Home » Posts tagged "crime fiction" (Page 8)

Graphic Novel Review: Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivela

Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä

BOOM! Studios, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1684152452

Available:  Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

Hugo Award-nominated novelist Saladin Ahmed gives us the story of journalist Elena Abbott, who is investigating police brutality and corruption in 1972 Detroit. There are crimes being committed by the very people sworn to protect and serve. Elena doesn’t shy away from controversy, and isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers. One of her recent reports, however, has received the attention of some racist white men who own the paper, and she’s been ordered to work on other, less interesting, cases. Instead, she discovers supernatural forces controlled by a secret society made up of the city’s elite. However, these forces are not unknown to her. After all, her husband was taken by the shadowy Umbra. When she’s chased down by masked men and creatures that are stitched together from remains of animals and Black citizens, things get messier for our intrepid reporter.

Abbott doesn’t just face the Umbra (the raised and stitched creatures), and the dark society that cultivates them, but also racism, sexism, and, to some degree, homophobia, in this dark tale. Looking at other reviewers’ words to describe Abbott, one rings out clear: badass. She really is. She is the only Black reporter on staff at her paper, she loves her brandy, and smokes incessantly. While she exhibits a healthy fear of the shadows closing in on her, she never backs down in moments of stress, especially when it comes to her convictions. The social and historical commentary is important for us to read today. For the other strong readers out there, do yourself a favour and pick up Abbott. Ahmed pens an excellent story, and artist Sami Kivelä provides incredible illustrations. They make an excellent team for this book. I need to search out other work both of them have created. Highly recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, misogyny, police brutality, racism

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Editor’s note: Abbott is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. 

Posted on May 2, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler

The Killer Collective, by Barry Eisler

Thomas & Mercer, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5039-0426-2

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, MP3 CD

 

If you are looking for a good action story populated by ex-Special Forces people who destroy anyone and everything in their way, you’ve come to the right place.  Author Barry Eisler has already written two series of books, one starring ex-Green Beret/CIA spook John Rain, and the other focused on hard-nosed Seattle cop Livia Lone, who specializes in investigating brutal sex crimes. (think Law & Order: SVU)  This is the first time he has merged both characters into the same book.  Note: if you have never read any of the other books (as I have not) you can still read The Killer Collective as a stand-alone novel and understand the story.  However, there are frequent references to the plots of other novels in the series.  The author does throw in enough that you can get the general gist of how the characters know each other, but your overall understanding of the characters and why they act the way they do would probably be enhanced if you had read the other books.

The plot: Detective Livia Lone and two other investigators are busy tracking down the members of a online kiddie-porn ring, and find that six of its members also happen to be members of the U.S. Secret Service.  Naturally, the government won’t admit such a thing, so the FBI shuts down her investigation, and she quickly becomes a target of mercenary killers bent on eliminating anyone involved with the investigation.

Meanwhile, John Rain, now an assassin for hire, has his own set of problems with people who want him dead– people with a lot of money and a lot of firepower.  Through individuals known to both Lone and Rain, the separate plot threads tie together in the first third of the book.  The rest is about survival and making those who are responsible pay.  This review is simplifying the plot a bit, so as not to give away too much.  It’s actually a good deal more complex.

Each chapter is written from the point of view of one of the characters, and not just that of Lone or Rain: at least four other characters get a turn or two.  Even more unusual, all of them are written from the third person perspective except John Rain’s, which are written from the first person.  Surprisingly, it isn’t confusing, and really helps the story, as the characters, despite all being trained killers, are quite unique.  Carl Dox is one of the most memorable personalities, as he injects some needed humor and emotion, keeping the ‘collective’ members from being too similar.  The story itself is excellent, and rarely moves in a straight line: there are plenty of twists and turns.   There is a lot of intrigue, and it’s livened up because the members of Rain’s collective are not a group completely united behind a cause.   Some of them basically despise each other because they have been on opposite sides in previous special operations in other books.  Half the fun is seeing how they struggle to even tolerate each other, despite needing to work together to survive.  How do you work with someone you previously tried to kill?

The action itself is first rate– the author clearly knows his stuff.  This isn’t just your standard “shoot all bad guys in an insanely bloody firefight”  book, there is a lot of meticulous planning by the characters that goes into each action sequence.  No one just rushes in, guns blazing.  All the confrontations are planned out down to the tiniest detail by Rain and his cohorts, who don’t want to leave anything to chance.  Just setting up a meeting to talk to someone who can provide information requires a lot of work, in order to prevent coming out on the wrong end of a double-cross.   The reader will be amazed at the level of detail, and it all sounds like it came out of actual operations run by real-life special agents.  The author used to work for the CIA, and he’s clearly drawing on his background.  Pulling off the confrontations in this book and making them seem true to life would be tough for most authors, but Eisler does it with ease.  There was one time when the action got so detailed in terms of character movement that it did get a bit confusing, but that can be easily overlooked, since everything else was so well done.  For pure excitement that holds your interest, this is close to seamless.

If you like stories with a plot like the intertwined coils of a serpent and characters that are larger than life in terms of their ability, but still human in terms of their actions, this book should not be missed.  It should be in the fiction section of every library.  Highly recommended.

 

Contains:  violence, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on March 20, 2019 by , Reply

Interview with Steph Post

Steph Post

Monster Librarian reviewer Dave Simms recently had the opportunity to interview Steph Post, the author of the recently published book Miraculum, reviewed here.

Steph is also the author of A Tree Grown Crooked (Polis Books, 2018), a semifinalist for the Big Moose Prize, and the Judah Cannon crime novels Lightwood (Polis Books, 2017) and Walk in the Fire (Polis Books, 2018). Her short fiction has appeared in a number of publications and anthologies, and her short story “The Pallid Mask” was a nominee for the Pushcart Prize. She has published many book reviews and author interviews and is currently the writing coach at Howard W. Blake High School in Tampa, Florida.  You can visit her website at stephpostfiction.com.

This is a really fun interview, so definitely take the time to read it and enjoy! You also might want to check out her website now, as she is running a contest for art from the book through March 31st.

******************

DS: Miraculum was written between two of your Judah Cannon books  Why is this your third/fourth book and not second? Crazy publishing world or by design– or both?

 

SP: Definitely the crazy ins-and-outs of the publishing world, but I think the timing actually worked out perfectly. I sort of exist between different genres, so I think it worked out in my favor to establish a base with the crime fiction community before jumping over to fantasy/literary/historical/whatever we’re calling Miraculum today. Also, from the writing standpoint, I like to switch genres with every book I write. That way, there’s no chance of getting bored! I just finished up the last of the Judah Cannon books this past year and now I’m back to a novel that much more resembles the style of Miraculum, so I’m sticking to my zig-zagging path.

 

DS: Your art related to Miraculum is fascinating. Any thought to doing something professional with this? Art show? Illustrated version of the book? Booth at a local carnival?

 

SP: Thank you! I don’t consider myself a professional artist by any means, but I do love painting and printmaking. I especially love that it’s not a career in the way writing is for me. I can just mess around, without any of the pressure I put on myself when it comes to my novels. I’ve sold paintings in the past, and will be selling these Miraculum pieces as well, but mainly this project was a way for me to reconnect with a book I wrote three years ago, and also to connect with readers and fans. I wanted folks reading Miraculum to see some of the additional layers in the story that might not be obvious between the actual covers of the book. In a way, the paintings are a peek behind the curtain. I’m running a contest on Instagram right now— anyone who sends in a photo of the book (audio, Kindle, library book, doesn’t matter)—is entered in a drawing to win their choice of paintings. The contest ends March 31st and once the two winners (plus a winner of a custom piece) have chosen their paintings, I’ll put the rest up for sale. The contest is also a way to interact with readers and so I’m loving the project all around.

 

DS: I absolutely love your tattoos – and Ruby’s. The symbolism of her ink gives the novel a very cool dimension of character. Which of yours means the most to you?  I intend on getting one for every novel  published. Two down so far.  What’s your view on them?

 

SP: Well, thank you again. Speaking of… that reminds me. I need to make a tattoo appointment…. There’s no way I could pick one tattoo of mine that means the most to me—I don’t even know how many I have! My most recent tattoo is a quote from ‘The Little Prince’ in honor of all the dogs I’ve loved who have passed away. Every tattoo is hugely important to me, whether in what it means or in where I got it (I like to get tattooed when I travel), or in why I got it. I think everyone has different reasons for getting tattoos, no one reason better than another, but for me, it’s like a record of my life. A visual story, in a way, that only I understand, but that keeps me grounded.

 

DS: Ruby reminds me of a badass version of Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man. Where did the inspiration for her come from?

 

SP: See above…. I think the tattooed part of Ruby comes from me. What I love about her tattoos, though, is that they are a doorway to discovering herself and her power. They’re a mystery, but a Pandora’s box once unlocked and opened.

 

DS: A Tree Born Crooked, Lightwood, and Walk in the Fire live in the crime genre. Was there a conscious decision to jump back in history for Miraculum‘s semi-historical realm? I understand that you’re going further back for the next novel. Do you think this could be a trend for you?

 

SP: Oh yes. The novel I’m currently working on is set in the 1890s. I love studying history and I think time periods of great change (such as the 1920s, the 1890s, etc.) are especially fascinating. Above all, though, the story has to rise above the setting of the novel, and this is something I’m really having to learn to balance, the farther I go back in time to write. I’ve got a long way to go on this new book, so I haven’t yet seen the book that will follow it. But I really like playing around on the fringes of fantasy/history/horror/adventure etc., so we’ll see how it goes.

 

DS: Influences? Who has shaped your writing, personality, and soul? Beyond writers, what musicians or artists impacted your creativity?

 

SP: Oh wow, that’s a weighted question. I’m going to just stick to those who have influenced my writing: definitely Michael Ondtje, David Eddings, Sheri Reynolds and Dorothy Allison. I’m sure there a million more, but I was reading those writers back when I first started to consider the idea of one day becoming an author myself, and so I think they had a huge impact on defining my direction.

 

DS: What’s next for you? Don’t feel obligated to stop at books, although what I read about the story set in 1890 sounds intriguing.

 

SP: While I’m still promoting Miraculum, of course, most of my energy is now going into the new book, which will most likely consume me for the next nine months. When I’m working on a book, I tend to get hyper-focused, and so I’m not one of those talented authors who can juggle a dozen creative endeavors at once. But when I do come up for air, I’m busy with dogs, chickens, gardening and, of course, art projects.

 

DS: You are very active on social media promoting other writers, both new and established. That is amazing – and not something that’s common enough in writing. We’re good with the support overall, but to publicly do so is refreshing. Writers’ groups and organizations rarely help much (although ITW has done wonders for me and others).  Your thoughts on this?

 

SP: When I was first starting out, I reached out to a few other writers, on social media, because I had absolutely no physical writing community. I don’t have an MFA, I’ve never been part of a writing group, I’m a very lone wolf when it comes to the actual writing process. I didn’t know the ropes at all and I started asking to interview writers as way of making connections and trying to learn what the hell I was doing. And I was stunned by how many writers, famous writers, were so warm and kind and open. They instilled in me the need to always, always, support other writers first. Not just because it will usually come back around to help you one day (and it has for me), but because it’s the right thing to do. There is not a finite amount of author success out there in the world that we need to scrabbling over. When one of us succeeds, we all succeed. And we should use any bit of success we might be fortunate enough to find to help pull up other writers, just as we ourselves were pulled up.

 

DS: What do you want readers to take away from Miraculum?

 

SP: I hope they get lost a little bit in the magic of storytelling. There’s a million layers to Miraculum and from what I’ve seen, all types of readers are taking away different things. But I hope everyone who reads it is reminded of why storytelling in and of itself is so vital. And so much fun.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on March 17, 2019 by , Reply
First « 678910 » Last