Rough Guide to Cult Fiction

If you're:

a.) a reader and

b.)occasionally have moments you want something to thumb rather than read with deep concentration...

The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction is a great volume to have around.

It has brief bios of a host of authors you've heard of and some you haven't who've achieved cult status.

From Richard Brautigan to Patricia Highsmith to Charles Willeford to Richard Yates you'll find them here, quickly summed up with listings of each figure's essential titles as well as suggestions for further reading.


Tags: Book

Deep Blue Alibi excerpt

I've fallen behind in reading Paul Levine's legal thrillers, though I've always enjoyed them. At least one of his Jake Lassiter books was made into a TV movie with Gerald McRaney: Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou.

I got a postcard today about his newest book, The Deep Blue Alibi, touted as a Hiaasen meets Grisham effort.

A preview is available at Levine's website, paul-levine.com, so if you're interested it's due on shelves Jan. 31.

S is for Silence

I spent a little longer on the treadmill yesterday to hear more of S is for Silence (12 hours unabridged) by Sue Grafton. I still have a couple of hours to go, and it's certainly keeping my earbuds in my ears.

The latest Kinsey Millhone mystery is a cold case investigation, set in the eighties with flashbacks to 1953. Kinsey is hired to find Violet Sullivan, who would probably have been called a loose woman in her day.

As Kinsey works her way through a list of people who knew Violet including her abusive ex-husband and her worshipful former baby sitter, alternating chapters flash back to third-person vignettes featuring key figures from 1953.

Rich addition
The well-realized flashbacks add richness to the narrative while building suspense as Kinsey inches toward answers even as we realize people are lying to her.

Maybe today I'll find out what happened.

My next listen
I'm kind of liking this kind of mystery, so next I'll be listening to Sunstroke by Jesse Kellerman, the tale of a young woman unraveling the past of her boss and lover.

For "Left Behind" Fans - a Top 10 List

The Left Behind website has a posted a light-hearted list - Top Ten Ways to Know If You're Obsessed with Bible Prophecy.

"Nail Biter" Sample

I'm intrigued by Nail Biter, a new entry in the "Home Repair is Homicide" series. Home repair and even furniture assembly have given me thoughts of homicide before.

Penned by Sarah Graves, this installment features self-styled witches accused of a minister's murder. The novel and series heroine is faced with finding the true killer.

A sample chapter is available here.