Hyenas

It's always nice when a parcel from Subterranean Press arrives through the post. When its Joe Lansdale, and a Hap and Leonard novella to boot, it's really a cause for celebration.
Hyenas follows our heroes through a typically violent and profane thrill-ride of the type only Joe can write. The book is short, I read it in only one sitting but is well worth the admission fee. With  Devil Red just out, another novel expected later this year from Mulholland Books and hints of  a further Hap and Leonard novella next year it's good for us Lansdale fans.

Some thoughts on the new world number 1

And so farewell Lee Westwood, ex-world number one and congratulations to Martin Kaymer. I have posted elsewhere about the limitations of a ranking system which allow a player without either the short game or strength of personality to win a major to become the official best player in the world, and I don't mean to go over it again, but this time the system has worked.
In truth it's been something of an open secret in golf that Kaymer has been the best for some 2 years. It's just taken the rankings that long to catch up with what everyone has known. Without his go-karting accident, Kaymer would have taken 2 consecutive orders of merit and surely been number 1 much sooner.
          As tiger's decline gathered pace both Westwood and Lefty seemed to be engaged in a frantic game of pass the parcel, both hoping not to be in the number 1 slot when the music stopped. What is instructive about Kaymer is that when the door opened he strode straight through it, and, one suspects, slammed it shut behind him.

Not dead yet.

Sorry for the hiatus guys but,  no, honestly I am still alive. Just been too busy with this thing called life I guess.
I promise though I will have some reviews coming up soon including this, this, and this.

The world's best golfer. Really?

Lee Westwood.

Congratulations are in order to Lee Westwood for becoming the world's number one golfer. That is to say number one in the world rankings, not the world's best golfer. 

In surpassing Tiger, it seems Lee has put some American noses out of joint ( let's put aside for one moment what should really be vexing them, i.e. the continued Ryder Cup dominance, the annexing of the majors following The Masters by European Tour players etc) and the british press has been quick to defend him , including the normally reliable James Corrigan of The Independent. Our press highlights his consistency, his skills with the big dog, and his remarkable fightback after his loss of form and confidence.

He deserves it, they say.

And it's all true, except, unfortunately him deserving it. Save the heartwarming stories of the rewards of refusing to give in, of determination in the face of adversity, of godammit redemption for the human interest section. Sport, at least professional sport at the highest level has to be about more than deserving, it has to be about doing.

Coming down the stretch at Augusta we were all waiting for a statement of intent, a moment when a golfer said This is my time, I will not be denied, when a player looks into the eyes of his opponent and knows, knows, he has too much for the other guy. That moment came alright, but it was Lefty putting on the green jacket.

Put brutally if I had to back a guy to finish top ten in the majors it would be Westwood, but to back him to win one? the answer's no.

The Reversal

I got my beautiful limited edition bySCV Publications in early september and it has been killing me waiting for Orion to release the UK Hardcover this month. I bought it from Waterstones and it was a nice bonus ( even if somewhat redundant under the circumstances) to find it was signed and with extra material. But ultimately I was disappointed. How come?
First let me say that a poor book by Michael Connelly is better than most author's best. But this is a poor Connelly effort and no mistake. Some time ago Connelly revealed he had been writing a Bosch-Haller double header which he put to one side when the idea for The Scarecrow came into his head. This feels like a book he may have put to one side. The story centres mostly on Haller and his decision to switch from defence to prosecution (the reversal of the title) in order to make sure a convicted child killer, who had recently won his appeal, stays behind bars. Bosch has a bit part as Haller's investigator.
Part of my difficulty with the book was that I felt Haller never really shares Bosch's urgency in putting the perp away and as a result we don't feel that urgency. Result- no tension. Not good for a thriller.The author gives us lots of information about the way lawyers work the trial system to get their favoured result but I just didn't find this interesting.
The Scarecrow was everything this book wasn't and it's certainly easy to see why Connelly put The Reversal aside to complete it. It is a high watermark in his stand-alone books, perhaps in all his work. But, with The Reversal and the equally disappointing Nine Dragons, he is batting nought for two.

Rag and Bone

I have just started reading Rag and Bone, the fifth in James R Benn's series of WWII mysteries.
I took a chance on the first in the series, Billy Boyle, because it was published by the dependable Soho Press and have read every one since.
The hero ,Boyle, is a young Irish-American detective who, through family connections, ends up as personal investigator to General Eisenhower, by which device Benn, a keen historian apparently, is able to deposit Boyle in various significant periods of the war. The historical research is certainly impressive and the author appears to have mastered the facts. Benn is particularly convincing when describing the complexities of executing a war,and of showing the tensions which arise when nations with competing agendas are forced to come together as allies. Employing principal characters from different nations, Benn is able to explore not just the respective fortunes of each country but also the personal cost to individuals.
All the covers are done by Daniel Cosgrove and have a great matinee serial flavour to them.
I have some gripes though. Boyle pursues a romance with the glamorous Diane, an upper-class english spy involved in dangerous behind-the-lines missions. It is strangely chaste, especially in a context where the two lovers never know if they will see each other again. He is not the stereotypical GI "oversexed and over here".
Secondly the british characters are for the most part one dimensional, bumbling toffs who are more concerned with good manners than winning a war. In Evil for Evil, the fourth in the series, Boyle has to tangle with the IRA, something he struggles with because of Irish Bostonian upbringing. Here I sense Benn is trying to be even-handed in his exploration of American sympathy for the cause, which has engendered much shame since 9/11, but he doesn't quite manage it. Still, this is an American series, by an American author, presumably intended for an American audience and it hasn't put me off continuing with the series so I won't make too much of it.

The books don't have the moral exploration of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir, or the poetic style of Alan Faust, but if you are looking for a fine adventure series with good historical detail ,you won't go far wrong.

Upcoming goodness

Now that it's autumn and my summer holiday is just a fading memory, the nights are drawing in, and the opportunities for breaking 80 are becoming scarce it's some consolation to know there are things to look forward to:
The Immorality Engine, George Mann;
Johnny Halloween, Norman Partridge;
Campus Tramp, Lawrence Block;
The Nearest Exit, Olen Steinhauer;
Copping Squid, Michael Shea;
Dread Island, Joe R Lansdale;
Deadman's Road, Joe R lansdale;
Hyenas, Joe R Lansdale;
Yes Sir it's nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel.