11 August 2011

Thursday Tea: Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan

The Book: Last month on an Imprint Friday I featured the Amy Einhorn book Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan. I so loved the audio of Dolan's first David Loogan novel, I had to listen to the audio of Very Bad Men too.

Here are the elements: a bank robbery that took place 20 years ago, the mentally unstable Anthony Lark, a killing spree, a news reporter, a senator, a senator wannabe, a kidnapping, a few road trips, and Loogan and his mystery magazine Gray Streets.

The problem is, Loogan isn't quite sure how all these elements come together to make a coherent whole. And the longer it takes him to figure things out, the more chance there is for very bad men to do very bad things.

I can't imagine a better narrator for the Loogan series than Erik Davies. His inflections and pacing perfectly match Dolan's writing style, making it difficult to turn off the mp3 player. Even if you've already read Dolan's novel, follow my lead and do a reread via audio--it's one of the best ways to experience the crazy, dark ride that is Loogan's life.

The Tea: Despite the cooler weather, I'm still on iced tea here. This week I made my sun tea with Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice tea. This is pretty much the only herbal tea I drink, and I really love it. Here's the description: "Brimming with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves, a cup of our aromatic Bengal Spice tea is like a trip to an exotic spice market in a faraway land. This adventurous blend is our caffeine-free interpretation of Chai, a piquant Indian brew traditionally made with black tea."

The Assessment: Sorry, this match-up was a total fail! There is no way Loogan is drinking iced herbal Chai tea. Really. Now if I had poured some scotch or a beer into my mug, I bet Loogan wouldn't hesitate to join me.

What About You? Have you discovered a good tea or even a new wine this week? What are you reading or listening to?

Amy Einhorn Books is a featured imprint on Beth Fish Reads. For more information about the imprint, please read Amy Einhorn's open letter posted here on January 25, 2010, or click the Amy Einhorn tab below my banner photo. To join the Amy Einhorn Books Reading Challenge, click the link.

Very Bad Men at an Indie
Very Bad Men at Powell's
Very Bad Men at Book Depository
These links lead to affiliate programs

Thursday Tea was the brainchild of Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.

Published by Putnan/ Amy Einhorn Books, 2011
ISBN-13:
9780399157493
YTD: 77
Source: Bought (see review policy).
Rating: A

Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)
FTC: I buy all teas myself, I am not a tea reviewer.

13 comments:

Barbara 8/11/11, 8:53 AM  

I've been looking for Safari Red tea since my cousin went to Africa and tried the original version. She said it's available in this country as Safari Red but so far I haven't been able to find it. Have you seen it anywhere? It's supposed to calm anxiety; she swears it works and tastes wonderful.

bermudaonion 8/11/11, 9:00 AM  

You should have had Long Island Iced Tea! LOL I can't wait to read this book.

Zibilee 8/11/11, 9:27 AM  

I have been drinking a lot of Red Tea this summer, and I like it a lot because it doesn't have any caffeine at all. It's really good with a little cream and sweetener as well.

I like the sound of this book. It seems fun and sly and interesting. I am glad that you had fun with it!

BookGeek 8/11/11, 12:34 PM  

The tea you highlighted sounds delicious. I found two new wines this week, one I was less-than-enthusiastic about and another is yet to be tried. HOWEVER, last week I had a delicious Rose. Here's my review of it! Hedonist Rose Review

Sandy Nawrot 8/11/11, 2:04 PM  

Sounds like this book calls for something a bit stronger and masculine...like whisky. I have the first book in print, but now you have me thinking I need to track down the audio (maybe I already looked?). Love AE.

Dorte H 8/11/11, 3:39 PM  

Not even the best tea could make me forget that my current read is not very well written - if you ask me.

Julie P. 8/11/11, 3:56 PM  

I'm cracking up that the character wouldn't be caught dead drinking tea!

Anonymous,  8/11/11, 11:23 PM  

Yeah, I can't imagine them stopping for a spot of tea. Unless, like Kathy suggested, it was of the Long Island variety.

Gilion at Rose City Reader 8/11/11, 11:43 PM  

I just finished reading this one -- my review is going up tomorrow. I loved it. I listened to the audio of the first one, which I thought was great, but I liked this one even better. I was completely absorbed by it.

Hmmmm . . . I am going to go investigate this tea/book/Thursday thing. This is the first I've stumbled on it.

Sarah McCoy 8/12/11, 1:12 PM  

Obviously, my brain is in la-la land this week. Now that I've found the Comments section, I shall leave one:
I'll have a good time asking my grocer, "I'm looking for a little cup of Bengal Spice, you got some?"
Since it's sans caffeine maybe it DOES beg for a little lift. A splash of spicy rum?
BTW, you're kind of making me fall in love with Amy Einhorn... and I'm not even in her imprint. So marketing-wise, that's probably counterproductive. Oh well! ;)

Veens 8/12/11, 3:21 PM  

Oh great! This book sounds so good. And I am glad you like the Chai - I love it too :)

Pam (@iwriteinbooks) 8/12/11, 5:27 PM  

Haha yeah, your match up sounds like mine. I'm drinking pregnancy tummy calming tea while reading a mythology/werewolf book...not so much!

Margot 8/13/11, 2:37 PM  

I have this book but haven't started it yet. I loved the first one and now I'm glad you found this one good too.

Thanks for stopping by. I read all comments and may respond here, via e-mail, or on your blog. I visit everyone who comments, but not necessarily right away.

I cannot turn off word verification, but if you are logged into Blogger you can ignore the captcha. I have set posts older than 14 days to be on moderation. I can no longer accept anonymous comments. I'm so sorry if this means you have to register or if you have trouble commenting.

Copyright

All content and photos (except where noted) copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads 2008-2020. All rights reserved.

Quantcast

Thanks!

To The Blogger Guide, Blogger Buster, Tips Blogger, Our Blogger Templates, BlogU, and Exploding Boy for the code for customizing my blog. To Old Book Illustrations for my ID photo. To SEO for meta-tag analysis. To Blogger Widgets for the avatars in my comments and sidebar gadgets. To Review of the Web for more gadgets. To SuziQ from Whimpulsive for help with my comments section. To Cool Tricks N Tips for my Google +1 button.

Quick Linker

Services

SEO

  © Blogger template Coozie by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP