The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion
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Currently Reading? Just Finished? 2013 and on
Maia, when I use my iPhone, I can't add authors. I'm not sure if it's the same on android.
I'm still reading Killer but my daughter brought home Fahrenheit 451 from school. I've always been curious so I figured I would read it along with her. I'm not good at doing two things at once, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Jeff wrote: "I was going to read 
by Ian Rankin, but I found myself liking the villain more than the detective and was turned off by the drug use, so I took it back to the libra..."We read that book as a group read. I hated it. I too started liking the villain more. I kept on and to tell you the truth you didn't miss out on anything!
Maia wrote: "How Do you get the link and book cover to appear in your posts? anyone please?"Just click on the "add book/author" you get a popup screen and can select a cover
Yesterday I finished reading Try Dying by James Scott Bell. It's about a lawyer whose fiancee died apparently in a freak auto accident. After her funeral he meets a man who tells him she was actually murdered. Later in the book he's charged with the murder of a popular TV reporter. He didn't do it--so he has to prove not only that he's innocent but that his fiancee was murdered. Four stars.Then I started reading The Chairman by Stephen W. Frey. It's a thriller set on Wall Street. The protagonist has just become CEO of a huge firm after the previous CEO has drowned. Right after his funeral, the limo he's about to take explodes. So he starts to wonder if the death of the previous CEO was suspicious. So far this book has been very good.
I'm reading Somebody's Daughter by Sylvia Pettem .
Anyone else here read any George Simenon?I've just finished 'The Engagement'. Not a thriller, per se, more a story that occurs around a murder in 1930s Paris.
It is absolutely brilliant. I mean...more than that. A classic in every sense.
Political and moral commentary, human observation, exposure of mankind's frailties - its all there hidden under the paper-thin veneer of a murderous tale.
If you've not read any of Simenon's roman durs (hard novels) - not his lighter Inspector Maigret stuff - you really should. The Engagement is a great place to start and, at just 130 pages, will not tax your reading time too much.
I finished The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver. The head of the NIOS in NY commissions the assassination of Robert Moreno, a suspected American terrorist in the Bahamas. Moreno is killed by a rifle bullet through his hotel window and his body guard and a journalist are "collateral damage", killed by flying glass. A NY prosecutor, Nance Laurel, thinks the head of NIOS has no business ordering murders and plans to prosecute him on a conspiracy charge. Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs are asked to help procure evidence for the prosecution. Unfortunately, someone REALLY doesn't want evidence and witnesses found and embarks on a spree of torture, murder, bombing, and theft to eliminate them. Lincoln and Amelia carry on and unravel a very complex plot with a LOT of surprises Good addition to the Rhyme/Sachs saga.
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I've just finished 'The Engagement'. Not a thriller, per se, more a story that occurs around a murder in 1930s Paris.
It is absolutely brilliant. I mean...."
I love Insp. Maigret. I'll have to look for these other titles. Thanks for recommending.
Barbara wrote: "I finished The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver. The head of the NIOS in NY commissions the assassination of Robert Moreno, a suspected American terrorist in the Bahamas. M..."
Barbara, this book in the series took a little longer to set up for me, about 70 pages, but then I enjoyed it just as much as the rest of the books. Can't wait for the new one.
Barbara, this book in the series took a little longer to set up for me, about 70 pages, but then I enjoyed it just as much as the rest of the books. Can't wait for the new one.
Finished Fahrenheit 451 last night. Though not what I normally read, I think it is important for everybody to read at some point. Now I'll finish up reading Killer.
Adam wrote: "Anyone else here read any George Simenon?I've just finished 'The Engagement'. Not a thriller, per se, more a story that occurs around a murder in 1930s Paris.
It is absolutely brilliant. I mean...."
Maigret was my first favorite sleuth - I loved Simenon's knack for portraying everyday life in Paris and avoiding the melodramatic while drawing the reader bit by bit into a suspenseful story.
Simenon was Belgian - so when he decided to set some of his work in France he toured the countryside via its canals. As he tells it: “At twenty-four, the desire had come over me to investigate France in her deepest recesses, and I had discovered that cities or villages only show, at the side of the highway or the station, their more banal or frowning faces, reserving their intimacy and their secret lives for the rivers and canals. So I bought a 15-foot boat, the Ginette, which must have served formerly as a lifeboat for some prestigious yacht. I had a complicated awning installed, allowing me to transform the craft into a canvas cabin at night.“
Just finished the novella: Trouble is my business by Raymond Chandler, and am now reading: End of East by Jen Sookfong Lee
I'm currently reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Good Bye. I loved the Big Sleep!
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I'm probably in the minority, but The Long Goodbye was my favorite.
I am reading Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks. It is only my second book by this author but I am already a big fan. Has anyone out there read the series to date?
Nancy wrote: "Arlene wrote: "I'm currently reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Good Bye. I loved the Big Sleep!"I'm probably in the minority, but The Long Goodbye was my favorite."
Hi Nancy, I totally agree with you. It was a longer read (which I like) and I don't know about you but I never saw that ending coming.
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I'm probably in the minority, but The Long Goodbye was my favorite."
Hi Nancy, I ..."
me either. Not at all. My husband's reading it now and it's his favorite too.
I just started reading a recommended book called The Phoenix Year by David Blond.
I'm back to juggling several books at once & have started my first Clive Cussler novel
.So far, so good.
After picking up a copy several years ago I'm finally getting around to
. Fascinating.
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. Fascinating."In Cold Blood remains to this day one of my favorite books of all time. My copy is so dog eared and beat up from reading and rereading it so many times over the years. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
I'm amazed at how easy it is to read. I already know that it will definitely go back on my bookshelf to read again.
Nancy wrote: "Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "After picking up a copy several years ago I'm finally getting around to . Fascinating."In Cold Blood remains to this day one ..."
I read that one last year for the first time. It was quite chilling. I enjoyed it.
Tim "The Enchanter" wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "After picking up a copy several years ago I'm finally getting around to . Fascinating."In Cold Blood remains to..."ink Truman Capote ever recovered
Great book. I don't think Truman Capote ever recovered.He certainly seemed to dry up after writing this.
Jeff wrote: "Still reading "Shock Wave" by John Sandford. Has been a quick read so far"
Great book, Jeff.
Great book, Jeff.
Picked up
at the library for a re-read and liked it perhaps even better this time. Unfortunately the library doesn't have any of the rest of the series and the next two aren't available on Kindle.
Mary wrote: "when I finish 
I will start that next."Let me know what you think of this one Mary!! It appears to be one of those that some love and others hate. I loved it!
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at the library for a re-read and liked it perhaps even better this time. Unfortunately the library doesn't have any of the rest of the series and the ne..."Have you tried interlibrary loan? Librarians usually love to help you find items and it also gives them an idea of what their patrons are interested in.
Donna wrote: "Have you tried interlibrary loan? Librarians usually love to help you find items and it also gives them an idea of what their patrons are interested in. "Yes ... they are my 'go-to' people for things like this. Helpful and very competent.
Sharon wrote: "Picked up at the library for a re-read and liked it perhaps even better this time. Unfortunately the library doesn't have any of the rest of the series and the ne..."Totally worth seeking out those next two! I loved the series too and read them one after the other--with the help of Whatcom County's interlibrary loan. You might also like Wife of the Gods in the meantime.
I haven't read any of Johan Theorin novels yet, but i have just downloaded 'The Asylum'. After reading several glowing reviews, i can't wait to start it. This is a stand-alone novel, not part of his 'Oland Quartet' series.Has anyone in this group read it or any of JT's other novels?
Gary wrote: "Reading 
by James Patterson"After a read my first novel of Patterson,I like his Alex Cross guy, have bought another 3 books. One of them is the Private. I is good?
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I 've read them all -- and I have to say that this one wasn't my favorite of the group. But a lot of people loved The Asylum, so it's probably just me. He is a master of atmosphere. I did love the others, though.
Just finished my favourite read of the year so far, GravesendHere are my thoughts...
Gravesend is a stunning read. It takes an area of Brooklyn and makes it a central character in a novel that ignites the attention from the off.
The story swirls around an incident from years earlier like a whirlpool of water preparing to disappear down the plughole. The incident in question is the killing of a young, gay man (Daniel) who was lured down to the beach for some action by a gang of thugs and bullies.
Daniel’s death has touched so many lives. Most importantly it has wrecked his brother, Conway, and shattered his father.
Things come to a head when Ray Boy, the leader of the thugs, is released from prison. This forces Conway’s hand as Conway has been planning to kill Ray Boy from the off. The only problem is the Ray Boy that Conway meets isn’t the one he hates. In a cruel twist, Ray Boy’s tattoos tell Conway of his enlightenment and this changes everything. In some ways, Ray Boy’s change also had a big impact on me as a reader, the villain coming as close to being a hero as anyone else in the book. This dynamic simply adds to the energy and the tension of the read.
Conway’s on the skids. He takes a day off to lick wounds and drink himself safe. He considers his failures: ‘It wasn’t even noon. On a Monday. Pretty much every self-respecting person was out in the world working. Hauling trash, conducting trains, butchering meat, fighting fires, teaching, doing construction, whatever. And here they were. ******. People to pity. Not even noon on a ******* Monday. No wonder the Irish girl gave them that Spaghetti Western death stare.’
Ray Boy’s change isn’t lost on his nephew, Eugene, now a feisty teenager who wants to claim a reputation like his uncle’s as his own. Eugene is devastated by the changes in the man who has returned from prison and sets up a plan that might just bring the old Ray Boy back.
There’s a whole chapter dedicated to the things Eugene hates about life. On the surface, this may seem a little negative, but it’s full of contrasting shades that it gives an incredibly detailed sense of who he is – by focusing on the darkness, it draws attention to the light and to just about everything else. It’s a fantastic piece of prose.
Allessandra is another of Gravesend’s lost souls. She’s back to live with her father after missing her mother’s last days. She’s been out in LA and is struggling to find her way in an area of town that lacks the sophistication she’s become used to. Allessandra was one of Conway’s crushes back in the day and she also happens to develop a thing for Ray Boy and his good looking, easy action. There’s a short passage that I loved in which Allesandra considers giving in to the booze. In doing so, she describes some the people of her town: ‘Drink every day at The Wrong Number. Say to hell with work. Become one of these neighbourhood ghosts, old alkies in wrinkled black clothes that just skeleton around on feet like broken shopping cart wheels. When it got real bad, she could just dig in trash bins for bottles like the old Chinese, haul them down to Waldbaum’s for drinking money, live in this house until her father died and they took it away from her and then she could go to a home, the one over on Cropsey, where she’d wear Salvation Army clothes and lose her hair and teeth in the sink. An actress? Forget it. Once maybe, in another city, another time. Just wispy bones and yellowing skin now. The old boozer that kids throw rocks at for kicks.’
The characters in the story are perfectly linked. They live in a world where ‘everything’s some kind of sad’ and do their best to stay afloat. Thing is, we know from the off that there isn’t room for everyone on the raft and that someone’s going to go under, we just don’t know who’s going to end up where.
I really loved this book. By focussing on the one area and the people brought together by the one incident, Boyle manages to talk about the whole of the human condition. There are beautifully constructed descriptions, not least when dealing with the introspections of the characters. Boyle allows the reader to get inside the minds of all who inhabit the tale and this is wonderfully handled. The stark writing style allows for a ‘warts and all’ description of a gritty environment as well as a poetic sense of the wonder and fragility of the world.
Top marks at every level. A must read from a real heavyweight.
I am currently reading "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt. It started off slow but is becoming pretty interesting by Pg 234.
Maddy wrote: "Gary wrote: "Reading by James Patterson"After a read my first novel of Patterson,I like his Alex Cross guy, have bought another 3 books. One of them is the Private..."
I like the Alex Cross novels as well, have read most of them, I think ... re-read some on occasion as well. Very well developed characters.
Paige wrote: "I am currently reading "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt. It started off slow but is becoming pretty interesting by Pg 234."I'm about to read this for a bookclub. I was hoping it would get good before P. 234 :)
Currently reading In the Heat of the Night. The inimitable Virgil Tibbs. I haven't seen the movie but of course have heard the line and it's in the book,"They call me Mr. Tibbs."
. Perfect storm of a plot.
Paul wrote: "I'm back to juggling several books at once & have started my first Clive Cussler novel .So far, so good." I think I read about 20 of his, and still like it
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The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group
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I really enjoyed this book. Yes, Marino acts out like always and gets on everyone's nerves but he also shows a gentle side. Kay gets obsessed with Benton's file but that helps solve the murders in the end. Lucy seems less annoying in this book and helps out her aunt. A new character is introduced, a prosecuting attorney named Jaime. She's sharp, ambitious and very hard to read. She keeps telling Kay to trust her but as a reader I was screaming "don't". Jaime is a tough attorney and ends up being a huge help to Kay. I don't particularly care for the ending because the bad guys get away. I really hate that! I hope they catch them in the next book Blow Fly.