What book did you just read and how was it?

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Networkn
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#2819230 25-Nov-2021 16:07

Devoted by Dean Koontz. A return to his supernatural thriller roots of old. Extremely similar to Watchers and equally as fantastic. Watchers is one of my favourite books ever. 9/10 for Devoted.

Better off Dead - Lee and Andrew Child. If you are a fan of Lee Child, this is one of his better recent efforts and if this is an indication of what we can expect from his brother taking over the writing, I am pretty excited. It's not cerebral, but certainly was very entertaining and I enjoyed it a lot. 9/10 for that too.

TLD

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#2819251 25-Nov-2021 16:26

networkn:

Devoted by Dean Koontz. A return to his supernatural thriller roots of old. Extremely similar to Watchers and equally as fantastic. Watchers is one of my favourite books ever. 9/10 for Devoted.

Better off Dead - Lee and Andrew Child. If you are a fan of Lee Child, this is one of his better recent efforts and if this is an indication of what we can expect from his brother taking over the writing, I am pretty excited. It's not cerebral, but certainly was very entertaining and I enjoyed it a lot. 9/10 for that too.

Both excellent books, especially Devoted. Jack Reacher is possibly — just possibly — getting a tiny bit stale now. I enjoyed Better Off Dead, but Andrew has been just a bit too careful about keeping to his brother's formula.

So is it OK to talk about books in this thread?

Trevor Dennis
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#2819519 26-Nov-2021 09:19

Just moved a couple of replies from the movie thread to this one.

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#2819531 26-Nov-2021 09:35

@TLD we seem to share similar book interests, anything else you have read similar to either of those you recommend?

TLD

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#2819818 26-Nov-2021 14:18

networkn:

@TLD we seem to share similar book interests, anything else you have read similar to either of those you recommend?

Blimey. How long have you got. I get through something like three audiobooks in an average week, but they are very definitely not all as good as the two you mention, so I'll give you the safe ones (as in my very select shortlist of favourite authors. So using Jack Reacher and Dean Koontz as style sample.

Mick Herron — Mainly his Slough House series but his other titles are always a good read. The Slough House books are not only exciting, they also have a dry humour.

Daniel Silva — One of the very few authors that cause me to stop a story half way through when I get hold of one of his new releases.

Barry Eisler — His John Rain books share characters which is something I like because you can get straight into the books.

Mark Dawson — John Milton series. There are over twenty now.

Stephen Leather and John Connolly — are more like Dean Koontz than the above authors in that they do both straight and paranormal stories, and always do them well.

I am slightly hesitant to recommend Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy because their books can become formulaic, but I don't let that put me off the Jack Reacher books. This also applies to Gerald Seymour ordinary bloke does something extraordinary but it's always a close thing.

Ben Coes — Dewy Andreas books. Similar to Vince Flynn

Brad Thor, CJ Box, Chris Carter, Greg Hurwitz (Orphan X), Jack Carr (another Vince Flynn style writer), John Birmingham, Mark Greaney (Grey Man), Randy Wayne White (Florida Keys scientist with a dark secret).

SiFi — Iain M Banks (a huge loss when he died — Feck Cancer!), Isaac Asimov (I am loving the Foundation TV series)

Classic (to me) — John Lecarre

And almost embarrassed to mention — I quite like the William Johnston wild west books. I am exclusively audiobook nowadays, and I these are usually full cast.

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#2819833 26-Nov-2021 14:57

TLD:

networkn:

@TLD we seem to share similar book interests, anything else you have read similar to either of those you recommend?

Blimey. How long have you got. I get through something like three audiobooks in an average week, but they are very definitely not all as good as the two you mention, so I'll give you the safe ones (as in my very select shortlist of favourite authors. So using Jack Reacher and Dean Koontz as style sample.

Mick Herron — Mainly his Slough House series but his other titles are always a good read. The Slough House books are not only exciting, they also have a dry humour.

Daniel Silva — One of the very few authors that cause me to stop a story half way through when I get hold of one of his new releases.

Barry Eisler — His John Rain books share characters which is something I like because you can get straight into the books.

Mark Dawson — John Milton series. There are over twenty now.

Stephen Leather and John Connolly — are more like Dean Koontz than the above authors in that they do both straight and paranormal stories, and always do them well.

I am slightly hesitant to recommend Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy because their books can become formulaic, but I don't let that put me off the Jack Reacher books. This also applies to Gerald Seymour ordinary bloke does something extraordinary but it's always a close thing.

Ben Coes — Dewy Andreas books. Similar to Vince Flynn

Brad Thor, CJ Box, Chris Carter, Greg Hurwitz (Orphan X), Jack Carr (another Vince Flynn style writer), John Birmingham, Mark Greaney (Grey Man), Randy Wayne White (Florida Keys scientist with a dark secret).

SiFi — Iain M Banks (a huge loss when he died — Feck Cancer!), Isaac Asimov (I am loving the Foundation TV series)

Classic (to me) — John Lecarre

And almost embarrassed to mention — I quite like the William Johnston wild west books. I am exclusively audiobook nowadays, and I these are usually full cast.

Embarrassingly I'm familiar with only a few of these, but somewhat surprised to not see David Baldacci in your list.

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#2819864 26-Nov-2021 15:25

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, the same guy who wrote The Martian. The Martian is excellent, and Project Hail Mary is arguably even better. Lots of geeky stuff going on, and pretty funny. Definitely a page-turner. His other book Artemis is enjoyable, but IMHO not quite up to the standard of these two.

The Bobiverse Series by Dennis E. Taylor reads in a similar vein as the above.

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. This is a bit heavier, but has themes that are oh-so-huge. As in put the book down and just sit there going 'woah' for a minute or so.

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#2819892 26-Nov-2021 16:24

networkn:

@TLD we seem to share similar book interests, anything else you have read similar to either of those you recommend?

have you read the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz, i think he is a far better writer than Lee Child and even his stand alone thrillers are some of the best around.

He was once called Orphan X.

As a boy, Evan Smoak was taken from a children's home, raised and trained as part of a secret government initiative buried so deep that virtually no one knows it exists. But he broke with the programme, choosing instead to vanish off grid and use his formidable skill set to help those unable to protect themselves

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#2819893 26-Nov-2021 16:34

Bastion by Phil Tucker.

Great fun if you like D&D esque stuff. Recommended.

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#2819897 26-Nov-2021 17:13

Working Class Boy, by Jimmy Barnes.

What an upbringing that man had!

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#2819903 26-Nov-2021 17:23

Better off Dead, the latest Jack Reacher book.

Ok, but probably not one of the best?

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#2819911 26-Nov-2021 18:05

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. Different times back then for sure.

A beautifully printed and bound book from Readers Digest, 1987. Picked it up for a $ in an op shop and I swear it has never been opened before. Score!

TLD

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#2820031 26-Nov-2021 19:59

I do read (listen) to all of David Baldacci's books and finished Mercy just last week. I enjoy his work, but not as much as the people on my list. Atlee Pine is a likeable character, but Dean Koontz's Jane Hawk is a much more interesting character. I invariably get to the end of a Jane Hawk story desperate for the next book in the series. A good pointer to my #1 favourite authors are if I go to the trouble of putting reminders for their next release on my Outlook calendar. That would be Jack Reacher, Mick Herron, Daniel Silva and Barry Eisler.

Incidentally, and this a tough one, but if they are new to you then the Mick Herron Slough House books will blow you away. It's a close call between Mick Herron and Daniel Silva. Silva's fictional universe revolves around an Israeli Mossad agent called Gabriel Allon but there are all sorts of interesting characters.

Gregg Hurwitz is on my list above. You might think his work is aimed at the dreaded 'Young Adult' category, but 'X' seems to have put on years remarkably fast. I was surprised to find on Wikipedia just now that the original Orphan X book was released just six years ago in 2016. Hurwitz has been writing since 1999.

I tried to reread William Gibson's books last week, but found I was not getting into them. I only _really_ liked his 'Spral' books (Nuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, not so much Count Zero) His Burning Chrome is good though. I think I prefer Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash when it comes to cyberpunk, but I pretty much hate all of his other work.

I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, but JK's Cormoran Strike books are very good. The TV adaption is good as well. Hey, I wonder if Amazon's Jack Reacher TV series is going to be good? I can't find any up to date info on the series.

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#2820055 26-Nov-2021 21:28

@TLD:

Daniel Silva — One of the very few authors that cause me to stop a story half way through when I get hold of one of his new releases.

I am slightly hesitant to recommend Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy because their books can become formulaic, but I don't let that put me off the Jack Reacher books. This also applies to Gerald Seymour ordinary bloke does something extraordinary but it's always a close thing.

Ben Coes — Dewy Andreas books. Similar to Vince Flynn

Brad Thor, Greg Hurwitz (Orphan X)

Classic (to me) — John Lecarre

Quote the ones I like.

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#2820065 26-Nov-2021 22:11

Decided to try Orphan X and was pleased to find Kindle Unlimited had the first book included which was gifted to me yesterday by Amazon!

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