I'm a few days off from my usual posting date this month. I've tried to add a new chapter on or about the 21st of each month, but I have a good explanation for being a bit late. As you check through this month's books, you'll see what it is.
Miscellaneous
The Pale Blue Eye - Louis Bayard ($14.95/$1.00, copyright 2006, 413 pages, Trade Paperback)Here we start with a retired NYC police investigator, August Landor, living in a small cottage in upstate New York. He is called in to help solve the death of a cadet at West Point in October of 1830. Since he’s a civilian and limited to where he can go and who he can speak to, he requests the assistance of one of the cadets themselves - Edgar Allen Poe. The chapters are listed as Narratives of Gus Landor with several reports by Poe mixed in, and Bayard does a great job of evoking the time and place, and giving each character a distinctive voice. Another murder takes place, suspects abound, and there is a very unexpected twist at the end. It took me longer to read this particular book because, almost halfway through, I realized that Bayard had laced references to Poe’s works throughout the novel - a bust of Pallas, a reference to the beating of a heart possibly being heard by someone, etc. (sort of like Easter eggs in a video game). I had to go back and make sure that I pick up as many as possible. I enjoyed it.
Inherit the Wind - Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee ($9.95/$.25, copyright [unpublished] 1951, 129 pages, Paperback)
I came across this at a library sale in Rahway and was immediately psyched. I loved the movie with Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, Gene Kelly, and Dick York. I even liked the TV version with Jason Robards, Kirk Douglas, Darren McGavin, and Kyle Secor. This is a fictionalized version of the Scope Trial, pitting Creationists against evolution, Bryant against Darrow. It may have a slightly dated quality to it but - looking around at the current political environment - it’s still pertinent today. I don't really think there's a need to go into what happens as I imagine that you all have seen this in one form or another. I enjoyed it.
Series
Comeback - Richard Stark ($12.00/$1.00, copyright 1997, 292 pages, Trade Paperback)A month or two ago I read and reviewed a Jack Reacher book because Tom Cruise had a movie come out based on the character. I liked the book but not the portrayal, largely because Cruise didn’t fit the physicality. Recently, Jason Statham starred in the movie “Parker” , based on the character by Richard Stark and I decided to read one of these books to see how close the performance might be. Richard Stark is a pseudonym for Donald Westlake, a writer known for his comic take on crime novels. As Stark - perhaps an indication of what he intends - he strips away the comic and gives us a series based on the no-frills exploits of a professional thief. This one is centered on the theft of the take from one of those bible-thumper, arena gatherings. The theft, however, is almost incidental. What happens is the after effects - a double-cross, cops, the bible-thumper and his security people, another crew, etc. They all interact before there's a resolution. Parker is a no-nonsense kinda guy. He doesn't talk much but he knows what needs to be done, and he does it. Statham is an excellent choice to portray him. I enjoyed it.
Faded Coat of Blue - Owen Parry ($6.99/$4.72, copyright 1999, 337 pages, Paperback)
I wrote about another of Parry’s Abel Jones novels last month. I was so impressed by it that I went looking for the first book in the series and found it at a used book store on Inman Avenue in Colonia. In this one, Jones is a Captain in the Union Army working as a clerk in the War Department in Washington. General McClellan himself brings Jones in to investigate the murder of another army officer who happens to have been an avid abolitionist. About a third of the way through, Jones reminisces on his past and we learn how this Welshman’s life has brought him to America and our Civil War; about his background in the English army; about his wife; and how he wound up with a damaged leg. Parry does a masterful job of detailing how life was in Washington in 1861 -
specifically how the poor lived, how the way the Irish were treated, and the corruption rampant among the officers and suppliers. (One thing I forgot to mention last month is that these books are written in the first person, and Parry has an amazing ear for dialect, giving Jones a very unique Welsh voice). There are twists, turns, and some fascinating characters. I enjoyed it.
So, let's recap. All 4 books this month deal with a crime. 3 take place in the past. 2 have the word "Blue" in their title. And 1 is a play rather then a novel.
That's it for February and, hopefully, winter. Spring is on the way. Talk to you next month and...
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