Marcus Sakey, award-winning author of The Blade Itself, At The City's Edge, and Good People

GOOD STUFF I'VE READ RECENTLY...

STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN, by Kelly Link

I'm not generally a fan of short stories; they tend to end just when they get interesting. But this collection is remarkable.

The dozen or so stories are loosely related, exploring similar themes and sharing common roots, most especially Greek mythology and early fairytales. Link is a writer's writer, clearly conscious of the underlying rhythm and cadence of her prose, and selecting every word with care. But even beyond her technical skill, there is something at work that's almost black magic--by tapping into these universal mythologies, she's channeling their power.

This is more than just a gimmicky retelling of classic tales. Link's work nestles into the subconscious, making every story seem at once familiar and frighteningly new. Highly recommended.

Started 12.03.09, Finished 12.05.09

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO
b y Junot Diaz

Yes, it's acclaimed to the point of hype. Yes, it's filled with references to the eighties and a geeky childhood. Yes, it's an It-Culture Book of the Moment.

It's also freaking terrific.

For all the reviews and discussion, there isn't enough made of the fact that Diaz is a hell of a storyteller. Part coming-of-age tale about an overweight "ghetto nerd", part history of the Dominican Republic, the novel rips along, and near every page has a laugh-out-loud moment or a pauseworthy thought — or both at the same time. Highly recommended.

Started 10.12.09, Finished 10.16.09

SATURDAY, by Ian McEwan

McEwan is one of the finest writers working today, and one of the few capable of handling the delicate topic of Western unease in a post 9/11 world. The book is less a novel than a sifting of shades of gray, an intellectual exploration of the way we relate to the world today.

Following one day in the life of neurosurgeon Henry Perowne, the novel begins with him watching a burning plane streak across the pre-dawn sky, and follows him through a day of simple domestic tasks, painful personal duties, meaningless competitions rendered blood sports, and, centrally, a menacing incident that he gets into without fully understanding the situation. in the hands of a lesser writer it would be, frankly, boring; it's an internal monologue that might spend ten pages on a squash match, but two lines on a car crash. But McEwan is a literary acrobat whose balanced prose and keen mind keep you enthralled.

Most impressive, the book refuses to draw conclusions. Instead it illuminates both the good intentions of most people, and the evil we do as a result of circumstance or misunderstanding, the whole time emphasizing that regardless, life moves on, every Saturday eventually giving way to Sunday.

Started 08.29.09, Finished 09.02.09

THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins

The new YA novel that everyone seems to be talking about is worth the buzz. This was the most fun I've had reading in months.

In an unspecified dystopian future, the Hunger Games are at once a contest and a tool of political intimidation. Every year, children from a dozen subjugated regions of the former United States are chosen to compete in a brutal fight to the death. Participation is mandatory, and the Games are televised throughout the world.

The story follows Katniss, a 16-year-old girl whose skill with a bow has kept her family from starving in their impoverished district. She's a thoroughly believable character, tough, independent, and even a little cold—it's a rough world, after all—but also suffering from the characteristic flaws of the age, most notably blindspots about her own appeal and the motivations of those around her. Sometimes the POV in young adult books can creep me out, like an adult squeezing into a child's clothing, but Collins nails it, and the book is just flat-out riveting.

Highly recommended.

Started and finished 08.29.09

'TIS, by Frank McCourt

I'm not really a fan of memoirs, but if more of them were written with McCourt's beguiling grace, I'd read stacks.

The follow-up to the equally spectacular ANGELA'S ASHES, the book focuses on McCourt's early years as an Irish immigrant in Manhattan. He writes of his setbacks and challenges with charm, evoking a world both familiar and alien. The book made me laugh out loud more than once, a fine feat considering that it's not as though life rolled out the red carpet: he struggled with racism, poverty, an absentee father, tendencies to alcoholism, and terrific loneliness.

Nonetheless, the final picture is of a man who found his way with joy and hope, and it's a journey I loved taking with him.

Started 07.15.09; Finished 07.19.09

DEADWOOD, by Pete Dexter

Pete Dexter is a critic's darling, the winner of a National Book Award, and a widely syndicated columnist. But for some reason, I don't feel he's as well known as you'd expect.

Which is a shame, because he's freaking great.

Though not credited as the basis of HBO's "Deadwood," this 1986 novel is unmistakably where the show drew its inspiration (HBO seems to have a bad habit of this—"Oz" is blatantly lifted, also uncredited, from Mitchell Smith's brilliant STONE CITY.) This is a Wild West I can believe in, peopled by brutal, bloody men who curse and kill and fuck. It's an ugly world lit with moments of humanity and humor that are all the more striking for the contrast. And because Dexter is both a wonderful wordsmith and a skilled storyteller, the characters seem real and the pages fly.

Started 06.28.09, Finished 06.30.09

BAD MONKEYS, by Matt Ruff

I glanced at this on a whim — I mean, seriously, it's called BAD MONKEYS — and though the review copy was glowing, I was afraid it might turn out to be more jokes than thoughts, more vapid irony than interesting ideas.

The reasons why are also the things that make it hard to accurately portray here. A woman arrested for murder claims she's actually a member of a secret organization dedicated to fighting Evil, and her job is killing the worst of them, the "Bad Monkeys"; the novel is the story she tells the prison psychiatrist. Which could have turned out a little slick and cheap.

Except it doesn't. Instead it's at once a high-speed fantasy, a social satire, and a meditation on the allure of evil. It's rife with plot twists that are also philosophical twists, each changing the way we see the story and the characters, a very tricky feat indeed. A blast to read — I devoured it in a morning — I bet it'd be even more fun on a second go.

Started and finished 06.01.09

THE POWER OF THE DOG, by Don Winslow

I generally don't like to double-up on authors here. But with this one, Don Winslow just stormed the list.

This is a holy shit novel.

The story chronicles America's War on Drugs from every angle: cartels, cops, politicos, priests, prostitutes, mafiosos, triggermen, the works. Spanning more than thirty years, it's incredibly ambitious, thoroughly researched, and completely believable. It's also about as hypnotically entertaining as anything you'll find.

But it's more than just a crime story; it's also an exploration of the nature of greed and power, of how the "right" thing, for a man or a nation, can be almost impossible to understand — let alone enact.

Highly recommended.

Started 05.28.09, Finished 05.30.09

A MOVEABLE FEAST, by Ernest Hemingway

I was in Key West earlier this year, and one of the things I made sure to do between cocktails and conch salads was visit Hemingway's house. It's an incredible place, maybe the perfect writing space, and I want it.

Anyway, I hadn't read Hemingway in years, so while there, I picked this up. Released posthumously, it's a loose memoir about his years in Paris at the beginning of his career. He includes a lot of thoughts on writing, and on the people he knew there — Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Ford Maddox Ford — as well as some picture perfect descriptions of the city.

What really surprised me, though, was how funny it was, how many wry observations and underplayed comic asides there were. I knew Hemingway was a master of rhythm, and when it comes to making you feel a bullfight or a battle with a tarpon, there ain't nobody better. But I hadn't remembered him as funny.

Started 02.20.09, Finished 02.23.09

SAMARITAN, by Richard Price

Richard Price is an American treasure, one of the finest novelists working today. Every time I read him, I think I may as well pack up and go home.

The story of a wannabe do-gooder, a volunteer writing teacher who was brutally beaten in his own home, the novel circles relentlessly inward, revealing the inner lives of everyone involved as a retiring detective investigates the attack. But while the plot is great, and finding out who was responsible is plenty tense, the real reason to read Price is his incredible ease at understanding and portraying human motivations. In a story that could have fallen to melodrama or, worse, offensive stereotype, Price instead manages a subtle exploration of the motivations, both selfish and selfless, in the drive of one person to help another.

Started 02.04.09, Finished 02.07.09

INFINITE JEST, by David Foster Wallace

As folks who read my blog know, I'm a big fan of David Foster Wallace, a once-in-a-generation artist who, unfortunately for the rest of us, recently committed suicide. His death hit me surprisingly hard, considering I'd never met the man. As a personal tribute, I picked up his masterpiece again for a third read.

It's a sprawling work of genius, hysterically sad and tragically funny, about the pursuit of happiness and the difficulties of communication. Set in a near future world where the years are corporate-sponsored and America handles its garbage by catapulting it onto land we forced Canada to accept as a "gift," the novel is too big and brilliant to be summed up. All I can say is that if the length (1079 pages) and complexity (scores of characters, 100 pages of footnotes, deeply recursive language) don't scare you, then reading it can change the way you think about fiction. It's not everybody's taste, but it thoroughly blows my mind.

Rest in peace, brother.

Started 10.02.08, Finished 10.18.08

THE DAWN PATROL, by Don Winslow

It's not all that often I read a crime novel that impresses me as truly new. But then, I've never read a surf detective novel before.

The Dawn Patrol is a group of lifelong friends who meet every morning to ride the waves of Pacific Beach, a surf town outside San Diego. When one of them, a small-time private eye, is hired to locate a witness for an insurance trial, the investigation rapidly spirals into pretty horrifying territory.

But the two things most interesting to me were the quality of the prose — Winslow is a poet possessed — and the interactions between the characters, which range from hilarious to heartbreaking. It's a funny, sad, beautifully rendered ride.

Started 9.17.08, Finished 9.19.08

THE GIVEN DAY by Dennis Lehane

I've been a fan of Lehane's work ever since his debut A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. He's a member of a select group of writers, along with luminaries like Richard Price, Laura Lippman, and George Pelecanos, who are propelling the genre forward, creating some of the most compelling, rich, and literary fare to be found.

One of the things I admire about Lehane is that he has never been content to just write more of the same; each of his novels has broken new ground. That's especially true of this, an epic historical set in Boston shortly after the end of World War One. The world is gorgeously evoked, brought to life without ever burying a reader with detail, and the characters are so well drawn that I truly missed them when I finished the book. There are scenes of breathlessly painful tension, moments of heart-squeezing joy, and insights of startling depth. Plus, his prose has never been better — which is saying something indeed.

A magnificent accomplishment, highly recommended.

Read an advanced copy across four days

GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE
by Victor Gischler

Where to begin on a novel whose title is the barest hint of the wonderful weirdness packed inside? Gischler, best known for his excellent crime capers, here breaks new ground. And I do mean new.

Mortimer Tate has spent the end of the world hiding in a mountain cabin. He hasn't seen anyone for nine years. The first three people he does see, he kills. But really, it wasn't his fault.

Thus begins an adrenaline-soaked, wryly satiric journey through the ashes of America, a world peopled by savages and cannibals and struggling barmen, by rebel armies and mad transvestites, and by the enigmatic Joey Armageddon, whose Sassy A-Go-Go Clubs are the beacon of something a little like civilization. The prose is lean and compelling, and behind all the violence and jokes there's a Vonnegut-esque blend of both love-for and desperation-at all the madness of the world — Mortimer's and ours. More fun than juggling armed monkeys.

Started 09.02.08, Finished 09.03.08

THIRTEEN, by Richard K. Morgan

I've been on a sci-fi kick lately, and Morgan is my newest discovery. I've been binging on his books like a prom queen on frozen yogurt.

A lot of people write off sci-fi without exploring it, a problem that I think has something to do with the plot summaries, which almost always sound either lurid and low-rent or impossibly high-brow and abstract. For that reason, I'm going to limit my summary here; let me just say that it's a book about a manhunt, and that the protagonist is the result of a government program to produce genetically enhanced soldiers.

More important than the specifics of plot, though, is the incredible breadth of territory Morgan covers — racism, politics, science, religion, sex, love, biological determinism, the role of government, on and on. Better still, he has that rarest gift, the ability to explore philosophical questions while simultaneously making you tear through the pages. The action is relentless, the sex is hot, the twists are multiple, and yet on almost every page there is something worthy of more serious consideration. Highly recommended.

Started 08.18.08, Finished 08.22.08

CHILD 44, by Tom Rob Smith

This is one of the more hyped thrillers of the last year, and as is usually the case with that kind of thing, I went in a little suspicious. But Smith had me hooked by the second page, and I inhaled the rest in a matter of days.

On the surface, it's a serial killer novel. But what makes the thing so damn compelling is that the killer is operating in Russia, in 1953, when Stalin's power is at its height. Because the State is perfect, there can be no crime; since there can be no crime, there clearly can't be a serial killer. Case closed.

It's an incredibly effective device that pits the protagonist not so much against a monster as against the system, a system far more horrifying than any individual, a system that inflicts violence as a matter of course and calls it patriotism. While the book is a great read on a number of levels, Smith's finest accomplishment is the unrelenting sense of claustrophobia he invokes in a reader.

Started 08.10.08, Finished 08.12.08

MONEY SHOT, by Christa Faust

Christa is a friend of mine, and I'm embarrassed to say it took me this long to read her latest. Whatever delay I had in starting it though, man oh man did I make up for it in the read itself.

Like the rest of the Hard Case Crime line, this book hearkens back to the best of pulps. Former porn star Angel Dare agrees to do one more movie, and in the process finds herself caught up in a very nasty conspiracy — not to mention locked in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a tough, smart, independent woman, and she's going to make sure someone pays for what they've done.

Reviews of this book have made a lot out of the "former porn star" part. For my money, that's too limiting. The book is a fantastic read: fast-paced, intelligent, and written with flair and panache. If you like noir, you can't do much better than this.

Started and finished 08.01.08

THE FEAST OF LOVE, by Charles Baxter

A gorgeous, lush, heartbreaking, glittering exploration of romantic love in all its forms. The style takes a little getting used to, but once you're in, you're hooked as Baxter spins you through the lives and passions of a handful of related characters. Rich, wise, and funny, the book is a feast indeed.

If you haven't seen the movie, read the book first — the movie is excellent, and very faithful, but you'll enjoy the book more if you come to it clean.

Started 07.10.08, Finished 07.13.08

ROGUE MALE, by Geoffrey Household

Bored, a professional hunter decides to see if he's capable of assassinating a national leader. He's caught in the process, badly beaten and left for dead. But he survives, and the rest of the book is a cat-and-mouse game with the security forces scouring the globe for him.

This is a humbling book, for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's a damn gripping read, great fun on a strictly superficial level. Second, it's loaded with political musings on class and social structure that ring as true today as they did when it was written in 1939. Finally, though, it's humbling because it's a reminder that time just keeps ticking. When it was released, the London Times declared it "Simply the best escape and pursuit story yet written." Yet if I hadn't come on a link to it from Sarah Weinman's blog, I'd never have heard of it, and I don't think I'm alone.

Which is too bad, because it's a great, thoughtful read.

Started 07.6.08, Finished 07.7.08

NORTHLINE, by Willy Vlautin

My agent sent me this along with a note saying that he didn't represent it, but that he'd loved it and thought I would as well. That's not praise I take lightly, so I started it a couple of days later.

What a beauty.

Allison Johnson is a pregnant alcoholic who flees to Reno to escape her abusive boyfriend. Haunted by a long string of mistakes and with nothing to cling to, she's at the ragged edge; apart from booze, her only support system is Paul Newman, who pops by to have imaginary chats on a regular basis.

The wonderful thing about this book—one of them—is the unsentimental way Vlautin writes. Even as he explores serious emotional depths, everything unfolds in simple, matter-of-fact language that tears your heart out. And yet for all the pain, the novel is lit by a deep sense of hope for the possibility of a better day. Highly recommended.

Started 06.01.08, Finished 06.02.08

THE HUMAN STAIN, by Philip Roth

Recommending Philip Roth is a little like recommending sex. It's so obvious it hardly needs saying.

Coleman Silk is a professor ousted from his position on false charges of racism, and, at 71, carrying on a torrid and secret affair with an illiterate 34-year-old cleaning woman. But when it comes to secrets, that's the least of Silk's...

Reading Roth is often breathlessly easy, a pure joy; at other times, he's a challenge, demanding full attention and a little forbearance. But both are always rewarded. And I can't think of another writer who so accurately captures the inner workings of the male mind. An uncompromising, intelligent, complex exploration of race, identity, sex, and American morality.

Started 05.10.08, Finished 05.14.08

THE KEEP, by Jennifer Egan

This is one of those books it's near impossible to describe. Not because there isn't a plot—there is, and a compelling one—but because there's so much more going on than what's explicitly happening. It's a novel in nested circles, ripples that spread from a single inciting incident in the childhood of the the main characters.

But where that kind of description makes it sound gloomy, the book is anything but, rich in wit and insight. It's written with an easy grace that seems effortless but isn't, and the characters manage to function both as symbols and as people. This is one I suspect would reward a second read, but it's a joy the first time too.

Started 04.20.08, Finished 04.22.08

THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak

I had two people I trust recommend this in a two-week period, which means I got my butt to a bookstore. And I'm glad I did; this is an exceptional read, one of those sneaky books that distracts you with warmth while it sneaks behind and cuts your heart out. Vonnegut is the closest parallel I can think of, and that's not a name I drop lightly.

Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. In an era when, using little but words and will, Hitler has remade a nation into a horrorshow, Liesel's chief comfort is found in the books she steals, as well as the friendships she forms in her working class neighborhood.

Oh yeah, and did I mention the story is narrated by Death? Highly recommended.

Started 03.16.08, Finished 03.18.08

SHARP OBJECTS, by Gillian Flynn

I've never met her, but I bet Gillian Flynn is a really nice person. The folks who can most effectively warp your mind usually are.

Many writers try to freak you out by shoving your face in horror, which is a lot like trying to turn someone on by lunging for their crotch. It might work on occasion, but it's not great technique.

Flynn, on the other hand, moves slow and sure and creepy, teasing your darkness, stroking your wounds, burying fingernails just a little too deep. Her prose is gorgeous, and her characterization flawless. The story of a Chicago reporter who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two young girls, at a glance SHARP OBJECTS looks like your standard mystery, but trust me, there's nothing typical about this one.

Started 02.14.08, Finished 02.15.08

L.A. OUTLAWS, by T. Jefferson Parker

The Washington Post once described a Jeff Parker novel as a "thinking man's bestseller." Glossing over the whiff of anti-genre prejudice in that sentence, it's a hell of an apt comment. Everything Parker writes is relentlessly intelligent, and this may be his best.

While all the characters are beautifully rendered, the novel belongs to Allison Murietta, car thief cum media darling. A modern-day Robin Hood, she's as stylish as they come, and watching her swagger through Parker's Los Angeles is an unmitigated pleasure. Run don't walk to get this one--highly recommended.

Started and finished 02.05.08

TREE OF SMOKE

Well, now that it's gone and won the National Book Award, I guess maybe other people have heard of this...

An exceptional piece of work. Ostensibly about Vietnam, it's really a character study of a whole cross-section of America. The book is long, yeah, but joyously so. The middle 400 pages in particular just blow by, alternately making you laugh and hurt inside. Johnson is a beautiful stylist, capable of both baroque masterpiece and simple gut-rending understatement. And while it does many, many things very well, to me the most exceptional portions were the descriptions of combat, some of the most effective and believable I've ever read. Highly recommended.

Started 01.14.08, Finished 01.24.08

BANG BANG , by Theo Gangi

When I heard Gangi reviewed as a "hip-hop Elmore Leonard," I knew this was a book I had to pick up.

Following a really bad day in the life of Izzy Levin, a thief who preys on drug dealers, the novel is a furious run, peopled with well-drawn characters and delivered with street-smart panache. Gangi's language is especially compelling, with some terrific turns of noirish phrase ("Watching a woman cry was like watching a glass of red wine spill on a white linen suit in slow motion.")

A hell of a debut — I'm eager to see where Gangi goes next.

Started 12.24.07, Finished 12.26.07

THE LAST COLONY, by John Scalzi

In high school and college I devoured science fiction, making a special point of reading all the Hugo and Nebula winners. While lately I haven't read much of it, it's only because I've fallen out of the habit.

So when I picked up THE LAST COLONY, it was like stepping back in time. Scalzi, who has been nominated for a Hugo and won a Campbell, writes with an ease and assurance that reminds me of masters like Joe Haldeman and Frederick Pohl. The story revolves around the leaders of a mission who find themselves, and the lives of their entire colony, used as pawns in an intergalatic power struggle. It's a fast, fun read, but like the best of science fiction, it also explores a number of interesting philosophical positions, from the use of power to the political justification for secrecy.

The book is actually the last in a trilogy, but stands up perfectly well on its own.

Started 12.12.07, Finished 12.13.07

THE GHOST by Robert Harris

Harris is much acclaimed, but this was the first I've read by him. Let me tell you, it won't be the last.

A ghost writer, never named, is hired to help a former Prime Minister finish his memoirs, and in the process is drawn into a world of secrets and shadows. The story is terrific in its own right, nuanced, tense, and compelling, with plenty of sly satirical moments. But what really blew me away was the writing. It's not fancy, not in the least baroque or showy. It's simply graceful, elegant, and compelling, like an Olympic athlete who makes it look easy. As a novelist, I found this a particularly brilliant passage:

"A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and immediately it becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it's halfway to being just like every other bloody book that's ever been written. But the best must not be allowed to drive out the good. In the absence of genius, there is always craftsmanship."

This is now taped to my monitor.

Started and finished 12.01.07

EVERY CROOKED POT by Renee Rosen

In the interest of disclosure, I should say that Renee is a friend of mine. But the only thing better than having novelist friends is having novelist friends who write so beautifully that you can recommend their work with a clear conscience.

It's a coming-of-age tale, and like most of its genre, listing the specific circumstances takes away from the larger story. So let me just say that this is a lovely book, full-to-overflowing with heart, and peopled with characters as real as any I've read. If you like intimate, personal fiction that will leave you saddened and uplifted at once, then ignore the iffy cover and just buy this baby.

Started 11.01.07, Finished 11.03.07

LAMB by Christopher Moore

This is one of those books that I've had recommended enough times that I started to resent it. A stupid reaction, I know, one that kept me from seeing The Shawshank Redemption for two years, and almost prevented my friend Sean from watching the brilliance that is Firefly. It's a habit I gotta break, because like those, LAMB is terrific.

Told by Biff, Christ's childhood pal (who was written out of the original gospels by pissed-off apostles), LAMB is a wonderful exploration of Christianity and religion in general. Though written with Moore's trademark humor — and it is some funny shit, let me tell you — the book is playful, but never irreverent. It's also touching, moving, and surprisingly informative. Who'd've guessed Jesus knew kung-fu?

Started 10.12.07, Finished 10.17.07

PRINCE OF THIEVES by Chuck Hogan

As this page has gotta make obvious, my reading is not limited to crime fiction. In fact, I'm rather selective about my chosen genre. While there's a lot of stuff that will blow your hair back, there's also plenty that doesn't seem to be trying very hard, or that is written without care or style.

This one ain't that.

Following four bank robbers from a rough Boston neighborhood, PRINCE OF THIEVES is that rarest of combinations: a tremendously entertaining ride, gorgeously written, with depth and detail that enhance, but never get in the way of, a breathless story. The characters, especially the men, are beautifully rendered, and the Charlestown they inhabit has grime under its nails and blood in its veins. Highly recommended.

Started 09.26.07, Finished 10.01.07

FLESH AND BLOOD
by Michael Cunningham

While reading a novel, if I come upon a line I particularly like, either for its grace or its insight, I'll turn down the corner. By the time I was done with this one, the book was twice as thick as when I started.

Cunningham is frankly astounding. He writes brilliantly, doing more with a single line than many authors can do with a chapter. Better still, he has such a subtle understanding of the human heart, and so much empathy for all of his characters, that it's hard to believe the thing is fiction. Following three generations of a family, FLESH AND BLOOD is about all the good stuff: love, loyalty, ambition, hope, lust, pain, loss, need, joy. It's too bright and too big to be summed up here. All I can say is that it's one of the best books I've read this year, and that I can't recommend it highly enough.

Started 09.01.07, Finished 09.04.07

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A bestseller in Spain for five years running — it's actually the most successful Spanish novel since DON QUIXOTE — this breathtaking debut is at once a sprawling Gothic, a coming-of-age tale, a love letter to literature, a portrayal of a city recovering from madness, and a heartbreaking romance.

The story that ties all this together is the quest to discover the truth about a brilliant but nearly forgotten author, whose books seem to be spilling over into the life of the young protagonist. The novel beautifully evokes a Barcelona suffering from the aftermath of war, peopled with characters rich and fantastic. Usually I'm nervous about tackling a 500-page epic originally written in another language, but this one had me from the first line. It's touching, compelling, passionate, funny, and tremendous fun to read.

Started 08.18.07, Finished 08.24.07

THE DRAMATIST, by Ken Bruen

The fourth in the Jack Taylor series, the book revolves around an investigation into the murder of several college girls. But the real reason to read a Bruen novel is less the plot and more the opportunity to lose yourself in the character and his world. Bruen is a master of voice, especially when that voice belongs to Jack Taylor, a one-time Galway cop and addict of both bottle and book, a world-weary wreck who keeps struggling along mostly because he can't see a better option. Part character study, part existential howl, the novels are bleak and brilliant.

If you haven't read anything by Bruen, you're missing out. He's won just about every award there is, and deserves 'em.

Started 08.12.07, Finished 08.13.07

MIDDLESEX, by Jeffrey Eugenides

You probably don't need me to recommend a book that's won a Pulitzer. But it's my website, so I'm going to anyway.

The writing is lyric and playful, witty and rich, and the characters are rendered with such glowing humanity that it's impossible not to love them for all their follies. The story nominally follows the life of Cal / Calliope Stephanides, a hermaphrodite raised as a girl but genetically male. I say nominally because in truth, that's a pretty small portion of the book, used mostly as a reason to frame three generations of a family's struggle with love, war, immigration, death, race, and especially identity. The book is thick with life — highly recommended.

Started 07.12.07, Finished 07.18.07

DIVISADERO, by Michael Ondaatje

There aren't many novelists whose hardcovers I preorder. Ondaatje is one of the few. If you've never read his work, you're missing out. He's a poet at heart, and the images he creates are of such haunting beauty that they will linger long after the specifics of plot have faded.

Summing up one of his novels is no easy task, so I'll just say that this is a book about intersections and divisions, about the way our lives impact and mirror one another. The language is as masterful as ever, and the characters as richly imagined.

I've read everything he's written, and so I can't help but look at this book in comparison to the others. DIVISADERO lacks some of the overwhelming passion of his earlier work. This isn't a criticism so much as an observation; the book feels like the creation of an older man, a more mature artist, who has less interest in the intensity of fire, and more in finding meaning amidst the ashes and smoke.

Started 07.2.07, Finished 07.04.07

THE BITCH POSSE, by Martha O'Connor

If Joyce Carol Oates and Chuck Palahniuk collaborated, the result might read a lot like O'Connor's incendiary debut. The story of three brilliant but troubled high school girls who use one another as shelter from parental neglect, the banality of youth, and dangerous forays into sex and substances, THE BITCH POSSE walks lonely, lost territory without descending into melodrama. Mostly this is due to some mighty impressive writing — intimate, conversational, and raw, the prose weaves a dark spell that makes it easy to lose hours and come out blinking.

One of the parts I found most interesting was that the sex scenes are, frankly, hot, and yet so very disturbing. It's like the video for Fiona Apple's "Criminal", where Apple is anorexic, exposed, and vulnerable, squirming through squalor, and you realize she's at once turning you on and commenting on how wrong it is for you to be turned on. It takes a serious artist to evoke that conflict, and O'Connor nails it.

Started 06.2.07, Finished 06.04.07

THE LONG FALL, by Lynn Kostoff

I don't know why more people haven't heard of this one, but if you like crime fiction, especially noirish stuff with a literary bent, get thee to a bookstore, and I mean now. If I give you a one-liner on the story, it'll sound trite, so I won't. Instead, let me say that Kostoff is that rare breed of stylist who can, in a minimum of space, evoke a whole world. He's earned comparisons to Elmore Leonard, and while they are in some ways apt, his work is all his own, and he brings a lyricism that Leonard generally eschews ("Jimmy remembering all the make-out sessions with Jean, both of them seventeen, the universe running under their skin, and every necessary truth found in tongues and fingers and the sweet ache of breath...").

A dark book with a heart but no promises of happiness, THE LONG FALL is, simply, terrific. Highly recommended.

Started 05.24.07, Finished 05.25.07

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, by David Goodis

Novelist Duane Swierczynski often writes about Goodis in his blog; because I really like Duane's stuff, I figured I'd give it a try.

Very glad I did. For something published almost fifty years ago, the book feels startling modern, not only in language but in technique. A meditation on family, obligations, and the inescapability of fate, the novel follows a former soldier and piano virtuoso who's given up on life, wanting only to play dreamy tunes in a dingy bar. But when he's dragged into a world he always fought to avoid, he's forced to face who he really is — with tragic results.

Started 05.10.07, Finished 05.14.07

CAT'S CRADLE, by Kurt Vonnegut

I discovered Vonnegut in high school and fell madly in love. Besides being a wonderful writer, he's a perfect transition point for someone just beginning to tackle literary fiction, because while his style is accessible, his ideas are complex.

I've read all of his stuff, and CAT'S CRADLE was always one of my favorites, along with BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS and MOTHER NIGHT. But this is the one I've returned to most often, probably three or four times, so the day after he died, I picked it up again as a personal farewell. Like all of his stuff, it's deeply human, mingling a sincere love for our best with a wry acknowledgment of our ever-present worst. Summarizing this book takes the joy out of it, so I'll just say that it's about a new religion, a nuclear scientist, a midget, a failed writer, and the end of the world. If you've never read Vonnegut, you could do worse than to start here.

Started 04.12.07, Finished 04.13.07

FINN, by Jon Clinch

It takes balls to co-opt a character from Mark Twain. It takes skill to do it brilliantly.

Drawing inspiration from a few brief scenes in Twain's HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Clinch tells the story of Finn Sr., Huck's father, as lost a soul as ever wandered literature. Disenfranchised by white society, filled with both lust and hatred for black, he's a cruel and violent drunk that destroys everything he might love. Yet Clinch writes him with a subtle empathy that balances scenes of horror and desperation against moments when Finn earns our pity and even our respect.

As deft as the character development is, more inspiring still is the language — evocative, elegiac, and hypnotic, it brings to mind the work of Cormac McCarthy, yet strikes a path all its own. Highly recommended.

Started 03.22.07, Finished 03.27.07

DRIVE, by James Sallis

I'd heard so much about this one that I opened it with impossibly high expectations.

Then the bastard met them.

On the surface, it's the story of a getaway driver who finds himself entangled with bad folks after he's double-crossed. But where the book shines is not just the story—though that is relentless—but for the depth of psychological insight and existential bent. If Camus wrote crime fiction (well, okay, he sort of did, but you get what I mean), it might read something like DRIVE. I powered through it in an afternoon, and found myself torn between awe and envy.

Started & finished 03.09.07

A PRAYER FOR DAWN, by Nathan Singer

"It's really hard to know what is right. What if nothing is?"

Eight-year-old Dawn is your average child of divorce. You know the type: her dad is an underground artist who draws rape and torture, her mom is having sex with dad's old agent, her best friend is a fifteen-year-old self-described "faggot and cocksucker", and sketches of her are the hottest item on pedophile porn sites.

You don't know the type?

Well buckle up, baby, because the ride only gets rougher. Singer's incredible novel is a darkly lyric song of rage and pain and sorrow, sprinkled with just enough hope to break your heart. It may blow the doors off your comfort zone, but it will also give you more food for thought than any ten safer novels.

Started and finished 02.25.07

THE ROAD, by Cormac McCarthy

For my money, McCarthy is one of the finest writers working today. His prose is black magic — look up from one of his novels and chances are your world will feel like the fictional one.

It's perhaps unsurprising that a writer whose tone is often described as "apocalyptic" finally got around to writing a novel about the end of the world. The story follows a father and son as they trek through the scorched ruins of America, walking ever southward in hopes of finding warmer weather and some measure of safety near the coast. It's a bleak and brilliant journey that is near impossible to put down.

Started 02.01.06, Finished 02.04.06

WINTER'S TALE, by Mark Helprin

I bought this after spotting it on one of those "Best 25 Books of the Last 50 Years" lists, then promptly forgot about it because, well, it looked daunting. 700 pages and the kind of over-the-top reviews a Gaddis novel gets, which doesn't necessarily translate to fun reading.

I'm glad I got over that.

The book is rollicking, luminous, filled with an equal measure of comic flights and philosophical musings. It's lit from within by a benevolence unlike anything I've ever read, touched with a child's unassuming grace. And the novel's faith in the absolute rightness of the world, in a beauty and balance we cannot always see, is potent and infectious and comforting. It's a challenging novel, and certainly not a perfect one, but that's a little like pointing out the flaws in a diamond.

Started 12.21.06, Finished 01.14.07

ALL MORTAL FLESH
by Julia Spencer-Fleming

One of the things I love about crime / mystery fiction is that it allows a writer to explore vivid, realistic characters in extreme circumstances. Some take better advantage of this than others; Julia Spencer-Fleming is a master.

The fifth in her Miller's Kill series, the book is a tightly drawn mystery with more than its fair share of twists and turns. But more than that, it's a wonderfully tender and sophisticated story of love, temptation, and duty. The protagonists, police chief Russ Van Alstyne and Episcopal minister Clare Fergusson are treated with compassion and grace, and their yearning for one another is at once pained and perfect. By this point in a series, a lesser writer would have lost the spark that keeps the two of them burning. Spencer-Fleming seems like she's just warming up.

Started 12.18.06, Finished 12.20.06

THE KNOWN WORLD, by Edward P. Jones

Prior to the Civil War, some blacks owned slaves and plantations; Jones uses this fact as the cornerstone of a sprawling, nonlinear tale that explores slavery from every angle. Unflinching but never melodramatic, the story is perhaps most effective for its empathy — rather than painting any individual as a monster, Jones places them in the context of their time and community, and by doing so, helps us understand how so many could be so innured to a system so apparently evil.

Not a fast read, but it rewards the effort.

Started 11.18.06, Finished 11.28.06

THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS
by John Connolly

Like Greg Iles (below), Connolly is a ballsy writer who isn't afraid to experiment. He's got a popular series of detective novels, but with his standalones he keeps branching out in unexpected directions. This one is a fairytale, equal parts hypnotic and haunting, about the things we treasure and the things we forget.

Greiving the loss of his mother and the hasty remarriage of his father, twelve-year-old David finds refuge in books. But stories have power, and when his books start whispering to him, the border between reality and the realm of myth narrows. Soon David is lost in a magical realm where more than just his life is at stake.

While the idea of "crossing over" into a story isn't new, it has rarely been done this well — Connolly's touch is so deft you almost don't notice how every fantasy challenge ties back to the fears and troubles of David's real life. Bittersweet and wonderful.

Started 11.01.06, Finished 11.04.06

CAUGHT STEALING, by Charlie Huston

Holy crap. I'd heard of Huston for years, but never read his stuff. However, this January I'll be at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, doing a signing with him, so now seemed like a good time to pick something up.

Holy crap. Really.

It's a balls-out mistaken identity novel written in a textured noir tone. Huston never overdoes the rhythm, but his structure is entrancing and his storytelling skills are spectacular. This one never lets up — it's almost exhausting to read. In a good way.

Relentless, brutal, funny, dark, and entrancing. Highly recommended.

Started 10.27.06, Finished 10.28.06

AND ONLY TO DECEIVE, by Tasha Alexander

This isn't normally my genre, but Tasha is a friend, which is why I started reading it. But by page two, I reading for entirely different reasons.

It's a beautifully written novel, the prose luminous, the characters fleshed out and compelling, the plot full of unexpected twists and more than a little sexual tension. But one of the things I liked best was the way Tasha vividly evokes the Victorian world without burdening a reader with mountains of description. Instead, she nails it through telling details and a firm control of voice.

The novel just came out in trade paperback this week — if you like historicals, I definitely recommend you pick up a copy. You won't regret it.

Started 10.12.06, Finished 10.13.06

THE GREAT GATSBY, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The first time I read Gatsby was in high school, too young and coerced to come away with much but an urge to slap the shit out of Daisy. The second read, in my early twenties, was magic — I drank it in a night, awed by the grace of the language, and particularly swept up in the sad romance of it: gauche, hopeful Jay Gatsby, arms and dreams wide as he stared across the Sound at the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.

This third time was the best, the purest, and if you haven't read it for a while, I urge you to pick it up again. It's truly a masterpiece, painting the whole American mess in vivid colors and flawless perspective without wasting a stroke. The best part, the deftest, is that Fitzgerald makes everyone culpable, from philandering elitist Tom Buchanan to passive narrator Nick Carraway. Even the reader can't help but feel involved: In the thousand wrongs and slights of everyday, in our selfish wants and our crueler rationalizations, we create and prolong the world Fitzgerald painted for us.

And yes, I still want to slap the shit out of Daisy.

Started 09.17.06, Finished 09.18.06

THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD, by Greg Iles

Greg Iles is a very cool author. I say this not just because he writes taut, intelligent thrillers that damn near assure you're going to miss your train stop, but also because he's that rare author who writes true standalones. Where for many authors standalones are simply new courses through familiar territory, Iles is constantly pushing farther, trying his hand at everything from historical suspense to complex crime to speculative fiction.

The Footsteps of God is the latter, a rumination on the intersection of religion and technology involved in the creation of a fearsome artificial intelligence. Of course, things go awry, and because Iles is very good, the situation grows very bleak indeed. But the suspense stuff is really a backdrop for an exploration of some fascinating philosophical questions, and that's where the real joy comes in.

Started 09.11.06, Finished 09.13.06

MARATHON MAN, by William Goldman

Okay, so I'm officially the last suspense writer in America to read Goldman's prototypical thriller. Flame on.

It's a terrific book and a fast read — I finished it in an afternoon. Tom Levy is an ambitious, awkward graduate student caught in a conspiracy that dates back to World War II. For the bad guys, the prize is an unimaginable fortune; poor Tom would just like to get a date and win a marathon.

It features one of the best torture scenes I've ever read, made all the more effective because it's not graphic — in fact, Goldman goes out of his way to avoid blood spatter. But the slow anticipation is damn near unbearable for a reader. And if I ever hear my dentist ask "Is it safe?", I'm going out the window.

Started and finished 07.29.06

THE COLD SIX THOUSAND, by James Ellroy

If this one doesn't leave you gasping, you're dead already. Vivid, vicious, hyper-masculine and uber-stylish, the novel begins on the day Kennedy is killed and follows three men tied up in his assassination through the next five years, culminating with the killings of RFK and MLK. Cameos by J. Edgar Hoover, Jimmy Hoffa, Sonny Liston, Howard Hughes and others speak to the depth of research Ellroy has put into play. The word "ambitious" isn't near strong enough for this one — it's a classic, a novel that deserves study.

Ellroy's characters are always strong symbols, and between them, the three protagonists span the gamut of American hope and horror. I particularly found Ward Littell fascinating; a brilliant lawyer who works tirelessly for the both mob and Howard Hughes, yet mollifies his conscience by skimming from both to funnel anonymous donations to Martin Luther King.

Highly recommended.

Started 07.08.06, Finished 07.28.06

THE GOLDEN COMPASS, by Phillip Pullman

Mostly I read crime and lit-fic, but every now and then you gotta branch out. There's nothing better for clearing the palate than a well-written fantasy novel, and this one is a doozy, a 'children's book' that adults enjoy more. The story is great, but I particularly loved Pullman's prose, which was absolutely luminous: complex, playful, and wry.

Best described as a cross between Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and The Neverending Story, it's a very British book that follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua. I don't usually like the way children are written, but Lyra won my heart. Clever, tough, and hungry for adventure, but also driven by a powerful heart. Just like the book, actually.

I ordered both sequels to The Golden Compass the same day I finished it.

Started 07.06.06, Finished 07.07.06

SHAME THE DEVIL, by George Pelecanos

I'm a huge Pelecanos fan. I pleasure-delay with his stuff, letting myself read one every couple of months, rather than in the mad one-after-another rush I'd prefer.

Like all his others, Shame the Devil functions on a couple of levels. There's a revenge story, and a couple of honest-to-God frightening killers on the loose. And the more plot-driven elements like that are great — in fact, the first 20 pages or so are some of the finest in the book. But what makes Pelecanos Pelecanos is his love for his characters, and the empathy and subtlety with which he explores them. This isn't MFA-candidate character-study masturbation — Pelecanos gets dirty with these folks, wounds them to the bone and watches to see how — and if — they survive.

Started 06.27.06, Finished 07.04.06