Thursday 21 January 2016

2015 - PICKS OF THE YEAR

2015 saw a total of 26 x 5 STAR reads......


DATE AUTHORTITLEYEARRATING
01/01/2015 PASCALGARNIERTHE ISLANDERS20145
26/01/2015 JERRYLUDWIGBLACKLIST20145
02/02/2015 BILLCRIDEROUTRAGE AT BLANCO19985
23/02/2015 DAVIDPUTNAMTHE REPLACEMENTS20155
01/03/2015 OLENSTEINHAUERALL THE OLD KNIVES20155
16/03/2015 EVANGELINEJENNINGSRIDING IN CARS WITH GIRLS20155
17/04/2015 LAWRENCEBLOCKTHE CRIME OF OUR LIVES20155
28/04/2015 LIZNUGENTUNRAVELLING OLIVER20155
04/05/2015 GARYPHILLIPSHOLLIS P.I.20145
10/05/2015 CAROLYNWESTONSUSANNAH SCREAMING19755
12/05/2015 FREDRICBROWNTHE SCREAMING MIMI19495
14/05/2015 PRESTONLANGTHE BLIND ROOSTER20145
24/05/2015ANONYMOUS-9BITE HARDER20145
29/05/2015 JACKCLARKHACK WRITING & OTHER STORIES20125
05/06/2015 GARRETHOLMSGRANT OF IMMUNITY20145
23/06/2015 MATTCOYLEYESTERDAY'S ECHO20135
25/06/2015 MATTCOYLENIGHT TREMORS20155
24/07/2015 BILLPRONZINILABYRINTH19815
07/08/2015 MAX ALLANCOLLINSHARD CASH19815
23/08/2015 JONATHANVALINTHE LIME PIT19805
24/08/2015 MARKSAFRANKOTHE FAVOR19885
27/08/2015 MICKHERRONSLOW HORSES20105
09/09/2015 BENEDICT J.JONESSKEWERED AND OTHER LONDON CRUELTIES20145
22/09/2015 BENEDICT J.JONESPENNIES FOR CHARON20145
22/11/2015 DAVIDWHISH-WILSONLINE OF SIGHT20105
30/12/2015 BILLPRONZINIBINDLESTIFF19835






The highlighted items were my pick of the month reads. Oddly I must have had a book in October that didn’t quite hit the heady heights of top marks.

I can’t have 26 books on a best of list for the year, so on the basis of asking myself the question what 5 or 6 books would you be most likely to re-read,



Preston Lang – The Blind Rooster……. bad boy rocks up in a sleepy town and finds a willing accomplice for extortion.

Jerry Ludwig – Blacklist……. Hollywood intrigue with friend betraying friend in a bid to retain a career, as Communist witch-hunts gathered pace. See how it affects two families through the generations.

Jack Clark – Hack Writing and Other Stories…… self-published author, cab driver and sometime newspaper columnists riffs on Chicago - the good, the bad and the ugly. 

Mark SaFranko – The Favor…. debut novel from under the radar author, a man’s life takes a wrong turn and he suffers the consequences of doing a “favour”

Mick Herron – Slow Horses…. British intelligence scapegoats being set up as patsies by a ruthless, scheming, duplicitous, bitch-boss. First in a series. 
Click below for reviews......

14 comments:

  1. Interesting choices, Col. Not surprised to see Pronzini on your list. And there's something about that title The Blind Rooster that gets my attention.

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    1. Cheers Margot. Pronzini is very consistent. I really loved The Blind Rooster - I'm going to have to read Preston Lang's other book sometime soon!

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  2. A good number of five star reads, Col. It means you read some really good books. Congratulations!

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    1. Prashant thanks - a few down on last year (2014), but I'm happy enough with the quality of my reading.

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  3. Looks like you had a good year reading wise. I can't say I've read that many 5 star reads.

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    1. Maybe you have more discerning tastes than me and I'm just easily pleased? :-)

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  4. All of these are interesting. I have already read Slow Horses and liked it a lot, and the other two I would be most interested in (from the top 5) would be Black List and The Favor.

    I am eager to read OUTRAGE AT BLANCO (and have a copy, so soonish). THE CRIME OF OUR LIVES is the first book I am buying after my 3 month book buying embargo ends.

    You had twice as many fives in the year as I did but then you probably read twice as many books.

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    1. Tracy - I hope you enjoy the Block book when you get there. Crider's was very good and I have the second one in the series also which I should read soon'ish.

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  5. An interesting collection. It's interesting how every now and then a month comes along, like October '15 for you, when there's a run of books none of which can seem to break out of the "okay, but . . ." category. I had a similar month late last year. And then there are other months (like the current one, for me) when they all seem pretty good.

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    1. They can be like the proverbial London bus, nothing for a while then a glut.

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  6. I can't be entirely sure but not only have I not read any of your 26 5 star reads but I don't think I've ever read any of those authors. I guess the venn diagram of our respective crime fiction reading would not overlap much.

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    1. Not just opposite sides of the world geographically then? Haha - maybe in 2016 I'll tone it down a bit!

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  7. Haven't read any of your top ones, would be most tempted by the Blacklist, and have been meaning to read something by Mick Herron for a while.

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    1. I reckon Blacklist would be up your street. Herron is also worth a go.

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