Review: A DANGEROUS FICTION by Barbara Rogan (Penguin)

April 27, 2015April 23, 2015 Civilian Reader Review A Dangerous Fiction, Barbara Rogan, Crime, Fiction, Penguin, Publishing, Thriller

A publishing industry whodunnit?

When a glamorous literary agent falls prey to a violent stalker, she discovers that the publishing biz can really be murder…

Jo Donovan always manages to come out on top. Originally from the backwoods of Appalachia, she forged a hard path to elegant lunches and parties among New York City’s literati. At thirty-five, she’s the widow of the renowned novelist (and notorious playboy) Hugo Donovan, the owner of one of the best literary agencies in town, and is one of the most sought-after agents in the business. But all this is about to fall apart, as a would-be client turns stalker, a hack shops around a proposal for an unauthorized tell-all biography of Hugo, and a handsome old flame shows up without warning.

Both a seasoned author and a former literary agent herself, Barbara Rogan knows the publishing world from all angles. Fans of Lisa Lutz and Jaqueline Winspear will adore Jo Donovan and Rogan’s wickedly sharp tale that skewers the dangerous fictions we read—and the dangerous fictions we tell ourselves.

This was a pretty interesting novel. I first heard about it years ago, but only recently picked it up at the Strand Bookstore, in New York (easily one of the most overwhelmingly magical places on the planet…). A Dangerous Fiction is a well-written, interesting novel. There was one main weakness, but I nevertheless enjoyed reading it. It’s a must for anyone interested in publishing, too. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE PROFESSIONALS by Owen Laukkanen (Corvus/Berkley)

March 27, 2015January 31, 2021 Civilian Reader Review Atlantic Books, Berkley, Corvus Books, Crime, Debut 2012, Owen Laukkanen, Penguin, Professionals, Stevens & Windermere, Thriller

A fast-paced, engaging debut thriller

Four friends, caught in a terrible job market, joke about turning to kidnapping to survive. And then, suddenly, it’s no joke. For two years, the strategy they devise works like a charm – until they kidnap the wrong man.

Now two groups are after them – the law, in the form of veteran state investigator Kirk Stevens and hotshot young FBI agent Carla Windermere, and an organized crime outfit looking for payback. As they crisscross the country in a series of increasingly explosive confrontations, each of them is ultimately forced to recognize the truth: the real professionals, cop or criminal, are those who are willing to sacrifice everything.

This is the first of Laukkanen’s Stevens & Windermere thriller, and it marked the arrival of a great new voice for the genre. The novel is quickly-paced. The characters are interesting and mostly well-developed. It has a few debut niggles, but it’s pretty polished and gripping. I’ll be reading the rest of Laukkanen’s novels, and be keeping an eye open for more in the future. Continue reading →

Upcoming: THE HEART GOES LAST by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury)

March 19, 2015January 31, 2021 Civilian Reader Upcoming Bloomsbury, Heart Goes Last, Knopf, Margaret Atwood, Most Anticipated 2015, Nan A Talese, Thriller

Sad to say, I’ve still never read anything by Margaret Atwood… This is a shocking state of affairs. Anyway, the author has a new novel coming out in September 2015 — The Heart Goes Last (Bloomsbury) — and it sounds rather interesting:

Living in their car, surviving on tips, Charmaine and Stan are in a desperate state. So, when they see an advertisement for Consilience, a ‘social experiment’ offering stable jobs and a home of their own, they sign up immediately. All they have to do in return for suburban paradise is give up their freedom every second month – swapping their home for a prison cell. At first, all is well. But then, unknown to each other, Stan and Charmaine develop passionate obsessions with their ‘Alternates,’ the couple that occupy their house when they are in prison. Soon the pressures of conformity, mistrust, guilt and sexual desire begin to take over.

The information I’ve found on Goodreads (but nowhere else) suggests that this is a collection of four serialized stories originally published separately: I’m Starved for You, Choke Collar, Erase Me and The Heart Goes Last.

According to Amazon, the book is to be published by Nan A. Talese/Knopf in the US, but I couldn’t find mention of it on the publisher’s website.

Quick Review: HEAD OF STATE by Andrew Marr (Fourth Estate/Overlook)

March 17, 2015 Civilian Reader Review Andrew Marr, Farce, Fourth Estate, Head of State, Overlook, Politics, Satire, Thriller, UK Politics

A British political satire

It’s September 2017, and the United Kingdom is on the verge of a crucial referendum that will determine, once and for all, if the country remains a member of the European Union, or goes its own way. The stakes could not possibly be higher, and the outcome is delicately balanced.

But, unsuspected by the electorate, and unknown to all but a handful of members of the Prime Minister’s innermost circle, there is a shocking secret at the very heart of government that, were it to become known, would change everything in an instant. A group of ruthlessly determined individuals will stop at nothing – including murder – to prevent that from happening.

I have been familiar with Andrew Marr’s non-fiction work for years — his radio show has been a staple in my household for a long time. Therefore, when I learned that Marr had written a tongue-in-cheek political novel, I was very interested to read it. Head of State is an interesting, short novel; well-written and packed with insider knowledge. It was also, sadly, a little uneven. Continue reading →

Review: MEMORY MAN by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

March 9, 2015March 8, 2015 Civilian Reader Review Amos Decker Series, Crime, David Baldacci, Grand Central, Hachette, Macmillan, Memory Man, Suspense, Thriller

An engaging new thriller with an interesting new detective

Amos Decker’s life changed forever — twice.

The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect — he can never forget anything.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare — his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered.

His family destroyed, their killer’s identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home, and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when he can.

But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. He must endure the memories he would much rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I have reviewed many of Baldacci’s novels on CR, and loved pretty much all of them. I’ve read all of his novels since The Camel Club, and have also read almost all of his earlier ones. Each new series, each new character has been distinct from previous protagonists. Up until now, though, they have all been very much in the same mould: heroes, strong characters, some might say All-American. In Memory Man, Baldacci has tried something new — and successfully so. This is a very interesting mystery. Continue reading →

Review: VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab (Tor/Titan)

March 4, 2015January 18, 2019 Civilian Reader Review Fantasy, Must Read 2014, Super-Heros, Thriller, Titan Books, Tor Books, V.E. Schwab, VE Schwab, Vicious

A marvellous novel

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates — brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find — aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge — but who will be left alive at the end?

This novel got a lot of attention in the lead-up to its publication, and the attention has barely wained (the paperback edition came out a couple of weeks ago). I held off reading it for some time, largely because I have cooled to super-hero novels (each one I’ve read has been something of a disappointment). With Vicious, though, the hype is entirely justified. If you read only one super-hero novel, make it this one. If you only read one fantastical novel, make it this one. It’s marvellous. Continue reading →

Interesting, Different Conventions in Publishing… Synopses

February 27, 2015February 27, 2015 Civilian Reader Covers, Random Conventions, Crime, Distance, Doubleday, Enchanted, Harper Collins, Helen Giltrow, Orion Books, Publishing, Rene Denfeld, Thriller

I’ve been thinking a lot about some various different conventions in book publishing. Partly because I keep moving around, but also because one element of one of my jobs at a literary agency is keeping track of international editions of clients’ novels. Couple these two things with my ‘work’ on this blog, and I spend a lot of time reading publishers’ websites and catalogues. Recently, I’ve spotted a few books published in the UK and North America with quite different synopses (as well as covers), and I thought it might be interesting to take a look at a couple here. The differences aren’t massive by any means, and maybe I only picked up on them because I read so many. The differences between conventions in cover artwork are, however, much greater – I’ll put together another post about this in the future, I think.

The two novels that jumped out at me were Rene Denfeld‘s The Enchanted and Helen Giltrow‘s The Distance. I spotted them both first in Toronto, and thought they both looked really interesting (and, naturally, have bought them). Since then, I’ve seen that the novels are also published in the UK by Orion Books. With different covers and synopses, my interest in reading them only grew. To be clear, I don’t think whoever wrote the back cover text for either of these books’ North American editions did a bad job. I just think the UK synopses are a bit better, and exhibit some different conventions. Both of the novels are among my 2015 Must Reads. Let’s take the books one-by-one… Continue reading →

Interview with BRUCE McCABE

February 2, 2015February 1, 2015 Civilian Reader Interview Bruce McCabe, Crime, Dreamcon Publishing, Random House, Skinjob, Techno, Thriller, Transworld

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Bruce McCabe?

The ‘official version’ is I’ve spent a career researching, writing about, and advising on, human factors in technology innovation and adoption and now I write fiction. The unofficial version is, I’m an incorrigible explorer, and if I don’t spend time meeting people smarter than myself and poking and prodding new ideas and daydreaming about what they might mean, I go nuts!

Your debut novel, Skinjob, will be published in paperback by Transworld in January 2015. How would you introduce the novel to a potential reader? Is it the beginning of a series?

A frantic roller-coaster ride of a techno-thriller, set over just six days. Lots of action and provocative themes. A series? Maybe. My next book follows the fortunes of another protagonist, but I love the characters in Skinjob and if the right ‘what if?’ comes along I will be bringing them back. Continue reading →

Excerpt: SKINJOB by Bruce McCabe

February 2, 2015February 1, 2015 Civilian Reader Excerpt Bruce McCabe, Crime, Dreamcon Publishing, Skinjob, Suspense, Thriller, Transworld

Last week, Bruce McCabe‘s Skinjob was published in paperback in the UK by Transworld Books. It is published in North America by Dreamcon Publishing. Here’s the synopsis:

A bomb goes off in down town San Francisco. Twelve people are dead. But this is no ordinary target. This target exists on the fault line where sex and money meet.

Daniel Madsen is one of a new breed of federal agents armed with a badge, a gun and the Bureau’s latest piece of technology. He’s a fast operator and his instructions are simple: find the bomber – and before he strikes again.

In order to understand what is at stake, Madsen must plunge into a sleazy, unsettling world where reality and fantasy are indistinguishable, exploitation is business as usual, and the dead hand of corruption reaches all the way to the top. There’s too much money involved for this investigation to stay private…

Check back in half an hour for an interview with Bruce. In the meantime, check out this quick excerpt from the thriller: Continue reading →

Upcoming: New John Sandford Fiction

January 19, 2015 Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming Crime, Gathering Prey, John Sandford, Knopf, Michele Cook, Outrage, Prey Series, Putnam, Singular Menace Series, Suspense, Thriller

Longtime readers of CR will know I’m a huge fan of John Sandford‘s various series – be it the Lucas Davenport/Prey series, the Virgil Flowers spin-off series, or the Kidd & LuEllen series, I’ve loved them all. So, I’m happy to share the information for two upcoming 2015 releases from the author, including the 25th Prey novel:

GATHERING PREY

They call them Travelers. They move from city to city, panhandling, committing no crimes—they just like to stay on the move. And now somebody is killing them.

Lucas Davenport’s adopted daughter, Letty, is home from college when she gets a phone call from a woman Traveler she’d befriended in San Francisco. The woman thinks somebody’s killing her friends, she’s afraid she knows who it is, and now her male companion has gone missing. She’s hiding out in North Dakota, and she doesn’t know what to do.

Letty tells Lucas she’s going to get her, and, though he suspects Letty’s getting played, he volunteers to go with her. When he hears the woman’s story, though, he begins to think there’s something in it. Little does he know. In the days to come, he will embark upon an odyssey through a subculture unlike any he has ever seen, a trip that will not only put the two of them in danger—but just may change the course of his life.

Gathering Prey is due to be published in the US by Putnam, on April 28th 2015.

OUTRAGE, w. Michele Cook

Shay Remby and her gang of renegades have struck a blow to the Singular Corporation. When they rescued Shay’s brother, Odin, from a secret Singular lab, they also liberated a girl. Singular has been experimenting on her, trying to implant a U.S. senator’s memories into her brain—with partial success. Fenfang is now a girl who literally knows too much.

Can the knowledge brought by ex-captives Odin and Fenfang help Shay and her friends expose the crimes of this corrupt corporation? Singular has already killed one of Shay’s band to protect their secrets. How many more will die before the truth is exposed?

The second novel in Sandford and Cook’s The Singular Menace YA series, it follows Uncaged (which I still need to read). It’s due to be published in North America by Knopf for Young Readers, on July 14th 2015.