It feels strange to say it, given how often I used to check them, but I really haven’t missed Instagram, Tiktok, etc in the past week. There are certainly people on each of the platforms that I’m keen to find another way of keeping in touch with, but the services themselves I haven’t missed at all. Having a smaller range of things to pay attention to (basically just YouTube and Bluesky) feels a lot more manageable.
Just a coincidence, I’m sure, but this was also a much better reading week for me.
This was also the week I announced this year’s GarbAugust Wasted Weekend – it’ll be 15th/16th Feb and I’d love it if you’d join me and read some trash.
Books I’ve Read This Week
The Vengeful Virgin by Gil Brewer
An enjoyably tense slice of noir from the 50s, ‘The Vengeful Virgin’ has all the elements you’d expect (lust, murder, revenge, betrayal) and some juicy prose to boot. The plot is reminiscent of Cain’s ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’, featuring an illicit affair and a murder plot. This time the femme fatale is young woman trapped looking after her invalid, wealthy stepfather. When she seduces the local TV repairman the result is MURDER.
It’s definitely a book from the 1950s, with language and attitudes to match, but nothing you wouldn’t expect in a vintage crime novel. The plot isn’t desperately original, but the twists and turns are entraining, the prose is strong and the end is absolutely great.
The Comeback by Abby Gaines
Despite knowing nothing about NASCAR beyond what I can remember from watching ‘Days of Thunder’ years ago, I keep coming back (sorry) to these Harlequin NASCAR romances. They’re light and fun and really well crafted. This one was no exception, with a sweet co-worker romance between a gruff driver trying to make a return to the sport and the determined PR consultant assigned to work with him.
The romance is the highlight – a nice slow burn with a decent level of tension. The setting works well too, with a large cast of supporting characters (there are loads of books in the series that all knit together, even though they can be enjoyed individually). There’s sibling rivalry, career/romance conflicts and some fun racing action. The book also plays entertainingly with gender roles, with the driver entered into a Bachelor contest and judged on his looks for large parts of the book.
The whole thing feels like a Sunday afternoon TV movie, but one you’d quite happily watch on a rainy day.
Immortal Pleasures by V Castro
V Castro’s reworking and expansion of one of her early books (‘The Erotic Modern Life of Maninalli the Vampire’) is fast-paced, very spicy and a lot of trashy fun. It features a sexy female vampire on a mission, an enjoyably detailed historical back story and a lot of sex. A lot.
There’s a brilliant energy to V Castro’s writing in everything I’ve read by her, you can tell when you’re reading her work that she had a good time writing it and that she wants the reader to have a good time too. I don’t think this is her best book, but it’s definitely an entertaining read.
The Sentries by Ed McBain
This is an early-ish standalone from Ed McBain that feels quite different from his 87th Precinct series. Published in 1965 (along with 2 87th novels) it’s much more of a thriller than a mystery. At 300 pages it’s also long for a McBain book. It doesn’t feel long though, it moves at a good clip from page 1 and the broad cast of characters serves the story well. McBain had become used to juggling a lot of voices in the detectives and patrolmen of his police procedurals, and he uses those skills here.
The setting is a small Florida key that gets invaded by a militia group with a grander plan in mind, one that gradually becomes clearer as the plot progresses. The action focuses on both the militia and the local inhabitants, especially the harbourmaster, as they start to fight back. It’s tense stuff, with many boating scenes that no doubt draw on McBain’s experiences in the Navy.
Certainly not my favourite of his books, but it’s well done, gripping and enjoyably different from the work he’s best known for.
CriminOlly 
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