Simon Maltman Blogs

  Here are some of my favourite books, music and screen from this year. Yes 2020 has been rather rubbish- but at least we had these...  Books The Last Crossing- Brian McGilloway Blacktop Wasteland- SA Cosby  Dead Girl Blues- Lawrence Block  Our Little Cruelties- Liz Nugent  Sing Backwards and Weep- Mark Lanegan Screen The Boys The Walking Dead  The Comey Rule  Borat 2 The Mandolorian  Cobra Kai  Music  Mark Lanegan- Straight Songs of  Sorrow  Paul McCartney- 3 Therapy?- Live Best of Nick Cave- Live- Alexandra Palace  See my books here -  Books  

Here are just a few of my favourite books, TV, music and movies from this year.     What were your faves from 2019? Books What You Did- Claire McGowan A  compelling family mystery with plenty of dark secrets and twists The Chain- Adrian McKinty The behemoth that relaunched McKinty's career charting a terrifying child kidnapping network  An Eye for a Eye- Paul Heatley A funny and dark novella set in a seedy underworld in North England     (As usual I also read a load of books that weren't out this year. I read Misery for the first time- def my best read of the year! I also really enjoyed Mr Mercedes by King. I delved deeper into Lawrence Block's Scudder books- they have quickly become one of my top crime series) Movies Once Upon a Time in Hollywood My film of the year- he absolutely nailed it- nostalgic, atmospheric, thrilling and great fun The Irishman Perhaps best watched in a few sittings due to i...

2018 Books, Music & T.V For what it's worth, here's my two pennies on what I thought were high points this year. This is just a quick run through of my personal faves. Books 13- Steve Cavanagh The tag line is all you need- 'The serial killer isn't on trial- he's on the jury.' Grab yourself a copy if you're one of the few who hasn't already! In a House of Lies- Ian Rankin Rebus returns, along with your favourite Rankin characters. There's much to savour in seeing an older and failing Rebus involve himself in a tense mystery. Disorder- Gerard Brennan The prose is anything but disordered in this multi-protagonist noir. Take a hard-boiled, sometimes gritty and comical tour of the streets of Belfast. Albums Alice in Chains- Rainier Fog The grunge survivors hit back with their best album since Layne Staley's passing. A satisfying blend of big riffs and scorching harmonies. Walking Papers- W2 Walk...