2/23/18 review of novel Cotton Comes to Harlem, by Chester Himes

Here is the link to my Twitter thread review of the novel Cotton Comes to Harlem, by Chester Himes.

The thread gives a summary of the novel and some background on Chester Himes and how I came to learn of his work. The thread discusses how the novel plays with detective novel conventions, character POVs, and even conventions of realism. The thread also discusses the novel's social layering, action scenes, and moral ambiguities.

The tweets in some of my threads have been twisted out of chronological order by Twitter's platform. This thread's coherency is slightly affected. My apologies.

6/9/14 review of the novel Memory, by Donald E. Westlake

(Image: Hard Case Crime)

Here is the link to my Twittter thread review of the novel Memory, by Donald E. Westlake.

My Twitter review gives a summary of the plot. It then discusses how the story resonates with me, as a writer and because of my life's circumstances. My thread discusses the phantom-like feeling of all the places in the novel and rhapsodizes a bit on that feeling. And -- like pretty much every single book review I've ever written, apparently -- compares this work with the works of Joyce Carol Oates.

Here is the link to the Hard Case Crime edition of the novel Memory.

4/15/14 review of novel The Cocktail Waitress, by James M. Cain

(Image: Hard Case Crime)

Here is the link to my Twitter thread review of the James M. Cain novel The Cocktail Waitress.

The Cocktail Waitress is a James M. Cain novel published posthumously by Hard Case Crime in 2012. My thread discusses the flow and the episodic feel of the book, the sense of dissolution versus resolution, the unique story arc of the heroine, and the heroine's emotional ambiguity as a source of suspense.

Here is the link to Hard Case Crime's page for The Cocktail Waitress.

10/21/14 review of The Neon Jungle, by John D. MacDonald

Here is a link to my Twitter thread review of the novel The Neon Jungle, by John D. MacDonald.

My review thread gives a little context on MacDonald's novel. It also talks about the novel's relation to the Korean War and its themes of addiction. It also gives a little comparison to later MacDonald novels.

The edition of The Neon Jungle that I bought was from Penguin Random House. You can find it here.

I also bought MacDonald's book The Neon Jungle from the Tattered Cover Book Store, a bookstore chain in the Denver metro area.

10/19/2014 review of the novel Borderline, by Lawrence Block

Here is a link to my Twitter review of the Lawrence Block novel Borderline, which I posted on October 19, 2014.

In the review, I discuss Lawrence Block's story structure, his characters, the sexuality of some of the characters, the sex scenes of the book, some of my past Lawrence Block reads, and some of the influences Block has had on my own writing.

The edition of Borderline I read was from Hard Case Crime. You can find it here.

Also, I bought this book from the Tattered Cover Book Store, a great bookstore chain in the Denver, Colorado area.