Laidlaw … a Review.

Enters Jack Laidlaw .. the depressive boozy detective. the Scotish answer to any hard boiled American detective. Gloomy, dark and authentic.

it is a raw book. Laidlaw the man who when asked a question the size of a snow ball answers back with an avalanche. The philosophical and knower of human nature. The one who gets crime and criminals.

A body of a girl is found in a park. Laidlaw and his side kick Harkness venture to solve the crime with an untraditional linear solution. They take the reader to the front room of the deceased house. the nightclubs of Glasgow. the bars… the whiskey.. the wooden panels.. the dark lighting and the underbelly of the city to find who killed the lassie.

Enjoying and amazing.

Go Set A Watchman – Review #HarperLee

One of the most anticipated novels of 2015. More like an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. The book is not coherent enough, it’s more like snippets and vignettes that would have lead to something concrete and understandable. 

I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird. It lacked that climax event that was in the Mockingbird.

Though it was nice to visit Maycomb and see what happened in two decades.

The Strange Library – A Review

A very short fable by Haruki Murakami. I think this fable is addressed to Young Adults. The main character steps into the public library to look for answers. To read. To research a topic ( taxation in Ottoman Turkey) a random topic which is so Murakami.

He is then sent away into the depth of the library to face an interesting destiny.

The cast of secondary characters include a sheep man. A mysterious girl with no vocal cords. and the old man.

I think this could be a warning tale to children not to approach public libraries before closing time and get locked in it. or just a fantasy when you read a book and just get lost in it and escape into another world. another dimension. 

The narrative is crisp and fresh. yet it’s lacking the complexity of a regular Murakami.

The killing of the Tinkers – Review

Jack Taylor is back. Back from London with a leather jacket. A new man on coke. one line after another. The burden of the past in The Guards the 1st book gives the background to this sequel.

A new case. tinkers are being killed. Tinkers or gypsies. Clans that move between grounds. Someone is targeting them.

The narrative mixes flashbacks from London with the present of Galway. Bruen uses the same techniques as he did in the Guards. A lot of references to books and authors. I do enjoy a fictional character that reads.

Jack Taylor is far from a perfect detective. He lives in Dante’s Hell. The past chases him. His only refuge are in books , booze and boobs. intellectual alcoholic. An Irish noir. one does sympathize with him no matter what. his humanity does shine in some instants.

Off to book 3 of the series.

Gone Girl : A Review

Gone Girl. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy and Girl in love. Girl vanish… did the Boy cause the Girl to vanish?

 

Amy and Nick; two modern couple celebrating their fifth anniversary. Amy decides to play one lovely treasure hunt with her husband: not the usual treasure hunt they play every anniversary. Not the usual treasure hunt that brings back good memories; a bottle of wine, a candle lit dinner, but a treasure hunt that may make the husband the most loathed person in the area if not the country.

 

Amy and Nick; two different backgrounds. She; the daughter of affluent psychologists turned authors of Amazing Amy. Amazing Amy the alter ego of their own daughter who is righteous, and goody two shoes. Yet she is filled with hate. Deceit. Master Puppeteer.

 

Nick; the son of a family from North Carthage. A journalist. a byproduct of recession and the downfall of newspapers.

 

Both: master psychopaths. Charming and dangerous. Addicts to each others and parasites on each others. A complete yin and yang. Both are dark characters from the cesspool of humanity.

 

The novel is good. Amazing page turner and a thriller. Yet, the characterisation and development was retarded… No development in plot that makes it the IT book of 2013/ 2014.

 

A modern love story of twists, lies, deceit and attention. A tale of crocodile tears, back stabs. A tale of delusive narratives