2022: My Year in Reading

 The Books of My Life -2022

01. Revelator by Daryl Gregory

02. Star Trek: Coda: Moments Asunder By Dayton Ward

03. Star Trek: Coda: The Ashes of Tomorrow By James Swallow

04. Star Trek: Coda: Oblivion’s Gate By David Mack

05. The Bright Lands By John Fram

06. Butcher’s Moon By Richard Stark

07. Honestly, We Meant Well By Grant Ginder

08. The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

09. Call Me a Cab By Donald E. Westlake

10. The Prisoner of Blackwood Castle By Ron Goulart

11. The Curse of the Obelisk By Ron Goulart

12. Bad Monkey By Carl Hiaasen

13. Death in the Clouds By Agatha Christie

14. Doctor Who: Legends of Camelot By Jacqueline Rayner

15. The Guncle By Steven Rowley

16. Razorblade Tears By S.A. Cosby

17. A Keeper By Graham Norton

18. Moon Over Soho By Ben Aaronvitch

19. Suburban Dicks By Fabien Nicieza

20. Hollow Kingdom By Kira Jane Buxton

21. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London By Garth Nix

22. The People We Hate at the Wedding By Grant Ginder

23. Doctor Who: Verdigris By Paul Magrs

24. Lily and the Octopus By Steven Rowley

25. Double Whammy By Carl Hiaasen

26. Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By by Dan Abnett

27. The Final Girl Support Group By Grady Hendrix

28. Last Exit by Max Gladstone

29. The Antipope By Robert Rankin

30. The Brentford Triangle By Robert Rankin

31. Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar

32. Gwendy’s Final Task By Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

33. Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher

34. Whispers Underground By Ben Aaronvitch

35. Doctor Who: Murder Game By Steve Lyons

36. The Exchameleon: Daredevils, Ltd. By Ron Goulart

37. The Art of Prophecy By Wesley Chu

38. Broken Homes Ben Aaronvitch

39. Doctor Who: The Return of Robin Hood By Paul Magrs

40. The Exchameleon: Starpirate’s Brain By Ron Goulart

41. Fairy Tale By Stephen King

42. Empty Smiles By Katherine Arden

43. The White Devil By Justin Evans

44. Thinner By Richard Bachman

45. The House Next Door By Anne Rivers Siddons

46. The Season of Passage By Christopher Pike

47. Halloween Party By Agatha Christie

48. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

49. What Abigail Did That Summer By Ben Aaronovitch

50. The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil By Jack Barrow

51. The Furthest Station By Ben Aaronovitch

52. The Hanging Tree By Ben Aaronovitch

53. The October Man By Ben Aaronovitch

54. Doctor Who: The Way Through the Woods by Una McCormack

55. Ninth House By Leigh Bardugo

56. Lies Sleeping By Ben Aaronovitch

57. Fadeout By Joseph Hansen

58. Death Claims By Joseph Hansen

Books: Death Claims By Joseph Hansen (1973)

“Since a burning accident that left him painfully disfigured, John Oats, a well-liked collectible book dealer, has been self-isolating at his beach house in Arena Blanca, California. An avid swimmer, John Oats had taken to night swimming to hide his injuries from daytime beachgoers. When his body is found one morning smashed against the rocks at the treacherous point near the house, the authorities rule it “Death by Misadventure.” Insurance companies don’t much care for verdicts like that and therefore Medallion Insurance, the policy holder for Oats’s substantial life insurance policy, sends out its best investigator, Dave Brandstetter, to poke holes in the story. The night Oats died there was a dangerous storm along the coast, and Brandstetter finds it hard to believe that the bookseller, a lifelong swimmer, would have gone out. As his investigation reveals more of John Oats’s sad story Brandstetter learns that the motives for murder are many.”

Death Claims is the second Dave Brandstetter mystery and it’s just as wonderfully dark, noir-ish and ruthless as the first. Hansen’s prose reminds me much of Donald Westlake when he was writing his Parker novels under his Richard Stark pseudonym. It’s precise, sometimes cold, sometimes heartbreaking, but never sentimental and never wasted. Brandstetter remains dedicated to his work and will do and say anything to get his killer.

It’s still remarkable that Hansen’s work remains relatively unknown to modern noir readers (although his work has been reprinted in the last twenty years). In just two books, so far, I’ve found a remarkable writer of old-style detective writing skills who just happens to be gay and who knows that in the dark corners of Los Angeles of the 1970s, murder and love are always intertwined.

While investigating this latest case, we also get continued glimpse into Dave’s personal life, as he’s still mourning the death of his partner, Rod. It was his grief that got him involved with Doug (who appeared in the first book), but he too is grieving from the loss of his long-time love. But the two men must come to a reckoning of where their relationship stands, whether their love is a stand-in for their lost partners or something more.

Death Claims is a clever whodunit and brilliant work of noir fiction.

Books: Fadeout By Joseph Hansen (1970)

“Set around 1969, the tale begins with the disappearance of a California radio personality named Fox Olson. A failed writer, Olson finally found success as a beloved folksinger and wholesome country raconteur with a growing national audience. The community is therefore shocked when Olson’s car is found wrecked, having been driven off a bridge and swept away in a fast-moving arroyo on a rainy night. A life insurance claim is filed by Olson’s widow and the company holding the policy sends their best man to investigate. The problem is that Olson’s body was never found. Not in the car. Not further down the river. As Dave Brandstetter begins his investigation he quickly finds that none of it adds up.”

It’s rare for me to be impressed with novels (in any genre) –I’ve read lot and it’s hard to find something refreshing. Yet, Fadeout is a stellar mystery and is fifty years old. The first of twelve novels featuring Dave Brandstetter, an openly gay insurance investigator who embodies the tough, no-nonsense personality of those classic hardboiled private investigators of long ago (“After forty years, Hammett has a worthy successor, The Times –London claimed).

I really liked this book, and to be honest, I’m surprised that back in 1970, this book even got published by a mainstream publishing company, Harper & Row. Mostly because Brandstetter in no victim, he’s “contently homosexual,” as the New Yorker put it. He’s a man who is in a public relationship with another man and is working as a detective for his father’s insurance company. And he has a good relationship with his father, as well, even if his Dad does not approve of his son being gay. He does nothing more than be himself, a regular guy, one who everyone in his orbit assumes he’s straight –and feel comfortable using gay slurs because they all assume he is not one of “them.” It was just refreshing to read something like this and think this was released fifty-two years ago when gay characters were always seen as merely stereotypes –effeminate, damaged; to be killed or be the killer because their psychologically broken because their gay and society has rejected them. By the way, if anyone is curious, there are some subtle scenes of man-on-man action here, but it’s not shocking as it might’ve been in 1970.

While they’re have been other authors who have created gay detectives (Michael Nava’s Henry Rios was one I tried to read years and years ago), it’s shocking to me that Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter has gone by me and the rest of the world for these fifty years. I now must read the rest.

Books: Lies Sleeping By Ben Aaronovitch (2018)

“Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice. But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan. A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague–Lesley May–who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch.”

The seventh novel in the River of London series, I found myself a bit bored with Aaronovitch’s detailed research. While I appreciate his efforts to create a real, believable, smell inducing world, one where readers of the procedural novels like more and less than the “magical” aspects, I also felt his obsession with talking about buildings, their history and such, took the place of characters and situations. I trust he knows what he’s doing, but the history lesson became a bit pedantic as the book went along.

I was also a bit disappointed with the Faceless Man 2.0, Martin Chorley. At the back of my mind, I wondered when Aaronvitch would introduce the legend of King Arthur into the series, along with the power behind the King, Merlin and Excalibur. It comes here, but Chorley, in the end, turns out to be a low-level Bond villain when its revealed his plan is just to reset world to a more simpler time.

I’m also learning that the recent novellas are having little impact on the main series, but the graphic novels (currently nine) that have come out between books are becoming more prominent and referenced in those novels. And this could become a problem in the long run, as the series continues to grow in volumes. It forces Aaronovtich to create more characters, more subplots (some that are short, others that take longer to payoff), and spread his story through too many media prints. I’m not a reader of the graphic novels and from my perspective, they should not impact the main series, especially since some fans are claiming graphic novels is seemly looking to be a higher priority with the author than the print books.

There is some humor in it, but not as much as earlier books, which implies that Peter is growing up; it’s both nice and sad at the same time. False Value is next in the series, but maybe I’ll wait to read it. Besides, in March sees the paperback release of book nine and then I’ll be caught up. So maybe I’ll read something else before the end of 2022.