Reading Wednesday
May. 5th, 2021 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyJust finished: Cold Skies by Thomas King. This was a product of me aimlessly browsing Overdrive for ebooks and discovering that King had written two other DreadfulWater mysteries that I hadn't read. This is the third one, which pulls Thumps DreadfulWater out of a peaceful retirement doing fine art photography for One Last Case.
The plot in this one is less political than the last book and less compelling in general—I didn't care much about the central mystery. It's almost incidental to the story that King is actually telling, which has to do with aging, illness, and PTSD. Thumps is haunted by the case he never solved, a serial killer who also killed his then-lover and her child. He has diabetes. His on-and-off-again girlfriend, the band chief, is facing down cancer. He needs a new stove. His fickle cat, Freeway, has deserted him to hang out with the neighbour's dog. These slice-of-life moments are what make the book for me, along with King's wry, witty prose. The characters and their world feel embodied and lived in. And not gonna lie, I related very much to the everyday concerns and anxieties of an aging character who suspects it's all downhill from here.
Currently reading: Obsidian, also by Thomas King. According to the internet this is either the fourth or fifth book in the series? It seems to follow directly from Cold Skies but apparently A Matter of Malice is in between? So do I keep reading or do I try to figure out which one it is?
The plot in this one is less political than the last book and less compelling in general—I didn't care much about the central mystery. It's almost incidental to the story that King is actually telling, which has to do with aging, illness, and PTSD. Thumps is haunted by the case he never solved, a serial killer who also killed his then-lover and her child. He has diabetes. His on-and-off-again girlfriend, the band chief, is facing down cancer. He needs a new stove. His fickle cat, Freeway, has deserted him to hang out with the neighbour's dog. These slice-of-life moments are what make the book for me, along with King's wry, witty prose. The characters and their world feel embodied and lived in. And not gonna lie, I related very much to the everyday concerns and anxieties of an aging character who suspects it's all downhill from here.
Currently reading: Obsidian, also by Thomas King. According to the internet this is either the fourth or fifth book in the series? It seems to follow directly from Cold Skies but apparently A Matter of Malice is in between? So do I keep reading or do I try to figure out which one it is?
