What are you currently reading?

[QualityBookReviews]

An open discussion on what everyone is currently reading. Make recommendations to others, discuss what is new, hot, bestsellers, anything and everything related to books and the authors.

[K.R. Lewis]

"The Fourth Watcher" by Timothy Hallinan. Halfway through it...excellent, excellent, excellent!

[Naomi Johnson]

JD Rhoades's GOOD DAY IN HELL.

[carole gill]

I like blasts from the past currently.
I just started Chester Hime's IF HE HOLLERS, LET HIM GO. It's one tough book, boy.
Hime's first novel. A passionate, angry novel of an African American man who is employed in a defense plant in Los Angeles during World War Two.
The thing that strikes me the most is the basic point of the whole thing: while a war was being fought, the main character Bob Jones finds himself embroiled in a war in his native country. It's one of the most powerful novels I have ever read.

[I. J. Parker]

Finally got a copy of CHILD 44 from the library. Read about half, found it utterly boring and merely sentional and gave up. This in no way resembles GORKY PARK (to which it is compared on the jacket), but is merely an attempt to buy into the taste for gory tales. In addition it's badly organized. The story of the serial killings of children is not connected with the story of the KGB investigator and his wife until later (well, past where I stopped -- I hope there's some connection). In essence, it relies on multiple little horror stories, mostly over the top of believability even in Stalinist Russia.

[Naomi Johnson]

What was it about the book, if anything in your opinion, that qualified it for the long list for the Booker Prize?

[I. J. Parker]

Booker Prize? I thought I saw it listed for something somewhere. Nothing really. It didn't win, did it?

[Naomi Johnson]

Only the longlist has been announced. The shortlist will be announced on Sept 9, the winner on Oct 14.

[I. J. Parker]

Ah, thanks. In some ways, it's a very busy book, and there's a bit of character work on the marriage of the protagonist, but it didn't work well for me. I particularly disliked the emphasis on on making the incidents as horrible as possible. That's the sort of thing you normally find in cheap thrillers.
Mind you, I have a lot of respect for Booker Prize winners as a rule.

[I. J. Parker]

I see it didn't make the Booker shortlist. Someone else must have found it wanting.

[Naomi Johnson]

I would agree that it did not belong on the short list, but the committee must have seen something special for it to make the long list. They started with 112 books, and CHILD 44 was one of the top 13.

I was impressed that, in the middle of a political/serial killer thriller, the author also painted a sharp picture of what it must have been like for a woman to try to survive under the Stalinist regime, the risks she would take, the compromises she would endure, and the humiliation of marrying the enemy, tying herself to his career for her own security. And then watching him fail. It was only one facet to the story, but added so much to my appreciation.

[I. J. Parker]

Well, as I said the marriage part was more interesting, but somehow it did not feel believable. Human nature is to escape at all cost. And ignoring your responsibilities to a beloved wife because of job pressures was also hard to take. And -- as I skipped to the end: all was ultimately forgiven and they lived happily ever after. Hmm.

[Margot Renne Payne]

I, too, was impressed with CHILD 44. I think it was excellent in its portrayal of Stalinist Russia. I agree the wife was only loyal out of her wish for survival--as were most people during the period. What horrible sacrifices had to be made. There were so many atrocities committed during that period that those of the serial killer in the story pale in comparison to the millions tortured, killed and imprisoned. I think that is just one of the subtle points made in the book.

I agree it doesn't belong on the Booker shortlist--but there are many great books that also didn't make the list. It was one of my top favorites of the year. I guess everyone has different tastes in books. That's what makes it so great--for authors and readers.