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View Poll Results: The Big Three | |||
George Pelecanos | 1 | 7.14% | |
Dennis Lehane | 5 | 35.71% | |
James Ellroy | 4 | 28.57% | |
Someone else (leave a comment) | 4 | 28.57% | |
Voters: 14. You may not vote on this poll |
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07-19-2012, 12:07 PM | #1 |
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Which One Next
Just finished reading everything by Michael Connelly, and I'm interested to hear from folks which author should be next on my "read everything" list.
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07-19-2012, 01:59 PM | #2 |
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I would suggest based on Harry Bosch series
Robert K. Tanenbaum Robert B. Parker A. J. Quinnell Harlen Coben Rex Stout Donald Strachey Lawrence Block John Connolly Robert Crais Jeffery Deaver William Lashner Elmore Leonard John Lescroart Stuart Kaminsky John Lutz Gregory Mcdonald Rick Riordan - Tres Navarre S. J. Rozan Andrew Vachss Fred Vargas F. Paul Wilson Tim Dorsey J. A. Jance And of course the three you mentioned. |
07-19-2012, 06:12 PM | #3 |
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I would add Lee Child and James Lee Burke to the list as well. I am reading or listening to them now.
Ken |
07-19-2012, 06:12 PM | #4 |
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@SpeakingToHe:
Thank you for the good recommendations! I'm pretty sure I'd cut J.A. Jance (so irritating to read), Elmore Leanord (overrated, terrible in every way), and maybe Lawrence Block & John Lescroart. Out of that list, the one who interests me most is maybe Deaver, but I don't know anything about the others. If you had to pick just one from your rather lengthy list, which one is consistently enjoyable for you? (I tend to read everything by an author before moving to the next one. Weird, probably, but that's how I roll.) Last edited by djulian; 07-19-2012 at 06:14 PM. |
07-19-2012, 06:30 PM | #5 |
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I have read (and liked) Mystic River by Dennis LeHane, but that is the only book I have read of his so far. But fans of his, say all his other books are good.
I was supremely disappointed in the movie though, which gave away the killer in the first 8 minutes, so I wasn't doing any good old-fashioned "guessing" as I watched the movie. |
07-20-2012, 07:16 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
I would pick Robert K. Tanenbaum but of course a tough choice. Tanenbaums books are legal thriller's but with lots of action of both the legal and decidedly illegal type. Wide range of different characters who are expanded on as the series goes on. The good guys are not always good and the bad guys are not always bad. One tandes to think of them as real people. Never boring, little repetition if any, and not filled with long introspective rambling. Fairly violent, but not more so than Harry Bosch I think. Next would be Robert B. Parker. Spenser series. Just likeable characters, pleasant and easy reading, good characters. Mildly witty. Comfort reading for me even though there is a lot of violence, not disturbing in any way. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series is great, both interesting and amusing. Very easy reading and not overly lengthy. Several books in this series are made up of three shorter stories, but they each read in a way like a whole book, not like an excerpt or a filler. All strong stories. Non-violent in that the murder is generally committed before Nero Wolfe becomes involved. Again you like the characters and although written as early as the 1930's they are still contemporary today. These authors write books that can be read as stand alone without spoiling the books before or after in the series, and many are available from libraries in paper or ebook form. Easy to try out. And no you are not weird, lotta people like this. Me I switch authors, and genres, almost as often as I change my clothes. I tend to burn out on a series if I read more than four in a row, blah blah, same old, where if I switch frequently, it is oh good, I really like these books but more importantly I never want to reach the end of a series I love. Anyway too many books too little time. Happy reading. Helen I agree about J. A. Jance to a point. The first books were better IMO and a lot of introspective rambling and self pity going on. But I pick up one occasionally. |
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07-23-2012, 09:33 PM | #7 |
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Thank you all! Looks like Lehane is winning the poll, which makes things easy enough for me. He doesn't seem to have as many (or as lengthy) works as the other two.
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07-23-2012, 09:42 PM | #8 |
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Give the Vince Flynn books a read. VERY GOOD! I highly recommend this Flynn's books.
Start with Term Limits. Then move onto the Mitch Rapp series. Vince Flynn should have been in the list to be voted on. Better then all the ones specifically listed. |
07-24-2012, 11:06 AM | #9 |
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@JSWolf: I love Flynn! Mitch Rapp is the man. I can't believe I failed to include him.
Funny story about Flynn--My dad is not much of a reader, but he was having trouble falling asleep, so I gave him Flynn's first Mitch Rapp book, and my mom called a few weeks later to say that he was loving it. When I visited the next summer, the book was on his night stand with a bookmark about 1/3 of the way in. I said, "I thought you loved it." He said, "I do! It's great!" My mom said, "He reads a page a night and then falls fast asleep!" So our family has decided to get him about two more books, as that should last him for the rest of his life. |
07-24-2012, 11:25 AM | #10 |
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Jeffrey Deaver is a superb author. I think I've probably read all his books; there's not a bad one among them. I'd suggest starting with "The Bone Collector".
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07-24-2012, 06:57 PM | #11 |
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Yay for JLB ...
Definitely James Lee Burke - that'll keep you quiet for a bit !
Incidentally, I'd suggest the Robicheaux books are best read in chrono order, starting with "Neon Rain". In my opinion, a hugely under-rated author, especially the latest works - "Tin Roof Blow Down" is just superb. I envy you reading him fresh - but I still manage to do the lot around every 2-3 years ! |
07-27-2012, 06:38 AM | #12 |
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I like stories NOT set in N.Y.C. or L.A. so James Lee Burke gets credit from me on that score alone.
I do think his earlier work is better than his later stuff. I think Burke has the best titles for his books. I scan past them when I'm browsing, and 2 books later, I go, "What the. . . " and go back to take a second look. Everything a good title should do. Lee Childs' "Reacher" books are candy. They aren't that good, but they are a lot of fun to read. Easy to put down, but just as easy to pick up again! Last edited by GlenBarrington; 07-27-2012 at 06:42 AM. |
07-27-2012, 07:29 AM | #13 |
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I read the first Reacher book and only made it partway through the second. In spite of not liking gross scenes in stories, I liked Killing Floor. But I don't want to trudge through all 18 or so of the books that there are in the series.
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07-27-2012, 11:13 AM | #14 |
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Recommend you check out Literature Map here http://www.literature-map.com/
You enter an author's name in the window that opens, then hit enter. That screen closes and a new one opens with your author's name in the middle and a whole bunch of authors arrayed around him. The closer another author is physically, the more like your author he or she is like. |
07-27-2012, 02:31 PM | #15 |
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That literature map is great. It puts Lee Child right next to Connelly, which surprises me, but that's how it breaks down.
I knew Burke's name, but was unfamiliar with his stuff--looking through it makes me think he's definitely a necessary addition. I'm surprised that there have been no votes for Pelecanos. |
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