Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Jake

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

Jake's Reviews:

…And the Streets Are Mean

The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block

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I wanna start backwards and focus on the end of this book, even though I won’t spoil anything. I’m appreciative of Lawrence Block’s ability to always give the Matthew Scudder novels a fresh, unique ending. Each one has its own twist that I didn’t see coming or, while I may have guessed what exactly was coming, still surprised me with its execution. That’s a big reason why I’ve come to love these books, along with the great New York atmosphere, and the genuine complexity of […]

Brooklyn Girls

The Lonely Witness by William Boyle

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My first William Boyle novel I was able to finish. I gave Gravesend a shot and it wasn’t working for me. I do want to get through Boyle’s other novels, mostly because they take place in the urban recesses of New York City. His in particular all center around non-glamour Brooklyn. I like all kinds of New York City novels, including those. It’s why I want to keep trying with Boyle, despite not being as grabbed by his books as I want to be. Boyle has often […]

Oh-hi-oh

What You Want To See by Kristen Lepionka

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Kristen Lepionka’s Roxanne Weary series is one of my favorites to come along in recent years. This could be me dating myself as a end-of-the-spectrum millennial but Roxanne feels like someone I would know. And Kristen Lepionka gets her voice and atmosphere down well. This one is in some ways an improvement on book one, though I liked that one too. I don’t know why, especially because there wasn’t a Macguffin, but I got a real Maltese Falcon vibe from this story. It could have been […]

Read it, Jake. It’s…

The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood by Sam Wesson

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Sometimes, it’s a good thing to sit on a review. Normally, I try to get these out right away while the book is fresh in my mind. I don’t want to forget the sensation of reading a novel, completing it, and giving my thoughts before it’s fully digested. The thrill of reading books is actually finishing the book and appreciating and/or critiquing the story I’ve just received. However, due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn’t able to get to this review until hours after […]

Oedipus and Electra

Cropper's Cabin by Jim Thompson

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The year of Jim Thompson continues with what is by far the best book of his I’ve read this calendar year. It may be a cut below his truly greatest works like Pop. 1280 and The Grifters but it’s really darn good. I once heard Jason Concepcion of The Ringer fame compliment Quentin Tarantino by saying that the director “democratizes pop culture.” In other words, he takes B-movie stuff like gangster films and martial arts tales and turns them into high art. Thompson can perhaps be thought of in […]

To Live and Die in LA

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley

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After going through most of Walter Mosley’s Leonid McGill series, I decided to switch back to the books that drew me to his work in the first place: good ol’ Easy Rawlins. Having read most of the McGill books (and unlike the Rawlins series, they’re mostly the same in terms of plot and tone) I have a fresh perspective on the Rawlins ones and Mosley’s evolution as a writer. McGill has always felt like the character Mosley wanted to write but didn’t get to until […]



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