Long ago, I accepted my own propensity for being terrible at doing certain things “on time.” Especially if it has to do with sending mail or letters, holidays, birthdays, cards, and actually writing things down… I will probably drag my feet, get wrapped up in emotions, focus too much on perfectionism, and fail at accomplishing my postal-related goals. Six Wakes was one of my beautiful, shiny, inspiring Xmas exchange gifts from MsWas. Guess who didn’t write a post when she got her box? Me. Shameful, […]
Under the Bridge
Because the hardboiled genre has become so mainstream, many forget it has its roots in anti-establishmentarianism. Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest is on some level a mea culpa for his time as a strike-busting Pinkerton agent. Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe frequently made an enemy of the local police, whom he never trusted. His last short story functioned as a screed against the American healthcare system. Gary Phillips’ The Underbelly may be seen as a unique take on the genre: a homeless PI maneuvering through the impoverished of LA trying to unravel the conspiracy […]
Just REALLY well-written thrillers, guys
If you like crime novels — I’m thinking Jeffrey Deaver, Preston/Child, Tami Hoag, all the ones I loved growing up — you should try this series out. Meg Gardiner has written two novels (so far) about Caitlin Hendrix, with a third and a procedural for CBS in the works. UNSUB “But fate was a myth constructed by fools—people who gamble or follow horoscopes, who believe the stars rule their lives.” The first novel, Unsub, introduces us to Caitlin as a narcotics detective in the Bay area. She’s […]
Get Out
I need a valium after reading this. I’ve written in this space before and in other places about my concern when white authors write from the perspective of non-white characters. Obviously, people writing trans-racially is not uncommon, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. Many great works of literature would be lost without folks doing this. And yet, considering the strong power dynamics of white supremacy in the United States (and frankly, the globe), a more natural distance separates colonizer from the colonized, no matter […]