06-08-2009, 11:50 PM | #31 |
Guru
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
|
Enjoy many of the authors noted so far. Others that I like
are: James Grippando, Philip Margolin, Brian Haig and Alex Kava. cheers |
06-11-2009, 08:36 PM | #32 |
I'd rather be reading
Posts: 101
Karma: 1084
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Device: Kindle 1 & Kindle 2
|
Andrew's Vachss' Burke series
Thanks to this thread I started thinking about my favorite crime fiction books and remembered Vachss. I actually quit reading the series after book 13 (just started reading other stuff and kind of forgot about them) but just looked and there are 18 books in the series. The 18th (and last) book in the series just came out in December. From Wikipedia... The Burke Series is a fictional 18-book series written by Andrew Vachss, centered around a man named Burke and his battle against what he labels freaks; Child abusers. The series is written from Burke's perspective in the first person. The first book, Flood, was published in 1985, the 18th and final novel, Another Life, was published in December, 2008. Burke was abandoned at an early age by his a mother he barely remembers and a father he never met. He was passed around from surrogate home to surrogate through his early years. It is revealed that Burke was abused in the various homes he went to, severely scarring his mental state. In his teenage years, Burke lived on the streets with gangs of other abandoned, abused children. Throughout the series Burke describes those days as when he was a cowboy. Burke states he always intended to die robbing a convenience store or in a gang war. Burke went to prison twice, and in prison found friends that become part of his Family of Choice. Of the several life long companions, Burke finds a fatherly figure known as the Prof in his first stay in prison. Short for both Professor and Prophet, depending on whose listening. The Prof teaches Burke a philosophy that Burke operates by for the rest of his life: Survive. The Prof shows Burke how to stay alive without fighting, how to use knowledge, any knowledge he can get, to have at his disposal. Burke takes this to heart, and when he is released from prison before the Prof, Burke waits for his mentor and picks him up when he himself is released. Burke also meets and adopts as his brother a man known as Max the Silent sometimes extended to Max the Silent, widowmaking, wind of death. Max is a Mongolian warrior, and is deaf and mute. Burke comes to know another man known as the Mole, an anti-Nazi Jew who specializes in bombs, weaponry, breaking and entering, biology and computer hacking. Burke moves on to a career of hijacking after his release from prison, and after a crooked deal with a gang Burke ends up holding off the police with a crate full of grenades in an abandoned subway tunnel in order to give his brothers (Max, the Prof and the Mold) time to escape. During his second prison sentence Burke states he "finds the freaks". Burke becomes intensely aware of child abuse, and the scars it has upon a youth's mind. Burke spends this prison sentence "studying" the freaks and when he is released he becomes an unlicensed private investigator. Burke begins to battle child abuse, he assists police in locating runaway girls, takes on cases (for generous amounts of money), runs fake subscriptions for kiddie porn in order to keep a list of known freaks, steals, extorts, blackmails and anything else he can do to remain anonymous from police but still make a difference and, in is own way, find vengeance for the misdeeds committed to him as a child. Obviously he's not for everyone but I really enjoyed the books a lot. I enjoy when the bad guys (especially the REALLY bad guys) get what they deserve - even if it's by another "bad" guy! Here's a link to Vachss' website - he offers a free pdf download of "A Bomb Built in Hell" which I have not read but just downloaded it. http://www.vachss.com/av_books/samples.html |
06-11-2009, 09:09 PM | #33 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 7,452
Karma: 7185064
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Linköpng, Sweden
Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW
|
Old stuff: Craig Rice, Josephine Tey, Dorothy Sayers, Raymond Chandler, ...
Newer stuff: Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Carol O'Connell, Laurie King, Donald E. Westlake, ... |
06-11-2009, 11:56 PM | #34 | |
Crab In The Dark
Posts: 486
Karma: 2328180
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Virginia
Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like
|
Quote:
|
|
06-12-2009, 12:13 AM | #35 |
Addict
Posts: 302
Karma: 1039424
Join Date: Apr 2009
Device: Ipad, Ipod Touch, KIndle Fire
|
I would recommend Don't Point That Thing At Me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyril_Bonfiglioli "The dealer in question, Charlie Mortdecai, is also an occasional art thief, and at the opening of the novel there is an old gilt frame burning in the fireplace of his Mayfair penthouse, a Goya stolen from the Prado possibly hidden under his valuable Savonnerie rug, and, standing more or less on the rug, a hated antagonist from a special branch of the police:"- http://www.newyorker.com/archive/200...20crat_atlarge |
06-12-2009, 02:00 PM | #36 | |
I'd rather be reading
Posts: 101
Karma: 1084
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Device: Kindle 1 & Kindle 2
|
Quote:
I love it when I leave a series for awhile and go back to it. I much prefer to have several books in a series waiting for me to read instead of having to anxiously await the next book in the series. Especially THIS series, the first book came out over 20 years ago and he doesn't just spit them out like so many other authors of series book do, so there was some serious waiting time involved sometimes! A Bomb Built in Hell is turning out to be pretty good - I'm about half way through it. The main character is very "Burke-ish." |
|
02-18-2010, 09:09 PM | #37 |
Guru
Posts: 692
Karma: 27532
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Ebookwise 1150 / 1200
|
And for the ultimate in epic spy series - the Lanny Budd series by Upton Sinclair. Alas - I doubt it'll be found anytime soon in ebook format. It's hard enough to find in paper-back/hard cover.
|
02-18-2010, 10:24 PM | #38 |
Enthusiast
Posts: 41
Karma: 40
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Singapore
Device: Sony PRS 600
|
For me it's Kathy Reichs, the creator of the Bones series on TV. She is a forensic anthropologist in real-life, so she knows what she's talking about.
|
02-18-2010, 11:31 PM | #39 |
Addict
Posts: 279
Karma: 400001
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Victoria, Australia
Device: iPod Touch
|
Crime fiction is my genre of choice. Favourite authors in no particular order:
- Harlan Coben - Michael Robotham - Tess Gerritsen - Mark Billingham - James Patterson - Lee Child - Lynda La Plante - Patricia Cornwell - Erica Spindler - Carol Smith - Sandra Brown - Kathy Reichs - Michael Palmer - Tami Hoag - Lisa Gardner - Mariah Stewart - Patricia MacDonald - and too many others to list. All these authors write fast-paced, easy-reading crime fiction. |
02-25-2010, 05:53 AM | #40 |
Junior Member
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: sydney, australia
Device: BeBook
|
British writers
I love all the British Mystery/Detective writers like Agatha Christie, RD Wingfield, Val McDermid and of course Ruth Rendell
I'm constantly on the look out for other writers in a similar genre |
03-02-2010, 11:54 PM | #41 |
Addict
Posts: 237
Karma: 400001
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: California
Device: none
|
Actually, I just finished Stephen J Cannell's ON THE GRIND. It's a cracking crime thriller about police corruption. The best crime book I read last year. Also check out THE TIN COLLECTORS which is the 1st book in the series.
|
03-03-2010, 01:29 AM | #42 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,952
Karma: 213930
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Middelfart, Denmark
Device: Kindle paper white
|
|
03-03-2010, 03:33 PM | #43 |
Banned
Posts: 3,724
Karma: 535488
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: the Mortuary
Device: Kindle 2
|
John Connolly,
Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, and Andrew Vachss. |
03-05-2010, 09:44 PM | #44 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,222
Karma: 769316
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Eternal summer
Device: 350, iPad, PW
|
I was just reading the webpage for Hard Crime Fiction (Pulp/Noir.)
They're an indie publisher started by the guy who invented the Juno internet stuff way back when. He does reprints and original works. Stephen King, Robert B. Parker, and Mickie Speliane are all on his brand...If you're into the pulp mystery they're worth a shot. Here's the link to the article I was reading. |
03-05-2010, 11:53 PM | #45 |
Member
Posts: 10
Karma: 10
Join Date: Feb 2010
Device: Jetbook lite
|
I'm a huge Michael Connelly fan. Harry Bosch is the perfect example of a pulp fiction detective, I've read them all (some 2 or 3 times) except Nine Dragons the price is still way to high for an Ebook.
|
Tags |
mystery ebooks, thriller |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
MR crime/mysteries recommendations sought | GA Russell | Reading Recommendations | 17 | 10-31-2011 12:15 PM |
Award-winning short crime fiction - Nowhere To Go | Iain Rowan | Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers | 3 | 05-31-2011 02:02 PM |