What Should You Read?

Ok, so, this is a new feature I’m going to be doing.  Since my regular entries are specifically about the books I’m reading that I’ve never read before I wanted a place where I can talk about books I really think people should be reading, even if they’re old favorites of mine.  I may occasionally branch out into podcasts, youtube shows, tv, or movies as the mood strikes me. (Dredd, by the way, more fun than I expected.)

So, to start off, a book I may have talked about before, but it’s just come out in paperback and I really love it.  Although, I really, really, really don’t like the new cover.

Low Town by Daniel Polansky
Here are the two American covers:

hardcover

paperback

Neither cover is great, but the paperback cover just irks me.  But, that’s not the point.  The point is that this book is awesome and you should read it.  Here is my thumbnail sketch:
If Raymond Chandler had been born into Tolkien’s Middle Earth, this would have been the type of book he would write.  It’s a noir detective story with a protagonist who has all the classic issues.  He drinks a little too much, has a troubled history with women, had a difficult time in the war, and is a complete badass.  The Warden works out of a bar in Low Town, the part of the city that no one much cares about.  He does his best, some days that’s better than others.  At the end of the day, he’s a criminal, and a fairly cheap one at that.
Someone, or something is killing children.  The Warden takes up the case despite the fact that his involvement is putting him on a direct intercept course with his old life and the secret police that he was once a part of.