Meet a writer who "has an understanding of the power of words, their placing, their specific meaning" and "reflects the current malaise and modern preoccupations", "sends language out on a gleeful spree, exuberant, defiant", and who is "one of the finest storytellers out there, a lyrical master of the written word".
“A gem for real noir fans” – a new review of BORDERLAND NOIR
Original review published on February 25, 2018 here: http://nudge-book.com/blog/2018/02/borderland-noir-edited-by-craig-mcdonald/ I came across this anthology when I was looking into a feature on Mexican crime fiction, also published this month on BookNoir. I’m glad I did because there is some fine writing here; there is a genuine connection between the stories based at La Frontera, the … Continue reading “A gem for real noir fans” – a new review of BORDERLAND NOIR
Phantom Thread’s Poignant Glimpse into the Designer Mind
It’s an Oscar contender featuring one of the great actors of our time. The costume design is remarkable, and the cinematography gorgeous. Newcomer Vicky Krieps gives a sensitive and memorable performance and it’s written and directed by auteur, Paul Thomas Anderson. Still, none of this is why I think you should see the film Phantom Thread.
My recommendation is more personal than that. I have often written of how I enjoy it when my two loves, fashion and fiction, meet. This is one of those encounters. Phantom Thread portrays a similar character as I wrote about in my novel Silk for the Feed Dogs. Reynolds Woodcock is cut from a similar cloth as Signor Adriani. Alma is the innocent from the outside squaring off against the design genius’s perverse psychological gamesmanship just as Kat had to contend with similar in my tale. Substitute the London of the 1950s…
View original post 68 more words
Killarney Blues – Colin O’Sullivan
A wonderful review of the French edition of Colin O’Sullivan’s KILLARNEY BLUES!
Traduit par Ludivine Bouton-Kelly
Bernard est jarvey dans la petite ville de Killarney, en Irlande, dans le comté du Kerry. Si vous connaissez Killarney, vous avez sûrement rencontré ces conducteurs de calèche qui promènent toute la journée les nombreux touristes. Pourtant Bernard est mis au ban de la bourgade : il est considéré un peu comme l’idiot du village. On découvre qu’il aurait peut-être une forme d’autisme Asperger (mais cela reste une supposition). Cet homme a une passion : le blues. Dès qu’il peut, il gratte sa guitare et chante (mais chez lui). Il est incollable sur tous les bluesmen américains. Une passion que lui a transmise son père, décédé. Bernard est amoureux depuis son adolescence de Marian, à qui il envoie régulièrement des cassettes de ses enregistrements.
Quand s’ouvre le récit, Bernard se fait rosser par des hommes, à la sortie d’un pub. On ne sait pas pourquoi. Des…
View original post 837 more words
“One True Sentence,” by Craig McDonald: Murder and sex in the City of Lights
Looking for a riveting stew of murder, sex, history and literature?
“One True Sentence,” by Craig McDonald, offers that and a lot more. The novel, part of a series featuring writer Hector Lassiter, is set in Paris during the 1920s. Lassiter, who writes stories for crime magazine Black Mask while pondering more literary ambitions, is one of the many Americans huddled in the City of Lights and spends his non-writing time drinking hard and hobnobbing with the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ford Maddox Ford and other writers and poets. When someone begins knocking off publishers of literary magazines, it naturally catches their attention. Soon Hector, Hemingway and the others find themselves poking around into the investigation and finding themselves in a great deal of trouble.
I enjoyed this book on several levels. It is a fine noir novel on its own, with great femme fatales and a…
View original post 259 more words
Video extract from “The Starved Lover Sings”
This novel is O’Sullivan’s second, after Killarney Blues, published by Betimes Books in 2013. It takes place in a world transformed by disaster: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, nationalist and corporate mergers, roaming wolves. The Starved Lover Sings is a fever dream of a world at the end of its rope. Our protagonist, and in many chapters … Continue reading Video extract from “The Starved Lover Sings”
#spycops – the tawdry facts that couldn’t hold together as fiction
Donald Finnaeus Mayo about undercover policing - in facts and fiction.
New release: “The Insider’s Guide to Betrayal”
The second novel from Donald Finnaeus Mayo, author of Francesca, is an unlikely love story between an undercover intelligence officer and an IRA activist. While the novel is set in the 1980s, its theme has been placed into sharp focus by recent investigations and court cases concerning the controversial practice of undercover policing. … Continue reading New release: “The Insider’s Guide to Betrayal”
Review – Craig McDonald’s ‘One True Sentence’
A wonderful new review for Book 1 in the Hector Lassiter series
I first heard about Craig McDonald’s series of historical mystery thrillers fairly recently via a review by fellow Ellroy scholar Steven Powell. In it, Powell draws some fascinating links between McDonald’s work and James Sallis’s ‘Lew Griffin’ mysteries – a series of compelling, unusual and beautifully written crime novels. Probably better known as the author of Drive (which was subsequently made into an excellent film by Nicolas Winding Refn), James Sallis is one of the most underrated – and one of my favourite – crime writers working to day, so this comparison was intriguing enough for me to pick up one of McDonald’s books.
McDonald’s novels follow the exploits of Hector Lassiter, a crime writer/amateur detective who finds himself swept up in some of the most violent and infamous events of Twentieth Century history. One True Sentence places us in 1920’s Paris, an historical milieu populated by bohemian artists and real life figures from ‘the Lost Generation’. Not long out…
View original post 368 more words
A new review of Craig McDonald’s “The Running Kind”
The Running Kind reviewed by Marvin Minkler of Modern First Editions No happy ending ever started in a bar. After the tumultuous events that took place on the world's stage during World War II, and after, in the last Hector Lassiter novel I read, and my ninth, Roll The Credits, expectations were a bit lower … Continue reading A new review of Craig McDonald’s “The Running Kind”
“The Death of Tarpons”: A journey into darkness
On the occasion of the new release of Les Edgerton’s debut novel, The Death of Tarpons, in paperback format by Betimes Books and in electronic format by Endeavour Press, we are taking a look back at what makes Edgerton’s first work of fiction so special. For something which, at first glance, seems so different from … Continue reading “The Death of Tarpons”: A journey into darkness
Who are “The Painter’s Women”?
Fionnuala Brennan's novel about Francisco de Goya takes the fresh approach of telling the artist's story through those of the important women in his life. Who were these women, and what was their relationship to the great painter? Rosario, Goya's loyal but conflicted daughter On the eve of her father’s burial, Rosario keeps vigil by … Continue reading Who are “The Painter’s Women”?
Books for your Valentine
"From the first page I was drawn into and seriously engaged in Kat's many adventures and misadventures. Streets and places in London and Milan are so vividly described, as well as the world of fashion. But what I loved the most about this book is the fact that this is no ordinary chick lit, where … Continue reading Books for your Valentine
New electronic literary imprint publishes Francesca
Our trade paperback edition is also available: viewBook.at/Francesca_DFMayo
Francesca, originally brought out by Betimes Books, has been published in an e-version by The Odyssey Press. Odyssey is the newest imprint from Endeavour Press, Britain’s leading independent digital publisher, and was launched to publish new literary fiction and biographies, and revive older classics now out of print.
Video Extract from Patricia Ketola’s Debut Novel, “Dirty Pictures”
Dirty Pictures is available to buy here. When New York art dealer Elizabeth Martel's mother falls ill, she returns to her hometown in the Midwest. After her mother's death she is seriously short of funds, and a friend suggests she take a job as art adviser to billionaire grain merchant, Preston Greylander. When Greylander is … Continue reading Video Extract from Patricia Ketola’s Debut Novel, “Dirty Pictures”
Author Hadley Colt discusses which famous film portrayals influenced her ‘Sherlock Holmes’ novel, “The Red-Handed League”.
From Hadley Colt's Blog: THE RED-HANDED LEAGUE & THE FACES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES The faces of Sherlock Holmes: So many, so varied. Some so bewildering. I’m specifically thinking about Mr. Holmes’ countless incarnations on film. When you look over the list of actors who’ve taken on the task of playing Sherlock—and ifyou’ve somehow evaded forming … Continue reading Author Hadley Colt discusses which famous film portrayals influenced her ‘Sherlock Holmes’ novel, “The Red-Handed League”.
Video Extract of “The Red-Handed League” by Hadley Colt
Available here We are witness to a young Sherlock Holmes, brilliant, arrogant and at the start of what promises to be a stellar career as the world's first and only consulting detective. Enter Jona Watson, a fetching young forensics student recruited to go undercover in a tony private school rocked by scandalous affairs between teachers … Continue reading Video Extract of “The Red-Handed League” by Hadley Colt
Fantastic New Review of the Hector Lassiter Series by Craig McDonald
"Finished Toros & Torsos last night, and reluctantly closed it. Just a superb read, from an expert craftsman Did not want to see it end. Fully entertaining, so well researched, and one I will not forget for a long time. Then, to top it off, I discover Part Four - How The Ghost of You … Continue reading Fantastic New Review of the Hector Lassiter Series by Craig McDonald
An Excerpt from Charlie P, Book 3 in Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
Central Park West Trilogy includes three novels, The Nihilesthete, Penthouse F and Charlie P, originally published separately and collected for the first time in a single volume. Post-modern fables, dark, shocking, perversely funny, wickedly astute, and compulsively readable, they share Kalich’s ferocious energy and unique vision. Together, they break down standard notions of plot, character … Continue reading An Excerpt from Charlie P, Book 3 in Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
An Excerpt from Penthouse F, Book 2 in the Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
Central Park West Trilogy is under promotion at Amazon.co.uk and the e-book will be available for the fantastic price of £0.99 until the end of August. Don't miss your chance to discover Richard Kalich's outstanding work practically for free. "- You noticed Mr. Kalich and the young woman as soon as they entered the women’s … Continue reading An Excerpt from Penthouse F, Book 2 in the Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
Betimes Books 
You must be logged in to post a comment.