Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Jamie Mollart

Happy New Year! For all the financial services workers in the UK this week marks the start of a brand new tax year (2022/23 as it turns out). So I thought I’d acknowledge it on the blog for a wee change.

But you’re not here for tax chat, you’re here for the books. Specifically you’re here to see which five books Jamie Mollart has selected when he took on my Decades Challenge.

Quick recap before I hand over to Jamie: Last year I set myself the challenge of filling the shelves of a brand new library with nothing but the very best books represented. I knew I could not take on this epic task alone so each week I invite a guest to select five of their favourite books which they feel should be represented in my new library. When making their selections there are just two rules my guests must follow:

1 – Select ANY five Books
2 – You May Only Select One Book Per Decade From Five Consecutive Decades.

Sounds easy? I am assured it takes a while to settle on five and there are rumours of cursing and heartache as favourites don’t fall within the five consecutive decades rule.

This week it is my abolute pleasure to welcome Jamie Mollart to Grab This Book. Jamie’s latest novel, Kings of the Dead World is my #currentlyreading book and has been commuting with me on my train trips back into the office now that I am not exclusively working from home. It is making the trip to work much more manageable.

Over to Jamie…

I’ve written two novels and am about to send my third to my agent. The Zoo was published in 2015 to some pretty good reviews and press. I was made an Amazon Rising Star for that year and spent 2015/16 at some cool literary festivals. My second novel, Kings of a Dead World came out in 2021, was an Amazon bestseller, has a Waterstones edition with very beautiful sprayed green edges and was longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association best novel award.

I am a member of the Climate Fiction Writers League (https://climate-fiction.org/), Nottingham Writers Studio (https://www.nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk/) , I’m a mentor for Writing East Midlands (https://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/for-writers/mentoring/), I have contributed to the Writers and Artists Yearbook (https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/advice/lessons-i-learned-writing-my-second-novel), and the Bookseller (https://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/cli-fi-time-1262857) and I’m a long standing guest on the webs oldest and most influential writing podcast, Litopia (https://litopia.com/)

If you want to find out more about me the best places are one twitter (@jamiemollart) or on my youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsYzJh4RrSdYkM3e0o2WFOg)

If you want to get a copy of Kings of a Dead World with its lovely green edges you can do so here (https://www.waterstones.com/book/kings-of-a-dead-world/jamie-mollart/9781914518027) there’s also a hardback and audiobook version available here (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kings-Dead-World-Jamie-Mollart/dp/1913207455)

DECADES

1970-1979 – JG Ballard – Crash (1973)

I could have chosen any one of several JG Ballard books from the 70’s because they’re all excellent – The Atrocity Exhibition, Concrete Island, or High Rise – but for me Crash is the one which is the best realised. The fact that it was filmed by one of my all-time favourite directors, David Cronenberg, is the icing on the cake. Ballard is all about high concept and Crash is no exception. He always seemed to be able to predict the future in a way which most authors don’t, and Crash is no exception to this. It also demonstrates Ballard’s ability to compress massive concepts into razor sharp narratives.

The narrator, James Ballard, is involved in a car crash which kills the other driver, and when he begins a relationship with the dead man’s wife the boundaries between the mechanical and the erotic become blurred.

When he meets Robert Vaughan, and is drawn into his sphere of influence, Ballard in turn becomes involved in a group who recreate the fatal car crashes of famous people for sexual pleasure.

The book was controversial at the time of release – ‘This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do Not Publish’ – and still has the power to shock, but in our increasingly Petro-chemical/celebrity obsessed world it seems even more important than when it was written. Not for the feint hearted, but for me essential reading.

1980-1989 – Peter Carey – Oscar and Lucinda (1988)

The Booker winner from 1988 is, in my opinion, the most perfect novel ever written. Populated with rich, flawed, and complex characters, this Victorian epic is weird, daring, romantic and challenging all at the same time. It also contains one of the most bravura set pieces I’ve ever read, which I can’t tell you about here because it’s a massive spoiler, but somehow Carey manages to make one act represent the entirety of not only the lead characters relationship, but the whole narrative. Annoyingly the book’s Wikipedia entry manages to blurt it out, so if you intend to read it don’t visit Wikipedia.

Oscar Hopkins is an Anglican Priest, Lucinda Leplastrier is an heiress to a glass factory, they are both gamblers, and when the meet on a ship they both find the other fascinating. It’s a love story that’s more about friendship than passion, while still managing to be incurably romantic. It’s about religion and fanaticism of all kinds, it’s about technology and the allure of it, it’s about how our childhoods affect us and so much more.

Carey loves a misfit character, and both Oscar and Lucinda fall into that category, but they are so lucidly drawn that I struggle not to think of them as real people. It’s one of the few books that I’ve read multiple times, it’s just not something I normally do, but Oscar and Lucinda calls to me regularly and I can’t help but return to it.

Peter Carey is one of the few writers who can turn his hand to anything and succeed every single time. He’s won the Booker twice and been shortlisted for it 5 times, no mean feat, and utterly deserved. Angela Carter also described Oscar and Lucinda as ‘novel of extraordinary richness, complexity and strength’, so if you don’t believe me, you should definitely believe her.

1990- 1999 Bret Easton-Ellis – American Psycho (1991)

The ultimate dissection of 80’s excess and yuppie culture, American Psycho was banned on release in many places, and gained notoriety because of its aestheticized violence. What was largely missed at the time is that the book is clearly a satire and is actually laugh out loud funny in many places.

Patrick Bateman is a slick, vacuous banker on the Wall Street of the eighties. He’s obsessed with his hair, clothes, fancy restaurants, his sculpted body and making sure his business card is whiter and crisper than his colleagues. Oh, and at night he likes to murder people in increasingly depraved and meticulously described ways, whilst extoling the virtues of albums by people like Huey Lewis and The News and Whiteny Houston. As Bateman’s murder spree escalates and his grip on reality becomes more tenuous it becomes more unclear whether what we’re witnessing is actually happening or whether Bateman’s fractured mind is in fact making him the most unreliable of narrators.

American Psycho is probably the most caustic and damning attack on consumerism ever written, unrelenting in its horror show depiction of the American Dream, it is both difficult to read and impossible to put down. On a sentence level Easton-Ellis is second to none (apart from maybe Zadie Smith, who I really wanted to include on this list too), and the whole book reads as a macabre satirical masterpiece.

2000-2009 China Mieville – Perdido Street Station (2000)

What. A. Book. This. Is.

I put off reading it for a while because of the sheer size of it, but oh my days is it worth it. China Mieville is one of the cleverest, imaginative, and downright weird writers out there. Every single one of his books reaches for the sky, most of the succeed, but this one absolutely smashes through it.

It’s 1000 pages of steam punk craziness set in the world of Bas-Lag (which he revisits in The Scar and Iron Council), where magic is real and considered a science, and New Crobozon is a sleazy, sexy, corrupt city full of weird and wonderful species such as the Falcon like Garudas, and the Khepri, who have human bodies and insects as heads.

Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin is a scientist who is approached by one of the Garuda, who has had his wings removed as punishment, to craft a new pair of wings to enable him to fly again. Isaac sends his team out into New Crobozon to bring back as many species with the ability to fly as possible so he can learn the secret of flight. Unknowingly he is brought back a caterpillar which will end up turning into something nasty enough to endanger the whole of the city.

It’s a whole lot more complicated than that and features a massive cast in a wonderfully vivid city. It won the Arthur C Clarke award (he’s won it a record 3 times in total) amongst many others and the legendary Michael Moorcock described Mieville as ‘a writer with a rare descriptive gift, an unusually observant eye for physical detail, for the sensuality and beauty of the ordinarily human as well as the thoroughly alien.’

Mieville has written some brilliant books after Perdido Street Station, not least the amazing The City and The City, but this is his masterpiece.

2010- 2020 – Nobody Told Me – Hollie McNish (2016)

Hollie McNish is so forthright and honest and open and fearless as a writer that she ought to be compulsory reading. Her view of the world is hilarious and disarmingly honest. In this amazing book, which is part diary, part poetry and part essay, she turns her unflinching gaze onto motherhood as she narrates the first year of her daughter’s life.

My wife suffered horrendous post-natal depression with our first daughter, in no small part I believe due to the facile and fake way in which motherhood is portrayed in our modern culture. The awkward, unpleasant bits are whitewashed and hidden from view, and we’re presented with an unrealistic portrayal which is damaging to both mother and child.

Hollie McNish does no whitewashing. With Nobody Told Me she sets out to give an honest, personal, and deeply moving account of what it means to be a new mother, and in doing so goes some way to busting the harmful myths. She covers everything from morning sickness, to what it actually feels like to not sleep properly for months, the first public tantrum, mum guilt, leaky boobs, the changes a woman’s body goes through, but also the amazing gift that is having a child. It’s funny, touching, and profoundly moving.

I love the way Hollie McNish looks at the world and I love the way her words describe it. She’s a rare and genuine talent and should be considered a national treasure.

I have mentioned this before but, for me, the perfect five Decades selections are when I know one or two of the books and have read them before and then there are three books which I don’t know. A blend of new and familiar. Jamie has hit that perfect balance this week and I have already been checking out the books which were new to me.

My thanks to Jamie for finding time to make his selections. Decades continues entirely because of the kindness of my guests who all devote some of their precious time towards sharing the booklove.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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April 4

Shattered Bones (Audiobook) – Kate Bendelow

SOCO Maya Barton is called to a canal where a heavily decomposed male body has been discovered. A bank card belonging to Trevor Dawlish is found in the cadaver’s pocket, and the name matches that of a missing person. All seems straightforward – until Trevor’s wife phones the police to say that Trevor has returned home, leaving Maya and the team wondering who the unknown male is.

When it’s revealed that the male was dead before he entered the water, Maya finds herself with a murder on her hands. But when another body is discovered, the case becomes further complicated. The hope is that facial reconstruction of the first victim will help solve the mystery – but it may lead Maya and her team down an even darker path.

I received a copy of the audiobook from ISIS Audio which allowed me to take part in this audiobook blog tour. My thanks to @DanielleLouis_ for the opportunity to join the Shattered Bones tour.

A body hauled out of the water which is too decomposed to get a clear identification. Who is poor unfortunate? That’s the first challenge which will face SOCO Maya Barton and her colleagues. Once they know who he is they will then have the unenviable task of working out who killed him.

There can be no doubt that the man in the water was murdered then dumped, post-mortem investigation shows he was strangled before entering the water. But cause of death seems to be all Maya and colleagues do know, their mystery man isn’t giving up many clues to his identity.

It could have been so much more simple. The body had a bank card in a pocket of his sodden clothes. Unfortunately the card belonged to Trevor Dawlish and Trevor has gone missing. His wife has seen him just once in the past fortnight when he briefly popped home but the body has been in the water for most, if not all of that two week period so the potential victim becomes a prime suspect. But Trevor is keeping well off the radar, much to the dispair of his wife.

For Maya the complexity of this challenging case is only one of the problems she is facing. Her estranged father is due to be released from prison. He has contacted Maya’s mother to assure her he is a new man and that he poses no threat to Maya or her mother but Maya isn’t convinced. As the story progresses and her father released Maya becomes increasingly concerned her father is lurking and plotting to come after her – is she right?

Shattered Bones was my introduction to Maya Barton but the second story in the series. It works well as a standalone story though and I didn’t feel I wasn’t following any of the plot threads in Shattered Bones because I had missed earlier events. Maya is a fascinating lead character and definitely one I would revisit – the fact she is a SOCO was a welcome change to the usual police procedural too.

I listened to Shattered Bones through an audiobook and, as I have come to expect from ISIS Audio, it was a quality production. The narrator did a fabulous job making Maya and colleagues relatable and engaging. I am a fan of shorter chapters in audiobooks too as it makes it easier to jump in and out of the story and fit in some listening around the school runs and dog walks, Shattered Bones very much ticked this box too.

The story did feel it took a little time to pick up the pace while the characters were introduced and slotted into their respective places. But in terms of a slow burn there came a point when events suddenly ignited and it all kicked off. I was blindsided by where events eventually ended up and was very pleasantly surprised as to how easily I had missed clues. Great fun.

Shattered Bones is available as an audiobook and also in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: Shattered Bones (Audio Download): Kate Bendelow, Annabelle Indge, Isis Publishing Ltd: Amazon.co.uk: Audible Books & Originals

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April 1

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with David Monteath

The second quarter of 2022 is upon us. As this latest Decades selection goes live it will be April and Decades will be in its sixteenth month of guests. I am grateful to each and every contributor and to you for returning, week on week, to see the latest books which are being added to my Decades Library.

The Decades Library I hear you ask? I am compiling a list of the very best books which my guests think would deserve a place in the Ulitmate Library. I started this project in January 2021 with zero books and each week I ask a guest to nominate five new books which they would want to see included in a collection of the finest writing.

When making their selections my guests are asked to follow two rules.

1 – Choose Any Five Books
2 – You May Only Select One Book Per Decade From Five Consecutive Decades.

This week I am delighted to be joined my someone who reads my books for me. Or is that to me? David Monteath (@joxvox) will be a familiar voice to many audiobook fans and I am always fascinated to know which books stand out to someone who spends most of his waking hours focused entirely on the written word.

One of Scotland’s most popular voiceovers, David Monteath was born in Glasgow and started acting while at high school, he trained as an actor at Webber Douglas in London and has been an actor and voiceover for 25 years.

David’s early life was split between homes on the outskirts of Glasgow and the beautiful Spey Valley in the Highlands of Scotland. He also lived in central Perthshire near the popular tourist destination of Pitlochry with its world-famous Festival Theatre.

While training at the prestigious Webber Douglas Academy in London, David met his future wife Lindsay. They have three children and all five of them have worked as voiceovers for clients across Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.

David has put his voice to good use over the years and has vast experience of most aspects of being a voiceover from advertising for television and radio, ADR and dubbing on film and television, language tapes for learners of English, telephony and on-hold messages, character animation through to narration, commentary and audiobooks.

He has also produced and co-presented a weekly request show on Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio

DECADES

Most of my choices are made from books I have read for work, one of the downside of being an audiobook narrator is that I rarely have time now to read for pleasure, so in many ways my reading choices are dictated by my clients. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, this work has introduced me to many writers I would never have found otherwise.

The High Girders – John Prebble – 1956

This is an absolute classic and the first John Prebble I have read. It follows the story of the building of the Tay Railway bridge and its eventual collapse on 28^th December 1879. The story follows in detail the events of the night, and wherever the blame is felt to lie for the errors which caused the disaster and 75 deaths, Prebble’s book is a fascinating account of a terrible night and a compassionate recounting of so many very human losses.

The Game of Kings (The Lymond Chronicles) Dorothy Dunnett – 1961

Ok, there is a tale behind this one…where else would tails be?…I was recording a quiet story of a country doctor when the producer asked if I would be interested in narrating another book for him, ‘it’s a bit longer than this one’ he said. ‘Of course I would.’ Now cut forward a few days and I was sent the pdf, most audiobook narrators work from iPads, it makes it much quieter as you don’t hear the dreaded page-turn noises that audio editors hate. Also making notes on character and scene etc are simpler on a screen. So, I opened the pdf and found a place at random a good few pages in. I read a rather lovely scene between our hero Lymond and a very young Mary Queen of Scots, set on an island in the middle of the Lake of Menteith, my area of Scotland…but more importantly where I was married. Of course I was completely drawn in and contacted the producer who said…’Um, this has changed slightly, you might have noticed that the book is a biggie, we think it’ll be around 26 hours when you’ve finished recording. Is that still ok?’. Oh definitely good for me. Then he muttered quietly as the phone was going down…’just one more thing…there are six of them, all pretty much the same length!!’ So, this quiet chat turned into 1.3 million words read, 146 hours of finished audiobooks and over 300 hours recording in my tiny studio during the very hot summer of 2018…it was HUGE…and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I’m not going to try to precis the book or the series, if you’ve read or listened to them you know why…if you haven’t, the please, please do, you absolutely wont regret it. They are glorious.

The General Danced at Dawn – George MacDonald Fraser – 1970

IN the early 1990s, when I was on tour with the Oscar Wilde play ‘A Woman of No Importance’, I shared dressing rooms around the country with an actor called Stuart Hutchison, who was also a regular face on Westward Television in the Plymouth area. Stuart and I spent hours talking about books, art, music and pretty much anything but football which we both dislike. He bought me a copy of The General Danced at Dawn as I’d never read the stories and he wanted someone else to be able to laugh at them and love them as much as he did. I’ve been very fortunte in my career to work with some really kind, generous people and that was Stuart.

The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco – 1980

Hmmm, I’m beginning to sense a bit of a history theme in my reading. This book sort of crosses all of my working genres, history (albeit fictional) and crime. It’s a complicated disturbing romp through murders in a 16^th Century monastry in middle Europe, probably modern day Germany. The descriptions of ecclesiastical life and the conflicts in the church at that time are great, although if you saw the film first, I defy you not to hear Sean Connery every time Brother William speaks.

Iain Banks – Complicity – 1993

Right then, back to me again…this is a revenge story, brilliantly written by the always brilliant Iain Banks. Someone once asked me, if given a choice what books would you like to have narrated? Any of the Iain Banks would have been my choice. It’s even more annoying that the reader is a friend and a very good reader.

I worked in a bookshop in the early 1990’s and without exception all these authors were selling in great numbers in Inverness bookshops – I know this as I was selling them. Pure nostalgia for me and I loved these choices.

And not just those choices as David gave me two extras. I have taken an executive decision to move Montrose out of the 1970s and Morningstar out of the 1990s selections. I don’t mind the fact Montrose was originally written in the 1920s but it would mean dropping George MacDonald Fraser so rather than flex the rules I opted for the clear cut entry. I am being hard on David Gemmell by moving him to the subs bench but only one book per decade is the rule so I flipped a coin!

But I don’t hide the alternates so here are David’s thoughts:

Montrose – John Buchan – 1979 (from 1928)?

This might be a bit of a cheeky one as the book was originally published in 1928, but reissued in 1979. This was another audiobook project, but one far closer to my heart. My clan are the Graham from Stirlingshire and this book tells the story of the first James Graham, 1^st Duke of Montrose. My father was passionately interested in Scottish history, so this exploration of a turbulent time in Scotland was a particular favourite of his.

Morningstar – David Gemmell – 1992

OK, yes, actually I just like a good historical epic, this one was a thumping good read, glorious descriptions and a suitably complicated fantasy world. Its beautifully written and a great adventure.

A country in desperate need of heroes . . .

Angostin invaders surge through the Highlands, laying waste to everything in their path. Darkness follows in their wake as a mad necromancer resurrects the eons-dead Vampyre Kings.

Only the bandit Jarek Mace, and the magicker and bard Owen Odell, have the courage to fight the Angostins and the undead. Whispers soon spread that Mace is the legendary Morningstar, a saviour who will protect his country in its hour of need. Yet Mace seems nothing more than a thief and a liar.

As the final battle approaches, Odell wonders which of the two Maces will triumph: the self-serving rogue or the saviour of his people, the Morningstar.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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March 29

Vine Street – Dominic Nolan

Soho, 1935. Sergeant Leon Geats’ patch.

A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.

The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early. But Geats – a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay – knows the dark seams of the city.

Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer – a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.

I recieved a review copy through Netgalley from the publisher but bought the audiobook and listened to Vine Street so my review reflects the audiobook I purchased rather than the written copy I initially recieved.

Had I listened to Vine Street before Christmas then it would have, without a shadow of doubt, been my favourite audiobook of 2021. As it stands it is currently my top audiobook listen of 2022 and the title which other audiobooks need to beat. So shall we proceed on the assumption you know I loved this book?

London in the 1930s is where most of the action in Vine Street takes place, except the story isn’t confided to that period. In fact, the opening scenes are actually set decades later when characters we will come to know well have their quiet retirement disturbed when ghosts from the past will be brought to their door.

But Soho is where much of the action will take place and we meet Leon Geats he is a police officer but he immediately struck me as the cop who doesn’t conform or play by the rules. This first impression was pretty much spot on as Geats is a loose cannon in his team and very much takes life in his own style. Geats is called to a house where a woman has died. She is found with a stocking around her neck but the investigating officer doesn’t want to rule it as murder. She appears to have been a working girl and a foreign national – almost not worth the bother of investigating! But Geats isn’t having it and he will dig and ask questions despite the apathy of his colleagues.

What Geats had not anticpated was the presence of a child at the murder scene. The daughter of the victim and all alone in the world, she takes a shine to Geats but he knows his lifestyle is too chaotic to be able to care for her so he finds one of her relatives to care for her. It’s a sensible and, Geats thinks, the correct thing to do but, as we will see, some decisions have reprecussions.

Vine Street is a huge book and it is impossible for me to do it justice in a brief review, I could wax lyrical for many, many pages. It’s the story of 1930’s Soho, the dancing, the girls, the hardship of the time, the police and some corruption within their ranks. But at heart it is a story about murders and an obsession to catch a killer. You will be drawn back in time and become fully immersed in these London streets. You will know the bar owners, who likes the music and where the dancing happens. But the lighter side of Soho has an opposing dark side. Prejudices are rife, racism, sexism, homophobia are commonplace and it will make for uncomfortable reading at times. Dominic Nolan takes it all and delivers the reader with an experience which will not quickly be forgotten.

I mentioned that I had listened to the audiobook of Vine Street. The narrator is Owen Findlay and he made this story shine. It’s without doubt one of the best narrator/story combinations I have heard for quite some time. The book is cracking and Findlay gave it such energy that I was hanging onto his every word. It’s over fourteen hours of listening and I am not going to lie when I say I wanted more.

There are real emotional highs and lows in Vine Street, some characters left too soon and I missed them badly. Some more than outstayed their welcome and I was glad when their contributions were at an end. The emotional impact all these players had on me is testament to the outstanding work of the author. There are some books I will always be glad I read, Vine Street is on that list.

Vine Street is currently available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. Paperback will be incoming this summer. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/vine-street/dominic-nolan/9781472288851

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March 25

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Steph Broadribb

You can’t tell just by looking, however, this week’s Decades selection is the first blog post written in my 9th year of blogging. For eight full years I have tried to find ways to champion books, give hidden gems a chance to shine and to let others share their thoughts about books they loved too. When I started this blog in 2014 I did not envisage still updating it in 2022.

When I started this Decades feature in January 2021 I certainly did not expect it to have become become a weekly feature and have welcomed over 60 guests (and counting) to the Decades Library.

For anyone joining for the first time. Each week I invite a booklover to join me and add five new books to my Decades Library. I started the Library with empty shelves and the challenge is to only have the very best books represented. My guests are asked to nominate five books they believe should be included in an Ultimate Library but they have two rules to follow which govern their selections:

1 – Pick Any Five Books
2 – You May Only Select One Book Per Decade From Five Consecuive Decades

This week I am delighted to be joined by blogger turned bestselling author, Steph Broadribb. As I write this I am just a few chapters away from finishing Steph’s new novel Death in the Sunshine. Full review to follow soon but (spoilers) I am loving it. Steph was a major influence on how Grab This Book developed in the early years (I take all the blame for the bits you don’t like) and her blog was one of my go-to places when I was looking for reading recommendations. I was really looking forward to seeing which five books Steph selected.

Steph Broadribb has an MA in Creative Writing and trained as a Bounty Hunter in California. Her latest novel, Death in the Sunshine, is the first book in her new Retired Detectives Club series set in a luxury Florida retirement resort and is available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Sunshine-Retired-Detectives-Club-ebook/dp/B094JMFJNK . Her thriller series featuring single mom bounty hunter Lori Anderson has been shortlisted for the eDunnit eBook of the year award, the ITW Best First Novel, and the Dead Good Reader Awards for Fearless Female Character and Most Exceptional Debut. She also writes psychological police procedurals under the pen name Stephanie Marland. Find out more at www.stephbroadribb.com or follow her on Twitter (@CrimeThrillGirl) or Facebook (@CrimeThrillerGirl).

DECADES

Riders by Jilly Cooper (1985)

OMG this book! This was the taboo book that, as teenagers, my friends and I would sneak off our mums’ bookshelves and read secretly. As a horse rider I loved the horse bits, and as a teenage girl I loved the naughty bits. It is very much of its time, but was definitely a much-loved book of teenage me.

The Runaway Jury by John Grisham (1996)

This was the first Grisham book and the first legal thriller I read, and it remains my favourite. It has it all – a compelling story, great characters, and lots of pace. I didn’t like the film as much as they changed some of the elements of the story, but the book remains one of my top five.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton (2004)

I remember reading this climate change thriller and thinking wow! It’s a pulse pounding, adrenaline hit of a novel and I read all through the night to finish it. I’m a huge Crichton fan, and am always amazed by how clever and creative his plots and storylines are. This is my favourite of all his novels.

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (2014)

This book made me cry! An abduction story with a hell of a twist, I loved the characters and plot, and marvelled at the genius of the structure and storytelling. Now, almost ten years on, I can still remember that first read vividly.

The Belladonna Maze by Sinead Crowley (2022)

This dual timeline novel set in a historic house in the west of Ireland is simply stunning. With a mesmerising cast of characters, it hooks you in as it reveals the decades of deadly secrets surrounding the house and maze, and packs one hell of an emotional punch at the end.

I always love seeing new authors appear in the Decades Library and Steph has brought one of my favourites this week. I read all of Michael Crichton’s novels when I was in my 20’s and I remember really enjoying State of Fear. Can I find some way to make more time to revisit it? My thanks to Steph for taking time to make her selections. Death in the Sunshine is available in all your favourite book buying places, grab it!

DECADES WILL RETURN

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March 18

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Ian Moore

January 2021: when I set the path of my Thursday evenings for the next 14 months (and counting). You see, every Thursday evening I make myself a mug of hot coffee and I prepare to introduce my next guest to the Decades Library.

What is the Decades Library? I always hope you ask as it means you are a new visitor and new visitors are always welcome. All those months ago I was pondering the question “If I had to fill a brand new library with nothing but the very best books, which books would I put on the shelves?”

I realised this was not a question I could not answer alone so each week I am joined by a new guest and I ask them which books they would add to my Decades Library. My guests are all invited to choose five books but I ask that they follow two rules when making their nominations:

Rule 1 – Choose Any Five Books
Rule 2 – You May Only Choose One Book Per Decade From Five Consecutive Decades.

Easy!

This week I am delighted to welcome Ian Moore to Grab This Book. Ian’s book C’est Modnifique! was the first book I added to my Audible Library waaay back in 2014 when I branched out into new ways to enjoy reading. I have long been a fan of his contributions to Radio Five’s Fighting Talk and his latest novel Death and Croissants was the book I bought myself for Christmas!

Ian Moore has been one of the UK’s leading stand-up comedians for the last 20 years. In 2021, Death and Croissants was published by Farrago Books, the first in the Follet Valley series of French-set cosy mysteries involving an Anglo-French amateur detective duo. Described as ‘Bloody Funny’ by Alan Carr, Death and Croissants has become a best-seller (number one in Bird Care (!) for 7 months) and has been optioned for television. The paperback is out in April and the second in the series, Death and Fromage, is out in July 2022.

DECADES

1950s – Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit – PG Wodehouse

It always comes back to Wodehouse. The writing, the characters, the humour… whenever I feel down, I return to Pelham Grenville. It’s not a world I should necessarily be interested in, I have no connection with pre-war Bright Young Things or the aristocracy or country houses or omniscient gentlemens’ gentlemen but Wodehouse more than humanises his ‘targets’, if you will, he makes you care for them. I actually feel Bertie Wooster has been hard done by through the ages; he’s become the very epitome of upper class twittery, whereas I see him more as a gentle, giving soul always there for a friend and the victim of other’s whims and machinations. This collection has all the great characters Roderick Spode, Aunt Dahlia, Florence Craye and it all begins over a slight disagreement about facial furniture.

1960s – A Murder of Quality – John Le Carré

This was Le Carré’s second George Smiley book and the only one that wasn’t directly about espionage. This is a more straightforward murder investigation which Smiley takes an interest in on behalf of an old friend, when the wife of a schoolmaster is beaten to death at the fictional public school of Carne. Though in many ways it’s a straightforward whodunnit, it has all the claustrophobia and downbeat atmosphere of Smiley’s more famous outings. So beautifully written, it’s another book I return to often, an absolute masterpiece of plotting and characterisation with melancholic ‘toad’ Smiley always humane and at the heart of it all.

PS I would highly recommend the Radio 4 George Smiley dramatisations with Simon Russell Beale. Peerless radio.

1970s – Bring On the Empty Horses – David Niven

This is probably the one book I have read more often than any other. David Niven’s tales and anecdotes of the Golden Age of Hollywood, all the famous stars of the time seen through Niven’s raconteur eyes. It’s such a joy to be transported to that era, and yes, I know it’s glossy and one only hears the positives (mostly) of an era and society that was actually rather vicious, but I don’t care. It inspired me as a child, and I still think I was born in the wrong era. If only I’d tipped up in Hollywood in the early 1930s as a young man, with a pencil moustache…

1980s – The Beiderbecke Affair – Alan Plater

Alan Plater’s first book in The Beiderbecke Trilogy is another chosen for its calming influences. Plater said he wrote about characters whose normal lives are interrupted when the outside world barges in, and on the face of it, Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne seem completely unsuited for the convoluted jazz-themed mystery that they’re drawn into. But the dialogue and, in opposite to Wodehouse, the sheer mundanity of their world, is just so perfectly pitched. It’s been a big inspiration to me in my Follet Valley Series, and the TV series is as charming as television gets.

1990s – What a Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe

I read What a Carve Up! when it first came out in 1994, drawn to it because it had Shirley Eaton on the cover and that appealed to my film obsession, but it became the first book that left me terribly angry and helpless about the state of the world. It also left me bereft because I thought that no matter what I read from now on, and for the next (hopefully) 60 years of my life, nothing would come close to the sheer majesty of the work. It’s fragmented in style, structure and voice which contributes to the story of the dizzying grip on power that just a few people can have and so it’s as much horror as it is satire. If you don’t know, it’s about how Britain has been carved up so that the same names run government, agriculture, industry, health, arms, and the media. It’s a work of fiction obviously, it could never really happen…

HOW DID I ARRIVE AT THESE CHOICES? Well I started with What a Carve Up! and worked around that. My second favourite book, Birdsong, was published in the same decade and it seems a pity to have left that out, but I’ll be surprised if someone else doesn’t choose it. I had to have Wodehouse in their somewhere, and David Niven has influenced more as a person and a writer than anyone else I can think of. A couple of notable omissions are Catch-22, The Last Exit of Sherlock Holmes by Michael Dibdin and Halliwell’s Filmgoers Companion. Also, now I look at the list see how they have all, in their way, had an influence on my writing style or general demeanour!

Huge thanks to Ian for these brilliant selections. There have not been many non-fiction titles recommended thus far and David Niven is definately bringing some glitz to proceedings. This is also the first selection for many months where I haven’t read a single one of the books recommended. I really must put that right – and soon.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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March 15

Dead Rich – G.W. Shaw

Super yachts are secretive, like their owners. The bigger the richer. Like castles, they are created to inspire awe. Like castles too, they are defended. They are an entire world, separate from the rest of us.

Kai, a carefree once-successful musician is invited by his new Russian girlfriend Zina to join her family’s Caribbean holiday. Impulsively accepting he learns that Zina is the daughter of a Russian oligarch, Stepan Pirumov and that the trip is aboard his yacht, the Zinaida, moored in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. The crew consists of Captain Marius Falk, the first mate Erin Wade and a hastily assembled staff, including a chief stewardess Marissa from Miami, a chief engineer from Lagos and a personal trainer from Los Angeles. All know how to behave around the very rich.

On arrival Kai discovers that the head of security has been arrested, armed guards are below deck, there’s an onboard panic room and a strong sense of all not being quite right beneath the gleaming surfaces of the Pirumov’s lives. An unnerving presence punctures the atmosphere: a murderous imposter is on board the Zinaida, but who is it?

Kai will find that the only person he can trust will be Erin and that the world of the super-rich will become a prison from which they must escape. Part locked-room suspense, part adventure story, Dead Rich is an unforgettable, edge of the seat thriller set in the blazing heat of the Caribbean

My thanks to the publishers for the review copy I recieved of Dead Rich through Netgalley.

What a time to be reading a book about a Russian oligarch, his super yacht, his rebellious daughter Zina (who is keeping away from her parents by studying in London) and a threat to their lives which will take the reader on a thrill packed journey across the seas. By the time we see Dead Rich hitting the shelves in May we will all be much more familiar with Russian oligarch’s and my appreciation for the size of their super yachts will be cemented in.

The size of a super yacht was one thing I realised I had initially mis-calculated when I started reading Dead Rich. When considering the Zinaida (the vessel where much of the action takes place) I was constantly upscaling the mental image I had of the yacht. The author does a great job of describing the luxury yacht but I had read the book before super yacht’s were on the evening news so I could not envisage a “boat” on such an extravagant scale.

Zinaida presented something of a locked room murder mystery, only the whole yacht was the locked room as it cruised across a vast ocean – the murderer is locked in with their victims. On the boat is lead character, Kai. He has previously enjoyed some musical success and lives a comfortable lifestyle but he is drifting without purpose and his brother is keen he attends a job interview with a view to seeing Kai settle down. Kai isn’t keen to give up his laidback freedom and when his gorgeous girlfriend Zina offers him the opportunity to take a trip with her on her father’s yacht Kai goes along.

He finds himself aboard the Zinaida as her owner Stepan Pirumov is preparing to take to sea to escape a threat to his life. Pirumov arrives last to the docks and the Zinaida sets sail with some urgency, there is clearly a need to flee an unknown enemy and Kai is very much caught up in the thick of the action. Unfortunately he speaks no Russian and does not know who he can trust to bring him up to speed. One of the crew, the first mate Erin, is the only person who shows him friendship – even Zina is behaving oddly in the presence of her parents.

The readers know there has been an incident back in London which Pirumov seems to be fleeing from. It suggests an enemy or enemies unknown are more than willing to take a life and that they have no qualms about removing innocents that may get in their way. Kai is afloat in what has become a luxury prison, someone out in the water may be coming to get Pirumov but they don’t know who and they don’t know when. Pirumov travels with a bodyguard and the crew on the boat had their own security in place but the level of distruct between these groups only serves to increase the tension between the characters. Something bad is about to happen – you can feel it.

Dead Rich was a exactly what I wanted it to be. Tense, unpredictable, packed with thrilling moments and engaging characters. The narrative flows like a dream and I was swept along by the events unfolding on the pages in front of me. Think summer Holywood blockbuster, summer reading by the pool – this book delivers all the escapism entertainment you could wish for. It’s out in May but get your copy reserved nice and early – not to be missed.

Dead Rich will be published by Riverrun on 26 May 2022. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/dead-rich/g-w-shaw/9781529420029

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March 11

The Blood Tide – Neil Lancaster

You get away with murder.
In a remote sea loch on the west coast of Scotland, a fisherman vanishes without trace. His remains are never found.

You make people disappear.
A young man jumps from a bridge in Glasgow and falls to his death in the water below. DS Max Craigie uncovers evidence that links both victims. But if he can’t find out what cost them their lives, it won’t be long before more bodies turn up at the morgue…

You come back for revenge.
Soon cracks start to appear in the investigation, and Max’s past hurtles back to haunt him. When his loved ones are threatened, he faces a terrifying choice: let the only man he ever feared walk free, or watch his closest friend die…

Max, Janie and Ross return in the second gripping novel in this explosive Scottish crime series.

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley.

If you missed out on Dead Man’s Grave last year then the good news is that it recently released in paperback and is available in all your favourite book-buying places. The other good news is that Dead Man’s Grave is the first book in what I am calling “an unmissable new series” so you should grab a copy as soon as possible and catch up on the exploits of DS Max Cragie.

The Blood Tide, which is why we are here today, is the second Cragie book. It picks up after the events of Dead Man’s Grave and Craigie is about to get drawn into another tension packed adventure. While The Blood Tide can be read as a stand-alone title there are recurring characters across the two stories where knowing their background will help you understand why they undertake certain actions in the second book.

On the shores of western Scotland a small boat is coming ashore with a significant supply of class A drugs on board. There is a sole occupant in the boat but he knows he is meeting a friend when he reaches land and he will be well paid for the risks he is taking. What he had not anticipated was encountering two strangers on the shore and he was even more unprepared for what happens next. Perhaps the payment wasn’t quite enough or he underestimated the level of risk he was taking?

Next we head south to the Erskine Bridge. A cop on his way home at the end of a long shift spots a man on the edge of the bridge ready to jump. He stops and tries to talk down this desperate stranger but the man is terrified and after telling the cop there is nothing he nor anyone else can say or do to protect his family from the powerful, dangerous people he steps off the bridge.

The event leaves the cop badly shaken but he writes up the incident and realises the terrified man had implied there were police involved in the threat against his family. He calls his friend Max Craigie to tell him about the incident and Max agrees to meet him to discuss this further. But before the meeting can take place there is another death and Craigie believes there is a dangerous connection.

I really don’t want to get too much deeper into the events of The Blood Tide as I want to avoid too many spoiler possibilites. Suffice to say Lancaster’s recognisable patterns of tension, explosive drama and putting his lead characters through peril and trauma are very much present. It is exactly what you want from a crime thriller, think “one more chapter” and you’re there.

Drugs and corruption are powerful motivators and people will do anthing to protect their interests when both are involved. Craigie and his colleagues, Janie and Ross, will have their work cut out to identify where the risks lie and their lives will be in danger – even if they don’t know it. When you investigate the colleagues around you it is impossible to know who you can trust.

There are more than a few shocks and twists waiting within the pages of The Blood Tide. I had been in a bit of a reading slump before I picked this book up and it blew away those cobwebs. High stakes, fast paced and wonderfully realised characters, do not miss out on this series.

The Blood Tide is available in Hardback, Audio and Digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-blood-tide/neil-lancaster/9780008518462

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March 11

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Margaret Kirk

Seven days seem to fly past so quickly at the moment and already I find I am rolling out the red carpet to welcome a new guest curator to the Decades Library.

Have you visited the Decades Library before? Let me quickly explain what’s happening.

Back in January 2021 I asked myself the question: If I were to build a new library from the ground up which books would I put on the shelves to make sure only the best books were represented? I quickly realised this was not a question I could answer alone so I have been inviting guests to join me here at Grab This Book and asking them to nominate five of their favourite books which they feel deserve a place in my Decades Library.

Why is it a Decades Library? Well there are two rules governing the choices my guests can make.

1 – Pick ANY five books
2 – You may only select one book per decade from five consecutive decades.

Easy. In theory. But when it comes to making those selections and narrowing down which decades to represent I am told it can get a bit more challenging than you may believe.

Today I am delighted to pass the Curator’s Hat to Margaret Kirk who (before you scroll down) has selected five brilliant books which I will add to the shelves of the Decades Library.

Margaret Kirk writes ‘Highland Noir’ Scottish crime fiction with a gothic twist, set in and around her home town of Inverness.

Her debut novel, Shadow Man, won the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition in 2016. Described as ‘a harrowing and horrific game of consequences’ by Val McDermid, it was published in 2017 by Orion. Book 2 in the DI Lukas Mahler series, What Lies Buried, was published in June 2019. Book 3, In The Blood, is set in Inverness and Orkney and is available from all good book stores.

Margaret is also the writer of several award-winning short stories, including The Seal Singers, which has been published in translation in Germany and Switzerland.

You can find Margaret here:

Website: https://margaretmortonkirk.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MargaretKirkAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HighlandWriter

And Margaret’s books are here:

Amazon: Shadow Man https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Man-Margaret-Kirk-ebook/dp/B06VVS5P1H/ref

What Lies Buried https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Lies-Buried-Margaret-Kirk-ebook/dp/B07N6DRL4K/ref

In The Blood https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Margaret-Kirk-ebook/dp/B07ZK9CMXN/ref

Hive https://www.hive.co.uk/

(supports local independent bookshops)

DECADES

Thank you for inviting me to contribute to Decades ! I changed my mind several times about which decade would be my starting point – I very nearly picked the 1890s, because I wanted to include a certain iconic horror novel. But how would it be fair to include Dracula and leave out Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s more nuanced and arguably much more disturbing creation of 1818? And then I couldn’t have had one of my great heroes of the classic mystery genre, Dorothy L Sayers.

In the end, I’ve gone all modern, which allows me to genre-hop as I please, something I was also keen to do. My picks are all fairly well-known, but hopefully there’s something for everyone here – and I thoroughly recommend each and every one of them!

1970s – ‘Salem’s Lot (Stephen King)

Very early Stephen King, and no, it’s not his best. It shows its age in places, and his protagonist, Ben Mears, is not a particularly compelling character. But King’s portrayal of small-town American life and attitudes always fascinates me, and this novel was the first I’d read which grabbed vampires by their mouldering, cobwebby capes and chucked them out into the contemporary world. Where, it seems to me, they have the potential to be infinitely more terrifying than confined to their Transylvanian homeland …

https://www.waterstones.com/book/salems-lot/stephen-king/9781444708141

1980s – Silence of the Lambs (Thomas Harris)

What can I say about this one that hasn’t been said? It’s a masterful study in suspense, in drama, in character creation and development – there’s a reason so many books and courses on crime-writing pick this one apart to analyse the brilliance of its construction. (And let’s not forget, spawner of a million internet memes … 😉

https://www.waterstones.com/book/silence-of-the-lambs/thomas-harris/9780099532927

1990s – Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman)

The book which my husband and I bonded over, pretty much at our first meeting. I love fantasy, and I love clever, witty writing with a bit of bite. Is there any wonder this is one of my favourite books? (No, not another vampire reference). Pratchett is a huge loss to the writing world, and we’re all the poorer for not having him around to skewer the cruel and the vainglorious and the stupid in his own inimitable way.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/good-omens/neil-gaiman/terry-pratchett/9780552171892

2000s – On Writing (Stephen King)

Seriously, another Stephen King? Hey, my list, my rules. And this is his brutally honest and hugely influential non-fiction memoir and look back over his writing life. I read it initially just as a huge King fan, but now I think it was what gave me that initial nudge to think maybe I could try my hand at this writing thing (so if you were looking for someone to blame …)

Seriously, it’s one of the best books on writing I’ve read, mainly because it’s so honest and down-to-earth. And the final section on editing, where he actually shows how he does it? So, so good.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/on-writing/stephen-king/9781444723250

2010s – Just One Damned Thing After Another (Jodi Taylor)

‘St Mary’s – a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets who hurtle their way around History.’ Yep, that pretty much describes the protagonists of Jodi Taylor’s brilliantly irreverent take on the whole time travel concept (sorry, Dr Bairstow). But beneath the historical mayhem, there’s a subtle but growing darkness that hooked me from the outset. Another firm favourite!

https://www.waterstones.com/book/just-one-damned-thing-after-another/jodi-taylor/9781472264268

Boom – that’s how you do a Decades selection. King (twice) and Pratchett/Gaimen. Although I have never tried to nail down my personal five selections (I will save that for the very last Decades post) I would bet the farm on Good Omens making it into my five – no book has ever matched it for me. My thanks to Margaret for taking on the Decades Challenge, as ever, my apologies to your TBR.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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March 4

Decades: Compiling the Ultimate Library with Paul Gadsby

Welcome to March 2022, we are now in the fifteenth month of the Decades Library. Decades is a feature which I expected to run for five or six posts back in January and February 2021 and then believed it would slip into the background maybe to be revisited for another brief outing later in the year.

What actually happened is that Decades became a weekly feature and over 200 books have been recommended by authors, bloggers, journalists and publishers. People look foward to seeing the latest reading recommendations from my guests each week and if I don’t share a new Decades post on a Friday morning then I get letters (OK I get Twitter DMs but the principle is the same).

I also have to find new ways to introduce the Decades Library each week…how I wish I had standardised my introduction.

The Decades Library is my quest to populate a brand new library from the ground up. I started with zero books and I invite guests to nominate five of their favourite reads to be added to the shelves of the Decades Library. I only want the best books to be represented, books someone loved and would love other people to enjoy too.

Why the Decades Library? Well although my guests get to choose five favourite books they can only select one book per decade from five consecutive decades.

This week I am delighted to welcome another indy published author to the Decades Library: Paul Gadsby. I have had a sneaky look at the books Paul has selected and damn they sound good. So it’s enough from me for the moment, let me hand you over to Paul.

Paul Gadsby is the author of the crime novels ‘Back Door to Hell’ and ‘Turbulence’, both published by Fahrenheit Press, as well as ‘Chasing the Game’. His short stories have appeared in Mystery Tribune, Rock and a Hard Place magazine, Beat to a Pulp, Close to the Bone, and the ‘Noirville’ anthology. Having spent many years working in London as a sports and trade journalist, he is now a copywriter (when he’s not writing fiction) in his native Northamptonshire, where he lives with his wife and young son. His love of reading started with Michael Hardcastle’s football books for children and Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole series, before discovering a passion for crime and noir novels through the works of Ian Rankin, Ted Lewis, Megan Abbott and James Sallis among many others. You can read more about Paul’s work and his articles on literature at his website, paulgadsbyauthor.co.uk, while he can be found on Twitter @PaulJGadsby

DECADES

Ripley Under Ground, by Patricia Highsmith (1970)

I often tend to prefer the first book in a series, but this is a fine example of a stunning follow-up. Highsmith’s collection of Tom Ripley psychological thrillers begins with the spellbinding ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’, and ‘Ripley Under Ground’ is the second instalment, set six years later. The titular anti-hero, now in his thirties, is enjoying an affluent lifestyle in rural France, supported by his heiress wife, Héloïse, and the fortune he furtively acquired from Dickie Greenleaf. Naturally drawn to the shadows and all things clandestine, Ripley is also running an art forgery scheme, playing a key sales role within a consortium that is producing and selling fake paintings lauded as works by the now deceased artist Philip Derwatt. But when Bernard Tufts, a gifted young painter who is fabricating the works and who idolised Derwatt, becomes tormented by guilt, the scheme unravels. Ripley is forced to act fast — and not to mention lethally — in order to save his skin and the elevated social status he’s worked so hard to create for himself. Slotting Ripley into a counterfeiting world where, as a natural imitator and con artist, he thrives so compellingly was a masterstroke by Highsmith as she deftly plots this riveting tale.

The Eye of the Beholder, by Marc Behm (1980)

This hardboiled and surreal PI novel, later adapted into a film starring Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd, is an eclectic and experimental triumph. The protagonist, known only as ‘The Eye’, is a field operative for a corporate private investigation firm in Virginia. His latest assignment is to keep tabs on college graduate Paul Hugo, whose wealthy parents are concerned about a deviant young woman their son is romantically involved with. The Eye, long separated from his daughter who he only sees in sporadic illusions, is mentally unstable and finds himself fixated with the woman. When he watches her calmly kill Paul one evening, The Eye becomes infatuated. He soon discovers that the woman has plenty of aliases and wigs as she criss-crosses the nation getting her hooks into one well-heeled victim after another – sometimes playing the bride for an inheritance payout, sometimes just helping herself to a quick score. The Eye researches her true identity, Joanna Eris, and uncovers a tragic past that explains her emotional detachment to the murders she carries out with such a callous flair. Despite being a slender book, ‘The Eye of the Beholder’ spans 30 years and covers nearly 100 killings. It’s an extraordinary nihilistic descent into hell; brutal yet tender, rapid yet epic, and viciously bleak. Few books have explored themes of manic desire and sociopathic behaviour with such heartbreaking lyricism and relentless intensity.

The Hackman Blues, by Ken Bruen (1997)

I love the verve and vengeance which Irish noir novelist Bruen injects into his prose. Creator of the Jack Taylor series, Bruen’s long-nurtured edgy writing style and black humour lends itself particularly well to his standalone books, with ‘The Hackman Blues’ a personal favourite. Brady, a gay, bipolar junkie, is tasked with finding a girl in Brixton but his objective is complicated by a lethal ex-con and an Irish builder obsessed with Hollywood legend Gene Hackman. A powerful, gritty tale laced with urban blues and psychotic yet genuine characters, this is Bruen at his haunted best. Like most of his novels, the intensity rarely dips with his chapters short, his sentences rapid, and his narratives wonderfully original. Also, his habit of defining his protagonists by their cultural tastes — often declared through listing their favourite music, films, books, clothes or cuisine — wins me over every time.

The Long Suit, by Philip Davison (2003)

Following a chequered recent past, MI5 operative Harry Fielding is brought in from the cold to investigate the mysterious and complex case of a bullet-ridden corpse found on a Long Island golf course. Never one to fit in with the stiff procedures and hierarchical posturing of the British secret service, Harry struggles with the mental imbalance of returning to the cloak-and-dagger world of intelligence work that he hates so much yet performs so well. Keeping his troublemaker apprentice Johnny in check is difficult enough, let alone interpreting the instructions from head office which don’t appear to make the purpose of his job any clearer. Harry must consider if he is being set up, and to what end. Aside from the intriguing story and Davison’s delightfully polished writing style, what sets this book apart is the vivid and touching interplay that takes place in the visits Harry makes to his ailing father, Cecil, now confined to a retirement home as his amnesia worsens. The unsaid becomes mightily powerful in these passages. When I first read this book, having come across it by accident rather than design, I was captivated by its sharp and intelligent prose; the depth and vision of Davison’s writing compares with the likes of Graham Greene, John le Carré and James Sallis. The character of Harry features in some of Davison’s other books, but this for me is his finest work.

Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (2016)

This debut novel seemed to come out of nowhere and blew me — and many others — away. With its slick writing, gripping story and well-drawn characters, the convincing world created in this book overpowers you and stays with you long after the final page. We follow the journey of 15-year-old LA ghetto soldier East in what is both a crime caper road trip and a coming-of-age saga. East works for a drug peddling crew, just like pretty much everyone else he knows on the streets of the bleak African-American suburban landscape he has been raised, where the prospect of a violent death is constant. The crew’s boss, Fin, needs a Wisconsin-based witness killed before the guy can testify against his nephew in an upcoming trial. Fin tasks East, his trigger-happy 13-year-old half-brother Ty, and two other young crew members – the overweight Walter and the cocky Michael – with travelling across America to carry out the hit. Things don’t go to plan. The four of them have to improvise under pressure as things fall apart amidst a backdrop of the Midwest heartland rusting to a slow death. The van is vandalised and spray-painted with a racial slur. The mission flips. East and Michael have a vicious punch-up, and the group splits in stages. These impoverished characters don’t have many choices at their disposal, if any. The plot is taut and tense; there is no need for coincidences or twists. The observations Beverly draws are insightful and relevant, while the images he paints in your mind feel startlingly real.

And there we go, five books which sound amazing and I have only read one of them this week (Dodgers, don’t you know?). Thanks to Paul for taking the time to make his choices, it is always very much appreciated when someone takes on the Curator’s Hat for the Decades Library and I know people look forward to finding new books each week.

DECADES WILL RETURN

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