The Burnt Orange Heresy by Charles Willeford

(hb; 1971)

From the inside flap:

"When Jacques Debierue, the world's most renown painter, secretly emigrates from the French Riviera to the Florida Gold Coast under the name of Eugene V. Debs, it inspires one of the most ingenious dramas and provokes the most intriguing crime of passion ever conceived in the world of art.

"One of the truly influential artists of all time, Debierue has kept his work from the public, allowing few critics ever to set eyes on his paintings. Why? What has made him single-mindedly shun recognition and refuse to open his collection and share the magnificence of his creative endeavor?

"This is the mystery that James Figueras tries to solve. Figueras is an art critic -- a rhetorical magician in the domain of aesthetics, a manipulator of taste, and an arbiter of judgment. Into his exemplary life arrives the ultimate professional opportunity: a chance to interview the subject of his own lifetime research, the mysterious painter Jacques Debierue. Joseph Cassidy, wealthy, powerful lawyer and art collector, has arranged the meeting, and in true Faustian fashion, Figueras is forced to tarnish his pristine critical soul in exchange -- to commit a crime. . ."


Review:

Burnt is a fun (in a could-get-sleazy, fast-talking way), humorous and ultimately good-hearted story, told from the point of view of James Figueras, whose belief that the ends justify the means dictates his actions and (by extension) their consequences. The same character-quirkish feel that so often colors Willeford's other neo-pulp works is evident here, as well as his deft use of character-based nuance -- even when events turn dark and (briefly) nasty.

This is an excellent read, worth owning.

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The resulting film was released stateside on March 6, 2020. Giuseppe Capotondi directed the film, from a screenplay by Scott B. Smith.

Elizabeth Debicki played Berenice Hollis. Claes Bang played James Figueras. Donald Sutherland played Jerome Debney. Mick Jagger played Joseph Cassidy. Rosalind Halstead played Evelina Macri. Alessandro Fabrizi played Rodolfo.

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

(hb; 2015: fourth novel in the Millennium series. Translated from the Swedish by George Goulding.)

From the inside flap:

"Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return.

"She is the girl with the dragon tattoo -- a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.

"Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker -- a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it."


Review:

Lagercrantz's pick-up of Larsson's Millennium series maintains the same steady-build-then-explosive feel of the first three books in the series. Again, the characters -- some of them familiar, some of them new -- are worth rooting for or hissing at; the intensity and intentions of those characters are alarming and thrilling, lending additional urgency to the physical (sometimes fatal) action. These elements are further heightened by the cinematic (but character-true) jump-cut editing, especially during the multi-character cliffhangerish sequences.

Spider's Web is a fun, reader-hooking-from-the-get-go and deepening-of-the-familial-storyline read, one worth owning -- as are the previous Millennium books. (For those who have not read the first three books, Spider's Web also works as a stand-alone read.)

Followed by The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye.

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The resulting film was released stateside on November 9, 2018. Fede Alvarez directed the film, from a screenplay by himself, Jay Basu and Steven Knight.

Claire Foy played Lisbeth Salander. Sverrir Gudnason played Mikael Blomkvist. LaKeith Stanfield played Ed Needham. Sylvia Hoeks played Camilla Salander. Vicky Krieps played Erika Berger. Paula Schramm played Malin Erikson.

Beau Gadsdon played "Young Lisbeth Salander." Carlotta von Falkenhayn played "Young Camilla Salander." Cameron Britton played Plague.

Stephen Merchant played Frans Balder. Christopher Convery played August Balder. Claes Bang played Jan Holtser.