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Currently Reading? Just Finished? 2016
Had I have known the series would go on this long I would never have started Sharon
Rhian wrote: "Had I have known the series would go on this long I would never have started Sharon"Me neither but a colleague of mine at work bought the author in one day and he gave me the first three signed books so I was started there...the colleague used to work at the police division PJ uses in his book research. But I am also finding similar negative feelings reading the long standing DCI Banks by Peter Robinson and have been less than charmed with the books lately although enjoyed a few of both writer's stand alones.
Curious if perhaps there should be a shelf life on how long a character driven series continues? I had also stopped after many many years and books with James Patterson Alex Cross and am getting fed up with the many ...more than nine lives of Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell too. Perhaps it is ME!!!
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Me neither but a colleague of mine at work bought the author in one day and he gave me the first ..."
It's not just you. I gave up reading series novels eons ago (with a few exceptions) for that reason. When the Wallander series ended, for example, it was a sad occasion, but it was the right time. The same thing was true for me with Arnaldur Indridason's Erlendur series. However, some authors, I think, tend to milk things for how ever long the money keeps rolling in, and the books tend to lose a bit of what made me want to read them in the first place.
I have enjoyed series by Karin Slaughter and Tess Gerritsen but now I find I'm trying to avoid books from a series, I don't mind if it's a trilogy at least we know it's going to end and not be dragged out until it goes stale
I still read some series books, but have stopped Patterson, who runs an assembly line operation, in my opinion.
Thomas wrote: "I still read some series books, but have stopped Patterson, who runs an assembly line operation, in my opinion."There's no 'opinion' about it. Check out this piece that ran yesterday on CBS Sunday Morning.
James Patterson's reading revolution
Sharon wrote: "Curious if perhaps there should be a shelf life on how long a character driven series continues?.."I suspect most of them end up dying a *natural death* one way or another. I think an author has to be very adept to manage a continuing series indefinitely. I have only managed to stay with two mystery series that are/were ongoing indefinitely. The first was the Dell Shannon mysteries with the police department in LA, which did end, of course, with her death. The second has been John Sandford's Davenport series. I nearly dropped that series but Sandford shifted his character to a different job and into a somewhat different set of crimes and it refreshed the series for me. I've dropped several other series, however.
Nancy wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Rhian wrote: "Had I have known the series would go on this long I would never have started Sharon"Me neither but a colleague of mine at work bought the author in one day and he gav..."
Totally agree with both your examples.
Thomas wrote: "I still read some series books, but have stopped Patterson, who runs an assembly line operation, in my opinion."So true, that is what really turned me off. Plus Alex Cross just changed so much and why do these writers refuse to let characters have private meaningful relationships? Same with Greg Iles and his latest decade with so much raw unnecessary violence and anyone his main character has a relationship with, gets killed off......
It would be really handy if people flagged spoilers. I've only read the first in the Roy Grace series. Now the subject of his wife has been partly spoiled I'm wondering if it's worth carrying on.
Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "It would be really handy if people flagged spoilers. I've only read the first in the Roy Grace series. Now the subject of his wife has been partly spoiled I'm wondering if it's worth carrying on."
Totally agree! I would totally be disappointed if I read a spoiler by accidently.
Tom wrote: "Thomas wrote: "I still read some series books, but have stopped Patterson, who runs an assembly line operation, in my opinion."There's no 'opinion' about it. Check out this piece that ran yesterd..."
Thank you for sharing that....excellent. The crazy thing is that I was a huge fan for many years from 1993 I think ......till awhile ago and just became tedious violence and little else!
I finished
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham.In this non-fiction book Grisham tells the story of two men who were wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in Oklahoma. A shocking and disheartening story about justice gone wrong.
Good book if you're interested in true crime stories. 3.5 stars.
My complete review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Oh Charlotte I'm so sorry if it was me hun
No, don't think it was you Rhian. Don't worry. I know it's tricky when talking about series.
Charlotte spoilers are my pet hate I always try to keep it vague I can see that I mentioned a character I shouldn't have so sorry hun
Listening to
Middlemarch by George Eliot, and reading
Scouting for the Reaper by Jacob M. Appel. About to start
The Silent Twin by Caroline Mitchell after finishing
The Fairbairn Fortunes by Una-Mary Parker. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "It would be really handy if people flagged spoilers. I've only read the first in the Roy Grace series. Now the subject of his wife has been partly spoiled I'm wondering if it's worth carrying on."
Oh do! I stumbled on a later book in the series which I read first and loved. I then went back and started the series from the beginning. Like you, I knew things that I wouldn't have known but it really didn't spoil my reading pleasure in this series.
I just finished Black and White and Dead All Over by John Darnton - a murder story at a thinly veiled version of the New York Times, where the author has worked for 40 years. I liked it.
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Sandy I done the same I started on book 7 but I'm not too bothered about reading a series out of order or just reading one as a stand alone
Just finished
by William Kent Krueger. I think it will be a good series. This was my first read by this author.
Britney wrote: "Just finished by William Kent Krueger. I think it will be a good series. This was my first read by this author."I've enjoyed this series.
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I finished Confessions
by Kanae Minato. Yuko Moriguchi, a middle-school teacher in Japan, resigns after the 'accidental' death of her young daughter. On her last day in class Moriguchi announces that two pupils in the class murdered her daughter and describes the revenge she's taken.....and the story goes on from there. Good book. 3.5 stars.
My complete review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished Siracusa by Delia Ephron. My review is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tom wrote: "I am reading Reliquary by Douglas Preston. It is kind of a horror novel with a mystery feel."Book 2 in the Special Agent Pendergast Series. That's the only one I haven't read. Bizarre stuff, that.
Book 2 in the Special Agent Pendergast Series. That's the only..."I read Relic and liked it a lot. found this for .25. For some reason I didn't know there was a sequel until I found this.
Just finished Rogue IslandMy review 4/5
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is full of cynical wisecracks about corruption in Providence, Rhode Island. Liam Mulligan is a newspaper reporter who is determined to find the arsonist burning houses and other buildings in Providence. People are dying, including 2 children. His comments about corruption are humorous and sad:
"Graft, Rhode Island's leading service industry, is widely misunderstood ... Those of us who live here know it comes in two varieties, good and bad, just like cholesterol. "
Good graft is fat free. It's biodegradable."
He does solve the arson case, getting beat up a couple of times in the process.
I borrowed this book from the library. It was recommended by Miss M, a Goodreads friend.
I recently finished three ✭✭✭✭ reads.
Preacher, Vol. 1: Gone to Texas is a totally twisted and profane graphic novel that is an interesting compliment to the new AMC series. Here’s my review. 
The Last Child is an Edgar Award winning novel from best-selling author John Hart. While I had a couple issues with the plot the character development was excellent. Here’s my review. 
Long Man is a poignant tale set in Tennessee during the Great Depression. Amy Greene's prose perfectly mimics the story-telling style of the Appalachian mountain people. Here’s my review.
Enjoyed reading your reviews Tom. Helps to make decisions on what to read next.
I finished The Vegetarian
by Han Kang. Set in South Korea, this short novel revolves around a woman who becomes a vegetarian. By and by this dramatically affects her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister (the three narrators of the story). Kind of an odd book but it won some big awards. 3.5 stars for me. (Not a mystery but it certainly has plenty of odd elements.)
My complete review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Widow
by Fiona Barton.This is one of the current 'it' books...hyped as being the next
"Gone Girl", etc.
The story: Glen Taylor trips in front of a bus and is killed. As it happens, Glen was acquitted of kidnapping a child several years ago because the police messed up the investigation. Will Glen's widow now help solve the case?
For me the book doesn't live up to the hype, but it's pretty good. 3.5 stars.
My complete review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I was relieved to finish The Martian rated 3★ now reading Silent scream by Angela Marsons and it's started so well
Reading The Quiet Game by Greg Iles. Its really weird but sometimes I think I read it before and then sometimes I don't recognize it. I have read some of his other books, are they all similar?
Failure of Justice is the latest True Crime book that I've read. It follows the Beatrice 6 and the U.S.'s largest mass exoneration. It's really well written & the trial just started, making things more interesting!Failure of Justice: A Brutal Murder, an Obsessed Cop, Six Wrongful Convictions
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I will finish this but think I will stop finally....12 was the full dozen!