Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A missing women is presumed dead but Henry can’t piece together the evidence to arrest a suspect.
Summary: It’s hard to summarize a complex plotted slow burn novel Bauman creates. This is by far his best writing. Begins with a general police procedural the the second half delves deep into slow burn character novel with a powerful ending. Think True Detective. Great writer. Support him.
https://www.amazon.com/Fateful-Mornings-Henry-Farrell-Novel-ebook/dp/B01M648NPU
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A group of terrorists take over the English Channel and hold a group of people hostage. A loner military man must use his military skills to stop it.
Comments: Although the plot might sound familiar Mc Nab has a unique storytelling prose that captures most genre readers into a complex thriller of non stop sometimes brutal action. I’ve followed McNabs writing career since his Nick Stone books. McNab is best when writing from the trenches. Fans of Mitch Rapp and other thriller writers will love McNab. Add him to your list.
https://www.amazon.com/SAS-Notice-beneath-English-Channel-ebook/dp/B08Q4BXCXP
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The 3rd book in a fine series featuring a loner cop, Henry Farrell, of a very small town in North East Pennsylvania’s hill country. A lone body is gruesomely found on a small ledge and Henry is baffled how it even got there, so remote.
Comments: Bauman has a very interesting style of plotting and word use. Unique and somewhat Woodrell esq. Sometimes it’s difficult to follow, but don’t give in, the rewards will come.
https://www.amazon.com/Bramble-Rose-Henry-Farrell-Novel-ebook/dp/B07TK43KX3
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Peter Ash returns in book four. Peter is recovered, strong and antsy. He girlfriend June sense he needs to get out and move around asks him to help a friend in Memphis with her own war wounds. When Peter arrives he’s instantly walks into the middle of jewelry heist and a wild couple of brothers.
Comments: I made my goal to finish all the Ash novels, out of order, this year and I am glad I did. You will be too.
https://www.amazon.com/Tear-Down-Peter-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B07CKFBW65
Preface: The following are my top reads for 2020, not all books were published in 2020.
1, City of Margins By William Boyle
Comments: Boyle creates characters and plots so vivid in tension that your skin crawls and also why I can’t let this blistering novel go from the must read novel of the year. Brooklyn NY has never been so gritty and vivid. You’ll be hard pressed to find another writer with his plotting and prowess to create emotion from the reader. Book of year, maybe decade!
2, Charlie 316, Four book series, by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro
Comments: This four book series is by far the best cop drama set of books I have ever read. Think Homicide, Life on the Street crosses with Hill Street Blues. Characters feel real at each page. I felt like the characters sat with me and read with me. Each book ups the next in suspense and tension so much that I blasted the conclusion to see what has taken three previous novels to build up too.
Comments: It’s fairly obvious that Tana French can flat out create a powerful narrative that sends cold shivers of reader delight. Filled with tension, drive and characters that shake your core thoughts. Absolutely must read for crime or otherwise readers looking for wonderfulness.
4, The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean
Comments: A true privilege to get an early opportunity to read this suspense filled, disturbing page turner. Dean just goes for it and just digs a hole of human depravity that shakes the reader with hate filled emotion at his protagonist. Incredible! I believe you can pre order for Deans first chance to show us Americans what we’ve been missing.
5, When These Mountains Burn by David Joy
Comments: What Boyle does for Brooklyn, Joy does the same gritty character slow burns for The mountains of North Carolina hill people. No fancy writing or heroics are found in a Joy novel. But they leave you stunned with people looking to seek revenge for wrongs done to them by societal prejudices.
6, More Better Deals by Joe Lansdale
Comments: Scoundrels and cons come alive in this wonderful crime novel by a master East Texas novelist. If you love reading characters each trying to double cross and triple cross this is a delight and fun to page turn. I couldn’t put it down.
7,Wyoming by J P Gritton
Comments: A gritty tale of family poverty, drug addiction, dysfunction. Unlike many crime novels you’ll read. I look forward to more soon. If you like a off the path heist novel, this is must read.
8, Lost River by J Todd Scott
Comments: A stand-alone novel by a rising star writer Scott. He delves into the raging drug crisis in a small border city between Kentucky and West Virginia. It feels very personal, because it was. Lots of emotions surround this novel and you can’t stop turning the pages. A heart breaker because without your knowledge this could be you. Currently Scott is active DEA agent. So he definitely puts the real in writing.
9, The End of October by Lawrence Wright
Obviously Wright wrote the novel prepandemic but oh boy do we see a similarity in today’s events. A blistering story of a virus and how it spreads while trying to find the cure and fight the denial of its existence. Complete dystopian future ahead.
Comments: Scott Phillips is the author no one knows about. And it’s a crime you don’t. He is an amazing underrated writer that can create a story that will swing you on the hilarious crime. He writes mostly about the heist from perspectives of wit. You should read all of his novels. Yes he’s written several and one made it to the big screen.
Honorable mention: Broken by Don Winslow
Comments: Broken deserves a higher place here and its entertaining as any book written this year. Winslow writes several short stories based on past novels that are equally great.
Last minute addition,
Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg
Comments: Two severely alcoholic men who drink excessively are obsessed with a scheme to threaten a man who Bone may have witnessed dumping a body while he walked home from a bar. Long periods of obsessive drinking lead me to almost dislike this crime novel, then the ending happened. Must read!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: Two down trodden men with severe alcohol issues and PTSD are drawn into a recent murder that Bone may have witnessed in a drunken stupor.
Comments: It’s taken me a long time to find Thornburg. Again a big mistake on me. I was struggling with the long scene’s of drunken stupors but then the ending happened. Must read,
https://smile.amazon.com/Cutter-Bone-Newton-Thornburg-ebook/dp/B087WL5MDJ
Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Book four in the Charlie 316 series. Spokane Washington is being visited by the DOJ to find some answers to exactly what is going on inside the police department. Things begin to close in on the main players. Officer Tyler Garret senses the walls closing in and leads him to some desperate attempts to escape with his freedoms. A series of events leads all to grasp truths and realities in a attempt to CYA.
Comments: Another amazing cop drama in what I now consider the best cop drama I’ve read. You will not be disappointed. Highly recommended.
https://smile.amazon.com/Code-Four-Charlie-316-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B08KGTKBK9
Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Based on the book by Tana French and adapted for tv by the Starz network an young girl is found in the woods dead and left on a alter rock. Two very likable Dublin detectives are tasked with unraveling this death in a very dark and mystic tv series which is well done.
Comments: A very well done TV series based on a great novel. Watch it.
https://smile.amazon.com/Dublin-Murders/dp/B07YYRCKYQ
Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jake Brigance is back in Ford County Mississippi going about life as a country lawyer when he assigned by the judge in the area to defend a teenage boy who shot and killed a local cop and vicious drunk. Jake wants nothing to do with this case but through bankruptcy and small town politics he finds the will to defend him.
Comments: Easily the best of the series. There is a glimmer at the end for more then welcome Jake Brigance novels.
https://smile.amazon.com/Time-Mercy-Jake-Brigance-Book-ebook/dp/B087PKF9LZ
Rating: 5 best of the year novel.
Summary: A lonely retired Chicago cop retires to Ireland to find a new life. A young “boy” starts making unexpected visits to his fixer upper cottage he buys to restore into a new home. They form a solid relationship and the boy asks him to find his missing brother.
Comments: Easily the best book you will read this year. Simply said, it’s fantastic much in the way another gem, City of a Margins by William Boyle is equally. Crime novels wrapped tightly into characters that will grab your attention. Great Stuff
https://smile.amazon.com/Searcher-Novel-Tana-French-ebook/dp/B08681BNKV
Rating: 4 stars.
Summary: Mickey Haller the famous Lincoln Lawyer returns after he is accused of a heinous murder of a former client found in the trunk of his car after a hinky traffic stop. Mickey pulls all his close allies together and his famous courtroom tricks to get himself found “Innocence”
Comments: Plenty of courtroom drama, plenty of Mickey tricks and a loyal family and friends. Connelly proves he’s firing on all cylinders and is a master storyteller of this generation. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: Set in the early 1950’s and following the tragic death of there son there daughter in law remarried a man with a checkered past and questionable family. Shortly after the new marriage the husband is seen abusing the daughter and grandson in public. The new let the. Carry for there grandson.family flees to his family in very rural North Dakota when the grandparents decide to persuade them to care for the grandson.
Comments: A slow burn wonderfully developed film without the the needless volume. Developed from the novel named the same by Larry Watson. Costner and Laine are particularly great.
Rating: 5 stars.
Summary: A star Dublin police detective, with ghosts of his past, set in a Dublin suburb is paired with a rookie to solve the death of an entire family, except the wife who is injured but survived. The construction is shotty and only a few neighbors are still around. What’s living in the attic or breaking into these homes? Will the Scorcher solve the crimes and the mystery behind the holes in the walls. And what is that noise that drove the family insane?
Comments: Yes I started out of order, but French is a star storyteller. More to come. Irish crime fiction is alive and well.
https://smile.amazon.com/Broken-Harbor-Dublin-Murder-Squad-ebook/dp/B0072O00YI
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vicar Jack Brooks and her daughter Flo are sent away from there home church to avoid a unknown male that is being released from prison for killing her husband. They are sent to a rural church and come across a mystery of the “burning girls.”
Comments: Tudor has become a privileged read for me. I think she’s a gifted story teller. Don’t miss out, great novel.
https://smile.amazon.com/Burning-Girls-C-J-Tudor-ebook/dp/B087PMPD5S
Rating: 4 stars.
Summary The first Reacher novel now out of the hands of his creator Lee Child and written by his brother Andrew Child. Reacher wonders into a small Tennessee town where he abruptly stops a kidnapping in progress. This leads Reacher into the now familiar theme of saving the town/person from the latest enemy within.
Comments: Andrew does not miss a beat and Reacher is still in full tilt savior mode. He hits most of the nuanced Reaherisms and keeps the pages turning much like brother Lee did so well. I’d like to see some plot changes next and mix the series up from its now becoming familiar themes each book. I would love a prequel.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sentinel-Jack-Reacher-Novel-ebook/dp/B084FLW5KM
Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two Vietnamese sisters are trafficked to a rural farm in the UK. As one sister is seemingly released and free the other is being held is a very sadistic depraved life by and even creepier psychopath with Mommy issues. The man uses threats of deprivation and tranquilizers to keep her hostage and the young women must overcome a brutal life to attempt an escape before abductor takes everything from her.
Comments: A stand alone thriller from acclaimed author Will Dean. Dean lays it all in what human trafficking and human depravation looks like. A deeply disturbing account he somehow, very successfully, compels the reader to keep turning pages. I couldn’t put it down no matter the life distraction. Well done Mr. Dean.
https://smile.amazon.com/Last-Thing-Burn-Novel-ebook/dp/B08BZW2XK9
Rating: 5 sinkhole stars
Summary: A once family friendly neighborhood on Long Island is torn apart by family secrets, climate change, tar filled sinkholes, and nasty rumors.
Comments: A dramatic family driven suspense novel that is made of many genres convincingly weaved together. Desperate housewives, crime drama, dystopian future, and deep suspense drives this wonderful narrative. I’ve honestly never read such an original script with so many complex plot lines woven together. Don’t think for one second anything turns out well at the final few pages. We all have thought are neighbors are normal, well maybe not. Thank you to Atria publishing for the request.
Pre order https://smile.amazon.com/Good-Neighbors-Novel-Sarah-Langan-ebook/dp/B08BZWFR4C
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nils Shapiro is asked to find a teen girl missing in St. Paul from Warroad during the state hockey tournament. Many twists insue.
Comments. Goldman has a great series going. I am flying through them..
https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Ice-Novel-Nils-Shapiro-ebook/dp/B0756J4NRG
Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary: Peter is working in the woods and working through his PTSD recovery when his new friend the owner of a security company the moves cash to banks in Colorado’s new pot boom and is asked to help with a recent heist of his company.
Comments: A wonky and sudden ending leaves the reader a tad confused after a decent fast paced read.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Peter-Ash-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B0727MJKWQ
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lawyer Jake received a hand written last will and testament from a local made it rich man who committed suicide and leaves his fortune to his house keeper. Jake must defend a dead mans will against many evil forces looking for a cut of the money including his distant children who hated him.
Comments: Like always Grisham can write a page turner. Book 3 comes out this week.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sycamore-Row-Novel-Jake-Brigance-ebook/dp/B00CNQ7HAU
Rating: 5 Anti Crime Team stars
Summary: The third in this fine series of the Charlie 316 novels find the newly formed ACT team of four specifically different police officers running and gunning and making a huge difference in Spokane crime rates. So popular are they that the chief wants a second team formed. But underneath all the grit, division is brewing.
Comments: This is certainly turning into a much finer series of books I have ever read. Edge of your seat reading. Do not hesitate . Read in order.
.https://www.amazon.com/Badge-Heavy-Charlie-316-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B08CVRYL6G
Rating: 5 stars.
Summary: A young girl is violently raped and left for dead by two rednecks in rural Northern Mississippi and sets off a chain reaction of violence, retaliation and racial tensions. Court room dramas so thick with suspense.
Comments: Have no doubt Grisham is a masterful story teller and this is a fine court room drama. His new Lawyer Jake novel is coming this Fall. Get caught up now.
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Kill-Novel-Jake-Brigance-ebook/dp/B003B02O0A
Rating: 4 snaky snarky stars.
Summary: Angie is called to remove a mammoth Python from Palm Beach. Once there the large behemoth has obviously eaten something very large. What is it and how does it involve our President? Chaos insues.
Comments: Another in the long hilarious lines of South Florida funnies by the master Hiaason.
https://www.amazon.com/Squeeze-Me-novel-Carl-Hiaasen-ebook/dp/B0841NPVX5
Rating: 5 missing person stars
Summary: A body of an apparent overdosed women is found down the shoreline of a mysterious man with a questionable past who has relocated to a small town Connecticut to build a Lake house. Who’s secrets will be revealed?
Comments: A big departure from the previous writings from Clifford. A deep dive police procedural that hits the mark of great writing. Highly recommend. This book will keep you guessing until the final pages. Don’t think you’ll have it figured out early.
https://smile.amazon.com/Lakehouse-Joe-Clifford-ebook/dp/B08CN167FB
Rating: 4 Kazakh stars
Summary: A MI6 agent is briefly recalled from his assignment. After some questions of his work he fleas to Kazakhstan to search for his missing girlfriend and co agent. Many plot lines develop into a nice little spy novel.
Comments: Oliver Harris is a fine writer and the second Elliot Kane installment is on its way. Recommended.
https://smile.amazon.com/Shadow-Intelligence-Oliver-Harris-ebook/dp/B07T3J2GJD
