2015 saw a total of 26 x 5 STAR reads......
| DATE | AUTHOR | | TITLE | YEAR | RATING |
| 01/01/2015 | PASCAL | GARNIER | THE ISLANDERS | 2014 | 5 |
| 26/01/2015 | JERRY | LUDWIG | BLACKLIST | 2014 | 5 |
| 02/02/2015 | BILL | CRIDER | OUTRAGE AT BLANCO | 1998 | 5 |
| 23/02/2015 | DAVID | PUTNAM | THE REPLACEMENTS | 2015 | 5 |
| 01/03/2015 | OLEN | STEINHAUER | ALL THE OLD KNIVES | 2015 | 5 |
| 16/03/2015 | EVANGELINE | JENNINGS | RIDING IN CARS WITH GIRLS | 2015 | 5 |
| 17/04/2015 | LAWRENCE | BLOCK | THE CRIME OF OUR LIVES | 2015 | 5 |
| 28/04/2015 | LIZ | NUGENT | UNRAVELLING OLIVER | 2015 | 5 |
| 04/05/2015 | GARY | PHILLIPS | HOLLIS P.I. | 2014 | 5 |
| 10/05/2015 | CAROLYN | WESTON | SUSANNAH SCREAMING | 1975 | 5 |
| 12/05/2015 | FREDRIC | BROWN | THE SCREAMING MIMI | 1949 | 5 |
| 14/05/2015 | PRESTON | LANG | THE BLIND ROOSTER | 2014 | 5 |
| 24/05/2015 | | ANONYMOUS-9 | BITE HARDER | 2014 | 5 |
| 29/05/2015 | JACK | CLARK | HACK WRITING & OTHER STORIES | 2012 | 5 |
| 05/06/2015 | GARRET | HOLMS | GRANT OF IMMUNITY | 2014 | 5 |
| 23/06/2015 | MATT | COYLE | YESTERDAY'S ECHO | 2013 | 5 |
| 25/06/2015 | MATT | COYLE | NIGHT TREMORS | 2015 | 5 |
| 24/07/2015 | BILL | PRONZINI | LABYRINTH | 1981 | 5 |
| 07/08/2015 | MAX ALLAN | COLLINS | HARD CASH | 1981 | 5 |
| 23/08/2015 | JONATHAN | VALIN | THE LIME PIT | 1980 | 5 |
| 24/08/2015 | MARK | SAFRANKO | THE FAVOR | 1988 | 5 |
| 27/08/2015 | MICK | HERRON | SLOW HORSES | 2010 | 5 |
| 09/09/2015 | BENEDICT J. | JONES | SKEWERED AND OTHER LONDON CRUELTIES | 2014 | 5 |
| 22/09/2015 | BENEDICT J. | JONES | PENNIES FOR CHARON | 2014 | 5 |
| 22/11/2015 | DAVID | WHISH-WILSON | LINE OF SIGHT | 2010 | 5 |
| 30/12/2015 | BILL | PRONZINI | BINDLESTIFF | 1983 | 5 |
| | | | |
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......
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.
ReplyDeleteCheers 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!
DeleteA good number of five star reads, Col. It means you read some really good books. Congratulations!
ReplyDeletePrashant thanks - a few down on last year (2014), but I'm happy enough with the quality of my reading.
DeleteLooks like you had a good year reading wise. I can't say I've read that many 5 star reads.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have more discerning tastes than me and I'm just easily pleased? :-)
DeleteAll 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
DeleteAn 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.
ReplyDeleteThey can be like the proverbial London bus, nothing for a while then a glut.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteNot just opposite sides of the world geographically then? Haha - maybe in 2016 I'll tone it down a bit!
DeleteHaven'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.
ReplyDeleteI reckon Blacklist would be up your street. Herron is also worth a go.
Delete