www.list.co.uk/books
(isn't; DANIEL DEPP Loser‘s Town
)irr‘r ..i '~.. OO
Daniel Depp’s claim to fame to date is being the half-brother of movie star Johnny and co-writing The Brave, which was nominated for the prestigious Palme d‘Or prize at Cannes in 1997. As a former Hollywood screenwriter (and apparently producer. though its hard to find a screen credit for the latter) the less well-known Depp sibling is well positioned to dig the dirt on Tinseltown. And that’s exactly what he does with his debut novel, a hardboiled crime drama set in modern day Los Angeles that aims to expose, as the book‘s cover blurb insists, the dark side of the Hollywood
dream.
No doubt, Depp knows a thing or two about the cynicism and corruption of the ironically nicknamed City of Angels, and in particular the entertainment industry to which it is home. That he‘s chosen to write his expose under the aegis of crime fiction is fair enough, as Hollywood has inspired a good deal of the best of it from Elmore Leonard to James Ellroy. Unfortunately. Depp doesn't have the literary skills to translate his insider knowledge into a compelling read. The characters are genre cliches, from gone-to-seed private detective David Spandau through brattish and egotistical film star Bobby Dye to sleazy smalltime gangster Richie Stella. The plot of Stella trying to intimidate Dye into making a movie is rudimentary. and the conclusion — the movie business is more criminal than Stella‘s narcotics trade - is trite. All that‘s left are some rather laboured observations about how crummy people are in LA. (Miles Fielder)
Silttlw“ :l'iCii‘E TOM LEE Greenfly
lHtll‘dl‘ Stunt” ..
Iiikxi‘tik l-:\ K‘ Ati' .t‘ ti
\1‘):\!K!\I\]“\: \\ hurt a". .l .tt‘tx.‘ cow t
5l0lit75 ,t‘. tb‘vtvfl \ 't‘tl’.
(‘l‘tillt‘llt‘xl f‘l'lt‘u‘i. {‘ti'. T'Vf'
\ariat‘ie .ijaa iii.
\‘tllllti‘llt‘tl ‘.‘. 1'3." Z'Tt’tlt“
lit“ small t‘aues "‘tt'\t“f:
It a risk unlike'x to rear‘ dludends. There .: ltlertt‘. 0* when
amongst the .icxe"
usnettes on .‘t’e' “we.
\xith sett-ms rat‘s "a Wildly ll‘. geogr. pl‘x. chronologx amt
"t'. .l".: 'lltibt
."‘l) 1" DUNK} 'Tii‘t:
° 3" r\ I “.1i'iMrM'
659.6 liliooov
Hater
a x;-
. ()iiwd Moody
W: " "ate {nit of hard ~. :rk a":: g ml ‘or'tupe Estrttfi‘ilf‘ttil,. "‘tl’. N Dan: M’ w t, himself. the liitlt:‘§().‘."t" author .'.ho has been selfr p:lt:‘ shim; “)illl'lt.‘ and ”vital" pr 'tton
le'rua";l ‘o' the best pa". of a decade. and .'.'a:; contacted by lvlr;i"~,i.'.’o< id after Haters '.<:'j, lir"'te<t original release :n MUM. (illii‘eritir) tlel loro :s ttu'r'erit', l)"()(lli(2lllt] the tint adaptation. '.‘.’llll \Jtitll‘ /‘\l".()ll|() Bayona ilt‘e Orphanage; ll;r<,~r:t:ng.
So what of ater itself? \‘v’ell. Moody makes no apology for his pulp influences. and 'l()l should he. Take it as reau then that this 28 Dan s Later—style tale of rirvzlz'tan, people becoming era/ed Wllll rnurderous rage and one family's desperate attempts to suryive is :onger on plot than anythrng else. Characters are little nrore than ciphers and the prose is sometimes .r‘eieliant. but there's sri'riething darkly charming about Moody 's hurtling. sadistic enthusiasm for his story.
iDa'. id Pollock, l AMILY DPAMA
DIRK WITTENBORN
Pharmakon iBloornsl’ium 0...
Much like the characters .‘.'ithin it. Dirk \.‘i.i’rttenborn's third novel :leties claSSification. On the surface. it's an epic ‘arnl'y tale Spanning five decades and three generations. One layer donan. it's a taut thriller rich With intrigue. "‘Lllile’ and tragedy. Finally embedded in each page, we find a fascmatrng acc0unt of
'Ytentai 'llness and the ‘.-.ell»rnear‘.ing. but otter‘ barbaric. treatments prescribed to it outer the years.
Our wa‘.’ "l t‘or'ies l)lilll{ll’ll\, trorn Will Friedrich. a frustrated psychologist battling for rnaterial gain and academic notoriety in 1950s AlliCllCil. While the voice of his youngest son. Zach. depicts the benefits and pitfalls of haying Will as a father. each family rnernber garners their own hang-ups as the years pass. \"‘.llil(}lll)0lll8 comfort zone seems to lie in the past. as if haying lived through the 808 and 90s he's less able to pass Judgement on them. But his ability to capture the hopes and fears of humanity are pretty much lllllOlOSS. rKelly Apteri
SCI-Fl COMIC ROBBIE MORRISON & HENRY FLINT Shakara: The Avenger l2000AD’ROD8HIOH)
YOU certainly COuld never accuse writer Robbie Morrison of not starting Shakara on a grand scale. what wrth the obliteration of Earth in the year first panel and the last ever human being dead by the end of page three. Culled from the pages of the 'galaxy's greatest comic' QOOOAD. Shakara is a huge. bloodthirsty story of revenge played out across the universe as
3 er" races a'e JCS’JOV‘J. tlet‘tit‘iidlz‘tl an.) axereu l‘\ the St‘c't‘lltgh littlt‘Sl'thill‘lt‘ etic'n'hcas axenging at‘ge
And ‘»\"'it‘ ("e action s t‘osrr‘it‘ :0 scene. 't‘s third to tlr‘il anything to latch er‘te nith Sl‘akara's biar‘k personality although this does rrnproxe as the series progresses. Henr\ Flint's frenetic art recalls Kevin O‘Neill. particularly his work on Alena/sore and Nemesis the l/l/ar/ock. The wholesale destruction is fairly entertaining ll‘ its own right. but Shaka/a needs more depth to really grab the 'eade'. iHenry Northrnorel
ALSO PUBLISHED
5 CRIME NOVELS Alex Gray Glasgow Kiss DCl Lorimer opens the file on a schoolteacher accused of rape who then goes missing. ‘The most dynamic Scottish detective since Rebus' we're told. Sphere. Natasha Cooper Life on the Edge Psychologist Karen Taylor looks into the case of a man suspected of killing a family four years before. Is he innocent or the accomplice of a much more sinister beast? Simon 8 Schuster.
Ray Banks Beast of Burden PI Callum lnnes is asked to investigate the disappearance of a kingpin's daughter. But further trouble brews when 08 Donkin aims to settle some old scores. Polygon.
Mo Hayder Skin When a woman's body is found. everything points to suicide. Dl Jack Cattery knows better than that. Bantam.
Robert MaeeIIo Blood and Ice A supernatural thriller set in Victorian London and modern day Antarctica which kicks off with the discovery of two bodies chained together in the polar ice. Harvill Seeker.
19 Feb—5 Mar 2009 THE LIST 29