Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen

Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen
First published in America by Jonathan Cape in October 2013.

Where to buy this book:

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How I got this book:
Borrowed from my partner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In Eminent Hipsters, musician and songwriter Donald Fagen, best known as the co-founder of the rock band Steely Dan, presents an autobiographical portrait that touches on everything from the cultural figures that mattered the most to him as a teenager, to his years in the late 1960s at Bard College, to a hilarious account of a recent tour he made with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald.

As a Steely Dan fan - we even got to see them play in Hammersmith several years ago - I was pleased when Dave got Eminent Hipsters for his Kindle. The then-new Amazon sharing system means we each get to read the other's purchases, a system which I admit benefits me far more than Dave!

Eminent Hipsters is a book of two uneven halves. The first section contains essays written by Fagen about his childhood and adolescent musical influences and I very much enjoyed reading these. I was too pleased with myself for recognising names such as Bill Evans, but was mostly ignorant and scribbling down suggestions for later YouTubing. I think that the book really needs to come with an accompanying music download! Still, it is interesting to understand where Fagen's music comes from and his self-deprecating humour is entertaining to read.

I presume that the selected essays were deemed insufficient in volume for publication though because the book's second half consists of a tour diary. Unfortunately this doesn't bear much relation to the first half so I found the mid-way swerve disconcerting. Here we meet cantankerous old git Fagen who basically complains a lot about a touring lifestyle which he must surely not actually be forced into. Personally, I would have preferred more of the thoughtful essays and none of the diary.


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When Darkness Falls by Kathleen Harryman + Giveaway

When Darkness Falls by Kathleen Harryman
Published in the UK by Austin Macauley in February 2017

Where to buy this book:

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Follow the amazing journey of Tracy Bennett an average middle of the road girl working on a make-up counter in a York department store with her close female friends. Or is Tracy quite what she seems……

When Darkness Falls is a gripping account of a psychopathic killer. Written from the killer’s perspective, the intent and desire is perfectly compelling and holds the reader enthralled.

Make assumptions, draw your own conclusions and then find your theories debunked as the story unfolds.

This book is a testament to the human fascination with the criminal mind and the debate over whether serial killers are either evil or mad.

Meet the author:
Kathleen lives in York with her husband, two children, cat and dog.

Kathleen has always had a love of the written word from a very young age, from being read to as a child. Reading fabulous authors such as Enid Blyton, and Roald Dahl, has been inspirational.

Kathleen attended a creative writing course, which led to her write her first book The Other Side of the Looking Glass.


Her second book When Darkness Falls is a psychological thriller, which looks into the mind of a psychopathic killer. There is always something quite remarkable and captivatingly interesting about the human mind. And it is this that Kathleen tries to merge into her writing.

Author links: 
Website ~ Goodreads ~ YouTube ~ Twitter

And now for the giveaway!
Open worldwide until October 4th, the prize is a signed copy of When Darkness Falls sent to the winner by Kathleen Harryman.

When Darkness Falls by Kathleen Harryman signed book giveaway

Good luck!


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Books by Kathleen Harryman / Thrillers / Books from England

Aquarium by David Vann

Aquarium by David Vann
First published in America by Atlantic Monthly Press in April 2015.

Where to buy this book:

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How I got this book:
Received a review copy from its publisher, via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aged nine, Caitlin spends almost every afternoon at the local aquarium while her mother works overtime at her construction job. Caitlin's whole world is her school, her mother, occasionally her mother's boyfriends, and the fish at the aquarium. She has no friends at school, apart from Shalini, who is making a paper mache Hindu reindeer with her, and no other family. But Caitlin has made a friend at the aquarium; an old man who seems to know something about Caitlin, something she doesn't even know about herself.

Aquarium is set in Seattle and tells of a short period of the life of a young girl, Caitlin, who lives with her mother, Sheri, a woman struggling to make ends meet by working long hours in a dead-end job. They have a poor standard of accommodation and Sheri's work means Caitlin is often left alone for several hours, time she chooses to spend at the local aquarium gaining an encyclopaedic knowledge of rare fish. I liked the inclusion of line-drawn fish illustrations throughout the novel. Caitlin's meeting there with an older man is the catalyst for the events that drive the novel, but Vann does not take us to obvious territory.

This is not an easy novel to read. By that, I mean that the themes it examines are heavy and dark. The writing is superb - spare and frequently brutal and impossible to look away from. Vann has created perfectly believable characters that really got through to me. The destruction of a family by fear then poverty is graphically portrayed and the carry-though to the next generation is frightening to comprehend. My favourite character, I think, is Sheri although I didn't actually like her or many of her actions. This woman has fought incredibly hard to escape her past and her sheer rage at finding herself flung backwards absolutely crackles off the pages.

I will definitely be looking out for more David Vann novels in the future and will be adding his existing titles to my Goodreads TBR list.


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Books by David Vann / Young adult books / Books from America

Blackout by Lawrence Johnson Sr + Giveaway

Blackout by Lawrence Johnson Sr.
​Category: Adult Fiction; 126 pages
​Genre: Mystery, Crime, Detective
Publisher: Self-published
Release date: March 2011
Tour dates: Sept 11 to 22, 2017
Content Rating: PG

Audiobook Details:

Release Date: 07-13-17
Publisher: Lawrence Johnson Sr.
Written by: Lawrence Johnson Sr.
Narrated by: Alistair Dryburgh
Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
Series: Alexander Steele Mysteries, Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook

Where to buy this book:

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Add to Goodreads

Book Description:

Alexander Steele is a private detective turned night club owner in the city of Philadelphia. Steele and his longtime girlfriend Shakia's plans for him to retire are derailed when his cousin brings him an encrypted travel drive. The drive is opened by Steele's hacker friend Stan. A few days earlier every transformer in Canada had been shut down by the terrorist. The drive in Steele's possession gave details as to how the event would happen. What made it even more frightening was that the documents on the drive were created 3 months before the actual event; Steele finds himself drawn into the well-crafted mind games of a madman known as Chameleon - an American terrorist.

His goal is to shut down the country by collapsing the economy of the United States. From the snow covered streets of Montreal to the tropical beaches of Nassau Steele follows a trail of clues and dead bodies. As he gathers more puzzle pieces Steele inches closer, hoping to reveal and thwart the plot to bring down the US government. He finds himself narrowly surviving constant attempts on his life. The dramatic face-off between Steele and Chameleon takes place in downtown Philadelphia. How will it end? Find out in Blackout, now on Audible.

​Watch the Trailer:

Meet the Author:

Born and raised in the city of Brotherly Love I have been writing for nearly 10 years. I am the author of the 2012 scifi novel Escape 2 Earth. In early 2009 I completed the second installment in the the Escape 2 Earth trilogy called Return 2 Earth also several short stories including a fantasy story titled Dimensions in Time and a sci fi story titled Planet of Doom.

In 2011 I completed my first detective novel called Blackout. Before writing Escape 2 Earth I began putting together a collection of inspirational and motivational quotes titled Observations from the Edge of Society. I am currently working on the final book in the Escape 2 Earth series called Earth 2, Redemption which will be completed in 2017.

Connect with the author:
Website ~ Twitter ~  Facebook  ~ Instagram 

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends Sept 30

​

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Books by Lawrence Johnson Sr / Thrillers / Books from America

Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah

Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah
First published in the UK by Hodder and Stoughton in April 2007.

Where to buy this book:

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How I got this book:
Swapped for at a campsite book exchange

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins - so terrible that she never told anybody. Now Naomi has another secret - the man she has fallen passionately in love with, unhappily married Robert Haworth. 

When Robert vanishes without trace, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing. In desperation, Naomi has a crazy idea. If she can't persuade the police that Robert is in danger, perhaps she can convince them that he is a danger to others. Then they will have to look for him - urgently. Naomi knows how to describe in detail the actions of a psychopath. All she needs to do is dig up her own troubled past . . .

I picked this up in paperback on a campsite book exchange. Mainstream crime thrillers aren't my usual fare, but I was swayed by the three pages of positive review quotes in the front. I really must learn not to take any notice of these as I think, in fact, I read a different book!

Hurting Distance is OK. At four hundred pages, it is a bit too long for its story, but the convoluted plot is certainly unguessable too far before the end. The main protagonist, Naomi, gets to be both spoken about and to speak directly to the reader which is odd at first but does work as a device. Every so often, a chapter will be written in the first person, as Naomi talking to her talking to her beloved Robert. Otherwise the novel is written in third person and present time.

In common with most crime thrillers, there is a serial criminal on the loose, this time a rapist, although Hannah doesn't overdo the clock ticking scenario. Instead there is a huge tangle of personal relationships and characters involved in convenient coincidences - while discussing how they don't believe in coincidences. I did appreciate a comment about linking arrows on the police evidence wall having become just a blob - perhaps an observation of Hannah's plot plan?! The police behaviour is what actually ruined this book for me. The villain and victims are cleverly set up but then the police behave like their TV counterparts, not real police at all. Then so much of the novel's forward drive depends on their irrational actions and jumped-to conclusions that I got quite irritated by the end.


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Books by Sophie Hannah / Crime fiction / Books from England

Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke

Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke
First published in America by Simon and Schuster in 2014.

I registered my copy of this book at BookCrossing

Where to buy this book:

Abebooks	Alibris	Amazon UK	Amazon US	Kobo
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How I got this book:
Borrowed a paperback edition from my partner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When 16-year-old Weldon Avery Holland encounters the notorious Bonnie and Clyde in his Texas hometown, the course of his young life is altered forever. He dedicates himself to fighting evil wherever he finds it. But it's the 1930s and evil is sweeping the globe as the Nazis rise. When war breaks out, Holland finds himself in Germany, irrevocably scarred by scenes of death and destruction.

Peacetime brings apparent bliss, and Holland is offered a path to wealth and luxury by the enigmatic 'Wayfaring Stranger'. But soon, he discovers that the greed, violence and ruthlessness of war are nothing compared to the depths of human cruelty at play here.

Wayfaring Stranger is apparently the fourth in Burke's Holland Family series, but I didn't actually realise that until I came to searching out Buy links for this review. The novel is entirely self-contained. Set briefly in the 1930s and in Second World War Germany, the bulk of the story takes place in post-war America where our young hero attempts to make his fortune in the burgeoning Texas oil industry. The late 1940s were a fascinating time across much of the world. Communities rebuilt themselves after wartime destruction, mass migration saw new ideas and cultures crossing borders while other peoples found themselves being enclosed, and millions of people were left to cope with the trauma of events they had witnessed during the war years.

Much of this is alluded to during Wayfaring Stranger, but I felt that the novel never quite decided what it wanted to be so misses out on being a strong historical work. It didn't quite convince me as a political crime thriller either. I like the central characters' portrayals. Linda Gail especially is interesting, but the potentially most complex and fascinating character, Rosita, is kept aloof which was disappointing. I did enjoy this novel. It started out very strongly with powerful scenes, but this level of vivid writing wasn't kept up. Instead the digression into upper class political chicanery began to feel a little formulaic as the story progressed and this took the edge off for me. It's a good read, but I thought it could have been great.


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Books by James Lee Burke / Thrillers / Books from America

The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield + Giveaway

The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield
Published in America by Steel Rose Press on July 18th 2017

Where to buy this book:

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How I got this book:
Received a review copy via Xpresso Book Tours

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Add The Smallest Thing to your Goodreads

The very last thing 17-year-old Emmott Syddall wants is to turn out like her dad. She’s descended from ten generations who never left their dull English village, and there’s no way she’s going to waste a perfectly good life that way. She’s moving to London and she swears she is never coming back. But when the unexplained deaths of her neighbors force the government to quarantine the village, Em learns what it truly means to be trapped. Now, she must choose. Will she pursue her desire for freedom, at all costs, or do what’s best for the people she loves: her dad, her best friend Deb, and, to her surprise, the mysterious man in the HAZMAT suit?

Inspired by the historical story of the plague village of Eyam, this contemporary tale of friendship, community, and impossible love weaves the horrors of recent news headlines with the intimate details of how it feels to become an adult—and fall in love—in the midst of tragedy.

I visited the village of Eyam a couple of years ago spending time in the informative little museum there learning the story of how, when the great Plague of 1665 was inadvertently brought to their doors, this heroic community of 260 people chose to quarantine themselves in an attempt to save their neighbours in the surrounding villages and towns. Lisa Manterfield took that original tale and used it as inspiration for The Smallest Thing. This modern-day version bears some relation to the historic truth, but is also very much its own story and I loved reading it!

Manterfield understands the teenage small-town claustrophobic experienced by Emmott Syddall and I felt a lot of both sympathy and empathy for this character throughout the novel. The situation in which she ultimately finds herself is extreme, but always highly plausible - especially as I already knew Eyam had suffered like this before. The tense depiction of a village under siege is brilliant and I could easily imagine the fear and suspicion blooming as more people became sick. (If you're squeamish like me, rest assured that there aren't any gruesome symptom descriptions to contend with!) In fact Manterfield creates this atmosphere so well that I forgot I was reading a Young Adult novel. This book transcends that genre and I would happily recommend it to adult readers as well as teenagers. 

Meet the author:
Lisa Manterfield is the award-winning author of I’m Taking My Eggs and Going Home: How One Woman Dared to Say No to Motherhood. Her work has appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Los Angeles Times, and Psychology Today. Originally from northern England, she now lives in Southern California with her husband and over-indulged cat. A Strange Companion is her first novel.

Author links: 
Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

And now for the giveaway!
Open until September 21st, the prize is a copy of The Smallest Thing and a $50 Amazon gift card.

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Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Lisa Manterfield / Thrillers / Books from England