Monthly Archives: August 2018

The Sheep Look Up, by John Brunner

Posted on August 30, 2018 by pete

Not long ago I sang the praises of John Brunner’s large SF novel Stand on Zanzibar, which has maintained a reputation over the years as a classic of dystopian literature. It constructed a detailed world from many speculations about social, political … Continue reading →

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The Black Ice Score, by Donald Westlake (as Richard Stark)

Posted on August 15, 2018 by pete

The eleventh novel in the famous Parker series, The Black Ice Score (1968) once again features the inventive criminal on a well-planned burglary with a messy and violent aftermath. This time, however, he is hired as a consultant and stays … Continue reading →

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Quarry’s Deal, by Max Allan Collins

Posted on August 11, 2018 by pete

NOTE: This review is of the third book in the Quarry series, which has been reprinted by Hard Case Crime. It is about a free-living professional hit-man of the 1970s, told in the first person. Although the Quarry titles look … Continue reading →

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Stand on Zanzibar, by John Brunner

Posted on August 8, 2018 by pete

Of all of the major SF writers of the “New Wave” period that spanned from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s, few (if any) matched the productivity of the British novelist John Brunner (1934-1995).* He published a large number of standard-looking space … Continue reading →

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The Gutter and the Grave, by Ed McBain

Posted on August 4, 2018 by pete

Hard Case Crime has published a few early Ed McBain books, which first appeared in the 1950s under other pseudonyms. McBain is most known for his long series of 87th Precinct police procedurals, but these early standalone titles also have … Continue reading →

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