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Paul Johnston's "Quint Dalrymple" alternative reality neo-noir crime novels are fantastic.

 

Following a global financial crisis in the late 1990's, the UK and most other nations on earth have broken up into tiny city-states.

Edinburgh is a facist/communist state based on the teachings of Plato.

Private cars are banned.

The Festival is year-round.

Princes St gardens is a racecourse.

The Forth Bridges have all been blown up.

The citizens have free lifelong education and full employment but are strictly controlled.

Against this backdrop we follow the life and strange cases of Quint Dalrymple, formerly a commander in the City Guard and now a private investigator.

 

The author's been writing this series since 1997 and he's just released the latest one.

Obviously, residents of Embra will get the most out of them but they're cracking good detective novels in their own right too.

 

First in the series:51uRpLBy5kL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

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CF11JamTart

Four Kings by George Kemble.

 

A boxing book about Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Leonard.

 

Very well-written, but someone who was there at the time.

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On 13/03/2020 at 11:34, Haken said:

 

 

Now on Abandon by Blake Crouch which is much more entertaining.

Abandon was ok.  It was actually two stories set some years apart.  The earlier set in a mining town where a stash of gold is causing a bit of bother; the later but the story of modern day types trying to find what happened to that stash.

 

The started and finished Broken, the 4th in Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series.  Decent enough read without being anything special.

 

And now a third of the way through Helen Fieldings' latest, Perfect Kill.  Usually set in Edinburgh, part of this one is in France.

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16 hours ago, Flimsy said:

On a mission to read 52 books in 2020. 16 down so far and the lockdown is helping.

You doing that through Good Reads?

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20 hours ago, Flimsy said:

Yes, I set a reading challenge

Think I set mine at 35, though it doesn't take account of the length of books.  I don't think it gives you a row if you don't make the challenge.😂

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been here before
On 07/04/2020 at 19:40, Cade said:

Paul Johnston's "Quint Dalrymple" alternative reality neo-noir crime novels are fantastic.

 

Following a global financial crisis in the late 1990's, the UK and most other nations on earth have broken up into tiny city-states.

Edinburgh is a facist/communist state based on the teachings of Plato.

Private cars are banned.

The Festival is year-round.

Princes St gardens is a racecourse.

The Forth Bridges have all been blown up.

The citizens have free lifelong education and full employment but are strictly controlled.

Against this backdrop we follow the life and strange cases of Quint Dalrymple, formerly a commander in the City Guard and now a private investigator.

 

The author's been writing this series since 1997 and he's just released the latest one.

Obviously, residents of Embra will get the most out of them but they're cracking good detective novels in their own right too.

 

First in the series:51uRpLBy5kL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

I bought that years ago when it first came out, not really my thing but bought it as it was a wee bit different, quite enjoyed it as I recall. Might dig it out snd read it again.

 

On 08/04/2020 at 10:28, Crete said:

The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals great 😂 fun

 

 

Ive got a facsimilie of both the Broons and Oor Wullie first editions that are well worth going through. Oor Wullie in particular. He has a wee black pal and lets just say its very much 'of its time'.

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Shanks said no
On 07/04/2020 at 19:40, Cade said:

Paul Johnston's "Quint Dalrymple" alternative reality neo-noir crime novels are fantastic.

 

Following a global financial crisis in the late 1990's, the UK and most other nations on earth have broken up into tiny city-states.

Edinburgh is a facist/communist state based on the teachings of Plato.

Private cars are banned.

The Festival is year-round.

Princes St gardens is a racecourse.

The Forth Bridges have all been blown up.

The citizens have free lifelong education and full employment but are strictly controlled.

Against this backdrop we follow the life and strange cases of Quint Dalrymple, formerly a commander in the City Guard and now a private investigator.

 

The author's been writing this series since 1997 and he's just released the latest one.

Obviously, residents of Embra will get the most out of them but they're cracking good detective novels in their own right too.

 

First in the series:51uRpLBy5kL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Didn’t realise he had a new Book out, thanks Cade, loved these books when they first came out. 

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50 minutes ago, Haken said:

Think I set mine at 35, though it doesn't take account of the length of books.  I don't think it gives you a row if you don't make the challenge.😂

It's a good motivator. I'll give myself a wee row if I fail, or make myself read something by James Joyce as a forfeit!

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On 07/04/2020 at 19:40, Cade said:

Paul Johnston's "Quint Dalrymple" alternative reality neo-noir crime novels are fantastic.

 

Following a global financial crisis in the late 1990's, the UK and most other nations on earth have broken up into tiny city-states.

Edinburgh is a facist/communist state based on the teachings of Plato.

Private cars are banned.

The Festival is year-round.

Princes St gardens is a racecourse.

The Forth Bridges have all been blown up.

The citizens have free lifelong education and full employment but are strictly controlled.

Against this backdrop we follow the life and strange cases of Quint Dalrymple, formerly a commander in the City Guard and now a private investigator.

 

The author's been writing this series since 1997 and he's just released the latest one.

Obviously, residents of Embra will get the most out of them but they're cracking good detective novels in their own right too.

 

First in the series:51uRpLBy5kL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I've just stated that ↑ after reading your post and really enjoying it. Thanks

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Paul Johnston has a genetic condition which means he's very susceptible to various cancers.

He'd has cancer about nine times and took a long break from writing but he's churned out a fair few books in the last few years.

Body Politic: 1997

The Bone Yard: 1998

Water of Death: 1999

The Blood Tree: 2000

The House of Dust: 2001

Heads or Hearts: 2015

Skeleton Blues: 2017

Impolitic Corpses: 2019

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On 08/04/2020 at 14:29, Haken said:

And now a third of the way through Helen Fieldings' latest, Perfect Kill.  Usually set in Edinburgh, part of this one is in France.

I usually like HF's books, but Perfect Kill was just silly.  When your fiction is set in a factual world, you need to stick to the facts rather than just lazily bypass them in the interest of making your job as a writer easier.

 

Back to Karin Slaughter, and Fallen.

 

I'd actually bought two or three books in a series called Extinction Point, but can't bring myself to read them at the moment...

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Shanks said no
25 minutes ago, Haken said:

 

 

I'd actually bought two or three books in a series called Extinction Point, but can't bring myself to read them at the moment...



 

I can see why,

Emily Baxter, a human who is also the last of her kind on the eastern part of the United States. As a strange red rain came over the world, much of society was destroyed.

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On 15/04/2020 at 14:32, Haken said:

 

Back to Karin Slaughter, and Fallen.

 

Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series is pretty good without being brilliant.  Trent is an interesting character and I like the wider story arc that continues from book to book.  So finished Fallen and straight onto the next one, Criminal.

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wentworth jambo

was in the loft getting something and came across a box of around 20 or so Arthur C Clarke paperbacks...remember buying them a few years back and reading some of them but not all....that's my reading sorted for the next year or so 🙂

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been here before

Just finished:

 

81AP0UKZxoL.thumb.jpg.5f960bedb640b1bd744348f70275ca57.jpg

 

 

Fearnley fancies himself as a bit of an intellectual, throwing words in for no real reason, but its a good enough book.

Edited by been here before
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On 20/04/2020 at 14:22, wentworth jambo said:

was in the loft getting something and came across a box of around 20 or so Arthur C Clarke paperbacks...remember buying them a few years back and reading some of them but not all....that's my reading sorted for the next year or so 🙂

I struggle a wee bit with Clarke.  He obviously knows his science but I'm not convinced he's just as hot on the fiction (story telling) bit.  Though it amuses me that nowadays you see this sort of work being referred to as Hard Science Fiction, referring to the science in the fiction being entirely plausible.

 

Still, I'd have been chuffed to find a box of books I could use.  Instead, I'd gone looking for Pullman's Dark Material because my daughter wanted to read them.  Didn't find them and thought I must have given them away.  Bought my daughter the three books.  Next time I'm up the loft looking for paint, guess what I found...?

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Shanks said no

Finished book 3 in the Conn Iggulden  Wars of the Roses series: Bloodline
 

Will probably download the last in the series shortly as they are brilliant reads.

 

Meantime as a little stocking filler I am well through Love From Both Sides by Nick Spalding and its utter filth based around the modern day dating game. Gave to my grow up son to read a few pages and he too thought it hilarious.

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kylelauren01

‘Living on the Volcano’ (The secrets of surviving as a Football Manager) by Michael Calvin. A really good insight into football management from Premiership to League 2 and really insightful interviews with Wenger, Rogers, Mark Hughes, Holloway, Eric, etc. Very thought provoking and a must read for all fickle football fans!

 

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David Copperfield by Mr Dickens.  Read most of them as a lad somehow missed this one. Took a while to get used to his writing style big contrast to modern authors. 

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You Know What You Could Be by Mike Heron and Andrew Greig.

 

It looks as if it’s going to be a ghost-written history of the Incredible String Band, and sure enough the first 90 pages are “by” Mike Heron and about his school days and early gigs with Robin Williamson. But then the rest of the book is by Greig and portrays his teenage years in the East Neuk as a kind of ISB acolyte. An odd structure for a book. But it’s brilliant. Greig can write like an angel at times, and parts of the book are unbelievably moving, especially towards the end. All sorts of 1960s craziness seen through the eyes of a talented, self-effacing and highly perceptive Pittenweem teenager.

 

 

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Florence under siege by John Henderson.

 

A truly fascinating account of the Italian city of Florence living through the Italian plague of 1629-1631.

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wentworth jambo
On 22/04/2020 at 15:01, Haken said:

I struggle a wee bit with Clarke.  He obviously knows his science but I'm not convinced he's just as hot on the fiction (story telling) bit.  Though it amuses me that nowadays you see this sort of work being referred to as Hard Science Fiction, referring to the science in the fiction being entirely plausible.

 

Still, I'd have been chuffed to find a box of books I could use.  Instead, I'd gone looking for Pullman's Dark Material because my daughter wanted to read them.  Didn't find them and thought I must have given them away.  Bought my daughter the three books.  Next time I'm up the loft looking for paint, guess what I found...?

Interestingly, m daughter has just bought herself the last Pullman book - she says they are brilliant but I've never read or watched any of his stuff. In terms of Clarke, I think the biggest compliment I can pay is that reading his books in no way could you work out they written 50-odd years ago....I get what you're saying on the science v the fiction but I don't think it's always true. If you read some of the lesser known books (i.e. not 2001 or 2010 or any that have been made into films), he really paints a picture and you can pretty much imagine the scene in these alien worlds / ships. I think a lot of the time he also does the human internal conflict well and you can sense how the characters actually feel. But agree - the science (which lets face it was his area of expertise) is much better.

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5 hours ago, wentworth jambo said:

Interestingly, m daughter has just bought herself the last Pullman book - she says they are brilliant but I've never read or watched any of his stuff. In terms of Clarke, I think the biggest compliment I can pay is that reading his books in no way could you work out they written 50-odd years ago....I get what you're saying on the science v the fiction but I don't think it's always true. If you read some of the lesser known books (i.e. not 2001 or 2010 or any that have been made into films), he really paints a picture and you can pretty much imagine the scene in these alien worlds / ships. I think a lot of the time he also does the human internal conflict well and you can sense how the characters actually feel. But agree - the science (which lets face it was his area of expertise) is much better.

The Pullman Dark Material books are good.  Young Adult, but the themes are pretty challenging.  The first book basically says in a not very subtle way here's the Catholic Church; it steals children's souls.  Pullman is pretty open about his aethiesm.  In the film version, Nicole Kidman got them to soften her tole a bit given her own religious beliefs.  The TV adaptation was much better and truer to the book, and it also ties in some of the events of the second book rather than just doing a straight book at a time adaptation.

 

On the scifi, I liked Frank Herbert, whose science was in a different field from Clark.  Dune is still one of my all time favourite books, but none of the rest of the series gets close to it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
3fingersreid

Just finished two books this week

 

Ian Murray’s “This is Our Hearts” thought it was okay , we really were in the shite . 
 

“ Spitfire “ by John Nicholl , we’ll worth a read , telling the stories of the men and women who flew these iconic aeroplanes during WW2

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One of my friends is the single most beautiful soul imaginable and shes recommended “the Alchemist” anyone read it?

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Georgecowie
5 hours ago, sadj said:

One of my friends is the single most beautiful soul imaginable and shes recommended “the Alchemist” anyone read it?

Surely that is recommendation enough? Or no in other words. I've started the trick is to keep breathing by Janice Galloway. Not sure it's a great idea in lockdown but OK so far. 

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3fingersreid
On 09/04/2020 at 13:52, Cade said:

Paul Johnston has a genetic condition which means he's very susceptible to various cancers.

He'd has cancer about nine times and took a long break from writing but he's churned out a fair few books in the last few years.

Body Politic: 1997

The Bone Yard: 1998

Water of Death: 1999

The Blood Tree: 2000

The House of Dust: 2001

Heads or Hearts: 2015

Skeleton Blues: 2017

Impolitic Corpses: 2019

He did one based on a detective on a Greek island , can’t remember its name , but I couldn’t get into it and gave up ☹️
The stories of Quint Dalrymple are excellent , almost prophetic . 

 

On 22/04/2020 at 15:19, Barack said:

The Ice Man.

 

About Richard Kuklinski. The most notorious mob hitman/serial killer on the side.

 

Decent read, if you like that kind of thing.

Superb book , from the moment you read about the giant rats it’s a book you can’t put down 👍🏻 ( the film was good but didn’t do the book justice ) 

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14 hours ago, sadj said:

One of my friends is the single most beautiful soul imaginable and shes recommended “the Alchemist” anyone read it?

Years ago but can't remember much about it, but it's one of those books that's popular to have read...

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On 20/04/2020 at 11:43, Haken said:

Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series is pretty good without being brilliant.  Trent is an interesting character and I like the wider story arc that continues from book to book.  So finished Fallen and straight onto the next one, Criminal.

Criminal was pretty good and provides a lot of back story to some of the main characters.  Clears up a lot of questions around how a dyslexic fella managed to become an agent for a federal agency...

 

Now reading the first of the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch.

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14 hours ago, Georgecowie said:

Surely that is recommendation enough? Or no in other words. I've started the trick is to keep breathing by Janice Galloway. Not sure it's a great idea in lockdown but OK so far. 


its the best recommendation , was just curious on peoples thoughts on it

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Shanks said no

Finished Love From Both Sides by Nick Spalding and it was an excellent piece of modern day filthy junk.

 

Now moved on to The Spirit of the Dragon by William Andrews, the 3rd book in the trilogy about Korea. A more  serious novel which charts the Japanese occupation and rise of Korean nationalism before and after the 2nd World War. A good read so far and topical as North Korea is back in the news.

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  • 2 weeks later...
3fingersreid

Just finished Helmet For My Pillow

 

a very interesting view of the Pacific war from a marines point of view . It was the book that the mini series The Pacific was based on 

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Shanks said no

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, book 2 of the Chaos Walking trilogy.

 

Decent young adult science fiction. I only have about three books left on my kindle, charity shops are closed, so my choices are getting sorely restricted unless I spend some cash.

 

PS Book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy is being made into a film, due out early 2021.

Edited by The Frenchman Returns
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annushorribilis III

Fire & Fury by Michael Wolff.  It's about his perception of Trump's presidency over the first nine months where he had total access to the WH and all staff.

 

Interesting views on the Trump personality and his utterly useless cabinet, family & political advisers. I originally started out thinking they were all  opportunists out for personal gain (clearly some are) but more & more you see a country ruled by complete incompetents (because Trump never built a political base ready for power he has no one & anyone with any gravitas will not work for him) and a president who just doesn't care about anything he's not interested in (and he's not interested in much).

Interesting too that he never considered he would win the presidential race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just finished Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. Haven't read one of his for a wee while but really enjoyed it

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been here before

Nearly finished this....

 

9780753553954.jpg.1889533da670b3abae627ff1991d3200.jpg

 

...which as an ensemble piece actually flows quite well. Its the story of the band and its constituant members up until 1980.

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will-i-am-a-jambo
9 hours ago, annushorribilis III said:

Fire & Fury by Michael Wolff.  It's about his perception of Trump's presidency over the first nine months where he had total access to the WH and all staff.

 

Interesting views on the Trump personality and his utterly useless cabinet, family & political advisers. I originally started out thinking they were all  opportunists out for personal gain (clearly some are) but more & more you see a country ruled by complete incompetents (because Trump never built a political base ready for power he has no one & anyone with any gravitas will not work for him) and a president who just doesn't care about anything he's not interested in (and he's not interested in much).

Interesting too that he never considered he would win the presidential race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the bit in bold is true - it certainly shows!

 

Back on topic, l've just finished reading War and Peace, it took me about a year, obviously lm not the quickest reader but l feel quite proud having read it.

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Riddley Walker

I'm reading Adults in The Room by Yanis Varoufakis. 

 

Former Greek finance minister documenting the years 2010-2015 and the mental behind-the-scenes dealings with the EU, ECB, Greek govt. etc during the Greek debt crisis. 

 

It's given me a bit of a crash course in economics but he makes it accessible and has a great writing style. Heavily critical of the EU and European banking bodies. Excellent read so far. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 07/05/2020 at 11:19, Haken said:

Criminal was pretty good and provides a lot of back story to some of the main characters.  Clears up a lot of questions around how a dyslexic fella managed to become an agent for a federal agency...

 

Now reading the first of the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch.

My reading has slowed down mainly due to the fact that I used to do most of it ion my commute.  Onto the second instalment in the Wayward Pines trilogy.  S'OK

On 19/05/2020 at 23:11, The Frenchman Returns said:

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, book 2 of the Chaos Walking trilogy.

 

Decent young adult science fiction. I only have about three books left on my kindle, charity shops are closed, so my choices are getting sorely restricted unless I spend some cash.

 

PS Book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy is being made into a film, due out early 2021.

Glad that not all my recommendations are cack.

On 20/05/2020 at 13:28, Jamhammer said:

Just finished Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. Haven't read one of his for a wee while but really enjoyed it

Probably one of King's better efforts of late.

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Weakened Offender
On 20/05/2020 at 13:28, Jamhammer said:

Just finished Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. Haven't read one of his for a wee while but really enjoyed it

 

His books are such a mixed bag. The Dark Half and Bag of Bones were a both great reads. 

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Greedy Jambo

Is this where all the intelligent folk hang out?

Moan the grammar police. 

Edited by Space Pirate
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46 minutes ago, Weakened Offender said:

 

His books are such a mixed bag. The Dark Half and Bag of Bones were a both great reads. 

His early novels were all amazing, kinda lost his way but really enjoyed Dr Sleep

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished reading the fools fate by Robin hobb again. Read all 3 trilogys about prince fitz chivalry one after the other. Wife and daughter looking at me wondering if I was crying during the last 2 chapters tonight, of course I was. Without a doubt, my favourite book series ever.

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