The GF book thread

[TheBitch]

19 hours ago, The wanderer said:

Just picked up my first Jo Nesbo book , The Thirst,with Harry Hol as the star man. So far it’s pretty good

I’m currently reading The snowman, which is about number 7 I think. 

Really enjoying them. 

[Evelyn Tentions]

On 16/01/2024 at 01:43, NoelM said:

Scrublands is a good place to start, it's the first one and it spawns two different series of books.

4 part TV series of Scrublands last year. It's on my list. Should be available from all the usual criminals 

[The wanderer]

6 hours ago, TheBitch said:

I’m currently reading The snowman, which is about number 7 I think. 

Really enjoying them. 

Decent movie too

[The wanderer]

On 15/01/2024 at 22:32, NoelM said:

Cover the Bones by Chris Hammer on Audible, good solid Aussie crime novel like his other books 7/10.

Read a couple of Books by Sarah Barrie set in NSW central coast area . Found them to be pretty decent.

[Sut]

Can anyone recommend a good book about Yakuza in post war Japan?

[Elite]

Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto - 9/10

 

Fantastic, reminded me a bit of November Road by Lou Berney but different tone. Both wonderful books in their own right.

 

The Dead Zone by King is my next read.

[Elite]

On 27/01/2024 at 12:52, Sut said:

Can anyone recommend a good book about Yakuza in post war Japan?

You're best asking on one of the book recommendation sub-reddits on Reddit. Very useful resource that.

[Sut]

Cheers, Elite.

[YorkshireRed]

I started the Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer the other day. It’s decent, but I’ve not read enough to rate it yet. 
 

It’s impossible not to hear his voice in my head as I read it though. Or to imagine that it’s him as the main character. Not that this is a bad thing…
 

 

[El Rojo]

7 hours ago, Elite said:

Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto - 9/10

 

Fantastic, reminded me a bit of November Road by Lou Berney but different tone. Both wonderful books in their own right.

 

The Dead Zone by King is my next read.

 

I'd have Galveston and November Road right up there. Great emotional sweep to both. 

 

I'd add Dodgers by Bill Beverly as another that transcends the crime genre. Brilliant book. 

[Jose Jones]

On 16/01/2024 at 05:59, El Rojo said:

Just starting White Riot by Joe Thomas, which is set in London between 1978 and 1983 and features real and fictional characters. James Ellroy and David Peace have been mentioned in a lot of descriptions, which sealed the deal for me. First part of a trilogy.

I read that as I thought it sounded really promising, corrupt cops, Nazis, London music scene…. absolutely hated it. No way am I getting on to the next ones. What did you think?

[Paul]

11 hours ago, YorkshireRed said:

I started the Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer the other day. It’s decent, but I’ve not read enough to rate it yet. 
 

It’s impossible not to hear his voice in my head as I read it though. Or to imagine that it’s him as the main character. Not that this is a bad thing…
 

 

I couldn’t read it for that reason. It works perfectly in his autobiography but for fiction I found it really off-putting. I jibbed it after a chapter or two. 

[El Rojo]

4 hours ago, Jose Jones said:

I read that as I thought it sounded really promising, corrupt cops, Nazis, London music scene…. absolutely hated it. No way am I getting on to the next ones. What did you think?

Thought it was promising enough. Clear and obvious David Peace influence maybe a little too much. I’ll probably give the next one a go too. 

[Jose Jones]

1 hour ago, El Rojo said:

Thought it was promising enough. Clear and obvious David Peace influence maybe a little too much. I’ll probably give the next one a go too. 

Yeah I couldn’t cope with the writing style. 

[Elite]

10 hours ago, El Rojo said:

 

I'd have Galveston and November Road right up there. Great emotional sweep to both. 

 

I'd add Dodgers by Bill Beverly as another that transcends the crime genre. Brilliant book. 

Added to my wishlist.

[El Rojo]

3 hours ago, Jose Jones said:

Yeah I couldn’t cope with the writing style. 

 

I know some people couldn't stand Peace's Shankly book but I really liked it. 

 

I enjoy the mixture of fact and conspiracy in Peace's crime stuff and this guy's having a crack at doing similar. 

[YorkshireRed]

36 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

 

I know some people couldn't stand Peace's Shankly book but I really liked it. 

 

I enjoy the mixture of fact and conspiracy in Peace's crime stuff and this guy's having a crack at doing similar. 

I enjoyed his Red Riding Trilogy. If anything because he references many locations I’m familiar with. 
 

It was only the subject matter that got me to the end of the Shankly book though. It was interesting but that writing style wasn’t for me.

[Captain Willard]

I may have posted this before but Money by Martin Amis is an astonishing book. A bit dated now but still a brilliant novel about  1980s excess, pornography, Hollywood, chess and working class culture. It is unforgettable. Only £10 on Amazon. 

[SasaS]

Speaking of Money, is 10 pounds now a great deal?

[Mudface]

22 minutes ago, Captain Willard said:

I may have posted this before but Money by Martin Amis is an astonishing book. A bit dated now but still a brilliant novel about  1980s excess, pornography, Hollywood, chess and working class culture. It is unforgettable. Only £10 on Amazon. 

 

I'm sure I read that quite a while ago, if it's the one I'm thinking of, it is excellent. Dead Babies is also very much worth a read, hilarious and disgusting in equal measures.

[SasaS]

That was a long time ago indeed, I remember at the time I preferred American chroniclers of the '80s such as McInerney, Ellis or now forgotten Janowitz to Money.  I think I found it hard to get into.

[Captain Willard]

1 hour ago, SasaS said:

Speaking of Money, is 10 pounds now a great deal?

The kindle version is only £5. 

[Red74]

On 27/01/2024 at 12:52, Sut said:

Can anyone recommend a good book about Yakuza in post war Japan?

The only time I’ve seen the words Yakuza are from reading your post this morning and my Twitter timelines been full of this book since. 
 

Hope it’s what you’re after 

 

 

[Sut]

Ah, nice one, '74!

[SasaS]

Lehane's Small Mercies a bit meh. I actually almost binned it 2 or 3 hours into the audio book, because it struggles to get you care for any of the characters or the story. Three stars.

 

On a side note, most good reviews tend to like the subject matter, that the novel deals with racial tensions in '70s Boston, but I don't think I learned anything new here. Americans seem to be continuously surprised by the history of racism in their country, which is baffling.

 

On to Aussie crime now.