cool. thanks for the reviews. have started 'fever kill' by
tom p. but not read him or dave z. before. i was really into
jon. carroll years ago til i burnt out, which is more likely
me than him.
been on a don winslow kick. read 'bobby z', then 'frankie
machine' and now
'power of the dog'. keep gettin better tho coincidence as i'm
not readin
'em in order he wrote 'em.
---
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net wrote:
> Recently read two books whose main characters' lives
are haunted by the
> deaths of their mothers when they were young. Other
than that, though,
> they had little in common other than their high
quality.
>
> Bad Thoughts by Dave Zeltserman
>
> Homicide Detective Billy Shannon is having
increasingly bad nightmares
> approaching the anniversary of his mother's murder,
which he witnessed
> as a teen. Both he and his wife fear the dreams are
leading up to an
> annual blackout disappearance. But this year's
nightmares are a bit
> different, more specific. Too specific. They lead
him to dead women's
> bodies. And some, including Shannon himself, start
to wonder who but
> the killer could know the things he does. I don't
normally read
> supernatural horror thrillers (Sprockets, a Kathe
Koja, a Jonathan
> Carroll that might qualify, have a few of KW
Jeter's, but have only read
> some of his cyberpunk), so I was a bit wary of this
book at first (the
> graveyard on the cover, but never in the book,
didn't exactly reassure
> me). But Dave keeps the book anchored in the
characters, so the
> supernatural overtones (are they actually
supernatural or just
> particularly disturbing dreams and alcoholic
blackouts?) never pulled me
> out of the story. Dark, nasty stuff, which is meant
and should be taken
> as a high recommendation around here.
>
> The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli
>
> First paragraph:
>
> "Chase was laughing with the others during the poker
game when his
> grandfather threw down his cards, took a deep pull
on his beer, and with
> no expression at all shot Walcroft in the
head."
>
> I was hooked. Thought I'd found a new Parkeresque
series. I hadn't,
> it's not a caper book, but what I found was just as
good. And I can
> think of very few compliments as high in my mind as
"just as good as a
> Parker book." This book follows Chase, who was taken
in (actually,
> kidnapped from foster care) by his career criminal
grandfather, Jonah,
> after his mother's unsolved murder (which Chase did
not witness). Chase
> was a getaway driver before he was even a teen (it's
never said whether
> or not he had to sit on a phone book).
>
> This book starts with Chase's split with Jonah, over
the above shooting,
> and follows his life for almost a decade, first as a
car booster and
> getaway driver, then as a square john for several of
years before the
> inevitable tragedy happens (you know it has to, and
the cover tells you
> more than I have, so I'm not really giving anything
away).
>
> A really great read. And a fair amount of comic
relief (especially
> during his straight life) along the way. And a lot
of drive (pun
> intended) that makes it very to put down.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
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