The GF book thread

[Paul]

One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence is a 1980s time travel/dungeons & dragons/teenage gang type thing. Like Spielberg/King/Stranger Things but set in London. It was ok, but very much the least entertaining of any of the stories/worlds he’s created. 

[Rico1304]

There’s a new Rivers of London book, I do like them.  Great concept. 

[Rico1304]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/09/mick-herron-interview-show-horses-slough-house-bad-actors

[elvis]

On 30/06/2022 at 11:04, Bjornebye said:

They had the author of this Jonathan Freedland on Radio 2 last week talking about this book. I'm looking forward to it. If it's anywhere near as good as The Tattooist of Auschwitz then it will be great. It's about Rudolf Vrba and Fred Wetzler who became the first Jews ever to break out of Auschwitz and tell the world what was happening.

 

 

Excellent recommendation that , sold 9/10 for me 

[elvis]

3 hours ago, elvis said:

Excellent recommendation that , sold 9/10 for me 

Or even solid 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

[Paul]

Read Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offut, the second in the Mick Hardin series. It was good. 

[TheBitch]

7 minutes ago, Paul said:

Read Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offut, the second in the Mick Hardin series. It was good. 

I’ve got The Killing Hills lined up as my next, assuming it was your good self who put it in here. 

[TheBitch]

Found a load of books in work by a guy called Jeff Carson so started at the top. 
 

Foreign deceit. 7/10

 

Colorado cop David Wolf is investigating the death of a young boy in the rockies when he gets the call to say his brother has committed suicide in Italy. Over he pops to investigate himself. 
 

Easy reading. Finished in 1 night shift. 

[TheBitch]

On 05/04/2022 at 07:33, Paul said:

I’ve just started a book called The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt and it’s advertised as the kind of book Jack Reacher wants to be. I did my usual and got a sample on Kindle before buying but it’s instantly a page turner and much better written than the Reacher books which I’m not a fan of. I’m only a few chapters in but already it feels like a really good ‘un with a character that has huge potential for further stories. I’ll report back with more when I’ve finished it. 

I bought about 5 books the other week from recommendations in this thread and totally forgot this was your description of the book, as I was reading it was getting those “better than Jack Reacher” vibes. 
 

Finished this in a night shift too and looking forward to the next already. 

[Paul]

Yeah. I’ve enjoyed the first two. I wasn’t totally blown away but it feels like slow burn character development that could become brilliant. 

[Paul]

Just finished Dilla Time by Dan Charnas. It’s a really good read. Almost 50:50, biography: readable academic analysis of his production style. Doesn’t pull punches either. J Dilla (rightly) gets deified for his genius, but it also looks at his flaws as a fella too and takes a journalistically puritan approach to sourcing and conflicting accounts.
 

What comes out of it mostly clearly of all is that his reputation as a genius is, in many ways, actually understated. Numerous highly accomplished musicians and music academics cited here regard him as having almost completely changed music. It totally kills the risible notion that “anyone could do it/sampling is just stealing other people’s work”. 

 

If you have any interest in black music or music production, this is definitely a book you’d enjoy. 

[CapeRed]

Just picked up the deer slater by James Fennemore Cooper purely because I watched Hawkeye as a kid. Going to read it on my next long flight.

[polymerpunkah]

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (audiobook)

 

by Tom Holland

 

Covers one of the most fascinating periods in history in an easy listening combination of political and social history.

 

8 of 10

[Paulie Dangerously]

Two holiday reads down:

 

Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy. Fun and exciting adventure for children 10+ set in a fantasy world of airships and exploration. Twins set out to clear their family name after their father goes missing under mysterious circumstances when exploring the frozen third continent. Well worth a read. 

 

I am a hitman by anonymous. Picked up from a petite library and read in a day. Touch of the McNabbs about it but was interesting to see how contract killings work, even if taken with a pinch of salt. 

[polymerpunkah]

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

 

Timothy Snyder

 

Traces the atrocities committed by both, often against the same countries and peoples.

 

A stark reminder of why countries in eastern Europe fear, or should fear, totalitarian governments.

 

 

[Rico1304]

Can’t remember if I’ve mentioned them but I’m 3 books into the Ray Tatum series by TR Pearson.  Set in the US and very good slow burn about the Midwest.  They are difficult to read at first as the sentence structure is (I guess) typical of that area but once you get the hang of it they are great.  

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

I’m a couple of chapters into this and it’s quite interesting. Looks at how drug cartels have evolved to be run more like businesses and how that evolution has mitigated the efforts of the authorities to tackle the cartels. 
 

 

[Paul]

Just finished the second Box 88 novek called Judas 62 by Charles Cumming. It’s really good and a step up from the first one. It’s about an independent spy agency. However, if that all sounds a little too high concept, the rest of it reads like a proper spy novel. This one is very grounded in the contemporary geo-political landscape, with Covid, Trump, Johnson and Putin all background elements. Recommended.  

[Paul]

Wanted to go straight onto the new Parker which is out tomorrow but finished my last book a day too soon. So I’m going to read Frankie Boyle’s new novel, Meantime, about a pisshead who investigates his mate’s murder. 

[Captain Willard]

My 2 week holiday reading sorted. The Atlantic war, Stalingrad, the Russian Revolution and travel books. My specialist mastermind subjects in that order. 

[YorkshireRed]

2 hours ago, Captain Willard said:

My 2 week holiday reading sorted. The Atlantic war, Stalingrad, the Russian Revolution and travel books. My specialist mastermind subjects in that order. 

Not many laughs in this lot. You’ll have to do some comedy pretend falls into the pool. 

[Numero Veinticinco]

Anybody tried the Green Bone saga? 

[Paul]

On 03/08/2022 at 10:45, Paul said:

Wanted to go straight onto the new Parker which is out tomorrow but finished my last book a day too soon. So I’m going to read Frankie Boyle’s new novel, Meantime, about a pisshead who investigates his mate’s murder. 

In the end, I couldn’t resist the new Parker book by John Connolly, The Furies, so I put Frankie on hold. I finished The Furies today and thought it was brilliant. It’s two stories: The Sisters Strange, a novella Connolly wrote and published online on a daily basis, chapter by chapter, during the first lockdown; and the title story of the book. 
 

The former is an expanded and slightly adapted version of the original and all the better for it (although the original was great, given its context). The title story is even better though. Both include all the usual Parker favourites and Connolly has somehow managed to get to his twentieth Parker book and still keep it feeling fresh. 
 

Highly recommended. 
 

I’ve now bumped Frankie again for the Pep Ljinders book. 

[Edward.]

On 27/03/2022 at 23:30, Babb'sBurstNad said:

Didn't know there was a proper book for this, I thought it was just a short story. One of my favourite films, so I'll be interested to hear what you make of it.

It was relatively short, just over 200 pages. Haven’t seen the film. Overall I enjoyed it, interesting characters and plot.