SteveCrisis

I've read quite a bit these past few months: The Battle For Spain by Antony Beevor Arthur & George by Julian Barnes The Alienist by Caleb Carr The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr Cosa Nostra by John Dickie Destination: Morgue! by James Ellroy Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King The Naming of The Dead by Ian Rankin Currently reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King and next on the hit is The Algebraist by Iain M Banks

I bought that a while ago thinking the premise of the novel was quite inspired. 250 pages later the story's not getting anywhere and my perseverance wore off. Shite indeed!

The 'tache is on steroids

Ian Rankin was at the Music Hall on Monday as part of the Look Who's Talking events discussing his new Rebus novel amongst other things... A lot of the High Strett retailers have this on special offer just now. Synopsis July 2005, and the G8 leaders have gathered in Scotland. With daily marches, demonstrations, and scuffles, the police are at full stretch. Detective Inspector John Rebus, however, has been sidelined, until the apparent suicide of an MP coincides with clues that a serial killer may be on the loose. The authorities are keen to hush up both, for fear of overshadowing a meeting of global importance - but Rebus has never been one to stick to the rules, and when his colleague Siobhan Clarke finds herself hunting down the identity of the riot cop who assaulted her mother, it looks as though both Rebus and Clarke may be up pitted against both sides in the conflict. THE NAMING OF THE DEAD is a potent mix of action and politics, set against a backdrop of the most devastating week in recent British history.

In hardback 8.99 from Waterstone's. I started reading it last night and find it gripping from the get-go. Synopsis Lisey Landon lost her husband Scott two years ago, after a twenty-five-year marriage of profound, sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was a celebrated, award-winning, novelist. And a complex man. Lisey knew there was a dark place where her husband ventured to face his demons. Boo'ya Moon is what Scott called it; a realm that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed to write and live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face her husband's demons. And what begins as a widow's effort to sort through her husband's effects becomes a perilous journey into the heart of darkness. Similar to Bag Of Bones in theme I find but much, much different. Yet again another strong female lead character, much like the protagonist in Rose Madder

I'll be giving this a wide berth. I have a lot of dealings through work with Kazakhstan and I find HIM quite talantless and his portrayal of people from that region rather insulting.

Or Hercule Poirot

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris is to be released prior to Christmas. Publication date at time of posting is 05/12/06. Synopsis He is one of the most haunting characters in all of literature. At last, the evolution of his evil is revealed. Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck. He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki. Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal.With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France. But Hannibal's demons visit him and torment him.When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death's prodigy.

Hear! Hear! I wasted my lunch break trawling through this and now whatever faith I had in anything has ebbed away and now I feel I'm just a husk. An empty vessel, a bottomless chasm, a ... an... Oh fuck it. You get the idea...

I'd suggest Grampian Electronic Components Tel 481000

If I had to toy with the idea of dressing up for Halloween then it would involve nudity and the theme would be emotions: Me in my scuds holding a jizz covered piece of fruit: Despair (as in I've come in dis pear) Me with my dick in a pudding bowl: Disgust (as in I'm fucking dis custard)

I rented this from Blockbuster a while ago and have never been so disappointed, I mean Calina didn't even make an appearance! It did make me want to see the original again though.

I hope you're kidding They were mince when they supported Mogwai:down:

By merchandise I meant T-shirts:rolleyes:

If you fancy a trek out of town try Casa Salvatore's in Ellon. Most recommended.

I was looking at Arab Strap merchandise on Simbiotic and it's all out of stock

As there's still no sign of tickets in One Up I've booked on line from Seetickets. Four weeks on Saturday and it's Adios Aidan.

The food is good but I can't honestly remember the last time I was there.

In recent months Channel 4's Dispatches, Mondays 8pm til 9pm, has been dealing with Muslim issues. The veil is actually a woman's choice to wear. Apparently it shows her commitment to her religion but isn't a prerequisite of it. It's true that Sikhs aren't questioned about their turbans and Hassidic Jews aren't questioned about their attire.I reckon Jack Straw's main concern about burkas and the veil is that it's concealment of identity. I posted this last week to see what the reaction would be http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39194 Bad taste? Perhaps so but when you engage someone in conversation physically, don't you wnat to see more than just the eyes?

You're right on both counts. A Question of Blood and then Fleshmarket Close and the newly published The Naming of The Dead. Apart from Black & Blue the only Rankin TV adaptation that worked reasonably well was The Hanging Garden.

At the risk of posting in the wrong forum Lisey's Story, SK's new novel, is out now on hardback. Waterstone's is doing it for half price. Bargain! That and the new Rebus hardback (set against the back-drop of the G8 Summit) for the price of one. Roll on Tuesday when it's payday!

Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes Anybody been watching this on Five US? Admittedly the adaptations aren't brilliant, but to a certain extent they are enjoyable. It's a definite must for Stephen King fans like myself. William H Macy stars in the next one to be broadcast on Monday night, Umney's Last Case. Tom Bernger also stars in an episode entitled The Road Virus Heads North. The episodes/adaptations I'm most looking forward to are The End Of The Whole Mess, The Fifth Quarter and, at a push Autopsy Room Four.

Thanks Neil Please get it started soon. I've got some book news I'm desperate to post!

And no-one has mentioned Primal Fear. Surely a stellar Ed Norton performance?

The party was winding down when I commandeered the CD player and chucked Joe's album on! I had the same reaction but it does grow on you. Subsequently it's been played every single day.