Read more about the article FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense | Edgar Awards

FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense | Edgar Awards

Last week we extolled the prodigious talent of James Lee Burke, a royal member of the mystery-thriller-suspense genre. I hope you’ve been privileged to pick up one of his books. When you do, it will only take a few pages for you to feel like you just moved to the Louisiana bayou. The richness of the sounds, smells and tastes of New Orleans, its Garden District and the French Quarter, feels like you’re ravishing a huge gumbo pot with Étouffée and jambalaya on the side.

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[All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED.}

Edgar Award nominees for 2011 are out! Have you read any?

The Edgar Award nominees for 2011 have been announced for books in the mystery genre. (more…)

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Read more about the article FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction | James Lee Burke
Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction

FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction | James Lee Burke

As promised, we completed the First Five of the Top Ten Favorite Characters recently in the mystery-thriller-sense fiction category … the Second Five Favorites thereafter … and then began the favorite fiction, which is a potpourri of great characters that, for all kinds of reasons, didn’t make the Top Ten Favorite Characters. More on the way ….

[All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED. No affiliate links.]

James Lee Burke Rules!

We spoke last week about how agonizing it is to be a fan of James Lee Burke. More so if you’re a fan of the Dave Robicheaux series (Top Ten Favorite Character) which also features his cohort, Clete Purcell. Since July, 2010, I’d been savoring The Glass Rainbow, #18 in this series, but I finally read it last week.

I probably need to confess that (more…)

Continue ReadingFRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction | James Lee Burke
Read more about the article FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre | James Lee Burke Rules!
Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction

FRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre | James Lee Burke Rules!

As promised, we completed the First Five of the Top Ten Favorite Characters recently … the Second Five Favorites thereafter … and last week began the Honorable Mention category, which is a potpourri of great characters that, for all kinds of reasons, didn’t make the Top Ten Favorite Characters. More on that next week ….

[All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED. No affiliate links.]

James Lee Burke Rules!

It’s agonizing to be a fan of James Lee Burke. More so if you’re a fan of the Dave Robicheaux series (Top Ten Favorite Character) which also features his cohort, Clete Purcell. Since July, 2010, I’ve been savoring The Glass Rainbow, #18 in this series.

It’s so rich and intricate, his writings vivid and evocative … so while I’m savoring every moment, I also wish it was still parked on a shelf  with anticipation dripping from it like candle wax. It may be one of his greatest yet in terms of developing the relationship between Dave and Clete. I don’t remember another book in this series where their actions were so closely interwoven and their intricately connected lives explored in such detail. I’ll finish it this weekend … don’t really want to because I hate for it to end … and don’t know when the next one’s coming? (more…)

Continue ReadingFRiction FRiday | Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre | James Lee Burke Rules!
Read more about the article FRiction FRiday | Favorite Fiction Characters
Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction

FRiction FRiday | Favorite Fiction Characters

As promised, we completed the First Five of the Top Ten Favorite Characters two weeks ago … the Second Five Favorites last week … so we’ve completed the Top Ten Favorite Characters in the mystery-thriller-suspense fiction genre. How many of those 160 books have you read?

Don’t forget … they’re just MY favorites … feel free to eagerly disagree so we can all learn about some of  the great characters we may have missed.

[All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED. No affiliate links.]

Honorable Mention?

It’s kinda lame to have an Honorable Mention list, isn’t it? I think people do it because they can’t really leave it at 10 or 25 or 100 … on any list of favorites. Me, too, I guess … but there are good reasons some of these didn’t make the Top Ten Favorites. It’s not that they’re not liked … loved even … it’s just that there are a few blemishes in their back story that kept them from the Top Ten.

So, here’s the beginning of the Honorable Mention list. (more…)

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Read more about the article FRiction FRiday | Top Ten Favorite Characters continues
Mystery-Thriller-Suspense Fiction

FRiction FRiday | Top Ten Favorite Characters continues

We’re halfway home to discovering my Top Ten Favorite Characters in the mystery-thriller-suspense genre and there are many great ones remaining. You’ll remember from our discussion of the First Five of the Top Ten Favorite Characters last week that the nice thing about the word “favorite” is that it’s very personal. They’re MY favorites … but it will be a good thing if you disagree because we’ll all learn about great characters we may have missed.

[All names in Bold Italic … BLACK for authors, titles in GREEN, characters in ORANGE … except URL references in RED. No affiliate links.]

Top Ten Favorite Characters

Here’s a few things to remember from the introductory post on this subject. First, the Top Ten are in random order, although as I’ve said, those toward the top are probably more favorite than others. We’ve also learned from a discussion of the First Five of these characters, that longevity is a critical success factor for favorite characters.

BTW, I’ve started an Honorable Mention category … and another list, Missing in Action … to capture some that didn’t make the Top Ten. We’ll get to those down the road.

Who are the Second Five?

So, accumulated over many years, here are the Second Five of my favorite Top Ten in this wonderful mystery-thriller-suspense genre. (more…)

Continue ReadingFRiction FRiday | Top Ten Favorite Characters continues