Saturday, August 18, 2012

Kill Decision - Daniel Suarez

Since my last update, I've read the first two books of the Game of Thrones series, which took almost two months.  The books are vast and incredible, and blow the show out of the water.

The most recent book I've read is Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez.  It is about unmanned aerial drones that are programmed to decide if it is OK to kill the target without human intervention.  There is a cool biology tie-in, and it is a pretty good book after you get through the first 100 pages.  I think Daniel Suarez got a little too into character development, and the book suffered a little for it.

I'm currently reading the Annotated Alice, a copy of Alice in Wonderland that is heavily researched.  It is pretty cool.  I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Lee Child's next book A Wanted Man.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

2 months? Too many books

I've been delinquent.  It's bad, I know.  I have been demotivated.  I'm also 75 pages into a terrible book right now, and I'm going to put it down.

Since my last update, I went on a Hemingway kick - To Have and Have Not and The Sun Also Rises.  Neuromancer by William Gibson.  The Watchman and The Last Detective by Robert Crais.  Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski.  Psychosomatic by Anthony Neil Smith (Crazy, and something new and interesting!).  The House of God and Mount Misery by Samuel Shem.  The Killing of Emma Gross by Damien Seaman.

Completely insane.  I've been busy!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

LA Requiem - The best novel I've read in a year

Once again, I've been reading too much to post on the vintage crime blog.  Since the last installment, I am now caught up on all of the trade paperbacks of The Walking Dead thanks to a really great sale that my local comic book store Ultimate Comics had.

I also re-read The Confusion by Neal Stephenson, which was SO MUCH BETTER the second time around.  It is shocking to think about how much research Neal Stephenson must do for each of his novels.

And then there is LA Requiem.  This is the best Elvis Cole novel I've read yet, and most likely the best book I have read in a year.  It is a great novel because it has a great story, and also contains the Joe Pike origin story.  If you don't know, Joe Pike is Elvis Cole's partner.  He never says much (I would still like to see Joe Pike meet Jack Reacher by the way), but this tells the story of Joe as a kid and his motivation for becoming who he is.

Honestly, the story is excellent, but it is nearly irrelevant.  The character development that happens in this novel trumps any story that Robert Crais could tell.  I am seriously pumped up about Joe Pike!  Yes, I know he has his own novel, but I am reading all of the Crais in the order it came out.  I'm currently reading The Last Detective, and it is an excellent Elvis Cole novel too!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Getting Behind Again - Hunger Games, more Walking Dead and Cowboys and Aliens

As much as I tray to stay caught up, it is just about impossible because the books I've been reading have been so good!  First of all, I picked up The Hunger Games via the Kindle lending library.  Technically, it is a young adult novel, but it definitely transcends the genre.  I liken it to the Harry Potter series, which can be enjoyed by all ages.  It is a three book series, and the first two are excellent.  The third is good, but definitely the worst of the three.  Suzanne Collins creates a rich post-apocalyptic world in great detail that is captivating.  JK Rowling's Harry Potter world is actually smaller geographically and more rich, but overall, this is the most exciting new series I've read in a while.  There is a movie coming too!

I also found out the local library carries The Walking Dead graphic novels, so I caught up on the next 3 in the series.  Still another four to go, but the patrons at the library aren't returning them!  They were excellent.

I've had Cowboys and Aliens for a while, since I picked it up cheap at the borders closeout.  I finally got around to reading it.  It's an interesting read, but I can't believe they made a movie out of it.  There has to be some serious rewriting going on just based on the preview I saw.  I'm going to be waiting for the movie to come out somewhere for free.  Hopefully Amazon gets it on Prime streaming soon.

I think I'm going to start re-reading The Confusion by Neal Stephenson.  I read it a few years ago, and I think it will benefit greatly from a re-read since there are so many different plots in the book.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Walking Dead Compendium 1 - Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn

To expand my literary breadth, I try to read one graphic novel a month.  Let's not even mention the multiple comic book that I subscribe to, but keep holding to read because I don't like cliffhangers.  I've been hearing a lot about The Walking Dead because of the AMC series, so I headed over to my local comic book store to check out the trade paperbacks of the comic book series.

I was planning on buying a trade paperback for $15, but the next thing you know, I'm walking out with the compendium containing the first 48 issues!  1055 pages later, I'm hooked.  I'm not going to give away the story, but the general story is similar to 28 days later.  A cop wakes up in the hospital, only to find out the entire population of the US has turned into a zombie nation.  He works his way towards Atlanta and hooks up with a group of non-zombified humans and tries to survive.  They eventually take over a prison to keep themselves safe... and everything turns crazy.

It is a great story with cool art that doesn't slow down!  It is all in black and white, which really adds to the creepy vibe.  The coolest part is, this is only the first half of the story that's been published so far.  Looks like I'm only 7 trades behind!

Monday, February 6, 2012

All The Young Warriors - Anthony Neil Smith and The Grove - John Rector

I've been trying to keep the updates to one book at a time, but I picked up The Grove by John Rector right after I finished All the Young Warriors, and read it in one day.  That makes it pretty hard to stay caught up.

All the Young Warriors is by Anthony Neil Smith, the author of Yellow Medicine and Hogdoggin' which are two novels starring an over the top character named Billy Lafitte.  This is a standalone novel starring a self destructive cop whose pregnant girlfriend is killed in Minnesota by teenage Somalis on their way back to Somalia to fight a holy war.  The cop goes off the deep end, recruiting one of the teenagers' father to get back to Somalia to take revenge.  It's an interesting story that grinds through a lot of great plot points.

I am pretty sure The Grove ended up on my kindle when Amazon was giving it away for free.  This is a story of an alcoholic schizophrenic who goes off his meds and finds the dead body of a young waitress in a grove on his farm.  She starts talking with him, and he tries to find out who killed her, hoping all the while that it wasn't him during a blackout.  This is more of a novella, and a really quick read.  It would be a great read for a 2 hour plane ride.

I'm currently reading The Walking Dead Compendium #1, which is the first 48 comics in the series.  It's dark... and really good.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Lazy Round Up

I've been reading quite a bit lately, but I've been too lazy to actually write a post.  Our 1 year old daughter doesn't like sleeping, and at the end of the day some things have to slip.

A quick list of what I've read since the last update (in this order I think).

1.  Breaking Point by Dana Haynes.  A perfect followup to CRASHERS.

2.  Reamde by Neal Stephenson.  Awesome.  It's Neal Stephenson.  Would you expect anything less?

3.  The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith.  An excellent followup to Child 44, a haunting crime novel set in Russia.  This book's pace is a bit slower, but it is still excellent.

4.  Criminal, Vol 1: Coward by Ed Brubaker.  A cinematic crime graphic novel that has great pace.  Quick Read!

5.  The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.  An unfinished novel that he left on his desk after he died.  Not a complete story, but a very interesting read that will make you laugh if you like Wallace.

Hopefully future updates will be a little more detailed!

I'm currently reading All the Young Warriors by Anthony Neil Smith.