I usually stray away from noir-themed books due to their very nature, but this book intrigued me based on the plot. Like all noir novels, this is a bleak and depressing story. Despite the very dark nature, Garnier writes beautifully. He captures the scenes in the book perfectly by allowing the reader easily visualize the scenes.
Tag - Fiction
Khadra captures Turambo's guttural feelings for his surroundings - whether they are in the ring entertaining Europeans or in the brothel. Her descriptions leap from the page and engage the reader. A good look at colonial Algeria from the perspective of an Arab-Berber.
It is great blend of urban fantasy, police procedural, and mystery. Peter Grant is a strong lead character but there is a nice mix of secondary characters, including London itself, and with enough action to keep the plot moving. Highly entertaining.
A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi is not the typical book that I read. It is set in a war-torn country, but it is nothing about war. It’s a story about women in Afghanistan and how they survive in a male-dominated society. A bit about the plot from the publisher: For two decades, Zeba was a loving wife, a patient mother, and a peaceful villager. But her quiet life is shattered when her husband, Kamal, is found brutally murdered with a hatchet in the courtyard of their home...
An entertaining and well done novella. Scalzi/Quinto drop you into the story and keep you interested from the start. It has an interesting hook and some well done twists. For such a short story, the characters were developed and seemed quite believable in their actions and motivations. Part urban fantasy, part police procedural, part mystery.
The narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, does a great job with the voices and personalities involved. It was like listening to a radio drama. And along the way you get a great sense of London as both a place and as an identity.
I listened to this last book in the Raven Cycle series in the car. And frankly am not sure what to make of it. I enjoyed the prose and imagination of Stiefvater as always. I listened to this last book in the Raven Cycle series in the car. And frankly am not sure what to make of it. I enjoyed the prose and imagination of Stiefvater as always.
I do not typically read novels about rich and glamorous people, but Beatriz Williams’ latest novel A Certain Age caught my eye. It caught my eye because it is a mystery hidden inside accounts of New York City life in the 1920s from the perspective of two women. From the publisher: As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young...
An intelligent espionage thriller that explores the complex nature of loyalty, patriotism and love amongst other things. Although, it is not really a typical thriller until the later part of the book. But at the heart of the story is the challenge and impact of secrets which grows out of espionage and an attempt to escape from it.
