Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

I got Bust from the library and it was one of those rare cases where the cover drew me to grab the book. Bust is part of the Hard Case Crime series, which is supposed to be like the old hard pulp crime novels of the 1950s. I ended up loving this book and give it an A-.

Back cover:
Five important lessons you can learn from Bust:
1. When you hire a hit man to kill your wife, don't pick a psychopath.
2. Drano is not the best tool for getting rid of a dead body.
3. Those locks on hotel room doors? Not very secure.
4. A curly blond wig isn't much of a disguse.
5. Secrets can kill.

This book was a pleasant change from the heavy suspense and thriller books I have been reading lately. There was a ton of humor mixed in that had me smiling and chuckling to myself quite a bit. It was a very short book, only 254 pages, and a very quick read.Bust fits in for two of my challenges as well, the Library challenge and the Suspense challenge in the category of crime. It is the type of book that you can pick up and read a couple of pages here and there when you have time, though it was hard to put down. I love old movies and have always wanted to read some of the old crime novels, so I thought this was a nice way to kind of ease myself in. There are several different characters in this book that are definitely classified as a bad guy, but as the reader you almost feel like cheering for some of them. It was all around a great read and a lot of fun. I already picked up another book in this line from the library today.

Speaking of the library, I really need to stop checking out so many books. I have so many of my own to read, but lately I have been in the mood to buy more. Since I have been taking a hard look at my budget and where I spending money I have banned myself from the bookstore and have found going the library is the perfect replacement. I can go to several different cities and check out books so I always get a good variety. Today I went to one of the bigger libraries and had a great time browsing. I guess January and the early part of February will be my months to focus on the library challenge and then I will focus on the RYOB challenge. My next book will be another library one, though I am not sure which one. I am off to bed... a full day of subbing tomorrow and then 5 hours of tutoring at night. I am fighting a migraine so hopefully sleep will come quickly. Happy Reading!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never heard of Ken Bruen until his latest book came out. I think the title is ONCE WERE COPS. I really want to read his books!

Literary Feline said...

This does sound good! Thank you for the great review, Kristie. My husband is really into the Hard Case Crime series right now. He gets a book a month in the mail from the publisher.

Kristie said...

J. Kaye, I never heard of him either. I will probably be on the lookout for more of his books. This was really funny.

Literary: Does he have any good recommendations from the line? I think I may be hooked!

Literary Feline said...

Hi, Kristie! My husband said he really liked No House Limit by Steve Fisher, The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block and Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas. He hasn't read the one you reviewed here, but he said he read the third book in that particular series, which he also enjoyed--he said it was silly, but on purpose. :-)