Summer's Favorite Reads

 I had a nice post written but when I came back to edit it, OneDrive had disappeared it into the ether, even though it still appeared on my Recent Files list. So here’s an abbreviated version, and, while we’re at it, fuck you, Microsoft.

 

Bottom Feeders, John Shepphird. The mystery is good, and well told, but the inside baseball stuff about how low-budget vanity project movies are made is fascinating.

 

Time to Murder and Create. Lawrence Block. I’m done beating myself up over how long it took me to dig Block. Now I’m just going to dig him.

 

Murder, DC, Neely Tucker. The second of three Sully carter novels; for me it completes the cycle. All are outstanding, all are different. Tucker has a gift for describing a reporter’s life without getting bogged down in any single aspect.

 

The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V. Higgins. There’s nothing I can say about this book that hasn’t been said. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, get a copy.

 

The Black Marble, Joseph Wambaugh. Working my way through Wambaugh in order is a lot of fun. The Black marble is a relatively early book, but it’s outstanding as it weaves three disparate stories together with earned pathos and the humor that became one of Wambaugh’s trademarks.

 

The Eviction of Hope, Colin Conway (editor) et al. I don’t usually list books I contributed to here, but this is as well-organized, and uniformly excellent, a collection as I have been involved with.

 

Midnight Lullaby, James D.F. Hannah. I read the two Shamus nominees (and one winner) from this series already, so I’m reaching back and starting over. This is the first Henry Malone book, and as good a first novel as I’ve read in a long time.