One Man's Opinion: TRICKS by ED McBAIN

 

Tricks is has so many threads it's amazing that it never once gets tangled up in itself. 

As usual, the title has multiple meanings. There's the murder of a magician who has been cut up and disposed of about the city, the trick-or-treaters who are robbing stores and there are the tricks of the sex workers who hang round in a bar where two of their colleagues have recently been murdered. There are some elements of sleight of hand to go along with it and many aspects of the characters and plot are not what they seem (Hawes is pulling the wool over the eyes of his cop partner and Parker is somehow making himself popular as he pursues an attractive woman from a previous case). 

Though the dead magician story feels like the main player, it's outdone by the police casualties in the robbery case, which is further trumped by Annie and Eileen who are reunited in the undercover world of prostitution as they try to get their man (this has enough to fill a novel all by itself). 

Tricks is an excellent example of the multiple case procedural. With so many plates spinning at once and so many characters involved, it's amazing that McBain keeps them all in the air with apparent ease. To me, it's a masterclass of the genre, with depth, pacing, intrigue, humour, tension and satisfaction perfectly balanced. A wonderful piece of fiction.

One Man's Opinion: TRUE GRIT by CHARLES PORTIS

 

In case it's of interest, I struggled to find a book cover with Mattie Ross and felt that she deserved top billing, so here's a shot from a movie promotion. 

True Grit might easily have been named True Grip, as it's fair to say I was glued throughout. It's one of those stories where twenty minutes can pass and you suddenly realise that you've been so totally absorbed in the book that whatever has been going on around you has been totally missed. I surprised myself at one point when I looked up to find that I was on a bus rather than eating biscuits by a camp fire (I kid you not). 

Mattie Ross narrates this tale. She's a young teenager seeking revenge for the murder of her father. She manages to punch way above her weight by using her intelligence, education and stubborness to get things to happen. 

While dealing with her father's body, she spends time in a courtroom, boards in a shared room at the back of her lodgings, witnesses a hanging and forces a serious business man into giving her what she is owed. She also encounters two men who are in the business of tracking down criminals and bringing them to trial. There's Rooster Cogburn, a rough-around-the-edges-and-in-the-middle civil war vet turned marshal and LaBoeuf, a meaty and mean Texas Ranger who only has eyes for the bounty prize he's chasing. 

Mattie persuades Cogburn and LaBoeuf to take her along as they hunt down her father's killer, though neither of them is keen and both try to do everything they can to dissuade/lose her. 

Mattie isn't for giving up and she's soon tracking with her adult employees, finding herself in the midst of no end of dangerous and exciting adventures. 

I got so much pleasure from following the journey that the occasional flinch due to out-dated language was overcome and the slighlty stilted dialogue where contractions don't appear anywhere did little but nudge me from my stride. The narration style is perfect and Mattie's character is complex and outspoken. 

Definitely one to read whether you've seen the movies or not. 

One Man's Opinion: POISON by ED McBAIN

 

My latest outing with the 87th Precinct was Poison. It's an excellent tale on the whole, with perhaps one big flaw that I could have lived without. 

Carella and Hal Willis land a case with a poison victim where suicide seems highly unlikely. They're drawn to the last number that he called and eventually get through, finding a really interesting woman was the subject the victim was attempting to contact. Her name is Marilyn and she has a lot of casual partners, each of whom find her absolutely adorable. 

All the detectives have is the names of her lovers and they set about tracking them down . In the meantime, another of the lovers is killed, which creates a whirlpool of intrigue. 

It's great to get a story told where Willis is the lead character and, the way things pan out, it's difficult not to enjoy spending time with him. As he spends time with Marilyn, he gets sucked in by her special qualities in a way that so many have done before. It's not long before he's totally hooked, which is problematic given that she's a significant suspect in the murder cases. The joy for the reader is that it's not clear what her involvement is until the final revelation.

Marilyn is also a fabulous character. As is increasingly clear with the evolution of the series, the sensual and sexual are at the forefront. On the whole, that's pretty cool, though I did feel it created the flaw mentioned earlier. As we find out about her, there's a significant chunk of plot dedicated to her back story. It's interesting and tragic, yet I struggled to stay with the book at that point because I was so engrossed in the detective work and the awkwardness of Willis's position. The subject matter here was difficult and the interruption to my enjoyment was, frankly, irritating. That complaint aside, the rest of the piece is terrific and is wonderfully put together. I have no idea how McBain managed to churn out such beauties without diluting the content or becoming dull- the 87th Precinct novels are an amazing creation and my respect for them simply grows as I get through them. 

A nice aside for Columbo fans, there's a link here to Uneasy Lies The Crown which I'm sure many will appreciate (if that's a spoiler for you, congrats on being such a Columbo fan and I apologise in advance). 

One Man's Opinion: WATCHMAN by IAN RANKIN

This one I should have read years ago. Still, better late than never. 

Watchman tells the tale of Miles Flint, a long-time spy who spends his life watching people for a job and as an excuse to occupy his time so that he needn't go home to his wife. 

Early on, he becomes ensnared in a case involving the shadowing of an individual in a fine London establishment. When the target of the observation slips away and throws Miles a knowing smile, something seems off. And it most definitely is. What follows in an unraveling of the investigation and all it touches.  

It took me a while to get into this. The opening pages stutter a little. There's a lot to get across and it feels slightly laboured. Thankfully, early jitters were soon overcome and I was sucked into the story so far that I couldn't stop reading. 

Flint's world is intriguing. It's set in a time of Irish terrorism and there's a spate of bombings in London that are keeping everyone busy. The structure of his organisation is fascinating and the characters, generally likened to specific species of beetle, are highly individual. It has a nice drive and a lovely sense of humour (P G Wodehouse meets The Thirty Nine Steps?). 

As the machinations unfold (infidelity, government ministers, journalists, terrorist cells, family complications, cross and double cross, betrayal and back-stabbing, to name those that come to mind) Watchman picks up the pace until it's fairly rattling along. I was loving every minute.

The plot is rather involved and it's a matter of trust that all the loose ends will be explained and tied up by the end. I'd say that the closing chapters are a little like the flesh of the villain as he is exposed- doughy and a on the sticky side. Though everything was ultimately resolved, it felt a bit too contrived and not quite as explosive as the earlier scenes. I guess I just wanted something more. 

All in all, a lot of fun and, bar the opening and close, riveting stuff.  

One Man's Opinion: INTO THE WAR by ITALO CALVINO

 

Before I picked up Italo Calvino's Into The War, I started Graham Greene's Stamboul Train. Much as I enjoyed the evocative sleeper train mood and some excellent scene description, I just couldn't get over the character often refered to as the Jew. I'm normally good at putting things into context and I'm happy to allow authors to play around with the belief systems of their characters, but this just didn't feel right. Perhaps it was shining a light on prejudice. Whatever it was doing, it was too much for me to stomach and I decided not to carry on. There were a few other reasons - slight confusions, unlikely happenings and a sense that it wouldn't be worth the effort even if I had made it to the end. You can tell me I made a mistake in the comments, but I'm happy that I pushed it aside. 

With that as a partial context, fleshed out with the rise of the right wing in recent German elections and the crazy events in the US where the president appears more deranged and dangerous than many of us suspected, a dip into Calvino seemed apt. 

I've read a number of novels by Calvino and loved them, though it was so long ago now that the memories aren't as firm as I might have hoped. This was my first encounter with his short autobiographical work. I had high expectations and wasn't disappointed. 

Mussolini has just declared war and we get three pieces written by a teenage boy with a sense of subversion and a keen eye for detail. There are elements that seem ethereal alongside those that are surreal. There are harsh realities, humourous observations and a sense of the bizarrenes of it all. Smoking, sex and mischief figure heavily, as you might expect, as does the probing into the regimentation of the youth as they are forced into banal roles within the fascist structure. 

Each story is short, though punches way above it's size. It's definitely worth reading and a reminder to us, if we're not there aleady, that Into The War is not a place we want to be. Those that want to stir the pot for their own selfish ends or to flex and increase their power on the world stage, be warned. 

One Man's Opinion: STATION ELEVEN by EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL

 

‘She’d once met an old man up near Kindardine who’d sworn that the murdered follow their killers to the grave, and she was thinking of this as they walked, the idea of dragging souls across the landscape like cans on a string.’

I’ve been watching a lot of ER recently. Last week I experienced for the second time the death of Dr Mark Greene. I was reminded just how powerful the scenes are and how nicely handled it all is. Clever writing and great production.

As Mark does his best to come to terms with his impending death, he is also struggling with his relationship with his daughter. When considering the final piece of advice to pass on before he leaves, he settles on ‘be generous’. It’s a beautiful moment and a profound offering.

That has all been floating around with me for a while and was certainly at the back of my mind while I read the most wonderful novel, Station Eleven. It’s a work about a world-changing pandemic written way before our 2020 experiences that takes us through the build up to the event its consequences.

There’s so much to love and I will not come close to doing it justice in my own reflections.

The opening is breath-taking. On stage is King Lear, played by Arthur Leander, who is about to have a heart attack and die. He’s at the centre of a web of characters through which the story will be told. There’s Jeevan, a would-be paramedic who leaps upon the stage in an attempt to save his life; Kirsten, a young girl who appears in the play and whose mother hopes has a great future in acting; Clark, Arthur’s oldest friend; Miranda, his ex-wife and the creator of the comic of the title; and Tyler his only child.

After failing in his attempt to save Arthur, Jeevan learns of the dangers of the Georgia flu. He’s ahead of the game in this respect and does what most people seem to do in worrying situations – panic buy and seek out those who are most important. The whole episode is utterly compelling, the tension ever-present, the need to know where the story will take them all-consuming.

From there we flash backwards and forwards in unexpected ways. For a while, I was disappointed it didn’t go in the direction I’d hoped, but I soon realised that what I wanted from this book, and perhaps any novel, was being provided for in spades and that I just had to trust Emily St John Mandel with her vision.

I’m not greatly informed when it comes to post-apocalyptic or dystopian fiction. Even so, I’ve tried to write a bit of it and was pleased with my efforts. This, however, does what all good work does and steps out of the genres to encompass everything.

The world of the post-Georgia flu is created in ways that it’s easy to imagine. What’s makes it stand out so strongly is the journey of each of the characters. We get to know their history, but more importantly to me, grow to understand the ways in which they come to terms with their own mortality. A pandemic is good for one thing and that’s forcing people to reflect upon what is important. The characters in this novel leave trails for us to follow as we contemplate our own pasts, presents, futures and demise.

I have a whole list of things I want to focus on now that I’ve finished. It’s the kind of story that will have you asking and answering questions throughout. Much as I’d like to list some of my conclusions, I think that would be foolish. Read the book for yourself and make decisions of your own. The one I feel it is okay to share is the rekindled desire to read great fiction – life really is too short to spend too much time with the chaff.

Station Eleven has a little bit of everything. Profundity. Poetry. Surrealism. Tension. Heartbreak. Joy. Hope. Humour. Violence. Tenderness. You name it, I’m sure it’s in there. Not that these things make it dry. This story is alive. The characters are vivid. Their journeys are immense and I’m glad I sat along with each of them for the ride, no matter how turbulent each was.

Aces all round for this. My favourite read in quite some time.

One Man's Opinion: LIGHTNING by ED McBAIN

 

When lightning strikes, I imagine it hurts. A lot. It certainly does in this novel by Ed McBain.

Here we have two main cases running through the book as the detectives of the 87^th Precinct have their hands full.

Across the city, the bodies of young female athletes are being hung from lampposts and a repeat rapist is terrorising a set of chose individuals with his constant returns. The overall impression that I was left with following the read was that I had been much more involved with the victims of this story than many others, feeling their pain and anguish much more readily than I might normally. There’s no gallows humour to cover the sadness that comes along with the destruction of young lives and the nature of the power imbalances weighs heavily.

As the story unfolds, all of those involved have an uneasy feeling that the Deaf Man is behind the hangings – who else would taunt and probe the detectives in this way? There’s a fabulous set of scenes where each of the cops imagines the Deaf Man’s involvement, which also give us another, as always, appreciated window into their personal lives.

Among the chaos of the crimes, we spend time with more of the women of the precinct. Annie Rawles is a beautiful tough nut who works with the rape squad. She also happens to be sleeping with Cotton Hawes. Eileen Burke is a decoy from special forces and she is sleeping with Kling. They’re heavily involved and it’s the experience of their case from their perspectives that adds a huge amount of emotional power and tension to Lightning.

Other than the main events, there are some fantastic sub-plots to keep a reader entertained. Meyer is experimenting with a wig and the reception is mixed. There’s also a reappearance for the always repugnant Ollie Weeks to stir the pot while helping to progress the case. Best of all, there’s a glimpse into Teddy Carella’s life. She’s thinking about getting back into work after years of being a stay-at-home mother. For someone of her intelligence and experience, that should be no problem; unfortunately the world isn’t that straightforward and this cameo throws petrol onto misogynistic flames that have been flickering from the off.

It really is a cracker and could easily have been told as two separate stories, but the fact that they are woven together adds power to the whole, two excellent plots coming together to form a giant.