Pulp Fiction

message 101: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 12, 2020 02:55AM

Top police procedural from Nigel Bird

Let It Snow by Nigel Bird

Let It Snow (The Rat Pack) by Nigel Bird

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

http://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/n...

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message 102: by Simon (new)

Apr 12, 2020 03:27AM

Thanks for posting all these reviews! If I ever come across some of Larry Block's Evan Tanner novels at a garage sale, in a used bookstore etc I'll be sure to pick them up. They sound like a type of crime/espionage/suspense literature I've been looking for in a long while - humourous globetrotting action-adventure but a level more down-to-earth than say Ian Fleming's James Bond.

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message 103: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 12, 2020 03:48AM

70s hitman book, my cup of tea!

Quarry's Cut by Max Allan Collins

Quarry's Cut (Quarry #4) by Max Allan Collins

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 104: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 12, 2020 03:53AM

A re-read (re-listen) enjoyed better second time around.

The Candidate by Daniel Pembrey

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 105: by Simon (new)

Apr 13, 2020 02:04AM

I've looked up the listings in public libraries here in Denmark for Lawrence Block and while they didn't have any of the Evan Tanner books they did have quite a few of the Matthew Scudder novels in Danish translation. I guess that when the Coronavirus lockdown is over and I've ran out of Ross Macdonald Lew Archer novels I have a new PI series to read, then!

Many thanks for introducing me to Block, because I don't think I'd have paid attention to him were it not for your reviews.

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message 106: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 14, 2020 11:49AM

Simon wrote: "Thanks for posting all these reviews! If I ever come across some of Larry Block's Evan Tanner novels at a garage sale, in a used bookstore etc I'll be sure to pick them up. They sound like a type o..."

They are definitely lighter in tone than a lot of espionage books. I hope you cross paths with some of them and can see for yourself.

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message 107: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 14, 2020 11:52AM

Simon wrote: "I've looked up the listings in public libraries here in Denmark for Lawrence Block and while they didn't have any of the Evan Tanner books they did have quite a few of the Matthew Scudder novels in..."

Scudder is a bit harder edged than Tanner. The Tanner's are over fifty years old most of them so I doubt many libraries anywhere would have them. I hope you enjoy whatever you try from Block, he rarely disappoints. Thanks for the reminder of Lew Archer, I've not got to any of them yet.

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message 108: by Simon (new)

Apr 14, 2020 12:12PM

Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer books are great. He somehow found a way to combine Raymond Chandler's sense of style with Dashiell Hammett's storytelling skill. He's also more or less where James Ellroy got his signature "show the dark underside of the optimistic post-WW2 US" vibe, now that we're at it.

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message 109: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 14, 2020 12:15PM

Simon wrote: "Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer books are great. He somehow found a way to combine Raymond Chandler's sense of style with Dashiell Hammett's storytelling skill. He's also more or less where James Ellro..."

Ellroy's books I loved though I haven't read the last couple yet. Chandler and Hammett, I've only dabbled with, but not for a few years. Sadly, there's not nearly enough time to read it all.

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message 110: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 15, 2020 02:15AM

Another one from February - I'm still playing catch-up! 4.5/5

True Dark by Mike Miner

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 111: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 17, 2020 02:17AM

A shortish fun read, probably not everyone's cup of tea.

The Spy Who Bluffed Me! by Andy Rivers

The Spy Who Bluffed Me! (Best of British) by Andy Rivers

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 112: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 18, 2020 01:18AM

Enjoyable and fresh. 4.5/5

Lying and Dying by Graham Brack

Lying and Dying (Josef Slonský Investigations #1) by Graham Brack

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 113: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 19, 2020 11:20AM

Last of my February reads!

Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf by Lawrence Block

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2020/04/...

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message 114: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 19, 2020 12:46PM

Simon wrote: "Ellroy's basically where Chandler would go if not restrained by 1930s era censors."

Digressing, I read a few of Block's soft porn erotica books of the early 60s and there's a marked difference between the explicity of the content in them and those that came at the start of the 70s.

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message 115: by [deleted user] (new)

Apr 22, 2020 02:17AM

Enjoyable series intro - an hour and a bit on Audible. 3/5

A Lesson in Crime by Wes Markin