I'VE BEEN READING

I normally post the books I have read during the past week in the comments on Patti Abbott's Monday blog.  For some reason these comments for the past two weeks were eaten by the internet after I have posted them.  Today, I posted and reposted them a total of three times -- all to have them vanish.  I have no idea why and other things I have posted there have gotten through.  Go figure.

Time constraints lately have pushed my regular Monday posting here -- Bits & Pieces -- to every other week, so I thought I'd use this space to report on the books I have read over the past two weeks.  This will not/should not be a regular thing.  Here goes:

Books read, in alphabetical order:

• "Barbara Allan" (Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins), Antiques Liquidation.  The latest Trash 'n' Treasure mystery, a cute and clever series that ignores the fourth wall.
• Lawrence Bloch, Hit List.  The second book in the Keller series about a professional hit man who collects stamps.  An interesting and highly engagins series.
• Martin Edwards, The Cipher Garden.  The second in the author's Lake District series.  A well-written and well-plotted mystery with an interesting locale.
• Erle Stanley Gardner, The D.A. Breaks a Seal, The D.A. Cooks a Goose, The D.A. Draws a Circle, The D.A. Goes to Trial, The D.A. Holds a Candle, and The D.A. Takes a Chance.  Gardner wrote nine novels in the late 30s/early 40s about D.A. Doug Selby.  Selby is to district attorneys as Perry Mason is to criminal defense lawyers.  Fast, fun, and pulpish, Gardner keeps a lot of balls in the air.  I had previously read the first book in the series and decided it was high time I read the rest.  The other two D.A. books should be coming in this week.
• Lee Goldberg, Mr. Monk Is Miserable and Mr. Monk on Patrol.  Television tie-in mysteries.  Goldberg wrote fifteen of these and the books are as addictive as the television series was.  In the books, Goldberg gives the characters a chance to grow while still remaining true to the original concept.
• Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin, The Dead Man, Volume 6 and The Dead Man, Volume 7.  Each omnibus contains three novels in the monthly thriller series about Matt Cahill, a man who died in an avalanche and is mysteriously resurrected three months later.  Cahill finds himself fighting a demonic force in order to stop (or, at least lessen) wholesale slaughter.  Cahill's weapon of choice?  His grandfather's ax.  Included in these two volumes are Neil Anthony Smith's Colder Than Hell (#16), Lisa Klink's Evil to Burn (#17), Barry Napier's Streets of Blood (#18), Mel Odom's Crucible of Fire (#19), Stant Litore's The Dark Need (#20), and Stella Green's The Rising Dead (#21).  The contract for these books was extended for a second year, with a projected 24 novels in all; the series, however, ended with book #24 -- a triple-sized volume that was first published as an Amazon serial.  I'll be reading that one this week.  The enitre pulp series would be at home in the pages of a weird menace magazine of the 30s, such as Terror Tales.
• Grady Hendrix, My Best Friend's Exorcism.  A mash-up of humor, horror, and the eternal gift of friendship.  Recently made into a fairly decent movie available on one of the streaming services.
• James Kestrel, Five Decembers.  The Edgar-winning novel that spans the World WAr II years.  Absolutely engrossing and recommended without qualification.
• Steve Martin, Number One Is Walking.  Graphic novel memories of Martin's career.
• Stephanie Phillips, Grim, Volume One.  Horror graphic novel.
• Bill Pronzini, High Concepts.  His latest collection.  Science fiction and fantasy stories, a mumber of them in collaboration.
• Robert Silverberg, three erotic novels from the 60s, The Hot Beat (originally published as by "Stan Vincent" -- a Hard Case Crime reprint with three additional short stories) and two-in-one volume from Strak House Press, Gutter Road (orignally as by "Don Elliott") and You Can't Stop Me (originally titled Lust Lover as by "Dan Eliot").  [When things got too hot legally for soft-core publisher Greenleaf/Corinth Books, popular pseudonyms werer altered -- "Don Elliott" became "Dan Eliot," "Andrew Shaw" became "Andrew Shole," and so on.]  These books hinted at a lot and hid behind vague descriptions but would not be out of place on today's newstands.  They provided a good training ground for future successful writers such as Silverberg, Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Jakes, Bill Pronzini, Evan Hunter, and Dean Koontz, among others.  (Hunter and Koontz have both denied writing such titles, but the evidence appears to be there.)
• Rex Stout, Bad for Business and Double for Death.  Two Tecumseh Fox mysteries, both very good.  Fox never hit the same heights as Nero Wolfe, either in popularity of in profitability.  Wolfe just out-quirked Fox's personality traits.
• Paul Tremblay, Survival Song.  An apocalyptical novel concerning a deadly virus.  Claustrophobic and chilling.
• James Tynion IV, The Nice House on the Lake, Volume Two.  Graphic novel closing the story arc, while leaving room for more tales.  A representative group of people face the end of humanity while at a remote location.
• Donald E. Westlake, Put a Lid on It.  Crime novel about a presidential election and the stupidity of politicians.  With a bit of tweaking, this could have been a Dortmunder novel, but I'm just as glad Westlake decided not to go there.

Coming up:  The final Dead Man, at least one more Doug Slby mystery, a classic Max Allan Collins novel, a Lawrence Block novel from Hard Case Crime, and -- perhaps -- the latest books from Salman Ruchdie and Katherine Dunn.