Category: Book Reviews

In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block

Posted March 14, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: In the Midst of Death (Goodreads)
Author: Lawrence Block
Series: Matt Scudder #3
Published: Orion, 1976
Pages: 182
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Personal Copy

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Private investigator Matt Scudder is back. This time he is on the case for NYPD cop Jerry Broadfield. While Broadfield was never going to be known as a pillar of society he was (mostly) an honest cop. But he seems to have rattled a few cages, mainly from the crook cops on the force. Now he is being set up.

Because The Sins of the Fathers was so short and I enjoyed it so much I went right into In the Midst of Death. Something I never do and that is normally because I never like to get entrenched in an author or a genre, so I always mix it up. But also because I find there are small elements that can become repetitive if you go from one book in a series to the next. While this is book three (which I originally thought was book two) Lawrence Block covers the same important information about Matthew Scudder; which is good for people reading out of order but jumping straight into this one after the first book, it felt more like a copy/paste job.

Unlicensed Private investigator is truly shaping into a great character and even though I’ve read two books in the series so quickly and one after the other, I still want to read more, which is a real testament to Lawrence Block’s writing skills. I love Scudder’s cynical attitude and his reluctance to work; he is truly a great hard-boiled protagonist in the making.

Corruption is a tricky game and while you are meant to hate Jerry Broadfield it is interesting the way Scudder goes about this case. While this was not as strong as The Sins of the Fathers, it still worked really well. I want more insights into the psyche of Scudder because I really think there is something dark waiting to come out. After my second Block novel, I’m starting to see just why he is respected as a modern pulp author and he is quickly becoming a favourite.

The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block

Posted March 13, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: The Sins of the Fathers (Goodreads)
Author: Lawrence Block
Series: Matt Scudder #1
Published: Orion, 1976
Pages: 182
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Personal Copy

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A pretty young prostitute is found dead, killed by a minister’s son who is found hanging in a prison cell. This case may seem open and shut, considering the boy was found with her blood all over him and he confessed to the murder. But when the father hires private investigator Matthew Scudder to find out more of his daughters life, what will he uncover?

The Sins of the Fathers is pretty different from normal hard-boiled novels; the crime and case is closed and the PI is hired for something completely different; to learn more of the victims life. The father wants to know more about his estranged daughter, but once you go down the rabbit hole, you never know what you’ll find.

Enter Matt Scudder, an ex cop with a huge drinking problem. Scudder is a great character; he has all the hallmarks of a great hard-boiled detective but he seems more bitter and jaded that what you normally see. He is riddled with flaws and dark secrets that are waiting to be revealed and while the major one is, there is still a sense of mystery behind the man. But then he does something unexpected; for example, Scudder tithes 10% of all money being made to which ever church he visits (normally the Catholics because they are always open), you never get a sense that he is a church goer but he does believe in something.

This was an interesting take on this crime genre, yet it still had that dark plots and shady characters. While it seems like it’s a little lighter than the norm, it ends up packing a huge punch with some very classic noir twists towards the end. I really like Scudder as the protagonist; he was almost borderline anti-hero and sometimes I wish he would head in that direction but he never does.

Sins of the Fathers is the first book in Lawrence Block’s series featuring Private Investigator Scudder. I believe there are about 17 books in the series and I can’t wait to read them all. As soon as I finished this book, I dived into In the Midst of Death which most places call book two but Block has stated it is actually book three in the series. I hope when I get to Time to Murder and Create there isn’t much confusion but I’ve been told you can read the first three in any order but for the rest, it’s best to read them in the correct order.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

Posted March 12, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Young Adult / 6 Comments

Title: If You Find Me (Goodreads)
Author: Emily Murdoch
Published: St. Martin's Griffin, 2013
Pages: 304
Genres: Young Adult
My Copy: ARC from Author

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In a broken down camper, hidden in the forest, is where you will find Casey and Jenessa. Abducted by their bi-polar meth addicted mother ten years ago, the girls have learnt to survive on their own. Until one day their mother disappears for good and two strangers turn up. Suddenly the girls are expected to reintegrate into normal society. If You Find Me is part psychological thriller part Young Adult fiction.

I don’t think I’ve read a YA novel like this before, the survival aspects are handled really well and the whole concept of trying to live a normal life again after being taken away from society were handled really well. The best part; it’s a Young Adult novel that handles these topics that doesn’t have dystopian theme. I really enjoyed the psychological themes throughout this book and thought they were managed really well for a debut author like Emily Murdoch.

There are some parts of this book that I didn’t like, I personally felt like elements of Casey’s life were glossed over; there are mentions of sexual abuse that would be fairly traumatic but I didn’t think it was really explored. Also adorable little Jenessa has a major breakthrough in the book but it was predictable and I could see it coming for miles but then I never felt like it was explored enough; it happened and they all moved on like it never happened.

The concept and the plot are great and I think there are a lot of elements to love about this book. I might be one of the few people that probably thought there were parts that needed to be explored more and other parts that needed to be stripped back. Everything just ended up being unrealistically neat; I would have liked to see some more of the psychological, just to make sure everything isn’t too tidy.

If You Find Me is a great little young adult book from a fantastic new up-and-comer in this genre. I love that this book doesn’t feel like it has been done before. There are some real serious issues explored and for the most of it, it worked really well. For fans of Young Adult fiction, this is a must read for you and I hope this book ends up being a huge success.

The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher

Posted March 11, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Science Fiction, Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: The Age Atomic (Goodreads)
Author: Adam Christopher
Series: Empire State #2
Published: Angry Robot, 2013
Pages: 416
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley

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The Empire State is dying due to the fissure connecting this reality to New York disappearing. The populace is in a panic, demanding the return of prohibition and rationing of energy. Meanwhile in 1954 New York there has been a dynamic political change. A new group called Atoms for Peace are preparing a robot army for a trans-dimensional invasion. Their goal: total conquest – or destruction – of the Empire State.

Private Investigator Rad Bradley is back in the sequel to Empire State. This time the twisted parallel prohibition-era New York City is falling apart and a robot army are planning to invade. Adam Christopher spent a lot of time building this amazing inter-dimensional city with some wacky atomic age technology and doppelgangers; in Empire State he has this brilliant tech noir story happening which I really enjoyed. But then we get to The Age Atomic and all noir elements have gone and the plot just feels like a generic atomic age thriller.

The world building he has done to give up this trans-dimensional New York is great and Rad Bradley is a wonderful character, so I can understand why he would want to stay in this world. I just think I was expecting another neo-noir type novel but was left we a pretty average science fiction thriller. The term ‘killing your darlings’ is often used and I’m wondering if Christopher should have just used the same world and created new characters. The return of Rad Bradley (an obvious homage to Ray Bradbury) just meant I expected more hard-boiled adventures from him.

I love this world but I’m very disappointed with the way this book turned out, I think Adam Christopher has the skills and tools to write great alternative reality or neo-noir novels but for me I think the genre switch left me dissatisfied. I recommend you read Empire State and if you are planning to continue to series, be warned, it’s not the same. I’m pleased to see that Adam Christopher added his writing and editing soundtrack again. This book could have been better, I will have to check out WorldBuilder again and see what other people have done with this world, since that is the most interesting part of the whole book.

The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy

Posted March 10, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: The Big Nowhere (Goodreads)
Author: James Ellroy
Series: L.A. Quartet #2
Published: Vintage, 1988
Pages: 472
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Personal Copy

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The Big Nowhere is two separate tales eventually twisted together into one; an LA Sheriff’s Deputy tries to capture a brutal sex murderer while serving as a decoy to expose communism in Hollywood. Gangland intrigue and Hollywood sleaze, young deputy Danny Upshaw along with Buzz Meeks and Mal Considine find themselves caught in a hellish web of ambition, perversion, and deceit.

Like the other books in the L.A. Quartet, and other James Ellroy books for that fact, The Big Nowhere twists a story around actual events that took place at the time. The labour union battles facing the Hollywood studios, the aftermath of the notorious Sleepy Lagoon murder and the resultant Zoot Suit Riots all take place during this novel. Having read both The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential from this series, I have to say The Big Nowhere was a weaker novel compared to the others. The dark and violent plot was there but maybe violent sex crimes are just too far for me.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that sex murders are too disturbing or that I’ve read better crime novels now, but I felt like James Ellroy’s racist and offensive writing was taken a bit too far in this one. I really struggled to get through this book; I kept picking up this book and hitting a wall where I had to walk away for a while before going back. This is never a good sign for a book like this; I think James Ellroy was my first step into the world of noir and hard-boiled fiction but now I’ve read so many other novels I feel like it’s time to leave him behind. I will admit that I really did enjoy The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential and even American Tabloid from his latest series but I’m at a point where I need to decide if I want to read any more of his books. Are the others books in the Underworld USA Trilogy any good? Has he gotten less offensive with age? I keep wondering and hoping he has, because I think he’s a great writer I just can’t take anymore of the racism.

It’s really hard to enjoy a book like this when you take so much offence with the writing but there are some great noir elements throughout the book that were interesting to explore. Maybe with a little more tolerance I will return to his books because he does weave true crime elements with a great crime plot. I know the writing in supposed to reflect the times and how people spoke and acted towards other races but mixed with the graphic sex this book just become too difficult.

Through the Window by Julian Barnes

Posted March 9, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Non-Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: Through the Window (Goodreads)
Author: Julian Barnes
Published: Vintage, 2012
Pages: 272
Genres: Non-Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

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Julian Barnes won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 for his book The Sense of an Ending which has sparked a huge increase in this man’s popularity. To follow up (cash in) on the buzz the release of Through the Window followed soon after, which holds Seventeen Essays (and a Short Story) on the books and authors that have meant the most to him over his career.

I remember reading Julian Barnes’ essay A Life with Books, which really was just a look at his reading history and I absolutely loved it. So I was eager to read this collection to learn more about this wonderful author. What I found was this collection was very dry and this made it difficult to read. Barnes is a very intelligent man and he flexed his intellectual muscles to the point where it back very difficult to read for a pseudo intellectual like me.

While I found it interesting to read this author’s thoughts on Penelope Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Kipling, Madame Bovary, Ford Madox Ford and George Orwell I tend to think Barnes wasn’t connecting to the reader like he did with his novels or the essay A Life with Books. It felt more like reading an academic essay more than just someone’s passion for these authors and books.

This is a difficult collection to get through, but people interested in learning more about Julian Barnes or these topics might find something in this book for them. I read this book as soon as I finished Ramona Koval’s By the Book, A Reader’s Guide to Life so it was difficult to go from a book with so much passion for reading to something so dry.

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin

Posted March 8, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Dystopia / 0 Comments

Title: Day of the Oprichnik (Goodreads)
, 2006
Pages: 191
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Welcome to new Russia, where the Russian Empire has been restored back to the draconian codes of Ivan the Terrible. Corporal punishment is back and the monarchy is divided once again, but this is the future, the not so distant future for the Russian empire, or is it? Day of the Oprichnik follows a government henchman, an Oprichnik, through a day of grotesque event.

Day of the Oprichnik is a thought provoking Science Fiction novel of the worst possible Russia imagined. But while the book is dark, it also is hilarious and then it has this wonderfully satirical nature about it. Komiaga is the narrator of this gem, an anti-hero and one of the Tsar’s most devoted henchmen. While the humour and satire throughout this book is grotesque, this book is a perfect example of great contemporary Russian literature as well as a political critique.

I will admit I like these types of modern Russian Science Fiction novels, like Super Sad True Love Story, you have this wonderful dystopian backdrop as well as the high tech gadgets like the “mobilov” and then you use this to create delightfully thought provoking plot riddled with satirical elements. These witty and intelligently written books are what I live for.

Komiaga is one of the elites, enforcing the laws of the land, helping the Czar’s to rule with an iron fist for the sake of the motherland and the Russian Orthodox Church. This is my first Vladimir Sorokin novel and I would like to compare this novel to one of Philip K. Dick’s (The Man in the High Castle to be exact); there is this wonderfully crafted story and you have these philosophical and political ideas that stick with you well after you have finished the book.

The Telegraph named this book one of the best for 2011 and the New York Review called Sorokin “[the] only real prose writer, and resident genius” of late-Soviet fiction”, just to give you an idea of what to expect. Day of the Oprichnik is deliciously complex, full of garish science fiction and hallucinogenic fish. Komiaga’s day might not be a typical one but it’s full of executions, parties, meetings, oracles, and even the Czarina.

I loved every moment of Day of the Oprichnik, even the moments that made me think “WTF” and for all of the people that have read this book, I want to say one word that will mean something to you but not the others, the word that the person who recommended this book to me said when I finished. That word is “caterpillar”. For everyone else; read the book, enjoy the satire, black humour and Science Fiction elements of this book and also find out what I mean.

Tenth of December by George Saunders

Posted March 7, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Short Stories / 0 Comments

Title: Tenth of December (Goodreads)
Author: George Saunders
Published: Bloomsbury, 2013
Pages: 272
Genres: Short Stories
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

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American journalist George Saunders is often known for his short stories; a finalist for the 2006 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for his first collection of stories, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. His second collection In Persuasion Nation was a finalist for The Story Prize (2007). So when his third book of short stories came out this year Tenth of December you can bet it received a lot of buzz.

I’ve personally not read George Saunders before but when people keep calling him one of the best writers in this medium I knew I had to check him out. Tenth of December reminded me firstly of Deborah Levy’s collection of short stories Black Vodka, simply because it had that same feel to them (at least for me); that contemporary and witty flavour with an element of darkness.

Tenth of December blends ten thought provoking stories with his own blend of satire that is often heading towards a cliché but always manages to avoid it. The humour mixed with the bittersweet and sometimes dangerous plots are clever and unpredictable. I never really thought of myself as a fan of short stories in the past but I’ve discovered so many really great contemporary collections well worth exploring. Tenth of December will be joining that list along with Black Vodka by Deborah Levy and Revenge by Yoko Ogawa.

Nothing like reading a short story before bed, especially when you have no idea where the author is going to take you. George Saunders does a great job at this and I’ve heard this is the weaker of his short story collections; if this is the case I can’t wait to read some more. Highly recommend this to people interested into something complex and satirical that deals with ludicrousness, fear and rescue. Most stories originally appeared in The New Yorker and highlights for me include Escape from Spiderhead, The Semplica Girl Diaries and Home.

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

Posted March 4, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Lifeboat (Goodreads)
Author: Charlotte Rogan
Published: Reagan Arthur Books, 2012
Pages: 278
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

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In the summer of 1914 the Empress Alexandra sinks; this elegant ocean liner suffers from a mysterious explosion and all the passengers scramble for safety. Henry Winters managers to secure a place on a lifeboat for his new bride Grace but when the people on the lifeboat soon realise they are over capacity the real struggle for survival begins.

The Lifeboat is an elegant and thrilling novel with many complex issues weaved into it. For any to live, some must die but the hard choice of survival can be taken too far. At what point does the struggle for survival turn into manslaughter and can you really live with your actions. With personality clashes between characters like John Hardie and Mrs Grant, this book is just a stimulating and thought provoking read.

My first thought with this book was that this was just playing out a novel based on ecologist Garrett Hardin’s metaphor for resource distribution. Hardin’s metaphor describes a lifeboat bearing 50 people, with room for ten more. The lifeboat is in an ocean surrounded by a hundred swimmers. The “ethics” of the situation stem from the dilemma of whether swimmers should be taken aboard the lifeboat. But when I read this book there was more of a focus on the moral dilemma, in regards to an overcrowded lifeboat.

This book is a highly emotional novel and while you do get some character development, this mainly focuses on Grace and her take on the situation at hand. I must admit to hating Mrs Grant throughout the entire book; she was bossy and always plotting against the others. While John Hardie seems to always try to do what was best for the people in the lifeboat and he seemed strong and determined; it was interesting to see how the pressure got to him.

Another aspect this book dealt with was the one of social class; the sinking of the Empress Alexandra brought people from all different social backgrounds onto the lifeboat. So it is interesting when they need to throw people off the lifeboat for survival how important class is to the people wanting to survive; as if that would be have importance at a time like this. I think Charlotte Rogan did a great job setting the novel in 1914; you have the sinking of the Titanic not too long before in 1912 and the time and age is perfect to look at the issue of social class as well as morals.

The Lifeboat is a stunning debut novel from Charlotte Rogan; while it could use a bit more development with some of the characters, this booked worked well with exploring the issues it set out to explore. I think Rogan has a worthy example of well crafted contemporary fiction, with the dilemmas the characters face and the pace the novel keeps. I really am impressed with the way this novel turned out and I hope Charlotte Rogan has an equally impressive sophomore novel.

House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Posted March 3, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 6 Comments

Title: House of Silk (Goodreads)
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Published: Mulholland Books, 2011
Pages: 294
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Personal Copy

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A fine art dealer comes begging for Sherlock’s help, as he has been menaced by a strange man; a wanted man that has followed him all the way from America. Art dealer named Edmund Carstairs then finds his home robbed, family threatened and then his client murdered. Unwillingly Holmes and Watson find themselves in a conspiracy connecting London to the Boston underground by an opium den known as the House of Silk.

For the first time in One hundred and twenty five years the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate have officially authorised a Sherlock Holmes novel. Anthony Horowitz’s novel tries to capture the style and feel of the original Sherlock novels but I never really felt that he got Arthur Conan Doyle’s style right. It felt stripped back and less complex than the Sherlock novels I’ve actually read and then there is a slight modernisation to the writing that can be very difficult to hide.

Watson is back as the unreliable narrator documenting their adventures, while the mystery and conspiracy in House of Silk are well plotted and play out rather well. I tend to think this is more of a Robert Downey Jnr’s style Sherlock Holmes rather than the Conan Doyle one. Diehard fans will probably enjoy another adventure but I can’t help but wonder if this book would be better played out with some original characters.

House of Silk came off rather dull in parts and while I haven’t read many Sherlock novels I can’t help but compare it with the ones I have read and Anthony Horowitz’s attempt was close but never felt the same. Tiny little things like the phrase “the game is afoot” being changed to “the game’s afoot” really helped show the differences.

While I did enjoy House of Silk as a novel, I don’t think there was anything spectacular about it. While this an officially authorised Sherlock novel (debatable, Caleb Carr’s The Italian Secretary and Lyndsay Faye’s Dust and Shadow are both approved by the estate) it is not the same. I think I would rather read a Benedict Cumberbatch style Sherlock novel rather than another attempt at trying to replicate Conan Doyle’s style and plots.