The Inscrutable East

Out by Natsuo Kirino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


HEADS-UP:

my reading notes for this book were as long as the book itself....what I post here is what i posted to another LT friend (not in OUR group) but, it might work...until i figure out something better.

# 26

Out by Natsuo Kirino

4.5 stars

This is one of the best books I've read in quite some time...Ms. Kirino has a knack for getting inside her character's heads....thereby getting inside the reader's head...so we all go to Hell together (no Yellow Brick Road)

my notes for this book are as long as the Effing book...if i write a review it will have to hit me very quickly...Read the damned thing...and squirm with pleasure...Ms Kirino is a rare bird...she can write a Thriller that Thrills...and make one think...that "it can happen here"

Four women working dead-end jobs...living in dead-end relationships...One woman murders her abusive husband....from there it's a slippery slide into the Tokyo Underworld....

Ms Kirino is a kill-hell writer....made this reader feel as if she was living the story. I have known women in this situation..in that case, real life, there was no murder...But who knows what lurks in the heart?

Not for the squeamish, faint-of-heart, or those who are only comfortable with "nice" books. This one rocks...and will leave you thinking about many things....that maybe aren't on your Agenda. I have two more of Ms Kirino's books...look forward to the "pleasure" of her company....



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Pulp Lovers Unite! There is Hope for the Future!

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril: A Novel by Paul Malmont


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A debut novel that casts the rivalry between two of pulp fiction's legendary writers...Walter Gibson (THE SHADOW) and Lester Dent (DOC SAVAGE)into an AMAZING STORY in its own right.

My own experience of the Pulps is limited to a collection of radio broadcasts of THE SHADOW from the 1930s and 1940s...on cassette tape. These tapes are rather fragile now (though I purchased them in the 1980s..i played them a lot) I still get a shiver when I hear that LAUGH..and the stories ain't half bad. I also recall seeing the Pulp Detective Magazines when I was a kid..the covers were a hoot...Scantily clad ladies a-languishing in "terror" whilst the square-jawed "dicks" let loose with their big "guns"...Jeesh ! Titillation sublime! And the stories were fun reading...

This story, as crafted by Mr Malmont has all the blood, cruelty, fear and vengeance of the old pulps..with a touch...just a touch...of Modern Day savvy. The courageous heroes, damsels in distress (with heaving bosoms and snappy repartee), evil villains, secret identities,are joined by global schemes, deadly superweapons (the Death Cloud of the title), and hideous deaths...which gives this tale a decidedly Modern twist (ouch!)..Full of outrageous lies that are all too true, this story also reminds one that these two fellows, Gibson and Dent, were writers working on deadline, even when they were facing the end of the world.

Where does real end and pulp begin? Maybe THE SHADOW is the only one to answer that. According to the end of this novel, he might just have more to say..another volume to add to his oeuvre....some day...

4 Stars (****)

One More "Rave" Review

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Intrepid journalist, recently indicted on a Libel charge, is approached by the aging/ailing Head of a noted/notorious Family of Industry..to solve the "mystery" of his Granddaughter's 40-year-old Murder...Let the Games begin.

Mikael Blomkvist is, in fact, an intrepid journalist...albeit on the moody/sexy/nerdy side...which leads him down many a garden path, and through many a bedroom door. LOTHARIO seems to be his second name..distracting to a point...

The VANGERs....give "family values" a bad name..turning said values on their head with a few slaps, punches, whip strokes, and cigarette burns. These people are not Nice, but neither are they truly repulsive. No Borgias here...just wealthy people too accustomed to getting their own way. Poor Grandpops Henrik is both clueless regarding the foibles of the Rest..and all too aware. Which gives his concern regarding dear Harriet's 'murder" an odd flavor..Murder? Disappearance? It seems that he's the only one to care..about anything other than himself. But his approach to Blomkvist...and the whole Family History assignment, is a smokescreen...for the destruction of a dishonest Financier (this part of the book..the Very End..was the best)...Harriet? yes, well......

I'm not squeamish regarding violent subject matter..but one can read only so much about torture/rape..before it becomes laughable...The "villain" in this case (Martin the Pathetic) was merely his father's son (Gottfried the Insane)...and Harriet (the little sister) would have paid if not for.......
but enough of the Vangers..

I love Liz(abeth) Salander..the anorexic, tattooed girl of the title. Wunderkind researcher, consummate computer hacker...Little-Girl-With-A Heart-Of-Ice...She's the only one who emerges from this book with a "clue" and a plan....to destroy those who have tried to marginalize/"destroy" her. The result of a Horrid Childhood, Liz doesn't let that stop her in her quest for Justice...I wish her well on her journey...she can stay with me any time...

4 Stars (****)

The Forest.....or??????????

In the Woods by Tana French


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
a cracking good Police Procedural...complete with Moody Detectives...a Cold Case that will not die...a truly dastardly Psychopathic (Twisted?) Sister......angst, ennui, political machinations..the whole gamut...but more than that, i saw it as a bittersweet meditation on the fleeting innocence of childhood, the uncertainty of memory, and the fragility of the nuclear Family.......

Exquisitely plotted and paced, this is one amazing book...auspicious for a debut

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