Had me an excellent week for accumulating some quality reading. My little sis, Lisa B, feels guilty for missing another one of my birthdays as she's swanning around Australia at the minute. So her gift this year was very generous. Three books I'm practically salivating over.
Declan Burke's Eightball Boogie. I've been meaning to pick this up for a while now, and since I've recently completed A Gonzo Noir and enjoyed the heck out of The Big O few months ago, now's a great time for it. Plus I like pool. Wrote me own story, in which the game featured heavily, a few years ago. Pool Sharks. Got some good reviews for that one. Might post it here some day.
Ken Bruen's The Guards. I read Priest after happening upon it in a second hand bookshop quite some time ago. Thought it was a very powerful tale and that Jack Taylor was a hell of a character. And I really got a kick out of Bruen's dark but sparse style. Reading it was a masterclass in crime fiction. So I promised myself ages ago I'd go back to the start of the series and read it in order. Can't wait to crack it open now.
David Park's The Truth Commissioner. An excellent choice by my sis, as it's a very important (from what I'm hearing) post-Troubles novel. Kind of the whole idea of this site summed up in a critically acclaimed and very attractive hard back tome. This one must be read and critiqued post-haste.
And I'd made a couple of bargain purchases myself this week. Picked up a book by Gautam Malkani because I liked the look of the cover. I subjected Londonstani to a random page test and liked the energy in the writing, so I dumped it in the shopping basket. Also found a copy of Jason Starr's Cold Caller, so I asked the missus for a lend of a few quid an bought it too.
Then when I got home I found a package that had been flown all the way from sunny California. Inside? Two more books! Timothy Hallinan's A Nail Through The Heart and The Fourth Watcher. Both signed by the man himself, thanks to a competition held by Peter over at Detectives Beyond Borders.
Now all I need is a big-ass holiday and a pair of backup specs.
