So another atmospheric, unrelenting but also gently flowing read from the pen of one of my favourite authors – another book from him that I just sat down and devoured. Honestly if ever there were books that should come with chocolate, it’s ones written by R J Ellory.

In Mockingbird Songs there is a definite correlation between the writing and the music – in fact the giveaway came with music attached in the form of Low Country and I’m almost as in love with those songs as I am with the book so atmospherically speaking this was a terrific overall experience for me.

On a more traditional book review note – the story was emotionally raw and very addictive, taking as it does the heart of a disturbing sibling relationship, adding in small town politics and power struggles and giving us a main protagonist in Henry that can view all this initially from a distance and take us with him into to the soul of the narrative.

As we jump between past and present, as Henry remains ever determined to deliver a letter he has been trusted with, the story unfolds at a pitch perfect pace, the characters grow and become real and there is a level of authenticity here that not many authors can pull off, no not many at all. Here is one of them.

The writing is beautiful and as always has a sharp literary edge – you really do just sink into that time and place and live every moment.  A snapshot of a different era, true noir written with a modern eye for detail – there is so much to love here I can’t even think how to describe it all so I won’t try I’ll just say Yep.

As never fails to happen I was an emotional wet heap by the time I got to the end – as I said recently to someone who will recognise themselves should they read this review – I prefer the soul shredders. This was one of those. Again.

Whilst “Candlemoth” I think will always remain my favourite Ellory novel for reasons that are purely personal, I would put Mockingbird Songs up there as another I shall return to several times. It just had that “something” – I think it was probably Henry if I’m honest – that means it will stay with me. Genuinely character driven, intriguing and always taking you inexorably towards a conclusion that hits hard for any number of reasons – this is another author I have made a lifetime commitment to.

Highly Recommended.

NB: My German friends are always asking me to write more in German. This is just for you all… This was also a chance to flex and stretch my (fairly measly) German language muscles. I feel I’m getting rusty…Translation into English soon to follow as soon as the heat wave abates...Another note. All the mistakes in the review below were due to this scorching temperature, and not to my lack of command of the German Language... I cannot be held accountable…“I like it hot,” but for writing enough is enough…

Published May 7th 2015.

"Determining when loving someone became being in love was indeterminable. Something they said, something they did, an idiosyncrasy of character that was theirs and theirs alone?"

Krimis, die so richtig quer stehen zur üblichen Lesart, sind, wenn man mal ehrlich sein will, selten. Klar gibt es Bücher, die herausragen, sei es aufgrund der Sprache oder des ausgefallen Plots oder der dichten Atmosphären, Handwerk eben. Die verschiedenen Subgenres haben ihre Schnittmuster und wenn ich Glück habe, kann der Autor des Kaisers kleider vortrefflich schneidern, aber dass ein Autor etwas ganz Neues hinzufügt, das passiert nicht oft. R. J. Ellory “Mockingbird Songs” ist, glaube ich, so ein seltenes Buch.

Der rest dieser rezension kannst du anderswo finden.

Published June 2013.

First something about Ellory’s writing style. Ellory is a master at describing everything in very visual terms. To me it’s what gives identity to the writer’s voice, ie, it’s what distinguishes their writing. How can we achieve this visual style? For starters by using physical references; they’re the main elements that pull me into a Story because it allows me to be immersed in it three dimensionally.

If a character is scratching his bum, how does he view the setting sun? Does the night fog linger over the grass look like a ninfa’s breath on a sea of rubies? Forget about inserting visual aids into the narrative. It’s not about that. Having a visual writing narrative means the writer is capable of writing seamless prose, ie, it’s embedded into the writing so that I’m not aware it’s there in the first place. It’s all about making what’s already there richer.

Let me give an example (entirely fictitious in case you’re wondering…):

“Here, Logen, have a Mars Bar,” Thelfi said.

“Sorry. No can do. I’m currently scratching my bum and crotch at the same time and consequently I don’t have a free hand at the moment. Besides, I haven’t washed my hands lately, so maybe I shouldn’t eat it,” said Logen Ninefingers sadly.

What can we say about this? It’s awful because of the adverbs and whatnot. There are no physical references. What do we get in result? Dry and workmanlike prose. Putting myself in Ellory’s shoes how would I write this? (I’m playing God here…):

Thelfi saw a Mars Bar in a sea of sticky leftover Mars Bars from yesterday’s movie session at home. She had gotten hold of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” movie from the Internet, and the night had been pretty wild with the Mars Bars and all. There was still one left resting on top of her bag and she still remembered her struggle to zip up her pants earlier that morning. She looked at Logen Ninefingers, a very manly Man who never said no to anything, and she laughed at the irony.  “Here, have a Mars Bar.”

Logen’s eyes enlivened and he reached out with tremulous, hungry fingers. Just as fast, he dropped his hands, his voice barely a whisper. “I can’t. Let’s save it for tonight.”

Which one do I prefer? The second obviously, and not because I inserted a “Fifty Shades of Grey” cue in the text, which I’m not planning on watching before you ask (here in Portugal it’s being nicknamed “The Fifty Bruises of Grey”, I can’t figure out why…).

Coming back to the text above, the first one is a boring dialog and the other is visual and full of physical references and cues. It takes me to a different milieu that doesn’t interfere with the narrative, but instead, enlivens it.

“The Devil and the River”, despite being a very visual story, fell short of my expectations. Only two of Ellory’s books didn’t get 5 stars from me: “Candlemoth” and now this one.  Why? For a handful of reasons.

Gaines’ war experiences, although important are not that important, but nevertheless we’re constantly being pulled back from the narrative (making the story tiresome at some points), which detracts from the story; consistency errors abound (eg, Gaines is surprised almost at the end of the book by the reason to Nancy’s body mutilation when he just had had to ask Webster that when he was in jail), Deus-Ex-Machina plotting (eg, the fact that Gaines “forgot” to give Webster the permission slip to allow him to search his home), coincidences throughout the book, etc.

Was this one of Ellory’s earlier efforts before he started getting published? It seems to be not up to par with his previous books. I still haven’t read “Bad Signs” and “A Carnival of Shadows”. Nevertheless out of his latter efforts came “A Dark and Broken Heart” which is a superior and superlative story, and one of my highlights of 2012.

Fortunately Ellory, even at his weakest as it’s the case here, he’s still better than some other writer’s best, because his visual writing is always top notch even when plotting-wise things fall a bit short.

NB: I think I should get a night job writing romance novels..

R. J. Ellory
Vergib uns unsere Sünden
Politthriller
Der Hörverlag, 2012
Übersetzer: Walter Ahlers
Spieldauer: 21 Std., 44 Min (ungekürzt)
Sprecher: Jürgen Holdorf
Regulärer Preis: 29,95 €
im Premium-Abo 27,90 € oder 1 Guthaben
im Flexi-Abo 9,95 €
gehört über die Audible-App

Bewertung: 

Inhaltsangabe (Audible):

Inmitten der heißen Wahlphase will man in Washington eigentlich nichts von einem Serienkiller hören. Doch nach dem vierten Mord sind auch die Medien nicht mehr zurückzuhalten. Für den ermittelnden Detective Robert Miller sind allerdings nicht nur Motiv und Täter rätselhaft, auch die Opfer stellen ihn vor Fragen. Denn die vier ermordeten Frauen existierten offiziell gar nicht. Je weiter Miller nachforscht, desto mysteriöser wird der Fall. Schließlich gerät er in ein Netz so dunkler Machenschaften, dass er um sein eigenes Leben bangen muss...

©2010 Goldmann (P)2012 Der Hörverlag

Meine Meinung:

Wenn ich viel unterwegs bin, höre ich gern ein langes Hörbuch, um nicht zu oft Plot, Protagonisten und Gegend wechseln zu müssen. Dieses Hörbuch habe ich allerdings schon länger in meiner Audible-Bibliothek und bisher scheinbar vergessen. Der Autor sagte mir bis dahin nichts, das Hörbuch schien aber spannend zu sein. Und ihr kennt das, andere Bücher und Autoren drängen sich ständig in den Vordergrund 

Wir befinden uns hier in Washington und jagen zusammen mit Detective Robert Miller einen Mörder, der höchstwahrscheinlich mehrere Menschen auf dem Gewissen hat. Der Modus Operandi ist bei drei Leichen derselbe, bei der vierten weicht er unwesentlich (?) ab. Ist es derselbe Täter? Doch was haben die ermordeten Frauen gemeinsam? Miller und sein Partner stoßen ständig auf neue Rätsel und was sie schlussendlich entdecken, entpuppt sich als politisches Komplott. – Jedoch wird der in der Inhaltsbeschreibung erwähnte Wahlkampf kaum erwähnt.

Leider hat das Buch einige Längen. Viel zu viele Details, die es dem Hörer/Leser schwer machen, nicht abzuschweifen. Sicher verfolgt der Autor das Ziel, uns so gut wie möglich zu informieren, denn nicht alles in diesem Buch ist fiktional, aber hier wäre weniger wirklich mehr gewesen. So dauerte ein einziges Gespräch fast den gesamten Weg zur Arbeit. Dagegen sind Nebencharaktere nur oberflächlich skizziert. Und die sich anbahnende Romanze des Hauptdarstellers wird doch sehr vernachlässigt.

Zum Sprecher:
Jürgen Holdorf brauchte meiner Ansicht nach auch ein bisschen Anlauf, ehe ihn die Story zu packen schien, gab dann allerdings sein Bestes. Seine Leistung erreichte den Höhepunkt gegen Ende – mir scheint, er kannte die Passage oder auch das komplette Buch schon vor dem Einlesen. Er hat mir als Sprecher gut gefallen.

Ich gebe 07/10 Punkte. Ich habe mir ehrlich gesagt mehr Spannung erhofft.

The start of summer officially begins June 21^st, and with it come the flip flops, beach bags, and of course, summer reads.

So to ensure you don’t get caught grabbing the first thing you see at the airport gift shop, below is a list of highly anticipated, and highly reviewed, beach books to get you through the summer. Whether you’re a fan of YA, fantasy, or biographies, this list has something for everyone.

1. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (YA): If you like your YA straight-up, no retellings, no vampires, check out To All the Boys I've Loved Before. I know every woman out there has written an un-mailed letter to her ex-boyfriend; it’s probably still sitting in a drawer somewhere. Now, imagine that letter, or say dozen of ex-boyfriend letters, were mailed to the intended recipients without your consent. Yeah, that would suck.

2. Great by Sara Benincasa (YA, classic retelling): The idea of actual adults reading young adult novels has received a lot of buzz in the media recently. As a YA author and a diverse reader in general, I say read and let read. If you want to fly through a YA novel on the plane, do it. And this retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a “great” book to try. (See what I did there?) Written by a well-known comedian, this teen romance takes place in the present day Hamptons with the female party-throwing “Jacinta” taking the place of Jay Gatsby.

3. Half a King (Shattered Sea Series) by Joe Abercrombie (Fantasy): Now, I’m not a fantasy reader myself, but I respect that there are millions of readers who are, and this new release from Abercrombie (no relation to the shirtless catalog brand, I checked) has a blurb from Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin. “A fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go.” As far as blurbs goes, in the fantasy genre, I’d say this would have been the holy grail of the moment. Worth a read, just for that.

4. Hard Choices, A Memoir by Hillary Rodham Clinton (Biography): Feeling political? Can’t seem to escape all the Hillary clips on Diane Sawyer, CNN, and Access Hollywood? Well, why not give in and read the latest book that Clinton’s touring. If you’ve got a bucket list item to read a biography by every American President, then this might put you ahead of the game if she decides to run in 2016.

5. Saints of New York by R.J. Ellory (Mystery): Yes, it’s another crime novel set in New York City, but the tone of this novel, which follows homicide detective Frank Parrish, is almost reminiscent of the movie Seven. It’s bleak, realistic, and perfect for a reader who wants to escape from the sunshine of vacation with the darkness of NYC murder investigations.

6. Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker (True Crime): If fictional crime isn’t enough for you, try the true crime stories of five Craiglist prostitutes murdered in Long Island in 2010. While not a light and fluffy read, this chillingly accurate account by an award-winning investigative journalist will have you so busy turning pages you won’t even notice the seagulls trying to steal your bagel.

7. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (Thriller): Not to be confused with the rather excellent film of the same name starring Jennifer Aniston, this generically titled book is actually incredibly thrilling. If you like Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, you’ll like The Good Girl. A young, wealthy, beautiful woman decides to teach art in inner-city Chicago, then follows the wrong man home from a bar one night. Only instead of delivering her to his superiors, her kidnapper has other plans.

8. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok (Multicultural Fiction): From the bestselling author ofGirl in Translation, this book features a 22-year-old ABC (America-born Chinese) who stumbles upon the world of ballroom dance and becomes increasingly distant from her family’s strict Eastern ways. That is until an illness in the family forces her to really analyze the teachings of both her cultures.

9. The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg (International Crime): Written by a celebrated Swedish author, and already released as a film in Sweden in 2013, this international thriller is just now hitting the U.S. When a Nazi medal is uncovered among her late mother’s belongings, Erika sets out to learn who her mother really was and inadvertently puts her entire family in danger. Hey, if you like foreign films, you could even rent the movie.

10. All Fall Down: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner (Women’s Fiction): A Philly native, so I had to include the queen of summer fiction, Weiner’s latest novel features a mom who’s slipping into the grips of prescription pill addiction. While a somewhat dark and maybe too realistic theme for some, Weiner’s trademark writing style is so full of wit, it’s sure to be an excellent pick for your next trip down the shore.

---

Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of three young adult novels, Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books). In Fall 2013, she will publish Mirror, Mirror, a short-story trilogy based on the Narcissus myth (Buzz Books). She hold a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter. Follow Diana online: www.dianarodriguezwallach.com, @dianarwallach, or http://dianarwallach.tumblr.com.