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Noir, cowboys and asteroids: What I’m reading

Not sure if you knew this, but I regularly review books on Goodreads. I have an author profile there as well, so please follow! Anyway, thought I’d share a few of my latest reviews.

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

I love the premise of this series. An asteroid is about to crash into Earth, destroying everyone… but Detective Henry Palace wants to keep on solving ordinary murders and missing person cases.

In the end, you get a compelling mystery that would work as a novel in its own right, surrounded by an equally gripping per-apocalyptic atmosphere, all injected with a healthy dose of conspiracy theory!

Countdown City reminded me what I loved about The Last Policeman (the first entry in the series), and I think Winters’ writing is even stronger in this second book. Looking forward to the next one!

Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard

I loved how compact and straightforward this Western was. It’s got everything you want for the genre–a character seeking justice, a power-mad cowboy, gunfights and chases through the desert.

My only complaint is that the love story is a bit thin and not so compelling.

Overall, this is a blast and a good choice if you’re just getting into the genre.

Scene of the Crime by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark and Sean Phillips

A gritty crime/noir from one of the best crime writers in comics. Ed Brubaker writes an interesting mystery and the memorable characters here really bring it to life. The people in this story feel human thanks to their flaws, baggage and, yes, senses of humor.

Also loved the art by Michael Lark — that guy knows how to draw a vintage car, man.

The deluxe hardback is a real treat. The printing really makes the artwork pop and I appreciated the behind-the-scenes look on how this story came together.

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Greenwald takes NSA to task in surveillance book

No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald

It’s easy to feel a bit of information overload when you first learn about an information leak revealing that the NSA has spied on regular American citizens and that major Internet companies like Microsoft and Facebook have helped them do it.

Glenn Greenwald is the reporter who read through countless documents provided by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and wrote the first news articles bringing that information to the public’s attention.

Now, with his excellent book No Place to Hide, Greenwald offers an insightful and comprehensive discussion of the controversial documents. Greenwald clearly lays out the most significant revelations and why they matter to everyday people.

The first part reads like a spy novel, grabbing the reader from the first page with an exciting account of how Snowden first contacted Greenwald, their secret meeting in Hong Kong, and the ensuing behind-the-scenes drama to get the information into the newspapers. While some have criticized the Snowden leak as threatening national security, the book highlights the care and scrutiny with which Greenwald and his collaborator Laura Poitras handled the classified documents, seeking to shine light without putting anyone’s lives in danger.

The next two sections contain less narrative, spending more time explaining the most significant revelations and why surveillance is harmful to society. While they don’t read quite as fast as the thrilling opening, these parts are great for anyone who had trouble keeping up with the Snowden leaks and what they meant.

Greenwald closes with a critical and thought-provoking discussion of the American media and what he perceives as journalists’ growing sympathy to the government. In Greenwald’s view, journalism has lost its investigative edge, giving too much power to the government to decide what information is published — and perhaps more critically — what information is not.

As a journalist, I found this section fascinating. While it paints a dismal picture of corporate media, the book’s existence provides optimism for the rise of independent journalists to maintain the mantle of the Fourth Estate.

Adam Bender is a tech journalist and the author of two dystopian novels about government surveillance. You can find his books WE, THE WATCHED and DIVIDED WE FALL at most major online bookstores.

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My top rock albums of 2013

Wow, there goes another great year of music! There were some great comeback albums (Saves The Day) and at least one big disappointment (MGMT). Today, the last day of December, I thought I’d highlight my favorite LPs of the year.

Please keep in mind this is not a definitive “Best of 2013” list since there was no way I could have listened to every single album out there. Also, my tastes are mainly within the indie and alternative rock realm. In other words, just take these recommendations!

Saves The Day

This eponymous release was the Saves The Day album I had been waiting for. Combining the bright spunk of early 2000’s hit Stay What You Are with the mature soundscapes of its underrated followup In Reverie, this is 21st Century pop punk at its best. Read my full review here.

Cloud Control – Dream Cave

Cloud Control play sunny harmonies against dark grooves on their mesmerizing second album. That might sound heavy but rock anthem highs like singles “Scar” and “Happy Birthday” prove that this is a band that wants to have fun, too

Snowden – No One In Control

Haunting synths and echoing vocals take the listener on a journey. Hope shines through the gray in the catchy and immediate “The Beat Comes.” While the brilliance fades in the second half, the strength of the first five tracks more than cover the price of admission.

Minor Alps – Get There

Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) and Julianna Hatfield (Blake Babies, Some Girls) join forces to spellbinding effect on this excellent debut. Side projects often disappoint but Get There showcases a pair of rejuvenated musicians performing at the top of their game.

The Dodos – Carrier

While they have always showed talent, The Dodos demonstrate growth through control on their most recent LP. Carrier conveys tragedy and triumph through tight guitar-and-drum rhythms and powerful lyricism.

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Music Review: Saves The Day

The new album by Saves The Day might be the most fun record I’ve heard all year.

Saves The Day

On their new self-titled album, the New Jersey band brings wave after wave of infectious pop punk. On first play it’s all sunny and sweet, but repeated listens reveal honest lyrics about lost-and-found love and run-ins with racist drunks (see: “Xenophobic Blind Left Hook”).

It’s all over in just over 30 minutes, but Saves The Day pack a lot into these 11 tracks. It’s not easy to write a three-minute song that actually feels complete–with a few verses, chorus and bridge–but these boys seem to pull it off effortlessly. There’s not a dud on the record and when it’s over you want to play it again.

I hadn’t seen it before, but singer/songwriter Chris Conley reminds me a lot of John K. Samson from Canadian indie darling, The Weakerthans.  Both Conley and Samson come from a punk background, and yet both stand apart from others in the genre with clever, observational lyrics that fit big literary words around instantly catchy hooks.

As someone who first heard this band in high school (back in the early 2000s), it’s very cool to see Conley has matured so much as a songwriter. Saves The Day isn’t writing exactly the same kind of songs they used to, but they have harvested the best elements.

Some other reviewers on the Web say that Saves The Day have overdone the cheerfulness on this one, but to them I say, “Lighten up!”

It’s refreshing to hear music with such positive energy. It’s not a concept album. There’s no political agenda or “screw you” to the mainstream. It’s just a bunch of guys having fun and hoping their fans will come along for the ride.

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Divided We Fall manuscript acclaimed by Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has praised the manuscript for my unpublished second novel, Divided We Fall.

An independent reviewer from the literary mag wrote that the story “raises interesting questions about the influence of propaganda on the construction of the self, the idea of true tabula rasa and the power of memory.” In addition, “the central love story propels the narrative energetically.”

Divided We Fall received the review after finishing as a quarterfinalist in this year’s Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, one of the top 100 novels selected in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category. Unfortunately, it was not one of the five entries to go onto the next round, but I’m quite happy with how well it did and look forward to seeking representation.

While you’re waiting for the release of Divided We Fall, please check out my first novel We, The Watched as well as my recent short stories “Life Trade” and “Smokers Corner.”

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Adam Bender | adambenderwrites.com | watchadam.blog