Monday, January 5, 2015

Around the world in 2014

I managed to travel virtually to 27 countries during 2014 via the books that I read.  Here's the breakdown, with the full list of titles and links to reviews below.

34: United States
11: Ireland
10: England
4: Australia, France
3: Germany, Scotland
2: Canada, Italy, Russia, Thailand, Turkey
1: Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Sweden, Yugoslavia
7: More than one country (Germany, England, USA, Cuba, India, Afganistan, Turkey, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia, Spain, France, Czechoslavakia, Romania, Canada, Scotland)

Argentina
The Secrets in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri ****.5

Australia
Nice Try by Shane Maloney ***.5
A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill **** 
Prime Cut by Alan Carter ***
The Holiday Murders by Robert Gott ****

Canada
Black Rock by John McFetridge ****.5
The Safe Word by Karen Long ***

England
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey *****
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths **
A Willing Victim by Laura Wilson ****.5
The Late Greats by Nick Quantrill ***.5
Bad Penny Blues by Cathi Unsworth **** 
Long Way Home by Eva Dolan *****
Crossword Ends in Violence (5) by James Cary ***.5
Gently Floating by Alan Hunter ***
Dark Winter by David Mark ***.5
Dead Lions by Mick Herron ****.5

France
Summertime, All the Cats are Bored by Philippe Georget ***
The Panda Theory by Paschal Garnier ***.5
Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo ***.5
Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon ***

Germany
Potsdam Station by David Downing ****
The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson ***
A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell *** 

Ireland
Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent ****.5
The Blood Dimmed Tide by Anthony Quinn ***.5
In The Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty *****
Another Case in Cowtown by Mel Healy ***
Keep Away From Those Ferraris by Pat Fitzpatrick *****
Disappeared by Anthony Quinn ****.5
Corridors of Death by Ruth Dudley Edwards **** 
All the Dead Voices by Declan Hughes ****
The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black ***.5
Darkhouse by Alex Barclay *****
Broken Harbour by Tana French ***

Italy
A Private Venus by Giorgio Scerbanenco ****
I Will Have Vengeance by Maurizio De Giovanni ****

Japan
Villain by Shuichi Yoshida *****

Mexico
The Hot Country by Robert Olen Butler ***

Norway
Closed for Winter by Jorn Lier Horst ****.5

Papua New Guinea
The Sun is God by Adrian McKinty ***.5

Russia
Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith ***
Cross of Iron by Willi Heinrich ***** 
 
Scotland
Southsiders by Nigel Bird ***
The Papers of Tony Veitch by William McIlvanney *****
Bitter Water by Gordon Ferris *** 

South Africa
The Steam Pig by James McClure ****

Sweden
The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg ****.5

Thailand
Salty by Mark Haskell Smith ***
Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage ***.5

Turkey
The Gigolo Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer ****
Istanbul Puzzle by Laurence O'Bryan ***

USA
The Boy in the Snow by MJ McGrath **.5
Keystone by Peter Lovesey *** 
Bite Harder by Anonymous-9 ****
All God's Children by Arthur Lyons ***
Because the Night by James Ellroy ***
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ***
Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh *****
I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woodrich *****
The Red Right Hand by Joel Townsley Rogers ***
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler *****
Little Caesar by W.R. Burnett ***.5
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz ****
Hard Bounce by Todd Robinson  ****.5
Grind Joint by Dana King *****
Washington Shadow by Aly Monroe ***.5
The Carrier by Preston Lang ***.5
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn ****
Casual Rex by Eric Garcia ***.5
Briarpatch by Ross Thomas ***.5
Raylan by Elmore Leonard ***.5
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Horace McCoy ***.5
To Die in Beverly Hills by Gerald Petievich ****
Salt River by James Sallis *****
Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis ****
Bird Dog by Philip Reed ****.5
Night Moves by Randy Wayne White ***
Tropical Freeze by James W. Hall ***.5
Margin of Error by Edna Buchanan ***
Hurricane Punch by Tim Dorsey ***.5
Tropical Heat by John Lutz ***
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane ****.5
The Big Goodbye by Michael Lister ***
The Wrath of Angels by John Connolly ****
Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda ***** 

Yugoslavia
The Man From Berlin by Luke McCallin ****

More than one country
The Midnight Swimmer by Edward Wilson **** (Germany, England, US, Cuba)
Flashman by George Macdonald Fraser **** (England, Scotland, India, Afganistan)
The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin *** (Turkey, Italy)
Night Soldiers by Alan Furst **** (Bulgaria, Russia, Spain, France, Czechoslavakia, Hungary)
All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Eye by Christopher Brookmyre **** (Scotland/France)
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway *** (Cuba, USA)
Entry Island by Peter May *** (Canada, Scotland)

2 comments:

Scott said...

Sort of like my Traveling The Globe last year. :)

Anonymous-9 said...

Hi Rob, thanks again for your vigorous support of our writing community. All the best in 2015!
Anonymous-9