The Anti Gene Hunt

I was watching Ashes to Ashes last night in the multiple commercial breaks reading Susan Hill's new one and it occurred to me that Susan Hill's Serrallier is as far from Hunt as you can get. They are both dedicated policemen but that's where the similarity ends and that's why both of them are so interesting. Hunt is this chauvanist dinosaur the roughest of rough diamonds who wouldn't think twice about resorting to rough stuff but there's a heart lurking under all that bluster. Serrallier is an artist, cultured, a little tortured and I doubt if Hill will ever marry him off because he wouldn't suit marriage. But both are utterly compelling - and the reason? They're written that way.

Thoughts on Packing for Mars

I am a huge fan of Mary Roach, I have copies of Stiff, Spook and Bonk so I've been expecting great things from Packing for Mars. I wasn't disappointed, Roach turns her writing to the minutiae of space travel less Houston we have a problem, more Houston we have a fungus.

As usual she dives head-first into her subjects which run from the evolution of NASA's 'food' to experiencing weightlessness (I'm jealous I've always wanted to do a zero g flight) to why sex in space wouldn't work (gravity is your friend people) It is - as she points out - possible to visit space without ever leaving the ground, but only in simulation.

Packing for Mars is whitty, packed with facts and laced with Roach's trademark humour. PFM will be out soon.

The drought is over!!

Oh boy, look at all these arcs! Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman, Book of Thieves by Richard Doetsch and and the one I've been searching for the last couple of months Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.

Weird little story attached to that one, it never stays in one place you'd think the thing had legs. It's out in August so I'd better get my skates on. So this afternoon I will be reading Packing for Mars out on the deck with my feet immersed in a paddling pool full of ice. Ahhhhhh!

Speaking for the Dead for a worthy cause

So you’re a successful published author but after a certain amount of time some of your early back catalogue has gone out of print and the rights revert to you. What do you do with them? If you’re Paul Levine – you take full advantage of the e book revolution and give all the proceeds to charity.

Levine’s first Jake Lassiter novel 'To Speak for the Dead' – first published 20 years ago - is now out in e form and if you’ve never read him before this is a good way to get caught up before his new Lassiter novel comes out next year. Plus every penny goes to The Four Diamonds Fund – Levine's pet cancer charity.

You can tell a lot about a character by their dialogue and Paul had the novel idea of interviewing his creation - here’s an excerpt

Paul: Then let’s talk about you. Have you changed much in the 20 years since “To Speak for the Dead” was published?

Jake: You tell me. I don’t carry a Blackberry, an I-Phone, Pre, or a purse. You won’t find my mug on My Space or Facebook. I don’t have a life coach, an aroma therapist, or a yoga instructor, and I don’t do Pilates.

Paul: So you’re not exactly trendy?

Jake: I’m a carnivore among vegans, a brew and burger guy in a Chardonnay and paté world. I open the door for women and walk next to the street in case a horse and buggy jump the curb.

Paul: Do you have a philosophy of life?

Jake: I try to do the least damage possible. I never park in the handicapped space or toss gum wrappers on the sidewalk. I help little old ladies cross the street, and sometimes, tall young ones, too.

Having read the full interview I went straight to the site and bought my copy – as a pdf – heaven knows I’ve read enough manuscripts on-line since I’ve been on authonomy.

If you want to discover a series that some say is better than Grisham and do your good deed for the day then head over to

http://www.paul-levine.com/content/jake-lassiter.asp

Thanks to Nicole for pointing me at yet another good legal series.

Beautiful Malice, Rebecca James

Katherine Patterson, the new girl at school, so aloof, mysterious. Alice Perrie, bright, beautiful, she doesn’t respect boundaries and she’s always the center of attention. Alice seeks Katherine out and as their friendship deepens, Katherine shares her secret with Alice but Alice has her own secrets, her own agenda. The Boydell sisters won’t leave Katherine alone and the worst is yet to come

Rainy days and Wednesdays

Yesterday gave me not one - but two arcs. Graham Hancock's fantasy thriller Entangled and Susan Hill's new one The Shadows in the Street. Hancock, known for non fiction books like Fingerprints of the Gods has turned his hand to fiction. I started reading this this morning and I'm still going. Susan Hill is in my view in the same territory as the legendary PD James so that one was a no-brainer.

Thoughts on 'Where Good Ideas Come From'

Just finished Steven Johnson's new one, found in the arcs cupboard last Friday night. Yes it's non-fiction and he's the guy who wrote Ghost Map and The Invention of Air. Published in October it's about yes 'where good ideas come from' but also how they stick around and grow and evolve into - in some cases - unexpected forms. How mistakes can be a good thing and why eureka moments are a lot rarer than you'd think, they're more like hobby hunches simmering in the brain of the scientist, writer, doctor, etc. Johnson also shows us how some institutions are idea factories and others are set up to squelch ideas, which can cost lives.

Before work this afternoon I'm going to the online water cooler to join a chat with Tana French about Faithful Place.

Update 13.07pm - the chat was 1.30 Eastern Standard oops! but here is the link to the replay

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishersoffice/subcontent/watercooler.html

The triple threat

Not every writer can handle different genres but John Connolly straddles them with ease, his fiction - Book of Lost Things, sci-fi - The Gates and the Charlie Parker series - mystery/thriller with more horror than I would normally read are all excellent. Yes folks I just finished The Whisperers. Here's the review.

PI Charlie Parker has just got his license back. Hired by Bennett Patchett to investigate the suicide of Patchett's son Damien. Parker discovers a pattern of suicides all leading back to the Stryker C unit, a looted museum in Iraq and an artifact from the cradle of civilization that could make Pandora's box look like a picnic hamper. Parker's looking for answers, the Collector and a man called Herod seek the artifact or could it be a prison.

Not only is this a first class thriller, it has some interesting things to say about how returning soldiers are treated especially when the injury isn't visible to the naked eye.

Re-reads #1

During arc droughts - like now - I turn to my own shelves, not all of these are still in print and not all are available in the US but these are my top ten re-reads.

Fury - Colin Forbes - A spy thriller, one of his best because he wove in the real life death of his wife.
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - Comedy version of the Omen - still makes me laugh out loud.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson - no explanation necessary.
Death of An Expert Witness - PD James - my first PD James, read so many times the binding has come adrift.
Silverstone - Bob Judd - A formula one racing thriller.
Thunderball - Ian Fleming - like your Bond more Daniel Craig than Roger Moore - this one's for you.
Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson - Bryson's book on his time in England.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K Rowling - I'm re-reading the lot.
Trading with the Enemy - Charles Higham - difficult to get hold of and not an easy read.
Eating Up Italy - Charles Fort - food writer takes Vespa to Italy.

arcs with everything?

I was talking with a friend last week and she commented that I haven't posted much recently. She's right but it's not because of a lack of good books, there are a couple I'd love to get my hands on - including Barry Eisler's new one Inside Out but for whatever reason we didn't have an arc for it and now we have one copy left in the store.

Sad News

I first met Kelly Wells at a staff meeting and I was impressed by how smart, well-read and nice she was. We worked together a lot and we used to joke that Kelly practically lived at the store. When she left us everyone at TKE was sad but now we're sad all over again. Kelly has gone to that great library in the sky, where I'm sure she'll be wandering the aisles, stopping to pull out a book absorbing it and going on to the next one and the next. I learned a lot from her, she was a friend and colleague. R.I.P

All Quiet on the Wasatch Front

Haven't written for two weeks! Will remedy that tomorrow once I've set the house to rights. I am still reading though and the current book on my shelf - The Watchers by Shane Harris - comes with a caveat. Do not pick this book up unless you want to educate yourself on the subject of government surveillance - ignorance is bliss after all. Harris has a good handle on his subject, he went and talked to the architects of the system 'the watchers'. This reads like fiction but oh boy it is not. I now know more than I ever needed to about wire-taps, data mining, IDC, NSA etc and why a serving US President with alzheimers is not a good thing.

In other news one of my galley grab requests arrived - The Whisperers by John Connolly which I can't wait to read.

7/8 Update on The Watchers, I'm split down the middle on this one. I understand the need for more data to track terrorists but the misuse of that data or even the numerous false positives such a system can generate mean that it needs to be carefully regulated and that removes the teeth from the watchdog. I also have a new acronym for the mode US politicians - doesn't matter if they have an R or a D next to their name - use and it's not SUABC (Stand Up And Be Counted) Instead they use CYOA or FE (Cover Your Own Ass or Forget Everything)

Faithful Place - Tana French

Frank Mackey now a dedicated undercover cop but Mackey carries a scar. He’s carried it since the day he left Faithful Place in the dead of night. A scar shaped like the girl he was going to elope with that night, the girl who never showed. Rosie Daley.

All this time Frank’s been thinking of Rosie, living in England probably married with kids, wanting nothing to do with a loser like him. I mean who’d want to get involved with the Mackeys?

Then one day Faithful Place pulls him back, a suitcase belonging to the Daley’s is found stuffed up the chimney and Frank has to get his head around the fact that Rose may never have left Faithful Place at all.