Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not Bond? Not James Bond?

Forever and a Death by Donald Westlake

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In a writers group I participate in via social media, someone asked the question a few months ago that if we could have three traits from authors, what would they be? I don’t remember my other two answers but the one I do remember is Donald Westlake’s versatility. The man wrote noir potboilers, political gags a la Ross Thomas, the sparse and sharp Parker series, the slyly comedic Dortmunder tales…he could do it all. He even had a hand at James Bond. Forever and a […]

“You get used to marvelous things. You take them for granted. You can try not to, but you do. There’s too much wonder, that’s all. It’s everywhere.”

Later by Stephen King

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I really had a good time with this one. I finished it over two months ago now, but unlike my experience with Eternals, I remember it vividly and fondly. I just have one tiny beef with it, and it’s a beef I’ve recently had with King before, but more on that later. Jamie Conklin is our narrator, a kid who can see dead people (King wisely acknowledges the Haley Joel Osment shaped elephant in the room). It’s a talent he (and his mom) have mostly […]

Pacific Dreams

Five Decembers by James Kestrel

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I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Those who know me know that I’m a big fan of the Hard Case Crime label. I collect the novels and make a commitment to read at least one a month. Publisher Charles Ardai has made a point to reach out extensively to the HCC fan community; passing out ARCs and bonus copies before they go on sale. A few months ago, some of us got an […]

Devil’s Night

Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus

The Crow by James O'Barr

The Transgressors by Jim Thompson

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Happy Halloween! Preceding this Devil’s Night, I had a full day off and caught up on a lot of reading. It was a relief to get these three off the TBR list. All were good in their own respective ways. Blood Sugar 3 stars “A” for effort on the language, which is written in the slang of what Daniel Kraus thinks is a modern day teenager. I found it too distracting. But much like Nico Walker’s Cherry, when I was able to get used to it, […]

A Twofer

The Night and the Music by Lawrence Block

Top of the Heap by Erle Stanley Gardner

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I knocked out two books over the weekend, both good enough in their own ways.   The Night and the Music 4 stars I’ve never really liked short stories but I like Matthew Scudder and, aside from a novella, this is all that I have left to get from his tale. And I enjoyed each story on its own in some way. The mystery ones were fun but the ones where we see Scudder’s humanity are often better. I do wish the Mick Ballou ones were longer […]

Anchors Away

Home Is The Sailor by Day Keene

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Christa Faust is one of my favorite writers and I came to her work via Hard Case Crime. In an interview with her, I read that she got started on crime fiction by reading Day Keene. I wasn’t too familiar with Keene but I knew I had his Home Is The Sailor book in my HCC collection. It was low on my priority list but it shot up after the interview and now, I figured it was time to get to it. It’s your typical pulp fare […]



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