Two debut thrillers and an exciting ebook

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Shiver by Allie Reynolds were gifts from my daughter. She'd enjoyed reading both the thrillers and thought my wife and I'd like them too. Her choice of crime fiction comes with high recommendations.

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The Silent Patient is described as "A shocking psychological thriller of a woman's act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive."

The blurb on the back of the 339-page book tells us about the story of Alicia Berenson who "lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago (when) she shot her husband in the head five times. Since then she hasn't spoken a single word. It's time to find out why."

"They were all there. So which one of them did it?" says the cover of Shiver (Headline, 2021). The 425-page book tells the story of "A reunion weekend in the French Alps (that turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm."

The Silent Patient and Shiver are both debut novels and were to be developed as a movie and a television series, respectively; although, I have no updates about either of the ventures.

Carolyn Arnold's The Little Grave (2021) is the first Detective Amanda Steele book in what appears to be a series of ten books. The 324-page Kindle edition was available for free on Amazon. My thanks to the author.

This is what the book is about:

"It's been five years since Detective Amanda Steele's life was derailed by the tragic death of her young daughter. The small community of Dumfries, Virginia, may have moved on, but Amanda cannot. When the man who killed Lindsey is found murdered, she can't keep away from the case. Fighting her sergeant to be allowed to work such a personal investigation, Amanda is in a race to prove that she can uncover the truth. But the more she digs into the past of the man who destroyed her future, the more shocking discoveries she makes."

At present, I'm reading The Silent Patient in paperback and The Little Grave on my tablet.

A visit to a book fair in South Mumbai

My wife and I frequently travel to South Mumbai, roughly 22 km (17 miles) from our home in the suburbs, to spend a few delightful hours among its art deco buildings, historical landmarks, art galleries and cultural scenes; walk along the sea-facing promenades; visit footpath booksellers and book exhibitions; shop on the causeway; and eat at traditional restaurants.

The island city holds a special place for us. We both grew up there. You can read more about our trip at our new website Pocketful of Happiness.

Here are a few pictures from a book exhibition that we went to. There were literally thousands of books–fiction and nonfiction, paperbacks and hardbacks. Most books cost no more than a dollar or two. We bought a few. The book fair was organised by Ashish Book Centre and held near Churchgate, which serves as the headquarters of the suburban Western Railway network in South Mumbai.

 

© All photographs by Prashant C. Trikannad

The Ann Patchett excerpt that made me buy her books

Excerpts often influence whether I pick up books by authors I have never read before. That, along with a post on Twitter (now X), is how I discovered the award-winning American author Ann Patchett, who writes both fiction and nonfiction.

I was drawn to her writing when I read about her latest book Tom Lake, which is described as a “Beautiful and moving novel about family, love and growing up” or in the words of The Guardian, “A truth that feels like life rather than literature.”

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Those are the kind of books I have always enjoyed reading, and hope to write someday, now more so since my wife and I launched a website Pocketful of Happiness which stemmed from our desire to be as happy as possible and spread a little joy among our readers. Books like these have a feel-good quality about them. 

Ann Patchett's writing has been variously described as warm, poetic, illuminating, rich, poignant, funny, powerful, compelling and stirring. This was evident from the many excerpts I read including this affecting passage from This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (2013):

“People seem able to love their dogs with an unabashed acceptance that they rarely demonstrate with family or friends. The dogs do not disappoint them, or if they do, the owners manage to forget about it quickly. I want to learn to love people like this, the way I love my dog, with pride and enthusiasm and a complete amnesia for faults. In short, to love others the way my dog loves me.”

It prompted me to buy the book along with These Precious Days: Essays (2021). Both are personal  and literary collections of essays and memoir.

I look forward to reading one of these books as soon as I finish Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links.

The last books I bought before lockdown

If there was one thing I missed during the lockdown and the long months of working from home, it was regular visits to secondhand bookshops, pavement booksellers and book exhibitions. 

During that period, I bought only two books from Amazon India—a used but rare Corgi edition of Sudden and a new Fantastic Four: The Coming of Galactus comic-book digest, both featured here. 

Finding Sudden felt like winning the lottery. I was surprised and delighted to come across the paperback—with its striking cover art—on Amazon India for just Rs.295. My favourite western isn't the sort of book one easily stumbles upon at second-hand book sales in Mumbai.

Most of the books in this post, however, were purchased in the weeks and months before the pandemic changed our routines. I've included their covers, original publication years and brief synopses below. 

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The New Collected Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer

"This brand new edition brings together three of Jeffrey Archer's classic collections of short stories—To Cut a Long Story Short, Cat O' Nine Tales and And Thereby Hangs a Tale—showcasing the master storyteller's skill like never before. Every reader will have their own favourites: the choices run from love at first sight across the train tracks to the cleverest of confidence tricks, from the quirks of the legal profession, and those who are able to manipulate both sides of the Bar, to the creative financial talents of a member of Her Majesty's diplomatic service—but for a good cause. In `Caste-Off', Jamwal and Nisha fall in love while waiting for a traffic light to turn green in Delhi, and in `Don't Drink The Water', a company chairman tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St Petersburg, with unexpected consequences... The stories held in these pages are irresistible: ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions. Some will make you laugh. Others will bring you to tears. And, as always, every one of them will keep you spellbound."

The Twisted Thing by Mickey Spillane

"This was some household.

"The kid was a genius, the father a scientist of international repute. Money was problem. Not shortage of money but the opposite: too much. The sort of money that brings the envious and the scheming clustering like flies round a pile of ripe offal: nieces, nephews, cousins - a family of mean minds and gross appetites.

"The hired help had its peculiarities too: the chauffeur, an ex-con; the governess, formerly a featured act in strip clubs from New York and Miami; a secretary with a well developed taste in other women.

"Quite a household. And not one to welcome the arrival of Mike Hammer—not when the kid had been kidnapped and everyone else was a suspect."

Snobs by Julian Fellowes

"The English, of all classes as it happens, are addicted to exclusivity. Leave three Englishmen in a room and they will invent a rule that prevents a fourth joining them."

"The best comedies of manners are often deceptively simple, seamlessly blending social critique with character and story. In his superbly observed first novel, Julian Fellowes, creator of the Masterpiece sensation Downton Abbey and winner of an Academy Award for his original screenplay of Gosford Park, brings us an insider's look at a contemporary England that is still not as classless as is popularly supposed.

"Edith Lavery, an English blonde with large eyes and nice manners, is the daughter of a moderately successful accountant and his social-climbing wife. While visiting his parents' stately home as a paying guest, Edith meets Charles, the Earl Broughton, and heir to the Marquess of Uckfield, who runs the family estates in East Sussex and Norfolk. To the gossip columns he is one of the most eligible young aristocrats around.

"When he proposes. Edith accepts. But is she really in love with Charles? Or with his title, his position, and all that goes with it?"

Sudden: Law O' The Lariat by Oliver Strange

"The word had filtered out that Sudden was dead—and there was no one around to contradict it. Men who had cringed before, swaggered now; others boasted of their encounters with Sudden, the coward.

"Only one man stayed quiet: a tall, saturnine fellow wearing two guns tied low. When he heard the rumours, he gave a thin smile; and when someone asked him who he was, he said shortly: James Green. James Green — alias Sudden!"

Maigret and the Headless Corpse by Georges Simenon

"Two brothers find a grisly package clinging to the propeller of their barge in the Canal de Saint Martins, and by the time Maigret arrives most of a mysterious corpse has been assembled, except for the head. The search shifts from finding the missing piece to finding a motive, as the Inspector's keen mind assembles clues from the dismembered torse which lead to a trio of suspects. A flash of intuition linking the principal suspect's sordid life to the whereabouts of her victim on his last day alive closes the case but opens Maigret's mind to the reason for the crime."

I have yet to read Julian Fellowes and Georges Simenon.

Secondhand Book Finds: Able Team, Louis L’Amour and Sudden

In my first blog post of 2020, I wrote about my poor reading through most of the previous year. That, however, did not stop me from buying more books, some of which I mentioned in that post. Here are three paperbacks—two westerns and a thriller—that I picked up secondhand in 2019. I was especially pleased with Able Team and Sudden, both of which are rare finds where I live.

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Ironman is the 19th book in the Able Team action-adventure series written under the pseudonyms authors, G.H. Frost and Dick Stivers. The series—a spinoff of Mack Bolan: The Executioner, created by Don Pendleton—was first published in 1982 by Gold Eagle.

I have been collecting Mack Bolan and its spinoffs—Able Team, Phoenix Force and Stony Man— for nearly a decade and own some 25 novels, including a few written by Pendleton himself. These books take me back to my teens, when I used to read James Hadley Chase, Nick Carter and Perry Mason, many of which are still available in secondhand bookshops in Mumbai.

Synopsis: "Able Team's Carl Lyons travels to the cloud-swept Sierra Madre without his partners and without his weapons. But what was supposed to be well-earned R&R turns into a nightmare of conspiracy and terror when a Fascist international surveillance team identifies Lyons as one of the American specialists who wrecked Unomundo's attempt to seize Guatemala two years earlier."

Carl 'Ironman' Lyons is an old Able Team hand. As a bright LAPD detective, Lyons was tasked with bringing Bolan in—dead or alive; that is, till the Executioner saved his life. Later, he is recruited by Hal Brognola who heads a special organised crime task force.

Western fiction is my favourite genre. I think of Westerns as a blend of several others—crime, mystery, suspense, action, romance, politics, war, and even religion. So I had no hesitation in picking up the Bantam edition of Hanging Woman Creek by Louis L'Amour, another author I read widely in my younger days.

Synopsis: "Barnabus Pike is no gunfighter and not much of a street fighter. Eddie Holt is a black boxer in a white man's world. They've both taken their share of hard knocks. Now they're looking to survive a brutal winter in a remote Montana line shack, collect their pay, and settle down for good. Then they cross paths with a hardworking Irish immigrant and his beautiful, spirited sister, who've been burned off their land. It's a fight Pike and Holt don't want, don't need, and don't dare turn their backs on-especially when one of the perpetrators might be one of Pike's old friends. Hunted like animals across the frozen countryside, Pike and Holt will risk everything-including their reputations, their dreams-and their lives."

If you're familiar with my blog, you'll know how much I enjoy reading the Sudden novels. James Green—better known as Sudden, the Texas outlaw— was created by British writer Oliver Strange, who wrote only ten books. Later, English author Frederick Nolan added five more Sudden novels, including Apache Fighter, under the pseudonym Frederick H. Christian. The original Corgi editions are so rare in India that they sell for hundreds, even thousands of rupees.

Synopsis: "There was a reward of five thousand dollars for the man who could bring Barbara Davis out of Apacheria alive. Every outlaw, gunman, and scalphunter in the south-west had drifted in to Tucson, then out into Apache country, lured by the dream of easy gold. The Apaches killed some of them slowly and horribly; but still they came. Governor Bleke knew unless the girl was brought out soon, he would have a full-scale Indian war on his hands. He sent for the one man who might be able to do it. A tall, slow-drawling man who wore his six-guns tied low and looked as if he knew how to use them. A Texas outlaw on the run: SUDDEN!"

I have been reading these books through different phases of my reading life, and I pick them up whenever I find them in secondhand bookshops and book sales.

Confessions of a Book Collector: So Much for Restraint

In the first three months of this year, I bought more books than I did in the whole of 2018. So much for restraint. Any resolve to cut back on book buying quickly disappeared as I walked through book exhibitions and second-hand bookstalls looking for interesting books and comics.

A few titles, including Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, were bought online (I already own his Sapiens and Homo Deus.) I also picked up several guides to better writing, two of which are featured below. And although I ordered Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology for my son, I intend to read it myself at some point.

The highlight of the haul was the discovery of three rare Sudden novels by British author Oliver Strange, including two different Corgi editions of The Range Robbers. The book is the first of ten adventures featuring the Texas outlaw James Green, better known as Sudden for his lightning-fast draw. After Strange's death, English writer Frederick Nolan wrote five more Sudden novels under the pseudonym Frederick H. Christian. They remain my favourite westerns to this day.

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Having explored humanity's past in Sapiens and its future in Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari turns his attention to some of the most pressing questions facing the modern world in 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories shows Agatha Christie at her most versatile, with a mix of mysteries, twists and suspenseful tales featuring both familiar and lesser-known characters. 

In The Wrath of God, Jack Higgins—my favourite writer of all time—combines action, suspense and political intrigue in a gripping tale of revenge set in a troubled South American republic.

The Mating Season is a classic Jeeves and Wooster comedy, filled with Wodehouse's trademark humour, eccentric characters and tangled plots. 

Blind Eagle is one of the many instalments in Don Pendleton's long-running Stony Man series, known for its military action, covert operations and fast-paced storytelling. 

The Wilt Alternative is the second novel in Tom Sharpe's popular Wilt series, known for its sharp satire, eccentric characters and wildly improbable comic situations. 

Captain America: The Secret Story of Marvel's Star-Spangled Super Hero offers a behind-the-scenes look at the character's creators, adventures and cultural significance over the decades. 

 

Norse Mythology is Neil Gaiman's retelling of the classic Norse myths, capturing their humour, wonder, magic and tragedy in his distinctive storytelling style.

Dreyer's English combines writing tips, grammar guidance and editorial wisdom with a generous dose of humour. Drawing on decades of editorial experience, Benjamin Dreyer provides an entertaining and insightful guide to clearer, more effective writing.

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing distils Gary Provost's years of writing and teaching experience into a practical collection of 100 concise tips to help writers communicate more clearly, effectively and confidently. 

The Range Robbers is the first novel in Oliver Strange's Sudden series, introducing James Green, a mysterious drifter better known as Sudden for his lightning-fast draw. Guided by a strong sense of justice, the western hero repeatedly finds himself confronting outlaws, corruption and lawlessness across the American frontier, while making new friends wherever he goes. The book launched a series of 15 adventures, 10 written by Strange and a further five by Frederick Nolan after the author's death.

Book Excerpt: Justice Gone by N. Lombardi Jr

Presented below is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Justice Gone by award-winning author N. Lombardi Jr. Inspired by the fatal beating of a homeless man by police, the novel, published in February 2019, introduces Dr Tessa Thorpe, the central character in a series of psychological thrillers.

Back of the Book
 

“When a homeless war veteran is beaten to death by the police, stormy protests ensue, engulfing a small New Jersey town. Soon after, three cops are gunned down. A multi-state manhunt is underway for a cop killer on the loose. And Dr. Tessa Thorpe, a veteran's counselor, is caught up in the chase.

“Donald Darfield, an African-American Iraqi war vet, war-time buddy of the beaten man, and one of Tessa's patients, is holed up in a mountain cabin. Tessa, acting on instinct, sets off to find him, but the swarm of law enforcement officers gets there first, leading to Darfield's dramatic capture.

“Now, the only people separating him from the lethal needle of state justice are Tessa and ageing blind lawyer, Nathaniel Bodine. Can they untangle the web tightening around Darfield in time, when the press and the justice system are baying for revenge?”

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Excerpt from Justice Gone

Bruntfield, New Jersey, just another banal town in a part of the country that nobody thinks about, was about to become famous; or rather, more aptly put, infamous. People sauntered past lackluster shops unaware that in a few days, the lackadaisical streets would bear the rabid frustrations that divided the nation; a pus-like bitterness that was held in check by the demands of everyday survival and the distractions offered by obsessive consumerism and brazen media would inevitably blame the cascade of events on the weather, since the origins could be found on a hot summer day in 2006. Sure, just about all summer days are hot, but this one was close to the record, and humid to boot. By the end of July, the Northeast coast was suffering under a sweltering heat wave. Despite the humidity, no one could remember the last time it had rained. A hundred-year drought was predicted, they'd said.

Bruntfield, among the many places under this curse, had its water supply so severely depressed that the city authorities were forced to impose water rationing. As if that wasn't enough, the excessive load on air conditioners led to incessant brownouts. With the weather nothing less than insufferable, suffocating, oppressive, even provoking, tempers flared along with the temperature. But the local situation, as bad as it was, was about to get worse.

In the heart of this small town, just a block up from the bus depot, sat Sliders, a rather successful drinking establishment catering to young adults, and noted for its ecstasy-fueled rave parties. At four in the afternoon, the owner, Joe Poppet, a burly man with a thick red beard and a well-developed beer belly, was staring out the large glass facade of his bar.

"Screw this heat, man."

Joe was sweating because he didn't want to turn on the air-conditioning; as a rule, he didn't put it on until a half hour before opening. He possessed a rather cynical personality, considering himself continually persecuted by life's little aggravations. Now it was the heat ramping up his electricity bill; soon it would be the freezing temperatures inflating his heating bill…always something. His worries constantly exceeded his hopes. He was sort of a "glass-half-empty" man.

Rudy Glum, the shaven-headed bartender, was an easygoing optimist, a "glass-half-full" kind of guy. He was whistling as he washed the glasses in the sink behind the bar. "Tell me about it," he chuckled. "I hear ya, buddy."

But Rudy's sanguinity did not rub off on Joe. "There's that guy again."

"What guy?"

"That fucking guy we saw yesterday."

"Oh, yeah, he's probably from the bus depot. Lotta homeless hang out there."

Joe continued to stare out the glass facade, feeling helpless. "For Chrissakes, why can't the city do something and get rid of those bastards. They're a fucking eyesore…it's bad for business. Probably got diseases too."

Rudy finished drying the glass in his hand and hung it up on the beer mug rack. "Yeah, it's a goddamn shame," he said noncommittally, trying to get these glasses done before the evening crowd surged in.

"He doesn't have a shirt on."

"Yeah, well it's hot, ain't it? Wish I could take mine off."

"And we're opening in an hour. Ladies Night tonight."

Rudy said nothing while reaching for another glass from the sink behind the bar.

"Call the cops."

The bartender froze with the glass still in his hand. "And tell them what?"

"I don't know, tell 'em there's someone suspicious hanging out on the corner…trying to break into cars or something. That way they'll come fast."

Reluctantly, Rudy put down his dishrag, picked up the phone, and dialed 911, not feeling good about it at all.


Patrolman Rafael Puente might well be considered an unattractive man. A pencil-thin mustache above diminutive lips made insignificant by his large inflated face, gave his head the appearance of a balloon with a cartoon countenance. His acnescarred skin oozed sweat as he studied the thin disheveled man, shirtless with unkempt hair and a scraggly beard, standing three feet in front of him. "You were trying door handles on cars, eh?"

The man's body wavered, but his gaze was focused hard on Puente's eyes. Then his own eyes darted left and right, revealing his vacillation on how to handle this situation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Puente began playing with his baton, twirling it down, and then back up smack into his palm. Rotating it down, rotating it up, like a long yo-yo…like the tail of an agitated cat ready to pounce. "Give me a language…tell me a language you speak in."

"Like what?"

Puente's tone rose in hostility. "Tell me a language you speak in."

"I don't know. What do you want to know?"

The humidity was so dense it felt like a sponge rubbing against their skins; so thick you could almost take a bite out of it and chew it.

"I want to know what kinda language you speak."

"I don't know."

"Yeah, well, what do you know?"

"I don't know."

"My partner, he speaks ten languages. Right, Foxy?"

Patrolman John Fox, a clean shaven, waspish-looking man standing to his right, smiled a mouthful of nice bright teeth.

"Yeah, that's right. I can speak Mongolian, Cambodian…" Fox came closer, boxing in the man they were questioning.

"He don't speak English," Puente told his partner.

"You don't?" Fox asked the homeless man.

The figure in front of them became fidgety. "What do you think I speak?"

Fox put his hands on his hips. "I don't know, you tell us. You're speaking English right now, aren't ya?"

Puente interrupted. "You know, it seems I see you all the time, and all the time I gotta say something to you. Do you enjoy that?"

"Oh yeah, I love bumping into you all the time."

"Really?"

The bearded man looked to his left and right, looking for an escape route while at the same time desperately trying to tell himself that these guys were just American cops and not the enemy in Iraq. He was trembling with the effort. "So, what do you guys wanna know?"

Puente's baton was still twirling with a pent-up belligerence. "I asked you already."

"I don't know what…"

"You trying to open car doors?"

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about."

"What does that mean, is that a yes or a no?"

"I don't know, don't know what you're hassling me for, man."

"You got any ID on you?"

"No. I don't need any."

"You don't need any?" Fox voiced with a rising tone of contempt.

"No, I don't drive, I don't vote, no credit card, and I don't use my passport anymore."

"So what's your name?" Puente asked.

"Felson. Jay Felson."

"What's your first name?"

"I just fucking told you, man. Jay."

"'J' is an initial. Tell me your full name."

"Jay, J-A-Y, Felson."

Puente, his question answered, went off on a new tack. "You know, I can take you to jail right now…loitering, suspicion of burglary."

"You don't have anything better to do?"

"What's in your knapsack?" Fox interjected.

"Why? You wanna search it?

"If you don't mind."

The bearded man swung his bag off his shoulders and handed it over. "Knock yourself out."

"Sit down," Puente abruptly ordered.

"Sit down where?"

"On the ground."

This was getting hard. Just cops, he reminded himself, but he suspected something worse.

"I said sit down."

"Where man?"

"Where you're standing, on the ground."

Felson plopped down on the concrete pavement.

"Put your legs out in front of you. Stretch them out."

Just do it. He did so, his arms at his sides supporting him.

"Put your hands on your knees."

No, this is a mind fuck, man. He ignored the command.

"I said put your hands on your knees."

Realizing he didn't have much choice, Jay drew his legs up first, then put his hands on his knees.

"Stretch your legs out."

He removed his hands from his knees and stretched out his legs.

"Put your fucking hands on your knees."

"What the fuck you want me to do. I can't do both."

"Give it a try, lean forward and put your hands on your knees."

Fox was going through the items found in the knapsack. "Got some letters here. They ain't addressed to Jay Felson…let's see, Casey Hull, Donald Darfield… You stealing other people's letters, boy."

"I'm gonna mail them."

"They already got stamps on them," Fox noted. "How come you haven't mailed them yet? You know, just slip them into a mailbox. There's one right over there on the corner."

Puente was still toying with his baton. "Let's take him in on a 4-96." Four-ninety-six was police code for handling stolen property.

Jay Felson, feeling an ache in his lower back, removed his hands from his knees, once again placing his arms in back of him to support himself.

"Hey, what the fuck I tell ya! Hands on knees!"

This time Felson was not eager to comply. He remained motionless in silent defiance.

Puente then reached into his back pocket and slowly, deliberately, put on a pair of latex gloves. He thrust one glove-laden fist in front of Felson's face. "See these fists?'

"Yeah, what about 'em?"

"They're getting ready to fuck you up."

"That just sucks."

"Put your legs out, put your hands on your knees"

"Hey, I'm sick of playing games, which one is it!"

Puente slapped him in the head.

"Hey, wouldya just fucking…"

"Put your hands on your knees!" he yelled, giving Felson another slap.

"Wouldya just fucking…"

Fox got on his handheld radio. "Code three, four-fifteen, bus depot corner Fifth and Clemston." (Code three, urgent, proceed with lights and siren; four-fifteen, disturbance.)

Puente slapped Felson's head a third time. Felson stood up, tired of being hit while on the ground.

Puente raised his baton.

Felson put his hands in front of him to display supplication.

"Hey, hey all right!"

"Get on the ground, get on the ground now!" Fox screamed. Both officers began to hit Felson on his legs and side with their batons, and he did what came instinctively-he ran.

"Take him down, take him down!" Puente yelled.

They grabbed him, got him down on the pavement, pressing his face against the concrete, and the real beating began.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, sorry, man."

"Put your hands behind your back," the two cops shouted, twisting his arms.

"Okay, I'm sorry…I can't breathe…"

The two cops were on top, Puente with a knee in Felson's back and Fox kicking him. "Stop resisting," they both yelled in turns.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

A second patrol car pulled up with sirens blaring and flashers blazing. Two more officers sprang from the car and piled on. One of the new guys, Victor Fratollini, tasered Felson, zzzzt, and Fox began walloping him over the head with his stun gun. Another unit pulled up. Two more cops, two more assailants, and seeing Fratollini smashing the homeless man's cheekbones with his elbow, joined in the fracas.

Zzzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt they tasered him again and again.

"Dad, Dad, help me!"

More tasering, six times now.

"Help me, Dad! I can't breathe, I can't…Dad…"

Someone pounded Felson's head into the pavement.

"Dad help me!"

A pool of blood formed beneath him. The six police officers relentlessly pummeled him, the scene resembling a feeding frenzy of enraged carnivores…until Felson was no longer able to call for his father.

© Reproduced with the written permission of N. Lombardi Jr and John Hunt Publishing
(Roundfire Books)

 

About the Author

N. Lombardi Jr (N for Nicholas) has spent over half his life in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, working as a groundwater geologist.

In 1997, while visiting Lao People's Democratic Republic, he witnessed the remnants of a secret war that had been waged for nine years, among which were children wounded from leftover cluster bombs. Driven by what he saw, he worked on The Plain of Jars for the next eight years. Nick maintains a website with content that spans most aspects of the novel: The Secret War, Laotian culture, Buddhism etc.

His second novel, Journey Towards a Falling Sun, is set in the wild frontier of northern Kenya.

Nick lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. You can read more about him and his work at Goodreads.

So many books, so little time: Looking forward to The White Nile

When it comes to reading, I don't make New Year's resolutions, though every year I mentally tell myself I'll buy fewer books, and read more of the ones I already have. Last year, I kept half my promise. I bought just about a dozen secondhand books but read so few that there was hardly any point writing about them.

This year, somewhat surprisingly, things have gone the other way.

Less than two weeks into 2019, I had already added four "new" books to my groaning TBR shelves and, happily, read an equal number. My aim is to finish at least seven books and novellas a month, along with as many short stories and poems as I can manage. Time, however, is not on my side, so I'll be reviewing only a select few each month.

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Of the four books I picked up at the Books by Weight exhibition, the one I'm eager to read is my Penguin edition of The White Nile, 1960, by Alan Moorehead, the Australian-born war correspondent and writer of popular history. 

I've been curious about this book for quite some time. It chronicles the exploration of the Nile in the second half of the nineteenth century, when much of central Africa remained unknown to Europeans and the river's source was still one of geography's great mysteries.

Part travel narrative, part history, The White Nile has earned a reputation as a classic account of adventure and discovery. Its blend of historical detail, larger-than-life personalities, and dramatic expeditions has kept it in print for more than six decades. 

Separately, my wife picked up three books—Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen as a replacement copy, Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton, and The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit.

I also bought a few ebooks, but that's a guilt trip for another day.

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut and other books

I bought no more than a dozen secondhand books this year. I’m pretty sure of that. Let me see—a few westerns, thrillers and spy fiction, some Lee Child, P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Enid Blyton and Kurt Vonnegut. Yes, that’s about it. I haven’t read any of the books yet.

© Prashant C. Trikannad

I also ordered some nonfiction from Amazon. They're all there in the picture on the left. I haven't read those either. Although I have been dipping into the books on writing, I don't read them from cover to cover.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Separately, I also picked up Khushwant Singh’s autobiography Truth, Love & A Little Malice (2002). Singh was a diplomat, journalist, columnist, parliamentarian and author. He was also one of India's most entertaining storytellers. I enjoyed his clear, straightforward style. The book itself had a troubled publication history and was delayed for several years because of a court case.

I also added a handful of comic-books to my collection as well. These included two graphic adaptations from the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter, the shared pen name of several children's writers. I also downloaded a few titles offered during Amazon's Free Comic Book Day promotion. Most of my comics reading happens during the daily commute.

Of the fiction books, I plan to start with Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake. It's presented as a novel, though from what I've gathered it's part-fiction, part-autobiography and part-reflection on writing and life. Vonnegut himself described it as a "stew" and his last novel.

The central idea is an intriguing one. A glitch in time forces everyone to relive ten years of their lives exactly as before, unable to change a single decision or action. Vonnegut uses that premise as a starting point, but the book seems to wander freely into memories, observations and stories about family, aging and the business of being a writer.

We'll see how it goes. 

Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favourite writers. I like his writing so much that I'm often tempted to imitate his style. His sentences were short, simple and almost staccato. He had a knack for saying a lot with very little. Add to that a wry sense of humour, and it's easy to see why I keep returning to his books.

Boot Hill: An Anthology of the West by Robert J. Randisi

"They died with their boots on."

© Forge Books

Boot Hill: An Anthology of the West (2002), edited by American author and anthologist Robert J. Randisi, is a remarkable and delectable collection of original short stories by some of the finest Western authors. Of the 15 stories only The Naked Gun by John Jakes (1967) is a reprint.

I borrowed the 351-page digital book from Archive.org and I have a fortnight to read all the stories before it probably vanishes automatically. I'm sure there's a waiting list. The stories revolve around Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas, the final resting place of some of the wildest and bizarre characters that rode the American West—“from the coffin-maker with a death wish to the drunken cowboy haunted by one night of greed and violence, to the vigilante piano man and the tough-talking soiled dove.”

So far I have read only Randisi’s pithy introductions of all the writers and his own enjoyable and rather humourous short story, The Gravediggers, where the eponymous Gravedigger welcomes the reader to Boot Hill and, in characteristic Old West lingo, talks about the history of the place, the “dead folks” and their stories (“if’n they could tell ’em that is”), the backbreaking work of digging graves, the bare wooden headstones (“with some writin’ on it”)...

The Gravediggers sets the tone for the remaining stories that I look forward to reading over the next few days. Meanwhile, here is the cast of authors in order of appearance.

01. The Gravediggers by Robert J. Randisi
02. The Naked Gun by John Jakes
03. The Ghost of Abel Hawthorne by Elmer Kelton
04. Sinners by Wendi Lee
05. The Guns of Dusty Logan by James Reasoner
06. Hard Ground by L.J. Washburn
07. The Comfortable Coffin of Miz Utopia Jones Clay by Tom Piccirilli
08. Anonymous by Randy Lee Eickhoff
09. The Last Ride of the Colton Gang by John Helfers and Kerrie Hughes
10. The Sellers by Troy D. Smith
11. The Piano Man by Robert Vaughan
12. Dead Weight by Richard S. Wheeler
13. A Disgrace to the Badge by Ed Gorman
14. Planting Lizzie Palmer by Marthayn Pelegrimas
15. A Damned Nuisance by Marcus Galloway

A Western anthology can’t get better than this.


Note: Writer-blogger Patti Abbott is hosting Friday's Forgotten Books over at her eclectic blog Pattinase, where you can read some fine reviews of forgotten or overlooked books.

Blaze! Red Rock Rampage by Ben Boulden, 2017

Review & Interview

“I have no predilection about dropping you where you stand,” J.D. said. “Put the man down, gently as you would your breakfast egg, then raise your hands as high as God allows.”

© Rough Edges Press

I picked up Red Rock Rampage—No.15 in the Blaze! Adult Western Series—for three reasons. One, it's written by writer-blogger Ben Boulden whose reviews I read with much interest. Two, it's a western and packed with action, romance, and adventure. And three, it recounts the daring exploits of a husband-and-wife team of gunfighters I’d never heard of.

Red Rock Rampage is a fine debut by Ben. I read the book in three sittings, which I seldom do now. And I look forward to read more in the series, both by him and other writers.

A few pages into the book and I found myself riding at a distance behind bounty hunters J.D. and his beautiful wife Kate on their journey to Small Basin. Utah. The couple is on the trail of a gang of robbers who have been holding up trains in Arizona. They have been hired by a railway company whose northern route has been the target of the marauders.

If J.D. and Kate thought it would be a simple case of track and nab, they were mistaken. Small Basin turns out to be as hostile as an inhospitable desert under a ruthless sun. The settlement and the surrounding area are ruled by a renegade Mormon patriarch called Levi Skousen and his hired gunmen, and crooked Sheriff Allred who wants them to keep riding. The town is inhabited by a bunch of unfriendly polygamists and dirt farmers.

But our bounty hunters have no plans to vamoose now that they have tracked down their prey. And that’s when their troubles begin.

Skousen has kidnapped two young girls with the intention of adding them to his harem of twenty wives. One of the girls belongs to a poor Mexican settlement, the other has a thing for the outlaw’s estranged son. Suddenly, J.D. and Kate are forced to alter their plan and rescue the damsels with help from a priest who can shoot.

Red Rock Rampage, published by Rough Edges Press, is 115 pages of twists and turns, surprises and ambushes, and humour and excitement all the way. It’s a realistic portrayal of the Old West’s only husband-and-wife gunfighters whose derring-do and skill with guns does not hide their vulnerability. They find themselves in a tight corner more than once. When J.D. is caught and beaten up badly, Kate knows what she must do. The woman’s got guts. At one point I found myself thinking, “Come on, you should’ve seen it coming.” That they don’t adds to the reality of the plot, the descriptions, and the well-drawn characters.

I liked the book a lot, as much for Ben Boulden’s narrative style and relentless pace as for J.D. and Kate’s passion for each other and for adventure. They share a telepathic bond from the beginning. It lent a nice touch to this unusual western tale.

Recommended.

'I genuinely enjoy telling myself stories'

Photo by Kara Boulden

Ben Boulden, a trained accountant by profession, writes a column and regularly reviews mystery, crime, and thrillers for Mystery Scene Magazine. His essays, ‘Reading Ed Gorman’ and ‘Easy to Read: A Story of Rick Ollerman’ have been published in the Stark House Press editions of The Autumn Dead/The Night Remembers by Ed Gorman and Truth Always Kills by Rick Ollerman, respectively. He also regularly reviews books and interviews authors at his blog Gravetapping. Ben lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife and daughter.

He spoke to the 3Cs about his debut novel in an email interview, which is split into three parts: the book, the characters and setting, and the author.

THE BOOK

Ben, why did you choose to make your writing debut with the Blaze! Adult Western Series? Why not a standalone western?
A really good question. A year ago I was interviewing Stephen Mertz, creator of Blaze!, for my blog Gravetapping and when everything was complete—questions asked and answered, formatted and posted—Steve asked if I would like to try writing a Blaze! novel. No guarantee of publication, but I unhesitatingly said, “Yes” and everything worked out. Pure blind luck aided by the kindness of Steve Mertz.

What made you pick the title Red Rock Rampage? How did you hit upon the idea?
The title was the last thing I came up with. The story was mostly complete, still lovingly titled “Untitled Blaze”, when Red Rock Rampage sprang into my head. It fit the setting, the painted rock badlands of Southern Utah, and the genre; rampaging desperados, outlaws. I especially liked the smooth alliteration.

The idea for the story arrived in a hurry. I knew I wanted it in Utah, where I’ve lived most of my life, and I narrowed it down to Southern Utah because of the beautiful, desolate setting. It was, and probably still is, wilder than Northern Utah; fewer people and less law. And, of course, it was and still is a hotbed of plural marriage. So

I took what I knew about the setting—it is called Utah’s Dixie because someone in Salt Lake City decided its arid landscape was perfect for growing cotton. It wasn’t. There was either too little water, or too much water (in the form of flash floods) and as far as I know there was never a successful crop. So I created a villain who, not satisfied with his failure as a cotton grower, found other means to gain wealth. The rest of the story bloomed from there.

You are more than familiar with western fiction. And yet, did you have to do any research for your book?
I  did some research for RRR. Mostly about the early Mormon pioneers sent from Salt Lake City to the Southwestern corner of current day Utah to grow cotton. My wife and I lived in a small college town in the area several years ago while I studied for my master’s degree and that, mixed with many trips to Canyonlands National Park (in Southeastern Utah) as a child with my parents, gave me a grasp to imagine the setting.

Were you influenced by other western fiction authors while writing Red Rock Rampage?
I don’t think it shows, but my major influence was Ed Gorman’s work. The way he develops characters, especially women, in his Western novels amazes me. Gentle, intelligent, long suffering, horny, angry, and everything else that makes a person a person.

I also followed two pieces of advice that came to me second hand, both heavily paraphrased. Ed Gorman wrote, on more than one occasion, that he owed his career to Max Allan Collins who told him to write a novel like every chapter was a short story to keep from becoming overwhelmed. And Stephen Mertz told me that Don Pendleton always said you should write, no matter what you’re writing, like it is a serious and important work.

In spite of consistent action, the narrative has an even and unhurried pace. Did you plan it that way or did it flow as you wrote?
I wanted the narrative to have a nice fluid pace, but to say I planned it from scene-to-scene (beyond hoping it worked) wouldn’t be accurate. Although I worked heavily to keep it tight and unhurried throughout the writing and then rewriting processes. I’m glad it worked. And I’m glad you told me since I still have doubts about it late at night.

Is there any part of the story or character that you wish you’d written differently?
Maybe  one. A gunny named Jackson Rockwell, who was originally intended to be the fictional brother of the Mormon gunfighter Orrin Porter Rockwell, who, as the story developed took a smaller role than I originally planned. I think the story would have benefited from developing JR’s character more as I had originally intended. Instead he became more of a stock villain with a mean streak and a desire to make his name by gunning down J.D.

CHARACTERS & SETTING
 
Both J.D. and Kate are very likeable and, in a certain way, vulnerable too. What were your thoughts as you wrote about the husband-wife gunfighters?
J.D. and Kate were the best part of writing Red Rock Rampage. I fell in a kind of literary puppy-love with Kate. Tough, smart, kind, beautiful. And I genuinely liked J.D. Although, based on the beatings I put J.D. through there may have been some jealousy at work (I hope I’m kidding). I liked the give and take between the two, and my favorite scenes are where both are present.

I couldn’t help noticing that Kate and J.D. seem to have the perfect marriage, which I felt was a great selling point. Of course, I’m basing my opinion on just this one Blaze! novel. Is that how they are in the rest of the series?
It is, I think. I’ve only read a couple of the other books in the series. I’m actually reading Stephen Mertz’s The Christmas Journey right now. But J.D. and Kate have something of a dream relationship. They have their moments, mostly when J.D. is, or isn’t, doing something Kate feels strongly about. Steve really deserves some kudos for creating this pair.

Kate is brave and determined, and more than capable of taking care of herself. I, for one, thought she stole the show. Would that be a fair assessment?
Very  fair assessment. Kate’s character really spoke to me. As I was writing the story her role, both as the ethical guide and tough as nails get things done kind of person, developed beyond what I had originally intended. In a sense, RRR is more her novel than J.D.’s.

How did you come to create Brother Skousen as the evil and lustful Mormon patriarch who terrorises young women?
He was the first villain I created for the story. In a sense, and I don’t mean this to be demeaning or derogatory to early-Mormon history, he is a composite character of the stereotypical Mormon leader. Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, etc. who practiced polygamy for a stated reason—to take care of the older women without a man (Sister Mary in the story)—but actually seemed to have an abundance of attractive 17 year old wives who, I’m sure, had a line of young male suitors. But, Skousen is a true scoundrel and many of the early Mormon leaders did some amazing things, like create the infrastructure for the American West to be settled and develop the way it did.

How easy or difficult was it to capture the descriptions of the settlement of Small Basin, Utah, and the surrounding area?
It was really fun and fairly easy. It all came out of my imagination based on my experiences in the Southern Utah landscape. The canyons with painted rock, red dirt, the Fremont Indian ruins, many still awaiting discovery, all captured my imagination as a boy and it still does today. I hope I was able to describe the wonder of the place, even a little.

THE AUTHOR
 
Ben, can you briefly take us through your journey as a writer and an author?
I've been writing fiction since my early teens and over the past six or seven years I gave up the idea of seriously pursuing publication. I had a few very small successes placing short stories in tiny literary magazines (circulation less than ten, probably) in the early-2000s, but my writing plateaued. Each story had the same flaws as the one before. Not developed quite right, out of sync narrative, underdeveloped characters, etc.

So I started reviewing novels and short stories, first for a website, then my own blog and finally for Mystery Scene Magazine, to see if critically reading the work of successful writers would help my own writing. And it did, but not exactly the way I expected. I learned a bunch about structure, and even more about style, but the knowledge was still a little hazy. Then I started writing individual scenes, not for publication, but rather for my own amusement, about anything that caught my fancy. A mother mourning a child, a firefight, cowboys finding a flashlight. This more than anything improved my fiction writing, but I was still an unbeliever.

Then, an amazing thing happened, which I talked about in a question above, Stephen Mertz—creator of Blaze!—asked if I would be interested in writing a Blaze! novel. And I did. And Rough Edges Press published it. My writing life, I hesitate to call it a career, has been one filled with mostly work and a few lucky breaks. The first was Ed Gorman’s unflagging support of my critical writing and his help getting me a chance to write for Mystery Scene and then Steve Mertz’s simple question. I owe them both more than I can say.

How would you describe the experience of writing, and especially writing a book?
Hard, but satisfying. I genuinely enjoy telling myself stories, but the daily grind of working all day, then coming home and writing is difficult. The self-doubt is hard, too. Never knowing if something is good, or even readable, as I write and rewrite. But as satisfying as anything I’ve ever done when I type “the end” after the last paragraph. And then as I started revisions, actually enjoying the story.

Where, when, and how often do you write?
I have a weekly goal of 2,500 to 3,000 words. I often don’t make it, but I try. I have a tiny office in the house, cold in the winter and hot in the summer, where I do part of my writing. I also write at the kitchen table, which is where I am now. I travel some for work, and I write in hotel rooms at night when I’m away.

I may write for fifteen minutes or two or three hours, depending on my schedule. On weekends I write in the morning, and during the week I write in the evening. It all depends, but it would be nice if I could find a rhythm with a defined schedule. 5–7 AM, or something. I think it would increase my productivity, but I haven’t been able to make it happen yet.

How long did it take you to write Red Rock Rampage? Can you take us through the process from the time you conceived of the story idea?
I started planning the story—doing a little research—and basically stalling the actual writing in mid-April, 2016 and I turned the final draft into the editor the first week of August. So, from that first idea to the finished product was about 3-1/2 months. The first few chapters went like wildfire and there were a few spots in the story where I found myself lost in those murky middle portions. I knew where I wanted to go, but my map disappeared. When that happened I stopped writing for a few days, once for nearly a week, and thought about the story, what made sense, what J.D. and Kate would be inclined to do. And I always figured a way forward. And it always felt natural to me. Something that much of my earlier writing didn’t have.

What can your readers expect after your brilliant debut—more in the Blaze! series or something else, perhaps?
I’m working, rather slowly, on another Blaze! novel now. It’s been slow for a few reasons. My work schedule has been unusual the last few months and I have been able to gain a rhythm on the story. But I like the story, and I’m hoping to have it finished in a few months. I just finished a hardboiled crime short story that I like a bunch. I’m not sure what is going to happen with it, but it felt great writing “the end” a few nights ago.

Once I finish my next Blaze! novel I may try something of my own. I have a few ideas percolating, mostly western and crime. We’ll see. But I’m excited that things are looking bright (in a very small way) for me.

Who are some of your favourite genre authors? Which books have influenced your writing?
I’ve already mentioned Ed Gorman. He is probably one of the most underrated writers of his generation. His works tends to be dark, which may be a reason it hasn’t caught on like I think it should, but he is well worth reading. Especially is mystery and western fiction.

Ron Faust is another favorite. No one writes better, more meaningful, or even beautiful prose than Faust did. He didn’t write enough, only 15 novels over four decades, but if you ever find anything with his name on its cover, buy it, steal it, or do whatever you have to do to get it home.

What were your thoughts when you first held Red Rock Rampage in your hand?
Woohoo! Then disbelief. Then woohoo! Then, man, I hope a few people like it.

Finally, Ben, what is your advice to people like me who aspire to publish someday?
Keep at it. I had given up, writing snippets of fiction here and there for my own amusement, but an amazing thing happened. I wrote a book, it was published. And I’m nothing special. Maybe lucky, but not special. So keep writing and something will come.

Thank you, Ben.