Further to my post from Monday, Mark Billingham's latest, BLOOD LINE, was reviewed on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon show at 10:30pm today.The reviewer was actually Graham 'Bookman' Beattie, former Managing Director of Penguin Books NZ, and now the man behind the excellent Beattie's Book Blog. Graham gave what I thought was a very thorough, thoughtful, and fair review. You can listen to the five-minute discussion via the link at:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/
Or alternatively you can read Graham's thoughts at his blog at:
http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/bloodline-mark-billingham-littlebrown.html
Nice to see someone who is involved in fiction and books in a much wider sense, also appreciating and publicising good crime writing. What do you think of Bookman Beattie's review? Or the book itself?
Thanks for your comments Craig. I reckon that Billingham just keeps getting better and better.
ReplyDeleteI admire your promotion of books in the crime genre, my favourite reading for relaxation so was chuffed to be given this one to review for Radio NZ.
I agree about Billingham continuing to improve Graham. And he started pretty strong with SLEEPYHEAD back in 2001, anyway. I think BLOOD LINE is close to my favourite book of his. A couple of fans on his website forums noted that the serial killer probably wasn't quite as memorable as his earliest ones, but I think the overall tone and feel of thisk book (love your comment about the sense of dread), and the continuing slow evolution of/revelations about Thorne's character, as well as the depth of the supporting characters - make this even better.
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