of doing fiction anymore, but I audio-booked All the Light We Cannot See recently and it was fantastic. Made a 24-hour car ride enjoyable, believe it or not.
Set during WWII, German soldier, blind French girl, orphanage, fleeing, missing father, historic jewel, crossing paths...
It won a "biggie" a couple years ago (Pulitzer, even?). Just enormously imaginative and entertaining.
A social history wrapped in a crime story of an actual event so not truly fiction, but it reads like it. A young Englishwoman is murdered in 1930s Peking as colonial China and the world are on the cusp of great change. A fascinating time and place is revealed through the storytelling of the mysterious murder investigation.
are very different from many mysteries. More complicated
I've read 5 of the 6 - "Keeper of Lost causes", "The Absent One", "The Purity of Vengeance", "A Conspiracy of Faith" and "The Marco Effect".
If you enjoy detective books you can't go wrong with Peter Robinson (My favorite) and Peter James.
Finally Ian Rankin(Inspector Rebus) and Val McDermid's Tony Hill - Carol Jordan stories. Outstanding.
If you like detective stories I recently read a few Michael Connelly
and really like the Rebus series. He and Siobhan are great characters. Ellroy's stuff is also great.
I'm a voracious reader and appreciate the recommendations. One author who hasn't been mentioned here is Walter Mosley, who has a zillion series' out. I like the Easy Rawlins series best, along with the first two Socrates Fortlow books. Another is Stuart Kaminsky (now deceased) who wrote a great series with Inspector Rostnikov as chief protagonist.
Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about a German detective in pre-war, war, and post-war years.
In a similar vein, Jonathan Raab's Nikolai Hoffner series is also worthwhile.
George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series is fantastic.
For a nice take on the Roman military in the East, Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome series is pretty unbeatable.
Larry McMurty's Berrybender chronicles about a British family making it's way west through the American frontier in the 1830s was excellent, I thought.
Finally, La Salle, by John Vernon about that explorer's expedition to map and chart the Mississippi.
There's plenty more, but that's all I could come up with off the top of my head...
A buddy of mine wrote a book that got rave reviews
from those in the intelligence and military community.
It's called Overwatch. I haven't read it yet myself, but several of my friends have said great things about it. Might be what you are looking for. Link - ( New Window )
Coming of age "travel" fantasy that addresses some serious issues in unusual ways. A Huck Finn of the interior mind, extremely imaginative.
Non-fiction - Hammer, Joshua. A Season in Bethlehem : Unholy War in a Sacred Place. Free Press
Two fantastic reads. Hammer's book is an eye opener in several ways about the Israeli - Palestinian conflict in general, with to my mind a strong slant to sympathy for the Palestinians.
It's a historical fiction/fantasy set in Venice/Holy Roman Empire/Ottoman Empire shortly after the fall of Constantinople.
He's family I have to plug the book.
Shameless plug - ( New Window )
Set during WWII, German soldier, blind French girl, orphanage, fleeing, missing father, historic jewel, crossing paths...
It won a "biggie" a couple years ago (Pulitzer, even?). Just enormously imaginative and entertaining.
Also, Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River - Leonard Elmore-ish stuff with a great pair of lead characters.
I've read 5 of the 6 - "Keeper of Lost causes", "The Absent One", "The Purity of Vengeance", "A Conspiracy of Faith" and "The Marco Effect".
If you enjoy detective books you can't go wrong with Peter Robinson (My favorite) and Peter James.
Finally Ian Rankin(Inspector Rebus) and Val McDermid's Tony Hill - Carol Jordan stories. Outstanding.
Link - ( New Window )
I'm a voracious reader and appreciate the recommendations. One author who hasn't been mentioned here is Walter Mosley, who has a zillion series' out. I like the Easy Rawlins series best, along with the first two Socrates Fortlow books. Another is Stuart Kaminsky (now deceased) who wrote a great series with Inspector Rostnikov as chief protagonist.
Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about a German detective in pre-war, war, and post-war years.
In a similar vein, Jonathan Raab's Nikolai Hoffner series is also worthwhile.
George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series is fantastic.
For a nice take on the Roman military in the East, Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome series is pretty unbeatable.
Larry McMurty's Berrybender chronicles about a British family making it's way west through the American frontier in the 1830s was excellent, I thought.
Finally, La Salle, by John Vernon about that explorer's expedition to map and chart the Mississippi.
There's plenty more, but that's all I could come up with off the top of my head...
It's called Overwatch. I haven't read it yet myself, but several of my friends have said great things about it. Might be what you are looking for.
Link - ( New Window )
My wife and sister love that series. Seems to include a lot of soft porn for the ladies.
Non-fiction - Hammer, Joshua. A Season in Bethlehem : Unholy War in a Sacred Place. Free Press
Two fantastic reads. Hammer's book is an eye opener in several ways about the Israeli - Palestinian conflict in general, with to my mind a strong slant to sympathy for the Palestinians.