Read Any Good Books Lately?

 

I recently took stock of my bookshelves and discovered more unread volumes than I realized I had. This wasn’t from impulse buying because I’m from a family of avid readers, and the books kept piling up. I’m now well-stocked with everything from Erle Stanley Gardner to Robert B. Parker, alongside Hemingway, Steinbeck and Twain. Throw in my own collections of Ian Fleming, Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, among others, and I have a pulp fiction library to die for.   

 

One of the books I’m currently reading is “A Tan and Sandy Silence,” a Travis McGee mystery by John D. MacDonald. I had tried reading some of the McGee stories a long time ago, but didn’t fully appreciate them when I was younger. Now I’m finding them to be interesting and skillfully written. Better late than never.  

 

Speaking of vintage mysteries, I read one by Lawrence Block called “Sinner Man.” Block was part of the hardboiled paperback writer generation, and this one is typical of his output—the “hero” is an ordinary working stiff who sees a way out of his boring life and decides to take it, even though it’s illegal. This theme is also a constant with one of Block’s peers, Donald E. Westlake. I recently finished one of his crime capers with the world’s best title—“Somebody Owes Me Money.” I wish I could’ve used that for one of my novels!

 

I don’t usually get into true crime books, but I made an exception when I bought “Death as a Living,” a first effort by A. Doyle Burke. Burke is a retired homicide detective from my hometown Dayton (Ohio) Police Department who dished the dirt on some of his cases. In reading his reminiscences, I got an eerie feeling of nostalgia when I thought “Hey, I remember that murder!” I think I’ve been writing crime thrillers for too long.     

 

I can highly recommend a neat cozy-type mystery called “Nine Tenths of the Law,” by my friend Claudia Hagadus Long. My connection with Claudia is that she’s my frequent book editor and favorite collaborator. She’s written an intriguing tale about a family’s discovery of a religious artifact that was thought to have been lost during the Holocaust, and their efforts to get it back. I understand that she recently released a follow-up book.     

 

Part of the fun of being a freelance book editor is finding something by a first-timer and feeling strongly enough to recommend it. In the past year I had the pleasure of editing two new romances by Dayton-area authors, which are now on the market. I suggest you check out “Falling Into Fire” by Leah Lore, and “The Immortal Sonata” by Jennifer Vice. Both fall into the romantasy category (“Sonata” is more vampire romance). They’re well-written with believable characters and atmosphere.   

 

Robert B. Parker and his Spenser private eye mysteries are what I call comfort reading, and I have a number of those to choose from. My most recent choice was “Cold Service,” a solid tale of revenge fueled by friendship. In addition to Parker, I also caught up with a Mickey Spillane adventure I missed, “The Killing Man,” a fast-paced Mike Hammer thriller. I’ve since added another lost Spillane treasure, “Black Alley,” to my reading table.  

   

An old paperback I found at a used bookstore provided some surprising literary insights. “The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions” by Mario Puzo is a collection of stories he wrote for magazines to pay the rent until his books took off. Puzo devoted a chapter to his landmark novel and the film adaptation. I was surprised to learn that despite “The Godfather” being his most successful book, it wasn’t his favorite, and he didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. He revealed that he only wrote it because his previous books, while critically acclaimed, hadn’t been commercially successful, and he was deeply in debt. His agent suggested that since Mafia stories sold well, perhaps he should write one of those.

 

What’s in your TBR pile?

 

Tim Smith is an award-winning bestselling author of romantic mystery/thrillers, and contemporary rom/coms. His novels featuring former CIA operative Nick Seven have garnered several awards and international critical praise. His author site is TimSmith.AllAuthor.com