Mysteries/Thrillers

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kanding said:

I really can't recommend Out by Natsuo Kirino enough. I read this a few years ago when it first came out and it still stands out as one of the best and most memorable books I've read since 2000.

It's a thriller with real meat to it. The group of women who work at a local lunch-packing factory are original and real although often unsympathetic, and the social commentary is bleak but laced with dark humor. And while you follow the protagonist, you are deeply, deeply disturbed by her bonding with most unlikely character.

Really an amazing book. It's different from any other mystery or thriller I've ever read.

Ooh, kanding, I really loved Out. Like the Rebus novels and Scotland, it shows a Japan that you don't really see in a lot of novels.

Has anyone read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova? I just got it from the library but I haven't started it yet. From the reviews I've read it seems as though people either really liked it, or thought it was so boring they gave up and didn't even finish it.

[iceblink]

Oooh, I liked The Historian a lot. But it is slow going. I was home sick for a long stretch when I read it and didn't have much else to do, so I was a bit of a captive audience. But it's interesting and well-written.

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The Dave Robicheaux novels by James Lee Burke were mentioned a couple of pages back, and I just have to second them. The books really balance the crime and the solving of with Robicheaux' confrontation of his own personal demons. The books are entertaining and moving without being sappy.

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The Historian was quite interesting, but long. Like looooooonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg. I think I flipped through the last 1/3 of the book.

[bklynred]

Robicheaux is one of my all-time favorite authors, along with Lehane. I love damaged detectives.

[biondetta]

I loved The Historian and devoured it in just a couple of days. I hated to put it down and was tempted to go back and reread it right away. So, I guess I'm in the really-really-loved-it camp. It's exactly the kind of book I love -- the various viewpoints, the mix of locations, the multiple time periods.

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What's the verdict on Elizabeth George's What came before he shot her? I've got it on hold at the library, and I've read some reviews that were positive.

[bossyboots]

Just finished Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp. I'm officially over Stephanie Plum.

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bossyboots said:

Just finished Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp. I'm officially over Stephanie Plum.

Aw. Stephanie is a bit of an ass but you can't give up on Lula and Grandma Mazur.

[bossyboots]

I do admit I laughed out loud for a while when Grandma Mazur farted (while wearing her leather hotpants and cone bra) and said, "Oops. Did someone step on a duck?" I don't know why that set me off (other than the obvious farting=funny) but it did.

I realize it's brain candy, I really do. My beef is that the characters don't seem to be developing that much. Like she's had the "Morelli or Ranger?" question going for far too many books. I realize that once she decides, the sexual tension is gone. That's why I think perhaps she needs to wrap up Stephanie and start writing about someone else.