CHALLENGE | Signing up for R.I.P. III

Mystery.

Suspense.

Thriller.

Dark Fantasy.

Gothic.

Horror.

Supernatural.

I've decided to ignore my earlier hesitation and sign up for R.I.P. III anyway. My initial concern was about access to the books, since most of them are already packed and sealed in boxes. And I've just packed most of my stuff for Dubai in the 75 litres backpack - space is definitely an issue. I still need to find space for 2 pairs of work-shoes and more work-clothes.

If need be, I will hand-carry the books onto the plane. What are they going to do about it?

The only concession to the situation is my selection. I have chosen 3 titles from my library that I will bring with me to Dubai. I do not intend to bring them home with me.

Here is my modest pool of titles for R.I.P. III:

1. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco.
   Some of you may be familiar with the film adaption of this title which starred Sean Connery and a very young Christian Slater. The year is 1327 and the English monk, Brother William of Baskerville travels to an abbey - one with a grand library - to unravel the mystery behind a series of murders that has been taking place there.
2. Asylum, Patrick McGrath
   This has also been adapted into a film, starring Ian McKellen. The elegant and intelligent Stella Raphael is married to her dull, unimaginative husband, Max. The husband is a psychiatrist at a maximum-security mental hopsital, where Stella is rapidly seduced by the sculptor Edgar Stark - who is confined to the mental hospital for the brutal murder of his wife. A gothic tale of lust, betrayal, madness and obsession. Honestly, I have no idea why I have not read it yet.
3. The Ghost Writer, John Harwood
   Carl's list reminded me that I have an old paperback copy of the book in the stash.
   A young boy, Gerard, growing up in Australia, begins a correspondence with a young girl, Alice Jessel. Her parents died in an accident and she was crippled. She now lives in an institution. They grow up, only communicating through the letters they sent each other, until they eventual fall in love. The story promises twists and turn, as Gerard discovers his grandmother wrote ghost stories, and these stories resemble his own life with uncanny accuracy.

I'm not certain if I can finish at least one of these titles, so I will start modestly with Peril the Third - to read one book. If circumstances permit, I will move on to Peril the Second.

R.I.P III runs from September 1st through October 31st, 2008

Visit http://ripingyarns.blogspot.com for more R.I.P. III book reviews.

Looking For Blood

Anyone has a good murder mystery thriller to recommend? Something with intriguing characters and suspenseful plot-twists? I'm totally fine with violence in fiction.

I'm in that kind of odd mood where I'm looking for a little blood in my reading. I've been reading some devotional literature recently, and maybe it's just the dark side of my character that is acting up in response to all that heavy spiritual stuff. I'm looking for a good bit of violence and complicated plots. I used to read Patricia Cornwell - but I've stopped since she gone to seed.

Meanwhile, I've picked up Jeffrey Deaver's The Cold Moon. I've been a fan of Deaver's since I first read The Bone Collector - the first of his Lincoln Rhyme novels. Later, when they released the movie adaptation with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, I started reading his Lincoln Rhyme novels with the two stars pictured in my head. I met Deaver a few years back during one of his book signing tours. The Brat (a friend of mine) and I took a picture with him, as fans do during book-signings. I wonder where's that photo now?

News is, Deaver will be back in town soon to promote his new book, Sleeping Doll. I think I might just drop by again to get my books signed - again.

I've also picked up Val McDermid's The Wire in the Blood from the library. I've heard so much about McDermid's writings over the years, but just never found the time to pick up one of her books. Wire in the Blood features one of McDermid's regular characters, Dr Tony Hill, a psychological profiler. She's supposed to be a writer who doesn't flinch from the gruesome details. Anyone read her books before?

I'm also tempted by the Dexter novels. Because I am a big fan of CSI, a colleague recommended Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Apparently there's a TV series based on the Dexter novels. I'm going to get the DVDs of the series, because it's about a blood-spatter specialist working for the Miami Police Department who's also a serial killer - but he kills serial killers, so it's a twist in the usual format. Oh, I'm also going to watch it because it has Julie Benz, who plays Dexter's girlfriend. Julie Benz, who will always be Darla of the sultry voice, the vampire who sired Angel, and who redeemed herself at the end by sacrificing herself so that her son may live.

And I'm always on the lookout for vampire stories. Vampires and me will always be good friends.

I'm going to try to pick up the 30 Days of Night graphic novel soon, in anticipation of the movie. I like the premise: somewhere near the Arctic Circle is an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into complete darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As daylight falls, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted blood orgy.

Sounds like a bloodfest that I can watch without the strenous use of my brain cells.

It's directed by David Slade, who also previously directed the disturbing Hard Candy. Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, the people that also brought us the epic(!) that was Xena: Warrior Princess, are producers for the show.

I've just seen the trailers. It looks so-so. But I have hopes for more blood.

This and Daywatch, I'm a happy puppy for a while.

BOOKS | The Art of Detection

The Art of Detection
By Laurie R. King
[04/01/2007 ~ 20/01/2007]
[Mystery, Detective Fiction]

This post is long-overdue. I finished reading the book some time back, but just never got around to writing about it - as usual.

The latest in Laurie R. King's Kate Martinelli series, The Art of Detection features the usual set of characters that fans are familiar with: San Francisco homicide detective Kate Martinelli and her detective-partner Al Hawkins, as well as her life-partner, Lee Cooper. In this book we finally meet little 5 year old Nora - Lee and Kate's precocious daughter.

Since last we left Kate, she has settled into domestic life and juggling her police work with her duty to home. The character is at peace, which unfortunately seems to throw her and most of the characters into a blandness. Laurie R. King has the ability to write believable three dimensional characters with rich emotional lives - that is one of the reason she has such a strong following for her Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell series. In Art of Detection unfortunately, the characters are more pushed into motion than active protagonists.

Present time, San Francisco, the story opens with Detective Kate Martinelli going into the home of a murder victim, Philip Gilbert. What is disturbing is that the victim had set up his entire apartment like the interior of 221 Baker Street, with violin, fireplace, and bullet holes in the wall spelling the initial of Queen Victoria. It turns out the late Mr Gilbert was a collector-dealer in Sherlock Holmes memorabilia and he has recently acquired a typrwritten manuscript that is supposedly written by Sherlock Holmes himself.

The best part of Art of Detection is this mysterious manuscript, a short mystery story told in the first person by a male narrator of extraordinary deduction skills. Here is where fans of the Mary Russell series, especially those who have read Locked Rooms, will be excited.

I visit the Laurie R. King's blog from time to time, and my impression is that she is an intelligent, self-aware lady with a wry sense of humour. Here is the author playing on the consciousness of her own literary creations. Sometimes the characters you create seem to possess a life if their own and all you really are doing is acting as biographer for someone else's life. The crossover between the Mary Russell and Kate Martinelli in Art of Detection is playful, wry and very well-done. It is fun, and shows us how sometimes authors need to take a step back and not that themselves too seriously.

But one complaint: The Art of Detection pales in comparison to other Kate Martinelli novels, especially the wonderful first Martinelli novel, A Grave Talent (which won King the Edgar Award), and To Play the Fool, where we meet the most intriguing character King has ever created: Brother Erasmus - a living embodiment of the archetypal Fool, who buried within himself some tragic secret too terrible to speak of, that he could only communication in quotations.

A fan of Laurie R. King would find enough to enjoy the book, but I would not recommend it to newcomers. The plot is too conveniently tied up at the end, and there is none of the emotional engagement with the characters found in previously books. Even the victim, Philip Gilbert, is hardly a sympathetic character. I would suggest a newcomer to King try the abovementioned titles: A Grave Talent and To Play the Fool if you're interested in the Kate Martinelli series.

Or try the Mary Russell series, if you're more inclined towards Sherlock Holmes pastiche. In The Beekeeper's Apprentice (first in the series), in the year 1914, young, feisty Mary Russell meets a beekeeper and becomes his assistant in the world of mystery and intrigue. The Mary Russell series by the way, has always been more successful for King.

A little background: King has a BA degree in comparative religion and an MA in Old Testament Theology - all of which she puts in good use when she writes. Odd theological knowledge comes up when you least suspects it, and Mary Russell, protagonist of her Sherlock Holmes pastiche series, translates Sanskrit for leisure.

Another good King to start will be A Dark Place. It's a stand-alone, which features Anne Waverly, an esteemed university professor, who also works with the FBI on cult activities. (Here, King again puts her theological education to very good use) She goes undercover to unravel the truth behind a new fangled cult, the People of Change. A complicated and haunted character, Anne Waverly was previously a member of a cult herself, where she lost her family. Tragic, self-destructive, you feel for Anne Waverly as she gradually loses herself in her new assignment. The character of Anne Waverly was so compelling that I wish there was a sequel for her. But just as well. Sometimes a good thing is knowing when to stop.

Meanwhile, if you are already a fan of the Mary Russell mystery, check this out.