What Crime/Mystery/Thriller book are you reading?

[Goliath]

^Hammett is great, isn't he?

I just read The Wheelman by Duane Swierczinski. This was his first novel, yet somehow I wound up reading it third, after The Blonde and Severance Package.

Swierczinski writes what can only be described as "gonzo crime fiction." His style (like Hammet's) is minimalist, and his novels are blackly humourous, extremely fast-paced, and packed with incident.

Swierczinski is part of a "new wave of noir" that includes writers like Victor Gischler (Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse), Ken Bruen (The Guards), Jason Starr (Cold Caller), Charlie Huston (Caught Stealing), and Christa Faust (Money Shot). I recommend all of them.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I have finished Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride and my official score is 6/10.

It's a good if slow read, with a little too much of the regional accent thrown in to make it appear more Scottish. The story could have taken place anywhere and the copper is merely pedestrian. There's nothing to make him stand out. The word "granite" appeared hundreds of times to try and place the story in Aberdeen but in my opinion it doesn't work.

I won't be getting any more of MacBride's books, it just isn't my style. After reading Jean Lorrah's Survivors (a Star Trek book), I'll be reading Andy McDermott's The Hunt for Atlantis. He posts on these boards occasionally so I'll be nice in my critique.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I just read The Wheelman by Duane Swierczinski. This was his first novel, yet somehow I wound up reading it third, after The Blonde and Severance Package.

I know him from the comics projects he writes; most notably his current Immortal Iron Fist run, which is a mix of 30s pulp and 70s martial arts themes.

The book I'm currently reading is listed in my signature; I'm on a bit of a Follett spree at the moment, having just finished World Without End, so I decided to read some of his more prominent spy thrillers; The Eye of the Needle is quite good so far. After that I've got The Key to Rebecca.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Although I'm still reading The Hunt for Atlantis, I've just started reading Germ by Robert Liparulo, and I have to say that it is a little strange. It starts off in an interesting way, but I'm not far enough in yet to say much. As regards THFA, it's brilliant with lots of action and a good strong plot.

 

[Captaindemotion]

As big fan of The Wire, I bought David Simon's Homicide: A Year on The Killing Streets, which has been re-released on the back of the cult following The Wire has had on this side of the pond (together with McNulty lookalike cop on the front cover). Simon was clearly just as good a journalist as he is a screen writer and the imagery and sense of place, time, the poverty and gallows humour fairly leap off the page to you.

 

[Top41]

I just finished reading Gravity by Tess Gerritsen. It is a medical mystery thriller in which an experiment on board the International Space Station goes awry and the astronauts get trapped.

It is an excellent read, and the first time I have seen a space station story written from a non-science-fiction perspective. Well worth a look.

Absolutely loved this novel! I read it back in 1999 or 2000, whenever it came out, and I couldn't put it down. It was excellent. I've read Gerritsen since and have been disappointed--her Maura Iles/Jane Rizzoli mysteries are so by-the-book.

As big fan of The Wire, I bought David Simon's Homicide: A Year on The Killing Streets, which has been re-released on the back of the cult following The Wire has had on this side of the pond (together with McNulty lookalike cop on the front cover). Simon was clearly just as good a journalist as he is a screen writer and the imagery and sense of place, time, the poverty and gallows humour fairly leap off the page to you.

Homicide: Life on the Street is one of my favorite shows ever, so I've been wanting to check out this book for ages. Cool that it's been re-released!

 

[Lonemagpie]

As big fan of The Wire, I bought David Simon's Homicide: A Year on The Killing Streets, which has been re-released on the back of the cult following The Wire has had on this side of the pond (together with McNulty lookalike cop on the front cover). Simon was clearly just as good a journalist as he is a screen writer and the imagery and sense of place, time, the poverty and gallows humour fairly leap off the page to you.

Best True Crime book ever.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Homicide: Life on the Street is one of my favorite shows ever, so I've been wanting to check out this book for ages. Cool that it's been re-released!

I'll probably buy Homicide the tv series on DVD before long too.

 

[payndz201]

I'll be reading Andy McDermott's The Hunt for Atlantis. He posts on these boards occasionally so I'll be nice in my critique.

Author checkin' in here.

I actually celebrated completing my fourth novel, The Covenant Of Genesis, by buying a big stack of books, as when I'm writing I tend not to read other people's fiction so as not to be influenced by it, however subconsciously. I'm halfway through The Alchemist's Secret by Scott Mariani (with whom I share a literary agency) and also have 'his' (they're actually a couple, apparently) second novel, The Mozart Conspiracy to follow, along with James Rollins' The Last Oracle, The Malice Box by Martin Langfield, a trio of Ian Fleming's Bond novels and also Stel Pavlou's Decipher, which I started a while back but never finished because while the story was interesting, the characters were all so unlikable.

"Unfortunately", I'm not going to have much time to do a lot of reading for the forseeable future, partly because I'm currently finishing the edits on Covenant, and partly because... well, big announcement soon, I hope!

 

[BrotherBenny]

I'll be reading Andy McDermott's The Hunt for Atlantis. He posts on these boards occasionally so I'll be nice in my critique.

Author checkin' in here.

I actually celebrated completing my fourth novel, The Covenant Of Genesis, by buying a big stack of books, as when I'm writing I tend not to read other people's fiction so as not to be influenced by it, however subconsciously. I'm halfway through The Alchemist's Secret by Scott Mariani (with whom I share a literary agency) and also have 'his' (they're actually a couple, apparently) second novel, The Mozart Conspiracy to follow, along with James Rollins' The Last Oracle, The Malice Box by Martin Langfield, a trio of Ian Fleming's Bond novels and also Stel Pavlou's Decipher, which I started a while back but never finished because while the story was interesting, the characters were all so unlikable.

"Unfortunately", I'm not going to have much time to do a lot of reading for the forseeable future, partly because I'm currently finishing the edits on Covenant, and partly because... well, big announcement soon, I hope!

Hey Andy,

I finished THfA last night and I have to say wow!!

I thought it was a great read, plenty of action and a nifty storyline. I enjoyed the discovery of Atlantis and the Atlantean colonies, and the (somewhat easy-to-discern) truth about the Frost Foundation. I figured out who Jack was right at the beginning, perhaps you should have made it a middle name since John and its lengthened form are always known to be "Jack".

I'm looking forward to The Tomb of Hercules, and I have to know, did a certain Ice Queen survive??

Edited to add: Has Atlantis's film rights been sold?? It would make a wicked blockbuster in the same vein as Tomb Raider, Sahara, National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code. An elite group.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I'm still trying to wade through Liparulo's Germ, but it's hard going, something that might take me a while to read.

Now that I've finished The Hunt for Atlantis, I started reading The Apprentice by Tess Gerittsen, the second book in the Rizzoli/Isles series and a direct sequel to the first one, The Surgeon. It's a great book, picking up a little over a year later when another serial killer begins to taunt Detective Rizzoli, and then hooks up with the Surgeon after he escapes from prison. Should finish it today and will move on to a Star Trek novel afterward.

 

[payndz201]

I'm looking forward to The Tomb of Hercules, and I have to know, did a certain Ice Queen survive??

Edited to add: Has Atlantis's film rights been sold?? It would make a wicked blockbuster in the same vein as Tomb Raider, Sahara, National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code.

Couldn't you have mentioned Raiders Of The Lost Ark in there as well? Hell, even Crystal Skull.

The film rights haven't been sold yet, but there's already been interest (including from one of the majors), and I'm hoping that the recent sale of the US book rights (for the first four novels in the series) will garner some more.

As for a certain ice queen... just think where she was the last time you saw her. And what happened a few seconds later.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Couldn't you have mentioned Raiders Of The Lost Ark in there as well? Hell, even Crystal Skull.

Crystal Skull is the best of the sequels...

Just bought mine for £8 in Morrisons!

 

[BrotherBenny]

I'm looking forward to The Tomb of Hercules, and I have to know, did a certain Ice Queen survive??

Edited to add: Has Atlantis's film rights been sold?? It would make a wicked blockbuster in the same vein as Tomb Raider, Sahara, National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code.

Couldn't you have mentioned Raiders Of The Lost Ark in there as well? Hell, even Crystal Skull.

The film rights haven't been sold yet, but there's already been interest (including from one of the majors), and I'm hoping that the recent sale of the US book rights (for the first four novels in the series) will garner some more.

As for a certain ice queen... just think where she was the last time you saw her. And what happened a few seconds later.

No way she survived then? She would make a great returning villain, if you can bring her back...disfigured, immobile, but still with plenty of money. And where did Frost's money go?

 

[S. Gomez]

For the flight home from my trip I have an old favourite, The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. If you've never read her Lord Peter Wimsey books--of which this is one--you should definitely check it out. (Beware of spoilers if you read too far/closely in the link, obviously.)

 

[JAG]

Just started reading Margaret Trumans. Murder on K Street. I am enjoying it a lot.

 

[aladinsane]

For those of you who like The Wire, check out George Pelacanos. He's a great crime novelist who also wrote a lot of episodes for The Wire. Good stuff there.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yes, on the basis of The Wire, I've bought a couple of his books and intend to read them when I finish Simon's Homicide.

 

[BrotherBenny]

For those of you who like The Wire, check out George Pelacanos. He's a great crime novelist who also wrote a lot of episodes for The Wire. Good stuff there.

I've got the Strange & Quinn trilogy from Pelecanos. It was a little hard to get into but they're really good books. I'll get Hard Revolution someday soon.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Finished reading "The Sinner" by Tess Gerritsen.

Wow!! Best one of hers yet and the twist at the end, superb.

Started reading John Updike's Witches of Eastwick this morning. I won't be finishnig it. The detail is overwhelmingly verbose, the characters are two dimensional stereotypes and the story is about as interesting as watching watching paint flakes.

It'll be a Star trek book next.