Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Hi everyone,

Here are my March reads:

Top Reads

Defending Jacob: A Novel
William Landay
Part legal thriller and part family drama this was a complete page turner for me while I was reading it. After finishing, I did have a few quibbles with some plot points that, on reflection, did not really add up but overall I thought this was a very good read.

Taken
Robert Crais
As expected, another highly entertaining read from Robert Crais. I thought the book's structure really helped propel the action and kept the plot moving at an extremely fast pace. It was also nice to see Elvis living up to his nickname again.

The Tears of Autumn
Charles McCarry
This was not a fast paced thriller but an excellently written spy novel that was filled with tension throughout and had one of the better fictional explanations for the JFK assassination. Listened to the audio version read by Stefan Rudnicki

Good Reads

Legend
Marie Lu
I found this to be an enjoyable audio. The plot moved along at a brisk pace and the narration by Steven Kaplan and Mariel Stern really brought the two main characters to life.

Jhereg
Steven Brust
This is the first book in a long running fantasy series and found it very enjoyable. The author did a nice job of balancing the plot and characters while giving just enough descriptions of the very different world than our own to keep me interested.

The Archer's Tale
Bernard Cornwell
First in a trilogy set during the Hundred Years War, that I found very entertaining and educational regarding the role archers played during the famous battle of Crécy. As usual, the author juggled the action with a bit of romance and I look forward to reading the next book. Listened to the audio version read by Colin McPhillamy.

Old Man's War
John Scalzi
First in a science fiction series that had an interesting set-up, likable characters, and lots of space opera type action.

OK Read

The Anglo Irish Murders
Ruth Dudley Edwards
This was not quite as good as the previous books in the series. The premise of Baroness Troutbeck, one of the least politically correct characters in fiction, chairing a conference on cultural sensitivities should have been hilarious but the tedium of the attendees permeated the story and in the end I did not really care about any of the murders and the jokes just seemed a bit tired. I listened to the audio version read by Bill Wallis who handled all the different accents with great aplomb.

Glad you liked LEGEND!!

Sherry reminded me that I had a copy of Defending Jacob: A Novel so I'm going to have to push it up the TBR list.

Wow, Sandi, quite an eclectic collection this month.

Carol I just finished it. I liked it

Love your list Sandi!
I agree that Taken was quite a fast paced thriller. Once I get my audio list down I am going to check some of yours out for future listening. Sounds like lots of good science fiction / fantasy!

Thanks for the reminder about Charles McCarry - I really enjoyed his book, The Miernik Dossier. I'm still on library wait list for Defending Jacob. I keep hearing great things about it.

Melodie wrote: "Glad you liked LEGEND!!"

I never would of never heard of it if you had not read it. I'm not really in the loop for YA.

Carol and Marcy,

I think you both will find Defending Jacob: A Novel worth reading. I was going to take it back to the library unread because of due dates but decided not to after sherry posted about how good it was. I think it would make a great discussion book for book groups.

Sandi wrote: "Melodie wrote: "Glad you liked LEGEND!!"

I never would of never heard of it if you had not read it. I'm not really in the loop for YA.

Carol and Marcy,

I think you both will find [book:Defendin..."

i agree about it making a good discussion book, sandi. i gave my copy to my sister and she passed it along to almost everyone at her pool in florida. we all had a great time discussing it.