QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE by Max Allan Collins
Book Quote:
“I had a body in the trunk of the car.
I hadn’t planned it that way, but then it wasn’t that kind of job. It wasn’t a job at all, really, rather a speculative venture, and now I’d made more of an investment than just my time and a little money.”
Special: Author Interview
Book Review:
Review by Daniel Luft (OCT 27, 2009)
Writers are always telling each other to steal, but cover your tracks. So it’s funny that Max Allan Collins, in his new novel Quarry in the Middle, has decided to blatantly admit his inspiration by way of three epigrams at the beginning of the book. The epigrams are quotes from Dashiell Hammett, Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, one novelist and two film directors who each told stories about lawless men who played one gang of criminals against another in the hope of getting paid by each. Perhaps Collins thought his rip off was too blatant and it was better to display rather than hide his appropriations. This was unnecessary because Quarry in the Middle stands very well on it’s own and merely nods to the works of these other artists.
October 27, 2009
Tags: 1980s, HCC, hitman, Interview, Thriller Posted in: Award Winning Author, Job, Noir, Thriller/Spy/Caper, US Midwest 
One Comment
LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER by John Irving
Book Quote:
“In any work of fiction, weren’t those things that had really happened to the writer–or, perhaps to someone the writer had intimately known–more authentic more verifiable true, than anything that anyone could imagine? (This was a common belief, even though a fiction writer’s job was imagining, truly, a whole story–as Danny had subversively said, whenever he was given the opportunity to defend fiction in fiction writing–because real-life stories were never whole, never complete in the ways that novels could be.)”
Book Review:
Review by Doug Bruns (OCT 26, 2009)
I had dinner recently with a friend who asked me what I was reading. “The new John Irving book,” I told her. She became instantly animated. “I love John Irving,” she declared. “I’ve read everything he’s written, and watched the movies too.” I was almost finished with the newest Irving book, Last Night in Twisted River, and was exhausted at what I found to be its inherent ups and downs. I needed her enthusiasm. “Tell me why you like him so much,” I asked. “Well,” she began, “his characters are always so interesting. And the stories, they’re usually tragic but still somehow funny. I love how he can do that.” I understood both these comments–and agreed. “He’s just different than all other writers.” I understood that too–I think. Read the rest of this post »
October 26, 2009
Tags: Contemporary, Literary, New Hampshire Posted in: Award Winning Author, Canada, Contemporary, Happiness, Literary, NE & New York, Small Town, Writing Life One Comment
HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger
Book Quote:
“What is more basic than the need to be known? It is the entirety of intimacy, the elixir of love, this knowing.”
Book Review:
Review by Debbie Lee Wesselmann (OCT 25, 2009)
Audrey Niffenegger’s successor to her immensely popular The Time Traveler’s Wife centers around a London cemetery and the people drawn, both voluntarily and not, to its intimacies. When Elsbeth Noblin dies of leukemia, she leaves her heirs with a strange legacy of demands and unfinished business. Her now-American and estranged twin Edie no longer has the chance to reconcile with her sister. Her lover Robert, who lived in the flat below her, is bequeathed her papers and diaries, although he is too grief-stricken to read them. And Elsbeth’s twenty year old, mirror twin, American nieces, Julia and Valentina, are left everything else, including Elsbeth’s Highgate flat, on the condition that they live in it together for a full year.  Read the rest of this post »
October 25, 2009
Tags: Contemporary, London, sisters, Twins Posted in: Contemporary, Family Matters, Gothic, Speculative (Beyond Reality), United Kingdom No Comments
Halloween Week!
GHOST STORIES & THE SUPERNATURAL IN FICTION
OCTOBER – Who says ghost don’t exist? Â Certainly within fiction, Â ghosts are part of our “reality.” Â Sometimes even vampires and zombies and demons and even scarier “other-world” type creatures. With Halloween almost upon us, I started thinking about all the books that MostlyFiction.com has reviewed that include “ghost stories” and other supernatural events.
If you are in the mood for a little “spiritual” reading, here are some recommendations… and expect a spooky week of reviews…. Read the rest of this post »
October 25, 2009
Posted in: Xtra No Comments
A CURE FOR NIGHT by Justin Peacock
Book Quote:
“Disbarment had been a real possibility, so much so that my six-month suspension for admitted drug use actually came as a relief.”
Book Review:
Review by Bonnie Brody (OCT 24, 2009)
In this debut novel, Justin Peacock offers the reader an intense courtroom thriller. From page one, I was hooked and stayed hooked until the very end. As with the best page-turners, you won’t want to put this novel down until you find out what happens.
Joel Deveraux is working at a top-notch, white collar law office in New York City when he decides that he wants to date his legal assistant, Beth. Not only is this potentially unethical, but Beth also has the air of something forbidden; she is an adventurer in life, perhaps on the dark side. Joel soon finds out that Beth is playing with fire, a powdered fire called heroin. Â Read the rest of this post »
October 24, 2009
Tags: Brooklyn, Legal Posted in: Addiction, Courtoom Drama, Debut Novel, Mystery/Suspense, New York City No Comments
CRIMINAL KARMA by Steven M. Thomas
Book Quote:
“Being a criminal was my karma, and I wasn’t complaining. The hours were flexible, the money was good, and freebooting was way more interesting than swinging a hammer or sitting on a numb ass in front of a computer screen eight hours a day.”
Book Review:
Review by Bonnie Brody (OCT 24, 2009)
If you’re looking for a good caper and heist book, a thriller to boot, this may be just up your alley. Rob and Reggie are two burglars with their eye on a set of large pink diamonds. At first, their plan to steal these diamonds fails and they have to go at it again. With the second try, things really heat up as they become involved with a crooked ashram in Santa Monica, California. Baba Raba, the Guru of this ashram, also has his eyes on the diamond which he expects to get from one of his disciples, Evelyn. Evelyn is a good-looking but sad woman who is searching for her long-lost daughter and grandchild. Baba Raba is stringing Evelyn along with promises of finding her daughter and grandchild if she gives him her diamonds.
October 24, 2009
Tags: Caper, Heist, Thriller Posted in: California, Thriller/Spy/Caper No Comments
