I agree. The story was both aimless and pointless and the
characters were caricatures. All that travelling across
America didn't make any sense and the cliches he used for
every location (Texas, the Midwest, etc.) made me wonder
whether Ellis knows the U.S. at all. Some critics billed it
as daring and politically incorrect but to me it seemed more
like a kid's attempt to shock his parents.
BTW, I noticed you enjoyed Dust Devils. You might want to try
Old Times' Sake. I bought it a few days ago and I'm enjoying
it thoroughly. It's a collection of James Reasoner stories,
all of them but one originally published in the Mike Shayne
magazine.
-Gonzalo B. saddlebums.blogspot.com
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Nathan Cain"
<IndieCrime@...> wrote:
>
> Crooked Little Vein was a terrible novel. I read up
to the last
> chapter and then realized I didn't give a damn how
it ended and put
it
> on the shelf. Mr. Ellis ought to stick with
comics.
>
> On Dec 29, 2007 4:38 PM, Gonzalo Baeza
<gbaeza@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Not to be repetitive, but the best novel I read
this year was Fat
City
> > by Leonard Gardner. I can't recommend it
enough. Other good ones
were:
> > Richard Bachman's Blaze, Cain's The Postman
Always Rings Twice
(no
> > matter how many times I read it, I still find
it perfect), Dan
> > Marlowe's The Name of the Game is Death (same
as Postman...),
Charlie
> > Huston's Caught Stealing, James Reasoner's
Death Head Crossing,
Iain
> > Levison's Since the Layoffs (obscure yet
deserving of more
> > recognition). Best non fiction: Francine
Prose's Reading Like a
Writer.
> >
> > The worst: Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein,
Joe Hill's Heart-
Shaped
> > Box (never understood the hype), Doris
Lessing's The Cleft and
Don
> > DeLillo's Falling Man.
> >
> > -Gonzalo B.
> > saddlebums.blogspot.com
> >
> >
> > --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Zeltserman"
<dz@>
wrote:
> > >
> > > My favorite crime fiction novel read
during 2007 was The Dain
Curse
> > by
> > > Hammett, but my favorite new crime novel
was Reasonable Doubts
by
> > > Gianrico Carofiglio. Other very good
novels read: Dead Street
by the
> > > Mick, Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (maybe
the best true noir
novel
> > > I've come across in years), Cross by Ken
Bruen, Cruel Poetry
by Vicki
> > > Hendricks, reprints by Hardcase: Vengeful
Virgin, The Peddler,
The
> > Last
> > > Dodge--all excellent.
> > >
> > > --Dave Zeltserman
> > > http://smallcrimes-novel.blogspot.com
> > >
> >
> >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 31 Dec 2007 EST