Mike Stafford
Mike Stafford is an irascible Yorkshireman currently domiciled in Worcester. As an Energy Analyst, his daily life provides the perfect motivation for escapism into literature; he both reads and writes it with great enthusiasm. His book collection extends to crime fiction, philosophy, political treatises, biography, 20th Century classics and a hearty chunk of Stephen King’s oeuvre. When not indulging in these, he can be found despairing of the fortunes of his beloved Sheffield Wednesday.
Guilt by Association, by Marcia Clark
Reviewed on February 22, 2012
Guilt by Association is the first novel from American attorney and legal talking head Marcia Clark. Legal names don’t come much bigger than Clark, who was chief prosecutor during the OJ Simpson trial, and with Guilt by Association, she travels the well-trodden path between practicing law and writing sharp crime thrillers. This particular thriller introduces [...]
Star Island, by Carl Hiaasen
Reviewed on February 20, 2012
Trashing celebrity culture is something of a sport for sections of the intelligentsia. Just as semi-literate imbeciles clamour for the latest news on Bosh and Pecks’ new diet regime, or intimate details of some pop-tart’s marital breakdown, educated types have an endless appetite for Brookerian or Eltonian celeb-scorn. It’s a vicious cycle of sniping, to [...]
Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
Reviewed on February 19, 2012
Ah, Dame Agatha, the pen that sold four billion books. Assuming my maths GCSE is worth the paper it’s printed on, that’s just shy of 1.4 books sold every second of every day since she was first published back in October 1920. To this day, when non crime buffs think of crime writing, the chances [...]
A Sentimental Traitor, by Michael Dobbs
Reviewed on February 13, 2012
I grew up with Michael Dobbs. His books enjoyed pride of place on my father’s shelves, and I recall the House of Cards series being the among the more acclaimed televisual events of their respective years. Indeed, Dobbs may be the only living politician I can recall enjoying consistent popularity with anyone. The reasons for [...]
Getting Off, by Lawrence Block
Reviewed on February 12, 2012
It appears Ronseal have gone into the business of book cover design. At least, that’s the conclusion one could reach from checking out Getting Off: A Novel of Sex and Violence. I defy anyone to glance at this book without expecting anything but 300 pages of murderous, porno filth. It’s certainly not one to whip [...]
Buried Secrets, by Joseph Finder
Reviewed on February 6, 2012
In the world of crime and thriller writing, authenticity is king. The genre is filled with ex-cops, lawyers, crime reporters and assorted other experts, and one of the most dedicated among their number is Joseph Finder. As if his time spent working for the CIA didn’t do enough for his credibility, he actually spent time [...]
Hollywood Hills, by Joseph Wambaugh
Reviewed on February 2, 2012
Before even getting to the content of Hollywood Hills, let’s discuss that cover. Corvus have turned out some seriously striking stuff of late, but this one, a dark, moody number designed by Blacksheep, is a thing of majestic beauty. I would quite happily get this blown up, poster-sized, and displayed on my living room wall. [...]
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reviewed on January 28, 2012
The concept of the “Great American Novel” has always seemed to me like nationalist navel gazing. Aside from an unwavering desire to brand its cultural products (witness a vast number of films prefixed with the word “American”), I’ve always felt there was something triumphalist about American refusal to be content with the more humble term [...]
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré
Reviewed on January 23, 2012
Late last year, I made the mistake of admitting, in public, having never read any John le Carré. It wasn’t a pleasant experience; anyone wishing to approximate it should try standing on any street in America announcing never having tried cheeseburgers. So, with the shame still burning my cheeks, I set about resolving the situation. [...]
Siege, by Simon Kernick
Reviewed on January 16, 2012
Simon Kernick is the best thing to come out of Slough in… well, ever, and by a wide margin. Since making his debut in 2002 with The Business of Dying, he has established a name for himself as one of the nation’s best thriller writers, crafting books with pace, violence, and above all, a high [...]
God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens
Reviewed on January 15, 2012
God is Not Great has sat near the top of my to-be-read pile for some time, but unfortunately, the earliest opportunity to read it has come shortly after the author’s death. As such, a favourable review risks being consigned to the reams of heartfelt fawning that followed Hitch’s passing, and a negative one could smack [...]
Cold Wind, by CJ Box
Reviewed on January 11, 2012
For years, Joe Pickett has been plagued by the mother-in-law from Hell. A perennial divorcee and gold-digger, Missy has constantly denigrated his profession and his manhood, attempted to drive a wedge between Joe’s daughters, and on one occasion even asked Joe to leave his wife for what Missy perceives to be the greater good. And [...]
Nowhere to Run, by CJ Box
Reviewed on January 7, 2012
Nowhere to Run is the tenth in the Joe Pickett series, and after a decade of writing (condensed to twelve months for those of us in the UK), author CJ Box is in no danger of running out of steam. The tale begins in the Sierra Madre mountains. Following reports of butchered elk and damaged [...]
The Locked Ward: The Memoir of a Psychiatric Orderly, by Dennis O’Donnell
Reviewed on January 4, 2012
As a society, we like to think we’ve come some way in our treatment of, and attitudes to, mental health. We look in horror at the Victorian model, priding ourselves on our humanity because we no longer lock the mentally ill away for life, and refrain from driving chisels into their frontal lobes. And yet, [...]
The Lewis Man, by Peter May
Reviewed on January 3, 2012
The Lewis Man is the second in Peter May’s planned Lewis trilogy, a crime-based saga set on the Hebridean island of Lewis. The opening chapter, The Blackhouse, was a triumph in terms of both place and character, and as such, hopes will be high for the follow up. It opens, as far more typical crime [...]
The Identity Man, by Andrew Klavan
Reviewed on January 1, 2012
Garden centres aren’t renowned for selling quality fiction, and yet, thanks to retail diversification, it was in one such place that I first came across the work of Andrew Klavan. The book in question was Damnation Street, a tale which, though taking a fairly liberal attitude to the use of cliché, was the most hardboiled [...]
2011 Crime Review of the Year
Reviewed on December 31, 2011
In the last twelve months, I’ve smelled spilled blood in the High Arctic, witnessed the sectarian thaw in Northern Ireland, ridden with outdoorsmen through rural Wyoming, and read Mickey Spillane’s books from beyond the grave. Though my hernia-addled postman may disagree, it’s been quite a year. At time of writing, I’ve read just shy of [...]
Total Immunity, by Robert Ward
Reviewed on December 30, 2011
Total Immunity is the ninth book from American thriller writer Robert Ward, and introduces a new hero, FBI Agent Jack Harper. Harper is cut from familiar cloth; haunted by past transgressions, struggling to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend, and with at best a tenuous grip on fatherhood. He is also a man’s man; partial [...]
Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction, by Barry Forshaw
Reviewed on December 27, 2011
What Barry Forshaw doesn’t know about crime fiction, to borrow an old phrase, isn’t worth knowing. A journalist, chronicler of the genre, and talking head for the CWA Awards, with Death in a Cold Climate offering he covers in depth the extraordinarily popular sub-genre that is Nordic noir. Often dismissed as shallow escapism, Forshaw recognises [...]
Conman, by Richard Asplin
Reviewed on December 16, 2011
I hate Richard Asplin. Not in any mean or vindictive sense, you understand, this is purely the type of good-natured hatred one feels for those individuals who go around hogging all the talent. He’s a musician, stand-up comic, and also, it appears, a writer of ingenious con thrillers. In fact, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised [...]
The Dead Witness, by Michael Sims
Reviewed on December 13, 2011
It is with some embarrassment I must admit my ignorance in terms of Victorian fiction. My knowledge of the era extends largely to Stoker and Conan Doyle, with a smattering of national curriculum-endorsed classics. As such, to me Michael Sims’ The Dead Witness is something of a boon. The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur’s Collection of [...]
The Drop, by Michael Connelly
Reviewed on November 25, 2011
Here’s a tip – next time you’re in a book shop, if you see a book called The Drop, don’t think, just buy it. Two volumes by that name have crossed my desk this year; the first being a breathtaking gangland thriller from Geordie writer Howard Linskey. So, from dazzling debutants to time-honoured Titans, the [...]
Below Zero, by CJ Box
Reviewed on November 22, 2011
As I write, my “to be read” pile boasts the new Michael Connelly, a Lee Child, Roslund & Hellstrom’s highly rated Three Seconds, a Karin Slaughter, and an extremely tempting chunk of Faber’s 2012 catalogue. And yet, I find myself reading three CJ Box efforts on the spin. Below Zero is the third of my [...]
Blood Trail, by CJ Box
Reviewed on November 20, 2011
It seems like only yesterday I finished Free Fire, the previous instalment of the Joe Pickett series. That’s because, at time of writing, it was. I remember my maternal grandmother once holding forth on the joy of finding an author with a rich back catalogue to delve into. Regular visitors to us here at Bookgeeks [...]
Free Fire, by CJ Box
Reviewed on November 18, 2011
Another month, another CJ Box. From the month of September comes Free Fire, the seventh in the Joe Pickett series. Still reeling from the dark events that drew In Plain Sight to a close, Free Fire finds Pickett cast out of his role as game warden by joyless bureaucrat Randy Pope. To make ends meet, [...]
A second look at Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by David Simon
Reviewed on November 16, 2011
Few books can claim to have spawned one of the greatest TV shows ever; David Simon’s Homicide has spawned two. When fellow Bookgeek Simon Appleby reviewed it in 2008, he did so through the prism of ‘The Wire.’ Before ‘The Wire’ though, there was ‘Homicide: Life on the Street,’ which ran for seven series on [...]
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
Reviewed on November 12, 2011
Before Dashiell Hammett, crime fiction consisted of either genteel, parlour game puzzle-solving, or action-adventure disposable pulp fare. After Dashiell Hammett, everything changed. Previously, the only enduring crime writing had come from the likes of Conan Doyle and Christie, offering up middle-class murders where the corpse was merely the first clue of the case. With Hammett, [...]
Next of Kin, by David Hosp
Reviewed on November 8, 2011
Everybody hates lawyers; except, that is, when they’re writing books. Aside from the obvious Grisham, a host of writers such as Scott Turow and Lisa Scottoline have managed to make a fine living bringing the legal milieu to life in print, and with Next of Kin, David Hosp has staked a claim to a place [...]
God, No!, by Penn Jillette
Reviewed on November 6, 2011
In the interest of full disclosure, I am both a staunch atheist and an ardent fan of Penn and Teller. As such, there was an extremely high likelihood of my enjoying God, No! In this book, Penn Jillette (the louder, larger half of the world-renowned magic/comedy/skeptic duo), provides his own non-theistic version of the Ten [...]
Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, by Heike B Görtemaker
Reviewed on November 4, 2011
Despite the passage of nearly seventy years since his death, there remains a taboo around Adolf Hitler’s personal life. Some commentators are still more comfortable seeing Hitler as a monolithic monster, devoid of humanity. For them, Eva Braun presents a problem. A young, attractive and apparently vivacious woman who enjoyed an unremarkable childhood, she was [...]
A Means of Escape, by Joanna Price
Reviewed on October 31, 2011
A Means of Escape is the debut novel from Glastonbury’s own Joanna Price, and indeed marks the maiden literary voyage of publisher Aston Bay Press. It also constitutes the opening salvo of a planned series featuring DS Kate Linton, and her boss, DI Rob Brown. Price wastes no time, dropping a body in the reader’s [...]
The Platinum Loop, by Austin Williams
Reviewed on October 30, 2011
The Platinum Loop is the sophomore effort from American writer Austin Williams. In his first outing, the acclaimed Crimson Orgy, Williams took a comic-horror look at the world of splatter movies, introducing us to two-bit film producer Gene Hoffman. Hoffman returns in The Platinum Loop, which looks at an entirely different type of film. This [...]
The Killer is Dying, by James Sallis
Reviewed on October 25, 2011
James Sallis is no ordinary crime writer. Aside from crime writing, he has produced poetry collections, biographies, and books on musicology. It is perhaps no surprise then, that The Killer is Dying is no ordinary crime novel. Elements of the plot are typical enough; a terminally ill contract killer works his final job, pursued by [...]
In Plain Sight, by CJ Box
Reviewed on October 23, 2011
When only the best crime fiction will do, I reach for a volume of CJ Box. Thankfully, Corvus have spent all of 2011 bringing Box’s substantial back catalogue to British shores, so there are plenty to choose from. In Plain Sight is the sixth in the Joe Pickett series, bringing with it one of the [...]
The Consummata, by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
Reviewed on October 21, 2011
When Mickey Spillane began work on The Consummata, Charles Manson was an unknown Ohioan drifter, King Idris was still in power in Libya, and the surface of the moon was still untainted by human boot prints. The sequel to The Delta Factor, Spillane shelved it after much frustration at the cinematic development of its predecessor. [...]
Choke Hold, by Christa Faust
Reviewed on October 18, 2011
If you’re in the market for sex, violence and sleaze, look no further than Hard Case Crime. Aside from boasting work from such luminaries as Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins, Lawrence Block and Ken Bruen, HCC’s attention to detail is impeccable. Their covers combine great artwork with bawdy, neo-pulp imagery, the fonts hark back to [...]
All He Saw Was The Girl, by Peter Leonard
Reviewed on October 14, 2011
All He Saw Was The Girl is the third thriller from American author Peter Leonard. That’s Peter, son of Elmore Leonard, owner of a pair of extraordinarily difficult literary shoes to fill. Fortunately for Leonard Junior, critical response to his work thus far has been overwhelmingly positive, even drawing glowing comparisons with his father. Hopes [...]
Collusion, by Stuart Neville
Reviewed on October 12, 2011
Collusion is the second thriller from Northern Ireland’s Stuart Neville. Following on from his highly acclaimed debut, The Twelve, Collusion has a lot to live up to. DI Jack Lennon returns, as does paramilitary contract killer Gerry Fegan, and several other characters from The Twelve. Each of them is in their own way still struggling [...]
R.J. Ellory
Reviewed on October 10, 2011
R.J. Ellory is the author of the bestselling A Quiet Belief in Angels, which was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Barry Award, the 813 Trophy, the Quebec Bookseller’s Prize and was winner of the Nouvel Observateur Crime Fiction Prize. His work has been translated into twenty-three languages and he was awarded the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year for his recent novel, A Simple Act of Violence. R.J. Ellory currently lives in England.
The Faithless, by Martina Cole
Reviewed on October 10, 2011
The undisputed Queen of British Crime is… well, it’s Agatha Christie, but Martina Cole has spent the last twenty years having an almighty tilt at the title. Having sold 10m books, and recently become the darling of Sky1’s Thursday night programming, Cole writes gangland thrillers that are about as authentic as it gets. The Faithless [...]
The Blackhouse, by Peter May
Reviewed on September 29, 2011
The Blackhouse is the 17th novel from Scottish ex-pat Peter May. May, a screenwriter and prolific author of crime fiction, is embarking on a trilogy with this offering, introducing us to complex and traumatised Detective Fin Macleod. The tale opens with Macleod being dispatched back to Lewis after two decades of absence, sent to investigate [...]
Alphaville, by Michael Codella and Bruce Bennett
Reviewed on September 28, 2011
Alphaville is the true account of one NYPD officer’s career in Alphabet City, the heroin capital of the USA. Having retired in 2003 as a Detective Sergeant, Codella recounts the most action-packed of his years on the force, just after joining up in the mid 1980s, during the height of the crack explosion. The single [...]
The Invisibles Ones, by Stef Penney
Reviewed on September 27, 2011
The Invisible Ones is Stef Penney’s follow up to her Costa Award (nee Whitbread Award) winning debut, The Tenderness of Wolves. While The Tenderness of Wolves took us to the 1860s and the Canadian wilderness, The Invisible Ones takes us back to the Britain of the 1980s, and to the gypsy community. The family at [...]
Quarry’s Ex, by Max Allan Collins
Reviewed on September 18, 2011
If James Brown was “the hardest working man in show business,” then his opposite number in literary terms is Max Allan Collins. Collins, an author of novels, screenplays and comic books, has written more whole series than many authors have written books at all. Of those series, the Quarry books are among the most popular, [...]
Lethal Investments, by KO Dahl
Reviewed on September 16, 2011
Lethal Investments is the fourth English translation of the work of acclaimed Norwegian writer K O Dahl. It opens with the discovery of a murdered woman, Reidun Rosendal, stabbed to death in her apartment block. Dahl’s enduring heroes, Oslo detectives Gunnarstranda and Frolich are charged with investigating her murder, and their efforts are hampered when [...]
Saints of New York, by RJ Ellory
Reviewed on September 13, 2011
Saints of New York is the 8th book from Birmingham-born crime titan R.J. Ellory. The tale opens with Frank Parrish, alcoholic NYPD detective, trying and failing to talk a junkie out of a murder/suicide. From then on, trouble mounts for the beleaguered Parrish, as heroin dealer Danny Lange and his sister are each found murdered. [...]
The Silenced, by Brett Battles
Reviewed on September 7, 2011
The Silenced is the fourth in the Jonathan Quinn series, the creation of California’s Brett Battles. Battles picked up a Barry Award for his second effort, The Deceived, and his breakneck espionage thrillers have won him many admirers, not least Jeffery Deaver, whose gushing blurb adorns Battles’ latest dust jacket. In this most recent addition [...]
The Cut, by George Pelecanos
Reviewed on September 5, 2011
“Never judge a book by its cover,” says the old adage. While this may work as an analogy for prejudice based on physical appearances, in terms of books themselves, the phrase is redundant, and no dust jacket makes this more apparent than that of George Pelecanos’ The Cut. On the rear, Stephen King opines that [...]
88 Killer, by Oliver Stark
Reviewed on September 3, 2011
88 Killer is the follow up to Oliver Stark’s acclaimed debut, American Devil. NYPD Detective Tom Harper returns, aided (as he was in American Devil) by police psychotherapist Denise Levene, as they investigate the particularly gruesome murder of lawyer’s son, David Capske. Capske is found dead, wrapped tight in barbed wire, having been tortured for [...]
Bloodland, by Alan Glynn
Reviewed on September 1, 2011
Bloodland is the third thriller from Alan Glynn, author of The Dark Fields (now known as Limitless since being brought to life on screen by Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper). Where The Dark Fields was, as Glynn calls it, “a pharmaceutical Faust,” Bloodland is a far more complex affair, taking the reader from recession-blighted [...]
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block has been writing award-winning mystery and suspense fiction for half a century. His most recent novels are A Drop of the Hard Stuff, featuring Matthew Scudder, and Getting Off, starring a very naughty young woman. Several of his books have been filmed, although not terribly well. He’s well known for his books for writers, including the classic Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, and The Liar’s Bible.
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Five copies of The Woman in Black to be won
It’s competition time again – and to celebrate the release of Daniel Radcliffe’s new film, The Woman in Black, based on the novel of the same name by Susan Hill, we have five copies to give away. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of [...]
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