General Fiction Books
A lot of crime fiction is told from the prospective of an investigator. We follow them as they stumble across clues and finally get their suspect. This method provides structure and cohesion as even amateur sleuths follow some sort of logical pattern. Authors such as John Sandford and his Prey...
The crime genre is a well-trodden one, so much so that anyone who reads the genre exclusively may find themselves jaded by similar storylines occurring over and over again. One way to excite both author and reader is to try and find new approaches. How about a crime novel told entirely from the...
The politicians in Mexico seriously need to have a word with whoever is in charge with promoting their country. This vast and gorgeous nation is increasingly being known more for its hideous crimes. With drug cartels running rife and corrupt police it seems that a fresh murder happens every few...
Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.
A good thriller should grab you from the very first page. In the past decades Lee Child has become a master of this and the majority of his Jack Reacher books open at a canter. What would you do if when hitchhiking you got into a car with wrong people? Keep your head down and try to find a way...
The crime genre is very well established and has many shortcuts and tropes that you can use. This allows genre authors to drape their own unique ideas over familiar territory. Want to write a book about a Dinosaur PI – go ahead. Sherlock Holmes actually a Warlock – sorted. You can...
The world of crime is riddled with the worst vices known to man; murder, kidnapping, estate acquisition. It is also full of the most ruthless people; bank robbers, killers, monks. You may have noticed that a couple of elements snuck in there that are not always synonymous with crime fiction, but...
There are times in history that don’t seem very funny and if you lived through them you would find it hard to laugh. The 1970/80s in Northern Ireland may just be one such era as sectarian violence means that you are always wary of your surroundings. This is exemplified for Detective...
Illustration ©2018 Chris Samnee from The Folio Society edition of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
It is 1939. Forced to live together in a small New York apartment, two young men, Samuel Clay and Joseph Kavalier bond over their shared interest in comic books and cartoon art....
Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.
I've been trying to expand my range of reading for a while now, crime fiction especially. I hadn't realised that the talented Warren Ellis had written a crime novel.
For those who haven't heard of Ellis he's a renown British writer best known for his comic book writing....
David Gemmell died eleven years ago, he was one of the most popular fantasy authors in the UK, a regular Sunday Times bestseller. His legacy lives on not just in the annual David Gemmel Legend Award but more importantly in the influence his writing had on the fantasy genre.
I first...
I don't often get the chancce to read a crime novel and so when Titan Books let slip that the third novel in the Joel Sorrell series was about to be released I couldn't resist giving the series a try. Dust and Desire is the first book featuring the PI and sets the scene prefectly.
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Every so often I like to lift my head above the science fiction and fantasy world and read something unconnected. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen was the choice this time, a classic novel of discovery.
Matthiessen was a literary giant, the only writer to win the National Book...
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