Three books

That’s three reviews in rapid succession.

Carl Hiaasen’s Star Island –

Part of the seemingly never-ending tale about the graft and corruption, problems with the fragile coastline ecosystems and fair amount of ribald satire (or satyr) layered in, as well. From the first novel I read, I’ve always enjoyed the upbeat, snarky, mature prose. No errors, no slips, tightly choreographed, and properly arranged with suspense for all. Funny. Not always funny, but the black humor finds its way, to be sure.

Next to my copy, I’ve got an older copy of the author’s previous book. I was wondering if I read it, then I looked inside, random page, read about half a paragraph and recalled most of the details. I like his work and I would have to consider him one of the founding fathers of wacko-crime novels.

Christopher Moore’s Bite Me –

Squee – kewl to Blood Sucking Fiends and You Suck. That was a lame joke.

I’ve found this author’s work to be a little uneven, in places. However, the Vampire Trilogy, it’s a sound set and I enjoyed the narrative thread in the last installment, Bite Me. The narrative thread fell off the rails a few times, for me, but then, I’m used to a more linear method in story telling, and it bounced from several different characters’ point-of-view. What was good is that the author tried something new. What didn’t work was me tracking it. I put it away, about halfway through, only to pick it back up the next day. Couldn’t leave it alone. The trick to the book, and reflecting backwards, while the style didn’t always suit me, as a change, it’s good.

William Gibson’s Zero History –

There’s an obvious thread here, from the sunny and neon of Florida to the comically dark world of the Bay Area, finally to William Gibson’s latest. I was ground floor with his early work, and I’ve watched over the years, it’s a little less Science Fiction, and more speculative material, with a definite “noire” flavor. Overlay. More than a hint. Dark style.

The last novel, Spook County, I bought as a first edition hardback and got consumed with other matters so I didn’t get around to reading it until it came out in paperback. Still have that original copy in hardback, never read. Passed the paperback onto a fellow reader.

Not quite the case with the latest, it “went to the beach” with me.