The GF book thread

[The Great Jacko]

V12 Robert Harris 1/10 Utter garbage, one dimensional characters and simple A-B plot - one of the worst books I've ever read. I was so disappointed. I've only read one other book by Harris which was Conclave which I quite liked as I read it after watching The 2 Popes on Netflix which was very good indeed. Even Conclave was poorly written though. I guess Harris gets such a good press because he's British and writes historical fiction with some reasonable research? Otherwise it's unfathomable. This book is so bad it actually annoyed me. 

 

Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman 6/10 By the numbers murder mystery. No idea why it's been such a huge seller other than people think the author is a nice man.

 

The Force Don Winslow 8/10 Really good US cop drama where the lines of corruption are blurred. Interestingly I was speaking to a mate who was a former senior cop in London and he said this was how things were here up until recently to some degree (excluding the shooters - you slaaag)

 

Box 88 Charles Cummings 9/10 - Now here is a spy thriller - I tried Slough House but it was too cliched for me. Cummings writes excellent spy thrillers and this is his latest which I adored and is not part of a series.

 

The Goldfinch Donna Tartt 10/10 The best book I've read in years. I also loved The Secret History which was her other big success. This is hard to describe but is the fascinatingly brilliant story of a boy/young mans life. Seriously just read it.

 

If The Dead Rise Not Philip Kerr 8/10 One of the Bernie Gunther series of detective Noir books set in 1930-1950's Germany (mainly). This series of books is outstanding and I would recommend to anyone who likes detective/spy/thriller/historical fiction. 

[Paul]

On 13/02/2021 at 11:59, Paul said:

Finished Oliver Stone’s autobiography Chasing The Light which goes up to the release of Platoon. I got onto it after listening to him on Louis Theroux’s Grounded podcast and it doesn’t disappoint. 
 

I’m now on Theroux’s autobiography Gotta Get Theroux This. Entertaining and funny. 
 

After that I’ve got a few samples lined up from various reviews I’ve read recently of new books. Mostly all genre fiction stuff. 

Enjoyed the Louis Theroux and then read Inscape by Louise Carey, the first part of a new SF trilogy set in a post-apocalyptic London where corporate bodies have supplanted democratic institutions and a “corporate ward” (spy/soldier trained from birth) is tasked with dealing with industrial espionage. It’s really good. 
 

I’m now on a sample of something called Box 88. 
 

Edit - only just realised it was the post above me from The Great Jacko that put me onto Box 88; I thought it’d been a newspaper review. Apologies for that mate. 

[YorkshireRed]

On 15/02/2021 at 17:31, The Great Jacko said:

The Force 

 

On 15/02/2021 at 17:31, The Great Jacko said:

Box 88

 

On 15/02/2021 at 17:31, The Great Jacko said:

The Goldfinch

Added these three to my list. Cheers. 

[Paul]

Absolutely battered Box 88 by Charles Cummings today as part of my “I fucking hate football and don’t want to watch, read or listen to anything about it” strategy. It was superb. A really well paced spy thriller that felt three dimensional and cliche-free. Great recommendation from TGJ above. Nice one. 

[Paul]

Radio Life by Derek B. Miller was absolutely brilliant. Another post-apocalyptic story about the search for tech but it’s really about humanity and how we engage with each other. It’s totally self-contained but he says he’s going to write more. Great read. Get on it. 

[YorkshireRed]

Just finished another one recommended on here. Slow Horses by Mick Herron, part of the Slough House series.

 

I enjoyed it, took a little getting in to but, once I did, it was a good read. Hasn’t put me off further books in the series, but nor has it made me want to read the next one straight away. I will, but not yet. Something a little different first I think.

 

7/10.

[Rico1304]

I’ve read the one mentioned above about the cartels. It’s brilliant and the style is different. It’s almost like a long magazine article if that makes sense. 

[Pidge]

Used my Audible trial as I wanted to listen to the NOFX memoir/confessional, the hepatitis bathtub. It's great, having each band member read their own tales of debauchery, addiction and abuse/neglect was genuinely affecting. Also interesting to hear their perspective on turning down major label interest during the 90s punk boom. Pretty funny in places, really shocking in others. Smelly is the star of the show as he goes all in on explaining life as a junkie and how he got clean (and then struggled to cope around other bandmates' addictions). They go from kids in a terrible band in a really violent scene, to one of the best bands in the world (although they don't talk about the Decline!!!).

 

Used my other credit on Smash, which is about the 90s punk explosion. Basically the story of Green Day and Offspring, with a little NOFX and Rancid and a bit more Bad Religion (who underpin the whole thing both as a more senior band and via the Epitaph label). Again, interesting, lacked a bit of the passion compared to the other book, plus the influence of commercialisation kind of marrs the last couple of chapters. Great stories I mainly knew already (although hearing that someone I dealt with years ago was one of the main reasons NOFX came back to the UK was pretty cool). 

 

So, now, if you're still reading. What is the deal with Audible? Everything is like £25?! Half tempted to keep it running and get another credit as I like audio books, but can't ever see myself dropping more money at that point.

[Red74]

Box 88 - 3/10.
 

seeing a lot of love for this above but after reading his stuff for a few years now I felt this was the book too far. Half way through I was checking to see if I hadn’t already read this before. Felt like I was reading the same story and characters as what he’s previously wrote before, just rearranged into a different order.  Gonna sound like a sad muso but for those who haven’t read him, his early stuffs brilliant. 
 

The Honourable Schoolboy - John le Carre. Sequel to tinker Taylor but Christ it’s an impossible read. I wouldn’t be surprised if he's negotiated a bigger contract and been paid by the word as this is pure tedium. Entire pages of text that add nothing to the story and I started to just skim read them in the end. Was struggling to read more than 3 pages so I decided to check the reviews and thankfully, the 1 stars have informed me that it’s not just me and should be swerved. They say it adds nothing to the story and the endings terrible. I’ve abandoned it less than half way through and skipped to smileys people. 
 

2/10 unreadable waste of time 

[NoelM]

The new Stephen King book "Later" so far (2/3 of the way through it) is a really enjoyable read.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/later-stephen-king-ramps-up-the-laughs-in-crime-caper-with-supernatural-edge-40155048.html

 

[Elite]

Midway through 'The Dirty South' which I'm really enjoying as I didn't enjoy 'A Book of Bones' in the Charlie Parker series, I've loved every other book.

 

Any news on the TV series? I hope they don't make a complete mess of it. Be really interested to see who they cast as Parker.

[Paul]

13 minutes ago, Elite said:

Midway through 'The Dirty South' which I'm really enjoying as I didn't enjoy 'A Book of Bones' in the Charlie Parker series, I've loved every other book.

 

Any news on the TV series? I hope they don't make a complete mess of it. Be really interested to see who they cast as Parker.

What’s this? Has he changed his mind? He’s always refused to allow a TV series. 

[Elite]

3 minutes ago, Paul said:

What’s this? Has he changed his mind? He’s always refused to allow a TV series. 

There's not much news, if any, that I can find but I do remember reading he agreed for a show to be made. 

 

@Sugar Ape will know.

[Sugar Ape]

30 minutes ago, Elite said:

There's not much news, if any, that I can find but I do remember reading he agreed for a show to be made. 

 

@Sugar Ape will know.

I follow him on Facebook and a group about the Parker novels and I’ve never seen anything confirmed about a TV show. Only thing I can remember is him saying someone has the option for it. 
Edit: Yeah, here from 2017. 
 

http://wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.com/2017/04/parker-on-parker-game-of-ghosts.html?spref=fb&m=1&fbclid=IwAR0AGtSJAIdLswYW3-YlJ_AUunvuvCUjv252O2qIbFrIYb-e8gJYf0u3pUw

 

JP : You quote Maxin Gorky at one point which is taken from his essay on his first trip to the cinema. The quote fits in beautifully within the context of the book. How would you feel about a film version of the Parker novels by HBO or similar? 

 

JC :  I’ve actually signed an option agreement for Parker, after all these years.  It’s an interesting company, and I wish them luck with it.  In the end, I write novels, and TV (as this would be) is a hugely different medium, with all sorts of changes and compromises required to make the source material work. For that reason, I think it’s generally better if the novelist keeps his distance from it all.

 

I agree with you on A Book of Bones though, it’s the only book I don’t like from the series. In fact, I didn’t like it one bit.
 

I’ve noticed an increasing theme in his latest books where we spend less and less time with Parker and the English based investigation in that book was almost the length of a book in its own right and it bored me rigid. The whole fractured atlas storyline was unnecessary and I think the books would have been a lot better sticking to the theme from the other books. 
 

The next book is an Angel and Louis one set in Europe so I’m hoping that gets things back on track and we don’t have half the chapters from the pov of secondary characters. 

[Edward.]

I really enjoyed a Book of Bones. Maybe as it is set where I live and the fact that I met him as he was writing it.

[Elite]

13 hours ago, Sugar Ape said:

I follow him on Facebook and a group about the Parker novels and I’ve never seen anything confirmed about a TV show. Only thing I can remember is him saying someone has the option for it. 
Edit: Yeah, here from 2017. 
 

http://wwwshotsmagcouk.blogspot.com/2017/04/parker-on-parker-game-of-ghosts.html?spref=fb&m=1&fbclid=IwAR0AGtSJAIdLswYW3-YlJ_AUunvuvCUjv252O2qIbFrIYb-e8gJYf0u3pUw

 

 

 

 

I agree with you on A Book of Bones though, it’s the only book I don’t like from the series. In fact, I didn’t like it one bit.
 

I’ve noticed an increasing theme in his latest books where we spend less and less time with Parker and the English based investigation in that book was almost the length of a book in its own right and it bored me rigid. The whole fractured atlas storyline was unnecessary and I think the books would have been a lot better sticking to the theme from the other books. 
 

The next book is an Angel and Louis one set in Europe so I’m hoping that gets things back on track and we don’t have half the chapters from the pov of secondary characters. 

Doesn't look it's close to being made.

 

Agree about the Book of Bones, the chapters describing cathedrals, etc was mind-numbingly boring.

 

Back to form in The Dirty South though. He's at his best when he focuses on small communities with strange characters.

[Total Longo]

Just ordered The Goldfinch. I tend to steer clear of novels as the ones as the ones i have read in the last five years have disappointed me, usually in terms of how they have rushed the ending.  So here's hoping this is an improvement. 

[Pidge]

Continuing from the audiobook theme, I've found a "podcast" on Spotify called 'An Unexpected Journey'. 

 

It's a quite well-produced reading of The Hobbit and LoTR in full. Been good background work noise.

[Pidge]

20 hours ago, Pidge said:

Continuing from the audiobook theme, I've found a "podcast" on Spotify called 'An Unexpected Journey'. 

 

It's a quite well-produced reading of The Hobbit and LoTR in full. Been good background work noise.

CW: they do the songs. So, keep that skip 15 seconds button ready. Treebeard's is especially painful (that voice singing both sides of a duet...).

[Paul]

Just finished The Forgotten by MR Forbes which is a trilogy available on Kindle for 99p all in. I’m usually highly dubious of such offers – especially on Kindle – because the books are usually shit. However the reviews for this were nearly all five stars and so I got a sample of it and then bought the full thing.
 

In short it’s a really good post apocalyptic/science-fiction/western/thriller/adventure story with twists and turns galore throughout, none of which are predictable. The characterisation and dialogue aren’t the greatest, but neither are they terrible - and the story rattles along at a cracking pace. I really enjoyed it; definitely recommended.

 

I’m now on the final part of The Rampart trilogy by MR Carey, called The Fall of Koli. I loved the first two and this has started at a similar level. Yet more post-apocalyptic fiction, but it’s everywhere at the moment. Clearly the times we live in are inspiring some fantastic stories.

[Paul]

Just finished The Fall of Koli and it was fantastic. In fact The Rampart Trilogy as a whole is absolutely brilliant. Get on it. 

[Bruce Spanner]

Currently reading ‘The Sympathiser’ By Viet Thanh Nguyen.

 

I’m six chapters in and it’s brilliantly written.

 

 

[Elite]

1 minute ago, Colonel Kurtz said:

Jus started to re read Cormac mcCarthy. Wrote the road and no country for old men amongst others. The crossing is a brilliant book. 

I'm going to have to try his stuff. NCFOM and The Road are both great films.

[Edward.]

The whole Border trilogy is a beautiful read. 

[Paul]

Read Ramble Book by Adam Buxton which, if you’re a fan of his podcast, is guaranteed entertainment. Now on Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Never read it before and it’s good.