Am Looking Forward To

Death Can’t Take a Joke (The Friday Project, 2014) by Anya Lipska

The second Kiszka and Kershaw crime thriller. When masked men brutally stab one of his closest friends to death, Janusz Kiszka – fixer to East London’s Poles – must dig deep into London’s criminal underbelly to track down the killers and deliver justice. Shadowing a beautiful Ukrainian girl he believes could solve the mystery, Kiszka soon finds himself skating dangerously close to her ruthless ‘businessman’ boyfriend. Meanwhile, his old nemesis, rookie police detective Natalie Kershaw is struggling to identify a mystery suicide, a Pole who jumped off the top of Canary Wharf Tower. But all is not what it seems…

Sparks fly as Kiszka and Kershaw’s paths cross for a second time, but they must call a truce when their separate investigations call for a journey to Poland’s wintry eastern borders…

The Facts of Life and Death (Bantam Press, 2014) by Belinda Bauer

Call your mother.’
‘What do I say?’
‘Say goodbye.’
This is how it begins.
Lone women terrorised and their helpless families forced to watch – in a sick game where only one player knows the rules. And when those rules change, the new game is Murder.
Living with her parents in the dank beach community of Limeburn, ten-year-old Ruby Trick has her own fears. Bullies on the school bus, the forest crowding her house into the sea, and the threat of divorce.
Helping her Daddy to catch the killer might be the key to keeping him close.
As long as the killer doesn’t catch her first…

The Murder of Harriet Krohn (Harvill Secker, 2014) by Karin Fossum 

A brilliant why-dunit from Norway’s ‘Queen of Crime’

Charlo Torp has problems.
He’s grieving for his late wife, he’s lost his job, and gambling debts have alienated him from his teenage daughter. Desperate, his solution is to rob an elderly woman of her money and silverware. But Harriet Krohn fights back, and Charlo loses control.
Wracked with guilt, Charlo attempts to rebuild his life. But the police are catching up with him, and Inspector Konrad Sejer has never lost a case yet.
Told through the eyes of a killer, The Murder of Harriet Krohn poses the question: how far would you go to turn your life around, and could you live with yourself afterwards?

Review: How A Gunman Says Goodbye by Malcolm Mackay

Esta entrada es bilingüe, para ver la versión en castellano desplazarse hacia abajo

Mantle, 2013. Kindle Edition. 431 KB. 239 pages. ISBN: 978-0-230-76466-8. ASIN: B00CP4I4FM.

How A Gunman Says Goodbye is the second novel in the Glasgow trilogy. The story begins just after the events narrated in the previous book The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, read my review here. Some reviewers do not consider it necessary to have read the first instalment for a better understanding of this novel. Allow me to disagree. It can be read as a standalone book, however most of the characters are the same in both stories and you’ll find some spoilers of what happened in the first novel. Besides The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter is a worthwhile read. 

Frank MacLeod is back in Glasgow after spending a couple of weeks in Spain recovering from a hip surgery.

‘The recovery, the holiday – that was all fine. Enjoyable for a while. It’s nice to put your feet up and not even think about work. It got boring, though. When your work is your life, a long holiday is a bad thing. He’s been itching to return to work. To be back in the loop. It’s taken a couple of weeks to convince people, but it seems to have worked.’

Peter Jamieson, MacLeod’s boss, is glad to have him back. In fact he needs to send out a little message and MacLeod is the right man for the job. At this point, Jamieson gets serious and lowers his voice, the situation requires of certain solemnity, he’s about to order a man’s death.

The target is Tommy Scott, little more than a kid, who is helping Shug Francis to rapidly expand his drug network into Jamieson’s territory. Something Jamieson can’t allow, he needs to protect his own people and, at the same time, send a message to Shug Francis and let him know his men aren’t safe.  

But it all goes wrong and Jamieson is forced to seek the help of Callum MacLean. It appears that Frank MacLeod’s days as a gunman are numbered.  

Malcolm Mackay was born and grew up in Stornoway where he still lives. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, his much lauded debut was the first in the Glasgow Trilogy, set in the city’s underworld. It was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award for Best Crime Debut of the Year, the Scottish First Book of the Year, and was featured in ITV3’s Specsavers Crime Thriller Club programme. How A Gunman Says Goodbye, the second book in the series, won the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award. The Sudden Arrival of Violence is the final book in the trilogy and was released in January 2014.

Written in the third person by an omnipresent narrator, the story is told by following alternatively some of the main characters involved in the plot. It has a tone that sounds very much businesslike and highly professional. The style is clear, brief and concise, without any flourishes or superfluous additions.  A style that I like very much and, in my view, is very appropriate for this subject. The storyline works much better and has more strength than his first book. In a nutshell, another unconventional and original book I enjoyed reading. I’m looking forward to reading The Sudden Arrival of Violence shortly and I’m keen to find out where is heading Mackay’s writing in a near future. Highly recommended.      

My rating: A (I loved it) 

How a Gunman Says Goodbye has been reviewed at Raven Crime Reads, Col’s Criminal Library (Col) and Crime Review (John Cleal)   

Panmacmillan

How A Gunman Says Goodbye de Malcolm Mackay

How A Gunman Says Goodbye es la segunda novela de la trilogía de Glasgow. La historia comienza justo después de los acontecimientos narrados en el libro anterior The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, lea mi reseña aquí. Algunos críticos consideran que no es necesario haber leído la primera entrega para una mejor comprensión de esta novela. Permítanme que esté en desacuerdo. Se puede leer como un libro independiente, sin embargo la mayoría de los personajes son los mismos en ambas historias y se van a encontrar con algunos spoilers de lo sucedido en la primera novela. Además The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter es una lectura muy recomendable.

Frank MacLeod ha regresado a Glasgow después de pasar un par de semanas en España recuperándose de su operación de cadera.

‘La recuperación, las vacaciones – todo eso estaba muy bien. Agradable por un tiempo. Es bueno poner los pies en alto y ni siquiera pensar en el trabajo. Se vuelve aburrido, sin embargo. Cuando tu trabajo es tu vida, unas largas vacaciones es una cosa mala. Siente ganas de regresar al trabajo. Estar de vuelta. Le ha llevado un par de semanas convencer a la gente, pero parece haber funcionado.’

Peter Jamieson, el jefe de MacLeod, se alegra de tenerlo de vuelta. De hecho tiene que enviar un pequeño mensaje y MacLeod es el hombre adecuado para ese trabajo. En esto, Jamieson se pone serio y baja la voz, la situación requiere de cierta solemnidad, está a punto de ordenar la muerte de un hombre.

El objetivo es Tommy Scott, poco más que un niño, que está ayudando a Shug Francis a expandir rápidamente su red de drogas por el territorio de Jamieson. Algo que Jamieson no puede permitir, tiene que proteger a su gente y, al mismo tiempo, enviar un mensaje a Shug Francis, hacerle saber que sus hombres no están a salvo.

Pero todo sale mal y Jamieson se ve obligado a buscar la ayuda de Callum MacLean. Parece que los días de Frank MacLeod como un pistolero están contados.

Malcolm Mackay nació y creció en Stornoway donde aún vive. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, su primera y muy alabada novela es la primera de la Trilogía de Glasgow, tiene lugar en los bajos fondos de la ciudad. Fue seleccionada para el CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award a la mejor primera novela del año, al Mejor Primer Libro Escocés del Año, y fue presentada en el programa Specsavers Crime Thriller Club de la ITV3. How A Gunman Says Goodbye, el segundo libro de la serie, ganó el Premio Deanston a la mejor novela negra escocesa del año. The Sudden Arrival of Violence es el último libro de la trilogía y ha sido publicado en enero de 2014.

Escrito en tercera persona por un narrador omnipresente, la historia está contada siguiendo alternativamente algunos de los personajes principales implicados en la trama. Tiene un tono que suena muy serio y muy profesional. El estilo es claro, breve y conciso, sin florituras ni añadidos superfluos. Un estilo que me gusta mucho y, en mi opinión, es muy apropiado para este tema. La historia funciona mucho mejor y tiene más fuerza que su primer libro. En definitiva, otro libro poco convencional y original que he disfrutado leyendo. Estoy deseando leer The Sudden Arrival of Violence en breve y estoy interesado en conocer por dónde va a discurrir la escritura de Mackay en un futuro próximo. Muy recomendable.

Mi valoración: A (Me encantó)

Colombian Author Wins Spain’s Alfaguara Prize

Colombian author Jorge Franco was named Thursday as winner of Spain’s Alfaguara Novel Prize for “El mundo de afuera,” which is loosely based on a kidnapping that rocked Medellin – the Andean nation’s second city – in 1971. Read additional information at La Prensa (in English)

Penguin Random House buys leading Spanish publisher

Penguin Random House, a world leader in the publishing sector, has purchased Spanish Santillana Ediciones Generales  and other brands (Alfaguara, Taurus, Suma de Letras, Aguilar, Altea, Fontanar, Objetiva and Punto de Lectura) from media conglomerate Prisa for 72 million euros ($100 million), the parties announced Wednesday. More at Publishers Weekly.

Film: Dallas Buyers Club directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée with an original screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. It was released in Madrid on 14 March, 2014. Begoña and I went to see the film last weekend.

The synopsis on the official website says: A son of Texas, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as HIV positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence. His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the US, so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the US, challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner). An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon (Jared Leto), a transsexual who shares Ron’s lust for life. Rayon also shares Ron’s entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a “buyers club,” where HIV positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Ron’s pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before. 

The story rests on two pillars. One is the evolution of an extremely homophobic man, Ron Woodroof, towards a greater understanding of people with different sexual preferences, after being infected with HIV virus. The other is his fight against the  pharmaceutical and health system that does not offer a better alternative. And it counts with two superb interpretations, for this alone is justified go and see it. But it seems to me that neither the direction nor the way the story is told, bring out the best of this film.

See Dallas Buyers Club review at The Hollywood Reporter

Official website