My brother Mike, whose unstated mission in life is to read every mystery and thriller ever written, has this to say on Ian Rankin’s latest, “The Naming of the Dead.” “I have to admit I was just a little disappointed. It seemed somewhat disjointed. There were some great lines there, though, some real laugh-out-loud ones. It seems to be setting the stage for a battle royale between […]
The worst book I’ve read this year …
… is “A Small Death in Lisbon” by Robert Wilson. Actually, it’s not the worst — that distinction goes to Harlen Coben’s dreadful “Promise Me” — I just liked the best-worst symmetry of this and the preceding post. Still, I didn’t much like this book. While I admire the author’s ambition and research, this is one of those yarns where meticulous geographic detail actually undermines the story. […]
The best book I’ve read this year …
… is Martin Cruz Smith’s “Stalin’s Ghost.” The morose and laconic Arkady Renko returns for the sixth time since his debut in the brilliant “Gorky Park” of 1982. This time he’s back in Moscow, which has changed a great deal in 25 years. It’s a city where the excesses of capitalism and corruption have engendered an odd nostalgia for the days of Stalinist Russia — even as […]
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