Vol. 3 Issue 4
Recommendations
In this issue, my recommendations include the latest novel by Dennis Lehane and two novels, both first books in best-selling series. Finally, I give a thumbs up to a classic noir that set the standard for authors such as Lehane and Elmore Leonard.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane – Boston Noir
During rising racial tensions in South Boston in the summer of 1974 before court-ordered school desegregation is set to begin, a high school girl, Jules Fennessy goes missing. Her mother, Mary Pat, relentlessly searches for her only living child, refusing to stop even when warned off by Irish Mob boss, Marty Butler. Dennis Lehane is the master storyteller of such gripping novels, as Mystic River, and Gone Baby Gone, both made into critically acclaimed films. In Small Mercies, his latest novel, Lehane again brings readers into the closed world of Southie that outsiders can never enter. The novel is brutally honest, heart-wrenching, and thoughtful. The powers of racism, criminal gangs, and revenge are infused in a novel that pulls you to an end you didn’t see coming.
A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier
Mercy Carr is a former military police officer, home from war, wounded by gunfire, and mourning the death of her finance. Walking in the Vermont woods with her dog Elvis, also retired from the military, she discovers explosives, an abandoned baby, and what appears to be human bones. Teaming up with U.S. Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue dog, the two are determined to find the baby’s mother and get answers to the strange and menacing events occurring in the woods. This novel is a gripping police procedural enriched by the assistance of two working dogs whose personalities pop off the page. A Borrowing of Bones is the first in a series of five novels.
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
This is the first novel in the seven-book series that inspired a 2011 film with Matthew McConaughey and a current Netflix series. A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney whose office is his Lincoln Town car, Mickey Haller is hired by a wealthy client charged with attacking a woman who he picked up in a bar. Haller, with his cynical view of the justice system, sees this case as an opportunity to earn the big bucks he rarely sees from his usual client base of drug dealers, bikers, and drunk drivers. A brilliant blend of investigation and courtroom drama, this novel is fast-paced with revelations that move the story in unexpected directions. Eventually, Haller must choose between legal ethics and saving his own ski
Classic Noir
The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins — 40h anniversary edition with an introduction by Dennis Lehane
Considered by many readers and authors to be one of the best, if not the best, crime novel ever written, Higgins tells his story about mobsters, gunmen, thieves, and cops in 1970 Boston almost entirely through dialogue. The verbal sparring and extended monologues, always heavy with street slang, convey everything we need to know about the characters, the plot, the action, and the underworld in which these lowlifes operate. Small-time gunrunner Eddie Coyle is awaiting a certain prison sentence and looking for a way out by snitching on one of the “friends” who the DA will consider a valuable trade-up. But as Dennis Lehane writes in his introduction, “Eddie Coyle has no friends.” The writer Elmore Leonard has called The Friends of Eddie Coyle “the best crime novel ever written – makes The Maltese Falcon read like Nancy Drew.” A 1973 film starring Robert Mitchum was based on this novel.
Patronize Independent Booksellers
Whenever you buy books, please consider purchasing from independent booksellers who remain passionate about books, love to share their knowledge, and provide a vital link between readers and authors.
Watch your inbox for my next newsletter in September. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and recommendations with me. Please remember to add my email chrisquarembo@gmail.com to your contacts to ensure this newsletter comes to your inbox, not your spam file.
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