Sometimes, I just wait too long, sleeping on books, making excuse after excuse about why I won’t finally pick up something I’ve wanted to read for years. Who knows why I (and apparently other readers are) this way? There’s probably some psychological reason.
Ed Brubaker’s Reckless series is right up my alley: a disaffected 70s domestic Cold Warrior doing odd crime jobs in the 80s? Yessir. I should’ve read this at my earliest possible convenience. But I prefer prose to graphics, liking to sink into a good story, despite having good luck in the past with crime stories in graphic novel form. So this kept sitting.
Last month, Sara Gran, one of my favorite writers, asked her readers to send her a list of books that they liked and she would send back recommendations. I finally got her e-mail today and of everything she sent, the only one hadn’t read was this one. Well…no more excuses.
And yeah, it’s as good as I thought it’d be. Pulpy, periodic, and appropriately maudlin. The right eras, the right reminiscing, a great atmosphere, some interesting twists. It captures the mood without being too melodramatic and even though he’s never named, Reagan’s visage looms over everything. Could have done without the climate change foreshadowing (there was more than enough stuff to be depressed about in 1981) but that’s a minor inconvenience.
I’m gonna have to go through this one fast, especially since the next one features an occult and I’m on a cult kick right now.
