2014 Favorite Covers & First Lines

Well, it's hard to believe it, but it's that time of year again. Time to sum up the year in reading with my favorites lists. For those who may be new to the blog this year end, I have foregone the use of the term "best" because the connotation indicates there is a standard or rubric that makes the selection objective, when in reality all of these lists--no matter who they are compiled by--are completely subjective and dependent on the choosers' tastes and interests. So my lists are "favorite lists."

I had hoped to integrate some stats from what blog readers also liked this year, but the responses were too few to offer anything up in that realm. Maybe next year?

As for my favorites in the categories of covers and first lines, here are those that rocked my reading world for 2014:

FAVORITE COVERS

5.  A Better World (Marcus Sakey): I think you'll notice a running theme of simplicity in my favorite covers. In addition to A Better World's cover having a connection with the first in the trilogy, it screams a big meaning in a subtle use of art. The only thing that would have improved this cover is a more subtle use of the blurb--preferably moving it to the back cover.

4. Roosevelt's Beast (Louis Bayard): The rich layered approach of Bayard's writing is epitomized in the dimension of this cover. His atmosphere and setting are nailed.  The minimalistic use of color gives each hue strength in the overall arrangement. The font choice for the title builds the suspense before readers even crack the cover. And the wording is limited to the title and author--how wonderfully refreshing.

3. Conquest (John Connolly & Jennie Redyard): I absolutely love the use of shape and light in this cover. It exudes so many elements of the novel: the blending of cultures, the sci-fi genre, they mysterious and unknown, as well as the strong connection to basics of the planet. Again, I think the simplistic color scheme adds strength to each shade and highlight.

2. The Global War on Morris (Steve Israel): This is a very late entry for 2014. The book comes out tomorrow and you'll hear more about it after my review runs in Shelf Awareness, but this cover has a less subtle use of color which is perfect for this political satire. The stark contrast between the elements in this composition are bold and loud and funny, just like the points Israel makes inside the book.

1. The Intern's Handbook (Shane Kuhn): I listened to this audiobook for Audiofile Magazine and much like The Global War on Morris, the colors of this cover are minimal but they are bold and jump out at the viewer. The composition of the cover is brilliant and intricately tied to the plot. I can't help but love a cover that makes a concerted effort to accurately tie into the novel it's representing.  Kudos to Simon and Schuster on this beauty!

FAVORITE FIRST LINES:

5.  Talk by Michael Smerconish: "Fire, tits and sharks are TV gold."

4. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix: "It was dawn, and the zombies were stumbling through the parking lot, streaming toward the massive beige box at the far end."

3. Don't Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz: "Terror came as a vibration, a plucked-wire note more felt than heard, primary to the deadening heat, to the flick of unseen insects against her face, to the oppressive night humidity that pressed into her pores."

2. Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta: "On the last day of Jace Wilson's life, the thirteen-year-old stood on a quarry ledge staring at cool, still water and finally understood something his mother had told him years before: Trouble might come for you when you showed fear, but trouble doubled-down when you lied about it."

1. The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke: "The moose head was fixed to the wall, the microphone in its mouth was broken, but the camera in its left eye was working just fine, and as far as the moose head could see, this was just another Friday night in the Lumber Lodge!"

What covers and first lines tickled your fancy this year? Share with us in the comments, we'd love to know. Tomorrow I'll have my favorite debuts and favorite audiobooks for 2014. See you then!

Those Who Wish Me Dead - Michael Koryta

First line: "On the last day of Jace Wilson's life, the thirteen-year-old stood on a quarry ledge staring at cool, still water and finally understood something his mother had told him years before: Trouble might come for you when you showed fear, but trouble doubled-down when you lied about it."

For Michael Kortya's tenth novel, he takes to the mountains of Montana with Ethan Serbin, a wilderness survival instructor. Ethan and his wife, Allison have made their home in these mountains. Each summer Ethan takes on a small group of at-risk boys for his survival camp, but this year there's a special challenge.

Jace Wilson is a young boy who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time; he witnessed a gruesome murder and now the killers are after him. In an attempted to keep the young boy safe, he's being placed in witness protection under a new identity. Jamie Bennett, a former US Marshall and present private contractor, wants Ethan to accept Jace into the summer camp under his new identity. She doesn't believe she can keep him safe and thinks hiding in the mountains is the best option. The catch, however, is Ethan and Allison cannot know which boy in the group is Jace.

Ethan accepts Jace, but when the killers find their way to the mountains, Montana will never be the same.

Further exploring his obvious love and respect of nature, Kortya brings the beauty of Montana and the rage of the environment alive in this red-hot adventure, giving the setting it's own character role. By mixing the conflict of man (the killers) with the conflict of nature (a raging forest fire), he's able to elevate his plot with a rich, heart-pounding complexity that is dependent on this setting.

A sub-plot weaves its way into the novel through Hannah Faber, a fire-fighter trying to escape her  haunting past in a secluded lookout tower. While Faber could likely have been a whole story in herself, she simultaneously helps make Jace's escape attempt believable and flushes out his character, a terrified child.

Koryta's villains--brothers--are as fascinating a duo as his protagonist. As Allison describes them, "They speak strangely...not accents but just they way they talk. Like they're alone in the world. Like it was built here for the two of them and they're the lords over it." Their lack of empathy is chilling but their bond to each other is so strong it's almost visible.

I did find myself wondering why Ethan and Allison were informed about Jace's presence at all or if they were to be informed why they were then kept in the dark about his exact identity, but that question was quickly lost in the intensity of the story.

Those Who Wish Me Dead is further evidence of Koryta's versatility and strength as a writer. While elements, like nature, are becoming trademark in his work, he's consistently raising the bar in his character development, plot construction, pacing and suspense. Much like the fire that rages through the Montana mountains of this novel, Koryta is blazing a trail that doesn't stay safely on one straight path. Where he'll go next is a mystery, but one as exciting as the stories he tells.

Those Who Wish Me Dead is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780316122559) from Little, Brown and as a downloadable, unabridged audiobook narrated by Robert Petkoff from Hachette Audio.

The 2014 Mid-point Post

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that tomorrow is the first day of July! Where has this year gone? I guess I've been so busy reading that the days have gotten away from me. ;-)

So, I thought I'd do a mid-point rundown of my reading so far and then you all can share with me some of your favorite reads and numbers of books etc.

To date I've read 51 books by 51 different authors.
19 of those were written by women, 1 was written by a male/female writing team and the remaining 30 by men.
14 are unabridged audiobooks.
8 are debut novels.
31 are books written by authors I've never read before this year.
And 5 are non-fiction.

That's the lowdown on stats. Now, the fun part. The books at this point in the year that will be considered for my favorites list in December (in the order in which I read them):

The Stolen Ones by Richard Montanari
Roosevelt's Beast by Louis Bayard
The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley
Talk by Michael Smerconish
The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn
Any Other Name by Craig Johnson
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A Brand New World by Marcus Sakey
All Day and a Night by Alafair Burke

There are ten titles here, so obviously they won't all be on the final list--unless the second half of the year is really bad, but don't count on it--just consider this my mid-year favorites list. The titles linked above will go to my reviews. The remainder of the reviews are forthcoming.

So, your turn. What's knocked your socks off so far this year?

Murder & Mayhem in Muskego - Part 2

Saturday is the main part of the Murder & Mayhem conference. This year's line-up of authors was another doozy so the entire day was filled with crime fiction goodness.

There was some kind of accident or something on the highway, so Judy Bobalik and I had to take the back roads route to the library and I was doing a slight panic on the way because this was the first year my duties were in the morning. Holy cow if I was late I'd have been mortified. But  no sweat, we made it in plenty of time for me to see a little bit of Bryan's first gig as panel moderator!

He led Marcus Sakey, Alex Segura, Sean Doolittle and Kieran Shea in a panel called "Flip the Switch." Bryan's last question to everyone was, "what would your last meal be?"

Pie!

And next came my interview with Gregg Hurwitz. What fun and how animated Gregg is. I've said many times, Gregg is simply a natural-born storyteller. He spoke about the beginning of his interest in writing, his research, his work on scriptwriting and of course his new book TELL NO LIES. By the way, I'm absolutely mortified to realize I never posted my review of the book here. I reviewed it for Shelf but wanted to add to the review...so I promise I will get that for you all. In the mean time, I have video of the interview if you care to watch. This year I managed to stay in the chair and Gregg even got me to blush at one point. It's the full interview, so give yourself some time and I hope you enjoy. Also a special shout out to my wonderful friend Larry who handled the activation of the video camera for this one. Thanks Larry!


Following our interview, Kate Malmon took the moderator's reigns to lead Duane Swierczynski, Howard Chaykin, Dana Cameron, Chris Holm and Harry Hunsicker in the "Riff Raff" panel. It started off in riff raff fashion with a phone interruption for Howard.

Sadly, Chris was not telling his bug story here.

Following lunch the noirish-types took the stage for the "Back in Black" panel led by Tim Hennessey and featuring Frank Wheeler, Megan Abbott, Reed Farrel Coleman, Frank Bill, Jedidiah Ayres, and Hilary Davidson. In the picture you'll notice Reed and Frank Bill in their matching hats. I would love to say those are for my Elyria alma mater, but in fact they were a "hat tip" to Rod Wiethop a prominent member of the crime fiction community who has had a stellar year with his sports teams at Effingham High School (hopefully I spelled that correctly).

Frank looks guilty and Megan looks livid - not sure how I managed the timing on this shot.

The rest of the panel is watching to see if a fight breaks out. Noir panels...whatdaya expect?

The rowdy group was up next. Katrina Holm moderated "Sink the Pink." Julie Hyzy dressed accordingly for this panel. Gregg, the Shakespeare "dilettante" and Dan O'Shea who has Shakespeare as his protagonist made for a interesting couple on this panel. Joelle Charbonneau talked about the differences in writing cozies and writing YA. And Tom Schreck, as usual, was the hit of the panel.

Tom's question was "Things that make you go hmmmm."

Even though the panel was "sink the pink" Julie stayed completely dry.

Gregg appears to be very confused. Could it be because of Dan's jacket?

The highlight of my day, second of course to interviewing Gregg, was watching Michael Koryta and Marcia Clark in conversation. They are funny, intelligent and great writers. The stories they shared were captivating. After almost 6 years now, I still haven't lost my interest and fascination in listening to great authors tell stories.

Who looks scary and prosecutorial? "Me. I do." Marcia intimidated Michael before he first met her.

Two wonderfully talented writers. An exceptional session at M&M.

I have to end with an apology because the final session of the day was William Kent Krueger's interview by Libby Fischer Hellmann. I didn't get any snaps of that session, but Kent started off the discussion with a grand praise of libraries and friends of libraries organizations.  A fitting way to cap the day held in a fantastic library.

I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to regularly attend this fabulous event for the last five years now. It's exceptional. If you have the chance to experience it, I encourage you to DO IT!!

Thanks for sticking through to the end of this post; hope you enjoyed it. Happy Reading friends!

Crime Critters Caught Reading Crime - Puppy Lola

I must warn you ahead of time that today's critter caught...uh..."reading" crime is off the charts on the cuteness scale. Prepare to "awwwwww."

New puppy, Lola,  eats -- er, reads -- her first book, and selected the only galley in the house involving a K-9 hero. Theresa Schwegel clearly brings her characters to life in unique ways.

And Lola says it's a real page turner!

There's a bit of irony in this fitting contribution to the series, yes? Michael Koryta writes about the dark and the creepy, but now has this adorable little girl to help brighten the world. He also does work with great cat rescues, which of course is what inspired in part, The Ridge, so he's very familiar with all kinds of critters. It's probably safer that Lola got a hold of The Good Boy, rather than one of the great cats! And let's hope Lola doesn't get her teeth on Michael's next manuscript. All of us devoted readers would be crushed if we heard, "sorry, the dog ate my book."


For their bedtime reading, I suggested Michael read The Suspect to Lola. I think she'd like Maggie.


Thanks to Michael and Lola today. Happy Reading to all critters everywhere!

My Favorite Reads of 2012!

Here it is, the last day of 2012 and I have for you my list of favorite reads for this year. This was an odd year for me reading-wise. I read some spectacular books, discovered some great new-to-me authors and on the flip side, I think I put down more books than in past years because I just didn't connect with them at all. And while this isn't unusual, I did have distinctly different reactions to a number of books that were quite popular with other readers. I can be weird like that!

To give you an idea of what I started with, out of my 90 reads this year, I first removed the books that are January 2013 publications (I had 6 -- I've never had that many read ahead before), and I then highlighted the books that I felt were contenders this year: 18 books, plus 3 debuts I'll mention at the end. From that I winnowed it down to the list you see below. It was hard as all 18 were fabulous reads, books I've recommended to others and more than worth the time and money invested in them. I'd say I was a pretty lucky reader this year! So I ended up cheating a tad bit. I removed 3 more titles...I'll mention at the end...that weren't classified crime fiction novels. And I combined two titles that were by the same author. Hopefully, you'll forgive me my little cheats. :-)

But enough blather, let's get to the fun part. And don't forget to leave your favorites in the comments.

10.  Astride a Pink Horse - This was the first time I had read Robert Greer, and Astride a Pink Horse is, hopefully, the start to a new series for him. The plot was complex, the characters were dimensional, the themes were strong and thought-provoking. If this is the start to a new series, it's one I'll want to follow.

9. Jack 1939 - Again, this was the first time I had read Francine Mathews, but reading Jack has made me want to pick up all of her back list. This book was so smart and fascinating; it was one of those historical fiction novels that had me running to Google regularly to see what was fact and what was fiction.

8. The Prophet - Michael Koryta returned to a straight crime novel this year and it was a beaut! The rich symbolism throughout the novel elevated it beyond a simple crime story. Throughout his writing career he's continued to improve his character development, which is astounding given that he was exceptional at character development since book one. The Prophet is full of contrasting characters, defying stereotypes and endearing readers.

7.  Gone Girl - This was one time I didn't differ with the masses of readers who loved this book. Gillian Flynn wrote an incredible novel. She defied the likable, empathetic character notion and kept her readers hanging on with a smart, unpredictable plot. Flynn's pushing the boundaries of crime fiction and coming up with an amazing result.

6. Taken - Robert Crais continues to keep the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series fresh with powerful themes and engrossing plots. And unlike a lot of series characters, we continue to learn about Cole and Pike with every book. Taken hits you deep down in the soul.

5. Whiplash River/Gutshot Straight -  Once again I'll apologize for my endless talk about Lou Berney's Shake Bouchon crime capers, but good golly am I glad I found them. They are just fun books. And while Shake is not your pristine hero-type character, you can't help but adore him. I love the constant action of these books; the settings are spectacular; and the dialogue is first class. In my humble opinion, if you want to know how to do a crime caper right, you study these books cover to cover!

4. The Trinity Game - Holy Cow. Sorry, no pun intended on this one. We waited patiently for the return of Sean Chercover and boy did he deliver. This is just a powerfully written, complex story with unique characters. It was also a pretty gutsy book to write. The themes are very touchy for many American readers, but I think Chercover handled it all with grace and elegance. I cannot wait for the next book!

3. The Cut - While I didn't end up reviewing this one, I listened to it back in January on audio (it was an August 2011 release); time factors prevented me from reviewing it at a time that would allow me to do the book justice. And it deserved justice. It is a flat out amazing start to a new series character for George Pelecanos. All the elements that make Pelecanos great are present: the gray characters, the dark atmosphere, the suspenseful pace, the beautiful prose. How the man juggles as much as he does--and still does it all at a level of superiority most of us can never begin to fathom--is beyond me. I'm constantly in awe of his work.

2.  Live by Night - Gosh I always look forward to Dennis Lehane's work. It's simply amazing. His writing is poetic, his characters are relateable and larger-than-life at the same time, the plots keep you glued to the book then devastated when you've turned the last page. The atmosphere of Live by Night was the strongest I think Lehane's created. Taking him out of Boston did nothing to shake this man's talent. This is definitely a book I see standing the test of time.

1. The Survivor - When a story haunts me as much as The Survivor did, I know it's an exceptional book. Some characters just seem to take up residence in my soul after I've finished reading. They hang around with me and we have discussions in my mind about the story. Please don't call in the psych doctors, I'd be devastated if anyone ever took this silent pleasure away. Most of us will never have to deal with psychotic bank robbers threatening our families, but symbolically, this is the story of life's true super heroes; it's the story of how people react and adapt to life's sick sense of humor. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me tell everyone they need to read it. How Gregg Hurwitz continues to top himself book after book is inspiring. He'll have a hard time topping two stellar books in a row, but I wouldn't put it past him.

So, there is my list that I hemmed an hawed over. But indeed I think it's the most accurate reflection of my favorite reads this year. That being said, I have to give recognition to three books that you won't find in the crime fiction aisle of the bookstore. These three are books that I removed because they were strong contenders with the ten above and I wasn't sure how to integrate them:

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend (Matthew Dicks)
The Round House (Louise Erdrich)
On the Outside Looking Indian (Rupinder Gill) - this one actually a non-fiction

The two fiction books revolve around a crime element, but the powers that be in marketing have labeled them as literary fiction or general fiction, I guess. And On the Outside Looking Indian is probably the most unique for me because it's a memoir. I'm not much of a memoir reader, so I think that says a lot about the book!

And then I wanted to give kudos to three debut novels I read this year that were just outstanding and I see these authors doing amazing things (one already is since I read her debut late):

Bloodman (Robert Pobi)
Playing Dead (Julia Heaberlin)
The Things That Keep Us Here (Carla Buckley)

If you did not read my review of Carla Buckley's sophomore novel, Invisible, in Shelf Awareness this month, you'll have a chance to do so this week on the blog. Her debut was a great indicator of amazing things to come!

So, that's it for me for 2012. Next month I'll celebrate five years blogging here at Jen's Book Thoughts. It doesn't seem possible, but it's been so much fun talking books with all of you over the years.  Thanks for joining in the fun. Here's hoping 2013 is full of more book wonderfulness for us all.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year, all!

Favorite First Lines & Covers

I was looking back over my reading spreadsheet for this year and I started to fall behind on keeping track of what I read this year. So, I'm not exactly sure of final totals, but it is somewhere in the vicinity of 95ish books total, a little low which I expected because of all the change this year. I am committing to keeping better track in 2013 and hopefully reading a bit more. But, from what I did accurately track I can tell you that I read at least 77 different authors; at least 54 of the authors were new to me; and at least 13 were debut novels. My audiobook total was the area that took the hardest hit. I listened to about 23 audiobooks. Past years it's been closer to 50 percent of my total. I'm also going to work on getting that back up in 2013 by dedicating at least an hour for walking each day, and I'll listen to audio then.

How about you all? Any areas of your reading that you'd like to work on in 2013? Anything from 2012 that you're especially proud of? A new author you tried? A different genre? Or even sub-genre of crime fiction? Did you discover you loved (or hated) something that surprised you? Share with us in the comments!

This is my week of favorites lists for this year. I'm going to include a new one today and that's my favorite covers and first lines. I have to admit that I am not a connoisseur of covers. I don't buy books because of the covers or reject books because of the covers (at least to date--if a cover really offended me I'd probably not buy it). So take my five choices with a grain of salt. Now on the other hand, first lines are something that I definitely pay attention to; that's why I include them on my reviews. And of course these choices are only from the books I read this year--it also doesn't include any 2013 publications I've read this month.

My Top Five Favorite Covers:

5. Boca Daze. I have often commented about walking down the mystery aisle in a bookstore or library. There's a sea of black, with red and white speckled in. The books that stand out to me are the ones that are NOT black. And the cover of Boca Daze just screams fun without looking preposterous. Since I had an early copy of this one, my cover was just boring black and white. The final cover is a masterpiece.

4. The Prophet. I really have to tip my hat to the Little, Brown folks because this was a bit of a gamble. I know there was some concern about people not wanting to buy the book with the dead bird on the cover. That didn't stop Koryta from hitting the NYT bestseller list with it, though. This is a cover that was tuned into the content of the book and was unique to the book. Nice call on this cover!

3. Whiplash River. I love the pure simplicity of this cover and how well it articulates the constant movement of the book. And again, I think the cover is in tune with the unique elements of the book.

2. Taken. The atmosphere of this cover is what first grabs my attention. I have a large version of this cover hanging on my library wall. It embraces the impending doom that boils in the novel while still showing a ray of hope. And the reflection is equally befitting the content of the novel. This one was well planned out.

1. The Survivor. At first glance this cover may not look like much, but the power behind the itty bitty man on his precipice is breathtaking. If you miss that little man (as I did at first because I was so excited to read a new Gregg Hurwitz book), it changes the cover completely. When I closed this book and really looked at the cover I was blown away. Again, the simplicity of the image was what did it. The enormity of the message in the simple graphic arrangement is stunning. I love this cover. Hands down, my favorite this year.

My Top Five Favorite First Lines:

5. Julia Heaberlin's  PLAYING DEAD:

"Despite its name, Ponder, Texas, pop. 1,101, isn't a very good place to think."

 This opening line is a good chuckle, but it all sets the scene and the atmosphere immediately. I was very excited to read this debut novel after that opening line.

4. Chris Grabenstein's FUN HOUSE:

"He wasn't happy about it, but last night my partner John Ceepak became a TV star."

Chris Grabenstein is a master of first lines. This first line may hold more attraction to readers of the series who already know John Ceepak, but even if you don't have that background, you know quite a tale is close on the heels of this opening sentence.

3. Ace Atkins's THE LOST ONES:

"A couple of roustabouts had been asking about guns at the Tibbehah County Fair, but by the time the word had gotten back to Donnie Varner, they'd long since packed up their Ferris wheel, corn dog stands and shit, and boogied on down the highway."
I love how Atkins's language brings out the setting of the novel. It also seems to add a scent to the air and a color to the page. Even though I know this is going to be a crime novel, I end up with a warm feeling from the way he puts his words together on the page.

2. Gar Anthony Haywood's ASSUME NOTHING:

"His last night in Florida, Joe Reddick remembered the blood in the goldfish bowl."

And the whole book follows suit with that. It's such a startling image to really grab the reader as soon as he/she opens the book!

1. Robert Pobi's BLOODMAN:

"Two hundred feet below the rolling metal surface of the Atlantic, a handful of ghosts skittered along the ocean floor in a jerky seesaw roll, furling and unfurling in a diluvial ballet."

The imagery of this statement is a mix of fun and fear. Bloodman was one of those rare books that taps the paranormal (just slightly) and I still love it and buy into it. It would have been hard to dislike the book after this opening sentence. This is another debut novel, by the way.

I went back and forth with about three other first lines that were great from my reading this year, but I wanted to keep each of these lists today to five, so I determined these five first lines to be my favorite.

Tomorrow I should have my favorite audios of 2012 and Monday will be my overall favorite reads of the year. I hope you'll check back and share your favorites as well! Happy Reading!

Five on Friday - Michael Koryta

One of the reasons I started blogging was having attended my very first author event...and the author was Michael Koryta. I left the event so excited and really needed to TALK to people about it. So, I wrote a blog post. The rest is history.

This week I saw Michael again, in the same room of the same library where I first heard him speak seven books ago. I still walk away from events with that same excited feeling. These days, I have Twitter and Facebook, so I can spit out little tidbits as the event progresses, but it's still very exciting and fun to me.

For this event, I had an added bonus and that was the addition of my good friend George Litchman. George and I went to school together for many years and we both came to know Michael through different directions. Small world. But George interviewed Michael at Rocky River Library this year and it was fun to see the two of them perform together.

Here are FIVE little nuggets from Tuesday's event that you might like to know:

1.) Michael says it's much more likely he'll return to Lincoln Perry. He hasn't been so sure in the past, but Lincoln may resurface. He's considering the possibility of a short story with Lincoln.

2.) Writing as a career has become more like a "job" for Michael with each additional book he writes. Not because he has lost any of the passion for writing, but because of the management/upkeep of the books in the backlist. He spends much more time on the phone and emailing about business-related stuff than he ever did before.

3.) His favorite color is blue.

4.) Michael originally started The Prophet before Cypress House and Kent was just a minister/preacher. He was about 100 pages into the story and threw it out because it wasn't working. I guess every story has its time.

5.) The next book Michael will publish deals with forest fires, a hit man and survival training. Yikes!

I'm rather stoked about the collector editions of Michael's Little, Brown books that will be out. I've seen the cover for The Prophet and no matter what, I'll be getting The Ridge. But I'm sure I'll have more to share with you on those things when they're closer to fruition. In the mean time, I'm so thrilled to have Michael here today for the Five on Friday feature. I'd like to claim to be his biggest fan, but I know he has many. So I will merely tell you I admire this young man - he's a wonderful person - and I love his writing - boy is he talented! My fellow crime fiction fans, Michael Koryta....

1. A place I’ve never visited but would like to is: the Arctic. The polar ice cap. I’d love to get out in one of those truly remote areas that are melting away even as I sit here and type, an endless expanse of ice and snow and wind. It’s always seemed both fascinating and terrifying to me.

 2. If I could sit next to anyone (not related to me) on a cross-country flight, it would be Charlize Theron because she might require a leg massage. Cross-country flights are dangerous, and I’d be willing to help her circulation, because I am a gentleman.

 3. The best car I ever owned was: I’m going to have to give a nod to my pickup truck even though it is in no way the nicest car I’ve owned, but it was the best because it once hauled two hybrid wolf dogs away from probable euthanasia and they are now doing well in a sanctuary. I would not have been able to fit them in the trunk of my car, so the 2010 Ford F-150 gets the win due to the presence of wolves.

4. The fictional character that most reflects my personality is: Mr. Thundermug. And if you don’t know, then you need to buy the book to find out.

5. The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: Write a better novel. Honestly, that’s always going to be #1, how boring! There are countless places I’d like to see and things I’d like to do. Learn how to fly a plane. That’s a good one. Knock it on up the list!

I'm sure one of these days we're going to be reading a book about a pilot because Michael needed a reason to learn to fly! The three pictures at the beginning of today's post come, of course, from Tuesday's event. The final two are Michael's contribution to the post. The first is a hiking trip and the second is the wolf truck.

You can stay up to date on what's going on with Michael via his Facebook page, his website and newsletter, and his blog. Michael regularly tolerates my hair-brained blog ideas and schemes, so I send my warmest thanks to him for never getting frustrated with me. I hope you all have enjoyed his responses today.

Have a great weekend and happy reading!

THE PROPHET - Michael Koryta

First line: "The town feels like home immediately, and he credits the leaves."

Kent Austin is the beloved football coach in small-town Ohio. His brother Adam is a bail bondsman doing what he can to get by in the same town. Both were star players in high school, but the murder of their sister Marie when Adam was a senior and Kent a freshman sent the brothers spiraling down dramatically different paths in life. The two barely speak to one another, so when a young woman shows up at Adam's office claiming Kent referred her, Adam is skeptical. But all she wants is for Adam to find an address, a simple task and money is money. Until the girl winds up murdered.

Michael Koryta knows how to write a great crime plot; what sets him apart from the pack is his depth of story. THE PROPHET goes beyond the crime and delves into the lives and relationships of the characters inhabiting the novel. The question of who dunnit plays second fiddle to the relationship between Adam and Kent. There is a massive iceberg under the surface that Koryta slowly exposes and explores as Adam searches for the murderer. And Koryta's not happy to merely lay it out for the reader. He pokes it and prods it and otherwise agitates it until the relationship rears its head to reveal its true nature.

Being a Mid-Westerner, it's hard not to identify with the hometown football mentality. This year my classmates and I have been out of high school 20 years. But the world Koryta created in THE PROPHET brought high school back to me as though it was yesterday, or rather as though I should be preparing to leave for two-a-days tomorrow morning.* The relationship between coach and player cannot be underestimated and the relationship between player and player cannot be underestimated. At one point in the novel Kent says to his wife that he needs to be with his family and his wife says, "go be with your team, they're your family, too." The combined stage of life - the young men are very impressionable - and their reliance on each other to function as a successful team, mix in the hours and hours they spend together: conditioning, drilling, practicing, playing; they ARE a family. Koryta illustrates that like an insider so his readers can feel the passion, the pain, the glory, the defeat.

The symbol of the "prophet" plays throughout the novel taking on different levels of meaning, as does the game of football itself. And one of Koryta's favorite sources of symbolism: nature. He uses the birds, the weather, he even interjects some symbolic snakes.

While Koryta has grown and changed as a writer, he still maintains a dark level of humor and a beautiful appreciation of language:

"But life? It didn't card you before it sold you some pain."

"Adam lived in a temple of memories, he could not move forward, his past was his present."

Koryta has returned to the straight crime novel with an effort that provides readers a breath-taking reading experience. Whether you're reading for the plot, the characters, the language or the whole shebang, THE PROPHET offers it up in spades.

Perhaps Koryta missed labeling one prophet in this endeavor. When the cover leads with his name, you know a fantastic read is guaranteed to follow.

THE PROPHET is available tomorrow in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0316122610) from Little, Brown and Company. It is also available from Hachette on audio (ISBN: 978-1619692305), narrated by the amazing Robert Petkoff.

* No, I didn't suit up for our high school team. I was, however, a student assistant for the team the better part of my high school career. While the members of that team don't see each other regularly, the bonds from that period in their lives still exist. They exist for me as well.

2011 Overall Favorite Reads

Wow! We've come to the end of yet another year. Next month I will celebrate four years of blogging. Doesn't seem possible at all. A lot of growing and changing have happened in those years. A lot of new friends and of course a lot of books! I love that we can share that common bond.

But, before I start getting too sentimental, let's concentrate on 2011. This year I read 98 books, which was four below last year's total of 102. I try to aim for 100 each year, but given all the wonderful busy-ness of this year, I'm not at all disappointed in that total.

Of the 98 books, 47 were audiobooks - so almost half.

There were 83 different authors in the 98 book mix, 51 were new-to-me authors and 14 were debut novels. 65 books were written by men, 3 were written by male/female duos and 30 were written by women.

Now for the hard part. Winnowing down my favorite 10, but here we go:

10. THE HANGING TREE (Bryan Gruley) - this book was released in Summer 2010, so I was a little late in reading it, but Gruley blows me away with each book and I'm very much looking forward to his next book in this series, SKELETON BOX, that comes out next summer. I won't be waiting long to read that one, rest assured. STARVATION LAKE was great and THE HANGING TREE was even better. Can't wait to see what awaits Gus next. (Touchstone)

9. EL GAVILAN (Craig McDonald) - Craig consistently writes great fiction and with EL GAVILAN he stretched his wings a bit. I love that this book shows both his versatility as a writer and his traditional strengths as well. I love that he drew me in with characters I couldn't decide if I loved or hated. (Tyrus Books)

8. LONG GONE (Alafair Burke) - with every book Alafair Burke grows as a story teller and in LONG GONE she veered off the path she's been so successful with to date. She blazed a new trail proving yet again that she's got writing chops, y'all! Spending time with her characters in the NYC she so expertly creates is a treat. LONG GONE is possible the sweetest treat yet. (Harper)

7. DOMINANCE (Will Lavender) - WATCH. THIS. MAN. He is flat-out amazing. And he's young and with luck we will be seeing a lot more from him. DOMINANCE is complex and puzzling and mysterious and brilliant. This book was so much fun to read. And Will Lavender is a new-to-me author this year. DOMINANCE is his second novel. (Simon & Schuster)

6. SATORI (Don Winslow) - the very first book I read in 2011 and back then I said, "this will be on my favorites list" and it is. I loved SATORI as a book by itself, having not read SHIBUMI beforehand. After I read SHIBUMI I realized further how astounding SATORI is. Winslow managed to stay true to Travanian's characters and still infuse his own style and technique. SATORI is a work of art. (Grand Central)

5. THE SURROGATE/CAGE OF BONES (Tania Carver) - I'm putting these together, not trying to cheat, but CAGE OF BONES is not yet released in the U.S. I read both books this year, THE SURROGATE being the debut novel from Tania Carver - which is the writing team of Martyn Waites and his wife, Linda. Martyn writes independently under his own name as well, so it's not really his debut, but semantics. Like Bryan Gruley, I see the Tania Carver books as starting out great and only getting better. For those of you who like dark suspense, this is an absolute DO NOT MISS series. I'm hooked. I have to jump back and read THE CREEPER (due out in the US in 2012) - the middle book in the series - but once I'm all caught up this is definitely a series I'll be waiting impatiently for each new installment. Martyn's just thankful that he's across the pond so I can't camp outside his house waiting for the next book! ;-) (Pegasus)

4. THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES (Marcus Sakey) - The fact that I get to be a high-powered, kick-ass lawyer in this book has nothing to do with it's appearance on this list. And you should not hold Marcus' questionable choice in character names against him. This is the most amazing of his books. It's smart, fast-paced, brilliant plot twists. It keeps you on your toes and while the momentum of the book drives you to turn pages faster and faster, you don't want it to end. It's just too much fun. And that's what reading should be. (Dutton)

3. HELL IS EMPTY (Craig Johnson) - Yes indeed, I am an evangelist for this series. I do indeed have a crush on Walt Longmire. And if I didn't adore Vic so much, I'd want to kick her butt! O.k., don't worry, I do realize these are fictional characters, but when you're caught up in the books, they're friends. Breaking open a new Walt Longmire is like taking a vacation to my favorite destination. Prior to HELL IS EMPTY, KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED stayed my favorite, stayed my favorite, stayed my favorite and then HELL IS EMPTY rocked my reading world. There are so many wonderful layers to this book and you can enjoy one, some or all. (Viking)

2. YOU'RE NEXT (Gregg Hurwitz) - This book is always the hardest one for me to articulate why I love. Not because it's for bad reasons but rather because it affected me so deeply. This is a book that still resonates with me months after finishing it. The relationships that Hurwitz created between his characters are pulchritudinous (yes, I did learn that word just for this book...nothing else seemed to embrace the magnitude of what I was trying to say). I don't know how Gregg can tops this one, and how the heck can I top pulchritudinous if he does? (St. Martins)

1. THE RIDGE (Michael Koryta) - I, of course, revealed this last week in the year end meme. Michael's approach to both his human and feline characters is stunning. The world he created is dark and haunting, but I so wanted to be there. THE RIDGE gets the top spot this year because Koryta did what few are ever able to with me - he enticed me to let go of the reality I cling to and willingly follow into his. With any luck, Koryta will never want to be a cult leader. I think I'm a goner if he does. (Little, Brown)

In year's past, I've had debut authors in my top favorite 10. This year I didn't, but not because there weren't excellent debut authors, those danged veterans were just showing their experience! Anyway, I wanted to recognize a few debut authors as my favorites for 2011:

Sara Henry released LEARNING TO SWIM this year. I look forward to watching her grow as a writer and experiencing her work.

James Barney released THE GENESIS KEY which I felt did a wonderful job blending science, religion and crime! (Harper)

And Daniel Palmer released DELIRIOUS and I was glued to it. I've actually had the chance to read his follow-up to DELIRIOUS which is still a thriller, but quite different in content, so I can already see his versatility as writer in this genre. Problem with getting to read those ahead is you have to wait longer for the next one to come. I'm sure I can keep busy in the interim, though! (Kensington)

I feel very blessed that I learned to love reading and can appreciate the wonder and magnificence. While it's a challenge to narrow down a list to 10 favorites, it's also a tremendous gift to have experienced all of these worlds and characters - friends. My heartfelt thanks go out to all the authors who have shared their talents.

And many, many thanks to everyone who has entrusted me with books this year. I wish I was able to read every last one. And there are so many that I still intend to read. As things continue to change in my world, I hope that it offers me more opportunity to read and share and enjoy books with you all.

Thanks for hanging out with me this year! Let's do it again in 2012, o.k?

The Year-End Meme

I completed this meme last year and wanted to kick off my year-end lists with it again this year. It may foreshadow the lists that will be coming throughout the next week or so but I think there will still be quite a few surprises for you to uncover in those lists.

1. Best Book of 2011 – Last year I had a tie in this one and while there are a lot of great, great books I read this year, one does stand out above the rest for me and that’s THE RIDGE. Michael Koryta has been a wonderful writer since his debut with TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE, but THE RIDGE takes him to a whole new level of greatness.

2. Worst Book of 2011 – This year was a great, great year for reading but I also had quite a few books that I didn't review because they just hit all the wrong chords with me. And this year I believe I had more books that I simply didn't finish than ever before. It's hard for me to pick one that stands out, but these four were no-gos for me: THE WEIGHT (Andrew Vachss), LOVE ME TO DEATH (Allison Brennan), THIEVES GET RICH, SAINTS GET SHOT (Jodi Compton) and TABLOID CITY (Pete Hamill).

3. Most Disappointing Book of 2011 – DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X. I know a lot of people liked this and I was looking forward to it, but it just fell flat for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters and I'm actually surprised I finished the book at all.

4. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2011 – I'm going to go with HOUSE DIVIDED by Mike Lawson here. I wasn't expecting it to be bad. I had no idea what to expect, so when it was so wonderful, I was very pleasantly surprised.

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2011 – I recommended YOU’RE NEXT, THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES and SATORI endlessly this year, so I’m not sure which of those was the most often.

6. Best series you discovered in 2011 – Phillip Brennan/Marina Esposito series from Tania Carver and the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alystyne series from Julia Spencer-Fleming.

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011 – Martyn Waites, Louis Bayard, Lesley Kagen, Will Lavender, Mike Lawson, Daniel Palmer, Todd Ritter, Ace Atkins - I read 50 new authors this year and it's wonderful that so many were this spectacular, but my must-read list is growing out of control!

8. Most hilarious read of 2011 – This category's a little more difficult for me because I don't read books that would be categorized as "comedy" but at the same time, one of the qualities I love about my favorite books are the humor that weaves its way in. But I think the book I enjoyed the most and that packed the most humor would be THE WORLD'S GREATEST SLEUTH! (Steve Hockensmith).

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011 –YOU’RE NEXT. This book is just WOW on every level imaginable. Even though I despise the word “unputdownable” I had a terrible time parting with YOU’RE NEXT and it was one of my very few single sitting reads this year.

10. Book you most anticipated in 2011 – This would be a toss up between LONG GONE, because I always anticipate a new Alafair Burke book, THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES because there was a bit of a lull between Marcus’ publications and A HARD DEATH because I've been waiting several years for the U.S. folks to publish Jonathan Hayes' second novel. Yay!

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011 – I think I have to give this nod to THE RIDGE. All the jackets that Michael Koryta has had with Little, Brown have been wonderful, but this was my favorite. And I love the texture of it as well as the look of it.

12. Most memorable character in 2011 – I have to go back to Daniel in Robert Crais' THE SENTRY for this one. He is by far my favorite antagonist ever. I sure would like to see him come back maybe in a book of his own.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2011 – This one is so hard this year. SATORI was just incredibly written, CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER amazing, THE RIDGE left me breathless, THE HANGING TREE was stunning, A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE - I seriously think Roger can only write beautifully, it would be a challenge for him to write mediocre, and finally YOU'RE NEXT - I can't imagine not being struck to your soul by Gregg's amazing book.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011 – This is definitely a tight race between THE RIDGE and YOU'RE NEXT. They impacted me in different ways but both tremendously so. These will both be books I'm recommending for years and years to come.

15. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2011 to finally read? – this one is easy for me again. THE ALIENIST. How far behind can I possibly be?

Crime Fiction's Sexiest Authors of 2011

This blog post has been in the works for almost a year now. The seed was planted waaaaaay back in January when my attention was pointed to this post called You Know You're an English Major If...Probably about a third of the way down the list, you'll notice the entry, "You consider authors to be sex symbols."

I reckon I have to admit to being in that camp. I do think it's sexy to be smart and creative and funny, so with People Magazine releasing their Sexiest People issue, and Salon.com weighing in on their Sexiest Men, I thought it was high time I got my post ready for public consumption. And I'm all about gender equality, so come back on Friday for the ladies' turn.

People puts the honorees into categories, and I've done the same. I have 5 honorees and a "Sexiest Man Alive." So here we go:

THE SEXIEST WRITER-ATHLETE 

Those shorts are sexy, Tom!

Tom Schreck runs, boxes, plays basketball...I don't think swimming in the hot tub counts, but that's o.k. He is a black belt in karate even though he gave up "wearing pajamas" to wear robes. Other factors that contribute to Tom being on this list are his sense of humor, his kindness, and his love of animals.

Tom writes the Duffy Dombrowski series, the fourth of which, VEGAS KNOCKOUT, will be out from Thomas and Mercer in May.

SEXIEST TRIPLE-SERIES WRITER

New Reeds, old Reeds, they're all Great Reeds!

At least right now there are three. Since he's a long way from retirement, we don't know how many series Reed Farrel Coleman will ultimately end up with. Reed seems to work in 3s. He's won the Shamus Award three times - as well as three other awards: the Barry, the Macavity and the Anthony; he has three series: Moe Prager, Joe Serpe/Bob Healy, Dylan Klein; and he's published in three formats: novel, short story and poem.

Reed is gregarious; he wields his sarcastic wit as effectively as his pen; and he's always up on the latest hair styles! In all seriousness, when I first met Reed in person, I was more than a little intimidated. But it took round about 30 seconds to know he's one of the nicest people you'll have the chance to meet.

This year Reed releases two new books. GUN CHURCH is an audiobook original, and you'll be hearing more about that soon. And HURT MACHINE is the latest Moe Prager novel, due out next month.

SEXIEST AWARD-WINNING WRITER

King of the...Pier?

Self-confidence is sexy, right? Well, Brad Parks has plenty of that! And did you know Brad won the 2010 Shamus award?! The cockiness is part of the facade Brad sports (well, maybe not all facade..) but under that is a supportive, generous, funny individual with a grand imagination and love of life.

Brad writes the Carter Ross mystery series. His third installment, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, will be out in March from Minotaur Books.

SEXIEST WRITER UNDER 30

"I've got it all up here."

O.k., so most folks grumble when they discover that Michael Koryta is as wildly talented and polished as he is and he hasn't celebrated his 30th birthday yet. But, I just look at it this way, I should be able to enjoy his new books all the way until they spread my ashes. Right? If you ever listen to Michael talk about his craft all you can hear is passion. And I completely love that he works with the Exotic Cat Preserve to rescue the great creatures. He's smart and witty and deserves his place on the list.

Michael's latest novel, THE RIDGE, was released this past summer. He informed us via Twitter that his next book will be a Vampire kitten/PI novel hybrid - I'm just kidding. He did say that but in jest. He's returning to a classic crime novel, but I don't have release date for that.

SEXIEST WRITER ON TV

The hat shadow is covering the five o'clock shadow.

Since the commercial is now showing, I can say the winner of this category is Marcus Sakey. And no, his hair played no role in the decision. When I first met Marcus' wife g.g. she explained that we all have dreams and aspirations in life, Marcus' are just usually higher than most. That was when he was training to climb Mt. Rainier. Marcus is full of life and always ready for the next challenge. This year that challenge was a television series called Hidden City, scheduled to begin airing next month.

One of the "extras" to Marcus' character that boosted him onto this list was his ability to make people feel like SUPERSTARS, no matter how ordinary. Look at me...I went from author groupie to high powered lawyer in less than 300 pages!

Marcus' latest release is THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES. He's hard at work on his new novel, but obviously had to take time out for that television thing! I'll have more about that at a later date.

And drum roll please....

JEN'S SEXIEST MALE WRITER ALIVE

Gregg Hurwitz! My first chance to meet Gregg in person was my first visit to L.A. for the book festival back in 2009. I had already discovered THE CRIME WRITER and was so excited to meet him. He hung out and talked with Michael Alatorre and I for quite a good spell, told us how he met his wife, made us laugh, obviously left a lasting impression. And on top of that, before I got home there was an email in my inbox saying "it was nice to meet you."

Since that I've learned what a great pet parent he is as he often talks about taking Simba to the dog park, having Simba at his feet while he writes, visiting Simba on his trips home during book tour. And of course his daughters! He's such a proud papa and his adoration of his girls simply radiates from him.

Gregg is smart, funny, talented - his skill range goes from Shakespeare to The Penguin to V. He's generous and kind - he tolerates me and there's no restraining order...yet. And I'm pretty certain he could get anyone to do his bidding with that 100 watt smile.

I can't remember the last time I was asked for a book recommendation and one of Gregg's books wasn't on the top of my list. For this book nerd, that's as sexy as it gets. Move over Bradley Cooper, ya ain't got nothin' on Gregg!

As with anyone's choice in a topic like this, there will be much dissension among the ranks. So it's your turn. Who would be on YOUR list? And let's keep the conversations family appropriate, please!

Remember, the ladies will get their turn on Friday! Have a great Thanksgiving and Happy Reading.



**Note: this post is meant to be fun. I sincerely mean what I've written about the authors, but I contacted each author to get his/her permission to use them in this post. I did not want to include anyone who would be uncomfortable or feel awkward about being mentioned. I hope you've enjoyed it.