crime fiction – Page 28

Review: Bloodshot by Stuart MacBride

August 22, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor James R. Winter reviews Bloodshot by Stuart MacBride. Says Winter: With Cold Granite, MacBride established his series as a sort of dysfunctional version of Ed McBain’s famous 87th Precinct stories. That hasn’t changed. If anything, McRae is a sane, somewhat bewildered Steve Carella in the middle of Scotland’s biggest group of law-enforcement misfits. Partly because of their British setting, the McRae books resemble Ken Bruen’s Inspector […]

Review: Zoo Station by David Downing

August 13, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Stephen Miller reviews Zoo Station by David Downing. Says Miller: You can’t and shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you simply cannot help yourself. Picture a grainy black-and-white photograph circa 1940 or so. Three women are in the foreground of the image, two of them in conversation and one standing off by herself. There’s a haze that prevents us from seeing what’s in […]

Review: Dead Connection by Alafair Burke

August 2, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, Linda L. Richards reviews Dead Connection by Alafair Burke. Midway through Dead Connection there’s this moment where everything seems to hang in the balance and you wonder how author Alafair Burke is going to pull this thing off. The story is just so ambitious. And there are enough good ideas here for three smart books. Internet dating. The Russian mafia. Corrupt cops and compromised FBI agents. Identity theft. […]

Review: The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Eriksson

July 30, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Thayer reviews The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Eriksson. Says Thayer: The Cruel Stars of the Night is the second English-translated work from Kjell Eriksson, author of the much-lauded novel The Princess of Burundi (released in the United States just last year, but winner of the Swedish Crime Academy Award for Best Crime Novel back in 1992). Once more, Eriksson’s large cast of […]

Review: Bad Thoughts by Dave Zeltserman

July 16, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor James R. Winter reviews Bad Thoughts by Dave Zeltserman. According to Winter: Dave Zeltserman’s work is usually classic noir. Like James M. Cain, Jim Thompson and, more recently, Jason Starr, he favors enraged protagonists who paint themselves with a veneer of civility that hides their homicidal fires within. In his 2004 novel, Fast Lane, Johnny Lane never denied what he was, but as Zeltserman peels back […]

In the Market for Murder

July 8, 2007 admin 0

To help celebrate the 100th birthday (in mid-August) of Seattle’s landmark Pike Place Market, thriller writer Robert Ferrigno (Prayers for the Assassin), who lives in the area, today launches the first installment of a four-part novella in The Seattle Times. Judging solely by this initial entry, “Double Strike” follows two paths: one a current story line, following a young woman named Janine (“a pretty, lightly freckled redhead with no self-confidence and better taste in shampoo […]

Review: Safe and Sound by J.D. Rhoades

July 3, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Safe and Sound by J.D. Rhoades. Says Rainone: The title of J.D. Rhoades’ third Jackson Keller novel, Safe and Sound, conveys a state of being that runs counter to what really lies at it’s core: the horrible, dark acts that human beings — especially the central characters here — are capable of perpetrating. While Keller’s main goal is to rescue and protect those […]

Review: Whitewash by Alex Kava

June 27, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Anthony Rainone reviews Whitewash by Alex Kava. Says Rainone: With rising gasoline prices in the United States and the volatile political situation in the Middle East, attention to developing and using alternative fuels is increasing significantly. It’s hard not to see an ethanol plant if you drive through America’s Midwest, for example, and Nebraska author Alex Kava has tapped into this topical theme in her newest […]

Review: Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman and Dead Madonna by Victoria Houston

June 12, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor Stephen Miller reviews Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman and Dead Madonna by Victoria Houston. Says Miller: The mantra of real estate is location, location, location and the same often holds true for modern crime fiction. With only so many plot lines to use, and with many authors content to repeat what has worked before, what often separates good mysteries from the pack is their setting. […]

Review: Up in Honey’s Room by Elmore Leonard

June 6, 2007 admin 0

Today, in January Magazine’s crime fiction section, contributing editor David Abrams reviews Up in Honey’s Room by Elmore Leonard. Says Abrams: It’s usually futile to try and describe an Elmore Leonard plot. It’s like listing the ingredients of sausage — there are so many different things packed in there, but all you really care about is how it tastes. Up in Honey’s Room is set in 1944 Detroit, where Carl has tracked down two German […]