Mystery Ink
Crime fiction book reviews, author interviews and more!

Features

Google
Search Mystery Ink

Staff

Editor:
David J. Montgomery

Contributors:
Yvette Banek
Rae Helmsworth
Maili Montgomery
Fiona Walker

Top Five Favorites for 2004

Mystery Ink polled over 50 fiction writers, reviewers and other assorted readers, asking them to name their five favorite books they read during the year. They didn't have to be new, didn't even have to be mysteries. We just wanted to know what people liked. Here are the results.

Ace Atkins, author of Dirty South

Yvette Banek, book reviewer

  • Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz -- A brilliant character study with dark, desperate overtones from the master of the thriller/paranormal/horror genre.
  • Misdemeanor Man by Dylan Schaffer -- A remarkable debut by a talented California appellate lawyer in possession of a very quirky sense of humor.
  • Live Bait by P.J. Tracy -- A mother/daughter writing team, two halves of a whole, whose combined talents make for a seamless, cohesive style of storytelling which many other writing pairs might envy.
  • Dark Voyage by Alan Furst -- An exciting World War II sea faring saga told in spare, evocative prose from a master storyteller at the top of his game.
  • Crofton's Fire by Keith Coplin -- An exceptional fiction debut by a 60 year old college professor which fires the imagination and makes history spring to vivid life.

Michael A. Black, author of Windy City Knights

  • Artistic License by Julie A. Hyzy -- This one is truly a remarkable first novel, and was a near perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and a dash of romance. The pacing is flawless, and the action scenes smack of a female Elmore Leonard. This gal can really write. I can't wait for her next one.
  • Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath -- You have to give Joe a lot of credit for writing a novel as creative and ambitious as this one. He manages to capture all the excitement and suspense of the police procedural, while juxtaposing a sinister darkness tinged with humor and pathos into the narrative. It has some great characters, too.
  • Cross Current by Christine Kling -- After reading Seychelle Sullivan's first adventure, I was wondering what Chris was going to do for an encore. Her deft prose and poignant social commentary makes her Florida's successor to John D. MacDonald, and that's a compliment I don't confer easily.
  • A Hoe Lot of Trouble by Heather Webber -- I read a cozy once in a blue moon, but this is one even Mike Hammer would enjoy. Heather's light touch and charming writing style make her first foray into the mystery field a delight. Bring on the sequel.
  • Skin River by Steven Sidor -- Don't start this one when you're home alone on a cold, dark night or you'll be up checking the locks on the doors and windows every half hour. Eerie, evocative, and written with the deft touch of a man who knows how to send chills up your spine, this book has it all.

Lawrence Block, author of All the Flowers Are Dying

  • The Plot Against America by Philip Roth -- A wonderful conceit brilliantly executed. Roth has been an important American writer for almost fifty years, and I think this is his best book.
  • Absent Friends by S. J. Rozan -- Without question her best and most ambitious work.
  • Hark! by Ed McBain -- The Deaf Man, the best series villain since Professor Moriarty, back again to have sport with the boys of the Eight-seven. As always, the author makes it look easy.
  • Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs -- I read this because I have to review it on-air, and didn't expect to like it much. It turned out to be absolutely wonderful. Definitely my kind of book, even though it's not my kind of book. If you get my drift.
  • The Lucas Davenport novels by John Sandford -- Earlier this year I said the hell with everything and reread the entire series in order. And enjoyed myself immensely. If Sandford didn't hit the bestseller list regularly, he might get more critical attention; these books are worlds better than the company they keep on the List.

James O. Born, author of Walking Money

C.J. Box, author of Trophy Hunt

Steve Brewer, author of Boost

Lee Child, author of The Enemy

  • The Enemy by Lee Child -- the least an author can do is write a book in a way that makes it one of his own favorites, even if it isn't anyone else's.
  • Absent Friends by S.J. Rozan -- every author has one really, truly, madly great book in her and this might be S.J.'s.
  • California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker -- this and Silent Joe alone would make a world-beating resume even without the other great stuff Jeff has written. He's mystifyingly unsung.

Most of my reading is pre-published MSs and the next two are the best of the crop for 2005 or 2006:

  • The Bitch Posse by Martha O'Connor (forthcoming) -- a newbie beats Donna Tartt and Alice Sebold at their own game. Outstanding.
  • Sore Excuse by Cornelia Read (forthcoming) -- another newbie hits the first pitch out of the park. Wry, hip, knowing, lyrical, and a fine mystery too.

Oline Cogdill, book reviewer

Michael Connelly, author of The Narrows

In no particular order, the books that seemed to be fresh and/or have the most resonance for me were:

Robert Crais, author of The Forgotten Man

  • Generation Kill by Evan Wright -- a nonfiction account of the Iraq invasion. Wright was embedded with a group of Recon Marines. Joe Pike was a Recon Marine. You get the drift.
  • Lieutenant Hornblower by C. S. Forester -- Since I write series novels, I've been reading the masters, and no one has created a more enduring series character than Forester. This is the second of the series, and it is a brilliant blend of character study and suspense.
  • Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson -- Stan Robinson is an old friend who writes amazing science fiction. Forty Signs is an environmental thriller, and a wonderfully detailed work.
  • Hollywood Animal by Joe Eszterhas -- Okay, I'm a sucker for Hollywood bitch-outs, and this is the mother of them all. Eszterhas is probably the most financially successful screenwriter of all time, and we hate a lot of the same people. I loved it.
  • Light This Candle by Neal Thompson -- A biography of America's first man in space, Alan Shepard. Shepard was one of my boyhood heroes, and still is.

Sean Doolittle, author of Burn

Barry Eisler, author of Rain Storm

  • Child of God by Cormac McCarthy -- An incredibly spare and dark yet at times stunningly lyrical novel of depravity in Appalachia.
  • Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan -- A fascinating memoir of a young man's improbable journey through a tumultuous era. Dylan's prose is worthy of his lyrics.
  • Going Postal by Terry Pratchett -- The latest bizarre, insightful, hilarious entry in the bestselling Discworld series.
  • The Guards by Ken Bruen -- The grit and gloom of Ireland's Galway is both reflected and redeemed by protagonist Jack Taylor's battle with demons within and without.
  • On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Combat in War and Peace by Dave Grossman and Loren Christensen -- The successor to the groundbreaking On Killing, a hair raising, sometimes heartrending examination of its subject and essential reading for law enforcement and military personnel.

Aaron Elkins, author of Good Blood

Robert Ferrigno, author of The Wake-Up

  • Bangkok 8 by John Burdett -- a Buddhist detective on a course of revenge, sex, sadism, speed and jade. I didn't buy the ending, but I didn't care.
  • The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley -- great writing and more heart than any other book I read this year.
  • Virtual Light by William Gibson -- icy cold, but Gibson has great antennae.
  • Knives Points of Interest by Jim Weyer -- incredible photos of collectible, custom "edged weaponry." Porn for Attila the Hun.
  • The Black Death, Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe by Robert Steven Gottfried -- made me realize that times have always been dangerous, and its best to hold those we love close and cherish every breath.

Bill Fitzhugh, author of Radio Activity

Jim Fusilli, author of Hard, Hard City

Victor Gischler, author of The Pistol Poets

Lee Goldberg, author of Diagnosis Murder: The Shooting Script

Maggie Griffin, webmaven extraordinaire

Denise Hamilton, author of Last Lullaby

Steve Hamilton, author of Ice Run

Libby Fischer Hellman, author of An Image of Death

Gregg Hurwitz, author of The Program

Julie Hyzy, author of Artistic License

  • The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown -- while I admit that I found the main characters to be bland (Brown could have killed off either one at any point and I wouldn't have cared), the story really kept my interest, and kept me turning pages. Plus, this book has inspired more conversation than any other in a very long time...I gotta give it credit for that.
  • Flesh and Blood by Jonathan Kellerman -- Wow. I read this one early in the year and I still remember how real it all felt. I can remember the victim's name (unusual for me) and so much detail about this one. Everything about it was so vivid. I always learn so much from reading Kellerman.
  • Windy City Knights by Michael A. Black -- having read this one more times than I can count as it moved from manuscript to novel, you'd think I'd be tired of it. But, just the opposite, I found I enjoyed more with each read. I got further interested in kickboxing and totally drawn into the characters. It's a great book by one of my favorite authors. Plus, I always love a good mystery set in Chicago.
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon -- this is not a mystery, nor is my 2004 reading of this novel my first reading of it. This is just an excellent story, well told. It crosses a bunch of genres -- romance, suspense, sci-fi. The writing is sparkling, and the characters keep pulling me back for more. This book is the first in a series (yes, it's found in the romance section, but it's far, far more than that) and the fact that I keep wanting to re-read really puts this book in a category by itself. This is one of my favorites of all time.
  • The Lonely Silver Rain by John D. MacDonald -- I started reading MacDonald a little while back, maybe a year-and-a-half ago, and even though I haven't gotten to every McGee yet, I read this one, the last in the series, this year. Fabulous book. It even got me a bit teary at the end, and that *never* happens. (I would have liked to include The Green Ripper by MacDonald, but I read that one last year.)

J.A. Konrath, author of Whiskey Sour

Harley Jane Kozak, author of Dating Dead Men

Rochelle Krich, author of Grave Endings

William Kent Krueger, author of Blood Hollow

Terrill Lee Lankford, author of Earthquake Weather

David Montgomery, book reviewer

This is a tough year to compile a short list. There were a lot of very good books that came out in 2004, but not many really stood head-and-shoulders above the pack. I could easily list 20 books that I enjoyed, but here are only 6. (Okay, I cheated a little; I asked for 5, but I gave 6. I stole one from Jeff Parker, though.)

  • California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker -- The epic story of an Orange County family and their complex, trouble lives, focusing on their relationship to a brutally murdered young woman. Parker's masterpiece (so far, anyway).
  • Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz -- A breathtaking novel of suspense from America's greatest living storyteller. I'll take one Koontz over all the effete, pretentious "literary" types put together.
  • The Wake-Up by Robert Ferrigno -- Another winner of a novel from one of the genre's most underappreciated writers. How this guy isn't famous yet is a mystery to me.
  • Cheapskates by Charlie Stella (forthcoming) -- Not out for a couple months yet, but sure to be one of the best of 2005. Charlie Stella might just be the best damn crime writer you've never read.
  • Red Baker by Robert Ward -- One of the best and most original working class novels I've ever read. Not strictly a crime novel, although it has definitely undertones in that direction. Sadly, it's now out of print.
  • Rain Storm by Barry Eisler -- John Rain, the hit man with the soul of a poet, is back and badder than ever. The best book yet from one of the new masters of the thriller.

Chris Mooney, author of Remembering Sarah

Heidi Moos, author of Shutter Speed (forthcoming)

David Morrell, author of The Protector

Eddie Muller, author of The Distance

T. Jefferson Parker, author of California Girl

  • The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea -- It's a hair-raising, gut-turning true story about twenty-six Mexican men who tried to cross the U.S. Mexico border near Wellton, Arizona. Twelve lived to tell about it. Truthful, mythic, haunting, horrible and, believe it or not, things like this happen all the time.
  • The Cay by Thedore Taylor -- This award-winning young adult novel is one of the finest of all time. I hadn't read it in years but I'm glad I did. It may be for young adults but it resonated in my even more than it did when I was young. Don't miss Taylor's new one, "Ice Drift." It's dazzling.
  • Handbook of Hatches by Dave Hughes -- Okay, it's a layman's book about the life cycles of the various aquatic insects eaten by trout. If you're a fly fisherman, the book will rivet you. If you're not, you might think the book is a great mystery, the mystery being why someone would even read it. Me? I've read it twice, and the mayfly chapter makes my pulse rate rise.
  • To Die in California by Newton Thornburg -- On book tour this year, a very nice guy presented me with two Thornburg novels as gifts. I finished this one just a few days ago and it rocked me. It's powerful, beautifully observed and written. The first page lets you know you're in the hands of a fine, fine creator. This is the kind of book that makes you want to write.

George Pelecanos, author of Hard Revolution

Thomas Perry, author of Dead Aim

My list is a group of works that weren't enormous bestsellers. Each is included here because it has been useful to me or made me think. Some are fiction, and some non-fiction. The order is alphabetical.

  • Homicide Special by Miles Corwin -- The result of a former L.A. Times reporter's year with L.A.'s elite cops, this book is a good primer for learning how homicide detectives do their work.
  • Living Dead Girl by Tod Goldberg -- Probably the most skillful and unusual piece of crime fiction by a young writer I've read in years.
  • Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales -- Gonzales is a well-known journalist who became fascinated with questions about what happens during disasters. By studying survivors, he is able to learn some things about who lives, who dies, and why.
  • Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy by Dave Hickey -- A good introduction to an exceptional American mind. Hickey is an acclaimed art critic who writes about music, human thought, our culture, and life with astute vision and originality.
  • Keeping Warm by Max Schott -- Best known for Murphy's Romance, Schott is one of those people who should be declared a national treasure. His spare and thoughtful prose is a pleasure to read and a model for writers of fiction.

Ralph Pezzullo, author of Eve Missing

Gary Phillips, author of Monkology

  • Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution by Ronin Ro -- I'm a many decades comic book fan, and recently have been writing some comics myself, so it's been a long time coming for a book that gave Jack "The King" Kirby his due as a pioneer in comic book art and storytelling.
  • The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler -- What can I say? Wonderfully written and compelling stories -- that weave into their structure facts and figures -- about this vast underclass of ours and causes thereof. If more people had read this book, no goddamn way Bush would have won.
  • Brooklyn Noir, edited by Tim McLoughlin -- As the title suggests, various stories by the likes of Pete Hamill, Nelson George, Ken Bruen and many others set in the various enclaves of Brooklyn from Bed-Sty, Red Hook, to Park Slope. In the interest of full disclosure, mind you I'm the co-editor of The Cocaine Chronicles which will be brought out by Akashic, the publishers of the aforementioned short story collection. But hey, the New York Times among others dug the book too.
  • Anything You Say Can and Will be Used Against You by Laurie Lynn Drummond -- She's an ex-uniform cop and her short stories have a tough woman's ironic observations and hard-earned verisimilitude.
  • Sleeper, a comic book series by Ed Brubaker and Sean (no relation) Phillips -- This is a series that combines espionage (thus the title, referring to the main character's deep cover status) with the super hero trope "no one wears a customs and there are homicidal maniacs running around with names like Genocide and Miss Misery" told in a down beat riff that John le Carre would envy.

Scott Phillips, author of Cottonwood

  • Blood Father by Peter Craig (forthcoming)
  • Red Jungle by Kent Harrington (forthcoming)
  • McGoorty by Robert Byrne
  • The Dragon Man by Garry Disher
  • Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (forthcoming)

Rob Reuland, author of Semiautomatic

M.J. Rose, author of The Halo Effect

Dylan Schaffer, author of Misdemeanor Man

  • The Narrows by Michael Connelly -- I recently saw Connelly's book, and various other titles, on sale in an obscure town on the Vietnam/China border. Any writer who has infiltrated a former enemy this deeply deserves our awe. And it's an un-put-downable, thought-provoking, nearly perfect book.
  • Devil in the White City by Erik Larson -- I realize I'm getting to this late, and everyone else in the world has read it, but the evocation of Chicago, circa late 19th century, and the portraits of two men, one essentially good, and one totally evil, was as compelling as I've ever read. Not exactly a crime/mystery, but definitely worth reading if you're one of the eight people left who hasn't already done so.
  • Train by Pete Dexter -- Others have already said why, and I agree. A fabulous, moving, disturbing book.
  • The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem -- I came late to this one, too, but I loved it. If you grew up anywhere near the NY area in the seventies, this one will be like going home.
  • Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick -- I'm researching a book about Elvis, and this one is at the top of the heap, particularly if you're interested in Presley's late career. It's eminently readable and profoundly sad. Even if you're not that interested in Elvis, it's worth checking out.

Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of Out of the Deep I Cry

Olen Steinhauer, author of The Bridge of Sighs

Charlie Stella, author of Charlie Opera

James Swain, author of Loaded Dice

Duane Swierczynski, author of Secret Dead Men

Okay, I'll admit it. I cheated. Here are my Top Five categories of 2004, which may include, well, um, more than one book per category. Ah, hell. Who wants to live by the rules anyway?

  • Authority Figures Gone Wild: Priest, by Ken Bruen and Interface, by Joe Gores. The former is the soon-to-be-published fifth installment in Ken's brilliant Jack Taylor series; it'll grab your heart and nail it to the nearest available wall, even if you aren't Catholic. And Gores' standalone novel is about a San Francisco private eye gone...well, saying more would ruin the clockwork surprises of this tight hardboiled classic. Why oh why has this never been reprinted?
  • Hardboiled Non-Fiction: John Williams' Into the Badlands served as my virtual summer vacation, taking me on a crime fiction tour of my homeland, while Max Decharme's Hardboiled Hollywood was my wild weekend in L.A. I can still feel the hangover.
  • Scribblin' Psychos: Dig gritty, fast-paced stories about writers? So do I. Which is why I devoured the demented Death You Deserve (David Bowker), the despairing Manifesto for the Dead (Domenic Stansberry), the dark Twisted City (Jason Starr) and the deranged Pistol Poets (Victor Gischler).
  • Crook Book Reprints: Check out Two for the Money, by Max Allan Collins and Shoedog, by George Pelecanos. Both were originally published years ago. Both were lean, mean crime thrillers right out of the Richard Stark School. Both deserve the revival.
  • PointBlank Originals: Full disclosure: My first novel, Secret Dead Men, will be published by PointBlank in a few weeks. But even if series editor J.T. Lindroos had told me that my book sucked the big one, I'd still be raving and drooling over Two-Way Split, by Allan Guthrie and The Big Blind, by Ray Banks, two of the most strikingly original crime novels I've read in years. These guys are going to be around for a long time. That rustling sound is me, clasping my grubby fingers around their coattails.

Fiona Walker, book reviewer

Robert W. Walker, author of Absolute Instinct

Most of what I read is for research purposes.

Robert Ward, author of The Cactus Garden

  • Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman -- I'm reading it now and can't put it down. A great mystery, but also wonderfully evocative of Baltimore. Send this woman money.
  • Monkology by Gary Phillips -- About L.A., by a writer who knows how race and politics can be a deadly cocktail. The expensive edition comes with a CD with yours truly doing my own little song rap called Mr. Ivan Monk, plus the author reading one of his stories, while being accompanied by a killer jazz group. Done by the exquisite Dennis McMillan Press. Dig this one, baby.
  • Butcher's Crossing by John Williams -- A terrific book about a buffalo hunt. Vivid, violent, lyrical. And with a killer ending.
  • The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson -- I read this for the fourth time this year, and it had the same terrifying effect on me as it did the first time. The greatest suspense/horror novel ever written by the paperback Dostoievski.
  • Earthquake Weather by Terrill Lee Lankford -- A nasty and enjoyable read about low life movie people in the air kiss capital of the world. It took the author fifteen years to finish this baby, but it was worth the wait.
  • Night and Fear by Cornell Woolrich -- Collection of his old pulp fiction. Great fun, and wonderfully evocative of the 30's. "Say, this is a swell book."

Sarah Weinman, book reviewer

  • Taming the Beast, by Emily Maguire -- available only in Australia, this unflinching portrait of a damaged relationship was beautifully written and unbelievably visceral. I may never reread it again, but it's going to stick in my mind for a very long time.
  • Case Histories by Kate Atkinson -- if there's a utopian ideal of how literary and crime fiction can blend, this novel comes the closest.
  • Absent Friends by S.J. Rozan -- the domestic 9/11 novel everyone should read.
  • The Warlord's Son by Dan Fesperman -- the international 9/11 novel that everyone should read.
  • The Ultras by Eoin McNamee -- the best novel yet, focusing on the years prior and following the disappearance and probable murder of an IRA captain, from arguably my favorite living writer.

Kevin Wignall, author of For the Dogs

  • The Bridge of Sighs by Olen Steinhauer -- Thoroughly enjoyable.
  • Starter for Ten (aka A Question of Attraction) by David Nicholls -- I laughed my head into a bucket reading this.
  • Darkness by Dacia Maraini -- A captivating short story collection.
  • Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag -- A must for those writing about violent crime.
  • The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto -- Anyone wondering if there's a solution to global poverty should read this.

Brian Wiprud, author of Pipsqueak

Posted by David J. Montgomery in Awards | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment






 

Copyright 2000-2005. All rights reserved.