Must Reads: January Books You May Have Missed

We may be already one week into February, but it’s the time of year when we start thinking of gift giving.  And, for Valentine’s Day why not give the gift of books.  Especially when you consider candies add calories and flowers die and jewelry is ridiculously expensive.

Here are a few releases from the month of January that you may have missed.  All are excellent additions to your bookshelf – must reads all.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard

This is an odd entry into the Leonard-verse, no doubt spurred by the success of FX’s outstanding procedural “Justified”.  I love when Elmore revisits characters we’ve come to love, but I totally did not see a new Raylan novel.  This one actually reads like a few episodes of the series.  Technically speaking, it is classified as a novel.  Realistically speaking this is a collection of shorts – three, non-connecting stories that pit Raylan’s US marshal against several big bads.

The most entertaining of the bunch is the first entry.  It focuses on the world of human organ trafficking, and quite honestly, I think expanding on this would have made for an exceptional novel.  It opens with a drug dealer waking up in a tub of ice, missing his kidneys.  The play?  The dope dealers will remove the organs and then sell them back to the vic for the sum of $100,000.  But the dope boys aren’t the brightest in the bunch, so it’s up to Raylan to find the true boss behind it all.  Vintage Elmore Leonard dialogue abounds.

The book is actually an outstanding complement to the series.  No doubt this was the aim.  But, if you’ve not yet tuned in, this could get you primed to catch up to seasons one and two.

4 out of 5 stars.

http://www.amazon.com/Raylan-Novel-Elmore-Leonard/dp/006211946X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328795851&sr=8-1

Lunatics by Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel

This is not a great book.  Here’s why it made the list of possible must reads from the last month:

The experiment is sloppy, but it delivers the laughs.

So, a few years back, Barry and Hiaasen and a load of other Florida crime writers decided to write a little book called “Naked Came the Manatee”.  The goal was that each writer would contribute a chapter to an on running narrative.  The end result was a mess of a book, with Hiaasen tying up the loose ends (of which there were many).

The experiment happens again with Zweibel, an SNL writer, and Barry.  Each man tackles a character – Horkman and (I’m not joking) Peckerman – and the point of view shifts from person to person, chapter to chapter, each author playing an improvisational game of one-upmanship.

Yes, it’s a terrible mess of a book that requires much suspension of disbelief.  Why, then, would it make this list?  Because it’s absolutely hilarious.  I did guffaw out loud numerous times, and isn’t that the aim of a book?  To entertain? 

In the end, if you like lemurs, diabetics gone rogue, pirates, Cuban militants, Sean Penn and Ed Begley Jr as possible presidential candidates, or racial slurs you’ve never heard before…well, it might be the book for you.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

http://www.amazon.com/Lunatics-Dave-Barry/dp/0399158693/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328795891&sr=1-1

Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey

I’m a huge fan of Dorsey, as most readers of this blog will know.  He’s certainly not for everybody, as his style takes some getting used to.  But, if you’re a fan, you know he’s consistently playing a game of one-upmanship with himself.  There’s only so many creative ways to kill a man, right?  Wrong-o, as Dorsey proves time and time again.

When Dorsey’s spot-on, he knocks a home run.  When he’s off his game (like “Orange Crush” or the recent “When Elves Attack”) he’s shaky, but still hilarity ensues.  I’m happy to say that this entry into the Serge A. Storms falls in the former category.

There’s always a theme running in Dorsey and Serge Land, and here he tackles the spy genre.  It’s timely, and the end result is something funnier than I’ve seen from Dorsey.

I wouldn’t recommend this for first time readers of Dorsey – there’s a lot of ground to cover.  If you’re a fan, this is highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars.

http://www.amazon.com/Pineapple-Grenade-Novel-Tim-Dorsey/dp/0061876909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328795923&sr=1-1

Autopsy 1: Flesh of the Dead by Steve Gerlach

Not a great gift for the squeamish reader, at all.  Gerlach adds to the serial killer game, in ways only a grisly bizarro writer can.  Autopsy 1 is the first of three novellas, and I’m giddy waiting to see where these go. 

Setting the pace here, the Anarchy Killer is stalking the streets of Matheson (a great nod).   The killer is methodical, choosing, carefully, the “right” victims.  Before he’s done with them, the killer indulges twisted fantasies by carving symbols deep into their chest and mutilating the victims.  Of course, there’s no lead, trace, or clue to whom is inflicting carnage (or is it vengeance?) on the city.

Gerlach is a very capable and graphic writer.  After reading his debut a year, or so, ago, I was eager to see how he’d follow it up.  Well, kids, he’s polished his craft and nails a wonderful entry into a sick world that only Gerlach could have created.

4 out of 5

http://www.amazon.com/Autopsy-1-Flesh-Steve-Gerlach/dp/0987159240/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328795963&sr=1-1

And lastly…a shameless plug:

Karaoke Death Squad by Eric Mays

It actually came out this past Fall, but it’s the perfect gift for that pop-culture lover.  An updating of the Odyssey, Karaoke Death Squad tells the tale of sirens invading the underbelly of the karaoke world in Baltimore.  It’s hilarious, and has been compared to the works of Christopher Moore, S.G. Browne, and Neil Gaiman.

Author William Pauley III says it’s one of the funniest books he’s ever read.

No rating is available, per bias, but here’s what folks are saying:

Mays belts out his prose with the swagger of Mick Jagger, taking you on a narrative odyssey that includes a reluctant hero, a trio of dangerous sirens, and karaoke roulette. Fun and imaginative, Karaoke Death Squad hits all the right notes. - S.G. Browne, author of Breathers and Fated

You've been having the same old sex with the same old girlfriends in the same old town. Then one night a Russian gymnast with a tongue piercing and five pairs of edible underwear introduces you to the Kama Sutra. That's what reading Eric Mays' work is like. You wake up the next morning giggling and you walk funny for a week. - Greg Hall, author of At the End of Church Street and host of The Funky Werepig
"Karaoke Death Squad" is a wildly funny deconstruction of our culture and one of the most brilliantly satirical books I've read this year. - The Austin Post

http://www.amazon.com/Karaoke-Death-Squad-Eric-Mays/dp/0987156128/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328795987&sr=1-1

We'll be back tomorrow for a peek at "The Book of the Sith", the awesome new "artifact" to come out of the Lucas universe, all from genius Daniel Wallace.

Until then...keep reading.