Tag: Crime

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Posted September 13, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Dinner (Goodreads)
Author: Herman Koch
Translator: Sam Garrett
Published: Text, 2012
Pages: 309
Genres: Crime, Literary Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Paul and Claire are going out to dinner with Paul’s brother and his wife. The reason for this isn’t the usual family get together, this time they have something important to discuss; their children. The characters, the overpriced restaurant and the secret is what makes The Dinner by Herman Koch this novel live up to the hype. This satirical book was already a best seller but until only recently this book was never available in English.

I have to admit I was really looking forward to reading this book for my local book club; but what I was getting into, I really didn’t know. The Dinner is dark elegant book that takes you on a journey with some very unexpected twists. At first glance this book felt like a very light and easy read and you will plow through this book so quickly that when something unexpected happens you won’t see it coming. The characters in the book seem very real and Paul’s brother and his wife remind me a lot of characters from a Bret Easton Ellis book; they are charismatic and ambitious but feel very shallow nihilists.

The restaurant was a brilliant backdrop for this book; it was one of those places you need to book months in advance and Paul’s brother Serge thought it sport to try and book a table for the same day. Fine dining at a pretentious restaurant really felt like the perfect location for the explosive events in this book, you get the sense that everyone should act calm and composed in a place like this but what’s happened doesn’t really go hand in hand with calm or composed.

I was really pleased with this book, I love the dark and satirical nature of the plot mixed with the fine dining experience, they come together to make a thrilling read. The Dinner is full of mayhem and you will be shocked with every course been served but there is so much more in this book, the characters are real and it will question your thoughts of the best way to raise your children. The thought provoking elements remind me of Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap and this book finds the balance between mystery and family drama. A well developed novel that I highly recommend people read

Question Tuesday: Is Your Preferred Crime Style Gritty, Hardboiled And Realistic; Or Genteel And Cosy, A Puzzle To Examine With Cruelty And Realism Downplayed?

Posted August 14, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Question Tuesday / 0 Comments

If you are a regular reader or know me at all you’ll know the answer to this question is Dark, Gritty and Hardboiled. I’m a big fan of the hardboiled and Noir genres that have become famous in the 1940’s and you can see book reviews for these types of books under Pulp (if you are curious to know the difference between Hardboiled and Noir check out this post).

I’ve always been a fan of the dark and realistic, and while I do like that occasional cosy read, I often feel that the downplaying can often be overdone and in the end, I tend to not enjoy them. Those major bestselling crime novels tend to annoy me because they all feel formulaic and predictable. I want the laconic and dispassionate styles of a good pulp novel.

I know pulp novels don’t seem to be very popular anymore, there are some novelists that still write them like James Ellroy, James Sallis and Lawrence Block but I would love to know what others think of this genre and what they look for in a crime novel.

The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli

Posted July 8, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: The Last Kind Words (Goodreads)
Author: Tom Piccirilli
Series: Terrier Rand #1
Published: Random House, 2012
Pages: 336
Genres: Thriller
My Copy: Audiobook

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I picked up this novel because I got an email from Amazon recommending this book because I liked Drive by James Sallis. While I didn’t believe it would be anything like Drive the synopsis did intrigue me. Terrier Rand grew up in a household of thieves and grifters; from a very young age Terry had been engaging in theft. He left his family and life of crime to go straight but five years later he has been dragged back in when his brother is claiming to be innocent of one of the victims of his killing spree. His brother is only days away from execution and has asked his brother to look into one of the murders. He has pleaded guilty for all the other murders but the police won’t listen. Collie doesn’t want to the real killer to remain on the loose and even though Terry hates his brother and what he did, he finds himself investigating.

Terrier finds himself being sucked into a life he has tried really hard to escape. As the story slowly unfolds Terry begins to find out that maybe his grandfather was right when he told him; “We’re born thieves, it’s our nature, handed down to me, handed down from me. This is our way.” Can Terry really escape a life of crime? Is Collie really guilty of this crime? Can Terry save his teenage sister from falling into a life of crime?

The Last Kind Words has some interesting family elements throughout this novel; each member of the family is unique and interesting; even if they are all named after dogs. His father, Pinsch is a retired cat burglar, his uncles Mal and Grey are in trouble with the local mob and his Grandfather Old Shep may be suffering from Alzheimer’s but still proving time and time again that he is a master pickpocket. Throughout the book, the reader is left wondering if Terry should help his family or try and save himself; always questioning the importance of family, when your family can be so self destructive.

From the start I was hooked, this novel had a nice pace to it, mixing elements of crime and mystery with an interesting character driven story about love and family. While Tom Piccirilli did a wonderful job in writing a novel of suspense, guilt, justice and redemption, I never really understood Terry’s motivations. I get that he wanted to help his family and I get that the book is meant to question the reader but I just felt that the characters motivation never felt clear to begin with, he didn’t want to be there, he didn’t want to help his brother, in fact he hated his brother and never believed him, so it felt like obligation was the only reason to return, even though I thought that reason didn’t fit this character too well.

The Last Kind Words is an interesting book and well worth reading. Crime lovers will love the suspense and mystery throughout this book and literary lovers will love the character building and family turmoil in this novel. The narrative is atmospheric with a slight noir feel to it; personally I would have loved more of a noir narrative but Tom Piccirilli did a brilliant job writing this book anyway. One of the better books I’ve read this year; I just had so much fun reading The Last Kind Words.

The Grifters by Jim Thompson

Posted June 27, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: The Grifters (Goodreads)
Author: Jim Thompson
Published: Knopf Doubleday, 1963
Pages: 189
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

There is a reason they call Jim Thompson the Dimestore Dostoevsky; his works really spotlight the moral dilemma his protagonists and main characters face, so I was really looking forward to reading The Grifters. I’ve seen the movie so I was interested in seeing the inner thoughts of the characters. 25-year-old short con operator Roy Dillion suffers an injury when a simple con goes horribly wrong; he finds himself in hospital recovering from an internal haemorrhage. This brush with death has led him to rethink his life, though his mother Lilly feels like Roy still owes her. She’s inattentive and manipulative while trying to care for Roy, but she is also trying to pull off a long con at the race tracks at the same time. Throw in another femme fatale, Moira, Roy’s girlfriend, who we also find out is also a grifter who favours the long con. The three explosive characters make for an interesting and twisted noir story, much to what we have come to expect from Jim Thompson.

I have to admit I do love Jim Thompson’s twisted plotting, he captures the pulp feel well while giving it is own flavour of surrealism. While The Grifters is not is most solid piece it does a good job at spotlighting what this author can do with crime and with is unreliable narrating. The characters are great and they each work well together while making life difficult for each other. His is one of the few pulp authors that break into the world of serious literary while never losing sight of what he does best.

If you haven’t read a Jim Thompson book maybe this is a good place to start, it’s not as dark or gritty, the characters are great, the plot isn’t as twisted as some of his other works and the suspense is a bit watered down. Let’s just call this book ‘Jim Thompson for beginners’; it gives you everything you expect in a Thompson book, just not to the same intensity, making the book approachable and easy to read.

Ned Kelly Award Longlist Announced (2012)

Posted June 21, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary News / 0 Comments

The Ned Kelly Awards are closely associated with the Melbourne Writers Festival and recognises Crime fiction within Australian Literature. The 2012 long list was recently announced.

Best First Fiction

Boyd Anderson Ludo
Allan Barbeler An Absence of Discretion
Andrez Bergen Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat
Claire Corbett When We Have Wings
Virginia Duigan The Precipice
Y.A. Erskine The Brotherhood
Maggie Groff Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerrilla Knitter’s Institute
Sylvia Johnson Watch Out For Me
Melanie Joosten Berlin Syndrome
Stuart Littlemore Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice
Noel Mealey Murder and Redemption
Daniel O’Malley The Rook
Alastair Sarre Prohibited Zone
Peter Twohig The Cartographer
Kim Westwood The Courier’s New Bicycle
Gas Wylde Casino Kurnell

Best Fiction

Lenny Bartulin De Luxe
A.A. Bell Hindsight
Honey Brown After The Darkness
J.C. Burke Pig Boy
Peter Corris Comeback
Miranda Darling Siren’s Sting
Garry Disher Whispering Death
Jaye Ford Scared Yet?
Kerry Greenwood Cooking the Books
Brett Hoffmann The Race
Katherine Howell Silent Fear
Stephen M Irwin The Broken One
Malcolm Knox The Life
Adriana Koulias The Sixth Key
Nansi Kunze Dangerously Placed
Tobsha Learner The Map
Stuart Littlemore Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice
Colleen McCullough The Prodigal Son
Barry Maitland Chelsea Mansions
Kel Robertson Rip Off
Michael Robotham The Wreckage
Jennifer Rowe Love, Honour & O’Brien
Kirsten Tranter A Common Loss
Peter Twohig The Cartographer
Kim Westwood The Courier’s New Bicycle
Felicity Young A Dissection of Murder

Best True Crime

Hilary Bonney The Double Life of Herman Rockefeller
Peter Corris Mad Dog
Eamonn Duff Sins of the Father
Michael Duffy Call Me Cruel
Lucy Frost Abandoned Women
Fiona Harari A Tragedy in Two Acts
Rochelle Jackson Partners and Crime
Rachael Jane Chin Nice Girl
Kevin Morgan Detective Piggot’s Casebook
Kevin Morgan Gun Alley
James Morton and Susanna Lobez Gangland Melbourne
James Morton and Susanna Lobez Gangland Sydney
Stephen Orr The Cruel City
Liz Porter Cold Case File
Mark ‘Chopper’ Read Road To Nowhere
Kay Schubert Perfect Stranger
Adam Shand Outlaws
David Spiteri The Prez

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Posted May 30, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Classic, Crime / 0 Comments

Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Goodreads)
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes #3
Published: Penguin, 1892
Pages: 307
Genres: Classic, Crime
My Copy: Audiobook

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

It’s often really hard to review classic literature; simply because it’s already stood the test of time and that makes it difficult to be critical of the book. I’m not really a fan of reading a collection of short stories, especially over a few days; but I really did enjoy reading through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’m not sure why I haven’t read more of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels; this is my second with the first being A Study in Scarlet. I think I need to pick up my act and read more of his books; ideally all of the Sherlock Holmes novels.

Sherlock really is a great character, with some interesting quirks. I think at one point I thought he was taking cocaine to get over the monotony of not having a case to work on and then later in the book he was taking it because he was bored with a case. He really has an eye for detail and often it is really impressive the way he solves a case with the details that he discovers. Dr Watson; while you don’t get too much information about him, having him narrate the stories gives these books the extra boost it needs. The unreliable narrator is the perfect way to hide aspects of each case, without having the reader think the author is withholding on purpose.

There is not much I can say against this book apart from the fact it’s a collection of short stories. I feel like each story only gives you a quick glimpse into the brilliance of Sherlock and then the case is solved. I do like the way that this book does flow together without making the reader needing to reset the mind in preparation for the next story. This may be simply the fact that each story is in the same style and the characters are the same, but when it comes to reading a collection of short stories, this is often what I prefer. I probably should have read The Sign of Four in preparation for this month’s book club read but it will be the next Sherlock Holmes novel I get to.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Posted May 26, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 0 Comments

Title: Crime and Punishment (Goodreads)
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Translator: David McDuff
Published: Penguin, 1866
Pages: 671
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

While I often find it hard to review a classic novel because we already know it’s stood the test of time, it is even harder to review one that has been translated into English as well. Some of the beauty in the writing could have been lost in the translation and because there is so many different translations out there, how do you choose which one to read. This version of Crime and Punishment was translated by David McDuff and I must admit I didn’t really notice anything wrong with the translation at all. It was only upon reflecting that I realised that something could have been lost in the translation.

I have to admit I really love Russian literature and Crime and Punishment will be the front runner for my favourite Russian piece of literature. Raskolnikov is a conflicted character; he is showing a lot of interest in the classes and thinking he is of a higher class than others believes he has the right to commit murder. Contrary to the title, this novel doesn’t really focus on the crime or the punishment but rather the inner turmoil of Raskolnikov as well as the impact on his intellect and emotions. It is not until the very end that the sense of guilt overwhelms him and he confesses and ends his alienation.

Despite the rest of the characters in this book, the bulk of this novel plays out in the mind of Raskolnikov. Fyodor Dostoevsky must have been a very skilled writer to be able to get into the mindset of such a deranged mind. While the murder of two people is definitely a crime, I think the moral that comes across in this book is that the biggest crime was that Raskolnikov placed himself above his fellow man. I wonder if Dostoevsky was trying to also show the reader the dangers of rationalism and maybe utilitarianism.

I’m really surprised how fast I got through this book and the fact that I really enjoyed this book even though I was warned time and time again that this was a very difficult book and not to expect to enjoy it. I’m a huge fan of a book that deals with the inner turmoil of a person especially in a macabre way. It reminded me so much of Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson and makes me wonder if books like the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsey were influenced by this classic novel. I have a feeling that I will be thinking about this book for a long time and might have to reread it one day.

The Hardest Working Fake Author

Posted May 19, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

Richard Castle may be the hardest working fake author around. What seems like a great marketing strategy has seemed to take off on its own. While the Nikki Heat books seem to show up in the TV show Castle, now there is a new series to help people get a better understanding of Richard Castle’s best known character (according to the fans in the show) Derrick Storm. I’ve read a few of the Nikki Heat books now; and while I find them to be gimmicky, as a fan of the TV show, it was nice to read a book that tells a story that you don’t see on the show. Well that was with the first book Heat Wave; when I read Naked Heat, I did think it was so similar to the show that I felt like I knew the story already.

So most people may already know Richard Castle is the fictional author and protagonist of the TV show Castle and is portrayed by Nathan Fillion. Heat Wave was the first book released by this fictional author; it was released on September 29, 2009, and debuted at #26 on the New York Times Best Seller list. In its 4th week on the list, Heat Wave broke into the top 10 at #6. Now they have started a Derrick Storm series (not just the graphic novels) which takes a new direction from this marketing strategy; not promoting the show so much. A Brewing Storm tells the story of a spy coming out of retirement to help find the kidnapped stepson of a high ranking politician. While the book is short, it was interesting to get a better sense of the character that makes Richard Castle a bestselling author (in the show).

Richard Castle isn’t the only TV author to release a book; Hanky Moody of Californication has also released a book called God Hates Us All. Later this year Richard Castle will be releasing two more Derrick Storm books as well as the forth book in the Nikki Heat series; Frozen Heat.

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø

Posted May 6, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: The Redbreast (Goodreads)
Author: Jo Nesbø
Translator: Don Bartlett
Series: Harry Hole #3
Published: Harvill Secker, 2000
Pages: 368
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

When they advertise Jo Nesbø as ‘The Next Steig Larsson’, I’m inclined to pass on this author. But since a lot of people seem to be raving about this author, I thought I better check him out, especially when they class his Harry Hole series as hard-boiled. I’ve found the only reason they are calling him the next Larsson is simply because he is another Scandinavian crime writer; which means some overly graphic murders, Nazis and an expected twist. The Redbreast is the third book in the Harry Hole novel but the first available in English. Hole is investigating neo-Nazi activity which leads him to further explore Norway’s activities on the Eastern Front during WWII.

Throughout the book it switches between telling the story of Harry Hole in 1999 and the man he is hunting Daniel Gudeson during the World War II. I like how Nesbø switched between the two times and characters to flush out the back story that was leading up to a much bigger current day threat. But that is where I stopped liking this book; I just felt this book was generic and too predictable for my liking. I want to be shocked, excited and enjoy myself when reading crime novels; one out of three just doesn’t cut it.

Now to address the genre issue; Harry Hole could be classed as a hard-boiled detective, as he drinks, smokes and seems to be a very bitter man. However, this novel seems to missing some of the elements that makes hard-boiled novels what they are; for starters where was the dark and gritty realism that I’ve come to love in pulp novels. Also the book was missing a femme fetale as well as the strong dialogue with hints of wittiness and/or irony. This felt more like the generic bestseller crime formula and if we are going to call Jo Nesbø ‘hard-boiled’, we would have to let Michael Connelly in as well; and we don’t want that.

While this was in fact a fun book to read, I went into this book expecting something more pulp like and ended up getting generic. I’m sure there are plenty of people that will love this book, just don’t expect pulp; you’ll be sadly disappointed. If you are interested in knowing more about pulp fiction, check out my blog entries on pulp for recommendations.