#DeadMansBlues by Ray Celestin Mini Review

Dead Man's Blues is the second out of an eventual four Ray Celestin Novels that will make up the City Blues Quartet. Occurring a few years after the events of the Axeman's Jazz, this story is set against the backdrop of prohibition Chicago, ripe with gangsters, booze runners and illicit underground bars. Al Capone calls the shots and Louis Armstrong provides the soundtrack and the two underpin the three stranded plot superbly whilst the whole culture of the time feels consistently prominent throughout the entire story. I often found myself spotifying a radio channel based on Louis Armstrong’s West End Blues, laying back in the unusual West Midlands sunshine and absorbing multiple chapters at a time. All I needed was a revolver and a trilby to really become one with the reality. 

The story focusses around three at first unrelated strands: a gruesome murder investigated by Jacob, a crime scene photographer who couldn’t make it as a cop because of a leg disability; a missing socialite’s daughter investigated by Michael and Ida of the Pinkerton detective agency, and an assassination attempt on Al Capone’s life in the form of tainted booze looked into by Dante, an old booze runner with a tragic past and a heroin addiction who owes Capon a favour…

The book does an excellent job of recreating the world of the time; the undercurrents of racism, the political corruption and the evolving jazz scene with a basis around real life events (though amended for literary satisfaction as admitted by the author in the afterward). Our three sets of investigators are all interesting characters, with detailed back stories and absorbing personalities. I especially enjoyed reading about Dante’s battles with his past and his struggles with addiction. 

The scenes are gruesome enough and some of the action gets very violent, without being needlessly so, and the inclusion of famous cameos like Armstrong and Capone are welcome and only serve to add to the realism. Capone particularly is expertly written, feeling as menacing and as brutal as his filmic portrayals. 

The way the book progresses from story to story with an intertwining you kind of feel is coming but don’t necessarily expect make the story a real page turner, with good levels of pacing. I thoroughly suggest a large glass of whiskey on a hot day, some good headphones and a jazz soundtrack and you’ll finish this in no time. Highly recommended. 

#StarWars #RepublicComando #HardContact by Karen Traviss mini review

The first in the series of Republic Commando novels from the Star Wars universe sees a group of commando troopers thrust together due to the unfortunate circumstances of war. Each being the sole survivor of their original teams, they find themselves thrust into a new squad of strangers and sent to infiltrate a new chemical research facility and extract the leading science officer from the world of Qillura. As they crash land upon the planet, one clone trooper is cut off from the rest of the group, convening with Jedi Padowan Etain Tur-Mukan; a self confidence lacking student Jedi who is struggling to stay alive after her Master was killed on the planet. She and clone trooper Darman develop an interesting relationship in the book. It's not one of romance, but of mutual respect. Darman helps Etain to bring out her inner confidence and leader whilst Etain comes to understand Darman not simply as a clone, but as an individual. The entire subject of the morality of using clones for an army makes for an intriguing basis for a story, one which Travis uses well throughout her novel. The gangs of ruffians employed by the chemical scientist Uthan to protect both her and the deadly toxin she is developing, are led by Ghez Hokan; a traditional Mandalorian with the values we have come to expect - as respect for war, ruthlessness, leadership and honor. His leadership changes when Uthan encourages him to become more independent. He rids himself of many of his old team, to be replaced mainly by expensive battle droids. His loathing of the clones and how they could've been constructed from the genetic instructions of Jango Fett is apparent throughout, and his determination right up until the bitter end of the story makes for some exciting tactical writing and battle scenes. With a range of interesting characters, an exciting story and quality writing throughout, this makes for a very entertaining read from the Star Wars universe and is more like a traditional war novel than it is a Star Wars book. Whilst the force and Jedi do come into it, there is no reliance on this at all, and the story is more focused around the military tactics of the clones and their advisories. The only reason this falls down a little for me, is that half way through the pace seemed to completely drop and felt a little stagnant. That said, once it picked up I was page turning rapidly right up until the finish and I'm very much looking forward to the next Republic Commando novel. I will also give Hard Contact on the Xbox another go after this. Ace read.

#MeTalkPrettyOneDay by David Sedaris mini review

After only recently discovering David Sedaris through BBC Radio 4 Extra and enjoying his story telling on there, I decided to give one of his books a go.

Broken in to two halves, the book is a collection of stories from David's life and his humerus observations about events and the world around him. The 2nd half is from his brilliant perspective has a French student living in Paris.

There are so many funny tales in the book, from his exploits into performance Art and Drugs, often at the same time; his fascination with Taxidermy and yes Mr Taxidermist, though I am after a stuffed owl I definitely do want to touch the human body part you have stored in a bag behind the counter, but how could you have possible known that about me? His struggles with his incredibly aggressive French teacher in Paris have laugh out loud moments and his broken not quite correct grasp of the language that inspires the title really had me chuckling.

Though not always laugh out loud, Sedaris is an extremely competent story teller, and the way he retells events, describes characters and relationships in his life and generally talks about making his way in the universe is somehow really comforting to read.

It's definitely bizarre, but endearing, entertaining and genuinely witty. Highly recommended.