Print deadline approaches

Four months to go, and 38 books to read. I thought it was about time for a catch-up on this 100-book challenge enterprise now that the two-thirds mark has passed, in terms of the year at least.

Yes, I’m slightly behind schedule by about four books (approximately 12 days). But on the bright side I’m once more ahead of the Friend of the Wench – and that’s all that really matters…

Of course it’s not. It’s about enjoying literary excellence, or lamenting its absence, and after my latest visit to the library (of which I will write at some point this year) I have now lined up my next nine books for the coming month or so.

I’ve also got a list of around 50 books which have been recommended to me by various parties, for which I’m very grateful, and I’m trying to work my way through these as best I can. These range from Margaret Atwood to John Wyndham via Aldous Huxley, JG Ballard and Brady Udall.

At this stage of the year, it’s getting to the point where I have to prioritise, however. I wanted to read the entire Armistead Maupin Tales of the City series, but have only read the first so far (and enjoyed it). Do I really want to use up three or four of my remaining 38 just to complete the set.

And what about the likes of personal favourites Paul Auster, PG Wodehouse and George Pelecanos? I’ve read a number of their works already this year – shouldn’t I use the remaining time to seek new authors? After all, without this challenge, I might not have found them.

It’s a lot to ponder, but I can’t take too long to think about such decisions. After all, there’s more reading to be done.

#57 Shame the Devil, by George Pelecanos (Indigo)

A confession: I must have finished Shame the Devil almost a month ago, but have only just found the time to get around to offering a review. This is therefore going to be a shorter write-up than perhaps is usual.

My third George Pelecanos book of the year, and the challenge, it didn’t quite reach the heights of the previous two. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, far from it, but a book which is merely entertaining isn’t up to scratch when the best of Pelecanos’ work, and the lessons he tries to impart about race, society, drugs and America, normally hits you in the stomach like a .38, a .22 or a .45 – the guns his characters use in the opening robbery-gone-wrong in Shame the Devil.

This is also my first Pelecanos book without main character Derek Strange, and while it was nice to read something else, such was the powerful characterisation of the previous novels I’d read, I found myself missing him. A ‘strange’ reaction indeed to the absence of a cheating private eye whose moral code is loose, to say the least.

The best bit of Shame the Devil is its focus on the victims, the relatives and loved ones of frequently unspeakable crimes. But it would have been nice for a resolution different to the typical showdown amid a hail of bullets.

That said, if Pelecanos is good at one thing, it seems to be writing the truth, so who am I to judge…?

So, rating time:

#57 Shame the Devil, by George Pelecanos (Indigo) - 7/10

Next up: A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute (Vintage)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#45 Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane (Harper Collins)

Shutter Island is what I’d call a ‘superior’ thriller. On the one hand, it’s a relatively easy-to-read, well-plotted suspense novel, but there is a little bit more about it than the books which normally clog up the bestseller lists.

Typically, to contradict this theory, this was a New York Times bestseller, but that just goes to show that a lot of people recognised its quality. Indeed, Martin Scorcese directed the ‘major motion picture’ adaptation which has recently been released in UK cinemas (Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River are other films of Dennis Lehane books, I’ve since discovered).

To be honest, and to continue a bit of a theme on these pages this year, I first came across Lehane’s name in his role as a writer on The Wire (the best television show of all time etc…). George Pelecanos, another renowned American author who has similarly contributed to the HBO drama, has provided numerous highlights in my challenge this year, so I thought it was about time I gave Lehane a try – and I was pleased I did.

The story concerns a US marshal who is conducting an investigation into the disappearance of a criminally insane patient on a remote island, where nothing is quite as it seems (if you can imagine the ubiquitous film voiceover guy saying exactly that phrase). Not only is it well written with believable characters, there is enough suspense and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers occupied.

Rather pleasingly, even if I do say so myself, I worked out the novel’s central conceit about halfway through, but this in no way spoiled my enjoyment, and even after that there were plenty of surprises. So, really good, but not great.

So, rating time:

#45 Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane (Harper Collins) - 8/10

Next up: Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer (Atom)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#37 Hell to Pay, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Hell to Pay is the third George Pelecanos novel of my challenge, and while I'd really enjoyed the previous two (Hard Revolution and Right as Rain), I couldn't help thinking that there was something missing. Perhaps it was the high level of my expectations; having known Pelecanos was one of the influential writers of HBO drama The Wire - the best thing on television, ever - I was hoping for great things, rather than novels that were simply very good.

Well, I'm no longer so concerned, because Hell to Pay surpasses the highest of expectations and is everything I hoped for. A wonderful novel and a polemic against drug culture, the overwhelming feeling the reader is left with is one of anger. And it leaves a big impression.

The book is dedicated to Dennis K Ashton Jnr, a seven-year-old who was killed accidentally in a shooting in Washington, the setting of Pelecanos' novels, in 1997. The inspiration is clear: Hell to Pay features a young boy who is murdered in a drug-related incident in which his relative was the chief target, and the futility of such shootings, the desperate impoverished life that provides the backdrop and the constant battle being fought between a desire for justice and revenge are all key themes.

The lives and characters of the recurring characters, private investigators Derek Strange, Terry Quinn and others, are further fleshed out and reward readers of previous novels in the series while ensuring newcomers are treated to such a fine stand-alone book that they will be sure to look up the back catalogue.

Like the best literature (and works of art in general), Hell to Pay not only expands the knowledge and cultural awareness of the reader (the audience), but also challenges them; poses difficult questions, and makes you wonder what the answers to those questions are. It also makes you question whether there are any answers, and if not, why not.

It's the new best book I've read of the year so far.

So, rating time:

#37 Hell to Pay, by George Pelecanos (Orion) - 9/10

Next up: Divorced and Deadly, by Josephine Cox (Harper Collins)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating