The CriminOlly Plain Dealer #3

Are you a budding author? I’m pulling together a second anthology of trashy fiction! Submissions close at the end of this year and you can find full details here: https://criminolly.com/trash-tales-submissions-guidelines/

This has been one of the slowest reading weeks I’ve had for a while. Work (and some things outside of work) have taken a bit of a toll on my ability to find the time to read and the mental space to concentrate when I do. What I have managed to read I’ve really enjoyed though! Especially Mark Hodder’s ‘A Dark and Subtle Light’ which was a blast.

I’ve been thinking a bit this week about one of my favourite bookish topics, the harm that book snobbery can do. The thoughts on that were triggered by a couple of videos on YouTube which I’ll link below. My simple take is that seeing people read makes me happy and I don’t much care what they’re actually reading. That train of thought led me to pondering the different sources of book recommendations available to us, and how they all have their flaws as well as their positive aspects. Video upcoming on that!

Cheerio!

Books I’ve Read This Week

A Dark and Subtle Light by Mark Hodder

This was a supremely enjoyable adventure. A kind of alternative history fantasy that sees an immortal Niccolo Machiavelli leading a team of heroes to infiltrate a fascist commune in 19th century Europe. If that isn’t enough, the presence of brain altering alien mind worms as well as proto-Nazis adds to the fun.
It’s all somewhat bonkers in an infectiously entertaining way. Da Vinci makes an appearance (on the side of the heroes), as does Nietzsche (for the villains). There’s a kickass female warrior, some great action, nicely handled humour and a fevered pulpy inventiveness to it all that I found completely addictive. The bad guys are utterly despicable, making the twists and turns of the book even more compelling. It has a satisfying vintage feel to it, the page turning excitement of a 70s thriller, but also manages to feel current.
The fact that Mark Hodder weaves a lot of historical reality into his fantastical tale is impressive and makes for an even more satisfying tale.
This was the first book I’ve read by him. I’m very confident it won’t be the last.

The Executioner 24: Canadian Crisis by Don Pendleton

Mack Bolan in Canada fighting the Mafia with a French Canadian agent in tow. All the action you’d expect, but this time with occasional references to Quebecois separatists. Fun.

Harvest Blood by AW James

This was a fun horror novella with a neat central concept and the vibe of a low budget 80s horror movie. Every year on Halloween, one of the children of the small town where the book is set disappears. This year the sheriff is determined it won’t happen again.
The book is super fast paced and mixes a bunch of different styles of horror effectively. Whilst there’s nothing groundbreaking here, I’m often not in the mood for groundbreaking. What I am pretty much always in the mood for is something a little bit creepy and a lot of fun. ‘Harvest Blood’ delivered.