The Devil in the Blue Dress by Walter Mosley – Review

Easy Rawlins has recently lost his well paying job at Champion Aircraft and has a mortgage to pay for his lovely little house. As he sits in Joppy’s tiny bar, drinking away his troubles, a white man walks in and that’s when his trouble really begins. An offer of good money to find a white girl who frequents black bars and gangsters, it was too good of a deal for the Second World War veteran to turn down.

Now he’s on a hunt for a white girl who frequents black bars, and bodies are popping up all around him. The police are trying to pin it on him and aren’t afraid to rough to back the confession.

The Devil in the Blue Dress is utterly brilliant and addictive, this is down to Easy’s inner monologue which draws you in. Easy finds himself in a tight corner, where people are pushing him and he can’t push back, be it the abusive police detectives to punk kids on the San Monica pier. Though he has the ability and the anger to strike out, egged on by a dark inner voice, but he keeps his cool and chooses the non violent option. When he can.

Albright and Mouse are cut from the same cloth, both killers that are ruthless and greedy. The only difference is one was born black and the other white. While cold and calculating, there is an element of chaos between them which keeps the reader guessing and on their toes.

A piece of hard boiled noir fiction, it is up there with Chandler and Hammett. Walter Mosley writes with a unique and brooding voice which is both beautiful and sad. He write about a side of LA, of America, which is rarely seen. It is a side that is hateful and is full of prejudice in a way which captures it all, even the few moments of joy and beauty that can found.

I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone, it is wonderful

Dragon Stones, Kristian Alva – Review

Set in a world where a corrupt and unjust emperor seeks to monopolise magic for his own personal gain, Elias, by chance finds a dragon stone and brings the emperor’s soldiers to his front door. While Elias is chasing his destiny, the tyrannical Emperor Vosper is trying to change it.

The relationship between humans and dragons is interesting. Quite a few books simply say “Dragons are baddies” or “Dragons are goodies”, where Alva has blurred the line in the sand. In the prologue, how the cunning dragon hunters slaughtered and plundered, I found that chapter very cruel and made me draw comparisons on how we live with or exploit animals. As you progress, this contrast of relationship and treatment will change and make think.

Elias, the protagonist, first appears as a fairly standard stock character but this changes as the book progresses. This profession is slow but the story keeps you hooked, so putting this book down is not an option. Likeable and relatable, in someways, Elias is simple. By this, he is simply good and does what he can to support his grandmother, even if it means making a ‘greedy’ or ‘risky’ decision.

Whether you believe your fate is set in stone or up to you, it is interesting to watch Emperor Vosper try to fight a prophecy. A man who kills his own father to become emperor, is someone you want to pay attention to. An equally cruel and effective baddie which you won’t catch foolishly monologuing to the hero, Vosper keeps control of his empire with the sort of cunning which Little Finger would admire.

I would recommend Dragon Stones. Though the novel, at times, can progress rather slowly but as a whole, it is a solid first novel and I look forward to see where the series goes from here.

Harry Lipkin P.I by Barry Fontoni – Review

Harry Lipkin is an aging P.I. who is approached by the rich widow Norman Weinberger to find a thief within her house; a Chinese butler, a Colombian maid, an Ethiopian Jewish chef and a boxing chauffeur. Harry has to investigate these characters and find the missing property.

Instantly, Harry is a likeable character with a wonderful wit and full of pithy observations. A Jewish Colombo, it’s the only way to describe him and his mannerisms, he bumbles his way through the case with the same calm and collected frame of mind with a straight razor sharp wit. It is dry and is well suited for his colourful inner monologue.

The story progresses at a slow steady pace, certainly not a fast thriller but this is not a problem, I found as Harry has a lightning fast wit. Also the pace suits Harry, who is no longer as fast as he used to be.

Harden crime lovers might find Harry Lipkin a bit disappointing but I found it very entertaining and kept me hooked till the end.

Amongst the quips and puns, there is a sadness as the book explores age and one’s prime as Harry is an aging private detective. He is not as strong or as fast as he was, he can’t enjoy the same food as his younger self would eat and needs a pharmacy of pills to get through the day. With his age, Harry is armed with experience and hampered by regret.

William Roberts, the audiobook narrator, embraces the character well and brings Harry alive, giving him the world weary voice I imagined he would have.

I would reccomend Harry Lipkin. It might not be for harden crime readers but it is a funny and compelling book with an interesting and likeable detective.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists By Robert Tressell – Review

As the first chapter opens, the reader is invited to ears drop onto a conversation between a group of carpenters, painters and general labours over their tea and dinner. They read the papers, looking for a horse and, when one is found, a syndicate if formed between them. Then the subject turns to politics, a topic none of the men have any real interest in.

Well, I don’t go in for politics much, either, but if what’s in this ‘ere paper is true, it seems to me as we ought take some interest in it, when the country is being ruined by foreigners. – Easton

What follows is a conversation, a debate and an all out argument about immigration and poverty, written over a hundred year ago but could have just happened ten minutes ago in any part of Britain.

Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists seems an almost timeless piece of literature as he explores the turmoils and struggles of working class labourers in the fictional city of Mugsborough. Centred around Frank Owen, a socialist and painter, as he is confronted with an oppressive class system and inequality. He is frustrated that his fellow labourers can not imagine or refuse to see a better life for themselves; that they have accepted this as their lot in life and sees nothing more.

Heavily based on his own experiences, Tressell explores this miserable and almost pointless life millions must life; how their income can is not a living but an existence despite their labour being skilled and necessary. From that stepping stone, Tressell ,through Owen, explores the large question of distribution of wealth and resources as well as immigration and housing.

Through conversation between Owen and his fellow labourers, you learn about this downtrodden men who, the idea of equality is laughable, you find empathy. Even Mr Hunter, nicknamed Old Misery and Nimrod, the cruel bulling foreman can summon empathy. He finds himself and his ability exploited and his best years behind him.

A book George Orwell had praised as ‘powerful’, it’s influence can be seen his life and work, he calls it a book everyone needs to read.

It is a book I would recommend as it is as relevant now as it was over a hundred years ago when observing the poverty gap in Britain as well as being a fascinating book to read.

Had a very nice day today, that’s all

I had a very nice day. Sat outside in the garden with Pippin, writing and listening to Tom Waits. Drank tea. It was very nice and, for a long time, I wasn’t angry. So everything’s good.

Money Shot by Christa Faust – Review

The story starts with surviving a botched execution and breaking out of the boot (or trunk if you’re American), and things only get better. The protagonist is a fighter, she doesn’t die quietly and she doesn’t plan to die now. The brutality hits home hard and early; as the dust settles, you’re left speechless and thinking ‘where does it go from here?’

I came across this book at my library and their was something that just sold it for me. I’m not sure if it was the sexy cover, the fact it was published by Hard Case Crime or it mentioned the main character is a porn star but something shouted out that this book is for me.

Money Shot is the story of Angel Dare, a retired porn star and talent agent, has survived torture and a poor attempt of an execution (if I do say so myself) and the first thing she has on her mind is revenge. The first piece I’ve read of Christa Faust but clearly not the last as I’m now a life long fan of her work. As dirty as it is gritty, this is a brilliant book to read.

A great element of Money Shot and in most noir fiction is that, as the reader, you don’t follow the story as a viewer or the audience but you plunge right into the character’s head and their interior monologue, tagging along for the ride. And that is something Faust does so well, Angel Dare isn’t a stock character, she is a much more layered personality. There’s the tough side but she is carry a lot of emotional baggage in her rampage for revenge, she is complicated. As a character she is someone you are empathetic, you care about them but also scares you in a good way. She can be wonderfully spiteful and angry; promising revenge but it’s never as simple as ‘shooting the bad guy in the face’ as I found out.

I remember Sam prancing around the set with a strap on dildo attached to his head, saying he was a magical unicorn that needs to rest his head in a virgin’s lap.

Easily my favourite line in the book but don’t quote me on it. This is me remembering back, I was in such a rush to finish it I didn’t get around to writing it down.

As well as being a tense sexy noir thriller, it is incredibly funny and heartwarming. A must read!

Why are there so many cocks on that SD card? Hmm…

Let me take you back a few years, Florence 2013. 

On a family holiday which led us walking around Florence or Florenza as the tour guide kept on insisting. A very annoying tour guide as many tour guides are, not that it’s there fault. Trying to be cheery and chirpy to a bunch of sweaty tourists. of course he has to put on that Michael McIntyre/Mario hybrid of a persona just to keep him from going insane. But this is far from the point. 

We are walking around in Florence, we see Michael Angelo’s David…or a cast of him. I think, the tour guides accent was difficult to understand but there he stood, a giant buffed naked boy. He looked like one of those annoying bastards who are in perfect shape at the gym. It was very impressive we had a good stare. 

Later we went poking about the shops before we had to board that sweat bucket of a coach. My brother, a big fan of certain Assassin’s Creed games (he’s very particular about which were shit), led me around a courtyard which he had left about, killing a number of Italians and looted their bodies. In the game obviously, he barely climb stairs, let alone a wall. 

Anyway, I found a postcard that was hilarious. It was a close up David’s cock with sunglasses over the shaft. I wanted to buy it for a friend but mum talked me out of it, as mums do, saying it was very inappropriate. Which was why I wanted to buy it. 

So I had the idea of take a few photos of his money maker and photoshop a copy myself but by the time I got home, I’ve completely forgot. 

Skip a year forward. I’m visiting my great grandmother and great aunt; they’re looking through our holiday photos on my camera. They both pause and ask why they’re around fifty photos of a marble cock and balls. 

People seem to forget about his butt…