Another noir weekend...

I finally succumbed to the rain on Saturday and left the office early. I stopped at the grocery for a few staples and a lottery ticket (my weekly $1 gamble!) and discovered that David Baldacci had written a book between Stone Cold and The Whole Truth. So, for less than the price of a movie and popcorn, I brought Divine Justice home with me and suddenly those unexplained gaps between the last two books became clear. Duh! Now I want to go back and re-read The Whole Truth to make sure I have the story straight! Anyway, it was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon and evening - just me and the dogs.

It rained so much on Saturday that we had standing water up to the back sidewalk - it looked like a lake! I decided to just stay home on Sunday, listen to the constant chorus of croaking frogs and read pulp fiction. As you can see, I polished off four crime novels - none of which were truly great. I got spoiled by reading the Richard Stark/Donald Westlake books first; he's very funny and a great writer. If you've never read him, try What's the Worst That Could Happen. It's not that the criminals are bumbling, it's just the funny stuff that happens to them - it's also a movie with Martin Lawrence. Also, the William H. Macy movie A Slight Case of Murder, which was made for TNT and is out on DVD, is based on a Westlake novel. Very funny - I highly recommend it - but then I love murder and mayhem, particularly when it's humorous. I guess you could say I have a tendency toward the bloodthirsty. I've got six books to go in my stack of hard case crime - then it's back to that Stephen King book I just can't seem to finish...