Reviews: THE AFFAIR, THE RETRIBUTION, and BY ANY MEANS

This year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-known newspapers. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way to getting crime fiction into the books sections of some local media.


My latest column was published a couple of weekends ago, but I didn't realise - missing that issue of the newspaper - so I hadn't yet shared the reviews online. Here they are:

Crime Watch

The Affair
By Lee Child (Bantam Press, $39.99)
A return to form for Child after the underwhelming Worth Dying For, this latest Jack Reacher tale goes back to before the beginning, to 1997 when he was still a Major in the military police. Sent undercover to Mississippi after a woman has her throat cut behind a bar just down the road from a large Army base, Reacher finds himself entangled with the attractive female sheriff, and questioning everything, unsure just who he can trust. A page-turner, The Affair sheds new light on the enigmatic wandering hero, and should please new and old fans alike.

The Retribution
By Val McDermid (Little, Brown, $34.99)
The doyenne of Tartan Noir, McDermid not only brings back her popular pairing of dysfunctional profiler Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan (of Wire in the Blood fame) in her latest novel, but also celebrity broadcaster turned serial killer Jacko Vance. Just when Hill and Jordan are about to take themselves to another place, professionally and perhaps personally, their nemesis escapes after years behind bars, throwing them, their colleagues, and their wider lives, into disarray. McDermid creates a pulse-pounding plot, but her writing shines brightest in the emotional turmoil of her characters’ relationships.

By Any Means
By Ben Sanders (HarperCollins, $24.99)
This sophomore effort from 21-year-old Aucklander Sanders has plenty of the crisp prose, vivid imagery, and page-turning plotlines that powered his #1 bestselling debut, The Fallen, last year. Detective Sergeant Sean Devereaux juggles murder investigations: a Friday rush-hour drive-by shooting, and a suspicious double-killing in an affluent suburb. Meanwhile Devereaux’s ex-cop buddy John Hale finds himself chasing kidnappers, and being chased by the Police. While there are flaws (a tendency to get ‘listy’ with musical references or travel details), overall Sanders has crafted another very enjoyable thriller, set right here in our biggest city.

Craig Sisterson helped establish the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. He writes about crime and thriller fiction for several publications here and overseas, and blogs at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com//.

Take your pick: Baldacci, Billingham, Child, James, or Robinson?

On Friday 7th October The ITV/Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards will take place in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The event, now into its fourth year, will be broadcast on ITV3 on Tuesday 11th October.

While the winners of several of the Crime Writers Association Daggers, including the International Dagger, were announced at the recent Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, the biggest awards - the Gold Dagger, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and the New Blood Dagger - will be presented at the Crime Thriller Awards on 7 October. The night also sees the presentation of several television/film crime and thriller awards, for the best actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, best TV, best international TV and best film.

Before then however, we can all have our say on one of the awards to be presented, the ITV People's Bestseller Dagger. This 'people's choice' award began in 2009, with Harlan Coben being the inaugural recipient. I'm struggling to find who won last year (maybe the award wasn't presented?), but it's back again in 2011, with another line-up of five terrific crime writers for the public to vote on:

• David Baldacci;
• Mark Billingham;
• Lee Child;
• Peter James;
• Peter Robinson.

That will be a tough choice - all are very popular. I've been fortunate enough to meet Child and James, and have interviewed Robinson and Billingham by phone or email, and have enjoyed books from all four of them. I have some of Baldacci's on my bookshelf, but haven't read him yet.

You can read my 9mm interviews with Billingham here, Child here, and James here.

You can vote for your favourite amongst the five here.

Who is your favourite?

Lee Child scoops Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for 61 HOURS

A few hours ago, British-born crime writer Lee Child was named the winner of the 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for his Jack Reacher novel 61 HOURS, beating out competition including twice-winner Mark Billingham and Scottish 'gore with guffaws' master Stuart MacBride.

The announcement was made on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, being held in Harrogate, England this weekend. It is the first time Child has won the £3,000 prize and handmade, engraved beer barrel trophy provided by the brewery sponsor.

Simon Theakston, judge and T&R Theakston executive director, said: "All the novels on this year's shortlist were of an exceptionally high standard but 61 Hours was a clear winner. The appeal of the eternal wanderer Jack Reacher is hard to resist as he travels the frozen landscape of South Dakota, fighting the good fight. 61 Hours is a great example of Lee Child's immense talent, and we're thrilled to present him with this much deserved award for the first time."

Although I'm a big fan of both Billingham and MacBride, I'm happy to see Child recognised for 61 HOURS, as I really enjoyed that book when I read it last year. You can read my thoughts on this particular Jack Reacher tale at the Reviewing the Evidence website here. Child was also the first-ever participant in Crime Watch's ongoing 9mm interview series - you can (re)read his quickfire interview here.

Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, in partnership with Asda, and this year in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback between 1st January 2010 and 31st May 2011.

 A special presentation was also made to 91-year-old novelist P D James, the winner of the second Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. Booktrade.info reported that the 91-year-old Baroness was delighted to collect the award: "It is always a satisfaction and an encouragement for a writer to win a prize, but I am particularly proud to be honoured by the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award because it comes from Harrogate, a town which it is always a delight to visit and which is the home of one of the most distinguished and pleasurable English literary festivals."

Theakston added, “We are also hugely honoured and excited to welcome the crime fiction grandmaster P D James to Harrogate this year, to collect her Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. Few are as prolific as she, dominating the genre for over 50 years. This award acknowledges that immense achievement."

Congratulations to Baroness James - it's terrific to see her honoured in this way. I really, really enjoyed interviewing her prior to her 90th birthday last year - she was an absolute delight to interview - charming, witty, honest, and gracious. She also participated in the 9mm series - you can read her answers here.

Comments welcome.

Forever young or aging (un)gracefully: what to do with series detectives?

Thanks to fellow reviewer and prolific crime reader Maxine Clarke (of Petrona and EuroCrime fame), I read an interesting Wall Street Journal over the weekend about the ways in which various crime fiction authors had dealt with (or not) the issue of an aging detective when their popular series' ended up running for decades. You can read Alexandra Alter's article, "The (Really) Long Goodbye", in full here.

It's a topic that has intrigued me for a while, and was brought home to me again recently when I read THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell, a book that is all about his popular detective Kurt Wallander getting older and looking back on his life and what he has done (interestingly, Alter overlooks this book in her article). When I interviewed Mankell for an article in the New Zealand Listener earlier this year, he told me:

"In all of the Wallander stories there has been questions - why is this? How come this happened? And every one of these questions has been connected to a story, a case you might say, that Wallander must solve - with one exception. That is the last novel, THE TROUBLED MAN - where he himself is the question and the case. That is why I wrote it actually, because I felt there was a book missing, and that’s where he was his own case. Where he in a way tried to find out about himself, his own life."

And also:

"And that had really to do with something, his age... I think when you come up to the 60s there are for most people a need to turn around a little and look at what you did with your life, what happened in your life, and for many people that can be quite scary. Because many people have [frittered] away a lot of their lives, they haven’t done anything really with their dreams that they should have done... So this is also a story about getting old... I really wanted to write about the scary thing of getting a bit older, because that is what Wallander and I have in common, we have the same age."

Personally, as much as I love certain detectives and crime fiction characters, and would love to see them go on and on and on, I think it adds something to series if the character ages and evolves. It's part of life, and different things are important to us at different ages, and stages, of our lives. So I think it's great for literature (and I very much include crime fiction in that phrase, although some critics may disagree) to address that.

For me, the best crime fiction is about much more than it's plot, and even the best characters will get less interesting if they don't evolve over time. The best crime fiction addresses issues about people, and perhaps even about society, and aging is a part of that, and allows the author to address (hopefully in a subtle or subtextual way, raising issues rather than hammering us over the head with them) different things that concern not only their characters, but us as readers. I'm still (only) 32, but I can certainly appreciate this, and I'm sure many older readers might do so, even more.

One of my favourite books of 2010 was THE GLASS RAINBOW, by the incomparable James Lee Burke (Alter did mention this book in her article). In it, Dave Robicheaux (played by aging actor Tommy Lee Jones in In The Electric Mist, pictured above), like Burke himself, is in his early 70s, and along with the murky gumbo of violence and other issues he finds himself entangled with during the book, Robicheaux and his elderly hulk of a sidekick Clete Purcel, also deal with things like aging and mortality. And I personally felt this added to the book. I like what Burke says in Alter's article:

"Mr. Burke, whose books have sold 20 million copies, says he ages his characters as a matter of artistic principle. "Not to do so would be aesthetically dishonest," says Mr. Burke, 74, who sells Robicheaux-themed hats and T-shirts on his website. "You'd be rigging the game."

And of course, Agatha Christie kills off Poirot in his last case (sorry for the spoiler, for those who haven't read it). However not all authors want to age their characters, and I can understand the struggle; not only are there the commercial factors to take into account (it's a brave move to age then 'retire' a bestselling character like Rebus, for example), but I imagine some authors see their characters in a certain way, as do their readers, and aging - with everything that brings to the table, if you treat it realistically - simply wouldn't work for the character and stories they want to write (or read). And if you age them, then at some point you'd have to end them, and not every author can be like Michael Connelly and create a second high quality series (eg his Mickey Haller novels) that likewise satisfies critics and fans as their main character (Harry Bosch) ages. It's a risk, aging your series character, and I can understand that not everyone would be willing to take it.

Some writers start aging their characters, and then change their mind. As Alter says in her WSJ article:

"Patricia Cornwell, who has been writing about forensic expert Dr. Kay Scarpetta for more than 20 years, said she decided to stop Scarpetta from aging further when both she and her character turned 50 five years ago. "People don't want to read about her when she's 80," she said.

Thriller writer Lee Child dutifully aged his laconic, violent drifter Jack Reacher for the first several books, then realized his character would soon be too old to plausibly dispense head-butts and elbow strikes to a room full of villains. So Mr. Child stopped the clock. "I'm going to play his age down a little bit and make the reader assume he's stuck in his mid-40s," says Mr. Child, who recently finished book 16."

Others like Robert B. Parker have decades-long series where the character is near frozen in time, and while the world changes around them, their hero stays forever young. I believe Parker may have even changed Spenser's background in the later books, updating the wars in which he fought to explain his static age.

What do you think about aging detectives, or not? Do your favourite authors age their characters? Are your favourite detectives getting older, or not? Do you care, either way? Would you rather see an evolution of issues (perhaps with a decline of physical skills), or a detective hero who stays forever young?

I'm not sure myself. I loved THE GLASS RAINBOW, and enjoyed the way Mankell aged Wallander in THE TROUBLED MAN, but then, if I'm honest, I might want a MacGyver or Magnum PI remake to focus on the young, action-packed, characters I remember from the '80s, rather than older version.

Something to ponder anyway. I'd love to read your thoughts about this issue.

Billingham, MacBride, Child and more battle for Theakston!

The shortlist for the 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award has been announced, with a very strong longlist of 18 good and great books (including the likes of FIFTY GRAND by Adrian McKinty, FEVER OF THE BONE by Val McDermid, THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville, and A ROOM SWEPT WHITE by Sophie Hannah)cut down to a final six. The winner to be revealed on the first night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on Thursday 21st July. Here are your remaining contenders:

• FROM THE DEAD by Mark Billingham
• BLOOD HARVEST by SJ Bolton
• 61 HOURS by Lee Child
• DARK BLOOD by Stuart MacBride
• THE HOLY THIEF by William Ryan
• THE ANATOMY OF GHOSTS by Andrew Taylor

There are some pretty good books there! I've read three of the six; Billingham, Child, and MacBride, and enjoyed them all. I've also got THE ANATOMY OF GHOSTS on my TBR bookshelf at home, and have heard some really good things about SJ Bolton.

Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, in partnership with Asda, and this year in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback between 1st January 2010 and 31st May 2011.

The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier. “I’m delighted to see that the public have recognised the talents of a broad range of authors in this year’s shortlist, from a debut novelist to names that have been bestsellers for several years," said Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston. "This list reflects the wealth of crime fiction talent we have within the UK and Ireland that continues to grow each year."

Billingham is looking to make this year a hat-trick after winning the prize in 2005 and 2009 (for LAZY BONES and DEATH MESSAGE respectively). Lee Child, meanwhile, will be hoping that this will be his lucky year; the bestselling author has yet to win the prize, despite the fact that one of his Jack Reacher novels reportedly sells somewhere in the world every few seconds. Both authors will go head to head with last year’s Festival Chair Stuart MacBride, Andrew Taylor (whose Cambridge-set historical chiller won much critical praise upon publication), SJ Bolton (hailed as the “high priestess of rural gothic crime”), and debutant crime writer William Ryan.


So, who do you think should win? Have you read any of the shortlisted novels? Were any of the other 12 novels on the longlist your favourite instead (see full longlist here)? Comments welcome.

Meet your silver screen Jack Reacher, possibly....

In news that is sure to get hardcore crime fiction fans up in arms even more than Hollywood's decision to make its own version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, internet rumours are swirling that Tom Cruise might play Jack Reacher in a film version of Lee Child's ONE SHOT.

Quite frankly, I'm flabbergasted. Not because Cruise isn't a good actor - he is far better than many people give him credit for. Just check out Born on the Fourth of July, amongst several very good dramatic roles, or his self-deprecating cameo in Tropic Thunder. The man might have built a career on good looks, but like Brad Pitt, he can also act when given the right roles.

But as everyone knows, Cruise is at the shorter end of the height spectrum, while Child's Reacher is, well, clearly not. At 6 foot 5 and weighing a muscled 230 (105kgs or so for metric system readers), Reacher is quite the physical specimen in Child's bestselling series. Cruise has 'muscled up' for several roles, and is undoubtedly a fit and active actor, but he's not a Reacher-type. And surely there must be plenty of great actors out there, big names or up-and-comers, who might suit the role better.

If the rumours are true, and Cruise is interested in or considering the role, it seems to me like one of those 'big star wants to play a popular character, potential franchise of films' type deal, rather than because he is suited to the role. What do you think? Could Cruise pull off Jack Reacher? If not, who would you like to see in the role? What have been some of your most and least favourite castings for crime fiction adaptations (Clint Eastwood as Terry McCaleb in Blood Work? Alec Baldwin (Heaven's Prisoners) or Tommy Lee Jones (In the Electiric Mist) as Dave Robicheaux? Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep?). Would love to get your thoughts on the matter.

Hat tip to Crimespree magazine for the heads-up re: the Cruise rumours.

Review: WORTH DYING FOR by Lee Child

Lee Child, whose thrillers regularly top bestseller charts around the world, broke his long-held book-a-year pattern by squeezing in a second Jack Reacher tale, the fifteenth overall, late last year, delighting fans.

The taciturn wandering hero ended the excellent 61 Hours in a precarious position in blizzard-bashed South Dakota. Now he’s resurfaced in the rural expanses of Nebraska, bruised and battered. After dealing out some much-needed street justice to a wife-beater, Reacher finds himself in the cross-hairs of the powerful family who’ve ruled the area through fear and intimidation for decades. The situation worsens when three teams of professional ‘fixers’ arrive in town, looking to protect a lucrative criminal enterprise on behalf of their various bosses, and perhaps wipe out some of the competition. With Reacher caught in the middle.

Child delivers his usual punchy, page-turning style that hooks readers early and takes you on a fun ride. There’s plenty of action and thrills, along with some suspense as to what’s really going on. However, at times I found the storytelling a little ‘thin’ or one-note, enjoyable but not completely engaging or layered. We learn a little more about Reacher, who over the course of the series has become a character with more complexity than is first apparent. But Worth Dying For kind of feels a little like a fun pit-stop between 61 Hours and whatever the future holds.

A good read for the beach, bach or camping ground over summer.

3.5 stars (tomatoes)

This review was originally published in the January 2011 issue of WildTomato magazine

Have you read WORTH DYING FOR? What did you think? Are you a Lee Child fan, a 'Reacher creature'? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Tick, tick, tick... Bouchercon!

Well, it's almost upon us. This week the 2010 edition of the fantastic (I've heard) Bouchercon crime writing festival will kick off. From a look at the lineup and the building excitement on blogs and elsewhere amongst the crime fiction community, Bouchercon by the Bay is going to be absolutely huge.

I've got to say, I'm pretty envious of everyone heading along. Scratch that, really envious. Incredible Hulk green with envy. I was quite tempted to hop on a plane from New Zealand, especially as San Francisco, the location of this year's 'Con is one of my favourite US cities, and also a fairly accessible/affordable flight from New Zealand (one of the most geographically isolated countries in the world, apparently). Unfortunately finances and timing hampered my Bouchercon 2010 dreams. But maybe next time.

For all of you heading along this year, I hope you have a magnificent time. For those, like me, who can only look on, our faces pressed up against a faraway window, hopefully there will be all sorts of fantastic articles and blog posts coming out about the events, from those lucky enought to be on the ground there in San Francisco. I'm talking to you Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders), Jon and Ruth Jordan (Crimespree magazine), Janet Rudolph (Mystery Readers International), J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet), and others... make sure you share it all with us.

Lee Child, who I was fortunate enough to interview and meet in New Zealand earlier this year (read NZLawyer feature, read 9mm interview) is 'Distinguished Contribution to the Genre' in 2010, and Scottish author Denise Mina, who's Gold Dagger-shortlisted novel STILL MIDNIGHT I recently read, is the International Guest of Honour, at Bouchercon by the Bay.

Skimming the programme, there are so many cool events on offer. I'd certainly have some pretty full days there. Watching the San Francisco-set crime movies The Maltese Falcon, Bullitt, and Murder by Death on Wednesday night (6pm onwards) would be a great start to what is going to be a really terrific few days. In amongst all the authors events, there is also the announcement/presentation of several prestigious crime/mystery writing awards, ie the Macavitys, the Barrys, and the Anthonys. And the Dashiell Hammett-inspired walking tours also sound great - San Francisco is such a great strolling city.

You can check out the line-up of events here:

• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

I hope that everyone heading to the festival has a truly terrific time, and I look forward to reading about all the festivities.

What do you think about the Bouchercon by the Bay lineup? Are you heading along? What events/authors would you most like to attend, if you were going? Who should win some of the awards? Do you enjoy author events and mystery writing festivals? Thoughts and comments welcome.