Bellow writes with an assurance that is rare, although his style is what may be termed literary there is enormous humanity and humour in his style and characterisation. It won the Pulitzer prize and explores the relationship between art and power in a materialistic America.
'I think it A Work of genius, I think it The Work of a Genius' John Cheever
For many years, the great poet Von Humboldt Fleisher and Charlie Citrine, a young man inflamed with a love for literature, were the best of friends. At the time of his death, however, Humboldt is a failure, and Charlie's life has reached a low point: his career is at a standstill, and he's enmeshed in an acrimonious divorce, infatuated with a highly unsuitable young woman and involved with a neurotic mafioso. And then Humboldt acts from beyond the grave, bestowing upon Charlie an…
I have always thought Burke should write a standalone about Clete Purcell, sidekick to Robicheaux and here he has done so. It is an incisive and humane look at the character of a complex hero who has to sort out an internecine plot involving fentanyl and a Nazi group at work.
In the latest installment in his famous Detective Dave Robicheaux series, New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke brings Dave’s partner and friend Clete Purcel to the forefront for the first time as Clete and Dave attempt to stop ruthless smugglers of a dangerous new drug
Clete Purcel – private investigator, ex-member of the New Orleans Police Department, and war veteran with a hard shell and just a few soft spots – is Dave Robicheaux’s longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has a troubled past. When Clete leaves his car at the local car wash, only…
Simenon, who wrote hundreds of novels, was a master of understatement, and his ability to conjure characters and story with a few words is evidence of his mastery. This is such a simple story and so well structured it shows that all you need for a good novel is character setting and style.
A new translation of Simenon's gripping novel about lives transformed by deceit and the destructive power of lust.
It was all real: himself, the room, Andree still lying on the ravaged bed.
For Tony and Andree, there are no rules when they meet in the blue room at the Hotel des Voyageurs. Their adulterous affair is intoxicating, passionate - and dangerous. Soon it turns into a nightmare from which there can be no escape. Simenon's stylish and sensual psychological thriller weaves a story of cruelty, reckless lust and relentless guilt.
'A wondrous achievement, brief, inexorable, pared to, and agonisingly close…
Detective Chief Inspector Frank Castle never caught the Woodlands Killer and it almost destroyed him. Now years later, mauled by the press, and traumatised by nightmares, he is faced with a copycat killer with detailed inside knowledge of the original case. He and his partner DI Jacki Stone enter a deadly labyrinth, and at its centre is the man Castle believes was responsible for the first killings. He's running a sinister cult and playing dark mind games with the police. The investigation has a shattering effect on the lives of Castle and Stone. The killer is crucifying politicians, and he keeps raising the stakes and slipping through their hands. Dark coded ritualistic killings are being carried out on high profile figures and the body count is rising. Castle employs a brilliant psychologist to help him solve the case, and he begins to dig into the killer's psyche. But some psychopaths are cleverer than others. 'Apostle Rising' is an extremely powerful Noir Crime story that contains a unique twist, timed to perfection by the author. It is a dark, layered narrative with detailed psychological profiling, and a chilling dimension of horror.
