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GOOD suspense novelists?
  • Charlotte_SometimesCharlotte_Sometimes
    Posts: 1,756Member
    I would love some recommendations.   I know that Amazon has reviews of course but sometimes it seems people are happy w/anything and everything gets rave reviews so I don't really trust it.

    I like Dean Koontz.  I know a lot of ppl don't but I do.   I read a few Harlen Coben books and like some but have recently read a couple of his that were just utter crap.   DW likes Lisa Gardner and I've read one or two, in my opinion the stories/plots are good but the writing style is annoying.

    So, I'd like to hear about other authors in the genre of crime fiction / suspense / thrillers.   I am just tired of shoddy /sloppy writing.
    "But a lesson must be lived in order to be learned" Ani DiFranco, Manhole
    "Screw you guys! I'm going home." Eric Cartman
  • Luvlyssa
    Posts: 3,338Member
    I just read a YA called "run like hell" that was interesting... I read it on the train ... the end sucked honestly. it was so well written then suddenly it was like the author got an email saying "uhhhh you need to get this done"

    it's really short... about 154 pages I think? I read it in a couple hours
    Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
  • MistressHeidiMistressHeidi
    Posts: 977Member
    I've been reading Lee Child, my dad passes them on to me when he is done, I am rather enjoying his books, a couple of the books I read had blah endings but most of them have been enjoyable. I also enjoy Dean Koontz, I don't understand why so many people don't like him. I love mystery, suspense and thrillers, it's completely my preference. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other authors I would recommend. If I think of any more I will come back.
  • French_momFrench_mom
    Posts: 1,566Member
    I like the early work of Kathy Reich.. but it might be cause some of her books are situated in Montréal
    It is for me to know and you to dot dot dot.
  • AnonUser28
    Posts: 2,083Guest
    W.E.B. Griffin if you like military type suspense, a little conspiracy theory thrown in.

    Have you read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series?
  • chaosmomchaosmom
    Posts: 3,834Member
    Lee Child, Jonathan/Faye Kellerman, Patrica Cornwell

    I know there is lots more but I'm too tired to recall their names. Will look at my books tomorrow & see who else I have.
  • stinkersmommystinkersmommy
    Posts: 1,388Member
    I love Knootz! Mary Higgins Clark is killer as is Stieg Larsson (but they will piss you off at the end) new Author C L Bevill is really good but I found her on the freebie section of my Nook so I am not sure if she is in print but her books are cool and diverse
    Glitter Words
    [Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,714Member
    Yeah, on the Kellermans and Patricia Cornwell, also, Robin Cook and Michael Palmer
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • UnionMommy
    Posts: 30Member
    I just finished "Into the Darkest Corner."  Can't remember the author off the top of my head, but it's her debut novel.  Excellent book.  Creepy - don't read it if you're home alone and easily skittish.
  • squishsquish
    Posts: 786Member
    Lincoln Chikd and Douglas Preston-anything with their Agent Pendergast character. Suspense/mystery/supernatural. Really good reads.

    Daniel Silva-spy related drama/suspense.
  • squishsquish
    Posts: 786Member
    Yeah that was supposed to be Lincoln Child.
  • BellaBefanaBellaBefana
    Posts: 8,714Member
    @UnionMommy, hmmmm, might have to check that one out...
    Bite me, cupcake!
  • Charlotte_SometimesCharlotte_Sometimes
    Posts: 1,756Member
    PallasAthene said:

    W.E.B. Griffin if you like military type suspense, a little conspiracy theory thrown in.

    Have you read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series?



    I cannot tell you how many people recommended that to me (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and how badly I wanted to read it but I could not get through the first chapter of the first book.  I'm usually pretty easygoing but something about the writing style drove me batty!

    I am making notes on all the recommendations though, thanks everyone! :)
    "But a lesson must be lived in order to be learned" Ani DiFranco, Manhole
    "Screw you guys! I'm going home." Eric Cartman
  • lefty63
    Posts: 258Member

    Lisa Jackson is good and Greg Iles too.  I used to read Harlan Coben a lot, but haven't read any of his new stuff.  Shannon McKenna is decent too.

  • jacigirl6354
    Posts: 199Member
    @Charlotte_Sometimes, give the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo another try. It WILL get better, I promise! It took me WEEKS to get through the first, probably 1/4 of the book, then after that, I think I read the remainder in a day or two. I think the author likes to give a lot of background and setting description. The second book I flew through, I've not yet read the third, but it's on my summer reading list.
    I agree with Kellermans and Cornwell. I adore Patricia Cornwell. I can't think of the name of the author, but it's the Lincoln Rhymes series..(The movie the Bone Collector with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington) Deaver I think is the author's name? Karin Slaughter is pretty good too.
  • fatchickonabikefatchickonabike
    Posts: 5,632Member

    If you're in the mood for a lighter (funnier) type of book, I would recommend the Spencer Quinn Chet and Bernie mysteries. There are three so far: Dog On It, To Fetch a Thief and Thereby Hangs a Tail. They're narrated by the dog, Chet, and they're really entertaining. The author really gets into a dog's brain, and having the narrator interrupt the flow of the story as he snags stray Cheetos or chows down on a Slim Jim somehow makes it even funnier.


    Even lighter and fluffier are the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. They've had me laughing out loud on public transit, which takes some doing, let me tell you. 

    "The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof bullshit detector.” - Ernest Hemingway
  • stinkersmommystinkersmommy
    Posts: 1,388Member
    @charlotte_sometimes (love the name BTW I am from charlotte NC) the reason the writing style in GWTDT is so wonky is because it was translated from Swedish and I promise after the first few chapters you will adjust (that and I think they switched translaters at that point too)
    Glitter Words
    [Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]
  • chaosmomchaosmom
    Posts: 3,834Member
    Also Tami Hoag, James Patterson & Iris Johansen
  • DreamerDreamer
    Posts: 2,276Member

    Thomas Perry, the Jane Whitefield Series.  OMG, soooo good.

    A list of them.: http://www.goodreads.com/series/41663-jane-whitefield

    There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. Which one are you?
  • StarsStars
    Posts: 1,055Member
    I stumbled upon this author Theresa Ragan.  Wrote the books the Abducted.and Dead Weight.  Lizzy Gardner series.  Excellent on the edge of your seat books. :)
    apsycho

  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 1,551
    I am obsessed with Robert Parker (it's a Boston thing), and love the Kellermans (prefer Jonathan over Faye though), I like Lisa Scottoline for good legal suspense, and I do enjoy Dan Brown...
  • cameramom
    Posts: 5Member
    I second Tami Hoag. Night Sins, Still Waters, Dark Paradise...love those books by her.
  • Star_Glitter
    Posts: 13Member

    I love Chevy Stevens..she writes great suspense novels!

  • iritnusiritnus
    Posts: 61Member
    Laura Benedict has a book about a zombie called "Devil's Oven." It's very good. A quick read, well-written and creepy. She has other books, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts and Isabella Moon that, frankly, I'm too scared to read. I'll get around to it. When it's light out.
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  • sidsmommy3sidsmommy3
    Posts: 2,247Member
    I love Nora Roberts as JD Robb
    Mary :-)

    Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
  • YellowWallpaperYellowWallpaper
    Posts: 27Member
    My fave suspense:
    Sophie Hannah
    Kate Atkinson
    Denise Mina
    Gillian Flynn
    Nicci French
    Andrew Taylor

    All of these authors write stay-up-all-night, clever, funny twist at the end kind of stuff. Especially Sophie Hannah.
  • YellowWallpaperYellowWallpaper
    Posts: 27Member
    Just finished the new Harlan Coben. "Six years". It rocks. Couldn't go to sleep till I knew how it ended which is why I'm up at nearly 4 freakin a.m. And will be zombie mommy tomorrow.
  • Charlotte_SometimesCharlotte_Sometimes
    Posts: 1,756Member
    Thanks for all these recommendations! :) 

    @YellowWallpaper  I will look for that one.  I have quite a few of his, liked most of them, some of them are the Myron Bolivar (??) series, about a sports guy or something I don't know.  LOL.  How clear was that?  Anyway I didn't care for those but my wife picked up a bunch, not realizing what they were.

    Not suspense so much, but what recently kept me up all night was actually my 15 year old's "young adult" fiction John Green book, "Looking for Alaska".  It was really really good!
    "But a lesson must be lived in order to be learned" Ani DiFranco, Manhole
    "Screw you guys! I'm going home." Eric Cartman
  • YellowWallpaperYellowWallpaper
    Posts: 27Member
    @Charlotte_Sometimes That's funny. My son just had me get "Looking for Alaska" for him. Could'nt get much of a sense of it from the blurbs but will read on your recommendation :D

    I like the Myron Bolitar stuff by Coben, which is funny cuz I'm the least sporty person in the world. Pretty much just read it for the dialogue.
  • BeachyBeachy
    Posts: 4,044Member
    Idk if anyone mentioned the Pretty Little Liars books, don't remember the authors name, but they are sooooo good!
    Searching for my lost shaker of salt.
  • fulgurous2003fulgurous2003
    Posts: 189Member
    my new fave book is The Witch of Little Italy. so well written and catches you from the get go trying to figure out where it will go next
    "Your children are not your children, they come through you, but they are life itself, wanting to express itself." - Wayne Dyer
  • AceofSpadesAceofSpades
    Posts: 1,246Member
    @charlotte_sonetimes I had the same experience with "the Girl with" series. The first chapter of the first book was exceedingly hard for me to get through and get into. I blazed onward, mostly because I was preg and up all night unable to sleep needing something to read. I will say it seemed that the author found his voice a few chapters in and the writing style improved. If you ever feel like trying again
    "I wish I could squirrel, but alas, I cannot"
  • undercoverbanana
    Posts: 7,904Member
    I love Michael Connelly, John Connolly (no relation), Kathy Reichs, Jonathan kellerman, and t. Jefferson parker. I'm also a history and Sci FI nut.
    i'm nekkid.
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