The mother of all mystery fans

I was thinking today, "I'm just a mystery groupie, a wannabee, and a fair-weather fan of thrillers and mystery." WAIT! There's got to be somebody at the top, a sort of "mother of all mystery fans." Sure enough there is. This is someone recognized as Fan Guest of Honor at Malice Domestic in Washington, D.C. She was given an Athony Award in 2006 for "Special Service to the Field" of mystery fiction. For crying out loud - she's scheduled to be the fan guest of honor in 2010 at the "Left Coast Crime, Booked in LA" Conference! Who can compete when she's got the fan field booked two years ahead?

First of all, Janet A. Rudolph probably has one of the best blogs on mystery writing in existence. She is director of Mystery Readers International - the premier mystery books fan organization, editor of the Mystery Readers Journal - the premier mystery books fan publication.

She has more memberships in crime groups than Parker has books: She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the British Crime Writers Association, Sisters in Crime, and the American Crime Writers League. She has been on panels at Bouchercon (the World Mystery Convention), Left Coast Crime, and several other mystery conventions. I was invited to a birthday party last year - does that count?

I suppose I should delete my blog right now.

Hah! I don't think so!

Corporate Retreats - AIG Comes to Mind

When I think about all the ways the corporate elite collect the many perks of their position, it is mind-boggling. Sure, GM finally agreed to cut back on two of their corporate jets after all the bad PR at the first auto bailout hearings. Then we learn that they have five more that they were planning to continue using. Then their is the myth of the $1 annual salary - meaningless given 5 to 30 million in stock benefits.

I remember the first story out after the big AIG bailout -- that AIG would continue with plans for a lavish executive level retreat in California including massage and spa treatment and a lot more. Again, after the publicity, they changed the location to something less plush. I wonder.

So I am looking forward to reading Power Play by Joe Finder this month. I understand the gist of the plot is that high level executives from Hammond Aeronautics go to an off-site retreat in a secluded house in the woods. Cut off from normal business communication links, they suddenly find themselves under siege from unknown terrorists.

Truly a thriller for a day in which corporate ethics - if they ever existed - are blurred by the pressures of competition and internal political positioning. Finder has written several other books that focus on this theme, including Paranoia.

Not only am I looking forward to reading the book for our Mystery Book Club, but I am looking forward to discussing the book with the author, Joe Finder, live at our Mystery Book Club meeting on January 30!! Awesome!!

Manchester Public Library, 15 Union Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, USA\
978-526-7711
Friday January 30, 10:30 am (to discuss the book)
11:30 am to meet the author if you did not come for the book discussion

Tell No One - Great Film based on Coben's Book

Our Mystery Book Club had a great discussion in the end of October concerning Harlan Coben's book, Hold Tight.

During the discussion I mentioned the film that came out in USA theaters in July based on his 2002 novel, Tell No One. I read the book several years back. It was a strong, well written, gripping thriller. The story centers on Dr. David Beck, a New York pediatrician whose wife was murdered eight years before. Now there is an email that purports to come from her and it ends with, "Tell no one."

I saw the movie last July when it came out - the only movie I saw in 2008. I have to say that it captured the mood, the characters, and the plot of the book extremely well. What makes the film adaptation of Tell No One so amazing is that it was produced in France, it is in the French language, and the setting is changed to France. There is a minor plot change to make the story believable in a French setting. Other than that, it is accurate to the book.

The film will be out in DVD format on March 9, 2009.

See the film trailer by clicking here.

To me, the fact that the film was so well done is nothing short of amazing. It is way beyond the norm of mystery books rewritten for the silver screen. Among the many terrible mystery book adaptations for film was "V. I Warshawski" - particularly annoying to me because I love Paretsky's character.

Yeah - Still reading mystery books

I realize I have not been posting and I am truly repentant - well, sorry anyway. But I have been reading plenty of mysteries, nevertheless. Of course each month I have read our book club (MBC) selection. You can see my score (out of 100) listed. Here is what I have been reading:

December 2008
->Sara Paretsky, Indemnity Only (MBC Selection - My Score = 88 The book club members average score was decidedly lower than mine.)
->John Sandford, Dark of the Moon


November, 2008
->John C. Mortimer, Rumpole & the Penge Bungalow Murders (MBC Selection - My Score = 45 The book club members score was decidedly higher than mine)

October, 2008
->Harlan Coben, Hold Tight (MBC Selection - My Score = 95)
->Harlan Coben, The Inncoent, Deal Breaker
->David Morrell, Extreme Denial, Testament NOTE: I gotta read more of Morrell's books.

September, 2008
->Steve Martini, Undue Influence (MBC Selection - My Score = 93)
->Steve Martini, Shadow of Power [I'm a big Paul Madriani character fan but this book was the weakest in the series in my view], Compelling Evidence, (first in the series and good)


August, 2008
->Ed McBain, Fiddlers (MBC Selection - My Score = 64), Fat Ollie's Book.
->Jeffrey Deaver, The Cold Moon

July, 2008
->Richard North Patterson, Degree of Guilt (MBC Selection - My Score = 87.5)
->Elmore Leonard, Killshot

Strong Unanimous Agreement: Thumbs Up for Chiefs

Just got back from our book club discussion of Chiefs by Stuart Woods. Considering how often our group has had differing views of what makes a good mystery, it was nothing short of thrilling to report- we all loved it. Chiefs, the first book by Woods (1982), is not exactly "current," but it did win an Edgar Award when it first came out. It has since been reissued.

We all felt that it had a different feel from the average mystery book. Which makes an interesting point: Is it a mystery? A thriller? A novel? Historical fiction? Epic story? All of those things. By the way, on the rating form, or grading sheet, I gave the book a 97 - the highest grade out of over 20 books rated on that form.

The book takes place in rural Georgia over a 43 year period. It is divided into three parts, each focused on a different police chief in the small town of Delano. We learn of the beginnings of a serial killer and how his work is never fully discovered until the end of the book. Yet the book is not exactly about the crime, but about relationships, attitudes about race, irony, character, and more. It was a book that was at once slow enough to explore the depths of character over time, and breathless enough (thanks to chapter endings with cliffhangers) to make me stay up until wee hours too finish it. The book got unanimous endorsement by the group probably because it had something for everyone.

I can't recommend this book highly enough! Chiefs

Your Summons

You are summoned to participate with us in reading mystery books!

Who is us? Find out here by getting some background on the Mystery Book Club.

How do you participate? Get your own copy of the monthly book, listed at the top of the column at right. You can buy a copy or get one from your library. Read it. Look for our comments on the blog. Then, most importantly, let us hear from you - add your own comments. Tell us what you liked or didn't like. During our meetings, we often discuss aspects of the book using a grading or rating form. You can download your own copy from the resource page if you want, or just say what you want about the book.

Also, add your comments about mysteries or thrillers you are reading. To do this, click here.

Be among the first to get involved!

Recent Airplane Books

Airplane books are not books about airplanes! They are books that make the passage of time on airplanes much more enjoyable. And what could be more enjoyable than a good mystery!

I just returned from Malaysia; that's four plane trip segments each way or a total of 72 hours round trip. In addition there are evening meals accompanied by a good book during my 8 days in Malaysia. So I read quite a bit; here are four books I'll share with you as my recent "outside reading." (Outside reading refers to books not on our monthly book club list.)

Stone Quarry, by S J Rozan. OK I have already mentioned this book in another post, but I am still amazed when I think about what the author accomplished in writing two different books from the same series, but from different points of view. This is a "who dunnit" type of book, recommended, a solid B.


Blind Eye, by John Morgan Wilson. This is the fifth in a series featuring Benjamin Justice, a LA based journalist who stumbles into a Catholic church cover up of a child predator while researching material for his own autobiography. Obviously a controversial subject, the author draws you into the plot with the murder of another journalist, the potential involvement of a Latin American maniacal terrorist, the wild unpredictable behavior of a young victim of abuse, and the moody, unstable behavior of the HIV-positive central character. Even though it was not hard to guess who the eventual guilty party would be, there were enough red herrings to keep it interesting; in addition, Justice is an interesting lead character, portrayed somewhat realistically. I say "somewhat." Because there is one flaw that detracts heavily from the story; it is Justice's completely inexplicable lack of follow up on the obvious clues. The author tries to attribute this to Justice's mental state (his health challenges and distraction due to melancholy about past failures in the journalistic world- he was a discredited Pulitzer Prizer winner). But I don't buy it. In one chapter, he discovers the likely murder weapon (a vehicle used in a hit and run attack) at a garage, he then does nothing with that information for at least 50 pages. There were several other examples of failure to follow up. Then, later, the hero will go: "Oh yeah, I just thought of something..." This book would earn a solid B recommendation were it not for these lead character failings which make no sense whatsoever. Wilson is a good writer, with an otherwise engaging lead character, but I give the book a C+ rating.

Echo Burning, by Lee Child. This is my second Jack Reacher novel and I will no doubt read a few more. Reacher is in hitchhiking in Texas when he gets caught up in a confusing set of circumstances that surround a beautiful woman who claims that her husband abuses her. But is she telling the truth? Much of the book deals with that question while the antagonists include the husband and his family and friends together with the ever present sweltering, glaring sun. At the same time a conspiracy is afoot with hired killers staking out the small Texas communities around Pecos. Although the story is narrated mostly from Reacher's viewpoint, we are periodically told what the professional kill-team is up to; that puts Child's book into the "thriller" category. Of course it is not until the very end that Reacher figures out who the kill team is working for. Great plot; great setting descriptions. The one thing that annoys just a bit is the way Reacher resolves the crisis at the end. There is altogether too much dependence on brilliant guess work that his beyond credible. For example, with thousands of possible hideouts, he guesses (OK, Watson, deduces) it's several of hundreds of possible motels, and with only one wrong turn, selects the correct motel. That's just one example of this Holmes-like behavior. Come on! No one is that insightful. I would kind of prefer a realistic, more credible balance between the flawed investigator of Blind Eye (above) and Reacher. Because of this, I keep debating between a "B" and a "B+" rating for this book.

Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn. This is seventh in a series featuring Mitch Rapp, a CIA field operative who has far-reaching independent powers, a kind of American 007. In previous books, Rapp has single-handedly rescued the President from a terrorist threat invasion of the White House, and subsequently delivered the country from a nuclear detonation in New York and Washington. Now Rapp is the target of an assassin hired by an enraged Saudi who believes that Rapp has killed his son (terrorist from a previous book). I read this 760 page book in one sitting (yeah- remember how long these flights are?) so it certainly held my attention. I have read one or two other books in this series, but this is the last that I'll read. For me to really get into a series, I typically have to admire, like, or enjoy the main character. I find less and less to like about Rapp, a man driven by revenge. I do not find it admirable that his friend, the Director of the CIA, aids and abets Rapps desire for revenge. And I like even less the many macho comments inserted by the author about the stupidity of diplomacy and the wisdom of excessive violence as the only viable type of foreign policy. On the other hand, I was astounded that the author provided no resolution concerning the security breach by a high ranking cabinet official, a piece of information given to a foreign government that led to an attack on the convalescing hero at a CIA safe house. Perhaps because the author would have had to have the hero murder the cabinet official to keep him in character? Rating the book is difficult for me. It ranks high as a thriller style page-turner (B+) but low in credibility (D). So hopefully that explains my C rating.

All in all, many fun books. May I also add that if you are ever in Penang, Malaysia, you will find the Equatorial Hotel to be a relaxing spot to read a good mystery!