- Barry Finlay

Book Review – Farewell, My Lovely

As an author of crime and police procedural novels, I’m always interested in what and how other people write. One day I searched for the best crime books of all time. Of course, there are many lists, but one on Wikipedia included Agatha Christie, Daphne Du Maurier and three books by Raymond Chandler in the top 15.

I decided to read Farewell, My Lovely by Chandler to see what would place him on the list. The book was written in 1940 and the reader has to remember it was a different time. There are racially derogatory terms that are a bit shocking by today’s standards. There were also a few more typos than I would have expected in the e-book I read.

The story line is clever with peaks and valleys and a few murders, corrupt cops and rich women. The dialogue, while again from another time period, is excellent. Marlowe has a tough, no nonsense personality, but his flippant, and often witty remarks add to the enjoyment of the read. However, aside from being a page-turning thriller, what sets it apart, I think, is the use of descriptions. The synonyms, metaphors and descriptive terms make you feel like you are right there with Philip Marlowe. The description of the city and neighborhoods is excellent.

Farewell, My Lovely is not today’s crime thriller. With the racial epithets, I’m not even sure it would be published today. But setting that aside, it is a well written book and I will be reading more from Raymond Chandler and authors of that era.

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Book Review – Proof Positive

Proof Positive by Philip Margolin is an interesting and engaging book about a forensic scientist who falsifies evidence to put the bad guys behind bars and leave them there. His misguided antics worsen when he’s on the verge of getting caught and he takes extreme measures to ensure he can continue doing the work he considers necessary to protect society. The problem is that innocent people are getting hurt or worse.

The book is well written and the plot kept me turning the pages. The method the scientist uses to falsify the evidence is interesting and left me wondering about the controls in place to ensure something like this doesn’t happen. The central characters are well developed and believable, in my opinion. I did find that some of the many lesser characters who float in and out of the storyline were difficult to keep track of. Nevertheless, this is a good book to be enjoyed by fans of the genre.

Famous Books That Were Self-Published

While self-publishing is gaining a foothold in modern-day literature, I still notice people at my signings who will flip the book over, presumably to check the publisher, and then quickly set it back down again and walk away. Those of us who self-publish, whether it is our decision or not, are still seen by some as miserable failures as authors.

It’s true that there are some really bad books out there and self-publishing has contributed to that. It’s possible to slap pretty much anything together, give it a title and cover and publish it. The only real control is the reader who will hopefully provide an honest opinion about the quality of the book. On the other hand, I’ve read a few classics that make me shake my head as well. Sometimes it boils down to promotion. As consumers, if we are told often enough that something is good, we tend to think it must be. We are kind of gullible that way.

My point is that there are some really good books that have been self-published and some bad books that have been traditionally published and vice versa. It’s interesting to note that some famous books started out being self-published before they were picked up by traditional publishers. The article below refers to 5 of those. You may not agree they are all good books, but they are all famous.

So, for the self-published author, there’s always hope if you want to be traditionally published. For the readers, I urge you to give self published authors a chance. They may never become famous, but they just may become your next favorite author.

5 Famous Books You Didn’t Know Were Self-Published