Blood & Whiskey #2
Stacey Abrams, Flynn Berry, Jaws, True Grit, James Ellroy, rye, a giveaway + '70s
Hello friends and readers,
And… we’re back with another chapter of the Blood & Whiskey newsletter. If you missed the first one, you can find it HERE. What is it again? A roundup of crime fiction — mysteries, thrillers, noir, spy capers, plus true crime — news and reviews, occasional author interviews and Q&As, a cocktail of the month (for those so inclined), some music via a monthly Blood & Whiskey playlist, occasional giveaways, etc.
This month I’m coming at you with:
Stacey Abrams’ fun new political thriller, While Justice Sleeps
Flynn Berry’s excellent Irish/IRA thriller, Northern Spy
A couple classics: Jaws and True Grit
A tasty drink I dubbed the Red Sparrow
A guest bookstore rec (Ellroy!) from Artifact Books (Encinitas, CA)
A two-book giveaway - plus beads
Note: As I mentioned last month, if you’re seeing this via email and you didn’t actively subscribe, you may have been on a previous newsletter list - or you’re a friend or relative, and you have no choice. But I take spam seriously, so please know you can unsubscribe below, or email me and I’ll take you off the list. I’ll keep these emails to once a month for now.
See below for details on how to find and buy all books mentioned in Blood & Whiskey (ideally from your local bookstore).
Just a few pages into Stacey Abrams’s new novel, While Justice Sleeps, I wrote in the margin, “Cool!” The story felt bold and fun and even a bit wacky: a Supreme Court Justice in a coma; a brilliant law clerk with a photographic memory and a junkie mom; the judge son is a hacker (natch); some biotech and genetics shenanigans; a rogue POTUS and his sleezy minions… Things got convoluted at times (and occasionally uncomfortably realistic), but it was always alive and smart, funny and entertaining, and a true page turner. Who knew?! I’ve since poked around to red more about Abrams the writer, and found a great interview in The Atlantic. It turns out she’d tried to sell While Justice Sleeps a decade ago, but the bombastic, megalomaniacal president seemed too over the top to be believed. Then, well.. you know. Times change. In the interview Abrams admitted that she’s not an optimist: “I believe that the glass is half full. It’s just probably poisoned. And so my job is to always be on the hunt for the antidote.”
Cool!
Flynn Berry’s Northern Spy is one of the better books I’ve read all year, about a BBC producer and her IRA soldier sister and their respective plunges into the ancient north-south conflict of their homeland. I won’t give away too much here, but I was impressed by what had to have been a serious amount of research. Berry nicely captures the weighty history of Belfast and tosses in just the right amount of local color (drunk = trolleyed; STFU = “catch yourself on”; fishing guide = ghillie). There’s plenty of spy stuff: betrayals and snitches (touts), safe houses and gun stashes, the lingering suspicions and deep hatreds that cloud Belfast’s streets and neighborhoods. But it’s also a deeply emotional story about sisters, about motherhood, about home. She’s a compelling, plot-savvy writer - the story is fast-paced and twisty, but also grounded in real lives and real feelings, with some wonderfully taut but quiet moments. Her first novel, Under the Harrow, won an Edgar, and Northern Spy was a Reese’s Book Club pick. Highly recommend it. Read it with a pint handy.
Classics: I had never read Jaws before, but when I mentioned I was diving into it a brother in law told me it was the book that taught him (as a mid-1970s teenager) that reading could be fun - the book you hid behind your calculus textbook in class. I thought it was a hoot, an absolute page turner, surprisingly well researched, and way better written than I expected a 1970s commercial blockbuster to be. And it was a debut! The paperback version I read had some fun bonus material, like discarded titles: Dark Water, The Survivor, Maw, Great White, Havoc. I then watched the movie, for the first time in ages, and enjoyed seeing the choices Spielberg made (cutting out the mob and a torid affair). The whole experience inspired me to grow a Quint-like ‘stache. And True Grit? In a word, whoa. I’d heard of authors who re-read it every year or so, and now I see why. Pristine sentences, steady action, and some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read. The heroine Mattie Ross? She’s a singular, powerful and memorable character. On the page, she far outshines the character we normally might think of when we think True Grit (that is, John Wayne or Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn). It’s as much a feminist story as a revenge western, the story of a determined young women coming of age as she avenges her father’s murder. I’ve added Portis’s The Dog of the South to the bedside stack, and may become one of those annual True Grit readers.
Also read or am reading (or trying to)…
Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha - 2/3s through; very good.
That Old Country Music, by Kevin Barry - short stories; dude can write a sentence.
Waterlogged, by Richard Deakin
Sharks in the Times of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn
On deck (too many!)…
Razorblade Tears, S.A. Cosby - His breakout debut, Blacktop Wasteland, felt fresh and raw and intense (and reminded me a little of the first couple books in Joe Ide’s IQ series). The new one is already getting some buzz, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it (it comes out in early July).
The Turnout, by Megan Abbott - I’ve read most of Megan’s books, and she’s flat-out one of my favorite authors. In her recent books, she’s drilled into the lives of fiery and competitive women — a group of high schoolers in The Fever; elite cheerleaders in Dare Me (which Megan adapted into a dark and gritty TV series); and now, in the new one, ballet dancers.
The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz - stoked for this one! And I hear there are Seattle literary cameos (Elliott Bay Book Co., Seattle Arts & Lectures).
The Survivors, by Jane Harper - I loved her first two, The Dry and Force of Nature, and I highly recommend the recent film adaptation of The Dry.
The House on Vesper Sands, by Paraic O’Donnell
Heaven, My Home, by Attica Locke
The Great Mistake, by Jonathan Lee
Widespread Panic, James Ellroy
What’s my wife reading? She’s done with her Ian Fleming kick for now. She bailed on John Fowles’s epic The Magus in favor of The Murmur of Bees. In some future newsletter I’ll get Mary to write about her obsession with Margaret Millar.
Watching: Last month I mentioned the French spy series, The Bureau. We loved it so, so much and were sad to see five seasons come to an end. The characters, the writing, the locations, the storylines - all great. A Covid-era highlight. It’s in French, but you adapt to the subtitles. Also: The Dry, based on Jane Harper’s novel, and we’re just two episodes into Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story. It’s moody and trippy and unsettling, maybe a bit overwrought. Julianne Moore is wonderful.
Cocktail of the Month…
Over the years, I’ve become a fan of amaros - or, I guess, that’s amari. This was partly inspired by two books by Brad Parsons, Bitters and Amaro. I’ve since learned there’s a yuge range of these bittersweet herbal liquers and digestifs that fall under the loose definition of amaro (including Campari, Fernet-Branca, Aperol, Averna, Cynar).
Then I read about a new women-run distillery near me in Seattle called Fast Penny Spirits. They make two kinds of amari, Americano (red) and Americano Bianci. I picked up a bottle of the Americano and experimented with a few mashups.
Like many of my favorite cocktails (rarely more than 3 ingredients, not counting bitters), this is a twist on a Manhattan. (Side note: a previous experiment - bourbon, Averna, Luxardo, a 4:1:1 mix - was awful. Don’t try it at home.) I’m calling this one the Red Sparrow. (Why? See the giveaway details below.) It’s more a fall or winter drink, but since we’re in the middle of June-uary here in Seattle (60s and rainy) it works well.
The Red Sparrow
3 ounces rye whiskey (I used George Dickel)
2 ounces of amaro — the Fast Penny Americano was perfect, but you could try a herbaceous-spicy brand like Meletti (or even Fernet, but that’s more of an acquired taste)
1 ounce of red vermouth (I used Dolin)
dash of bitters (I used Peychaud’s for a bit of color and sweet, but orange bitters work, too)
garnish with a slice of strawberry and a mint leaf (orange peel or a cherry works, too)
Shake with ice and serve straight up or pour over one of those fussy big square cubes. Or just pour over non-fussy rocks and stir it with you damn finger. If you want a lighter drink, add a splash of seltzer or orange La Croix.
Bonus drink: the NY Times recently schooled me on the French summer drink, Pincon Biere, a mix of cheap beer and Amer Picon, an aperitif apparently unavailable in the US. The Times suggested using an amaro like Averna or Nonino, and I prefer the latter (it’s lighter). The Times also suggested adding an orange liquer, which I skipped - too sweet. So… Just toss a splash of Nonino or Aperol into a cold pilsner. It’s not exactly my kind of thing (tastes like flavored beer), but it’s super refreshing on a hot day.
Bookstore Corner
I decided that each month I’ll ask an Indy bookstore to share a rec or two, new and/or old. This inaugural corner will be occupied by Greg Mollin, a writer and the owner of the super-cool Artifact Books in Encinitas, CA. I’ve only been to Greg’s shop twice, but I’m smitten: a few blocks from the beach, with new, used, and rare books, and jammed with shelves and stacks of mysteries, thrillers, and noir. Appropriately enough, Greg’s shoutout this month is for that prolific, cranky-smart, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing hero/uncle of LA crime fiction, Ellroy.
James Ellroy is probably my favorite living crime writer. I hand-sell the hell out of his entire catalog here at Artifact Books, and always eagerly await his new releases. From his Chandler-inspired first novel, Brown’s Requiem, through the genre defining neo-noir masterpieces of his LA Quartet, to the brilliant political intrigue and complex plotlines of his Underworld USA trilogy, Ellroy has continued to expand his scope and refine his style, creating some of the most memorable, intense, and important works in the genre. While his last two releases found him exploring race, politics, and corruption in post WWII Los Angeles on a large scale, Widespread Panic finds him plumbing the inner depths and confessions of sleazy PI and shakedown artist, Freddy Otash. 1950’s Los Angeles is the backdrop, and Ellroy revels in the sleaze, paranoia, and communist conspiracies that have pervaded his recent works, but on a much more tightly-focused and personal level. Fast and clean pacing, staccato prose, and trademark alliteration intact, Widespread Panic is Ellroy at his creative and stylistic best.
Thanks Greg! Check out Greg’s shop at ArtifactRareBooks.com.
Speaking of Ellroy, here’s an interview I did with him back in 2014 (during my Amazon book reviewing and author interviewing days), about Perfidia:
Speaking of bookstores…
If you’re interested in any of the books mentioned in Blood & Whiskey, rather than link to them individually I’ve decided to create two online lists: one at Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookstores by sharing a cut of each sale); the other at Amazon.com. But! … I encourage you, when possible, to shop at your local independent bookstore. You can find bookshops near you with the handy store locator tools at IndieBound (HERE) or Bookshop (HERE).
And one more bookstore shoutout…
Books that I read this month (and others still on the to-read pile) came from Village Books in Bellingham, WA; Darvill’s Bookstore, on Orcas Island; and a great shop I just discovered south of Seattle called Three Trees Books. (Small but mighty, the Seattle Times said: this shop “punches far above its weight.”)
Giveaway…
Last month I shared an interview I’d done with Jason Mathews, the ex-CIA operative turned author, who died earlier this year. Days later, at a Little Free Library on Orcas Island, I scored a paperback copy of his debut, Red Sparrow. I’ll mail that book plus a copy of my last book (Kickflip Boys) to one lucky reader. To enter: tell a friend or relative about Blood & Whiskey (or tweet about it or post to Instagram) and then let me know you did so - you can comment below, DM me on IG, or email me. The first 20 names to do that go into a hat and I’ll pick one winner. Heck, I might even throw in one of the cool beaded necklaces my wife has been making during Covid. (We’ve been calling them Covid necklaces, but need some help with the branding.) I’ll announce the winner next month, and hope to do a giveaway of some sort every month or so.
Playlist
Reading and watcing Jaws got me in a ‘70s state of mind. This month’s mix is breezy, yacht rock-y collection from the A.M. radio of my early teens.
And I decided that every playlist will include Tom Waits’s “Tom Traubert’s Blues” (aka “Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen,” aka “Waltzing Matilda”), the story of a drunk guy in a bad ‘hood in foreign land, nursing a “wound that will never heal” and wearing “an old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey.”
Thanks for reading, friends. If you made it this far and you’re not bored or pissed, please feel free to share Blood & Whiskey with fellow readers (and tipplers). And if you’ve got any book (or drink) suggestions, please send them my way. I’m also open to any suggestions on the newsletter itself, and ideas to make it useful and fun.
See you next month…
-Neal
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