Well. It really doesn't feel like a whole year since I last sat at my desk tapping out a reading list for this undernourished, somewhat (slash-quite-a-lot) neglected blog. Remember those halcyon days where I'd post every other day? That was fun. How the hell did I manage that? Don't answer that. Truth be told, this has been QUITE A YEAR, but that's another story. One I might tell sat beside a roaring fire while nursing a glass of cognac, aged 103 and looking wistfully off into the middle distance. But for now, all I can say is QUITE A YEAR probably explains why I only read 29 books this year, down from 51 in 2022 and 116 in 2021. 29? Pitiful. Hilariously, I started the year with about 20-something books waiting to be read, so I've barely done that most lovely thing of actually going to a bookshop and buying a new one to read there and then. And don't get me started on the pile of Dick Tracy hardbacks that I've been trying to make my way through for the last however-many years; I'm sure they're self-replicating. I've managed three this year and still have about eight to go before I've read the lot. Will I do it in the next 12 months? Probably not, but we'll see this time next year.
Anyway, back to those 29. For a relatively small number thank god none of them were duffers. Adhering to my usual A+ for stunningly brilliant reads I'd take to a boudoir and ravage for hours of sexy fun times if they were a person, and C and below for stuff you might tear pages out of to wipe yer bum with, nothing this year scored below B-. Maybe I was being overly generous, maybe I just have exceptional taste? Anyway, let me don my worn jacket with the leather elbow patches, settle back in my overstuffed leather armchair (that's an exaggeration - it's a perfectly stuffed chair from Next homewares), and regale you with this year's literary adventures.
1. The Hot Beat by Robert Silverberg - Great Hard Case Crime novel about a reporter trying to clear a down-on-his-luck musician who has been accused of murder. Also includes three cracking short tales by Silverberg that were first published in Crime magazines in the late 1950s and are worth the price of purchase alone: A
1. The Hot Beat by Robert Silverberg - Great Hard Case Crime novel about a reporter trying to clear a down-on-his-luck musician who has been accused of murder. Also includes three cracking short tales by Silverberg that were first published in Crime magazines in the late 1950s and are worth the price of purchase alone: A
2. Triggerman – A Hard Case Crime graphic novel in which a gun for hire is sprung from prison and sets out to reunite with the love of his life, dishing out plenty of killings along the way. Beautifully illustrated and nicely written; a quick read, but a satisfying one: A
3. Bullet Train: The Art and Making of the Film by Abbie Bernstein - Gorgeous oversize art book exploring the making of the 2022 movie Bullet Train. Comprised of great concept art and insightful commentary by key production team members, this is a great read for fans of the film: A
4. Double Feature by Donald E. Westlake - Wonderful collection of two short Westlake novels; one a drama centred on a sailor who reconnects with his former wife, now a famous actress; the other a comedy about a film critic who finds himself going on a killing spree. The drama is great, but the comedy is genius – a hilarious tale that is worth the price of the book alone: A
5. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. I by Stan Sakai - First volume in a lush slipcased edition of two hardback books collecting the entire run of the famed samurai rabbit stories published by Fantagraphics Books. I’ve long wanted to read Usagi, and I was not disappointed. Beautifully illustrated and richly told tales: A
6. Usagi Yojimbo Vol. II by Stan Sakai - More of the same in the second volume of the above; Sakai has an innate skill in placing his character in exciting situations, whether they be small character driven tales or multipart epics. An absolute joy to explore these early years of the character’s run: A
7. Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye – A Sherlock Holmes pastiche in which the famed detective and his biographer, Dr. John Watson, find themselves on the trail of Jack the Ripper. The idea is a phenomenal one, but I found this book a little lacking – the necessity to fit a plot line around the actual events of the Ripper killings felt a bit forced in places, and I sometimes found the style of writing a little florid. Add to that a conclusion that felt just somewhat rushed and convenient all led to me feeling just a little underwhelmed. This isn’t a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, I just think there’s a better Holmes vs the Ripper tale just waiting to be told: B-
8. Snatch by Gregory McDonald – A Hard Case Crime book collecting two novels by the creator of Fletch about boys who have been kidnapped. Both tales are entertaining with a sly sense of humour and plenty of twists and turns that held my attention. Thoroughly enjoyed this one: A
9. From Hell: The Master Edition by Alan Moore - Fantastic graphic novel posing a sinister theory of who Jack the Ripper was and why he committed his horrific crimes. I read this years ago in the original black and white version; this new edition features enhanced and tastefully coloured art by original artist Eddie Campbell, bringing a new dimension to this enthralling masterpiece: A
10. The Big Bundle by Max Allan Collins - The first Nathan Heller novel I’ve read, and definitely enjoyable enough that it won’t be the last. Here, private detective Heller is called upon to track down a missing ransom that was paid in an effort to have a kidnapped boy returned safely home. Although Heller is a fictional character, the kidnapping itself was a real event, helping to make this an even more fascinating read: A
11. Fools Die On Friday by Erle Stanley Gardner - Written by the creator of Perry Mason, this is the first book I’ve read in the Cool and Lam series, and it wasn’t what I expected: Funny, tightly written and moving at a rapid pace, this hugely entertaining novel – in which Donald Lam and Bertha Cool are tasked with preventing a poisoning – was an absolute joy from start to finish: A
12. Night Stalker by Donald Hamilton - A decent classic novel in which a man assumes a different identity after being drawn into a murder plot. Not my favourite Hard Case Crime novel, but it was entertaining enough: B
13. Borderline by Lawrence Block - Great novel in which three different plot lines based around characters located on the Mexico border weave in and around one another until reaching a striking conclusion. The book also features a selection of some of Block’s short stories, also highly entertaining: A
14. The Lake of the Dead by André Bjerke - A classic Scandinavian novel that hovers between horror and crime as a group of people try to learn who or what killed their friend in a remote woodland cabin: A
15. Dick Tracy Vol. 19 by Chester Gould - The last batch of stories from the late 1950s showcase more of Gould’s classic detective in action against an array of fantastical criminals: A
16. Mick Jagger by Philip Norman (Kindle) - A comprehensive biography of the iconic Rolling Stones frontman. It’s a good read, but I did feel rather that, without the actual cooperation of Jagger, this felt more like a decent bio of the Stones as a whole, rather than Mick himself. Good, but I think there’s a better Mick Jagger biography waiting to be written: B+
17. Double Down by Max Allan Collins - Two more Nolan stories by the master crime writer. This is probably my favourite of the Nolan collections published by Hard Case Crime. Two great stories, wonderfully written, and Nolan really starts to develop as a character: A
18. Tough Tender by Max Allan Collins - Books five and six of the Nolan series see the titular gentleman thief and his sidekick Jon take on a wily femme fatale. Two more great stories: A
19. Mad Money by Max Allan Collins - Books seven and eight, the culmination of the original Nolan run, are collected here and prove to be a fitting conclusion to Nolan and Jon’s adventures - pitting them once again against the violent Comfort family, who force them to take part in a plot to rob an entire shopping mall. Great fun: A
20. Skim Deep by Max Allan Collins - The first new Nolan novel in 30 years sees Nolan settling into married life, before being swiftly drawn back into his former life during his honeymoon in Las Vegas. A fitting end to the Nolan saga that feels like it was written straight after the original novels. Huge fun: A
21. Dick Tracy Vol. 20 by Chester Gould - Continuing the adventures of Gould's famed detective, this collection of newspaper strips from the early 1960s sees Tracy going up against a villain called Brush Spready, who wears a wig on his face to conceal his true identity. While not the most memorable of Tracy's rogues gallery, the tales themselves continue to entertain: A
22. The Last Stand by Mickey Spillane - The first Spillane book I’ve read features a tale from the earliest part of his career, and another that was completed by Max Allan Collins using notes left by the great writer after his death. Both are entertaining tales; perhaps not Spillane at this finest, but enjoyable enough: B+
23. Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr - Businessman Max Fisher pays a hitman to off his wife so he can marry his mistress, but the job goes awry and Max’s life gets increasingly more complex when he’s implicated not only in the murder, but finds himself being blackmailed by a hitman in a wheelchair. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this - part comedy, part serious, but it never seemed to quite gel for me: B
24. Slide by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr - The second Max Fisher novel sees the former businessman become a drug dealer – and increasingly unhinged – while his former accomplice Angela hooks up with a serial killer named Slide who wants to make his mark on history. Both Max and Angela become more interesting the more ridiculous they become, and as a result this novel was more enjoyable than the first: B+
25. The Max by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr - Book three of Max and Angela's misadventures sees the former incarcerated in a maximum security prison, from which he is plotting both how to run the joint and his escape, while his ex-girlfriend finds herself in a whole heap of trouble after committing murder on a Greek island. The saga of these two awful antiheroes continues, and their escapades descent into even more chaos in this very enjoyable read: B+
26. Pimp by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr - The final book of the series finds Max once again peddling drugs - this time a potent new narcotic called Pimp - while Angela is working her way up in Hollywood with plans to make a film of the first book, Bust. This novel brings everything full circle and provides a satisfying and hilarious conclusion for two of the most vile central characters I've ever encountered in a work of fiction: A
27. A Bloody Business by Dylan Struzen - A sprawling 638 page fictionalised account of the rise of organised crime in the United States during the 1920s and 30s, drawn from firsthand accounts. Not always an easy read - particularly when dealing with so many characters and so many incredible events (I often found myself pausing to google), but an incredible achievement that I'll continue to think about long after turning the final page: A-
28. The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson - A charming novel, set during the 1980s, in which a couple of kids form a club with one of their uncles to explore haunted locations in their hometown on Saturdays. A simple premise, but one that blossoms to tell a far deeper, more personal, and rather touching tale. I couldn't put this down and powered through it in just a day: A
29. Dick Tracy Vol. 21 by Chester Gould - I finish off my year's reading with another volume of the famed detective's adventures. I was eager to read this, as it's the first in the series to cover Tracy's infamous space adventures - yes, you read that right: there was a bonkers period in the 1960s where gangsters be damned, Dick Tracy went to the moon. It's not quite as jarring a creative handbrake turn as you might imagine, but nevertheless doesn't quite hit the giddy heights of Tracy at his Tommy gun-toting best: B+
So there you have it, 29 decent reads. I'm aiming higher in 2024, simply because I have eight more volumes of Dick Tracy to read, another eight books waiting on my bedside table, and have just placed an online order for two more that I've had my eye on for a while. FML, I just need to retire and read. Any-hoo, Happy New Year to you all, my single-digit devotees who still visit this dusty corner of the interwebs! Same time next year? Or maybe sometime in-between, if you're particularly (un)lucky…
