Just finished Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham. Took a while to get into it but it picks up after a while. It's the story of three couples who meet on holiday, during the holiday a girl goes missing and is later found dead. Then when they get back home another girl goes missing...
The problem for me was that there weren't any really sympathetic characters so you follow the story more out of morbid curiosity than concern for any of them.
I've just 'discovered' Bryce Courtney, I've read the first part of his 'Australia' trilogy called The Potato Factory, and now I'm on book 2 called Tommo and Hawk, both excellent very page turnable books.
Just finished The Ritual by Adam Nevill- my new favourite horror writer, and the first in years to actually shit me up a bit. Should probably not keep reading his stuff just before I go to sleep.
Just started James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand. Too early to call, but if it doesn't turn out to be yet another masterclass in balls-out no-bullshit ultra-hardcore nasty poetry, I'll eat my own face off.
Just finished The Ritual by Adam Nevill- my new favourite horror writer, and the first in years to actually shit me up a bit. Should probably not keep reading his stuff just before I go to sleep.
Just started James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand. Too early to call, but if it doesn't turn out to be yet another masterclass in balls-out no-bullshit ultra-hardcore nasty poetry, I'll eat my own face off.
I read that after it was recommended by Joe Abercrombie on his blog and to be perfectly honest I thought it was mediocre and a bit too predictable. People lost in woods stalked by unseen creature, enter local weirdos, madness ensues.
Dan Simmons - The Terror has a similar premise but his execution and prose are much better.
The Men Who United the States: The Amazing Stories of the Explorers, Inventors and Mavericks Who Made America by Simon Winchester
His focus here is on the more subtle aspects of nation building. He examines the accomplishments of a variety of characters, some famous and some obscure, whose visions and mastery of emerging technologies drew Americans closer together as our geographic size expanded.
Thomas Jefferson’s vision of an “empire of liberty” led to the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory and the Lewis and Clark expedition. William Maclure, a hyperactive Scottish immigrant, provided a geological survey of vast areas of the eastern U.S. and then promoted the value of a practical education for ordinary citizens. Winchester provides a fascinating portrayal of Samuel Morse, the “man who tamed the lightning,” and the vital role of the telegraph in bridging distances. This is a finely crafted and valuable reminder that the evolution of our united nation was a process often accelerated by unlikely, sometimes eccentric men who operated outside the political sphere.
I read that after it was recommended by Joe Abercrombie on his blog and to be perfectly honest I thought it was mediocre and a bit too predictable. People lost in woods stalked by unseen creature, enter local weirdos, madness ensues.
Dan Simmons - The Terror has a similar premise but his execution and prose are much better.
I loved The Terror (even though Simmons is something of an arse these days), but didn't really think they were that similar. I think a lot of what got me about The Ritual was that I love black metal!
Everything by Roddy Doyle at the moment! Have read a
few before,so am re-reading them,along with a dozen or
so that I have never read before. Warm,witty and very
good the way they draw the reader in,without having
stunning or complex plot lines! Just everyday folk,doing
everyday stuff,and leading (often) complicated lives
Comments
Reading The Lamp of the Wicked by Phil Rickman (Merrily Watkins 5)
About to start listening to The Waiting Room by F. G. Cottam, read by David Rintoul.
The problem for me was that there weren't any really sympathetic characters so you follow the story more out of morbid curiosity than concern for any of them.
Just started James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand. Too early to call, but if it doesn't turn out to be yet another masterclass in balls-out no-bullshit ultra-hardcore nasty poetry, I'll eat my own face off.
I read that after it was recommended by Joe Abercrombie on his blog and to be perfectly honest I thought it was mediocre and a bit too predictable. People lost in woods stalked by unseen creature, enter local weirdos, madness ensues.
Dan Simmons - The Terror has a similar premise but his execution and prose are much better.
Me too! I'll need to try and restrain myself from tearing through it.
I loved The Terror (even though Simmons is something of an arse these days), but didn't really think they were that similar. I think a lot of what got me about The Ritual was that I love black metal!
few before,so am re-reading them,along with a dozen or
so that I have never read before. Warm,witty and very
good the way they draw the reader in,without having
stunning or complex plot lines! Just everyday folk,doing
everyday stuff,and leading (often) complicated lives
Life - Keith Richards
Nikki
"Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World" ~ Gary Lachman
Just Started:
"Quatermass and the Pit (BFI Film Classics)" ~ Kim Newman