Originally Posted by en480c4
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
This is the most recent book that really grabbed me. It's an amazingly balanced web of 3 different stories involving a girl, her family and the hunt for Dracula over the course of decades. It got a lot of good press, and I was hesitant to buy into it, but it was well worth the time. I can't remember the last time I bought into a story and the characters like this... I was completely engrossed.
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
An incredibly challenging book... words can't describe what the story is, how it progresses and where it ends up. An experiemental novel that doesn't disappoint.
Syrup, Jennifer Government & The Company - Max Barry
Cultural satire at its finest. Syrup is laugh-out-loud funny while skewering advertising, Jennifer Government does much of the same with marketing, but does so in a very different way. And The Company manages to ridicule corporate America at its best... I mean worst.
Summer of Night, Darwin's Blade, A Winter Haunting - Dan Simmons
Summer of Night is an amazing story of a town that has way more going on beneath the surface than it seems. It's a story of childhood friendships in the face of unspeakable horrors. And he does something I really like... later novels either have characters from Summer of Night as the main character or a supporting character as an adult.
The Relic & The Reliquary, Riptide, Thunderhead, The Ice Limit- Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The Relic is probably their best-know work, having been made into a mediocre movie. But their body of work, with character-based technological thrillers is solid. Their later work is a series of novels that manages continue a storyline along drawing characters from all of their work.
The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl
A literary historical thriller in 19th century Boston about the club led by Wordsworth who hunt for a killer while translating Dante's Inferno.
Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith
Polar Star, Red Square, Havana Bay, Wolves Eat Dogs are subsequent Arkady Renko novels, but Gorky Park is the classic that started it all... Great thrillers!
Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel - Robert Harris
A great group of novels that are historical fiction or stories that are burried deep in history. Fatherland is a striking murder mystery that takes place in Berlin, but it's the Berlin that would've been had Germany won the war. Enigma's about the code-breakers in Bletchly Park. And Archangel, my favorite, takes place largely in the title city in Northern Russia, where political forces and a dark secret threaten to undermine democratic Russia. Pompeii was a solid effort as well, but I just don't put it on the same level as his first 3.
The Club Dumas, The Flanders Panel, The Nautical Chart - Arturo Perez Reverte
Really, any of his novels are great. But I have to say these are my favorites, and probably have the best translations.
A Season for the Dead - David Hewson
The Villa of Mysteries & The Sacred Cut follow the same major character, an Italian detective, who manages to get in a load of trouble...
The Traveling Vampire Show - Richard Laymon
An underrated horror writer in the US who was big in Europe. This is his strongest story... A number of new novels have been released here since his death, and they're all enjoyable. But The Traveling Vampire Show is the best place to start. They're all quick reads, too.
Siberian Light - Robin White
A great story set in Siberia, mixing black market trading, oil and a main character's struggle with the loss of his wife.
The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears
A strong novel, but more importantly the first in a great series of art mysteries that take place in Rome's art theft squad.
Kiss Me Judas - Will Christopher Baer
Another one that's difficult to describe in just a few words. It's a noir-ish thriller that is bizarre to no end.
I hope at least a few of these find their way to someone's summer reading lists.
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