Please give a writer harder to put down than Dan Brown

[Kumabjorn]

Had to take a break after reading 11 pages of literary criticism.

The only thing that surprised me - and it might appear after page 11 - is that not a singular contributor have mentioned Harold Robbins or Jackie Collins.

Not talking literature but page turners. Am I just old, or misinformed?

[makani]

As long as it is "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry is still a constant page turner and joy to be immersed in.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Had to take a break after reading 11 pages of literary criticism.

The only thing that surprised me - and it might appear after page 11 - is that not a singular contributor have mentioned Harold Robbins or Jackie Collins.

Not talking literature but page turners. Am I just old, or misinformed?

OOH! OOH! I know this one!



Both?

[Kumabjorn]

Pin-pon or whatever the sound is on Jeopardy when contestants answer correctly.

[tomereader]

Most of my favorite page turners are already mentioned but here are most of the suggestions to this post:

Please give a writer harder to put down than Dan Brown

Thomas Harris of 'Silence of the Lambs' fame.
The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom
W. E. B. Griffin is an author who's books are hard to put down
Stephen King？
James Patterson.
Patricia Highsmith
Andrea Camilleri.
Company Man by Joseph Finder
Velocity by Dean Koontz
James Rollins "Amazonia" "Deep Fathom" The Doomsday Key and Subterranean
J. K. Rowling
Discworld' by Terry Pratchett
James M Cain The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity
Mildred Pierce
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars Series
H. Rider Haggard's African Stories
Iain Banks' The Business or Whit
Ken FolletD
Daniel Silva.
Clive Cussler
Len Deighton
Alistair MacLean
Jim Butcher
Dan Abnett
Christopher Golden
Robert Ludlum
Robert Harris
"Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stephenson
Ian Fleming
Alexander Klein Author of Counterfeit Traitor
The Ark by Boyd Morrison
Katherine Kurtz, "The Adept" series
"The List" by J.A. Konrath
John Buchan’s Greenmantle, The 39 Steps
Harlen Coben
Brad Thor
David Baldacci
John Grisham
Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon
Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy
Sam Bourne a pseudonym for Jonathan Freedland
Umberto Eco
Arthur Hailey
Michael Crichton
Barry Eisler's John Rain serie
Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series
Robert Rankin
Joe Abercrombie. Best served Cold
‘Stieg Larssons 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', and 'The Girl who Played with Fire'
John Levitt
George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire series
Jeffrey Deaver
The Alchemist' by Michael Scott
James Lee Burke
Randy Wayne White
Steve Hamilton
Michael Koryta
James Lee Burke
Randy Wayne White
Jeffery Deaver
Michael Koryta
Preston Child
Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats
Kelly Link
Christopher Reich
Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
Steve Jordan
Tom Clancy
Patricia Cornwell
Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse series
Steve Berry
Robert Harris (The Ghost, Pompeii, Imperium)
C J Sansom (the Matthew Shardlake series)
Lee Child (Jack Reacher series)
Robert Crais (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series)
Harold Coyle 1st 3-4 books were great
Dale Brown's Flight of the Old Dog
Carol O'Connell
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
Ian Rankin - especially the Rebus novels
Jeffrey Archer
Iain Banks The Wasp Factory
Christopher Brookmyre comedic dark thrillers
1 Michaels, Barbara Witch
2 Preston & Child Relic - 1
3 Grafton, Sue Kinsey Millhone A+B+C
4 Francis Dick Straight
5 Smith, Wilbur The Seventh Scroll
6 Rollins, James Map Of Bones
7 Twining, James The Double Eagle
8 Brown, Dan Angels and Demons
9 Berry, Steve The Templar Legacy
10 Sussman, Paul The Lost Army of Cambyses
11 Rowling, J K Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
12 Robinson, Jeremy The Didymus contingency
13 Reilly, Matthew Temple
14 John Twelve Hawks The Traveller
John le Carré
David Gemmel
Len Deighton
Anthony Price
Kit Fielding series
Jeremy Robinson: The Didymus contingency
Frederick Forsyth's "Devil's Alternative
Connie Willis : To say nothing of the dog, Doomsday book
Jack Vance : Planet of Adventure
Vernor Vinge : Rainbows End
Douglas Adams : The Hitchhicker's guide to the galaxy
Orson Scott Card : Ender's Saga (Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon)
Robin Hobb: Farseer: Assassin's apprentice
Robert Charles Wilson : Spin
Ben Bova : Moonrise (then moonwar)
Dorothy Dunnett
Paul F. Wilson and his Repairman Jack Series
Daralyse Lyons. (The Lost Daughter)
Dan Simmons
Matthew Reilly
Tim Dorsey
C.J. Box
Jin Yong
John Twelve Hawks
Jan Guillou
Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent
Jim Butcher's Dresden series
Simon Green's Nightside Series
Barry Eisler's Rain series
Trevanian's Shibumi and The Eiger Sanction
James Clavell's books, particularly Noble House, Tai-Pan and King Rat. Shogun
Thomas Perry's books, particularly his Jane Whitebread books
Spider Robinson's Callahan series
Timothy Hallinan's Poke Rafferty series
Robert B. Parker's Spenser
Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series
Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington
Harold Robbins
Jackie Collins.
Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry


Matthew Reilly

[Solicitous]

I'm not a Dan Brown fan, though I have only read Angels and Demons and wasn't really inspired to pickup another of his books. That said I can see what people do like about him in his consistent pace. To me an author that falls in the same category is Matthew Reilly. His books are a very easy read, consistent pace (no I'm not a fan of his either).

[kennyc]

OMG is this still going? I put Dan Brown down after reading chapter 1 of his most reacent, so just about any author is better.

[J. Strnad]

<<Please give a writer harder to put down than Dan Brown >>

So many straight lines, so little time....

I hated The DaVinci Code from the outset, not because of the writing style but because the people didn't behave like any people I have ever encountered, beginning with the murder victim. I got about halfway through before comprehending deep within my soul that it wasn't going to get any better, that the characters were going to do what the author required of them, more like the little Scotty dog in Monopoly moving eight spaces because that's what the player rolls on the dice than like an actual human being with inner motivations.

I set the book down beside my bed and a dog chewed it up. Which was sad because it was a hardback that I had borrowed from a friend, so I had to go out and buy another hardback to replace it. So there's one sale that definitely did not go to a Dan Brown fan.

Certain books, certain films, certain people cross a threshold into the public consciousness and reap the reward therefrom. Does anybody really give a poop what Paris Hilton does? And yet, there she is, constantly in the media, being Paris Hilton, famous for being famous, one of many: Levi Johnston, anyone? Anyone?

But, to throw in my two cents' worth on the question:

John D. MacDonald
Robert Ludlum
Bruce Jones
Robert B. Parker

[TimMason]

There are writers that can write, but that can't or won't tell stories.
There are writer that can tell stories, but that can't write.
There are writers that can tell stories and that can write.

There are people that read for the story and don't care that much about the writing.
There are people that read for the writing and don't care much about the story.
There are people who want both a story and good writing.

I guess full felicity is achieved when writers and readers of the third kind encounter each other. But it is hard work.

[TGS]

Maeve Binchy - can't bear her but would find her harder to put down than Dan Brown.

[speakingtohe]

I have yet to read Dan Brown. Some highly intelligent people seem tlike him and many highly intelligent people do not.

I will have to get around to it one of these days.

I find Stuart Woods, James Patterson and on occasion Jack Higgins to be terrible writers with stilted repetitive dialog etc. but the plots and characters interest me. After a bad day at work there is a certain appeal to reading a "kill em all if they can't take a joke" kind of book.

For me a book where I can envisage the characters in a general way is better than a lot of well written introspection and descriptive twaddle about the morals, attitudes and scenery. In a work of ficton three pages of unbroken description is almost always two pages too many. Like move it along folks.

Must be many people who enjoy what I don't and perhaps I will join them someday

Helen

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I have yet to read Dan Brown. Some highly intelligent people seem tlike him and many highly intelligent people do not.

I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence. It's what you expect from and enjoy in books. It's different for everyone.

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

After a bad day at work there is a certain appeal to reading a "kill em all if they can't take a joke" kind of book.

Yes, I can imagine I used to read Tom Clancy books and to enjoy Chuck Norris movies some years ago

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

For me a book where I can envisage the characters in a general way is better than a lot of well written introspection and descriptive twaddle about the morals, attitudes and scenery. In a work of ficton three pages of unbroken description is almost always two pages too many. Like move it along folks.

I doubt very much that anybody will tell you "descriptive twaddle about the morals, attitudes and scenery" makes a good book. In my opinion, a truly good book gives you hints about all this and lets you build the rest on your own. And that is precisely my problem with writers like Dan Brown. Nothing is left to my imagination, there is no question, no doubt of any kind, no uncertainty. I'm supposed to see, hear and feel exactly what he wrote and nothing else. It's all boringly written down, there's nothing for me to do. It's about as exciting as a mail-order catalog to me, and less useful.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I'm not a Dan Brown fan, though I have only read Angels and Demons and wasn't really inspired to pickup another of his books. That said I can see what people do like about him in his consistent pace. To me an author that falls in the same category is Matthew Reilly. His books are a very easy read, consistent pace (no I'm not a fan of his either).

Actually, Amazon couldn't pay me to read one of his books. I don't remember the exact wording Brown used but it was something about the historical information being true and accurate. Right.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Stephen King's Salem's Lot

[TGS]

He may, according to some, be un-put-down-able, but he's very get-rid-able according to this