New in Crime Fiction
<p> A holiday mood prevails in the newsroom with all the Presidents birthdays mashed together into a convenient Monday observance. Wellington Leg is quiet although concerned that the earl’s impromptu attempt at circumnavigating the globe may end badly, not to mention the slight he received from critic Janet Maslin who overlooked VOLTAIRE’S MIASMA in her sweeping article on the current crop of thrillers. Voltaire reimagined as a short reliever in the Dodgers farm system seems to capture the zeitgeist perfectly, philosophically speaking.
<p> But bitterness is a shallow cup as so many can attest, so let’s plunge into the body of the story without these asides and ponderous reflections. Sure, Voltaire needs work on his command and location, but he’s a Frenchman living in Visalia. Meanwhile at Eddie’s Book Nook this reporter must sort through the new arrivals while wiping a tear from his eye. Currently reading:
<p> THE ECHELON VENDETTA by David Stone. Speared by the aforementioned Ms. Maslin as a DaVinci Code knockoff THE ECHELON VENDETTA is no such thing despite the ominous scenes in a Cortona Italy chapel. Borrowing from Hamlet the ghost of a dead intelligence officer troubles the protagonist on several levels in a risky gambit whose outcome is yet unclear.
<p> John Shannon’s latest THE DARK STREETS promises much and delivers more. Steve Hockensmith returns with ON THE WRONG TRACK featuring his cowboy detectives first introduced in HOLMES ON THE RANGE.
<p> I finished Natsuo Kirino’s GROTESQUE a marvelous strange novel about the murder of two Tokyo prostitutes. It’s due out in March from Knopf. TTFN, Prince Gaspar of Thuringia ( reduced to blogging after a harrowing encounter with Knights Templar.)
February 19th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Are you doing a longer review, here or elsewhere, or GROTESQUE? Sounds as though it might merit such treatment, and I don’t want to miss it should it occur.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
And another thought–shouldn’t you have links to your various non-One-More-Bite-of-the-Apple reviews posted somewhere here (like maybe in your sidebar?). It’s hard for us peasants to stay current…
February 20th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I would have links or squiggly lines as the techies call them but here at the Druidical & Literary the knowledge is lacking ever since Ethelred the Intern flubbed the call.