So you love Crime Fiction?

I do. Well, I guess I do. I never knew there were so many kinds of "crime" books out there. I recently learned about "Hardboiled" crime fiction. Wiki states that "The name comes from a colloquial phrase of understatement. For an egg, to be hardboiled is to be comparatively tough. The hardboiled detective—originated by Daly's Terry Mack and Race Williams and epitomized by Hammett's Sam Spade and Chandler's Philip Marlowe—not only solves mysteries, like his "softer" counterparts, he (and often these days, she) confronts danger and engages in violence on a regular basis."

Hmmm.

I have a Squidoo lens (http://www.squidoo.com/AdrianMcKintyandLeeChild)that features 2 authors with "hardboiled" characters. I find myself recommending the books by Adrian McKinty and Lee Child over and over. I absolutely find their two creations, Michael Forsythe and Jack Reacher, fascinating.

McKinty's series about Michael Forsythe has only three titles (so far), and all are great reads. Begin with Dead I Well May Be. It can be quite violent and unsettling at times, but do not give up. What Michael goes thru is very relevant to why he becomes so "hardboiled".

Jack Reacher is also green around the yolk. Begin reading this series with Killing Floor. It may not answer all the reasons about why Reacher is so tough, but it gives you an inkling. I actually read Echo Burning first. That book got me hooked and I was ecstatic to discover that there were lots of titles in this series. I recently completed the 12th of these novels. I was somewhat disappointed in the book as a whole, but not with the series and Reacher. See my review of Nothing to Lose at (http://www.squidoo.com/nothing_to_lose).

Give these two Hardboiled Authors a looksee.

Reviews (Mine and Others) of L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker AUDIO VERSION

Just finished listening to L.A.Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. It was not the best story I have listened to, but I couldn't wait to get back in the car to follow the adventures of Alison Murietta.

My husband and I kept getting so angry at Suzanne (main female character) and her cop lover. Man, she could make some incredibly stupid choices - stupid to us, that is. The book is read by two people, a man and woman, so listening to the audio was a lot like listening to a radio drama. The reading was extremely well done. I found out in my research that this reading duo is a husband and wife team. They are fantastic!

Here is the plot summary as provided by the publisher on my library's website:

Los Angeles is gripped by the exploding celebrity of Allison Murietta, her real identity unknown, a modern-day Jesse James with the compulsion to steal beautiful things, the vanity to invite the media along, and the conscience to donate much of her bounty to charity. Nobody ever gets hurt - until a job ends with ten gangsters lying dead and a half-million dollars worth of glittering diamonds missing.

Rookie Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies, and he prevents an eyewitness - a schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones - from leaving the scene in her Corvette. Drawn to a mysterious charisma that has him off-balance from the beginning, Hood begins an intense affair with Suzanne. As the media frenzy surrounding Allison's exploits swells to a fever pitch and the Southland's most notorious killer sets out after her, a glimmer of recognition blooms in Hood, forcing him to choose between a deeply held sense of honor and a passion that threatens to consume him completely. With a stone-cold killer locked in relentless pursuit, Suzanne and Hood continue their desperate dance around the secrets that brought them together, unsure whether each new dawn may signal the day their lies catch up with them.

AudioFile Magazine Review

An L.A. Sheriff's deputy with an overburdened conscience falls in love with the witness of a gangland shootout who may be leading a double life as a masked outlaw. This unlikely scenario is made both believable and compelling in the fifteenth novel from T. Jefferson Parker. The reading, performed by real-life husband-and-wife team Susan Ericksen and David Colacci, is performed with sensitivity. As chapters switch between Suzanne's perspective and that of a third-person narrator, Ericksen and Colacci alternate as readers, with the other providing dialogue parts for the opposite sex. Both pairs--Ericksen and Colacci as well as the two lead characters--blend perfectly in this taut thriller about love, greed, and redemption. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine .

I downloaded this audio book from my library. If one only has an iPod or iPhone, you will need to purchase the download or the cds from a store.

I give this audio book my seal of approval. Check it out or purchase it for your summer vacation.

Be sure to check out my other review of this audio book on Squidoo.