Please give a writer harder to put down than Dan Brown

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

As someone who builds software for a living, I found "Digital Fortress" almost insultingly ignorant about its subject matter. I could have gotten past that if the writing had been of a Robertson Davies calibre, but sadly, no.

Heh. One of the reasons I felt like throwing The Da Vinci Code against the wall was that I live in Paris. I don't know if Dan Brown ever set foot here; but if he did he obviously wasn't paying much attention.

Of course, he didn't have to come to Paris to write about it. I don't think Michael Crichton knew all there was to know about the subjects he wrote about, but he hired assistants to research the facts before he wrote about them. Seems like a minimum level of respect toward your readers to me.

[emalvick]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Heh. One of the reasons I felt like throwing The Da Vinci Code against the wall was that I live in Paris. I don't know if Dan Brown ever set foot here; but if he did he obviously wasn't paying much attention.

Of course, he didn't have to come to Paris to write about it. I don't think Michael Crichton knew all there was to know about the subjects he wrote about, but he hired assistants to research the facts before he wrote about them. Seems like a minimum level of respect toward your readers to me.

Heck with respect to the Davinci code and some of the "science" and history behind it, there were flaws... I've never been to Paris, but what you said doesn't surprise me. I generally find it annoying when the locations of books or movies are flawed geographically.

As for Michael Crichton, he was actually quite well educated himself as a medical doctor in Boston (the basis for his novel A Case of Need) and he loved reading about science, and of course taking his own liberties with it in his books. I could handle that to an extent since that is what science fiction is about, although it could get over the top sometimes, too.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by emalvick

Heck with respect to the Davinci code and some of the "science" and history behind it, there were flaws... I've never been to Paris, but what you said doesn't surprise me. I generally find it annoying when the locations of books or movies are flawed geographically.

It's not the geographical flaws, if any, that annoyed me. I have no sense of space or orientation, so I probably wouldn't have noticed them. Rather, it's his description of France and French people that showed he had no clue. Based on the 10.5 pages I read of course.

[emalvick]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

It's not the geographical flaws, if any, that annoyed me. I have no sense of space or orientation, so I probably wouldn't have noticed them. Rather, it's his description of France and French people that showed he had no clue. Based on the 10.5 pages I read of course.

Yes, I think that is a risk a lot of authors, screenwriters, directors, etc take as I do notice things like that (for my location), yet from what you are talking about, I really wouldn't know having not been to France... Does that make sense? In other words, I am thinking that an author probably figures only the reader from France will really notice these problems and compared to the big picture, that is a minority. I've seen it in other books when the descriptions of people and places really seem out of whack with what I know. This is part of why I think authors are better off sticking with what they know when it comes to real settings for their novels (as opposed to SF, which obviously would be exempt from this opinion).

[jhempel24]

I'm of the small group of people that just want to be entertained...I really don't care if it has "literary" merit.

That being said, I enjoy all of Dan Brown's work, all of James Pattersons' work, and a good book to read that kept me going was MEG by Steve Alten....it's about a Megaladon....the end was VERY far-fetched and completely unbelievable, but it was FUN!

[M. R. Mathias]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

I'm of the small group of people that just want to be entertained...I really don't care if it has "literary" merit.

That being said, I enjoy all of Dan Brown's work, all of James Pattersons' work, and a good book to read that kept me going was MEG by Steve Alten....it's about a Megaladon....the end was VERY far-fetched and completely unbelievable, but it was FUN!

Honest to god jeff I read Meg too! I am a big Jaws fan and No it doesn't compare, but it was sort of fun...

Thats all reading is is a form of entertainment....

Read the Haven series if you like fantasy based on the traditional Fae.
Book one Amber Magic is free at bvlarson.com

[J. Strnad]

There's a difference between "literary merit" and common "readability." If you have an ear for language (and a lot of readers don't, which can be a blessing), then a poorly written book will scree-scraw through your head like barbed wire being pulled from ear to ear. Imagine not being tone deaf and listening to a grade school band. Even if they're playing Mozart, it's bound to be a painful experience!

Many people are tone deaf to language. I don't mean to put them down, but it does mean that they can enjoy badly written work (and no, it isn't purely subjective any more than a grade school band is subjectively as good as a professional orchestra) as much as well-written work, responding to other things: plot, amusing dialogue, if it addresses their fantasies, whatever.

I don't find Dan Brown's work to have literary merit, and I don't even find it readable. But a lot of people love it, so that's fine for them. Many people would be appalled at my tastes in various things and it doesn't bother me. You like what you like.

[Luke King]

The thing I find about unputdownable books is that (mostly) when you've finished reading them you're left feeling flat.

What I want is unputdownable and . . . challenging, interesting, unexpected, surprising -- not the same old formula rehashed for the umpteenth time.

I recommend Ruth Rendell (not the Wexford ones) and Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine. Aside from that, I can't really think of any authors that are consistently unputdownable in the way that I want, perhaps Patricia Highsmith.

Earlier this year I read Andrew W. Mitchell's "Supervirus". I found that unputdownable.

[LoveReading]

I prob. shouldn't be replying to this post because I have not read Dan Brown's book. But I do feel like I need to say something about books in general. A "good" book to any reader can mean many things and I think that many of us read different things depending upon our mood at any given time. There are classics and wonderful pieces of literature and then there are books where the "story telling" is so good that we can "forgive" the author for his writing ability. How many of you out there have read books on the best seller list that you wonder how they ever got there!

[CW Johnson]

Okay, I know this is gonna sound weird but some of my best page turners have been the Maximum Ride series of books by James Patterson. Weird because they are suppose to be kids books. Kids books or no, they kept me up all night and steeling away to the restroom five times a day with my iPod when I should have been working. It's basically about a group of genetically altered kids running, or should I say flying, away from their Malevolent creators.

[jhempel24]

HA!! Maximum Ride, I've always thought about reading them, and maybe I should start!!

I think the thing that bugs me, and I see it sometimes on this forum, but not in a majority of the people, is that when someone finds a book entertaining that is not a literary masterpiece, they seem to be looked down upon, like it's not okay to enjoy it. Or they must not be intelligent enough to understand why it sucks.

But then again I think peoples expectations are way too high in general.

Oh and as a side note: MR Mathias....it's Joe, not Jeff

[Dr. Drib]

moondog:

If you are the author of the book above, it would be advisable to admit this in your post.

This is a thread on READER recommendations - not author recommendations for a book that an author has written.

Thank you for your understanding.



Don
(Moderator)

[dfigueroa]

I admit that I haven't read the entire thread, but I was a Dan Brown fan who is no longer a Dan Brown fan.

I loved Angels and Demons, read all the rest and then read The Lost Symbol. Not a good book, IMO.

If the OP is looking for a writer long the same lines, I have to agree with those who have recommended Chrichton. With the exception of Sphere, which for some reason bored me, his books are quite well done.

I'm going to take another poster's suggestion of Rankin, haven't read him.

[IzzyMad]

I have read all dan browns books simply to see if they got better so I can say no they don't it is not snobbery just common sense I to enjoy mental candy floss (cotton candy) but dan brown isnt even that readable it is wallpaper of the senses especially when you reach the fifth book and work out who the villain is before he has done anything wrong. there is no challenge or suspense to them

good guy is the bad guy heroin sleeps with hero at end bad guy is really ok guy/girl and helps save the day some big conspiracy mix it all together add in a race against time and you have all of dan's books so just cut up all the books throw them in the air and hey presto you have a new book each day. problem solved something as unputdownable as dan brown and unique as well...

... well as unique as he can be.

just pick anything from the top ten thrillers its got to be better

[yakuzaboss]

Originally Posted by moondog

I've found Michael Poeltl's book, The Judas Syndrome, to be a read that is impossible to put down. I'm not alone in that thinking either as you can see from the many reviews on his facebook fan page and even on the website.
What's really exciting is that now the book is a series and the second is out this fall!

And I can tell you, the first book does not leave you wanting, it's an intense read with a stunning ending. As I understand it, he never intended it to become a series, but fan pressure made him buckle. Regardless, the second book sounds better than the first!

Oh, the website: www.the-judas-syndrome.com

I downloaded 'Judas Syndrome' but it didn't hold my interest.