Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Hi Everyone,

A bit of a slow month reading wise but both group reads this month were fun.

Here are my August reads:

Top Read

The Secret Pilgrim by John le Carré
While this is billed as a George Smiley novel he is just used as a framing device for the narrator, Ned (last seen in The Russia House), to reflect back on his career in the clandestine service. Very episodic but well written in the usual le Carre style and the audio narration by Michael Jayston was excellent.

Good Reads

Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan
An interesting read that tells the story of an infamous bank robbery in California in 1980. The author did a good job conveying all the details of the crime and trial. Listened to the audio version which was read by Joe Barrett who did a great job.

Death in Delft by Graham Brack
A well done historical mystery that seamlessly incorporated real life characters (Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek) within the plot.

Underwhelming

Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina by Chris Frantz
Not the best written memoir ever. Lots of mind numbing details (set lists, seemingly every hotel they ever stayed in, lots of name dropping with no context) but not much depth. Some good tidbits on the beginning of the band and Chris seems like a nice guy though he does throw quite few jabs at David Byrne and Johnny Ramone. Not a complete waste since I was reminded that the Tom Tom Club performed Genius of Love which is not the worst song to have as an earworm right now.

I’ve been reading (listening, actually) to the Smiley novels this year, and I agree that Michael Jayston does an excellent job with the narrations. And I also enjoyed Norco and Delft. Nice month!

Sandi: Yes! The group read books were fun discussions, and added to the enjoyment.
I am very glad you nominated Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History and Barbara's nomination of Death in Delft was terrific too.