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03-08-12 : Val McDermid Exacts 'The Retribution'

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Entropic Violence

Entropy is the ultimate enemy. Things fall apart — lives fall apart. Or they may be torn asunder, shredded by a stand-in for entropy that takes pleasure in the process. Val McDermid finds entropy everywhere in 'The Retribution,' the seventh entry in her series featuring psychology professor Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan.

Jordan heads a task force that targets the bad stuff. She and Hill have worked together on six novels' worth of distressing murder, and put away some very bad men, including one Jacko Vance. As the novel begins the task force is called in on a case involving the murders of prostitutes. Vance has escaped, swearing not just revenge, but retribution. But the task force is told that they're being disbanded due to budget cuts. If Hill and Jordan aren't killed, they'll be fired. Ah, sweet entropy, always the eternal victor. spacer

Recent Commentary
• Archive Review, 'Mission Flats' : Exceptional
• William Landay Is 'Defending Jacob' : The DA Speaks
• Alex Gilvarry Reads 'From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant' : Fashion, Terrorism and Fashion Terrorism
• Commentary Archive
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William Landay

Tense, intelligent thoght-provoking courtroom crime fiction.

Reviewed by
Rick Kleffel


Review Archive
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Anne Rice
Reviewed by
Rick Kleffel
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Alex Gilvarry
Reviewed by
Rick Kleffel
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Ben Marcus
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What is The Agony Column?

"He took down the great book in which, day by day, he filed the agony columns of the various London journals. "Dear me!" said he, turning over the pages, "what a chorus of groans, cries, and bleatings! What a rag-bag of singular happenings! But surely the most valuable hunting-ground that ever was given to a student of the unusual!"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Red Circle

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03-08-12: Podcast Update: Ian Shoales, in Cooperation with KQED: De-Baptism
03-08-12: A 2012 Interview with Val McDermid and Laurie R. King
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"I grew up thinking that all adult books had to have dead bodies in them." — Val McDermid

Val McDermid is just as no-nonsense as any copper she might imagine — or write about in one of her novels, including her latest, 'The Retribution.' spacer
03-05-12: A 2012 Interview with William Landay
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"How far would you go to protect your children?" —William Landay

For all that I have avoided spoilers in my review of 'Defending Jacob,' in our interview, the author, William Landay, goes a bit further than I do. Not much, and he is careful to avoid them, but depending on how much you already know about the book, you may want to wait until after you've read it to listen. spacer
Recent & Notable Podcasts

A 2012 Interview with Anne Rice : "..the potential for tragedy, the potential for redemption..."
A 2012 Interview with Alex Gilvarry : "I would check the Home Security Website a few times a week."
A 2012 Interview with Adrian Bejan : "Ignorance is an asset in the mind of the creative."
Podcast Archive
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The Agony Column for March 11, 2012: William Landay.... Email me.

You can help support KUSP and The Agony Column. Follow this link! What do you want to hear? Email me!
 
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