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UnderratedReads is devoted to discovering underrated books and under-represented authors. We highlight hidden gems from around the world–honest reviews only, never pay-to-play.
Category Archives: Lost and almost forgotten
Red Lights – Georges Simenon, Translated from the French by Norman Denny, Introduction by Anita Brookner)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I met a man in whom, for hours, I tried to see another me, another me that wasn’t a coward, a man I wished I could be like…” Steve Hogan, and his wife, Nancy are driving … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature
Tagged classics, mystery, noir
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Coming Through Slaughter – Michael Ondaatje
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…and you like a weather bird arcing round in the middle of your life to exact opposites and burning your brains out so that from June 5 1907 till 1931 you were dropped into amber in … Continue reading
Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Historical Fiction, Lost and almost forgotten, Music inspired
Tagged Buddy Bolden, Historical fiction, jazz, New Orleans
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Fatale – Jean-Patrick Manchette, Afterword by Jean Echenoz, (Translated from the French by Donald Nicholson-Smith)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) ” I don’t tell them I’m a killer. I’m a woman, and they wouldn’t take me seriously. I tell them that I know a killer. Sometimes I let them assume that he is my lover. That … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature
Tagged book reviews, French literature, noir, world literature
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You Can’t Win – Jack Black
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “From the day I left my father my lines had been cast, or I cast them myself, among crooked people. I had not spent one hour in the company of an honest person. I had lived … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged beat generation, memoir, San Francisco
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In Love – Alfred Hayes (with Introduction by Frederic Raphael)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “The sense of well-being which had flooded through me as I sat at the table and thought of not having now the burden of another’s life on me had almost entirely vanished, and the humiliation of … Continue reading
Posted in Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged classics, noir
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The Black Spider – Jeremias Gotthelf (Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “And now the people where gripped by the ancient fear that the spider might carry off an unbaptized infant, the pledge of their old pact. The woman was beside herself, she had no trust in God, … Continue reading
Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature
Tagged German literature, horror, short books
1 Comment
The Big Clock – Kenneth Fearing (Introduction by Nicholas Christopher)
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) Everyone adjusts their life to the big clock; sometimes it races forward, sometimes it moves backward. It impersonally reaches for some, and forgets others. George Stroud is one who it reaches for, but fortunately misses. Stroud, a married … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Lost and almost forgotten, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged 1940, book reviews, mystery, noir
2 Comments
3 to Kill – Jean-Patrick Manchette(Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith)
Reviewed by JD Jung Acheter ce livre! Shit happens. OK, that’s probably an understatement as it relates to Georges Gerfaut. Then again, maybe not. Gerfaut, a rather ordinary 30-something businessman, discovers how twisted life can get in the late Jean-Patrick … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature
Tagged French literature, noir
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Mygale – Thierry Jonquet (Translated from the French by Donald Nicholson-Smith)
Ah, revenge can be so sweet. Now mix it with obsession and a touch of madness, and it turns utterly twisted and bizarre. Such is the case with the intense and fascinating novel, Mygale, written by the late French crime … Continue reading