thriller Archívum - Page 5 of 8

The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz De Urturi – Book Review

11/02/202409/18/2021 by dr. gunga

The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz De Urturi – Book Cover

If you’ve read tons of crime novels, you’re well aware that American, British, Scandinavian, etc., detectives work their guts out when there’s a case. They know that as time goes by, it only gets harder to catch a criminal. But what do the Basque cops do in comparison? At least, if we’re going by The Silence of the White City. Well, they just don’t give a good goddamn about the whole thing.

They take it easy over the weekend—even if Spain’s most brutal serial killer in history is massacring half the city. They head to the countryside for a little gardening, plan their upcoming weddings, that sort of thing. Meanwhile, the bodies are piling up like nobody’s business.

Something’s Off with The Silence of the White City

Eva García Sáenz De Urturi’s book feels a bit… off. The foundations are mostly solid, but the quality fluctuates wildly. There’s nothing catastrophically wrong with it, but the constant little irritations keep it from rising above average.

Like what?

Knife by Jo Nesbo – Book Review

08/31/202408/22/2021 by dr. gunga

How to Write a Harry Hole Novel

What’s the formula behind every Harry Hole novel? (Including Knife). It’s made up of four elements:

1. Harry’s EPIC struggle with alcohol.

2. During the investigation, someone close to him gets killed. (You wouldn’t want to be his colleague, trust me.)

3. A dizzying mix-up of suspects that leaves you in a daze.

4. A style that’s far more fluid and lively compared to typical Scandinavian crime novels, making it nearly impossible to put down.

The Recipe Fails

This formula worked pretty well up until the previous novel (The Thirst), but that’s where it all fell apart. It became impossible to take seriously the endless stream of obvious red herrings, each one blatantly screaming “fake” from a mile away. And they really were just that—fake. Then, of course, another one of Harry’s hunches would come along, and the whole cycle would start over again.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper – Book Review

08/27/202408/16/2021 by dr. gunga

The Lost Man by Jane Harper - Book Cover

Family Drama in Scorching Heat

To start, it’s helpful to know that Australia is scorching hot. It’s a wonder half the continent hasn’t caught fire. Oh, wait—it already has. Much like The Lost Man, Jane Harper’s first novel, The Dry, was set against this intense heat. However, The Dry turned out to be a fairly average crime novel (despite trying to present itself as more) and left me questioning whether I should bother reading anything else by her.

But of course, I couldn’t resist. (Damn curiosity!) And in the end, I didn’t regret it. The Lost Man is definitely an improvement over its predecessor, though for a long time, you might not even realize you’re reading a crime novel—it’s unclear if a crime has even taken place—or a leisurely paced family drama. In reality, it’s a bit of both. Regardless of what it turns out to be, I can imagine that the slow pacing might eventually deter some readers.

Australia’s Loneliest Man Investigates

The middle brother, who runs the family’s vast property far away from anything—except the desert—is found dead in the middle of nowhere. He left his car behind. Now, anyone who abandons their car in a place where 45°C (113°F) isn’t considered too hot is he is done for. Nathan, the LONELIEST PERSON in all of Australia and the estranged brother of the victim, doesn’t exactly conduct an investigation; like the rest of the family, he’s just trying to process the tragedy.

The Late Show by Michael Connelly – Book Review

08/27/202408/13/2021 by dr. gunga

The Late Show by Michael Connelly – Book Cover

Reneé Ballard – The Appointed Successor of Harry Bosch

Good old Harry Bosch, our favorite detective (see The Concrete Blonde), and arguably the lead of the best crime series I’ve ever read, has retired. He’s gotten old, poor guy. Reneé Ballard, the protagonist of The Late Show, seems to be Connelly’s chosen successor for the Hollywood Division.

A quick Google search reveals that in the next Ballard story, the two crimefighters will team up. I don’t know, maybe Bosch, who has always had a soft spot for women, takes Ballard under his wing, or something like that—after all, he’s well into grandpa age now. But let’s leave that as a surprise. (Ah, I’m sure he’ll charm her.)

But fortunately, we won’t be left feeling Bosch’s absence for too long, because Ballard’s approach, dedication, and outsider status remind us a lot of Bosch. Plus, Ballard is pretty sexy too. (Sure, Bosch is sexy too, but just a bit less so.)

We overlook Ballard’s flaws just as we did Bosch’s, or rather, we overlook the author’s obsession with the same basic setup that he couldn’t quite let go of in The Late Show either: the lone wolf who follows their own path, constantly clashing with at least five superiors, with both sides making life difficult for each other at every opportunity.

Deadly Class, Volume 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender – Graphic Novel Review

08/27/202408/10/2021 by dr. gunga

Deadly Class, Volume 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender - Comic Book Cover

A Dysfunctional Class Community…

You definitely wouldn’t want to attend a school like this, where the world’s deadliest assassins are trained under the leadership of Master Lin, who looks like a 157-year-old shriveled-up vegetable. Why not? Because at this school, most students would make better targets than pupils. From the offspring of Stalin’s assassin to simple gangster wannabes and the children of drug dealers, all the way to descendants of CIA and FBI agents (Seriously? Shouldn’t they be in some sort of law enforcement academy instead?!), they all follow the deadly curriculum of the Assassin’s Class in peaceful discord.

On top of that, they form cliques within the school (black gangsters, drug-affiliated gangsters, racists, slightly-less-racists, Yakuza friends etc.). It’s like something out of a romantic young adult novel or a teen soap opera: the basic premise is a bit questionable, and it strongly reeks of one of the most unpleasant young adult trends of the 2000s—the one where all sorts of mismatched creatures are thrown together in the same educational institution, from vampires to werewolves.

On his first day, the new student is even sent out into the city to kill for educational purposes, so there’s a bit of inconsistency in the curriculum too…

Tripwire by Lee Child – Book Review

08/27/202408/07/2021 by dr. gunga

Major Reacher in Top Form!

Attention Reacher fans! This installment of the series stands out in two key ways from the major’s usual (though hardly ordinary) adventures.

First: Our protagonist is in the best shape of his life in Tripwire. He’s packing in 10,000 calories a day and has gained a whopping 20 kilos of muscle. (He’s digging like a machine, after all.) So, woe to any villains who cross his path! Except, of course, if nature calls while he’s dealing with one. Along with all those calories, he’s downing a full ten liters of mineral water every day. (By the 23rd book in the series, Past Tense, there’s still no sign of overworked kidneys, so we can assume the major kicked this harmful habit.)

But does it bother me one bit if he might have a few, let’s say, accidents now and then? Not in the slightest! I’ve made it clear before that Major Reacher is my ultimate role model (see: Die Trying).

Major Reacher in Love!

Second: Our favourite detective is in love! And this isn’t some fleeting infatuation that anyone might experience over a pretty face or a shapely leg. It’s a long-standing emotion reawakened. It’s certainly unusual to see the major, who’s used to women falling at his feet, intoxicated by his rugged charm (which, let’s face it, is totally understandable), showing such vulnerability.

An Evil Mind by Chris Carter – Book Review

08/22/202408/01/2021 by dr. gunga

An Evil Mind by Chris Carter – Book Cover

Are All Chris Carter Books the Same?

I decided that An Evil Mind would be the last Chris Carter book I read; never again in my life. I only read this one so I could say goodbye to the series with a good, scathing review. But why? BUT WHY!?

Well, my friend, because every Robert Hunter story is exactly the same.

Victims drop like flies. Each book features increasingly horrific massacres. The detectives analyze, brainstorm, but they never get anywhere.

And in the end, it always turns out that some entirely average criminal has been weaving these elaborate, time-consuming, and ridiculously complicated plans. And it’s always disappointing when the Hunter books reveal that the GREAT MANIPULATOR is nothing more than, say, an ordinary hater, the ex-girlfriend or maybe poor old Aunt Maggie from next door.

Moreover, if Detective Robert Hunter happens to meet a hot woman who’s a perfect match for him, she’s likely to get killed off before Hunter even has a chance to sweep her off her feet.

But then, dammit, it turns out that the sixth installment in the series, An Evil Mind, is an entirely different story!

Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill – Gabriel Rodriguez – Comic Book Review

07/26/202407/23/2021 by dr. gunga

Overflowing Imagination and Gothic Horror

If, like the author of these lines, you’ve never been a big comic book fan, Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez’s volume is the best way to change your attitude. Don’t worry, there’s no superhero nonsense here; despite the everyday protagonists, the main feature of the illustrated pages of Locke & Key is the overflowing imagination – where teenagers’ struggles to fit in and their romantic troubles are elegantly accompanied by thriller, gothic horror, and surrealism.

Although at the beginning you might feel like you’ve signed up for a teenage story (after all, the main characters are teenagers), and the scheming villain who almost laid all his cards on the table in the previous part isn’t nearly as frightening, you’ll soon be shaken out of your complacency by the captivating “shadow” section. Yes, Zack Wells still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Locke & Key is an Exceptional Experience

Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill - Gabriel Rodriguez grapic novel cover

And although there are repetitions in the second part of Locke & Key (if someone comes up with some information, you can bet it’ll be dealt with soon), thus reducing the excitement factor a bit, the absurd ideas, the variety of the Locke family’s keys, and the astonishing twists guarantee an above-average experience.

Especially if the illustration switches to “Tintin” style for a few pages. Okay, maybe not. Besides making you wonder what the point of that is, it probably doesn’t have much point. Unlike the comic book cover within the comic, which doesn’t hesitate to punish with a brutal spoiler!

Brutally Exciting – Joe Hill Shocks You by the End

Did I say something about the excitement factor? Oh yes, the second part of Locke & Key becomes much more thrilling by the end. Can you imagine that? Getting excited over a comic book? Absolutely, when the investigation kicks in, the pieces start to come together, and our heroes race against time – with a cunning bastard as their opponent. And it ends with a nice little cliffhanger in your face. But one that really makes you think: there is no justice in this world.

Rating: 8.1/10

Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill – Gabriel Rodriguez
312 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2016 by IDW Publishing

(Master Edition, Volume Two collects Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows (#1-6), Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom (#1-6))
—
Review of the previous volume:
Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume One

Thin Air by Richard Morgan – Book Review

07/19/202407/20/2021 by dr. gunga

Genetically Modified Noir on Mars

In 2008, Richard Morgan wrote a book about a genetically modified Martian super-soldier who wins a lottery ticket back to Earth and comes home to do some sleuthing. Ten years later, he wrote another one titled Thin Air, where the protagonist is again a genetically modified super-soldier, but this time he’s investigating the disappearance of the Martian lottery winner – on Mars, several hundred years later.

I’d bet on it, that Morgan captures many of us with his macho protagonist because it’s truly heartwarming to see such a competent, skilled individual at the center of the action, someone who occasionally rips apart those who get in his way during his investigations. But the focus isn’t on the ripping apart, of course – despite a strong emphasis on action, Thin Air is ultimately a crime novel, specifically in the noir sub-genre.

Washed-up protagonist? Check.
Femme fatale? Check.
Nefarious conspiracy in the background? Check.

Cari Mora by Thomas Harris – Book Review

07/10/202407/05/2021 by dr. gunga

Cari Mora isn’t just tough, but sexy too

Thomas Harris’s protagonist, Cari Mora, a former child soldier from Colombia and current Miami Beach hottie, is the caretaker of Pablo Escobar’s old villa. The meticulous and careful Pablo once hid $25 million worth of gold in the mansion. The mafia and a despicable German psychopath, whose hobby is organ trafficking, are both vying for the gold. (Cari Mora has no such plans; she simply wants to be a veterinarian.)

Thomas Harris has returned with a renewed style of novel – as you’ll gather from the blurb. As for why, only God knows, because there was nothing wrong with the old style: The Silence of the Lambs was almost as good in book form as the brilliant film made from it. This new style means the whole thing is a bit flatter and more superficial. And faster-paced – perhaps due to changing reader preferences or maybe because it’s much easier to write a book this way.