Welcome to our continuing Fiction series. We have a little time off I see … no wonder this post is getting longer  … but we’re still spilling our guts here every week to help you find great reads in the mystery-suspense-thriller genre. I previewed this new series earlier, so I don’t need to repeat it … other than to remind you that I intend to stimulate your discovery of the good, the bad and the only genre where a ranch breakfast is a steel metal jacket dipped in cordite.

Mostly, we’re just taking a break to have a little fun. [All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED.]

Nelson DeMille rocks!

A couple of things worth noting this week. If you haven’t read Nelson DeMille, perhaps most famous for The Charm School, you’re missing a rock solid writer with a great sense of humor. If you haven’t already, you need to meet John Corey, his wise-cracking protagonist and one of the few laugh aloud characters in the genre. If you subscribe to DeMille’s newsletter, you’ll see where the rousing good humor comes from.

Amazon’s 2010 Top Ten Mystery & Thriller books … really?

Amazon also just published their 2010 Top Ten in the mystery-thriller-suspense genre. Not sure what it says about my reading choices … or theirs …. but I’ve only read 1 of these books … Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher thriller is on the “Still Savoring” list so that will become #2… and I have read books by only 2 more of these authors … and have only heard the names of some of the rest. (more…)

Welcome to our first Fiction Friday. I’m excited to start spilling my guts about the great reads in the mystery-suspense-thriller genre. I previewed this new series earlier this week, so I don’t need to repeat it … other than to remind you that I intend to roust your senses, pillage your serenity and stimulate your discovery of the good, the bad and the only genre where a ranch breakfast is a steel metal jacket dipped in cordite. We’ll end up with a rogue’s gallery of unaccountable tough guys, a few cerebral types and some shameless sidekicks. Mostly, we’ll just take a break and have some fun.

For now, we’ll set aside any analysis of what is mystery … vs. suspense … vs. thriller. There are many who have tried to tease these apart … but for us … for now … it’s a distinction without a difference. Let’s just find some great stuff to read.

First, take a look at the bookshelf widget in the right banner, compliments of Shelfari. I’ll update it each week with books I’ve read, am reading or am savoring … I’ll tell you which each time … and you can mouse over each one to get a little more information about it. Cool, huh? This week it includes books I’ve recently read and you can’t go wrong with any of them. I’ve covered a few here but can only begin to make a dent in the list. (No affiliate links included.)

Blue Heaven, C.J. Box: 2009 Edgar Award for Best Novel

I finally got around to reading C.J. Box, Blue Heaven, the 2009 Edgar Award winner for Best Novel of the Year, awarded annually by the Mystery Writers of America. It’s a prestigious award in this genre, with a Hall of Fame cast. (more…)