52 Novels

Here’s the list of books I’ve read this year. These aren’t full reviews—I still won’t do this out of fairness. These are just a few quick impressions I had while reading. Take them for what they’re worth.

Some others joining the fun on their own:

• Rob (maker of the nifty Now Reading plugin)
• Veronica
• Speedkill
• System 13
• Reverse Logic

Check out the 52 novels from 2006.

46. HEART-SHAPED BOX: A Novel, by Joe Hill

45. THE SILENCERS, by Donald Hamilton

44. THE CONCRETE MAZE, by Steven Torres

43. DEAD STREET, by Mickey Spillane

42. GIRL W/THE LONG GREEN HEART, by Lawrence Block

41. BLACKMAILER, by George Axelrod

40. THE WOUNDED AND THE SLAIN, by David Goodis

39. THE GODFATHER’S REVENGE, by Mark Winegardner

38. GONE, BABY, GONE, by Dennis Lehane

I picked this book for two reasons:

1. Lots of crime fic readers—Lehane fans a given—recommended it highly.
2. I knew the movie was getting lots of advance buzz, so I wanted to read it before I saw it.

That said, I waited to write this review (which I’m doing on November 11th… the post date says October 17th) because I wanted my opinion of the movie and the book both to stand on their own. I’m not sure why it mattered to me. It just did.

Now, three weeks after the fact, I wish I’d done them together because, quite frankly, the review for the book would’ve been just two words long: LOVED IT!

My prior experience reading Lehane was UNTIL GWEN, a short story complied in the 2005 volume of THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES. I loved that, too. (Not a complete Lehane neophyte, I’d also seen the movie version of MYSTIC RIVER.)

So why had I taken so long to drink up more of Lehane’s brilliance? Ignorance? Nah. More like “too many books, not enough time.” We all know how that story goes.

In a way I’m glad I’ve left Lehane off my TBR for so long. I’m late to the party, yes, but I got here when all the good shit happens.

37. THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE, by Ed McBain

What do you get when you mix a drunk, down-and-out former-PI with a trio of beautiful girls and a murder?

The perfect Ed McBain novel, that’s what.

Well, perfect might be a stretch. Let’s just say it’s a perfect Ed McBain novel from his salad days. By the time THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE was hit the drugstore paperback rack, he’d already published his critically acclaimed book, THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, under his other pseudonym, Evan Hunter. But he still needed a way to pay the rent.

Poof. Ed McBain the crime novelist was born.

To be honest, I’ve read better books from the era—a number of David Dodge’s fine works come to mind—but this one still had everything I look for in the genre: a milquetoast or two, a handful of tough guys, a few fist fights, some large-breasted sweater girls, and one reluctant hero (or anti-hero) with little choice but to solve the murder to clear his name.

Plus, it’s from the fine folks at Hard Case Crime. How could I lose?

36. CON ED, by Matthew Klein

“The road the Hell is paved with good intentions.”

Whoever uttered this famous quote—it wasn’t Samuel Johnson—knew what he was talking about.

Such is the tale of CON ED’s Kip Largo, a wannabe reformed con man who gets pulled back into the game to save his son from the States-side edition of the Russian Mob.

In the span of twenty four hours, Largo—recently out of prison and working at a Silicon Valley dry cleaner—is:

• Tempted with $100,000 by a beautiful woman who wants him to pull a con on her older mega-wealthy, venture capitalist, Italian Mob-connected, casino developer husband<./li>
• Visited by his twenty-something, drifter, ne’er-do-well son… who happens to have a $60,000 gambling debt with the aforementioned Russian Mob.
• Called out of the blue by a former con-game associate (who’s also a high-priced call girl turned porn industry producer/entrepreneur).

Too many coincidences, yes?

You can see where this is going… just like Largo did. Just like I did.

Still, I liked this book. Klein tells an entertaining, fast-paced story while sprinkling in a few backgrounder chapters describing classic cons along with how—and why—they work. (Pay attention to these… they’re there for a reason.)

Beware, though. I couldn’t help but feel this was somewhat of a trunk novel, written some time ago and then recently dusted off by Klein.

The copyright date on this book says 2007, but a good portion of the book hinges on the “sign checks first, ask for a business plan later” ethic so popular during the go go days of the Internet boom.

What I know about VCs and how they operate could fill a thimble, but I’m quite certain they do things considerably different than they did since the bubble burst in 2000.

35. LISEY’S STORY, by Stephen King

I remember all the hype for this book when it dropped in hardcover last year: if I remember correctly, most, if not all, of it was through the roof. King even got interviewed by The Paris Review… a sure sign this “once-favorite target of critics, has been embraced by at least some in the literary elite.”

Having just finished this book, I must say that it’s about time.

Sure, there’s signature King here in this book. He can’t get too far away from what butters his bread, namely a bizarre other-world where Lisey’s husband—bestselling novelist, Scott Landon—goes while in the dark realm of his mental illness. Scott’s able to take Lisey there and eventually teaches her how to get there on her own. It’s a skill that comes in handy after Scott’s death, as it helps save the lives of people who are close to her.

This other-world, that Scott uses as both an escape from the “bad-gunky” and as novel fodder, is rich with King-isms: scary monsters, wandering souls, and magical water.

Not exactly the stuff of typical literary fiction.

But what makes this book work so well is that it is, at it’s heart, a love story, chronicled between present day, and flashbacks to Lisey’s and Scott’s courtship and married life. There’s also the love story shared between Lisey and her older sisters, one of whom shares a troubling bond with Scott.

As King has said about this book, there are two hearts in a marriage, one light, one dark. What’s also revealed—so clearly in the “sister thing”—is that the light and dark hearts are a part of all close and important relationships.

If you can’t tell already, I loved this book.

34. STONE CITY, by Mitchell Smith

Shhhhh.

Can you hear that? It’s the sound of my heart breaking.

I first caught wind of this book from Marcus Sakey over at the The Outfit. He had this to say about STONE CITY:

… I have to say, the book is astonishingly good. Achingly good. Painfully, how-the-hell-does-he-do-that good.

I love Sakey’s debut novel… and his influences. So praise like this made me sit up and take notice.
He was right. STONE CITY is that good.

A college professor, Charlie Bauman, goes to prison after killing a teenage girl in a drunk driving accident. It’s a short hitch, but prison is prison. He manages to make an unassuming life for himself in the can by teaching inmates to read and write. With a year left on his sentence, things look pretty good for him.

That is, until two otherwise disconnected inmates are murdered in similar fashion.

It’s then that Bauman gets recruited separately by both sets of prison leadership—the State’s Attorney and Warden, and the heads of the convict factions—to find out who the killer is. The State thinks it’s an inmate. The Inmates think it’s a hack. Either way, Bauman is in way over his head… but his investigation begins nonetheless.

With the help of a punk with ties to one of the recently offed inmates, Bauman navigates the, at times, extraordinarily complex political and social prison landscape to find the killer. At every turn, things are never what they seem and the threat of death is ever present.

Keep in mind, this story takes place in prison and Smith makes sure we see it all. This book was funny and sad and surprisingly human.
I’m not kidding… it broke my heart.

P.S. If you want this book, you’ll have to find it at your local library or used bookshop. It’s currently out of print. If you can wait, Busted Flush Press is reissuing it sometime this year.

P.P.S. If you look at my Library entry for this book, it says it took me a month to read it. That’s not entirely true. While it did take me a while to finish—the first couple hundred pages were slow going for me—I actually set this book aside for a few weeks to read THE DARK RIVER, a Denver Public Library new release with a short due date. I didn’t want the fine for a late return.

33. THE DARK RIVER, by John Twelve Hawks

I really loved THE TRAVELER. I thought it out-neuromanced NEUROMANCER.

And because of that, I was eager to read THE DARK RIVER. Couldn’t wait.

So, finally, I did read it.

I was disappointed. I just didn’t think the story was that good. Too much exposition sometimes (kinda like Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace). The writing was often so wooden, I asked myself why I was continuing to read.

It’s because I’ll have to read the final book to know how it all ends. Skipping this one would have been worse than continuing it.

If you read THE TRAVELER and liked it, then read THE DARK RIVER because you have to.

32. KISS HER GOODBYE, by Robert Gregory Browne

I was quite eager to read this book after stumbling across Robert’s blog, called Anatomy of a Book Deal, several months back. The thing, it seemed, was still in edits and I was frothing over it.

I have to say it’s not a bad debut thriller. Jack Donovan, a G-man on the hunt for a haunting nemesis, finds the choices he’s made in the past have put his teenage daughter in jeopardy.

Things get complicated when the nemesis, Alex Gunderson, dies but manages to infect Donovan from the beyond.

Browne, who’s a seasoned Hollywood writer, has crafted a nice tale that weaves bits of the supernatural into what could have worked as a straight thriller. I wish there’d been even more of the spooky stuff.

Still, I look forward to his next book.

31. THE WHITE TOWER, by Dorothy Johnston

I didn’t finish this book. It didn’t pass my “100 pages” test… if it doesn’t grab me in a hundred pages, I stop reading it.

I can’t put my finger on why this failed for me. The writing was great. I loved the premise.

I think it didn’t pull me in because there wasn’t enough action. It’s too bad. I wanted to like this one.

(By the way… this one got swapped with another reader!)

30. GATES OF HADES, by Gregg Loomis

Coming on the heels of Barry Eisler’s REQUIEM FOR AN ASSASSIN, I was pleasantly surprised by this book… mostly because I didn’t expect it to be another non-official operative story.

Jason Peters is an American living abroad—he’s also an assassin with a love of painting seascapes, his dog, and his anonymity. A former mid-level military man, he turns to fighting bad guys up close and personal after his wife was killed in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

After a job goes bad, Jason’s world is turned upside down when his home is discovered and eco-terrorists try to take him out. Jason’s only choice is to get to the bottom of why… and to eliminate a threat that puts the president, himself, and the world’s economy in jeopardy.

29. REQUIEM FOR AN ASSASSIN, by Barry Eisler

I’m finally up to date with the Rain series and it was worth every word.

The sixth installment in Eisler’s awesome hit man thriller series didn’t disappoint. Our hero comes to the U.S. to try and put his bloody past behind him once and for all by taking out his new arch nemesis, the rogue operative Hilger.

Will Rain succeed, or will he forever be haunted by his soul?

Side note: Sources confirm the next book from Barry won’t be a Rain thriller. Instead, look for a standalone. After that, Barry plans a Rain prequel.

I… can’t… freaking… wait!

28. SWEETIE’S DIAMONDS, by Raymond Benson

I had high hopes for this book.

I used to work in the diamond biz, so I like to see how accurately people depict the industry. Konrath gave the book a nice blurb, and the other blurbs on the cover were good, too. Raymond Benson was once the man behind Bond. James Bond.

Plus, SWEETIE’S DIAMONDS is about a former porn star turned suburban mom and teacher. That got my attention… the character is rife with possibility and there’s lots of room to explore the dichotomy.

As I read this book, I was, at times, impressed with how good it was. There’re some great action sequences—when they’re done well—that show Benson deserved to write the Bond series.

And then I’d be disappointed with how bad it was. It was is if parts of this book were finished and the others were only a draft. And, at other times, it seemed as if Benson started writing this book in the early 80s and tried to give it updates over the years.

I kept reading anyway because it had all those other things going for it.

But then, on page 284, I read the following:

Belgrad squeezed the trigger twice and the two men flew backwards as if an invisible force gave them sucker punches.

This doesn’t happen… except in movies. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve read this in other novels and it’s no less unrealistic in those. But this time I closed the book some fifty pages from the end. I’d had enough.

27. THE LAST ASSASSIN, by Barry Eisler

Just when I thought the action in a John Rain thriller couldn’t get any better… it does! Times a thousand.

As if the stakes for Rain weren’t always high, Eisler’s gone and propelled them to the stratosphere with THE LAST ASSASSIN. Rain’s lost love Midori and their newborn son are threatened by Rain’s old nemesis, Yamaoto, the yakuza boss turned politician with a major axe to grind with Rain.

Now, Rain must protect his family by removing the threat, but doing just that introduces a brand new one: ending all contact with Midori and his baby boy… maybe forever.

The third act of this book was an absolute freaking roller coaster, but with bullets and knives. I simply could not put this book down.

(As a side note, if you want a great place to discuss all things John Rain and Barry Eisler, head over to Barry’s Place. The man behind Rain posts often, so drop by to say “hello.” Pull up a chair… there’s plenty of room!)

26. KILLING RAIN, by Barry Eisler

John Rain, Part IV… nice work yet again from the best of the best of the hit man thrillers. (Of course, I say this with all due respect to Lee Child.)

This time around, Rain finds himself in uncharted territory. As the title implies, the tables have turned after a botched job makes Rain a liability to the Mossad. Plus, as things heat up with Delilah, his Israeli secret agent love interest, Rain finds himself feeling vulnerable in ways he’d rather not.

This was also uncharted territory for Eisler to some degree: it’s the first time in the series we see other points of view beyond that of our hero. Eisler handled it with ease and it makes for a smart thrill ride, upping the stakes to the max for Rain and his crew.

Eisler continues to deliver.

25. RAIN STORM, by Barry Eisler

The third installment in Eisler’s RAIN series didn’t disappoint.

All the elements were there: action packed from page one… mad assassins gettin it on… ass whoopins galore!

Barry’s a self-described news junkie, that all he does is open the newspaper and the world takes care of his ideas.

Well, the world keeps teeing up softballs. Seems that Barry’s not wanting for bats.

Thanks again, Barry!

24. THE MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett

A return to a classic!

This marks the first time since sometime in 2005 that I’ve re-read a book. Every book I’d read since January 2006 was new to me… until now.

There’s not much I can add to the discussion about MALTESE that hasn’t already been said, except that I loved it just as much this time around as I did when I first read it in high school.

23. THE OVERLOOK, by Michael Connelly

When Ed McBain died a couple of years ago it meant that everyone else on the list of awesomely great living police procedural writers moved up one spot.

For my money, there was wide gap between McBain’s spot atop the list and the number two… which isn’t saying that that number two was a slouch. No, Michael Connelly isn’t a slouch by any stretch of the imagination.

In this roundabout way I’m trying to say that Connelly now holds the spot sadly vacated by McBain on July 6, 2005. Big shoes to fill and he did it again with aplomb.

THE OVERLOOK is fantastic!

22. BEWARE THE YOUNG STRANGER, by Ellery Queen

Quick and dirty. Okay. Not so much dirty.

But, as always, this Queen mystery flew by like a third grader’s summer vacation.

Not only should we beware young strangers, but also crazy wealth. It seems that most of the Queen mysteries I’ve read from the early-60s feature rich people getting themselves into trouble.

Our moral? Hell, your guess is as good as mine. I still want to be filthy with dough.

21. THE FINAL SOLUTION, by Michael Chabon

Interesting little tale with a fitting play on words, considering the setting of World War II London.

This somewhat recent—and short—offering from one of this generation’s finest was tightly spun. But as Chabon himself said in current interviews about THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN’S UNION, he tends to overwrite. At 113 pages or so, I can imagine this book would have been shorter with a more relentless swipe at the prose.

I still enjoyed this little book. A lot.

I can’t wait to read TYPU.

20. THE GENESIS CODE, by John Case

Boy. This one took forever and a day to finish.

I liked the story and writing fine. The book just didn’t sing for me until the end of the second act, yet it didn’t sag, either. I think it just seemed long to me so I muddled it.

I have to admit that Case does an excellent job at bringing characters to life on the page without overdoing them. Although, one in particular that I liked a lot, the detective named Riordan, just vanished in the third act.

That’s too bad because he really added a lot of grit and nice bit of humor.

While I did enjoy this book, I’d have to think twice about picking up another from Case.

19. PRETTY GIRL GONE, by David Housewright

David Housewright, where have you been all my life?

Seriously, this book was awesome from start to finish. I’m not a great big fan of the PI novel, but what Housewright has done with the character of Mac McKenzie is top notch.

There’s humor and humility. Emotion and realism. Mac isn’t particularly tough, but he holds his own because he operates by the code that self-survival is of the utmost… he fights when he has to but he’ll avoid a scrape if it’s not necessary. In some ways, this character reminded me of Columbo.

Just a side note… I had an e-mail conversation with my mom today. She said she just read something that made her want to read everything by the author. I had the same experience with this one.

Look out Housewright. I coming after your catalog.

18. HARD RAIN, by Barry Eisler

Trademark Eisler: Ice cold revenge and firecracker hot sex from a ruthless assassin. Cast the “Lush Life” against the backdrop of the ultrahip Tokyo skyline and it doesn’t get any better than that.

I loved this second installment in the Rain series so much that, before I’d finished the second chapter, I rushed to pick up the third and fourth books and added them to the TBR.

Like Eisler’s first book, RAIN FALL, this volume features the tortured John Rain caught between both the sketchy dealings of the CIA and the rampant corruption of the Japanese government… only this time it’s more personal.

And I’m not going to tell you why.

Hands down, Eisler is the reigning king of the assassin thriller. Look for REQUIEM FOR AN ASSASSIN—the sixth in the Rain series—coming May 22.

17. DIRTY MARTINI, by JA Konrath

Another ARC… so I have to be careful about what I say about the upcoming fourth installment of the Jack Daniels thriller series, due in July from Hyperion.

As I mentioned with RUSTY NAIL, JA Konrath has really hit his stride with this series and his comfort with his characters remains evident. On the one hand, this can be a bad thing as ideas begin to evaporate (think “jumping the shark” for books).

But that’s not the case with this latest from the king of self promotion.

Quite frankly, this was cracking good stuff!

16. THIRST, by Pete Larson

I got this book from the gang at Bleakhouse Books just for sending an e-mail.

They give away ARCs from time-to-time with the hope people will type up a small review. I chose THIRST, the debut novel from Pete Larson, because:

1. I like reading debuts.
2. It takes place in a bar and that setting intrigued me. I’m not sure why.

That said, this was a nice little pure mystery with a lot going for it… a troubled protagonist who’s a former minister turned bartender, his unfaithful ex-wife (also a minister), art forgery, a couple of poisonings, single malt Scotch, and another unfaithful wife (who’s husband turns up dead). And the dead guy’s a shady art dealer and professor at the local college.

Our hero—who finds himself at the center of it all—is left to piece it all together.

I liked this book a lot. Plus, it’s made me a bigger fan of Bleakhouse. (By the way… this book is available in June 2007.)

15. SHAME, by Alan Russell

I loved the premise of this book: Twenty years after a serial killer is executed, new bodies appear with the same markings and all signs point to the long-dead serial killer’s son as the culprit.

Powerful “what-if” there. What’s more is that the true crime writer who made the killer famous joins forces with the son to prove his innocence. Add in a cross-dresser and you’ve got yourself a decent thriller.

I liked this book (despite some exposition that didn’t always ring true). I hadn’t heard of Russell before, but I liked what I read here. I’ll definitely look for more from him.

14. DEATH IN PRECINCT PUERTO RICO, by Steven Torres

I recently met Torres online over at Crimespace a couple of weeks after I’d received this book from Dorchester. Having done so, I was eager to start reading DEATH IN PRECINCT PUERTO RICO and I put it at the top of the pile.

It wasn’t my favorite read this year, but it was refreshing to read a pure mystery set in the present. And it should have been a faster read for me. I’ve been beyond busy the last couple of weeks, so I’m cutting myself some slack.

If I had to complain about this book, I’d pick two things. First, there were too many characters to keep straight… between four or five deputies, a couple of lawyers, a menagerie of suspects. It was too much and I had a hard time remembering who was who.

Second, instead of employing a carriage return—or new chapter—to indicate a scene transition, the book simply carried on to the next. This may not be the fault of the author, however. In any case, I found myself re-reading parts to make sure I understood what was happening.

On the flip, Torres has an affection for his protagonist, Sheriff Luis Gonzalo, and knows this character well. Plot’s important, but it means nothing without characters we care about. Torres nails this down from the outset.

On the whole, though, this book worked and I’d read other stuff from Torres.

13. RUSTY NAIL, by JA Konrath

Bravo!

RUSTY NAIL is the coming–of–age book for JA Konrath.

It’s clear, to me anyway, that this book is evidence that Joe’s hit his stride as a novelist and storyteller. It’s also clear that Joe knows these characters better than he’s ever known them.

This book is darker, more twisted… with a depth that didn’t exist in WHISKEY SOUR and just scratched the surface of in BLOODY MARY.

I can’t wait to read DIRTY MARTINI, coming in July 2007.

12. GUNS, by Ed McBain

I’ve been a big fan of The Master’s 87th Precinct novels… the only stuff from McBain I’d read to date. GUNS is the first title I’ve finished from MCBain that wasn’t a procedural.

In fact, this one was from the criminal’s perspective. At times I felt it was a slow go. Maybe it’s because the type was a little small and old school. Maybe it’s because this was outside McBain’s wheelhouse (although I doubt it… actually, I’m certain it was my fault).

It did, however, seem like this was a writing exercise on McBain’s part. We should all be so lucky.

At any rate, this was a great little read. If you can find it—it’s out of print—snatch it up.

11. THE BLADE ITSELF, by Marcus Sakey

I’d been reading about this book since sometime last fall after I happened upon The Outfit Collective, a blog for a group of Chicago crime writers. Marcus Sakey had the honor of writing the group’s first post, despite being the noob in the bunch.

THE BLADE ITSELF is Sakey’s first published novel. My words for him? Thank you.

Thank you so very much for raising the bar so very high for the rest of us.

This book rocked.

10. THE LAST SCORE, by Ellery Queen

A sign of the times? It’s 1964 and the franchise of mystery franchises decides it’s time to speak out against the scourge marijuana.

This wasn’t a particularly great tale—I’ve read better pulps from the late 50s and early 60s—but it was as expected from a Queen of this era: a fast read, an honorable—but morally shady—hero, a couple of damsels in distress. Then, throw in some Mexican drug lords for good measure.

At the end of it all, this book was little more than warnings of what the desire for and use of hallucinogenic drugs can do to your body, mind and soul… none of which, as written in the book, are actually true.

9. BLOODY MARY, by JA Konrath

I liked this book more than I liked WHISKEY SOUR, Konrath’s first Jack Daniels mystery.

It had a better pace and the trial in the second act threw me off the track in figuring out the endgame.

As is JA Konrath’s style, his killer came up with some twisted shite (Carving out his own eyeball? With a corkscrew? Whisky tango foxtrot?!) and, as always, there were several laugh–my–ass–off moments (”I’m a private investigator. I investigate privates.” and “You look like a shit sandwich, with extra corn.”)…

Hoo, Joe, I think we went to the same middle school!

On the whole, BLOODY MARY was what it was: a fast-paced thriller and worth the time it took to read.

8. SMOKE, by Lisa Miscione

This wasn’t the most compelling read I’ve tackled this year, but I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

I’m not always a fan of women-as-hero crime books, but this one was different because I felt, all along, that it was more—to borrow an acting term—an ensemble piece. Each of the central characters—Lydia Strong, her husband Jeffrey Mark and shady strong arm Dax—played to each other’s strengths and weaknesses quite well.

And I thought Miscione did a great job at weaving in the sub-plots from side characters… a move that clearly seems intended to launch another series (if it hasn’t already).

I recommend SMOKE and plan to read other stuff from Miscione.

7. THE TENTH CIRCLE, by Jodi Picoult

I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of this book… especial given my aversion to literary fiction. But my wife first read about it a while back and told me that Picoult included a graphic novel with it as part of the story.

Consider me sold!

Right away it was evident that she’s a comfortable storyteller. She had to be to weave the comic book element into the narrative and make it work as well as it did. I would have loved this book even without the comic.

6. DARK DREAMING DEXTER, by Jeff Lindsay

This one gets a sigh for a different reason. It’s not often that I come across something that I think, “Damn, I wish I’d written that.”

The previous time it was FINDING NEMO… a story I was fully enchanted with from start to finish.

This time, with Lindsay’s brilliant words, I was walloped within the first few pages. And by the time I’d finished the first chapter, I was sad I would have to stop reading to do other stuff, like work or sleep or bathe.

5. AMERICA’S LAST DAYS, by Douglas MacKinnon

Sigh.

I wanted to like this book. Great blurbs. Then again, there’s a dirty little secret about those kinds of things. More about that here.

For grins, I read some of the reviews for this book at Amazon. One of the reviewers said, and I’m paraphrasing, “I kept reading because I thought, at some point, something would happen.”

Me, too.

Don’t get me wrong… I’ve tried reading worse books. I just wish I had my time back.

4. RAIN FALL, by Barry Eisler

I mentioned the other day that I was pleased as punch that I’d finally started reading this book.

I real wish I’d found the joy of reading Barry Eisler sooner. This book, the first in Eisler’s John Rain series, is magnificent.

Great story, great setting and one of the coolest characters I’ve encountered. I have a fondness for assassins, thanks to an introduction to Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm series (thanks Ike!) about fifteen years ago.

John Rain, while not the cavalier hero that Helm represents, raised the bar for people who want to write about paid killers. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series now.

3. BLOOD MEMORY, by Greg Iles

This is the third book from Greg Iles I’ve read and I have to say he’s 3–for–3 in crafting awesome standalone thrillers.

However, if I had to complain about this book I’d knock it for its length: 764 pages. This doesn’t mean that an any point I found what I was reading to be unnecessary… it was well–crafted throughout, actually. And the book never sagged at any point, either. It’s just it could have been pared to about 500 pages and nothing would have been lost at all.

At the heart of it, though, is a harrowing and, at times, sad story about a woman’s search for the truth about her past, revealed in memories slowly uncovered by a string of serial murders in New Orleans.

Fair warning: this book’s theme, child sexual abuse, is inescapable over the course of the book. While all of the abuse occurs “off camera” and in the past, I found the subject matter to be difficult to take sometimes.

Great read… I look forward to reading more from Iles.

2. GOLDILOCKS, by Andrew Coburn

Thank you, Leisure Books, for reissuing this Edgar nominated thriller! This book had it all: the Mafia, corrupt cops, a wicked Viet Nam vet who terrorized a widow. Good stuff!

I was telling my mom about this book the other day and I commented how often I was surprised by the way Coburn interconnected the characters—it was like the feathers in a down pillow. And surprising at every turn. He’s a great storyteller.

The sad thing about my reading of this book was that it took me so long (about three weeks). It wasn’t a difficult read… I’ve just been busy or sick. Or both busy AND sick.

I’ve added Coburn’s name to the list of authors I’ll be reading again.

1. THE LIST, by J.A. Konrath

I began reading this in 2006, just before the end of the year. But I finished it in 2007 so I figured that’s where the review should go. I’ve read Konrath’s WHISKEY SOUR, a book I didn’t care for so much. Actually, it’s the series’ main character—Chicago detective Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels—I don’t care for. (I’ve got other Daniels novels on the way to my house. Maybe my mind will change.)

But THE LIST, one of the author’s unpublished novels, is one that I loved. Much of what Konrath readers know—serial killers that make Thomas Harris cringe along with pee–yer–pants humor—is in this book.

While I thought the end of the second act sagged a little, I did find this to be a well done thriller in which a group of seeming disconnected people are getting offed in gruesome ways.

What we discover about why they’re human targets is a lot of fun and quite imaginative. Download the book for free here.

Tags: 52 novels, list_of_books, Ramblins, Reviews