A gripping crime-scene thriller plus more, which takes us through a series of murders in the small border town of an older, dedicated sheriff trying to police in a world that has changed, where the bad guys sometimes win. Suspenseful and charged with a hope-ridden hopelessness, and peppered with bleak yet fascinating characters, this was one of my favorite reads of the year. The violence was enough to make me shudder, but I couldn't put it down--even though I knew where it was going.

Someone told me that it was impossible to say whether the book or movie was better--both were that good. I disagree. While the movie was fabulous, the book was better. McCarthy's prose is too good to overlook, and many details were left out of the movie, like the relationship between Llewellyn and the girl at the motel, and the thoughts of the killer and the victims at the moments of their deaths. I also had a hard time envisioning Woody Harrelson as Wells. But Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Bell was more than perfect.

I really like Cormac McCarthy.