LEONARDO PADURA RETURNS
The Transparency of Time by Leonardo Padura (translated by Anna Kushner) is out. Leonardo Padura’s gripping new mystery breaks with the traditions of the detective novel, tracing the provenance of a mystical statue through history, from the Crusades to modern-day Havana, by way of the Spanish Civil War.
Conde is retained to track down a stolen statue of the Virgen de Regla—a black Madonna. Equal parts The Name of the Rose and The Maltese Falcon, The Transparency of Time cements Leonardo Padura’s position as the preeminent literary crime writer of our time.
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Praise for Padura's other Conde novels:
Heretics: “This is a rich and powerful novel which has turned the crime fiction formula into a deeply disturbing creation.” TLS
Havana Black: “Conde and the city of Havana share star status, both lovingly portrayed, both fraying at the edges, both prone to depression, yet full of joy.” The Times
Havana Red: “Overlaid with a rich smoky patina, an atmosphere that reeks of slums and riches, cigar smoke and exotic perfumes. A rich feast of wit and feeling.” Independent
Havana Gold: “A textured treat for those who like their detective fiction served long and lazy with a double shot of rum.” Financial Times
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"Cuba's greatest living writer." Washington Post
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To follow on from the success of Beside the Syrian Sea, an excellent reception for the second in the planned espionage trilogy by James Wolff:
How to Betray Your Country
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How to Betray Your Country
"Almost any promising writer of spy fiction can expect at some point to be called the ‘next Le Carré’. Two bull’s-eyes from two throws suggest the arrival of a major talent." Spectator
"Has anyone else read James Wolff? I'd like to form a fan club. I loved Beside the Syrian Sea and How to Betray Your Country is even better, I think." @AnnCleeves
"Wolff has succeeded in writing a spy novel which is also literary fiction of a high order. His main character is a complex, compelling and unique literary creation. This is certainly a thriller, but it is one which will appeal to a sophisticated reader." says Edward Wilson
@EfwilsonEdward
BUY HERE
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Beside the Syrian Sea
The Times Crime Book of the Month
‘A real original…His name is a pseudonym, for reasons that most readers will guess is connected to his job, because this is an account of a hostage-taking in the Middle East and the efforts of a renegade MI5 officer to rescue his father, and it trembles with realistic detail. I know we’ll hear more of him.’
James Naughtie, Radio Times
"This debut by an ex-spy is superb: an adventure from London to Lebanon and Syria and the desperate struggle for survival in the face of war and betrayal. Wolff is a new maestro. “ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard--One of Best Books of the Year.
BUY HERE
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LoveReading Litfest, the new, digitally native, books and literature festival dedicated to celebrating good writing and great reading is running a competition open until JULY 13 to celebrate National Crime Reading Month. Enter NOW to get a chance to win a selection of 8 Bitter Lemon Press crime fiction books from around the world.
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Prison on the screen and on the page
Like most everyone else, we thoroughly enjoyed Sean Bean and Stephen Graham in the astounding BBC prison drama Time by Jimmy McGovern. It was mostly filmed in HM Prison Shrewsbury, now abandoned. Other films we loved set in real prisons: Kiss of Death (1947) by Henry Hathaway. The unforgettable debut of Richard Widmark, filmed in part in Sing Sing prison (in John Cheever's adopted home town Ossining, NY). And Le Trou (1960) by Jacques Becker about an escape from La Santé Prison. Jean-Pierre Melville hailed Le Trou as “the greatest French film of all time."
Just finished Straight Life, the lyrical, and brutally honest autobiography of alto-sax player Art Pepper (1925-1982). One of the finest musicians of his generation. A heroin addict much of his life, he spent years in San Quentin prison, harrowingly described in the book.
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Straight Life by Art and Laurie Pepper
Listen to the album (his best?) "Art Pepper Meets the Rythm Section" here LINK.
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