Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Okay - Guess I am ready to get started. I put this under this folder because it really is a compilation of our "monthly" reads. I would like to cap the lists at 10 if at possible although I know some will sneak in a few extra.
my lists:
TOPS:
THE DAWN PATROL Don Winslow
THE DECEIVED Brett Battles
SACRIFICE S. J. Bolton
BLUE KNIGHT WHITE CROSS Colin Campbell
DAMAGE CONTROL Robert Dugoni
THE BRUTAL TELLING -Louise Penny
THE FURY Jason Pinter
DISSOLUTION C. J. Sansom
THE UNQUIET BONES Melvin R. Starr
THE BLOOD DETECTIVE Dan Waddell

BOTTOMS:
BEAT THE REAPER Josh Bazell
CHINATOWN BEAT Henry Chang
COLD TRUTH Joel Goldman
THE SECRET KEEPER Paul Harris
BATTER OFF DEAD Tamar Meyers

i only had 8 non m/t's but my m/t list is over 10. i tried, cheryl, i really did, but just didn't know what to cut out. overall, i had a great reading year- 85 books but 22 of them made my top "10ish" list.
The Likeness- French
Shanghai Moon- Rozan
Long Lost- Coben
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Larsson
Wicked Prey- Sandford
Gone Tomorrow- Child
he Way Home – Pelecanos
The Scarecrow- Connelly
The Neighbor- Gardner
The Devil’s Punchbowl- Iles
The Wrong Mother – Hannah
The Girl Who Played with Fire- Larsson
The First Rule- Crais
The Blue Hour- Parker

Ann's Top 10 MT list 2009 - I got my list down only by listing many of the series books separately from stand alone MT novels. ;) I read 68 books this year, the majority as always were the MT genre.
For a first ever, there are actually only ten here and listed as I read them chronologically.

O'Connell, Carol Bone by Bone read 5/8/2009 Library 10 of 10 fascinatingly intricate psychological who done it in a small town

Larsson, Steig The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo read 3/4/2009 Library 9++ of 10 quirky and strong MC

Connelly, Michael The Brass Verdict read 1/19/2009 Library 9+ of 10 Mickey and Bosch!

Penny, Louise A Rule Against Murder read 5/27/2009 Library 9+ of 10 Three Pines #4

King, Laurie R Justice Hall read 7/15/2009 Library 9+ of 10 Russell and Holmes

Harris, Charlaine Dead and Gone read 6/6/2009 Library 9+ of 10 non stop trouble for Sookie

Scottoline, Lisa Look Again read 6/23/2009 Audio 9+ of 10 was her son stolen?

Pelecanos, George The Way Home read 9/5/2009 Library 9+ of 10 a book that builds and grabs you up slowly then doesn't let you go.

Connelly, Michael The Scarecrow read 9/18/2009 Library 9+ of 10 With the Jack McEvoy novels, at my count now three counting his recent cameo, the reader feels Michael Connelly puts a lot of himself into the book from his experiences and opinions as a newspaper journalist. The demise of local and even national newspapers seems to be a warning of the end to an era of investigative journalism, and what comes after is important to us all.

Smith, Tom Rob Child 44 read 10/31/2009 Audio 9+ of 10 dark, intricately woven and revealing of the harshness of Soviet life

TOP:
Vanishing Point by Marcia Muller
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
Undone by Karin Slaughter
T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
The Appeal by John Grisham
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
I Shall not Want by Julia Spencer Fleming
A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton

Bottom:
The Program by Stephen White
The Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Dust by Martha Grimes

Sherie

I read 91 books and listened to 43 audios for a total of 134 for 2009.

Here are my top M/T for 2009 (listed in order read):


Missing
Karin Alvtegen


Silence of the Grave A Thriller
Arnaldur Indriðason


A Darker Domain
Val McDermid


Reconstruction
Mick Herron


Dark Places
Gillian Flynn


Lost
Michael Robotham
audio read by Ray Lonnen


The Shanghai Moon
S.J. Rozan


Little Criminals
Gene Kerrigan


The Girl She Used to Be
David Cristofano

[image error]
Dead at Daybreak
Deon Meyer

Some statistics first:
161 books read, 56,643 pages (average 351.8 ages per book)
42 were new, 60 I borrowed from people, 15 I borrowed from the library, and 44 I bought used.


Top M/T


Mean Woman Blues: Julie Smith
I have a bunch of the Skip Langdon series on my shelf, and reading this, a loan, I realized that i have not started reading the Langdon's yet. This has changed, but with a book late in the series, that tells me all kinds of things I should not know yet.
I had thought that the Tabla Wallis series was her strongest, but now I am not so sure. Much of this book was from the standpoint of the bad guy, and it certainly made for powerful reading. (A-)


Rough Country: John Sanford
Virgil Flowers was one of the better things that John Sanford has added to literature. I understand that Lucas Davenport was getting older and settled, and he needed the young blood, but Virgil was a shot in the arm to the whole Sanford collection.
So here, we have murders set among a collection of lesbians. Given Sanford's (almost) obsession with sex, he has ample material to work with while Flowers treis to unravel the mystery. (A-)



Hardball: Sara Paretsky
Sra maintains a healthy skepticism of Homeland Security, but her politics have always showed through in her books, while not interfering with telling a good story. There is not much of Sara's family in this series outside or thoughts of times past. Given how well family worked for her here, perhaps that was a good thing. She accepts an assignment to look in to an old crime, a longmissing person, andfinds that the tale she uncovers intersects with her family history, and not in a good way. (A-)



Rain Gods: James Lee Burke
He may be getting on in years, but the quality of his writing had not suffered for it. The blurbs were warning me of the nastiest villains yet, but as with all of Burke's bad guys, they had a code and morality all their own, and some understanding of this code was a prerequisite to living to the end of the book.
The M/C was Hackberry Holland, related to Billy Bob Holland, and star of a long ago previous book (also quite good). He is a survivor of Chosin, and a man of moral character. We first met him as a drunken congressman, and now see him in his twilight years as a Texas lawman.
The writing is a lyrical as ever. Nobody paints with words quite like James Lee, but if he used a canvas, we would call him Hyronemous Bosch. (A-)


Undone: Karin Slaughter
When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back at you.Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, Undone is the Abyss, and with flawed characters, echoes of past novels, and the countless pieces of baggage each of the characters drags around perhaps telling us a tale of our own flawed existence, the abyss is looking back at you. Slaughter is never for the faint of heart, and maybe more so this time as we see so many people being treated so badly. Sara Linton is back, more than 3 years since the ending of the last book, and is joined by SA Will Trent, the dyslexic cop, and his near hysterical partner Faith. Slaughter balances the 3 characters well, and uses this book in what seems a springboard to the next. Another strength is that Lena is not in the book at all. (A-)

The Rabbit Factory: Marshall Karp
I had really hoped that the Slaughter would be my best book so far this year, but a few little quibbles held it short. Not so for the Rabbit Factory. This is the best book so far, and I will read more Karp. At any given moment, the book could be entertaining or poignant, while embracing a solid mystery in good humor. The set-up helped, a Disney like empire, where the first murder is of a pedophile rabbit. No place to go but up from there. (A)


The Strain: Hogan/DelToro
This is the book with the buzz this month, with a feature article in Sunday's paper, and even a spread on DelToro in Wired magazine. The book begins a new vampire trilogy. As with many of the recent offerings, the legend is reexplained, in this case as more of a virus than anything else, but is no less creepy for the explanation. The heroes are a mismatched bunch thrown together by circumstance, and lurking in the background are the old school vampires, less than happy about the upstart. (A-)

The Lovers: John Connolly
Spend an evening with a cup of Irish whiskey in an old church graveyard in Ireland and you can begin to apreciate why a man such as John Connolly can write such a spooky book and make it seem like this was the real world. The almost humerous presentation of the previous book is gone, even though the same characters appear, and we are presented with the backstory of Charlie Parker, some of the characters that exisit only in the shadows, and some hints of how man fights demons. (A-)

Roadside Crosses: Jeffery Deaver
Deaver has kept up the magic, at least if you have learned to accept nothing that he gives you at face value. The book features Katherine Dance, the Kenesics expert, fighting to find a murderer and keep the possible victims alive. (A-)

The Way Home: Geo Pelecanos
If you liked The Turnaround, you will love the Way Home. Again, the book deals with individuals on the edge of society that have gone astray and have to find their way back. The edge of Washington society is a niche that Pelecanos owns like nobody else (A-)

Gone Tomorrow: Lee Child
He just does this so well, you wonder after so many books about a smart, strong guy wandering around, how much longer it can work, but while you wonder and watch the set up, you might as well have been a fish with the hook in your mouth getting slowly reeled in, because before you have passed 100 pages, the book is a compelling read.
Now a special thanks to the Patriot Act, and its severe provisions for restricting that authors can have a field day with. Maybe the government does too, I don;t know, I try to keep my nose clean, but Reacher has one more thing to worry about when his needs, and those of the government may not exactly coincide. (A-)

Wicked Prey: John Sanford
This is the procedural where old friends come back, swear as they always did, and incrementally take apart a plot by an ever more devious set of criminals. A welcome addition to the family, set during the Republican National Convention. (A-)

Long Lost: Harlan Coben
A Myron and Win adventure, and the most ambitious yet. Much of the story takes place in France, and some good French characters should help with Harlan's European fan base. The ambitiousness comes from the global scope of the adventure, and the magnitude of the task Bolitar takes on. I couldn't put it down. (A-)

Beat the Reaper: Josh Bazell
This is a first work, new author, and reads like Scrubs meets the Sopranos, likely because the author is a doctor, but with quite the streak of mob in him. As a first work, I would rank this up with Huston or Duane Swierczynski in both tone and quality. You just might like Dr Hit-Man. (A)


Pretty Girl Gone: David Housewright
Housewright cements himself in my pantheon of underrated authors here with an exceptionally strong M/T performance. His wealthy, ex-cop PI operates out of the Twin Cities, and fits in well with the Lucas Davenport mold that Sanford has created, except Housewright's McKenzie seems to get beaten upon and shot with much greater frequency. The political nature of this story makes the plot complex, and brings out the character of the protagonist well. I look forward to reading more Housewright (though I sem to be mired in backorders, as most of his stuff is out of print). (A-)


Listen to the Silence: Marsha Muller
I keep saying "best ever" with every Muller I read. Probably because I am reading in order and the developing series is getting better, and I stil have a ways to go to get current. In this episode, Sharon learns that she is adopted, and finds her birth family embroiled in a land development controversy. (A-)

Shanghai Moon: SJ Rozan
The stuff that dreams are made of. (A)

A Walk Through the Fire: Marsha Muller
I guess as an auther, setting a book on Hawaii is a great way to gain an excuse to go there, soak up the local color and properly set both the people and places. Muller uses Hawaii to set up a mystical tropical paradise with sinister undertones, but Steven King she is not. The mystery itself is solid enough though, regardless of setting. (B)

Nuclear Jellyfish: Tom Dorsey
Classic Dorsey. Buried deep in the things that are happening there actually is a story, but you don;t really know what it is till near the end. Dorsey jumps around in space and time, with the threads wandering apart and coming together in whays that will make you drop the book and burst out laughing. If you never believed that South Florida crazy was a legitimate genre, read this. (A-)

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And since all the lists were too long for Goodreads:


TOP non M/T



Boomsday: Christopher Buckley
For all that I miss Fitzhugh and his manic wit, I can be somewhat consoled that there is a body of work by Buckley that I have not read, and is every bit as good. I guess I wold have to characterize this as biting political satire, though biting satire seems more the intent than any politics, the use of positions and campaigns was just an available foil. This is wonderful stuff!! (A-)


Cold Choices: Larry Bond
Not may guys writing good techno-thrillers these days, and of those that do, Larry Bond is one of the best. Cold Choices might be the best submarine novel I have ever read. The Seawolf collides with a modern Russian sub, damaging both, but putting the Russian on the bottom. The action is both at sea, trying to affect rescue, and in the halls of power, working the political angles. (A-)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A reread, but after seeing the movie, I needed to reacquaint myself with where the story goes. (A-)

Turn Coat: Jim Butcher
While the earliest books were lessons in how the supernatural worked, the later books put this all to use as a study in conflict and mystery in the parallel world. As with many m/cs we see, being a friend of Harry Dresden is not a recipe for good health. The level of mayhem remains high, Harry remains in good humor, and the world seems to be moving somewhere, hopefully toward being a better Place. (A-)

The Watchmen
If you like moral absolutism, this might be the place for you. Watchmen is a graphic novel, with a couple of novel within novels going on. The heroes (super, as far as that goes, or at least costumed) are a varied bunch, and none of them have quite the same definition of justice or morality as any other. Perhaps one of the strengths of Watchmen, other than very tight writing, is that you can choose a hero to best match your view of the world, and see how they fare. I was rooting for the paranoid, go figure. (A-)

Little Pink House: Jeff Benedict (non fiction)
This was one I thought I had to read. Not so much the eminent domain case, but because it was local, and I frequently rode my bicycle in that neighborhood, and lost some of my favorite restaurants when it was torn down. My expectation was of some dry reportage that I would have to spend a few days slogging through, but instead, I was presented with a compelling story, one in which I not only knew all the names, but lived it in the newspapers, and worked with some of the people, some of the children of the people, and had some more of them that were part of normal dinner discussion.
The real joy though was that hte book was so readable. The story was one of those that was better than fiction, except that the ending could not change, and there is no escaping the pile of rubble that used to be a viable communityen was torn down one house at a time. (A)


Black Ops: WEB Griffin
WEB is one of the world's great natural storytellers, but you have to already like his chocen subjects: war and warriors. Black Ops takes place in the present time, and uses subjects as real as the headlines. He also uses a unique class of people, and the books are much more about the interaction and development of the people than about action. The theme of this particular series has been the Food for Money Iraq scandal. Easily his best work in a decade. (A)


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Bottom

Trust No One: Greg Hurwitz
I was never quite able to make this book work for me. The crime for which the murders were being committed was not serious enough to cause the kind of mayhem it did, and the whole scene at the San Onofre nuclear power plant was so unrealistic that it tainted the whole book. (C+)

The Big Bounce: Elmore Leonard
A few fairly low life types wander around chatting, fighting, and generally creating mischief. I didn't see the point. (C)

Choice of Evil: Andrew Vachss
This pretty much finsihs me with him. If a book falls in my hands, I might read it, but his heroes are awful, his villains are awful, his women are characterized poorly and treated even worse, and the stories leave much to be desired. (C)


The Scorpion's Gate: Richard Clarke
Techo thriller. Sometimes an analyst should stick to analyzing. (C)

Wall of Brass: Robert Daley
A senior cop solving a high profile murder in New York. This is an older book, perhaps standards have gone up. (C+)


Life Sentences: Laura Lippman
Probably a great book, well written, introspective, evocative of Lippman;s earlier life. But not the book for me. (DNF-no grade)


Princess of Wands: John Ringo
As if I have not put up with enough with Ringo's constant proselytizing for his political viewpoint, now he feels the need to push his religion on me as well. (C)


Life Sentences: Laura Lippman
Probably a great book, well written, introspective, evocative of Lippman;s earlier life. But not the book for me. (DNF-no grade)

Do No Harm: Greg Hurwitz
One of those ethical dilemna things, or so the author hoped when he had his heroic ER doc save an acid throwing madman who then throws acid at his girlfriend and stalks all his friends. Does not quite work. (C+)

Dead Heat: Joel Rosenberg
To begin to like this book, you must have the same belief system as Rosenberg. I do not. I did not. (C)

wow, bar- you must have really disliked the lipmann- it's on your list twice ;)

I only read 17 books this past year, I think. M/T's were my top reads

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Larsson
A Bitter Feast--Rozan
Whisper to the Blood--Stabenow

My 10 Top M/Ts (a couple of these got included in my non M/T list since they're supernatural):

THE FIRST RULE Robert Crais
DEAD & GONE Charlaine Harris
THE WAY HOME George Pelecanos
STARVATION LAKE Bryan Gruley
I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM Wendy Watson
HARDBALL Sara Paretsky
A KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE Thomas E. Sniegoski
A BODY TO DIE FOR G.A. McKevett
PROMISE ME Harlan Coben
DESOLATE ANGEL Chaz McGee (Katy Munger)

WORST FOR 2009:
A VEILED DECEPTION Annette Blair
[image error] DEFENDING ANGELS Mary Stanton
SHOT GIRL Karen E. Olson
AS THE WORLD CHURNS Tamar Myers
FATALLY FLAKY Diane Mott Davidson

I do not have 10 but my top M/T reads for 2009

Private Patient P.D. James
T is for Trespass Sue Grafton
Virgin of Samll Plains Nancy Pickard
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meredith

My Top 10 for 2009:

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Madman on a Drum by David Housewright...you'll see him on my favorite new series list too
Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain...a redemption after Sweetheart
Vanished by Joseph Finder
The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Wicked Prey by John Sanford
Lost Witness by Robert Ellis
The Face of Death by Cody McFadyen
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Top 10:


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsen
The Angel's Game -- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Lush Life: A Novel - Richard Price
Rough Country (Virgil Flowers) -- John Sandford
The Watchman (Joe Pike) -- Robert Crais
The Various Haunts of Men (Simon Serailler) -- Susan Hill
Wicked Prey (Lucas Davenport) -- John Sandford
Gone Tomorrow (Jack Reacher) -- Lee Child
The Scarecrow (McElvoy) -- Michael Connelly
The Professional (Spenser) -- Robert B. Parker

I read so few books this year -- 39 -- that I was able to be pretty selective, so no duds.

My Top M/Ts for 2009

Floodgates (Faye Longchamp)--Mary Anna Evans
The Memorist -- M.J. Rose
Wild Sorrow (Jamaica Wild)--Sandi Ault
Shanghai Moon (Lydia and Bill)--S. J. Rozan
Rosewood's Ashes -- Aileen Schumacher
The Coral Thief--Rebecca Stott
The Samurai's Daughter--Sujata Massey
The Whiskey Rebels--David Liss

Most Disappointing M/T

Dancing With Demons (Sister Fidelma)--Peter Tremayne

I ended the year with 85 books total, a new personal record. Here are my favorite M/T's for the year:

Last Child by John Hart
Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Die For You by Lisa Unger
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
Memory In Death by J.D. Robb
Innocence in Death by J.D. Robb
Promises in Death by J.D. Robb
Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb
Survivor in Death by J.D. Robb
Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb

I ended up reading 123 books in 2009. But, I didn't have very many that really, really grabbed me. Here's some of my favorites:

Devil May Ride by Wendy Roberts
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Mr. Monk Goes to Germany by Lee Goldberg
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis
Freezer Burn by D.H. Dublin
The Battered Body by J.B. Stanley
Let There Be Suspects by Emilie Richards
Getting Old is a Disaster by Rita Lakin
The Blight Way by Patrick F. McManus
The Double Jack Murders by Patrick F. McManus

Top
Long Lost - Harlan Coben
Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child
The Scarecrow - Michael Connelly
Knock Out - Catherine Coulter
Smash Cut - Sandra Brown
9 Dragons - Michael Connelly
Speak No Evil - Allison Brennan
See No Evil - Allison Brennan
Fear No Evil - Allison Brennan (these are not really a series.

My numbers for 2009 are:
119 total read
6 DNF's not counted
5 HB's
19 audio
95 kindle

Favorite M/T's:

Brett Battles - The Deceived
James Lee Burke - Swan Peak
John Connolly - The Reapers
P. T. Deutermann - Nightwalkers A Novel
J. T. Ellison - Judas Kiss
Mary Anna Evans - Findings
Tess Gerritsen - The Keepsake
Richard Montanari - Badlands A Novel of Suspense
Preston & Child - The Wheel of Darkness
James Swain - The Night Monster A Novel of Suspense

Disappointed:

Nevada Barr - Borderline
Thomas Lakeman - Chillwater Cove
Kathy Reich - Devil Bones
John Schuster - Haunting Museums (not M/T)
Nathaniel Philbrick - Mayflower (not M/T)

I haven't read my Michael Connelly 2009 Harry Bosh book yet, but was not real interested in The Scarecrow or Jack McEvoy book.

So many good ones to chose from this year.

Top:

Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child
Shanghai Moon - S J Rozan
City of Shadows - Ariana Franklin
Ha'Penny - Jo Walton
Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg Larrson
Silent in the Grave - Deanna Raybourn
The Lion's Game - Nelson DeMille
Scarecrow - Michael Connelly
Dirty Martini - J A Konrath
Long Lost - Harlan Coben

Bottom:

Doomsday Key - James Rollins
Afraid - Jack Kilborn
Critical Mass - Whitley Strieber

M/T

1. Beautiful Lies-Lisa Unger
2. The Drowning River-Kim Byrne
3. Look Again
4. The Forgotten Garden-Kate Morton
5. The Neighbor
6. Secrets She Left Behind-D Chamberlain

Didn't care for
Still Life-Fielding

I read 144 books in 2009 which was 3 less than last year.

Top M/T's were:
Abandon~Blake Crouch(I think I'm the only person on the board who must read this author. For those of you who haven't read him yet, I envy you.)
Thunder Bay~William Kent Krueger(this has become a favorite series for me)
The First Rule~Robert Crais(Joe Pike rules!)
Badlands~Richard Montanari
In The Woods~Tana French
In The Dark~Brian Freeman
The Last Child~John Hart
The Neighbor~Lisa Gardner
Tell No Lies~Julie Compton
The Brass Verdict~Michael Connelly

Disappointed:
Another Thing To Fall~Lippman
Obedience~Will Lavender
Black Out~Lisa Unger

Top M/T
Speaks the Nighbird by Robert McCammon(library book, over 700 pages, could not put down, read in 5 days)

The Bodies left Behind by Jeffery Deaver(Kindle, lots of tension in this one)

Boderline by Nevada Barr(Kindle)See Ann's comment

Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child(Kindle) A good read, always enjoy this series.

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly (Kindle) I thought this was one of Connelly's best yet. Incorporated the reality of the newspaper business. BTW, last week, I caught the premiere of "Deadline U.S.A, starring Bogart on TCM. A good newspaper story/mystery/murder movie.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith(library) Story is taken after true events that happened in Russia.

Boys Life by Rober R. McCammon(pb from tbr pile)

Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver(Kindle)

Nemesis, the Final Case of Eliot Ness by William Bernhardt(library) Story is taken after true events that happened in Cleveland with Ness. Really enjoyed this surprise book recommended to me.


The Man who Loved Books too Much by Alison Hoover Bartlett(nf Kindle) a good mystery of finding a book thief.

Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles(Kindle) Plot just kept moving along on this one. Lead character is coming back in a later mystery to be released in the future.

13 1/2 by Nevada Barr(Kindle) a standalone book that had Barr writing instead of a cozy, a very dark book.

Duds;
Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz, a dud from one of my favorite authors, it just dragged along.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (tpr pile) Got tired of all the running around and the stupid ending. That's why I had no interest in his new release,The Symbol.

Terminal Freeze by Lee Child, The plot had been done before.

Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour (library) recommended to me by a biker from California. He said to read this one before our roadtrip. Just a wierd book, supernatural plot, not my type of reading. Got to give the biker some slack tho, he's awaiting a liver transplant.

Tops
1. Shanghai Moon, S.J. Rozan.
2. August Heat, Andrea Camilleri.
3. A Death in Vienna, Daniel Silva.
4. Scarecrow, Michael Connelly.
5. Prince of Fire, Daniel Silva.

Bottoms
1. 3 Weeks to Say Goodbye, C.J.Box
2. The Associate, John Grisham
3. Blood Lines, Jan Burke
4. The Dark Horse, Craig Johnson
5. Dead Boyfriends. David Housewright
6. The Night Monster, James Swain (By far the worst)

Lorraine:
I liked that you have two Robert McCammon books in your top ten. I have Speaks the Nightbird and Swan Song in my tbr pile and keep meaning to read them.
I agree, some of Dean Koontz's later books have been not quite as good, though I thought Your Heart Belongs to Me was creepy and thought provoking.

Brakedrum wrote: "Top M/T Speaks the Nighbird by Robert McCammon(library book, over 700 pages, could not put down, read in 5 days)

(Duds)Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz, a dud from one of my favorite authors, it just dragged along.

Dan:
Noting a trend ... you and I and several others have liked S J's The Shanghai Moon!

Daniel wrote: "Tops
1. Shanghai Moon, S.J. Rozan. ."

Lorraine:
There are some interesting Q & A from readers questions on the updated news section of Robert McCammon's website
http://www.robertmccammon.com/

Brakedrum wrote: "Top M/T
Speaks the Nighbird by Robert McCammon(library book, over 700 pages, could not put down, read in 5 days)
..."

Had a hard time coming up with something. But here it is. Will make sure it have more for this year hopefully.

1. Cross Country by James Patterson
2. A Killing tide by P. J. Alderman
3. Riptide by Catherine Coulter
4. Swimsuit-James Patterson/Maxine Paetro

My top M/T reads:

Long Lost - Coben, Harlan
Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2) - Collins, Suzanne
The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) - Collins, Suzanne
Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch, #14) - Connelly, Michael
Something Missing: A Novel - Dicks, Matthew
One Second After - Forstchen, William R.
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2) - Larsson, Stieg
A Deeper Sleep (Kate Shugak, Book 15) - Stabenow, Dana


Bottom:

Farenheit 451 - Bradbury, Raymond
Mind's Eye - Nesser, Hakan
The Strain - Toro, Guillermo del