THE GODS OF GUILT - Michael Connelly is one of the few authors whose new books I consider "event" releases. I always go on Amazon and make a note of when his new release date is. Gods is the fifth in the Mickey Haller series, of which the first was made into the Matthew McConaughey film entitled The Lincoln Lawyer. In this book, the first since the film was released, Haller actually mentions that since the film, his signature style of working out of a big, black Lincoln instead of an office has taken over the LA County courthouse, so much so that he continuously steps into the wrong Lincoln since there are so many parked outside. In the two years since the events of the previous book, The Fifth Witness, Haller has tried and failed to run for District Attorney and is now back to representing lowlifes and scumbags as a defense attorney. He is now representing a man who is accused of killing an ex client of his, a prostitute whom Haller helped get out of the life, or so he thought, but gets caught up between a rogue DEA outfit, an incarcerated cartel dealer, an incarcerated defrocked lawyer (both who reside at the prison in Victorville!) and a vengeful ex cop who were all involved in this case the first time he represented Gloria Dayton, the prostitute, 8 years ago. Connelly is the modern crime fiction laureate of Los Angeles. His Harry Bosch (Mickey Haller's half-brother) series is among the best in the game, with both Harry and Mickey roaming the streets of LA, from the offices of the county courthouse and the PAB to the streets of downtown and Hollywood to the mansions in the hills. Connelly knows and loves LA, and as a lover of LA and a lover of crime fiction, this is a must read, and I'm loving every word of it.
TELEVISION - January is almost, perhaps arguably, better for TV than the traditional start of the television season in September. This month saw the new seasons of Justified, Girls, Banshee, Sherlock, Community, Kroll Show and Episodes along with the premieres of The Spoils Of Babylon, Enlisted, and True Detective, among all the other continuing network shows back from their winter breaks. It's glorious. I fire up Hulu and all the network sites and other avenues of content and watch all my stories and life is good. The news that this is the penultimate season of Justified makes me cherish it all the more and Banshee fills the hole that Sons Of Anarchy left, with probably even higher of a body count. The market for sitcoms, network and cable, is flush with good stuff right now, with Girls and Community, two of my favorites, kicking off their new seasons and continuing favorites New Girl, The Mindy Project, Parks & Recreation and Raising Hope, among others, still going strong.
TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES - The new album by Against Me!, a longtime favorite of mine, is fantastic. Gone are the polished power pop ballads about getting screwed by their label (although there does seem to be one of those here still) which have been replaced here by louder, faster, ferocious punk songs about Laura Jane Grace finally embracing her true nature of being a woman who had previously lived her whole life as Tom Gabel, husband and father. The album sometimes plays like something directly out of her journal, although what she's become is the voice of everyone like her; misunderstood, confused and angry punk kids who are struggling to find their place in the world. On the self-titled song, Grace sings "You want them to see you like they see every other girl / They just see a faggot." The album is a tight 27 minutes but it's 27 minutes of pure catharsis and the transition to a fast & furious sound from their recent past as a power pop, Replacements-like rock band and their distant past as a sing-along anarcho-punk garage band suits AM! well. They've gone through some personnel changes and personal turmoil in the last few years but Against Me! is still alive & kicking and they're better than ever. It's good to have them back.
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