The synopsis and other relevant and interesting information can be accessed by clicking on the author's website or if you want to "meet the author" on video, you can click here for his take on this superbly well written book.
My briefest thoughts: A Small Death in Lisbon has been awarded the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award in the Best Crime Novel category in 1999 and the International Deutsche Krimi Prize (German Crime Prize) in the International Novel category in 2003. The book that I read was first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers in 1999 and contains 536 pages. Need I say more?
About the author: John Burdett is a former lawyer who worked in Hong Kong until he found his true vocation as a writer. An Englishman by birth, he has lived in France and Spain, and now splits his time between France and Bangkok.
Backcover blurb: Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep has seen just about everything in Bangkok's crime-riddled District 8. But the terrifying snuff movie he's been sent is something else: the person who dies is Damrong, the beautiful woman he once loved and whom he still dreams about.
And there's more: slayings turn the ensuing investigation into a murder enquiry, and Sonchai into an obsessed and haunted man.
Sonchai's enquiries form a dizzying route from his own apartment, where he sleeps next to his pregnant wife while his fantasies deliver him up to Damrong; to the backstreets of Phnom Penh where street gangs are only the most visible threats; to the gilded rooms of the most exclusive men's club in Bangkok, whose members will do anything to explore their darkest fantasies...
My thoughts: I must say that this is a very far-out read compared to Jake Needham, another author who based his novels in Thailand. I am not talking about the crime part of it which in this book, does not stand out as much as the other part of the book which I have termed "far-out" - namely the supernatural, phobias, superstitions, rituals, witchcraft and the general atmospheric nature of a city teeming with salaciousness, corruption and hypocrisy. But what did I expect? Bangkok is the focal point of an industry as old as time itself.
I am sorry but I cannot get into this book and must say it is rather disappointing. I much rather prefer Jake Needham's books which are more civilized, solid and enjoyable. Have I started out with the wrong book? Perhaps. I do not know... (Bangkok Haunts is the third in the Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep series). The only redeeming qualities of the book are there are more than a few good literary moments and it is funny.
Having said that, I am not altogether giving up on this author because anyone who reads this book will agree that Burdett is a very articulate writer. I just don't like the lack of a tight plot and the excessive information on culture and myths of a larger-than-life city which I think I would have enjoyed reading more if it was a totally separate book.
The third and last book in the "man out of prison" trilogy, Killer, tells about a different type of criminal compared to the first two.
You cannot help but feel sorry for Leonard March, now old, tired and mellow after spending fourteen years incarcerated for a long list of hideous crimes. He has been given a second chance working as a janitor in a small office building and lives in a filthy basement. He is also hoping to reconnect with his three estranged grown-up kids. Each day, he is plagued by past mistakes and wishes his life could have turned out differently. One cannot help thinking whether he has stepped out of one jail only to walk into another, one more brutal and unforgiving than the first.
This is an astonishing story of one man's attempts to try to get back into the society he once violated. Overall, it concentrates on a sympathetic character and whether he is going to succeed and make good that second chance or whether he is going to succumb to his dark past. You will be surprised how things turn out at the end. The idiom "a leopard never changes its spot" never rings so true in this story.
Zeltserman is a genius writer. His prose is understated yet it captures every mood in every way so effectively it stirs up strong emotions throughout. I know it is not often that every book in a trilogy can be considered consistently brilliant but this trilogy is consistently outstanding. Do read them, you will be blown away.
I like Joe Denton from Small Crimes because you could tell he was trying to make a better life for himself after serving a seven year sentence in prison.
As for the protagonist in Pariah, I truly despise him. Like Joe Denton, he served out his full term like a good ol' Mama's boy but when he comes out, instead of trying to turn his life around like Joe, he harbours this bitter desire to hunt down the man who sold him out years ago. He is so blinded by his desire that he cannot see that he has bought a no return ticket on the road to Hell.
The old days as he used to know it are long gone but for Kyle Nevin, nothing else matters. He may be living in the present but his mind is still set in the past. He is as mean, heartless and bad-ass as you can possibly find in a loser, actually he is much worse. If Small Crimes is about redemption, Pariah is the polar opposite - it is about revenge.
Dave Zeltserman has not only successfully created a credible character so rotten and disturbed that we would love to hate him but also take the reader on an ultra raw and perverse trip into the realms of evil itself. There is maturity and wisdom in his writing and I reckon a worthy lesson to be learned once you can get past your repulsion.
As much as I am repressed by the protagonist, I am compelled to read the book page after page. As the protagonist is keen to remind everyone in the book, "Nothing in the world's lower than a rat." Ain't that true? But if you want to know what's lower than a rat, you gotta read the book. It is an A+++ book by a very gifted writer.
Pariah is the second book in the 'man just out of prison' trilogy.
The first chapter can be read here on Serpent's Tail, an independent book publisher in UK.
I am glad I picked up this book because it is one hell of a book. I rarely come across authors who write real stuff based on the grimness of reality or the complexities of life without having to justify or explain away its validity in any terms. Zeltserman reminds me of Stephen Jay Schwartz, both of whom write without any pretensions while laying it bare for all to see. I like that and can identify with that. At its core, this book is about an ordinary man who is considered by society as a down-and-out and who is seeking redemption for his past mistakes.
Someone once said that every journey begins with a few small steps. Well, ironically, one small crime or wrong move can beget larger crimes too huge to comprehend too. And this is what happened to Joe Denton, a crooked cop. Nobody wants him around, not his ex-wife and two daughters, his parents or his former colleagues. Friends? What friends? With every obstacle in his way, can he turn his life around and seek goodness out of so much evil? Equally as important, can the people once close to him forgive him? What about the big and bad society? Can society accept an ex-convict who has learned his lessons in their midst? Do they want to? Most times, it is easy to preach about forgiveness but in reality, it is a hard act to put into practice. However, there is always that saving grace - hope.
This book deserves to be out there and read, in other words, it comes with my highest recommendation. Totally genius.
Small Crimes is the first in the "man just out of prison" trilogy.
About the author: Dave Zeltserman left software development to write crime fiction and study Kung Fu. He lives in the Boston area with his wife. Small Crimes is his third novel. You can find out more about the author by checking out his website or he can be found on Facebook.
About the author: Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1936, and still lives there today. He has an academic background in philosophy and psychology, and is a full professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Published in 1996 when he was 60 years old, his first novel, The Silence of the Rain, was honoured in 1997 with the Nestle and Jabuti prizes - the two greatest literature prizes given in Brazil.
My thoughts: December Heat is the second novel in the Espinosa series set between the neighbourhoods of Copacabana and Peixoto in Rio de Janeiro. Running beneath this classic crime narrative is a story of a melancholy bachelor existence of a bookish and sandwich-eating detective who has a mind of a philosopher and a heart-felt yearning for love. The protagonist comes across as a sensitive man and at this moment in time, I do not quite know what to make of him as this is my first read by an author new to me but I have faith he will grow on me as time goes on. Here is what the author has to say about this character in a random interview:
Espinosa is a common man. He is not a hero, he is not always fighting against dangerous criminals, and he does not get all the beautiful blondes and brunettes that cross his path. He is a public employee, a middle-aged person, and a solitary man. He could be our neighbor. However, at the same time, he has a critical mind and a romantic heart; he feels he is an eccentric in the police world and out of place in general. He is a contradictory common man, if this makes sense. Above all, Espinosa is an ethical man. Two decades before the birth of the character Inspector Espinosa, Brazil was still under a military regime, which had ruled for a very long time, and the police were conceived as a repressive force and not as an investigative apparatus. Besides, several divisions were corrupt. Therefore, the image of Brazilian police at that time was not good, and that bad impression has persisted until the present time. Nowadays, after more than two decades of full democracy, we still have a police force contaminated by the past. With Inspector Espinosa, I intended to create a character that provided the image of an ethical policeman, not as a utopian ideal but as a real possibility.
The initial events - murders, assault, disappearances - that occurred are unclear and without any apparent motive for any of the individual attacks. There are lots of unanswerable questions which starts with an insignificant event and then goes on to be the beginning of a crusade. The insignificant event being the accidental find of a lost wallet by a street boy of Rio when on a hot and humid December evening, a retired policeman spends a typically alcohol-fuelled night out with his girlfriend who is a prostitute. When he wakes up the next morning, his wallet and car keys are missing, his girlfriend has been murdered and amnesia has conveniently set in. In comes Inspector Espinosa who thinks that the case is open and shut but also convinced that there is more here than meets the eye.
The beginning is terribly dull but it changes halfway through when it becomes more engaging as the pace starts to pick up. I will give you an idea of how dull it is for me using a passage from the book which I shall quote here:
The chief asked for his help in reducing the mountains of paperwork accumulating on his desk. It was a dull, strictly bureaucratic job, which is why he thought it matched his mood perfectly. They worked at neighbouring tables in the chief's office. His difficulties in concentrating on the work stemmed not only from his situation but from his fear that at any moment the door could open to reveal someone with a problem that had nothing to do with what he was reading. For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon he worked through the piles, an activity as exciting as standing in line at the bank.
However, there are some good literary moments. First of all, what I find of interest is the author's take on the struggles the street children of Rio face in their daily existence albeit lightly and not in-depth. In our safe cocoon, it is sad to know that such a life exists for none other than young children who ought to have been getting an education and making the most of their childhood rather than ekeing a living out in the streets.
Secondly, hitting at me from almost every page is the exotic ambience of a city that I have never been to which the author has skilfully put across. Because it is impossible for me to travel to all the countries in the world in my lifetime, I have come to rely on books I read to transcend that kind of atmosphere and culture onto my imagination and mental faculties.
Thirdly, it is a different novel than the one I normally read in that there is no CSI, no guns and no action-packed thrills. Rather, the whole investigation is conducted at a mundane pace and is solved using good insight and wit. It is too refined to be classified as a cosy mystery and yet, this kind of book brings about a refreshing change from the persistent noir fiction.
The translation is as exact as it can be but I still wish I could have read it in its original language. Lastly, even though I have enjoyed reading this book but I do not feel that I will be rushing to read the others in the series (below). This book falls into the category of either you are drawn to it or you are not and I am afraid I am not particularly drawn to it.
Other novels in chronological order are Southwesterly Wind (2004), A Window in Copacabana (2005), Pursuit (2006), Blackout (2008) and Alone In The Crowd (2009). All have been translated into English from Portuguese.
Thanks to my local library for stocking this book.
Need a break from reading? Need to get a message across like 'Don't you ever interrupt me while I'm reading a book'? Watch the music video below and enjoy:
Backcover blurb: Ex-agent Cotton Malone wants to know what really happened to his father, officially lost at sea when his submarine went down in the north Atlantic. But when he uses his government contacts to obtain the submarine's sealed file, Malone finds he is not the only person looking for answers.
Pitched into a lethal power struggle between mysterious twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk, Malone embarks on a dangerous adventure involving Nazi explorations in Antartica, US government conspiracies, and a series of cryptic clues built into the legend of Charlemagne.
Forced to choose a side where neither can win, Malone is determined to uncover the truth behind his father's death - but can he escape his own?
Steve Berry talks about The Charlemagne Pursuit:
My thoughts: The paperback contains 589 pages and I would not be surprised if readers gripe about its length about halfway through the book. Most of us are used to reading about 350-400 pages. However, I have come to expect Steve Berry to deliver his exceptional novels at this length having read five of his books. I guess we could do without a few added surprises at certain intervals in the book which, instead of bringing the mystery to a conclusion, prolongs it.
Length aside, the historical aspect of the book is new to me and an eye-opener read. It has some good moments namely the ride to no-man's-land (Antartica) and I have enjoyed reading the book despite the length. On the other hand, I am doubtful as to how the legend of Charlemagne fits into the protagonist's personal life but then again, I take my hat off to Steve Berry for being able to knit two seemingly unconnected plots into a cohesive whole. Overall, I think this is the only unengaging and unimaginative thriller that I have read of the Cotton Malone series. If you are a fan, by all means, do read it but if you are just starting out, take a pass on this one otherwise you will never know how brilliant Steve Berry can be.
Anyone who is interested in reading about the continent labeled a place of peace, the latest book, In Shackleton's Footsteps: A Return To The Heart Of The Antarctic by Henry Worsley (Hardcover: 3 February, 2011) can be purchased on the UK Amazon site or on the USA Amazon site.
Other books of Antarctic expeditions can be found here.
Do we still acknowledge the concept of holding and reading a book or have we turned our backs on them in favour of ebooks, computers, iPads, Kindles, Nooks, etc?
Do we even know what a book is? (tongue-in-cheek)
I have neither read the book nor seen it as it is written for children. However, having watched the video below, I thought that although the book may have been directed at young children but it certainly contains an adult message which postulates that paperbacks are still the most widely chosen form of reading.
As the man himself, Lane Smith, explains: "Not to say that I'm not excited by the new technologies and reading devices introduced (it seems) nearly every month, I am. But I'm sure on some level I'll always be a traditionalist book guy."
Writers sometimes find themselves in a dilemma called writer's block where they temporarily lose their creative ability to carry on with their writing.
What about readers? I believe we readers do share the same dilemma too in our love of reading which is known as reader's block.
As for blogging, it is widely known as blogger's block.
I am currently suffering from the last two. Blah.
It came about when I was reading Steve Berry's The Venetian Betrayal a couple of posts back and I found myself struggling to finish the book as well as blog about it. In fact, I changed my blog post a few times because I was not able to find the words and thoughts to write about it with any degree of satisfaction.
The Concrete Blonde is the third Harry Bosch Novel published in 1994. It centres on a civil trial involving Harry Bosch and a purported serial killer dubbed the Dollmaker whom Bosch shot to death four years ago. The nom de plume 'Dollmaker' comes about because the killer uses the victims' own make-up to paint their faces like dolls after he has killed them. The dead man's widow wants justice served on the wrongful killing of her husband, father of two daughters, whom she said is not the Dollmaker and is innocent.
When a note addressed to Bosch taunts that he has killed the wrong guy and that the body count continues, the pressure mounts up for Bosch big time. Questions about whether Bosch has shot the wrong guy, whether the real Dollmaker is still out there or whether there is a copy-cat killer carrying on the Dollmaker's sick game pour a lot of doubts on Bosch's spur of the moment judgment that fateful night four years ago. More sinisterly, is he being set up and if so, by whom?
Interesting plot, strong characters including a much-adored protagonist, convincing evocation of court-room drama, seamless dialogue flow, all in all, a must-read. Connelly is a star.
As I have said in my last post on Michael Connelly's The Reversal, he is one of the best and inspiring contemporary writers of crime fiction and does not disappoint his fans even in his earlier books. I have a feeling I have read this book before but it must have been a long time ago because there are snips and snatches which seem familiar but I cannot remember fully.
Anyhow, a good book will always bring delight, enjoyment and a fresh perspective even when read and re-read much like a classic, therefore, I cannot recommend Bosch's books highly enough to everyone.
Today, I came across some amazing photos which I could not resist sharing. The subject is libraries. I am pretty sure celebrities read as much as their hectic schedule allows them to just like any of us. Then again, some books may be for show or are coffee table books. Who cares? To digress a moment, I store my books on two DIY bookcases (there is no room in my house for more than two bookcases), on windowsills, ledges, bedroom floor, under the bed, on my bed, next to the fireplace, under the flower pot stand, on the kitchen counter top and in my handbag. What about the rich and famous, where do you think they put their books? I have picked out four of my favourites here:
1) Karl Lagerfield (my coveted library)
2) Oprah Winfrey (a bit too orderly)
3) Diane Keaton (unique but too middle-aged for me)
First paragraph in the book: Babylon. May, 323 BC. Alexander of Macedonia had decided yesterday to kill the man himself. Usually he delegated such tasks, but not today. His father had taught him many things that served him well, but one lesson above all he'd never forgotten. Executions were for the living.
Backcover blurb: For ex-field agent Cotton Malone the stakes have never been higher: a deadly virus that could wipe out civilisation as we know it - and a cure that lies buried in the past.
A secret international coalition has created a lethal biological weapon. Whoever develops the cure will control the future of global warfare. Yet that cure could already exist, buried centuries before with Alexander the Great.
When Malone hears about it, he joins the hunt for Alexander's long-lost tomb. His quest soon becomes a harrowing fight for truth that has unimaginable repercussions...
In 2008, world renowned author Steve Berry talks about his third book in the Cotton Malone thriller series and gives tips for aspiring writers:
Fans always provide the best reviews, a delight to watch:
My thoughts: Have you read the Cotton Malone thriller series yet? If not, I urge you to start today. If so, join the club. It is a first rate, page turning, suspenseful, unforgettable and thought provoking thriller which I just cannot put down. If there is one gripe, it would be that the book is a touch too long which put my attention span to the test toward the conclusion. Otherwise, I take my hat off to Steve Berry again and again.
Apart from the images on the author's website, I found images of the dwindling Aral Sea produced over a span of approximately thirty years sourced from www.envis.maharashtra.gov or you can get more images/information from almost anywhere on the internet:
For those who want to know more of Alexander the Great, whether he was a 'wise visionary or a reckless, bloody conqueror', Steve Berry recommends Peter Green'sAlexander of Macedon, A Historical Biography. Steve Berry wrote that Green's thoughtful study makes clear that Alexander spent his entire life, with legendary success, in pursuit of nothing but personal glory. In the end, Alexander himself said it best:
"Toil and risk are the price of glory, but it is a lovely thing to live with courage and die leaving an everlasting fame."
