Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About Jake

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I love reading! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jake's Quick Questions interview.)

Jake's Reviews:

Under My Bed, In Your Head

The Man In My Basement by Walter Mosley

March 31, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

When I reviewed Walter Mosley’s Debbie Doesn’t Do It Anymore, I wrote at length about how his late period works take on this sort of mumble-noir tone with an atmosphere that feels ethereal. Much like Mosley’s Leonid McGill series, these all seem to take place on a parallel plane of human existence. Mosley seems more interested in using these stories to explore the existential rather than tell a simple gangster or noir tale, like say the Easy Rawlins series. For the most part, in his other books […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Miscellany, The man in my basement, walter mosley

Jake's CBR12 Review No:55 · Genres: Uncategorized · Tags: Miscellany, The man in my basement, walter mosley ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

It’s Up To You, New York…

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton

March 30, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

Some reviews are easy. I can churn out 400, even 500 words no problem, either because of the book itself or the context invoked by the book. Rarely can I tell what I’ll have to say before I sit down to write it. I just have to do it. Others, like Social Creature, are tough. It’s difficult to spit out 250 words about a book that has some substance but not much, some memorable scenes but not many, leaves a fingerprint more than an imprint on […]

Filed Under: Suspense Tagged With: New York City, Noir, Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton

Jake's CBR12 Review No:54 · Genres: Suspense · Tags: New York City, Noir, Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Bawlmer

Four Kinds of Rain by Robert Ward

March 28, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

One of the more memorable things I’ve read in the last few years is Robert Ward’s Red Baker. It’s your typical blue collar male midlife crisis story, only it’s set in Baltimore and is hardcore devoted to the city. Being a native, I love Baltimore tales. When I mentioned to someone that I really enjoyed Red Baker, they suggested I pick this one up. I’m glad I did. This one is an actual crime story set in Baltimore and it’s twisty. In the first fifty or so pages, […]

Filed Under: Suspense Tagged With: Baltimore, Four Kinds of Rain, Noir, Robert Ward

Jake's CBR12 Review No:53 · Genres: Suspense · Tags: Baltimore, Four Kinds of Rain, Noir, Robert Ward ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Throughout Generations

A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block

March 27, 2020 by Jake 4 Comments

It took me twelve books total to realize how much I love the Matthew Scudder series. But I do. I’m so glad I re-discovered this in the last few months. The early books were just simple whodunnits, no more no less. Competently written yet not necessarily worth the time and effort to invest in the whole series. Yet my thirst for gritty New York tales is almost impossible to slake, so I kept coming back to these. Slowly but surely, Block continued to improve as […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: A Long Line of Dead Men, lawrence block, Matthew Scudder, mystery, New York City

Jake's CBR12 Review No:52 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: A Long Line of Dead Men, lawrence block, Matthew Scudder, mystery, New York City ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

Adult Actress

Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore by Walter Mosley

March 26, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

Walter Mosley is one of the more unique and versatile mainstream writers out there. Most noted for his Easy Rawlins mystery series, Mosley has also written some simple noir tales, science and speculative fiction, and other stuff that can be difficult to categorize. This one falls in the other. I’ve always meant to read a non-mystery by Mosley and what better time than being isolated during a pandemic? This one is an interesting tale. There are crime elements but it’s not really a crime story. […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore, pornography, walter mosley

Jake's CBR12 Review No:51 · Genres: Uncategorized · Tags: Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore, pornography, walter mosley ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
book cover of Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner, showing yellow type over a greyscale image of a woman silhouetted against the sky, with birds flying overhead

All the Memories

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

March 25, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

This one got recommended to me by a lit critic. She asked for folks to submit what we liked to read to her via Twitter and she replied with suggestions. When I said mysteries, she came up with this one, along with Tana French (who I love) and “Robert Galbraith” (who I do not love). I figured she got this based on it being part of the contemporary female-written English thriller/mystery that doubles as a character study but what the heck. It was free on […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: England, Manon Bradshaw, missing presumed, mystery, susie steiner

Jake's CBR12 Review No:50 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: England, Manon Bradshaw, missing presumed, mystery, susie steiner ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
  • Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
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