What are you Reading now ..... other than comics ?

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So I'm all Stephen King'd out and want to switch my gears.

 

What's a really good murder mystery novel?

 

Something that's not terribly confusing but something with some good plot twist(s) and a thinker. In the mold of "And Then there Were None" if you are familiar with that.

 

Also, no Agatha Cristie suggestions as I've already read a bunch.

Jeffery Deaver is the master of plot twists, so any of his 'Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs' mysteries.

But my 'gold standard' writer is John Sandford - his 'Prey' series or the Virgil Flowers series, either one.

 

And check out what's coming: FACEOFF – Coming Out In June 2014

Twenty-three of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers have paired their series characters in an eleven-story anthology curated by the International Thriller Writers (ITW). Includes Lincoln Rhyme vs. Lucas Davenport in “Rhymes With Prey,” by Jeffery Deaver and John Sandford.

Just finished reading the Kindle eBook "Rogue Royale: The Lost Bond Film by the 'Shakespeare of Hollywood'" by Jeremy Duns. It chronicles the history of "Casino Royale", whose rights were purchased separately from the slate purchased by Saltzman/Broccoli which became the Bond films that we know. Apparently it was meant to be a very serious, gritty treatment (old drafts of the -script exist), but it unfortunately became the farce that was the 1967 comedy film after the screenwriter died and the original plans for it changed.

 

I just started reading the well-reviewed vampire novel from a few years ago, "Enter, Night" by Michael Rowe.

I just started reading the well-reviewed vampire novel from a few years ago, "Enter, Night" by Michael Rowe.

 

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe was a furious page turner sure to be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys vampire stories and comic books. The author clearly grew up reading comics in the '70s, as the Tomb of Dracula series is explicitly referenced and used as a plot device, with some Wendigo action and oblique references to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian world thrown in for good measure. The story reminded me a bit of both Stephen King and Alan Moore (particularly the "American Gothic" storyline from Swamp Thing, while the structure reminded me a bit of the main story/Black Freighter set-up in Watchmen).

 

Anyway, I thought it was a fun, scary read and am sure many of you would enjoy it. My only issue is that it ends rather abruptly and open-endedly (perhaps to leave the door open for a sequel); I'd give it 4 stars out of 5, but another 50-75 pages and it could have been a full 5 star read. My disappointment was partially offset by the appendix which effectively serves as a story within the main story and details the origin of the main vampire - a fantastic short story in and of itself. I'm sure the inevitable film adaptation will flesh out the ending to be more satisfying.

 

Check it out!

The Physics of Super-Heroes by James Kakalios. Great book, check it out!!!

I just started reading the well-reviewed vampire novel from a few years ago, "Enter, Night" by Michael Rowe.

 

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe was a furious page turner sure to be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys vampire stories and comic books. The author clearly grew up reading comics in the '70s, as the Tomb of Dracula series is explicitly referenced and used as a plot device, with some Wendigo action and oblique references to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian world thrown in for good measure. The story reminded me a bit of both Stephen King and Alan Moore (particularly the "American Gothic" storyline from Swamp Thing, while the structure reminded me a bit of the main story/Black Freighter set-up in Watchmen).

 

Anyway, I thought it was a fun, scary read and am sure many of you would enjoy it. My only issue is that it ends rather abruptly and open-endedly (perhaps to leave the door open for a sequel); I'd give it 4 stars out of 5, but another 50-75 pages and it could have been a full 5 star read. My disappointment was partially offset by the appendix which effectively serves as a story within the main story and details the origin of the main vampire - a fantastic short story in and of itself. I'm sure the inevitable film adaptation will flesh out the ending to be more satisfying.

 

Check it out!

Good review, you have me convinced. I haven't really read any modern horror. I've read the classics, but I actually don't like classic literature. I like crime thrillers mostly, and I think horror is a genre I could like if I found the right author.

 

I did read the Zombie Survival Guide though. It was interesting, but not really a novel right?

I just started reading the well-reviewed vampire novel from a few years ago, "Enter, Night" by Michael Rowe.

 

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe was a furious page turner sure to be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys vampire stories and comic books. The author clearly grew up reading comics in the '70s, as the Tomb of Dracula series is explicitly referenced and used as a plot device, with some Wendigo action and oblique references to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian world thrown in for good measure. The story reminded me a bit of both Stephen King and Alan Moore (particularly the "American Gothic" storyline from Swamp Thing, while the structure reminded me a bit of the main story/Black Freighter set-up in Watchmen).

 

Anyway, I thought it was a fun, scary read and am sure many of you would enjoy it. My only issue is that it ends rather abruptly and open-endedly (perhaps to leave the door open for a sequel); I'd give it 4 stars out of 5, but another 50-75 pages and it could have been a full 5 star read. My disappointment was partially offset by the appendix which effectively serves as a story within the main story and details the origin of the main vampire - a fantastic short story in and of itself. I'm sure the inevitable film adaptation will flesh out the ending to be more satisfying.

 

Check it out!

Good review, you have me convinced. I haven't really read any modern horror. I've read the classics, but I actually don't like classic literature. I like crime thrillers mostly, and I think horror is a genre I could like if I found the right author.

 

I did read the Zombie Survival Guide though. It was interesting, but not really a novel right?

 

(thumbs u

 

I also quite enjoyed the vampire novel "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova from 2005. It's probably the better novel out of the two, but suffers a bit from being too long. I'd recommend it too, though Enter, Night is a quicker, more intense read for sure.

 

Speaking of crime thrillers, I'm about to start the Hard Case Crime novel Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie. My wife is from Scotland and so I'm eager to dive into this thriller set in Edinburgh.

Revisiting Guy Gavriel Kay's canon. I re-read the Fionavar Tapestry in the Fall and started (200 pages or a 1/3 in) Tigana last week. Last time I read it, I was in barracks in the military circa 1994. I am thoroughly enjoying it again.

Just finished up:

 

- The Machine by James Smythe ( a quasi-frankenstein inspired story about rebuilding a man through memory adjustments )

 

- Lockstep by Karl Schoroeder ( New young-adults sci-fi that I recommend. Some very interesting concepts involving space travel and colonization of distant planets )

 

 

Current reading:

 

- Why We Believe in God(s) - A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith by J. Anderson Thomson Jr. MD

 

- Meditations (Dover Thrift Editions) by Marcus Aurelius

 

- The Cool War by Frederick Pohl

 

- Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor by Doug Bradley

 

Once i'm done a few of those then i'll start on reading the Books of Blood by Clive Barker. I've only read a few of the stories out of that collection (such as The Forbidden) and have been on a giant kick recently revisiting all his books which I read growing up (Also just finished The Thief of Always - amazing!).

Speaking of crime thrillers, I'm about to start the Hard Case Crime novel Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie. My wife is from Scotland and so I'm eager to dive into this thriller set in Edinburgh.

 

Finished Kiss Her Goodbye, which was a fast read - decent, but a bit predictable; definitely not the best Hard Case Crime novel I've read by a longshot.

 

Also finished Solo: A James Bond Novel by William Boyd. It's a recent James Bond novel, though it's set in 1969. Basically James Bond is sent to assassinate an African rebel leader and end a civil war, but ends up getting double crossed and goes "solo" (rogue) on the bad guys. A bit reminiscent of the film "Licence to Kill". I enjoyed it; the author tries to capture Fleming's style, though it felt a little more like traditional spycraft and not necessarily uniquely 007-like, but still a fun read.

 

I've just started Michael Lewis' expose on high frequency trading Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.

I really enjoyed Monster Island by David Wellington and am looking forward to reading Monster Nation and Monster Planet.

 

Also reading The Strain, the novel.

Just started "The Zero Marginal Cost Society" by Jeremy Rifkin.

I keep getting these stacks of TPBs from the library, but I did pick up "The First King Of Shannara," a prequel to the original and still-popular "Sword Of Shannara" trilogy.

 

It was pretty good, although I kept feeling I had read it before, even though I knew I hadn't. I guess it is a little formulaic for Terry Brooks.

 

 

 

-slym

Island by Aldous Huxley

Dan Brown's Inferno, but I'm not enjoying it as much as his previous books.

 

More of the same, struggling to keep my attention.

Edited May 13, 2014 by TXReplicant

Just finished Climate changed by Philippe Squarzoni.

 

Moved on to

 

Dan Brown's Inferno, but I'm not enjoying it as much as his previous books.

 

More of the same, struggling to keep my attention.

 

, you aren't alone in this. I was excited to pick this up and see if he had gotten back in to form but with this it only seems to have gotten worse. Sadly, I think his best work is behind him.

Starting "One Hundred Years of Solitude", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Anyone who's anyone is reading this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Bid-Devil-Ryan-Atlas/dp/1499141955/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

 

sympathy for the devil by kent anderson

The Recognitions, William Gaddis.

 

In audible.com format, The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, Stephen King.

 

& last night I got sidetracked with this:

 

http://www.emersoncentral.com/experience.htm