe: THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE http://living.scotsman.com/books.cfm?id=287322007
SUN-SENTINEL: Oline Cogdill explores watery places with the latest from FL authors Christine Kling, WRECKER'S KEY, and Bob Morris BERMUDA SCHWARTZ. http://tinyurl.com/36w52o
GUARDIAN REVIEW: Ruth Rendell relives the Regent's Park walks that gave birth to THE KEYS TO THE STREET.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2019766,00.html
Also, in the March/April double issue EQMM, check out Keith Snyder's debut as a short story writer with the haunting "Dead Gray."
And more congrats to Sarah on her May issue EQMM story!
Posted by: Annie C | February 25, 2007 at 04:09 PM
May the hand that stirs the soup heal quickly.
Posted by: patti abbott | February 25, 2007 at 04:42 PM
Meanwhile, on the cozy side of the street...quite a slate for the Agathas...hope you're feeling better! Sounds like the last time I tried a home improvement project...
http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaslate.htm
Posted by: Ross Hugo-Vidal | February 25, 2007 at 05:50 PM
Damn, girl, that's rough news. You didn't mention any tendon or ligament damage, though, so thank g_d for small favors, eh? Here's my hope for fast and complete healing.
Posted by: JDRhoades | February 25, 2007 at 06:30 PM
You know what they say, snitches get stitches... feel better.
Posted by: Dave White | February 25, 2007 at 06:48 PM
Wow, that sucks! Hope you have a speedy recovery!
Posted by: Dana Kaye | February 25, 2007 at 07:18 PM
Maybe this isn't the time or place to remind you that we lefties have much shorter lifespans because of stuff like that ...
And just my luck (because, ya know, it's all about me) that your injury would happen on the rare day that BERMUDA SCHWARTZ would score three reviews (the Sun-Times and Sun-Sentinel mentioned above) plus a feature and review in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which I would link to if only I could find it online...
Heal, baby, heal...
Posted by: Bob Morris | February 25, 2007 at 08:29 PM
Coming in late here, Sarah -- I've been on the road -- but I'm sorry to hear about your accident and hope your recovery is quick.
Posted by: Rob Gregory Browne | February 25, 2007 at 09:38 PM
Meanwhile, at the Boston Globe, joins the reviewers looking at "The Triumph of the Thriller." She also praises Val McDermid's "The Grave Tattoo" -- which may or may not involve the 200-year-old body of Fletcher Christian -- and William Landay's "The Strangler," set in 1960s Boston. Also, Anna Mundow takes time out for a little Q&A with Tim Dorsey, in which he talks about training himself to be a subversive writer, and (of course) why Florida became a magnet for writers.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/02/25/what_puts_the_killer_in_thriller/
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/02/25/in_the_footsteps_of_subversives/
Posted by: Bill Peschel | February 25, 2007 at 09:52 PM
Heal quickly! One-handed typing is teh suxxors!
Posted by: Bill Cameron | February 25, 2007 at 11:30 PM
May you heal as quickly as Rambo. In the meantime, here's my contribution to the linkfest: an article on the well rounded reader from The Age.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/the-wellrounded-reader/2007/02/22/1171733944887.html
Posted by: Daniel Hatadi | February 26, 2007 at 04:21 AM
Oh Sarah that's awful! I hope your hand heals quickly! I don't have any links to contribute, but I just read the new Laura Lippman and it's terrific so all I can do is recommend it...
Posted by: Helen Heller | February 26, 2007 at 08:14 AM
If I can gratuitously add another link...I just posted a Q&A I did with author Philip Hawley, Jr. over on the Crime Fiction Dossier.
We talk about his excellent debut thriller, STIGMA, which is being released by HarperCollins tomorrow, and other assorted topics.
http://www.crimefictionblog.com/2007/02/10_questions_wi.html
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | February 26, 2007 at 09:10 AM
Will Beall, a cop in L.A. who wrote L.A. REX (2006), gives the new Robert Crais book a mildly snarky review in the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-beall25feb25,0,2941158.htmlstory?coll=cl-bookreview
Posted by: David J. Montgomery | February 26, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Hey, we're almost better at this than you are! Okay, it took around thirty of us, but...
Hmm.
I go back to my original theory that you're actually a team of people deep underground in Montana.
Posted by: Kevin Wignall | February 26, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Sarah:
Hope that you are not in too much pain and were able to sleep through the night.
This is a day after the weekend, but here's something interesting. Patrick Goldstein of the L.A. Times writes about how genre movies (thrillers, westerns, comedies) have more staying power than message movies.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-goldstein26feb26,1,6171097.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Posted by: Naomi | February 26, 2007 at 11:44 AM
Yuck. I'm so sorry, Sarah. Sending good thoughts your way....
Posted by: Rae | February 26, 2007 at 01:24 PM
Hope you're feeling a bit better today, Sarah. Where's that cabana boy when you need him?
And thanks to all the posters who filled in with the summaries and links. I was jonesing for my Sunday Sarah fix.
Posted by: Louise Ure | February 26, 2007 at 03:03 PM
I'm truly sorry to hear about your busted wing, Sarah. I know from experience what it's like to try to type with a damaged hand.
Here's a link for the masses: the Kirkus Reviews mysteries/thrillers special, in .PDF format:
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/images/pdf/Mysteries_and_Thrillers.pdf
Posted by: Clayton Moore | February 26, 2007 at 03:43 PM
What did that poor window ever do to you? Heal quickly.
Posted by: Michael Thomas | February 26, 2007 at 04:31 PM
Hope you feel better soon Sarah. For those of you who, like me, still can't get enough diapered, criminal astronaut news, well you just knew it had to come to this. Enjoy . . . or something.
http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=60431&CFID=12947605&CFTOKEN=49268500
Posted by: Sarah Stewart Taylor | February 26, 2007 at 08:16 PM
So sorry about that nasty shower glass...heal quickly
Here's a link to a review of Pete Dexter's new anthology in the SFChronicle.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/25/RVGD4O5EA91.DTL
Posted by: Cara | February 26, 2007 at 11:40 PM