Recent Reads Round-Up: Crime Time!

I've been catching up on some crime fiction which has been sitting in my TBR pile for far too long. The below continues the great trend of 2017 reads in the genre for me.

Shakedown by Charlie Stella - 4/5 stars

Charlie Stella is near the top of the list when it comes to writing colorful characters with great dialogue; as good as Elmore Leonard as you can get. Shakedown is another top notch ride through mafia land, this time featuring a recently released (and reformed?) bookkeeper who is the victim of a shakedown courtesy of the new brass. The book is fast paced and loaded with great moments and memorable characters.   

A Walk Among The Tombstones by Lawrence Block 4/5 stars

While A Walk Among The Tombstones is the tenth book in the Matt Scudder series, this reads perfectly well as a standalone (which is great as I've only dabbled with this series intermittently). The darker side of crime fiction is on display here as Scudder becomes involved in kidnapping case which has left a drug trafficker a widower and another underworld type minus a beloved daughter. Not for the faint of heart, Block writes with a poisoned pen positioning Scudder in the thick of a grisly case which leads to some memorable and pulse pounding moments.  

Soho Sins by Richard Vine 5 stars

Soho Sins is not what I was expecting - in a good way. The art world is full of danger darting behind dark corners ready to pounce on the young and vulnerable; there’s a deceptively deadly undercurrent of menace for the means to accumulate wealth through exploitation and extermination. Narrated through art dealer and property mogul Jackson Wyeth’s viewpoint, Soho Sins showcases something a little different from other books in the Hard Case Crime series which continues to diversity its range of books. There’s a sense that the narrator isn't entirely truthful nor as clear cut as he’s portrayed with some cut scenes of him dabbling in debauchery and thinking impure thoughts of which he should not conjure; it’s a far more involved mystery than the synopsis lets on.