A Time Gone By by William Heffernan

A Time Gone By (2003) is a excellently written noir thriller spanning the years 1945-1975 with a good atmosphere, sense of place and time, plot and pace but unfortunately, it did not draw me in because it can sometimes seem contrived;  nevertheless, it is a powerfully evocative piece of work which is worth checking out including the author's other works, eg, the New York Times bestseller, The Dinosaur Club (1997), published by Hale.   For more information on William Heffernan, do check out his Wikipedia page.

Hardback:  William Heffernan is one of the most respected and critically acclaimed authors writing today.  Now, in his sixteenth novel, he uses his powerful, atmospheric style to pay homage to the noir thriller and the great mystery writers of the forties and early fifties.

A Time Gone By begins in the glitter of cafe society in the 1940s as it weaves a complex tale of murder and corruption involving one of New York City's most powerful political families.  Crime fighting judge Wallace Reed, destined to be the next governor of New York, is found bludgeoned to death in his post East Side townhouse.  Thirty years later, Chief of Detectives Jake Downing is still haunted by that murder.  It is the very crime that launched his meteorite police career.  But it is also the crime that sent an innocent man to the electric chair and destroyed Downing's personal world by driving away everyone he had ever loved.  Now, as he faces retirement, Downing decides to set the record and his conscience straight - no matter what it costs;  no matter whom it hurts.

What really happened on that rainy night in 1945?  Who wanted the judge killed?  Certainly the sultry young widow, Cynthia Reed, had questionable reasons for marrying the judge - but did she also want him dead?  Jake Downing knew Cynthia was trouble the moment he saw her;  he knew, but he didn't care.  She was beautiful and vulnerable, and it was Jake's responsibility to protect her.  It was an assignment that would forever alter his life of an idealistic young detective.

Now, three decades later, as he struggles to find the real murderer of Judge Reed, Jake Downing is opening a door he will never be able to close.  But is it the truth Jake really wants, or is it revenge?

Rating:  4/5

Reading and Conversation

I Read Because...

Book Bench

I marvel at this book bench and will look out for more bookish inventions of this kind.

Imprisoned Souls

Birthdays For The Dead by Stuart MacBride

From the hardcover:  Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret...

Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday.  A year later the first card arrived:  homemade, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front - Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified.  Every year another card:  each one worse than the last.

The tabloids call him 'The Birthday Boy'.  He's been snatching girls for twelve years, always in the run-up to their thirteenth birthday, sending the families his homemade cards showing their daughters being slowly tortured to death.

But Ash hasn't told anyone about Rebecca's birthday cards - they all think she's just run away from home - because if anyone finds out, he'll be taken off the investigation.  And he's sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter's killer gets what he deserves...

My take:  MacBride's second stand-alone novel is very different to the Logan McRae series that I have grown accustomed to.  I am relieved to find that the level of swearing is non-critical.  All in all, Birthdays for the Dead (2012) is a top rate and excellent Scottish police procedural with taut plotting and witty dialogue, among others.  A much enjoyable read, certainly so much better than Shatter The Bones (2011), but must say that if you have read MacBride's books before, you would know his plots are sinister and dark and not recommended for the faint-hearted.  I look forward to more from this award-winning author.

More information can be found on the author's official website at www.StuartMacBride.com

Rating:  5/5

Purgatory (Prison Diaries, Volume II) by Jeffrey Archer

An excerpt from the book:  Day 38.  Saturday 25 August 2001.  5.11am.  I wake and think about how I would be spending the August bank holiday weekend if I were not in prison.  I also begin to consider whether there are any advantages to being in jail.  Certainly, incarceration is something to be added to one's experiences, particularly as it has come at a period in life when I felt I was marking time.  I've also have to stretch myself - unfortunate pun.  But I've already reached a stage where I am gaining little from the experience.  As I could be stuck here for a while longer, it might be wise to have an escape plan - escape of the mind.  I've already completed Belmarsh:  Hell, and have penned 44 000 words of Wayland:  Purgatory.  I can't wait to get to heaven, whenever and wherever that might be.

After reading Hell (2002), Archer continues his prison diaries series in a second volume entitled Purgatory (2003).  On 9 August 2001, he was transferred to HMP Wayland, a Category C establishment in Norfolk where he served for sixty-seven days and during that time, continued his frank and dry account of his incarceration and daily degradations inside the British penal system.  This is an eye-opener read full of information on drug pushing in prisons.  It is a corruptible read.  Recommended.  For more information, go to www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk

I do not rate books of this nature.

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Today, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall attended a ceremony at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the bicentenary of the British novelist's birth.  His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales laid a wreath at Dickens' grave at the Poets' Corner.  Dickens' many well-known works reflected Victoria era Britain and focused on social injustices and the plight of the British working class.  Actor Ralph Fiennes read an extract from Bleak House (1852-1853):

Shatter The Bones by Stuart MacBride

Out of all the books in the Logan McRae series, I find the seventh book, Shatter The Bones (2011), very hard going and depressing in terms of the swearing and the subject matter but MacBride can write, oh yes, he is a fine writer.  It is ironic that this is probably his best work so far and yet I cannot wash the outpouring of vitriol from my ears.  Seriously, his writing has logical organization and direction, consistency, intelligence and a mish-mash kind of humour which does not make you want to laugh all the time.  I highly recommend the Logan McRae series to all and sundry but be warned.        


Paperback blurb:  Aberdeen's own mother-daughter singing sensation are through to the semi-finals of TV smash-hit Britain's Next Big Star.  But their reality-TV dream has turned into a real-life nightmare.

The ransom demand appears in all the papers, on the TV, and the internet, telling the nation to dig deep if they want to keep Alison and Jenny alive.

Time is running out, but DS Logan McRae and his colleagues have nothing to go on:  the kidnappers haven't left a single piece of forensic evidence and there are no witnesses.

It looks as if the price of fame just got a lot higher...

For more information, go to www.stuartmacbride.com

Rating:  3/5

Contentment

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore (animation video)

I love it!  For more information on this clever video, go to Vimeo (Moonbot Studios).  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore has been nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 2012 Oscar Academy Awards.

The Soldier's Wife by Joanna Trollope

Joanna Trollope's new book, The Soldier's Wife, is out today.  I have already booked my copy.  She tells us what it is about here:

Link is lost, apologies.

The Sin of a Reader - Part Two

This picture is taken outside Shakespeare & Company Bookstore in Paris.  

Three's A Crowd