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Michael wrote: "decided to read Driven, so far it's not nearly as good"

im working on the assumption that this one, just like the prequel to don winslow's savages, was an unnecessary addition because of a succesful movie. i hope im wrong on both counts but my natural cynicism is working against me.

Mark wrote: "Tfitoby, if you don't buy any books published in America, I have to think you're pretty limited in what noir you can get your hands on...
Do you read Serie Noir in French translations?

I have a di..."

Ken Bruen is fav crime author today, second only to Hammett and Richard Stark as all time fav. The owner of that bookstore and I are big fans. He had a tag recommending Bruen in the shelf as great noir which I thought was only bad hype to sell books initially heh:p

I feel gratitude to him for making me read him.

Alberto wrote: "I've just read The Taste of Ashes, 1957 and can't but recommend it to any hard-boiled aficionado. Five stars no less IMO. It's the fourth and considered the best in the Halo/Paul Pine series by How..."

I remember reading a couple of these Paul Pine novels a while back, both had Halo in the title. The copies I had fell apart. Browne wrote another novel about a suburban wife who disappeared, and I can't remember the title. You're right, he had some very entertaining novels for the noir fan.

THIN AIR by Browne. I had to look it up.

I'm also a big Bruen fan, from way back now. I'd just recommend you take a miss on the Bruen-Starr collaborations--or at least stop after the first one. Each of them alone is FAR better then the combination. I have had a chance to hear Bruen speak--he's quite charming. I think THE GUARDS is a masterpiece, and the earlier stand-alones are also quite entertaining. I've only read the first 3 "White" books, but they are fun. But not as good as the other stuff.

Just got my copy of The Lady in the Lake, so I hope to reading it soon.

Yes! Finally back to Raymond Chandler! Looking forward to it.

Squeezing in just before this months group read I finished my third Megan Abbott - The Song Is You (more beautiful artwork but content not up to the standard of Die a Little or Queenpin) and something I notice few people have read on GR - the standalone Andrew Vachss (Burke series of novels) noir Shella which I can't recommend enough.

Im in the early stages of reading BLOOD CRIMES by Dave Zeltserman, he's more commonly known for his 'man out of prison trilogy' but this one mixes vampires with noir (think Charlie Huston minus the PI). The characters are all hard with a supernatural element hanging over them. The kicker is, many just want to go back to the way things were - enjoyable so far.

I just got a dented edition of The Complete Slayers: Fast One and the Complete Short Stories of Paul Cain from Centipede Press. They're expensive, but do some really wonderful books. I can't wait to start it.

Im reading The Eye of the Cricket by James Sallis and as a novel its much closer to Proust book about Swann than regular hardboiled PI. There is very non-linear story and he plays so much with chronology,memory of Lew Griffin. Other writer would look pretentious but Sallis make it look easy.

Josh wrote: "Im in the early stages of reading BLOOD CRIMES by Dave Zeltserman, he's more commonly known for his 'man out of prison trilogy' but this one mixes vampires with noir (think Charlie Huston minus the..."

As Joe Pitt fan i have been waiting for other good vampire noir. Let me know if it still enjoyable when you are done with the book.

I got a very cheap edition of Fast One for a very high price. More fool me.

Mohammed wrote: "Josh wrote: "Im in the early stages of reading BLOOD CRIMES by Dave Zeltserman, he's more commonly known for his 'man out of prison trilogy' but this one mixes vampires with noir (think Charlie Hus..."

Loved it! I'll write a full review soon. Best way to sum it up is probably a mix of the Joe Pitt casebooks with the violence of 'Hogdoggin' by Anthony Neil Smith. Zeltserman also put his own slant on vampires which was refreshing. I recommend it.

Josh wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Josh wrote: "Im in the early stages of reading BLOOD CRIMES by Dave Zeltserman, he's more commonly known for his 'man out of prison trilogy' but this one mixes vampires with noir (..."

Ken Bruen the noir master himself has recommended Zeltserman as good noir author and Bruen isnt exactly Stephen King who gives blurbs to everyone.

Just finished Lost Things by John Rector which was described as a short story when I bought it, which has now been corrected to 'A Novella (An Original Short Story)'. It's an important distinction in so many respects, not that the quantity matters when a work is this good. It's superb.

The opening is straightforward enough. A couple of youmg guys are walking home after a night out when they ate attacked. In an act of self-defence one of the muggers is killed. Evan and Peter spend a while working out whether they should call the police or not. Thing is, they both have plenty to lose.

From this point on Rector really turns the screws and sends his main character through the mincer. It's tight, uncomfrtable and tense and puts me in mind of some of the best noir writers of all.

Outstanding.

And the best thing of all? I got myself a ticket to see the man himself at the 'Bloody Scotland' festival later this year and this book leaves me with no doubt that I made the correct decision when I did.

Damn! all these crime festivals are happening before i get to the uk. this one by only three days too.

Alberto wrote: "I'm reading The Machine in Ward Eleven by Charles Willeford. This author's style is astonishing, and this one isn't even one of his best books. He wrote pulp crime fiction in the 60's. I don't know..."

Hey Alberto, Cockfighter has been on my recommendations list from GR since I started adding books, it sounds amazing but I've never seen it in a shop. I look forward to your review, my only Willeford read so far is Wild Wives which was highly enjoyable but I have a few of his later Hoke Mosely books on the shelf.

Alberto wrote: "I'm reading The Machine in Ward Eleven by Charles Willeford. This author's style is astonishing, and this one isn't even one of his best books. He wrote pulp crime fiction in the 60's. I don't know..."

Easy to be tougher than Parker because he is toned Down, i have more problem believing someone is as ice cold bastard.

Alberto wrote: "I'm reading The Machine in Ward Eleven by Charles Willeford. This author's style is astonishing, and this one isn't even one of his best books. He wrote pulp crime fiction in the 60's. I don't know..."

Willeford is an acclaimed for his earlier 50s noir novels. He was more like Thompson type. Mosley is good i have read book 1 but he is often mentioned for earlier work

Adam wrote: "I just finished John Le Carre's The Spy Wh Came in from the Cold. I've shied away from Le Carre in the past because I found it boring and confusing. I now blame myself for not giving this an hone..."

That novel made me feel the same. I assumed he was boring,confusing because i tried part of Smiley novel. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold novel was brilliant read. I hope he can repeat that feat.

Speaking of Dan J. Marlowe, I just started reading Never Live Twice. I'm only 20 pages into it and the protagonist is a victim of amnesia. What's interesting is that the protagonist is researching Amnesia, which Marlowe must have done to write the book, only to suffer from Amnesia years later in real life. He was such an interesting person, makes one wonder.

I just finished Pete Rabe's BENNY MUSCLES IN - review to be posted VERY soon. 5 stars. If you're after some old school mob fiction then this is it! Fantastic.

Am about to start LOVER, DONT COME BACK! by Carter Brown - this is a pulp published in 1962 starring PI Danny Boyd (the best Carter Brown character imo) - to make it even better, this is the only story of Brown's I found that's based in Australia. Looking forward to re-reading this one :-)

Just started reading John D. Macdonald's The End of the Night. So far I'm not that overwhelmed, but it's been only 46 pages so far.

(I recall this is my second John D. I'm reading. I read All These Condemned years and years ago. And liked it too.)

Yes, Benny Muscles In is a great read. Mobster on the make makes for a great Noir read. It was my first Rabe read and I was quite impressed.

Im reading True Crime by Max Allan Collins, its a very well written hardboiled PI set in 1930s Chicago. The prose,Nathan Heller, the way Collins uses the setting of Chicago so well reminds of my two fav hardboiled PI series The OP and Lew Archer.

Alberto wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Im reading True Crime by Max Allan Collins, its a very well written hardboiled PI set in 1930s Chicago. The prose,Nathan Heller, the way Collins uses the setting of Chicago so wel..."

Yeah I enjoyed True detective made buy this book. The series got reprint last year so I can buy quality paperbacks of them. True Crime is much longer, an improvement of the first. This series so far deserves its acclaim, shamus awards. Trust this one is better than the last one of this long series. He captures the 30s so well. I promise myself to read as much I can of this series rest of the year.

The documentary part, the historical realism is big reason I rate the first two books highly.

I'm reading The Complete Slayers: Fast One and the Complete Short Stories of Paul Cain that I got from Centipede press. I've only read a few of the stories so far, but they've been very good. The book itself is wonderful. It's a beautiful hardback with quite a few color illustrations, including many of the old Black Mask pulp covers which featured the Cain stories. There's an essay/foreword about Cain by Collins, too.

just finished The Hot Spot, will try next a Jim Thomson or a James M Cain.

Algernon wrote: "just finished The Hot Spot, will try next a Jim Thomson or a James M Cain."

Cool, we're gonna be watching the movie of that one soon. I didn't even realise it was a book first.

One of my favorite movies ever, The Hot Spot. Directed by Dennis Hopper. The original title for the novel The Hot Spot was Hell Hath No Fury. I had a crush on Jennifer Connelly after seeing her in it.

Kurt wrote: "One of my favorite movies ever, The Hot Spot. Directed by Dennis Hopper. The original title for the novel The Hot Spot was Hell Hath No Fury. I had a crush on Jennifer Connelly after seeing her in it."

I feel like Hell Hath No Fury contains spoilers in the title!

I finished The Complete Slayers: Fast One and the Complete Short Stories of Paul Cain by Paul Cain last night & loved it. Apparently I'm the only person on GR to have read & reviewed it, so if you have suggestions or questions, please ask. It's a great book.

My review is here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Just started The Hot Rock, which is my first Donald E. Westlake.

You will not be disappointed, AndrewP!

Just finished Max Allan Collins' new Heller novel, TARGET LANCER, Superb as always.

Randy wrote: "Just finished Max Allan Collins' new Heller novel, TARGET LANCER, Superb as always."

A great series that must be read by all fans of quality PI.

Just finished BLACKBIRDS by Chuck Wendig.

Mirim Black is going to be a pulp icon. Check it out and enjoy the ride:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Am currently reading a crime novel THE WRECKAGE by Michael Robotham

Alberto wrote: "I'm reading an omnibus edition of three Charles Willeford novels: Pick-Up, The Burnt Orange Heresy and Cockfighter.
Pick-up was very good, but Burnt orange and Cockfighter are exceptional. I can't ..."

Tell me which is the best noir ala Jim Thompson of those?

I want to get past my only read of his that is the first Hoke Mosley book.

I thought I would try some Lawrence Block and found One Night Stands and Lost Weekends at the library. I'm not a fan of short story collections, so I will read a story a day.

Kurt wrote: "One of my favorite movies ever, The Hot Spot. Directed by Dennis Hopper. The original title for the novel The Hot Spot was Hell Hath No Fury. I had a crush on Jennifer Connelly after seeing her in it."

Having just seen it I can see exactly why you would have a crush on jennifer Connelly. The juxtposition of her character in this and the one in Requiem For A Dream is a good one. Probably why Aronofsky cast her infact.

Im reading Driven by James Sallis. He is the noir,PI author of 2012 for me. I will read soon 5,6 books of him this year. Which is good since he isnt big series writer like Stark,Block,Collins etc

I have The Killer is Dying by him next too.

Alberto wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Tell me which is the best noir ala Jim Thompson of those? "

Mmm... Difficult to tell, because they're very different from Jim Thompson's. Maybe The Pick-Up for the psychological p..."

No i meant i like psychological POV, athmosphere strong, the small town,rural setting makes me think about Thompson books i have read. The kind he and James M.Cain is famous for.

I dont want to read his police series next Willeford, i want to read which of those books you think is the strongest,twisted,self-destructivneness and everything i like about books like this.

Alberto wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "No i meant i like psychological POV, athmosphere strong..."

I'm sure you'll enjoy both Pick-Up and Cockfighter. I was moved by the third one, Burnt Orange Heressy, for its origina..."

They all sound very interesting but i will start with Pick-Up or Cockfighter. What awesome titles.

Today I stumbled across Dreaming of Babylon which is subtitled A Private Eye Novel 1942 by Richard Brautigan and looks like it could be a great read from a source that wouldn't ordinarily get discussed in the crime genre.

The Buenos Aires Quintet by Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Dreaming of Babylon was great as an homage and a dissection of the genre but I just finshed The End of Everything and I'm not sure I want to read another book ever again, it was too good.

That must be an impressive book, Toby

Michael wrote: "That must be an impressive book, Toby"

It was. It really was.

i missed the train for Double Indemnity, as I just finished another McCain book (Serenade , and I don't like to overdose on a single author. I read instead a great western noir that I discovered through some friends reviews here: The Cold Dish