Noir – Tyson Adams

Grave robbing is still cool in the future.

In the infirmary, Takeshi Kovacs is approached by a soldier who is sitting on the artefact discovery of several lifetimes. Kovacs, currently operating as an elite commando, takes his leeway to recruit the soldier, an archaeologist (archaeologue), a merry band of mercenaries, and a corporate bankroll. Together they are trying to uncover ancient alien technology in the middle of a warzone before any other interested parties, including the warring armies, come for them.

After reading Altered Carbon I threw caution to the wind and dived straight into Broken Angels. It is rare that I read instalments of a series back-to-back as I usually feel like I’ve had an adequate sufficiency of that character/world/theme for the time being. Wanting more is a sure sign that the author gave me some good stuff. Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff.

Broken Angels is quite different in thematic style from Altered Carbon. Where the latter was a hard-boiled cyberpunk mystery, the former is a noir Artefact-MacGuffin-Adventure* with a more languid pace than those sorts of novels tend to be. The change of pace and style didn’t extend to the themes. While there is less critique of elitist wealth hoarding, there is some delving into corporatism, warmongering, and capitalist drivers behind war that ties to Morgan’s social commentary. His comments on capitalism and war reminded me of Smedley Butler’s War is a Racket – Butler was a Major General of the Marine Corps who did not hold back in discussing what war was really about (hint: money).

Another enjoyable Kovacs adventure. The only thing that stopped me reading the third instalment straight away is that despite owning a copy I didn’t have it on my ereader.

I shook my head. “I don’t have the energy to hate the corporates, Hand. Where would I start? And like Quell says, Rip open the diseased heart of a corporation and what spills out?”
“People.”
“That’s right. People. It’s all people. People and their stupid fucking groups.”

* A term I use to describe the style of thriller churned out by authors like James Rollins, Steve Berry, Matthew Reilly, Andy McDermott, etc.

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Writing

Short stories now on Amazon

That’s right. I decided that there was no better way to learn how to publish my novellas than to practice with two of my short stories. I’m now prepared for the task of crossing the threshold into “professional author” territory, letting my creations escape the confines of my head and harddrive. I’ve priced both short stories at the Amazon standard $0.99, which is about what I think short stories should go for – novellas $2.99, novels somewhere between $7 and $10.

So if you would like to read some short stories, may I suggest you download mine from Amazon. Running the Cross is “A test of mind and body, running the cross is the ultimate test. A dozen rail lines, thousands of tonnes of freight trains travelling at high speed, a race across the tracks to prove yourself. Will you survive?” Rum and Roses “The police don’t like ‘Skinny’ McAfree, but they do like him for the disappearance and possible murder of his next door neighbour.”

I really enjoyed writing both of these, especially Running the Cross, and hope you enjoy reading them.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3WP0OK – Running the Cross

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3XTKFO – Rum and Roses

Book review, Reading

Book Review: Parallax by Jon F. Merz

Parallax by Jon F. Merz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The paranormal is an interesting genre for me. As some of you may have guessed, I’m a scientist and skeptic. Basically this means I want evidence of claims, not some beliefs and suppositions. Prove it to me.

When it comes to entertainment, the assumption would be that anything other than realistic fiction is not going to grab me. The key word here is fiction. Just as Lt. Shane Shcofield’s adventures are as realistic as Abraham Lincoln being a vampire hunter, the paranormal can be just as entertaining to this scientist and skeptic.

This is the second of Jon’s books that I have read. Parallax was a very entertaining read that reminded me of some of the earlier paranormal works I read that combined the paranormal with the crime or noir genres. This novel works as a straight crime story, the mental link between the two main protagonists serving as a twist on the formula.

Worth checking out if you like a tale about hitmen having to redeem themselves.

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Book review

Book Review: The Hunter by Richard Stark

I know, another book review and none of my usual wit and original material. Bear with me, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately to make up for the fact I’m back at work. Christmas holidays are always too short.

The Hunter: A Parker Novel by Richard Stark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like gritty, unless we are talking sandwiches. The crime noir genre really is all about gritty and Parker is the quintessential character embodying this.

Once again I’m late to the bandwagon. Clearly Australia doesn’t have enough German and Japanese influences to have clear bandwagon schedules. Or maybe it is just me, but I prefer to blame others for my failings, like many great men before me. There was a point here about being late…. Oh yes, Richard Stark – aka Donald Westlake – and his Parker character are not new entities, thus my reading of my first Parker novel is probably well overdue.

The reason I came to this series was two-fold. The first was I had recently watched the director’s cut of Mel Gibson’s Payback. The director’s cut was much more faithful to the source material than the original version, despite being made more friendly to a wider audience. The second reason was that I have also been reading a lot of Ed Brubaker’s graphic novels, such as Criminal. At the back of each edition of Criminal there are essays on crime movies and books that started and were highlights of the genre. The Parker series caught my attention for this reason.

Needless to say, I can’t argue with history, this is a good book. Actually I could argue with history, as it is generally perspective based rather than objectively measured, but that is just the science nerd in me, rearing its ugly head. In my perspective though, the Parker series is well worth getting into.

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Uncategorized

Book Review: The Killer by Matz

The Killer, Volume 1 by Matz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this graphic novel on a whim. It popped up in my recommendations, the artwork caught my eye, it was on sale; you know, the usual impulse buy. But this French story is very interesting and engaging, much more than an impulse: a great read.

The premise is pretty standard: contract killer is hung out to dry on that last job. I’m sure there is a book of cliches out there for writers, if someone could send me the title so I could buy it, I’d much appreciate it. Anyway, it is Matz’ take on the character and story that works wonders. It is also Luc Jacamon’s artwork, capturing the details and inner workings of the protagonist. We get to see inside the mind of a hitman. There is also nudity, so, you know, bonus.

Volume 2 builds on from this edition nicely. It evolves, it progresses to a higher level that belies its first pages in Volume 1. I don’t want to spoil things, I mean, who didn’t figure out that Bruce Willis was actually a ghost, aside from the entire theater who threw everything bar the chairs at me? By not spoiling things I won’t be mentioning the protagonist’s growth from being a loner hitman to having friends.

If you like noir graphic novels, then this series is worth a read. Apparently they are making a film of this with David Fincher directing, so worth seeing before Hollywood ruins another book (ahem, ahem).

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Book review

Book Review: Wyatt by Garry Disher

Wyatt by Garry Disher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can’t believe I’ve been an Australian reader for this long and not read a Garry Disher novel. Sure, I’d heard of him, he’s a perennial favourite of the Australian Crime Thriller awards and community. But it was only his appearance at the Sydney Writers’ Festival – with Shamini Flint and Michael Connelly – that convinced me to buy Wyatt.

Of course I got Garry to sign my copy and dutifully put it on my shelf of “To Be Read” books. I really should have picked it up earlier to read. I should have read more Wyatt novels. I should have read Garry’s other series. Wyatt is crime noir, gritty and fast paced. If that is what strikes your mood then this book should entertain you nicely.

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