Hot off the Book Presses!

I just finished I'd Know You Anywhere: A Novel by Laura Lippman! It reinforces my opinion of Ms. Lippman as being one of the best novelists in the USA! She writes with such ease; I truly believe that she is every bit as good as Anne Tyler. There must be something in the water in Maryland!

I'd know you anywhere is a haunting story that is masterfully and naturally layered. Eliza has a past that is not so "American Dreamy"; she was kidnapped and a witness to a murder during her pre-teen years. Lippman connects Eliza with all those involved with this tragedy with a fine crochet hook. I wish I could think of a better analogy--one that involves pop music, but I cannot. Crochet links strands of yarn without actually meshing them. Each story follows its own line and crosses the others--leading to one finished item.

Lee Child also has a new book, Worth Dying For that I just picked up from the library. I won't tell you what it is about (it is related to the last Reacher novel), but just know that it is set in Kansas. I have enjoyed all of Lee Child's novels in the past and I am looking forward to digging into this one.

This novel remains on my nightstand:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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.