An open discussion on what everyone is currently reading. Make recommendations to others, discuss what is new, hot, bestsellers, anything and everything related to books and the authors.

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Flashfire by Richard Stark.

Just started it, but it has some interesting characters, and a nice clear, sharp writing style. I love a good heist story, and a good revenge story, and this book promises both.
Things are very quiet at the moment. Surely everyone's still reading?
I just finished a Robert Crais novel, CHASING DARKNESS. This is my third encounter with Crais. The first was DEMOLITION ANGEL which I couldn't get into at all. The second (don't recall the title), I believe I finished, though unenthusiastically. This one was good. He apparently made the NYT bestseller list twice before this, but I'm rarely on the the same wave length as other readers. I still don't understand what makes his books so attractive that they outsell so many others I prefer. Elvis Cole is a fairly standard P.I. protagonist, a loner trying to work in spite of police harrassment. Nothing new here. His aides are less standard: Joe Pike, the strong silent type for the heavy work, would actually be fascinating if for no other reason than that he appears, quiet like shadow, when Cole needs him; Starkey is another matter. She's a former bomb specialist who got blown up and was medically reassembled so that you think of her as the Byonic Woman. Evidently, she has a thing for Cole, who's not interested. This, too could be fascinating if we could see her feminine side, but she's androgynous and only ever referred to by her last name -- like a guy.
But the novel was very well plotted and a page turner. Maybe that explains its popularity.
Proofread BLUE HAZE, an Australian historical novel-slash-romance which we are just reissuing. Read GREEN MONEY, a D.E. Stevenson novel written 1939, a sweet vacation read. Now proofreading INTO THE LIGHT, a fantasy inspirational that we entered in the EPPIEs. We're putting this one into print next.
i'm 3/4 of the way through katherine howell's 'frantic'. pacy and interesting. i'm really enjoying it. i'll also add the book has just won the davitt award for the best adult crime book by an Australian woman.

i recently read 'eat, pray, love' by liz gilbert. i don't normally read books like this one but i really enjoyed it....maybe because i'm a woman of a 'certain age'...:)
Frantic is a tremendous book isn't it Jacqui - particularly as it's Katherine's first novel. I was really really pleased to see it win the Davitt. Definitely deserves some more plaudits :)
When I found this site, I immediately came to this reading list to see if I could find something to read that I might have missed out on. Definitely got a few good suggestions. It was great to see some posts on Daniel Woodrell. I think he's one of the best writers, regardless of genre, in America. 'Winter's Bone' is, indeed, a fine, fine book. Also try 'Give Me A Kiss' or.....well, all of Woodrell's work is worth reading.

I love pulpy stuff and so have been having a great time with the Hard Case Crime series. I'm currently re-reading 'A Touch Of Death' by Charles Williams which, as I recall, is the book that initally got me interested in paperback original crime fiction. As it turns out, it seems that I started right at the top. Williams is a knockout almost every time. However, if I read more than two 'noir' novels in a row, I start feeling kind of greasy and have to change up (or out, or over, or whichever way you go when you need a break from those 200-page Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang quickies.) Recently I found a British author who I haven't seen discussed in this particular forum...though I didn't read all the posted pages. His name is Robert Goddard and not only can he write, he can plot like crazy. His books kind of remind me of Hitchcock movies, in that they quite often involve an innocent man who gets in over his head, though not in the nihilist way noir protagonists get in over their heads. Goddard's books most often have an historical component (though I'm not a fan of historical fiction) that has to discovered and delved into in order to unravel a present-day dilemma. Everyone I've turned on to Goddard's books has become a fan. They're not shoot-em-ups by any stretch, but they are, as stated, very well written and quite absorbing. Perfect books for a quiet, rainy day. For a while it was a little difficult to find his books in the US (at least in the Seattle part of the US) but it seems that he's finally catching on with American readers to some degree so it's a little easier to find him for cheap in used stores....which, for me, is the only way to check out an author with whom I'm unfamiliar. 'Play To The End,' Never Go Back,' 'Past Caring,' you name it. Haven't found a Goddard clunker yet.
Right now, I'm reading the secind in the Dexter series, Dearly Devoted Dexter. I love reading from the killer's point of view, but there aren't many out there... I like it cos it's completely twisted.
Paul Theroux's MY SECRET HISTORY. I've never read any Theroux, and as of page 52 I'm hoping I find somebody to like.
Starting Year of the Dog by Henry Chang, #2 in his trilogy.
I've just finished The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney, winner of the 2006 Costa (formerly Whitbread) prize and can't recommend this book highly enough. I'm usually put off historical novels, and this is set in Canada in the 1860s, but I couldn't put it down. The writing is superb. Loved it!
Two book (one audio): Elizabeth George, CARELESS IN RED, and Sarah Waters, FINGERSMITH.

George's book is very slow. I may not make it.

Sarah Waters is new to me and a very pleasant surprise, especially because of the clever way she handles POV change and theme. This book is a very worthwhile read for the working writer.
Right now, I'm reading American Tabloid by James Ellroy. For those not used to Ellroy's style, it can be a bit of a struggle. I'm finding it to be a pretty good read so far.

One thing I like is how he mixes historical fiction (JFK, Robert Kennedy, Jimmy Hoffa) with the crime element.

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