Mark Schiffer
A hearty digestible meal of a trippy as hell read. A dark, comforting, humane waltz across 20th century film history. This book was written for me.
It says something that one of the blurbs on this book is FROM Pynchon, rather than a comparison to his work. This is the real thing. Hilariously, there's also a terrible film adaptation of Zeroville starring James Franco which destroys the impeccable tone in the novel. Luckily it BOMBED.
The audiobook of this got me through a drive from Connecticut to Maryland. Not my favorite Rendell but definitely one of most disturbing and weird. A lonely woman with steadily worsening psychosis dives into an obsession with black magic while Rendellian complications stew on her block of flats. Much like Live Flesh this book succeeded magnificently at replicating the interior of the head of an individual with mental illness. Reminded me of Highsmith's Edith's Diary.
This guy, who was an actor from NYC, wakes up in a Midwestern hospital after receiving a concussion. His memory leaks from his brain like water from a sieve. Maybe he becomes a different person, but he'll never really know. He tries to get back to his home which he doesn't understand probably will never be his home again, all the while losing and gaining memories.
This book devastated me. I've seen so many people with traumatic brain injuries since I started working at the library and the behaviors and mental processes discussed in this book line up 100% with what happens to folks.
Westlake's economy of language and characterization really was a cut above. I never want to read this book again because of how much of a massive bummer it was but there's no denying the degree of craft and depth of feeling it contained.
This one cab driver is given a tip in a horse race, and wins $930. He goes to pick up the winnings from his bookies place only to find him a recent corpse! Who killed the guy? And how is our hero gonna get his money?
Absolutely enthralling. Full of slam bang action, hilarious dialogue, and fast moving chase sequences. I've found a new bibliography to dive into.
A brother, a sister, and their babysitter disappear in the woods, and Wexford's got it on lock.
This one really did it for me. The torrential, rainy atmosphere really pushed it over the top. Also really dug all the red herrings, they deepened the thematic threads running throughout. These families are so angry and despondent, and rightfully so. How will they make it through? Oh, perhaps them, um, not staying together is the best thing for all.
A young woman comes forward with a story of kidnapping and servitude, and an accusation directed at a mother and daughter occupying a property with a name in the community. The way it all shakes out is thrilling, humane, and comic! Nice to read a mystery without a murder at the center sometimes. I dug this even more than The Daughter of Time, the only other Tey I've read. Definitely seems like checking out more would be worthwhile.
I wanted a bit more actual wild sci-fi content from Spin. The core phenomenon (the titular Spin) is so cool, but in application the book ended up reading more like a Michael Crighton-style bio thriller than it did a trippy sci-fi novel. Started strong with good character work but the follow-through didn't land for me. It definitely read quickly though, which is appreciated.
87th Precinct books seem to either lose me in the first chapter or grab me by the lapels until the end. This one firmly falls into the latter category. A woman with an agenda walks into the station with a gun pointed at what she claims is a bottle of nitro, with the ultimatum that she must be able to kill Carella or the whole station will go up in smoke. Totally riveting action, with a little locked-room mystery on the side! The mystery isn't too weighty but it adds some lightness to a story which is otherwise pretty intense. Would have made for a dynamite 85-minute movie.
