The Gutter and the Grave by Ed McBain
Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Self care. I collect Hard Case Crime novels and read at least one a month. I’ve long wanted to finish at least one of the works of Ed McBain. I’ve tried, tried, and tried again with his 87th Precinct books but I just can’t get past the opening pages. I understand what he’s trying to do, and I really appreciate it. But they’ve just never clicked for me. He’s a good writer but I’ll be damned if I can engage […]
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
Read as part of CBR13bingo: myth I made it a point to know as little about this book going in. I knew that it was a fantasy set in a mythical New York City that involved a family. That was it. And I think that’s the best way to read this book. There is something horrifying that happens in the first third (or does it?) that made it difficult to read but Victor LaValle’s writing style is easy enough to fall in and out of. […]
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
CBR Bingo Square: Cityscape (To Y’all with a physical copy, did you use Google Lens to look at the animated cover? If not, and you have Google Lens, I recommend checking it out!) I was hyped for The City We Became coming off How Long ’til Black Future Month and the Hugo Award winning run on “The Broken Earth” trilogy. However, the first chapter of TCWB was the same as a short story in HLtBFM and for some reason this made it difficult for me to get […]
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Home. The book takes place in an apartment complex where the protagonist is house sitting. Riley Sager’s thing never seemed to be my thing. I tried Final Girls but quit after thirty pages because it gave me that airport bestseller page-ripper vibe. Nothing against those kinds of books but they’re not for me. I don’t fancy myself (hah!) as a high brow sophisticate when it comes to my reading tastes. But I usually enjoy stuff with more substance than what you get […]
The Corpse Wore Pasties by Johnny Porkpie
Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Shelfie. Posted is a picture of the book with other Hard Case Crime books I collect. This one’s Hard Case Crime book is one that I’ve been meaning to get to for some time. It almost qualified as my “white whale” for bingo but I decided to stick it here instead to show off part of my Hard Case Crime collection. And while I didn’t think it was as good as other HCC tales, I wish the label would put […]
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
CBR Bingo: Cityscape First things first, with a title like that it’s obvious that They Both Die at the End is going to be a tearjerker, and I don’t normally enjoy tearjerkers. It’s a testament to Adam Silvera’s writing that I not only finished this book but that I liked it. Mateo and Rufus are teens living in New York who, just after midnight on the same day, get a call from Death-Cast: the service that accurately predicts the day you’ll die and lets you know […]
