Blood Standard by Laird Barron
Alaskan ex-patriate Laird Barron now lives in New York State, where this debut crime novel is set. Barron, by the way, is no ingénue; Blood Standard may be his first straight-up crime effort, but the hardboiled school of writing has been an obvious influence on…
Casefile: Arkham - Her Blood Runs Cold
Written by Josh Finney, drawn by Patrick McEvoy — This new crime-horror crossover graphic novel gets started with a bang. In post-World War II Massachusetts, in the fictional city of Arkham, one of the first things ex-marine Hank Flynn has to do after getting his PI license…
Normandy Gold
Written by Alison Gaylin and Megan Abbott, drawn by Steve Scott — If the #metoo movement and the unsavoury antics of America’s pussy-grabbing president have once again brought the patriarchal abuse of power into the spotlight, then Abbott and Gaylin’s graphic novel set in the…
Into the Black Nowhere
Caitlin Hendrix, the star of Meg Gardiner’s Unsub series of serial killer thrillers, hits all the right notes. She is vulnerable but resourceful, guided by her instincts but knows the rules of profiling. In Into the Black Nowhere she will need all her skills; she…
The Woman in the Woods
Written by John Connolly — The Charlie Parker series has been thrilling fans for nearly 20 years. Every Dead Thing introduced the American ex-cop and private detective, whose own life is every bit as troubled as the poor unfortunates who seek out his services. Irish author…
American by Day
Written by Derek B Miller — With a catchy title that links to Derek B Miller’s previous novel, Norwegian by Night, American by Day has a completely different storyline and setting. However, as we noted when we reviewed the 2013 book, there were themes of family,…
Bluff by Michael Kardos
Reading Bluff brings to mind Christopher Nolan’s movie of feuding magicians, The Prestige. In it there’s a scene explaining the three stages of a magic trick. First comes The Pledge. This is the starting point of the trick, and gives the audience some idea of what…