7/31/2019 Six Great new Crime Books
1/3
SIX GREAT NEW CRIME BOOKS 2012 By Josh Stallings
Summer reading, when you read all the time it becomes hard to
differentiate by
seasons. Although I do, when I vacation, find a local book store
and read local
authors. It was on a trip to Scotland that I discovered Ian
Banks The Wasp Factory.
Creepy powerful and definitely gave Scotland a dark undertone.
We are living in a
golden age of crime fiction. The ebook revolution has opened the
door to so many fine
voices it was painfully hard to slim down to six. So this is the
list.
1) The Sisters Brothers---- Patric deWitt
What a stunning novel. It has gunfights, and whores, and
drinking, and more gunfights,
and a one-eyed horse, and a man with a chicken under his arm and
the gold rush and
so much more. It takes place in the west, but it is not a
western, or at least it
transcends the genre. Or maybe like the film "Unforgiven" it is
a western, just a damn
fine one. It is dusty and muddy and bloody and messy and
lifelike. It is not to be
missed.
2) Abide With Me---- Ian Ayris
True honest and massively powerful. Ayris tells the story of
growing up hard on the
tough side of London, tells it in a way that makes it universal.
Coming of age novels
mostly have left me cold, maybe because they didnt speak to the
way I grew up. Ayris
understands and does nt shy away from the hard facts and wild
joys of growing up
rough. His strength is a powerful truth told in tight sparse
prose.
3) Frank Sinatra in a Blender---Matthew McBrideDamn... No
really. Damn! This is one rip-roaring fun-ride with a drug
addicted
alcoholic mad man at the wheel. Brilliantly written. Funny as
hell. Riotously violent.
Take a strong shot of classic crime fiction, add a shot of
gonzo, toss in a big pile of wit,
a smidgen of sentimentality and blend that mother! Drink in one
fast gulp. Enjoy the
7/31/2019 Six Great new Crime Books
2/3
blurry burn. I really can't wait to read McBride's next novel.
One hell of a book to step
on to the crime fiction stage with.
4) Stagger Bay------by Pearce Hansen
Pearce Hansen has captured that perfect balance of honest
heartfelt feeling set against
a bigger than life, full on operatic violent world. It reminds
me of John Woo before he
came to Hollywood and lost his way: The Killer. Hansen, like Woo
lacks pretense and
cynicism. He knows that violence feels bigger than life when you
are at it's center.
One more film reference - Luc Besson's Professional does this
rare thing I'm clumsily
trying to talk around. Leon is both a comic book character and a
very real man. This
is the rare hat trick Pearce Hansen pulls off. On the surface it
is a solid fast paced pulpnovel, but under the blood slick surface
it is about much more. Read it for the slam
bam good time. Then let it stew around in your brain pan, and
see the richness.
5) Dirty Old Town and Other Stories----by Nigel Bird
What a fantastic collection of short stories. Nigel Bird is both
touching and touched in
turn. I really couldn't put this book down. The images in Sea
Minor, to mention one
story, will stay with me for some time to come. He imbues petty
thieves and innocent
children with the same depth of humanity. The man can write. If
you dont know his
name, you will. He is a writer on his way up.
6) Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat --- by Andrez Bergen
What a joy of a read, it combines hard boiled and future dread
into a wonderful stew.
Chandler, Bladerunner, and completely original. It is a story of
loss and courage in the
face of total despair. I love this book so much, that when
Andrez asked me to write for
an upcoming anthology of tales set in the world of
Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, I
said YES with out even a moments thought. With all I have to get
to, that says
volumes about how much I loved this book. Andrez Bergen is a
total original. I know
he has One Hundred Years of Vicissitude coming out soon, can t
wait.
