Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”—F. Scott Fitzgerald
My TBR drought continues somewhat with Michael Connelly’s The Waiting not expected to arrive before October. While I’m waiting, Mary ordered me a paperback of Rex Stout’s Trouble in Triplicate, a signed copy of William Kent Kreuger’s Spirit Crossing and a signed copy of We Solve Murders by Richard Osman who created the wonderful Thursday Murder Club series that hasn’t arrived yet. There’s also a short list of books I reserved from the library and I’m always surprised and delighted, when one of them—like Five Decembers (reviewed below)—pops up.
My Thoughts about The Mercy of Gods
I was anxiously looking forward to reading The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey, the creators of the books that were the basis for the impressive The Expanse TV series. While The Expanse was not perfect—the season where the crew of the Rocinante was landlocked on a planet were everybody was going blind, comes to mind—there was much to like in the series from the actors to the impressive special effects that were much better than what passes for CG in recent films such as Furiosa.
I was initially excited about the book but quickly became bored by the incessant drumbeat of the academic politics and pettiness of the book’s main characters. This pattern of behavior is never ending even after an alien invasion when the scientists are kidnapped, taken to (maybe) the alien’s home world and forced to work at their specialties to prove their worth. And even then, the academic squabbling never ends! There is, at least one interesting and sympathetic character in the book, although it takes a while to reveal who the are, but they are dead and their body is taken over by another alien species that’s maybe mechanical (nanites?) And there are lots of alien species walking (and flying) around on the (maybe) home planet of the invaders each and every one are more interesting than the book’s main characters.
I seem to be alone in this opinion: The book’s front and back covers are covered with effusive praise for the authors—whose real names are Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck—and it left me wondering if they read the same book I just finished. It reminds me, yet again, of Furiosa, which has a 90 Tomato rating while Mary and turned it off about a third of the way in because we were so bored by what was happening or not happening on screen. Anyway, you may like this book because all those people who wrote those blurbs think it’s a “masterpiece.”
I read every page of The Mercy of Gods and, because you asked, If I quit reading a book after so many pages. I don’t count it on my list of “books read.” John Grisham says he gives a book 100 pages to engage him before putting it aside; Steven King says its 50 pages. At one point while reading The Mercy of Gods, my wife says, “why don’t’ you quit reading that book, it just makes you angry?” And I kept thinking, these are the guys who wrote The Expanse, it’s got to get better. I was wrong.
A Gripping Historical Mystery
Five Decembers by
Structurally and stylistically the novel reminds me of James Ellroy’s LA Confidential except that it’s set against a far more exotic background. And that’s not a bad thing. Ellroy’s excellent book was written before his transition into a noir poet and latter-day James Joyce. LA Confidential is a terrific novel and is highly recommended as is the movie, which won two 1997 Academy Awards, one for Best Actress for Kim Basinger and one for the screenplay for Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson who also directed the film.
Five Decembers is crisply written, cleverly plotted and loaded with historical detail. The ending of the book is beautiful, poignant and everything an old fashioned romantic like myself could want. Five Decembers is highly recommended and not just for lovers of the classic hard boiled mystery but anyone who enjoys truly imaginative and engaging mystery fiction.
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