Episode 39: Criminal Minds

McGruff the Crime Dog guests hosts in Episode 39 of the Book XCh... well OK, maybe not (and yes, we just dated ourselves - but those who know, know!). This time out, your humble hosts/book-hungry twins take a bite out of the vast buffet of books that explore crime, both real and imagined. We delve into classic mysteries, true crime reportage, historical novels with unexplained murders at their center, pulp detective fiction, harrowing accounts of real-life urban crime, and some of the most heinous and traumatic events in American history (think JFK, Watergate and 9/11). Together, Jude and John dare to delve into the criminal mind and discuss just what it is that makes reading about the dark side of humanity so unnervingly, but undeniably, compelling. (And don't miss a very special and FUN interview coming up in a few weeks, for Episode 40!!) Thanks for listening everyone.

MUSIC BY YOUNG WOLF, VOIDZ PANDA

BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE

What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next:

'The Songlines,' Bruce Chatwin -

'Billy Summers,' Stephen King -

What John is currently reading/plans to read next:

'Foundation,' Isaac Asimov -

'The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vol. 1,' Ed. by James D. Jenkins & Ryan Cagle

Books/Writers discussed in this episode:

THE FACTORY SERIES by Derek Raymond (He Died with His Eyes Open, The Devil's Home on Leave, How the Dead Live, I Was Dora Suarez, Dead Man Upright) -

'The Name of the Rose,' - Umberto Eco -

'An Instance of the Fingerpost,' Iain Pears -

The crime fiction of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and P. D. James -

'In Cold Blood,' Truman Capote -

'Murders in the Rue Morgue (story),' Edgar Allen Poe -

'The Gangs of New York,' Herbert Asbury -

'The Lighthouse,' P. D. James -

'Classic Crimes,' William Roughead -

'2666,' Robert Bolaño -

'All the President's Men,' - Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein -

'Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK,' Gerald Posner -

'Oswald's Tale,' Norman Mailer -

'The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11,' Lawrence Wright -

'Killers of the Flower Moon,' David Grann -

'Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic,' - Sam Quinones -

'Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,' David Simon -

Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast:

Episode 40 will be a BXC SPECIAL - an interview with our very own Jude Joseph Lovell, about his brand new time-twisting, mind-bending, noirish mystery thriller 'Time O'Clock.' (Available for order now on Amazon) We will discuss the book, the influences that went into writing it, and the delights of twisty, dream-like, rule-breaking fiction.