Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Middle of the (surface) road

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

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Another installment in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, this recent (2017) book follows Bosch through two plot lines: 1) the re-opening of an old murder file where a convicted killer alleges Bosch framed him; and 2) a recent double murder tied to the opioid epidemic. This was the fourth Harry Bosch novel I’ve read, and for the first 75 pages I swore I’d read it before (I actually flipped forward a little to see if I recognized the plot points).  I think part of déjà […]

Write What You Know

My Dark Places by James Ellroy

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Read as part of CBR11Bingo: Biography/Memoir As I said a few weeks ago in my review of This Storm, I recently met James Ellroy at a book signing. I confess to feeling some intimidation. I’ve heard many stories over the years of Ellroy’s abrasive and forward personality in public. I shared in a social media group about getting ready to meet Ellroy and one guy shared a story about him fat shaming a kid at a book signing. Granted, it was hearsay but in line with […]

Living in the Past

This Storm by James Ellroy

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I met James Ellroy when purchasing this book at a book signing. I was nervous, having heard plenty of stories about his uncouth behavior in public. But he was actually quite nice and gracious with his time. It seems to me that once he rides out his initial wave of anxiety and gets comfortable in a situation, he’s fine. Both of us being Lutheran, we joked about the great Martin Luther; he of course appreciating Luther’s vulgarity towards the Pope. Ellroy makes it clear that […]

Slumpbuster

Sunset Express by Elvis Cole

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When baseball players are in a slump, there’s an old school remedy for doing something on the side to help break out of it. It’s called finding a “slumpbuster.” I’m not going to talk about what it actually is since it’s rooted in horrific misogyny (and I suggest you don’t google it either) but I’m going to take the germ of an idea (minus the misogyny) and apply it to reading. Finishing books has been a chore lately and I was disheartened at how much […]

Amateur Sleuthing on Your Sister-In-Law? That’ll Go Well…

Die A Little by Megan Abbott

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As I said in my review of The Song Is You, I wish Megan Abbott had done more 40s and 50s LA noir tales. She is of course welcome to write what she darn well pleases without my input. Give Me Your Hand was one of my favorite reads from last year. But these tales are so much fun and they hit that sweet spot of quality LA mysteries. Like The Song is You, this is a historical mystery featuring an amateur sleuth trying to deduce what’s behind her […]

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley

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Dreams have always featured heavily in Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series. But this one in particular had a lot of dream sequences and descriptions of dreams. It kind of wore on me after awhile; I felt like Mosley was trying to stuff extra scenes to raise his page count since the plot was so thin. I don’t know what it’s like dealing with publishers but note to writers: if you can get away with a good story in 190 or 220 pages, it’s cool. I […]



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