February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
THE KILLING KIND
John Connolly
The fact that Connolly is from Dublin made his first work all the more surprising. The follow-up, “Dark Hollow,” confirmed Connolly as a full-fledged devotee of the American noir genre. His latest novel, with recurring hero Detective Charlie “Bird” Parker to the fore again, is set in Maine. Connolly has already been compared to Raymond Chandler, Thomas Harris and Stephen King, among others. Atria Books. 376 pp. $25.
FIVE POINTS
Tyler Anbinder
With the Martin Scorcese movie version of “The Gangs of New York” hitting the big screen in a few months, the role of mid-19th century Lower Manhattan in the birth of immigrant America will be given dramatic new focus. At the beating heart of that incredible tale was the neighborhood known as the Five Points. It is located in today’s Chinatown, but at the time that the Five Points witnessed its painful birth and growth pangs, it was home to huge numbers of European immigrants, many thousands of them from Ireland. Anbinder draws from many sources, including newspapers, letters, diaries and police reports to here chronicle the rough and tumble story of a tiny physical part of America, but one that was to leave behind a legacy felt in all corners of the new nation. Plume, a division of Penguin/Putnam. 532 pp. $16.
SCOTTISH REFLECTIONS
Bonnie Rideout
We could all do with a musical reflection and Irish traditional music devotees well know that a bit of Scottish is as good for the soul as its Irish fist cousin. In this CD, Bonnie Rideout, who plays Scottish fiddle and viola, is joined by an ensemble of top rated traditional musicians on tracks such as “MacDonald of the Isles” and “Lochaber No More.” 57 minutes and 18 seconds in length, the CD is available on the Maggie’s Music label, www.maggiesmusic.com.
BROADWAY AND BEYOND
Steve “The Whistler” Herbst
The song once told us to whistle while we work. Steve Herbst works as he whistles and when it comes to getting an audience off its feet he reaches into his repertoire for “Danny Boy,” the tune that secured for him the title of International Grand Champion Whistler. A New Yorker, Herbst is to whistling what James Galway is to a flute. Both, indeed, have performed at venues such Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. “Danny Boy” like you’ve never heard it before rounds of this CD’s selection of Broadway show tunes delivered in Herbst’s unique three-octave range. Details from www.stevethewhistler.com.