|
Saul Bollox
1:12 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
by Richard J. Herrnstein
Fascinating insights about how society stratifies itself based on intelligence. Very controversial.
|
DukeofDevo
1:00 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Lily Hammer 9:59 Tue Oct 18
True what you say about the Steven King books Mr Mercedes is a really good straight up physco thriller in the vein of Misery!
I've got the second one to read and the third should be out in Paperback soon I reckon. Would make an excellent 8 parter on HBO!
|
Schoffie
12:59 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Actually I'm going to skip a few and read 'the snowman' next. Film being released in the states very soon so will have to hurry up and read it before release over here.
|
Nator
12:57 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
I'd also recommend Stephen King.
Mr Mercedes is very good. Even those with a supernatural twist are well worth a read.
I loved Rose Madder for example. Amazing.
|
Schoffie
12:49 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Last book I read was 'the bat', by Jo Nesbo. Norweigan author about a Norwegian detective, think there are 17 books about this character, 'the bat', is the first. Just need another holiday now so I can get started on the next one..
|
BRANDED
10:25 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
The Long Firm was made into a tv series. It's alright
|
Lily Hammer
9:59 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
I've not actually read it, yet, but I'm still going to suggest.......
"Mr Mercerdes" by Stephen King.
.......The first in a trilogy of serial killer crime thrillers, nothing supernatural in these. It's next in line for me once I've finished what I'm on.
Nobody can write a thriller like King, and his best stuff is often his non supernatural books. The reviews seem to rave about it. I'm looking forward to it, anyway.
|
lab
9:12 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Thankyou whoers, a slight choice !!
|
Texas Iron
4:39 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Last Mile...Baldacci...
Any Reached book by Lee Child...
Interesting Medieval...Brunelleschi's Dome...
Not a Thriller...but can't put it down...
|
Texas Iron
4:38 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Last Mile...Baldacci...
Any Reached book by Lee Child...
Interesting Medieval...Brunelleschi's Dome...
Not a Thriller...but can't put it down...
|
gOLDEN_gEEZER
4:15 Tue Oct 18
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
if you enjoy good writing and british crime, you wont go wrong with these two.
both are set in the 60's, both are set in London and both have a cast of characters and a storyline that'll draw you in:
London Blues by Anthony Frewin - amazon review:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Five years ago, I saw this book in a London bookshop and filed it away in my head as something to check out when I had more money. Last week, after carrying the title around in a notebook for years, I stumbled across a used copy in a local bookshop. I'll step right up and say that, yes, it was worth the effort and the wait.
Frewin's debut (he was Stanley Kubrick's PA for many years), is a great, gritty period thriller set amidst early '60s London. The atmosphere oozes off the page in a story which follows a small-time part time pornographer who gets mixed up in the Profumo scandal.
A note of caution here-those not familiar with the Profumo scandal (which is likely to be almost any American reader) would be well advised to do a little reading about it prior to embarking on Frewin's book.
The Guardian web site has a decent mini-history of the affair, or at the least, watch the 1989 film Scandal (starring John Hurt and a young Bridget Fonda). The whole sordid episode is presented in Frewin's book, but only through the eyes of the protagonist, and much of the context may be confusing without further grounding.
A further note of caution is order due to the book's structure. Some readers may find confusing or be put off by its framing technique. The book starts with a 40 page section in which a contemporary narrator discovers an old '60s short porn film appended (appropriately enough) to a video of Get Carter. His curiosity over the maker of the "blue" film leads an interview-like series of other people talking about "Tim." Then the bulk of the book slips back in time to follow country lad Tim, as he tries to make it in the big city and the unsavory people he gets mixed up in. The book then ends with a brief further contemporary section. Those who demand their thrillers end neatly, with all loose ends tied up will be especially frustrated by the outcome.
Frewin's prose is direct and lively, capturing the period slang and tone. To a large degree, the story is one about a "secret London" of greasy cafés, small time hoods, West Indian immigrants, wanna-be models, and cover-ups. It's a vibrantly seedy portrait of London's transition from the postwar '50s to the legendary "swinging" '60s. (If the time and place interests you, check out Colin MacInnes' London trilogy of City of Spades, Absolute Beginners, and Mr. Love and Justice) The thriller aspect is a rather perplexing, tied up as it is in Tim's pornographic work and the Profumo scandal, but moves the story along-always with a hint of conspiracy. Good stuff, and I'll definitely be adding Frewin's next two books, "Sixty-Three Closure" and "Scorpion Rising" to my list, although hopefully it won't take me five years to find and read them!
The Long Firm by Jake Arnott - amazon review:
---------------------------------------------------------------
"The Long Firm is Jake Arnott's first novel. On the basis of this work, I would guess that he has a stunning career in front of him. Harry Starks is a Soho gangster in the 1960s. This was one of Soho's more violent and disreputable eras. The Kray twins were flexing their muscles as they moved out of the East End they'd been terrorising for so long and Peter Rachman was making a fortune out of miserable tenement accommodation, employing strong-arm tactics against his rent defaulters. All of these people are incidental characters in this superb novel.
The book consists of five stand alone novelettes, each told in the first person by a different narrator. Each sees a different side of Harry Starks. Terry the rent boy screws him (in every sense of the word) and pays for it. Lord Thursby helps legitimise his rackets, in return for money and sex with young boys. But Starks himself is ripped off by his commercial African connections. He gets his revenge.
Jack the Hat (a small time Soho creep, somewhat sensitive about his bald spot) moves in with Harry for a rip-off at Heathrow airport. Eventually it blows up on them, but the short term profits are good. Ruby Ryder is a down at heel ex-prostitute turned actress who aids Harry in his dealings with the "dirty squad" as he starts to turn a profit from pornography.
And then there is Lenny, the sociology lecturer who sees a thesis in Harry Starks, and whose involvement becomes far deeper, darker and more dangerous than he ever thought it would be. (The 1960s were the golden age of university Sociology departments and right idiots they made of themselves too, in retrospect. The satire in this section of the book is utterly delicious. Even Malcolm Bradbury in his heyday wasn't quite this viciously cynical about the sociologists).
The portrait of Harry Starks that is built up from the different facets seen by the five viewpoint characters is a contradictory one. On the one hand he is a dangerous and vicious psychopath (the book has more than its fair share of grue and gore). But on the other he exhibits a high degree of compassion and puts himself in danger to help those he regards as his friends. Despite his way of life, his amorality, his violence and his selfishness, by the end of the book I had a grudging respect and regard for him. No mean feat, that.
I grew up in the England depicted in this book, and for me one of the delights was to recognise the contemporary concerns and the minor characters from 'real life' who flit through its pages. Many, now safely dead, are pilloried unmercifully. I particularly enjoyed the grotesque descriptions of Tom Driberg MP going down on his latest rent boy. The Krays are there, of course, but what can you say about them? They were larger than life and quite unbelievable anyway. Barbara Windsor has a cameo appearance, so does Kenneth Williams (though for no reason that I can see, he is not called by his real name). Johnny Ray and Judy Garland try to sing.
As a portrait of an era, it seems accurate enough. As a thrilling story of crime and criminals, it works beautifully. As a commentary on the society that lets these things happen, it cannot be faulted. As a character study it is superb. On every level, this is a wonderful book."
SEPARATELY, ive got a 3rd recommendation for you.
think you'll find it FUNNY if youre an office worker and FUCKING HILARIOUS if you work in advertising and/or media sales:
E by Matt Beaumont - amazon review:
---------------------------------------------------
"This is by far the funniest book I have ever read. The basic premise is simple: an advertising company based in London are going all-out to win the Coke Cola contract..... only the novel is written entirely in the e-mails that fly around between staff and others.
The best bit? If you work in an office and use email reguarly, you'll recognise most of the characters. My office employs at least five of the main characters - the names are different, but style (or lack thereof!) remains. You know, the chap who just can't resist dropping in his title; the PA who 'only works for such-and-such' and couldn't possibly do anything for you; the geek who has anything for sale.
This is sharp stuff and a very cutting commentary of life in your average office, circa Y2K. I have never, ever laughed aloud when reading a book before - I did with this one. I can't recommend it highly enough."
|
Top Iron
11:21 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
East Auckland Hammer 10:13 Mon Oct 17
Thanks, appreciate it!
|
FHB
11:07 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
The Michele Giuttari books are good, but have to be read in order.
Jack Reacher books obviously
|
CasualKen
10:38 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
The girl with a tattoo on a train in zone 3
|
BRANDED
10:34 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Europe In Autumn
Cracking read
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I3KDBD2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
|
joe royal
10:30 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Steven leather books are very good.
If it is pure Gore you want then you will be hard pushed to beat American phsyco .
|
DukeofDevo
10:28 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Also The year of the Dog and The Cartel by Don Winslow in that order. all about the mexican drugs war from the 80s through to present day
gripping stuff
|
LeroysBoots
10:21 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Find Her by Lisa Gardner.....my Mrs was utterly gripped by it and said it was best book she had ever read
|
DukeofDevo
10:21 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
just read a good spy book on holiday called Red Sparrow written by some ex CIA bod.
going to be made into a film next year. Very realistic look it up very good!
|
East Auckland Hammer
10:13 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Top Iron 6:17 Mon Oct 17
I'll give yours a try. Looks interesting.
|
fred flinstone
10:06 Mon Oct 17
Re: Can WHO recommend a good book , thriller .
|
Any of the Laidlaw series by William McIlvanney
Anything by Alan Furst (although these don't have gore they are great thrillers)
|
|
|
|
