Every now and again I sit back and think about the books I like to read, and the writers who appeal to me. There are some excellent writers around, and I've discovered a few through BookBub. But the following are my favourites:
Most
books by Tami Hoag such as Down the Darkest Road and Live
to Tell. I think my favourite is Still Waters. Why? Because her novels are
so detailed and the solution of the mysteries is never obvious. In fact, the
character of the antagonists and protagonists holds the key to the solutions
each time. For example, in A Thin Dark Line, it is the generations-old warped
solution of ways to protect a family that bubbles to the surface and the bloody
mindedness of an ambitious female cop who stands up for her rights amongst male
chauvinism that would chop most women off at the knees, that points the way to
reasons for the crime and the discovery of the perpetrator(s).
Many
books by Jayne Ann Krentz, not her very early ones where the
hero was a dyed-in-the-wool MCP as was the fashion of the day, but her books
from about 1998 onwards and also her historicals. Love the way her heroes say
“huh.” It can mean so many things: they can be having a revelation, they may
disagree with the heroine but they sure as hell are not going to say so, or it
can be simply their version of a civil reply to modern discourse. My favourites
are the Eclipse Bay series and her
historicals written under the name of Amanda Quick such as Mistress (Regency) and The
Third Circle (Victorian). Most of all, however, are her futuristic
paranormals such as Siren’s Call set
on Rainshadow Island and In Too Deep
set in Scargill Cove. These appeal to me because of her light hand with the
paranormal concepts and the quirkiness of the main characters. She creates
otherworlds without belabouring the point. Sometimes writers create alternate
worlds that require an immense investment on the part of the reader to learn
the settings and morés of those worlds which can have the effect of having the
reader skip pages and eventually put the book down. Not so JAK who, after many
years of writing, knows just how far she can go to create a world not so very
dissimilar to our own.
Obviously I can’t go far without mentioning the
greatest modern storyteller – Nora
Roberts. I don’t like many of her earlier books which now seem dated, and I
don’t feel that her paranormal ones are in the least bit convincing. However I
totally enjoy her recent single titles such as Tribute and Whiskey Beach.
And I especially enjoy The Inn at
Boonsborough series. I once saw a review where the reader criticised the
Boonsborough ones because they had too much building detail in them. Now that’s
the part I am intrigued with. I am not a purist romance reader so I like a bit
of meat with my coffee froth. I wait for each new release of Nora’s, as do
thousands of others, not all of them women by a long way.
Stieg
Larsson, in particular his series of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Anti right wing extremist and
magazine editor-in-chief, what a shame his books were only found after his
death in 2004. I suggest for those who want a touch of reality watered down
with a little idealism, read Larsson. Whether you see the movies first or read
the books first, I promise you will enjoy Lizbeth Salander, the toughest
cyber-expert on the planet.
New
author for me: Rick Mofina, a great suspense writer
endorsed by the best suspense writers such as James Patterson, Dean Koontz,
Sandra Brown, Tess Gerritsen etc. He is Canadian and so less inclined to use acronyms
which can be a relief for a reader steeped in jargon which has to be
researched. I thoroughly enjoyed Be Mine
and my next choice is The Dying Hour.
He writes about a crime reporter and unravelling detective in several of his
novels, then switches to another team in his later books. If you like suspense
and that ‘unable to put it down’ feeling, then choose Mofina.
Another
one to keep an eye on: Going to read more by J.M. Gregson. Have just finished The Fox in the Forest about the murder
of a well-liked town vicar. The murdered man is one of those rare characters
whom everyone liked. Of course the reader thinks “mistaken identity?” Gregson
has an impressive writing record of both non-fiction and fiction. I enjoyed the
British outlook to solving crime – stoic, authentic and painstaking – and the
author’s writing experience showed by his excellent characterisations. No
character was just a sketch. It was an indepth exploration of people both
likeable and unlikeable.
Tell
me about the authors you enjoy. Why
do you like their writing?
