This Is A Bust by Ed Lin
One of the joys of reading is discovering a new author that you like and want to explore more into their catalog. I found that with Ed Lin. Wow what a book. This is one I’ve had on my shelf for a while that I decided to finally tackle. And I loved it. Yes in some sense it is a mystery but the mystery is only part of the story. The real story is Robert Chow, Chinese-American, Chinatown product, Vietnam washout, tokenized NYPD patrolman. Through […]
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K. J. Charles
30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 2 Book 9/30 In my defense, K.J. Charles has a long backlist, but I wish I would have read this particular one sooner. I feel like I say that with her all the time, but with how much I love Sherlock Holmes and mysteries and spooky shit, this one definitely should have been at the top of my TBR. I’m making my way through her entire backlist this year, because her next book isn’t coming until early 2023, so […]
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
This book lit my brain up like a Christmas tree. Nobody knows why certain books hit certain people like they do. That’s part of the magic of art, and of reading. But it worked for me in individual pieces, and it worked as a whole. During parts of it, I could practically hear my synapses yelling far off in the distance a gleeful “wheeeee”. So, here are all the individual components that got me: *The main character, Shea, reads mystery and crime fiction, and reads […]
Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
I started reading this series during the early days of the pandemic, and it’s proven to be satisfying, escapist fun for me. I stumbled upon this latest entry in one of my local Little Free Libraries, so I decided to read it before CBR BINGO hits, because at 927 pages, there’s no way I was going to let it eat up prime BINGO scoring time. That said, I’m going to write this review in list form of likes and dislikes. Dislikes: 927 pages. There is […]
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
I think the only book of Simone St. James I have really enjoyed has been The Sun Down Motel, and even that fell apart for me towards the end. I think the supernatural aspects of this book just actually didn’t work in this one one. The main character, Shea, was too self righteous for me and I got really tired of her by the end of the book. “The Book of Cold Cases” follows receptionist, Shea Collins. Shea is just going through the motions of […]
Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mob Boss Chin Gigante by Larry McShane
69 Barrow Street/Strange Embrace by Lawrence Block
The Pope of Greenwich Village by Vincent Patrick
Unintentionally so, I read three consecutive books set in Greenwich Village (well, I guess technically three out of four as one of the books is a two-for-one and the second story isn’t set in the Village). I decided to cobble together one review of the stories since they shared this similarity… Chin *** When I’d first heard of Chin Gigante, I was more fascinated with the idea that the mob had a thriving operation in Greenwich Village, an area I’ve always associated with Bohemians and the […]
