A Year in Books V: 2005
At last we come to the end... at least the end of last year's titles.
66. The Bounty Hunters - Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard became famous for his crime fiction but he started out writing westerns, switching genres when the market for westerns began to disappear. His novel-length westerns have been in print for some time and his short stories were recently compiled in hardcover. Several of Leonard's crime novels have been made into movies (such as Get Shorty) and some of his westerns - Hombre and Valdez Is Coming - made the same leap.
All of this is to say that Leonard's westerns are every bit as good as his later work. The Bounty Hunters is short, sharp and entertaining.
67. Boyos - Richard Marinick
Boyos received a lot of local press when it was published - not surprising considering the author is a former Massachusetts State Trooper who served time in prison for an armored car heist. The novel centers around John 'Whacko' Curran, a member of the Southie underworld, who finds himself at odds with crime boss Marty Fallon - a thinly veiled Whitey Bulger figure.
Marinick fills his book with a lot of Boston flavor and plenty of 'inside' information. The old adage 'write what you know' is in full force in Boyos and the reader is treated to fascinating yet informative scenes, such as the proper planning of an armored car heist. The characters and the action match-up as well, leaving me looking forward to more from Mr. Marinick.
68. Road to Purgatory - Max Allan Collins
So... Max Allan Collins penned the graphic novel Road To Perdition which was turned into moving starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, for which Collins also wrote the novelization. In Road To Purgatory Collins picks up the story of the O'Sullivan Family, looking back to Michael O'Sullivan Sr.'s (the Hanks character) early involvement with John Looney (the Newman character) and forward to Michael Jr.'s return from WWII and search for vengeance. I've written elsewhere about how much I enjoy Collin's work, so it'll come as no surprise that I like this one.
69. The Tears of Autumn - Charles McCarry
In 2004 Charles McCarry published Old Boys, his first book featuring master spy Paul Christopher in over a dozen years. The book did well, and the resulting press brought McCarry's name to the attention of many readers like myself who had never heard of the man. The result was that I checked out The Tears of Autumn from the library, took it home, and devoured it. McCarry takes a shop-worn fictional device - the murder of JFK - and runs with it in an entire new direction.
Like John LeCarre, McCarry was once a player in the secret world he writes about, and like Alan Furst he has a fine eye for the telling detail. I fully intend to work my way through the rest of the exploits of Paul Christopher. If you like 'spy stories' I advise you to do the same.
70. The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Some books, even good or great ones are like work: you labor through page after page until you reach the end. And other books are a pleasure from start to finish, like beer by the sea side on a hot summer day. I've read that Doyle came to dislike writing his stories of Sherlock Holmes, but a sense of boyish delight fairly leaps off the pages of The Lost World. Professor Challenger, who leads an expedition to the Lost World of the title, is if anything a more arresting character than the famous denizen of Baker Street. This past weekend I labored through Peter Jackson's ponderous King Kong and I couldn't help thinking that The Lost World would make a vastly more interesting epic for the screen.
71. The King of the Jews - Nick Tosches
While it's not unusual to start a biography at the beginning of the subject's life, it is perhaps less customary to start a biography at the beginning of the subject's religion. But in The King of the Jews, a biography of the notorious Jazz Age gambler Arnold Rothstein, Tosches does exactly that, exploring the roots of the Jewish faith. He continues on in that vein, mixing in Rothstein's life story with rants on New York's smoking ban and other ruminations on life in 21st century America. If you're looking for a conventional biography this ain't it.
72. The Master of Rain - Tom Bradby
A serviceable historical noir set in turn-of-the-century Shanghai. I think I would have enjoyed this book far more had the author dropped the whole serial killer plot line and instead drew more story elements from the setting and historical background.
73. The Two-Part Invention - Madeline L'Engle
This is the final volume of L'Engle's autobiographical and meditative Crosswick Journals. L'Engle writes of her courtship by, and marriage to, Hugh Franklin - and his final illness and death.
The Two-Part Invention is my favorite of the three Crosswicks Journals I've read so far; I took it in slowly, savoring every word. Frankly I'm struggling to adequately express my thoughts on this book. I think in this short format it's best for me to just say I've yet to read a better book concerning love and grief.
74. The Black Stranger, and Other American Tales - Robert E. Howard
Like Lord of Samarcand this is another collection of Howard stories published by the University of Nebraska Press; in fact it is the first volume in their Works of Robert E. Howard Series. The tales in this collection from the sword-and-sorcery that made Howard famous, or from his lesser known historical adventure stories. These are horror stories, set for the most part in the American south and west, and are closer in spirit to Poe than to Tolkien.
75. At All Costs - David Weber
I like Weber's Honor Harrington series - space opera is just fine with me - but damn if his novels aren't becoming more and more... dense, with a corresponding slow-down in the pace of events. I'm along for the ride, but newcomers to the series should sample one of the earlier Harrington tales to see if the series is to their taste. If so, they're more likely to enjoy the intricacies of the later novels in the series.
76. The Curved Saber - Harold Lamb
Harold Lamb was both a respected historian and a pulp author. His historical adventure stories, largely published in Adventure, inspired writers from Robert E. Howard to David Drake. Much of Lamb's fiction has been out of print for half a century (though Bison Books is due to re-issue some of it); I came across this copy of The Curved Saber tucked away in the Thomas Crane Library. The book features stories of Khlit the Cossack, Lamb's most famous character. If you enjoy the likes of Bob Howard, Rudyard Kipling, or Conan Doyle, you'll be right at home tucking into this book.
77. Overlord - Max Hastings
Overlord stands in stark contrast to works like Stephen Ambrose's D-Day. While Ambrose presents the Normandy invasion as a simplistic triumph of western democracy over the fascist war machine, Hastings details exactly how difficult the invasion and subsequent struggle to move inland was to achieve. He goes to great lengths to show that, despite the truly evil nature of the Nazi regime, the German army which served that regime, was perhaps the most professional and accomplished fighting force of the war. Far from seeing the Allied victory as inevitable, the reader comes away with an inkling of how costly it was to subdue such a difficult foe.
66. The Bounty Hunters - Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard became famous for his crime fiction but he started out writing westerns, switching genres when the market for westerns began to disappear. His novel-length westerns have been in print for some time and his short stories were recently compiled in hardcover. Several of Leonard's crime novels have been made into movies (such as Get Shorty) and some of his westerns - Hombre and Valdez Is Coming - made the same leap.
All of this is to say that Leonard's westerns are every bit as good as his later work. The Bounty Hunters is short, sharp and entertaining.
67. Boyos - Richard Marinick
Boyos received a lot of local press when it was published - not surprising considering the author is a former Massachusetts State Trooper who served time in prison for an armored car heist. The novel centers around John 'Whacko' Curran, a member of the Southie underworld, who finds himself at odds with crime boss Marty Fallon - a thinly veiled Whitey Bulger figure.
Marinick fills his book with a lot of Boston flavor and plenty of 'inside' information. The old adage 'write what you know' is in full force in Boyos and the reader is treated to fascinating yet informative scenes, such as the proper planning of an armored car heist. The characters and the action match-up as well, leaving me looking forward to more from Mr. Marinick.
68. Road to Purgatory - Max Allan Collins
So... Max Allan Collins penned the graphic novel Road To Perdition which was turned into moving starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, for which Collins also wrote the novelization. In Road To Purgatory Collins picks up the story of the O'Sullivan Family, looking back to Michael O'Sullivan Sr.'s (the Hanks character) early involvement with John Looney (the Newman character) and forward to Michael Jr.'s return from WWII and search for vengeance. I've written elsewhere about how much I enjoy Collin's work, so it'll come as no surprise that I like this one.
69. The Tears of Autumn - Charles McCarry
In 2004 Charles McCarry published Old Boys, his first book featuring master spy Paul Christopher in over a dozen years. The book did well, and the resulting press brought McCarry's name to the attention of many readers like myself who had never heard of the man. The result was that I checked out The Tears of Autumn from the library, took it home, and devoured it. McCarry takes a shop-worn fictional device - the murder of JFK - and runs with it in an entire new direction.
Like John LeCarre, McCarry was once a player in the secret world he writes about, and like Alan Furst he has a fine eye for the telling detail. I fully intend to work my way through the rest of the exploits of Paul Christopher. If you like 'spy stories' I advise you to do the same.
70. The Lost World - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Some books, even good or great ones are like work: you labor through page after page until you reach the end. And other books are a pleasure from start to finish, like beer by the sea side on a hot summer day. I've read that Doyle came to dislike writing his stories of Sherlock Holmes, but a sense of boyish delight fairly leaps off the pages of The Lost World. Professor Challenger, who leads an expedition to the Lost World of the title, is if anything a more arresting character than the famous denizen of Baker Street. This past weekend I labored through Peter Jackson's ponderous King Kong and I couldn't help thinking that The Lost World would make a vastly more interesting epic for the screen.
71. The King of the Jews - Nick Tosches
While it's not unusual to start a biography at the beginning of the subject's life, it is perhaps less customary to start a biography at the beginning of the subject's religion. But in The King of the Jews, a biography of the notorious Jazz Age gambler Arnold Rothstein, Tosches does exactly that, exploring the roots of the Jewish faith. He continues on in that vein, mixing in Rothstein's life story with rants on New York's smoking ban and other ruminations on life in 21st century America. If you're looking for a conventional biography this ain't it.
72. The Master of Rain - Tom Bradby
A serviceable historical noir set in turn-of-the-century Shanghai. I think I would have enjoyed this book far more had the author dropped the whole serial killer plot line and instead drew more story elements from the setting and historical background.
73. The Two-Part Invention - Madeline L'Engle
This is the final volume of L'Engle's autobiographical and meditative Crosswick Journals. L'Engle writes of her courtship by, and marriage to, Hugh Franklin - and his final illness and death.
The Two-Part Invention is my favorite of the three Crosswicks Journals I've read so far; I took it in slowly, savoring every word. Frankly I'm struggling to adequately express my thoughts on this book. I think in this short format it's best for me to just say I've yet to read a better book concerning love and grief.
74. The Black Stranger, and Other American Tales - Robert E. Howard
Like Lord of Samarcand this is another collection of Howard stories published by the University of Nebraska Press; in fact it is the first volume in their Works of Robert E. Howard Series. The tales in this collection from the sword-and-sorcery that made Howard famous, or from his lesser known historical adventure stories. These are horror stories, set for the most part in the American south and west, and are closer in spirit to Poe than to Tolkien.
75. At All Costs - David Weber
I like Weber's Honor Harrington series - space opera is just fine with me - but damn if his novels aren't becoming more and more... dense, with a corresponding slow-down in the pace of events. I'm along for the ride, but newcomers to the series should sample one of the earlier Harrington tales to see if the series is to their taste. If so, they're more likely to enjoy the intricacies of the later novels in the series.
76. The Curved Saber - Harold Lamb
Harold Lamb was both a respected historian and a pulp author. His historical adventure stories, largely published in Adventure, inspired writers from Robert E. Howard to David Drake. Much of Lamb's fiction has been out of print for half a century (though Bison Books is due to re-issue some of it); I came across this copy of The Curved Saber tucked away in the Thomas Crane Library. The book features stories of Khlit the Cossack, Lamb's most famous character. If you enjoy the likes of Bob Howard, Rudyard Kipling, or Conan Doyle, you'll be right at home tucking into this book.
77. Overlord - Max Hastings
Overlord stands in stark contrast to works like Stephen Ambrose's D-Day. While Ambrose presents the Normandy invasion as a simplistic triumph of western democracy over the fascist war machine, Hastings details exactly how difficult the invasion and subsequent struggle to move inland was to achieve. He goes to great lengths to show that, despite the truly evil nature of the Nazi regime, the German army which served that regime, was perhaps the most professional and accomplished fighting force of the war. Far from seeing the Allied victory as inevitable, the reader comes away with an inkling of how costly it was to subdue such a difficult foe.
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