Fiction Books on My Bookshelf

* The Nightmare Thief
by Meg Gardiner
Jo Beckett and Gabe Quintana meet the wilderness, and overcome it.
Rating: A -- Another excellent thriller by Meg Gardiner, starring her forensic psychologist Jo Beckett and her partner Gabe Quintana as they try to help several teens survive the wilderness and ruthless killers.

* The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
First of the trilogy, in a world where conflict has led to totalitarianism. The story of a young girl and the fight to survive one of society's most brutal "games."
Rating: A -- Collins has struck gold with this book, I think. She has young heroes with whom young readers can identify, and she puts those heroes immediately at risk. The writing is weak in some places, but the story carries the book.

* The Deceived
by Brett Battles
Second story involving Battles's "Cleaner," Jonathan Quinn.
Rating: A -- Quinn is a great character, with a talent for hiding the truth. Though this story doesn't involve cleaning up a mess so much as finding out what happened to cause the mess, it's a gripping read.

* Lost Light
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch is on the prowl, now as a private detective.
Rating: A -- Bosch has left the L.A.P.D. and is working on an unsolved case, but the powers that be aren't too happy to have him in the game. Tight story, excellent read.

* City of Bones
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch pursues the killer of a boy murdered twenty years earlier.
Rating: A -- Any fan of Bosch will understand his desire to pursue this murder, even though his bosses don't. And the end comes as no surprise, but as a desired outcome.

* A Darkness More than Night
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch gives way to Terry McCaleb, former FBI agent on the hunt for a killer.
Rating: A -- While this wasn't strictly a Bosch book, Connelly gives us an engaging character in Terry McCaleb. A nice change of pace.

* Angels Flight
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch investigates the murder of a criminal defense lawyer killed on the famous Angel's Flight tramway in Los Angeles.
Rating: A- -- Clean writing, tight story, and interesting characters. Connelly knows Los Angeles.

* Trunk Music
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch investigates what looks like a Mafia hit.
Rating: A -- Taut and riveting. Excellent.

* The Last Coyote
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch investigates his mother's death.
Rating: A -- Haunting and unrelenting.

* The Concrete Blonde
by Michael Connelly
And now, Connelly hits his stride. Who's been killing women and burying them, if not the man Bosch killed?
Rating: A -- Gripping story. This one makes me want to read anything Connelly writes.

* The Black Ice
by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch goes to Mexico.
Rating: B -- Didn't care about any of the characters, and found long periods with little action. Didn't really feel like the story for Harry Bosch. Could have been a standalone book.

* The Black Echo
by Michael Connelly
First Harry Bosch mystery. Great background novel for an intriguing new character.
Rating: B+ -- Given that this is the first Bosch novel, I'll give it a B+, knowing that the books get so much better.

* 61 Hours
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher in South Dakota.
Rating: A -- A decent read. Feels like Reacher is back!

* The Hard Way
by Lee Child
Tenth Jack Reacher novel, set in New York.
Rating: B- -- t felt like Child was writing a paen to New York rather than a Jack Reacher thriller. Slow, agonizingly slow.

* Gone Tomorrow
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher on the hunt in New York.
Rating: A -- Better than the past few Reacher novels. Reacher trying to figure out why a secretary shot herself in the subway. Better than it sounds.

* Bad Luck and Trouble
by Lee Child
Mystery thriller involving Jack Reacher and some of his buddies from the past.
Rating: A -- Child fashioned another good Reacher mystery with this one. Happy to see the old Reacher back, though his obsession with the perfect cup of coffee gets a bit annoying.

* Nothing to Lose
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher in Colorado. And coffee.
Rating: C -- I can't believe it, but I'm giving a Lee Child book a "C" grade. C for coffee. C for boring. C for shoulda passed on this.


* One Shot
by Lee Child
Ninth volume in the Jack Reacher saga. This time, Jack Reacher tries to find out why a murderer named him after the killer open fired on a crowd of people.
Rating: B -- Child kept me interested in this book, because what looked like a slam-dunk case of the guilts turned into something completely different. But, I miss the early Reacher, a man of action.

* Without Fail
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher is hired to figure out how someone might attempt to kill the vice president of the United States.
Rating: B -- Another mediocre delivery from Lee Child. Entirely too much traveling and too little action.

* Persuader
by Lee Child
Seventh book in the Jack Reacher saga, in pursuit of a drug dealer.
Rating: B -- Perhaps I'm getting a little stale reading all of the Reacher novels at once, but this one seemed slow and uneventful.

* Echo Burning
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher goes to New Mexico.
Rating: C -- I was stunned by how slow this book was. Didn't care about the characters, not even Jack Reacher. The entire book seemed to be mired in the heat of the Southwest.

* The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
First mystery thriller involving criminal defense lawyer Mickey Haller.
Rating: A -- Tight writing, decent courtroom drama, and believable characters. Enjoyed it.

* Traveling with Pomegranates
by Sue Monk Kid
A dual story written by mother and daughter on a trip of discovery and new understanding in Greece.
Rating: B -- Both mother and daughter are good writers, but I quickly grew bored with the repetition of one writing and then the other. Some interesting insights into mother-daughter understanding, but only from their perspective.

* Murder in Belleville
by Cara Black
Mystery thriller involving Aimee Leduc, set in Paris in 1994. serial killer and a policeman with a secret, pursued by Jack Gannon, a reporter with a nose for a story.
Rating: B+ -- First in a series of investigations involving computer forensic expert Aimee Leduc. An interesting read, especially because of the feel the author has for Paris and its various characters, both person and place.

* Vengance Road
by Rick Mofina
Mystery thriller involving a serial killer and a policeman with a secret, pursued by Jack Gannon, a reporter with a nose for a story.
Rating: A -- Mofina was a reporter, and his understanding of police procedure seems first-hand and believable. The story is a bit slow in the beginning but ends with several thrilling moments. A good, clean, gripping story.

* Relic of Time
by Ralph McInerny
Five centuries ago, a Mexican peasant was visited by the Virgin Mary. His cloak was marked with the image of the Holy Mother surrounded by roses. It remains a priceless relic in Mexican, and Catholic, religious culture. And it has been stolen. Retired CIA operative Vincent Traeger soon realizes that the truth is hidden within a conspiracy that could bring a country, and a faith, to its knees.
Rating: B- -- Again, a great idea but written too hastily. One glaring error makes me wonder whether the book was ever edited: a plane circles the ballpark where the Dodgers play, and then lands immediately, at San Francisco International Airport. I mean, really! Still, an intriguing idea, but one which needs to be fleshed out.

* The Third Revelation
by Ralph McInerny
Retired CIA operative Vincent Traeger spent years working undercover in Rome. But when the Vatican's Secretary of State is brutally murdered, along with a prefect of the Vatican Library, Traeger must not only solve the murders, but fight an unseen enemy and navigate a treacherous maze through history, faith, and his own path.
Rating: B -- While I thoroughly enjoy McInerny's ability to weave ideas and history into an intriguing fabric, this novel seems to have been written in shorthand, getting the gist of the story down, but not taking time to flesh it out. Disappointing.

* Citadel of God: A Novel of St. Benedict of Nursia
by Louis de Wohl
A novel about St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order and the Rule.
Rating: B -- Excellent depiction of his early life, but then skips over much of his life, midlife and later, relaying information through secondary characters. Not good storytelling, to build it up and then have the main events take place "off stage."

* The Restless Flame: A Novel of St. Augustine
by Louis de Wohl
A novel about St. Augustine, set primarily in his youth. de Wohl is a master at creating time and place in his novels.
Rating: B+ -- I thoroughly enjoy de Wohl's books on the saints, and have read each with great interest. This one is riveting during his early years but, frustrating to me, skips over his later years, depositing us at the end of his life, not allowing us to see the realizations that transformed him in midlife.

* Liar's Lullaby
by Meg Gardiner
The president's ex-wife is dead. Murder, accident, or suicide? Jo Beckett is called on to find out...before the story breaks into a million conflicting pieces.
Rating: A -- In the third of the Jo Beckett books, Gardiner continues to create intriguing storylines while building our appreciation for her regular cast of characters. The story takes off with pulses throbbing from the get-go and never backs off until after the climax. You read it and immediately want to reach for the next thriller in the series. hurry, June 2011!

* Bristle Face
by Zachary Ball
Set in the Depression, this is the story of Jase, who runs away from home and meets a funny-looking hound who teaches him about life and about character. A classic.
Rating: A -- One of my favorite books from childhood (along with its sequel, Sputters). Zachary Ball writes at a pace and in a language missing in most books written today. His truths (from the 1950s) remain today's truths, and ring resoundingly in light of our manners and aspirations in 2010. Read it. You won't regret the time.

* The God of the Hive
by Laurie R. King
The latest in the captivating Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. Follows as the second-part of a duet begun with The Language of Bees, which I have to go back and reread before starting this latest adventure. I'm making myself be patient, though I want to dive in right now!
Rating: A -- Another excellent Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes outing. LRK just keeps writing in top form, building suspense, expanding her characters, and providing an enchanting history of a specific era in British history. Delightful.

* The Cleaner
by Brett Battles
Jonathan Quinn cleans up sites after spy operations go bad. Only problem is, this time he is targeted for cleanup.
Rating: A -- A debut novel that locks me onto Battles' target, eager to read his next book, and his next. Great idea for a character and a profession. A thriller from beginning to end. Battles has traveled and is adept at bringing exotic foreign locations to life. Great book.

* The Crime Writer
by Gregg Hurwitz
What would you do if you woke in the hospital, your memory gone, and were told that you had brutally murdered your lover? Crime novelist Andrew Danner must use his crime-writing wits to solve the murder and clear his name.
Rating: A -- A gripping read. Once I got past an initial negative reaction to the author's lovefest for Los Angeles, I was totally engrossed in the tension of the story. Hurwitz is an excellent writer, well deserving of the praise heaped on him with the publication of this book.

* Final Approach
by Rachel Brady
Debut novel by Rachel Brady, a bioengineer at NASA in Houston. How do you solve a kidnapping mystery when the only clue is a parachute jump ticket in the bushes nearby?
Rating: A -- For a debut novel, this is tightly written, full of humor, with nicely drawn characters, and a story that stands on its own. Looking forward to her next novel.

* Polar Star
by Martin Cruz Smith
Aboard the ship the Polar Star, Renko must solve the murder of a young woman, with a limited cast of suspects in a limited environment. Perfect murder mystery setting. Second of the Arkady Renko series.
Rating: A -- Another excellent Arkady Renko novel. Tightly written with a cast of delightfully suspicious characters. Though, I have to admit that I sometimes wish that Arkady would just speak up for himself! So much grief that is so unnecessary. Ah, but that's what makes fiction. I think I'm done with Renko for a while, though. Enough Russian angst for me for now.

* Gorky Park
by Martin Cruz Smith
In the city of Moscow, with seven million people, three murders have taken place. Most uncivil, and possibly with a foreigner as a victim. Arkady Renko must solve the crime, while watching his own back.
Rating: A -- Excellent. Tightly written with an intriguing protagonist in Arkady Renko. Does anyone else see Gary Oldman in the role?

* December 6
by Martin Cruz Smith
What was going on in Tokyo in the days before the war? Did anyone know what was going to happen? Apparently, Harry Niles did.
Rating: A -- Entertaining read, some good insights into the motivations and necessity for war on the part of Japan, and a thriller, despite its slow pace.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
Modern novel comes highly recommended to me by my daughter.
Rating: -- .

* Jim the Boy
by Tony Earley
The story of a boy in rural North Carolina during the Depression.
Rating: A -- Exquisite. Jim is a 10-year-old living with his widowed mother and three uncles in rural North Carolina, reporting on the world as only a 10-year-old would see it, in spare but vibrant prose. There is an amazing honesty to this book, chockfull of insights and wisdom couched in simplicity. Read this. You’ll never live long enough to regret the time you gave to do so.

* The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein
If a dog could write a book, I would read it with delight. Oh wait, he did. And I did. “The Art of Racing in the Rain” is a wonderful look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog, a dog who listens, an advanced dog whose next step should be to become human, can tell it.
Rating: A -- Not one to read the latest fad, but this was a treat, a dog treat. Enzo views the world with simplemindedness, believing that love and listening are the key to happiness. A great tale that can help to open human eyes to the ways both of mankind and of our cerebral friends, the dogs.

* Running Blind
by Lee Child
Fourth in the Jack Reacher series. Someone is killing women from Jack Reacher’s past and the FBI is blaming him. What’s a man to do?
Rating: C -- Not my favorite so far. Lots of running around the country with very little payback. And after working so hard to make a relationship happen, the main character suddenly gets cold feet and wanderlust? Not buying it. A slow-moving story not really worth the effort.

* Tripwire
by Lee Child
Third of the Jack Reacher mystery series. Hobie Hook is on a deadline and Jack Reacher stands in his way. Reacher doesn’t know who he’s dealing with, but neither does Hobie Hook.
Rating: B+ -- A decent story, with good pacing for the most part. Evil characters, violence, and too much kept a mystery for too long. Still, hard to put down.

* Die Trying
by Lee Child
Second of the Jack Reacher mystery series. Survivalist much?
Rating: A -- This was a fast-paced, action-packed story, with good insights into Reacher’s character, his past, and his abilities. Another survivalist story with sheep drinking the Kool-Aid, but Child gives this a nice little twist. Plus, Child uses full sentences now, much to my improved enjoyment of his writing.

* The Killing Floor
by Lee Child
First of the Jack Reacher mystery series. What happens when a man without a home, job, or family gets off a bus in Georgia and is immediately fingered for a brutal murder of an unidentified stranger?
Rating: A -- Child writes in short, abbreviated sentences, which can sometimes drive me to distraction. But once I got beyond that, and let the words fall as they lay, I was hooked. Great story, nicely developed tension, and he eschewed the obvious. I now have the next three books ordered from Amazon.

* A Story Like the Wind
by Laurens van der Post
A novel set in Africa, first of a three-part series. I’ve read this and reread this. Wonderful. Two Africaaner teenagers and a Bushman tribesman make their way across the Kalahari Desert, learning from one another and learning about themselves. The story continues in A Far Off Place.
Rating: A -- Magic. “I see you.”

* The Geographer’s Library
by John Fasman
Modern day journalist encounters a mysterious death in a small East Coast town, which leads him to a mystery centuries old. Difficult to get into, but I’m plowing ahead.
Rating: C -- Very disappointing. The writing style is nice but the author spins too many stories and then only barely ties them together in the end. A great deal of effort for little payoff. Fascinating “back story” but that’s the problem. Most of the action takes place off the page or off to the side of the main story. It’s like the author chose the wrong person to follow in telling the story. Imagine telling the story of Lincoln’s last day, but from the point for view of his lead stable groom. Swing and a miss.

* The Art of Detection
by Laurie R. King
In which LRK has her current detective, Kate Martinelli, solving a crime with the use of a Sherlock Holmes manuscript from 1924. Clever and intriguing. Can’t wait to read it.
Rating: A-. -- Once again, King shows her skill and creativity, blending a modern day tale with a tale from the past. I happen to enjoy the three main characters immensely, so it was fun to have them blended across the decades into one story. Not my favorite of either series, but a risky and fun effort.

* The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
Winner of 1961 National Book Award. Story of a young man's search for signs of purpose in the universe; “one of the great existential texts of the postwar era and is funny besides.” (Amazon online review)
Rating: A. -- As always, Percy cuts to the heart of mankind and tells a riveting story.

* The Killer Within Me
by Jim Thompson
One of Thompson’s great noir stories.
Rating: A -- Dark and wonderful.

The Last Dickens
by Matthew Pearl
Pearl reopens one of literary history’s greatest mysteries, the background surrounding Charles Dickens’ death.
Rating: -- .

* Night Fall
by Nelson DeMille
A suspense novel offering an alternative to the government's "official" position on what really happened to TWA Flight 800, which crashed off the Long Island coast in the summer of 1996.
Rating: A -- Well worth the read. Great characters, intriguing story.

* The Forgotten Man
by Robert Crais
Another in the Elvis Cole detective series.
Rating: A -- Crais just never disappoints. His writing improves with each book, and we come to really care about his characters.

* The Memory Collector
by Meg Gardiner
The second book in the Jo Beckett series. Loved the first book, Dirty Secrets Club, and was not the least disappointed in this second in the series.
Rating: A -- Take a long, deep breath before you start this book because you won’t have much of a chance to breathe once you begin.

* The Language of Bees
by Laurie R. King
Ninth in the series featuring Mary Russell, student and partner of the retired Sherlock Holmes. As always, she weaves an excellent mystery and enchants with her characters and her writing.
Rating: A -- LRK maintains her level of excellence. Enticing story, vibrant writing. But, it’s to be continued! Gasp!

* Free Fall
by Robert Crais
The fourth book in the Elvis Cole series.
Rating: B+ -- Not my favorite. Crais has a couple of writing quirks in this book that drove me to distraction. (Fortunately, in the later books, he drops those.)

* Indigo Slam
by Robert Crais
The seventh book in the Elvis Cole series. (Couldn’t find #5 or #6)
Rating: A -- Another excellent addition to the series. Full of surprises and nice twists.

* Simple Justice
by John Morgan Wilson
The first book in the Benjamin Justice series. Excellent writing, and I’m only on page 35.
Rating: A -- Liked the character of Justice and all of the secondary characters. Good story, tight writing.

* Pop. 1290
by Jim Thompson
Evil lurking in the hearts of the townfolk of the smallest county in Texas.
Rating: A -- What is the face of evil? How does evil rationalize its existence? Told with humor and deceptive simplicity.

* Lullaby Town
by Robert Crais
Third book in the Elvis Cole series. Los Angeles private eye goes to fight the mafia in New York.
Rating: A -- Out of Los Angeles and into the underbelly of New York. Good stuff.

* Stalking the Angel
by Robert Crais
Second in the Elvis Cole series. You know what the yakuza is? They make the mafia look like school boys.
Rating: A -- Quick, exciting read.

* Monkey’s Raincoat
by Robert Crais
First of the Elvis Cole, investigator in Los Angeles, series.
Rating: A -- Quick read, tight writing, good story.

* The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
by Michael Chabon
What if the post WWII establishment of the nation of Israel had failed? The book is set in a present-day alternate reality in Sitka, Alaska, a safe haven set up for Jewish refugees after World War II and the collapse of Israel. Now, after nearly 60 years, the Federal District of Sitka is about to revert to American rule. There are elements of an international terrorist thriller, complicated by religious conspiracy and a band of end-of-the-world hopefuls.
Rating: A -- Difficult story to get into, but well worth the effort. Chabon’s use of chess as a metaphor is subtle and delightful.

* The Number-One Ladies Detective Agency series
by Alexander McCall Smith
Delightful series about Mme Precious Ramotswe, the number-one lady detective in Botswana.
Rating: A -- Gentleness is the best word to describe these amusing stories of life in present-day Botswana and the main character’s view of her countrymen and women.

* The Deportees and Other Stories
by Roddy Doyle
A collection of short stories about Ireland in light of the newest waves of immigration.
Rating: A -- Excellent. Witty. Great observations about people and their individual points of view, clashing and calming upon the shores of immigration.

* Shadow of Power
by Steve Martini
A mystery about the secret language of the Constitution and a missing letter of Thomas Jefferson’s.
Rating: B-. Very difficult to get into and not much worth the effort. Good writing but lackluster story.

* Chasing Darkness
by Robert Crais
Book 15 in the series. Los Angeles PI Elvis Cole investigates a serial killer, without the cops’ cooperation.
Rating: A. Tightly written, sparse and excellent characterization. Now it’s time to read the rest.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
by John Berendt
A tale of Savannah, Georgia, with its numerous characters and unique personality.
Rating: