What are you currently reading?

[Theli]

Not really sure. I'd suspect that they're the same, but I really don't know.

While I still like the series, including the more recent ones (THE FIRST QUARRY, in particular, was a fun "origin" read), the latter volumes do have almost a cozy, quasi-detective, empty-calorie / episodic TV feel to them and their plots (e.g. working on a film set, going undercover in strip club, involved in a race rights conflict, etc.). The early ones -- at least, as I recall them, given that it's been at least a couple decades since I read them -- are darker in tone, more hard-edged as would suit a series about an assassin.

Of course, even at its best, though, the Quarry series does not for me reach the level of either Block's Keller series or -- most especially -- Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake's) Parker series, this latter series being I believe the finest series ever created in crime fiction.

I've read the first Parker novel and really enjoyed. It is quite a bit darker than Hit Man (so far). Hit Man is actually a surprising light read considering it's about a contract killer. It has quite fun wit to it and a dark sense of humour. Parker, if I recall correctly, was much more stark (I guess Westlake's nom de plume really did suit the series).

[RonClinton]

I've read the first Parker novel and really enjoyed. It is quite a bit darker than Hit Man (so far). Hit Man is actually a surprising light read considering it's about a contract killer. It has quite fun wit to it and a dark sense of humour. Parker, if I recall correctly, was much more stark (I guess Westlake's nom de plume really did suit the series).

You're absolutely correct...the Block violence occurs off-screen, so to speak, while the Parker violence is abrupt and in-your-face. The former, as you rightly point out, is all about the enjoyment of character and his workmanlike attention to detail whether it be philately or rubbing someone out. Parker, conversely, is a relative cypher, a necessarily single-minded survivor in a rough game, and the stories revolve around plot and side characters, not the protagonist's character (at least, not per se). Yet even though both take different tack to their story goal, they both accomplish it brilliantly.

[mhatchett]

Thomas Perry's Butchers Boy is by far my favorite Hit Man Series.

[RonClinton]

Thomas Perry's Butchers Boy is by far my favorite Hit Man Series.

I've picked his stuff up a number of times, but have never pulled the trigger (ahem, pun only slightly intended) on it. May have to now.

[c marvel]

I'm reading The Victorian Act I: Self Realization tpb (The first of five tps for this character).


Cap

[Theli]

^Never heard of this series. What's the low down?

[TJCams]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only that feels that way. King has always been hit-or-miss with me. Sometimes I absolutely love the book like Lisey's Story or Duma Key and other times I'm left baffled like with Desperation.

I've never been a huge King fan and I think some of that comes from lack of reading him when I was younger. I always hear about how King was their first true experience with a horror book and he wasn't with me. My first two brushes with horror was Koontz's Watchers and Matheson's A Stir of Echoes. I also got busted with Stinger by McCammon at a young age, but I got no more than five pages in, I think. It could also have been that my first brushes with his work aren't "Classic King". If I remember correctly, the first two books I read were Four Past Midnight and Needful Things and I wasn't blown away by either of them. Either way, King never grew to the stature for me as he did for others.

I know what you mean, and I kind of fall into the same category as you. Although, I will admit, I am trying to complete my King 1st Ed HC collection. For me, as a teen (I am 44 now - good gosh!), I never really got into reading much at all until my late 20s for some reason. For me, it was always "I'd rather watch the movie", so I was exposed to a lot of his work that way (Pet Sematary, Creepshow, and others). I was a horror movie nut (still am in a way). I have some of his stuff boring, but some very captivating too. I have so many books on my shelf that I haven't read, that I am not sure how I will get to all his books, plus the others. I think as a kid, I was more influenced by the hard sci-fi genre my Dad cherished (Clarke, Asimov and the like - although I prefer Clarke), and even tried books like Dragonriders of Pern (I was the kid who brought this huge book to school for a read-a-thon day. ). Mind you, I have found lots of other good authors/books that have kept my taste for horror alive. I do like to branch out though too, with sci-fi (certain kinds) very high on my list, as well as what I like to call science thrillers (James Rollins, Preston & Child as 2 of my favourites in this genre), and also science books (popular science?) from authors like Kaku, Krauss, Dawkins, Greene.

[RonClinton]

science books (popular science?) from authors like Kaku,

I find Kaku fascinating as well, and a very compelling speaker. Greene...well, I'm still digesting the string theory, but I'm getting there. My wife gifted me with tickets to go see Neil deGrasse Tyson live late last year...that was a lot of fun. Admittedly, more pop-culture structured than I'd expected and hoped (talk was framed around errors in science fiction films), but I get that for general venues like that the cosmology 'hook' needs to be broad and accessible.

[c marvel]

^Never heard of this series. What's the low down?

It's kind of hard to explain. There are five trade paperbacks for this comic book series. I can say the artwork in the first trade paperback is just incredible, very detailed. I hope the artwork in Acts II-V is as stunning. The description below for Act I is copied from Amazon. ~Cap



An urban myth, a voodoo incarnation, a mass hallucination, or the Angel of Doom? All of them a manifestation of pre-millennial anxiety. The Victorian seems to have become all things to all people, but whatever he is, he's the catalyst who will bring the stories of many fractured lives crashing together.
As we enter a new millennium, why should we look back a hundred years to hear from a superhero created by a secret society from the Victorian era? Because this character holds the key to the "Fin de Siecle" and possesses masterful insight for understanding the new age.

The Victorian - Act I : Self Realization, is a compilation of the first act of the cult status comic series, The Victorian. Each of the seven books in this series features dynamic, painted covers by comic legends like Jim Steranko, Doug Beekman, Tim Bradstreet, and Bernie Wrightson. As a bonus, this book also contains The Victorian Sourcebook featuring a painted front cover by Tim Bradsteet as well as a painted back cover by Rick Berry. The sourcebook helps provide further insights and facinating revelations about The Victorian.

[Theli]

Sounds intriguing! Quite a list of artists!

[srboone]

The Horror on the Links: the Complete Stories of Jules De Grandin, Vol. 1 by Seabury Quinn. Quinn was a pulp writer from the 20s-30s who became overshadowed by the likes of Lovecraft, Howard, Smith and the like. Jules De Grandin is his supernatural detective.

[Martin]

The Horror on the links: the Complete Stories of Jules De Grandin, Vol. 1 by Seabury Quinn. Quinn was a pulp writer from the 20-30's who became overshadowed by the likes of Lovecraft, Howard, Smith and the like. Jules De Grandin is his supernatural detective.

Intriguing! I will have to do some research on the author, may have to check this one out.

[TacomaDiver]

I have it in my TBR pile. I think SubPress had them but I grabbed mine elsewhere. It sounded like a different type of stories than what I usually read but the price was right to give it a shot.

[RonClinton]

Thanks for the reminder; I still need to pick up the Quinn collection. Quinn was among the most popular contributors to Weird Tales in his day. His material hasn't aged as well as some of the names who have gained contemporary prominence, but based on the few collections of his that I have read, it should be fun reading.

[mhatchett]

I have a few of the paperbacks and I've enjoyed them. I ordered one directly from Sub and the other on Amazon.