on life & other inconveniences

With the holidays upon us, many will have some extra time on their hands, and are still looking for those perfect last-minute gifts, and I’m out not with my holiday tips. Which DVDs should you rent, and which ones should get a pass? Books? Here’s my 2 cents.

Real Time
Verdict: B/B+
Unexpected, off-beat and entertaining. Don’t let the trailer fool you, you haven’t seen it all, and it’s good, solid entertainment.

Public Enemies
Verdict: D

Dang, I really wanted to like this movie. I’d actually been interested in seeing it when it came out, and it just slipped by us in the theatre run. Now I think I understand why. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Jason Clarke (Tommy Caffey, Brotherhood) gave this one so much promise, but the story isn’t fleshed out in a cohesive manner. Clarke’s character, Red, is defined in a few simple lines and by a few simple acts and stands out as the one character I really felt I understood, other than Dillinger, but the waywardness of the movie meant there was a lack of suspense built into the scenes. Sometimes I wasn’t sure how the cops had caught on to where the bad guys would be, or if they were in the right place until another shoot-out started. The redeeming qualities of the movie are those quiet moments, the brief exchanges between Red and Dillinger and Dillinger and Purvis… but there aren’t enough to put this movie in a must-see category.

Brotherhood
Verdict: A-
Probably the only thing that works against this series is the fact that it was cut short. It’s well worth watching each of the three short seasons. Authors can learn from the storytelling skills here. Somehow, they manage to up the ante, to surprise you just when you didn’t think it was possible to top the last shocker. Great acting and great writing converge for a great show.

Books

Russel D McLean’s smart debut, The Good Son, is now out in the US. His follow up, Lost Sister, is already out in the UK, and while I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, I can honestly say The Good Son shows so much promise that I’m looking forward to the next book. McLean has taken on the difficult task of creating a Scottish PI of sorts, no easy feat, but he makes it work and fleshes out McNee with his own share of ghosts and demons. I look forward to seeing where McLean takes McNee next.

Stuart Neville: The Ghosts of Belfast

This one is high on my TBR pile, but I trust the recommendations of my partner implicitly, and this is one of his top reads of the year.

Sang Pak: Wait Until Twilight

Dang, I really meant to review this one and interview the author… but I’ve been sidetracked with judging duties this fall, and haven’t got to it yet. This was a haunting, subtle and intriguing story.

Of course, if you haven’t read James Sallis, you must. You simply must. Anything. Now.

And on a more personal note…

From Crimespree Magazine’s Buzz Box in the November/December issue:

Sandra Ruttan’s LULLABY FOR THE NAMELESS is the third book in her Hart and Tain series. She manages to play with the audience’s imagination by returning to the first case that brought these two detectives together and Detective Nolan together for the first time. Far too talented to present anything like an “in the beginning” story instead we move forward in the timeline…. New evidence suggests that perhaps our detectives didn’t get it entirely right the first time. As they sift through evidence, conspiracy and both law enforcements & tribal politics, danger calls. Can they fight for the victims of The Missing Killer and save themselves? LULLABY FOR THE NAMELESS will keep you up all night.

LULLABY drew inspiration from real cases that have plagued crime enforcement in British Columbia for years; primarily the Highway of Tears. The Vancouver Sun recently did a series of articles called Vanishing Point, addressing the shocking number of women who’ve disappeared, their murders unsolved or never found, the families still seeking closure.

I end this post with the regret that I can’t plug a number of books I’ve been reading for judging purposes. I wish I could shine a light on some of the other books that I’ve read that I really, really liked… especially the ones that I feel failed to catch on with some word of mouth and public attention. Honestly, making Crimespree’s Buzz Box was nice, because it’s getting harder and harder to get attention for your books, and while some authors are reviewed over and over and over again, many are slipping through the cracks. These days, I get more publicists asking me to interview well-known authors… without even offering review copies of their latest work. I find myself wondering if we’ve entered the true celebrity author stage, where the name is more important than the writing and I’m supposed to be more interested in who I’m talking to than the work they’ve most recently produced.

As I look ahead to 2010, my own life holds a lot of uncertainty. I’ve had a growing appreciation for my privacy over recent months, and looking ahead can’t see that changing much, which means I don’t expect to be doing much blogging. I plan to get back to reviewing as soon as ITW judging is done and plan to spend the rest of my time focusing on my own writing. You’ll find me there, between the pages.

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