Skip to main content

Summer 2008 Preview

Well it is time for the Summer Preview. Not surprisingly there are bunch of books releasing between now and September. This list is a little different from past lists. THD has included a few books that while very interesting it is doubtful that we will purchase, let alone read. These books mainly fall under the heading of 'wish we had the time.'

The Evil that Men Do - Dave White - June 17
Second of the Jackson Dunne books. I liked the first book to the extent that while I felt I had read it before it was still highly enjoyable. Ok, so technically this is a late Spring release.

Chasing Darkness - Robert Crais - July 1
Back to Elvis. I think the 9th or 10th book for Elvis Cole. I have read most of this author's canon, I think The Watchman is the only book I am missing. Mr. Crais is a good to great author who's early work we find a tad more enjoyable than his later. But 'good' Crais is like 'great' most everyone else.

Fuzzy Navel - JA Konrath - July 8
THD is a sucker for cool looking covers, all of these alcohol themed books have had enticing dust jackets. We've only read the first in the adventures of Chicago Cop Jack Daniel's. It was quick, breezy fun, if a little pedestrian.

Swan Peak - JL Burke - July 8
Probably don't need to include this book on the list as it will probably spend some amount of time on the NY Times Bestseller list. Another Dave Robicheaux book. Reading JL Burke right now, not surprisingly it is pretty great.

The Likeness - Tana French - July 17
The first was Edgar nominated, and lurks in my to be read pile. In the Woods pulled off the triple (Ed, Ant, Bar nominations), so THS guesses she is pretty good.

Hell Hole - Chris Grabenstein - July 22
THD loves this author and this series. Across the board this is our favorite series. This will be a Tuesday purchase and Tuesday afternoon read. THS has waited a whole year for this book.

The Turnaround - George Pelecanos - August 1
Mr. Pelecanos is like a John Cassevettes movie. Not what you expect, challenges you at every turn. Not immediately likable, but by the end you know you have experienced something great. Possibly the only author on this list to approach James Lee Burke.

The Stolen - Jason Pinter - August 1
Well THD killed Pinter's first two books earlier this year. And we are a sucker for crime fiction with journalistic intent. Plus paperback!

Envy the Night - Michael Koryta - August 5
THD honestly thought Mr. Koryta's first book was one of the best first novels we had ever read. THD was somewhat cool on his second, but we are still excited by this author and anything that he writes. This is a stand alone from Koryta's Lincoln Perry books.

Good People - Marcus Sakey - August 14
The third from Sakey, and the second this year. Just talked to our blogging pal Jared about this book today. We are looking forward to the is book more so than the At the City's Edge, primarily because THD really enjoyed that book. This quick turn around is no doubt linked with Sakey's move from St. Martins to Dutton for the release of this book

THD is sure there are a bunch of books we missed mentioning. If you come across one, don't be shy, let us know about it in the comments section.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Is it 'Aughts' or 'Oughts' - The Best of the Decade Pt. II

Better late than what quite possibly could have been never. I found the whole task of formulating and compiling this list to be not very enjoyable. Ugh. Not sure why this list proved laborious to produce. Holidays are not a good time for anything except opening gifts... like a 47" LG LCD television. Let's quit with the complaining and finish the list. If you started here you should go back to the beginning . 5 . DIRT - Sean Doolittle (2001) This was a real toss up for me. I could just as easily gone with the funny and brutal THE CLEAN UP. DIRT gets it by a nose because a lot of what I enjoy about Crime Fiction is discovery. THE CLEAN UP is a great book, one that you should read, but I knew it was going to be good going in. Mr. Doolittle is a terrific writer of human frailty. DIRT contains one of the great truisms of human behavior that we frantically keep secrets from our closest friends and family while just as equally hoping these secrets will be discovered and accepted. I ...

The Very Best of Mr. Michael Connelly - Part 2

My August 31 post of The Hungry Detective ranked all the non-Bosch books. This list returns to take on the larger task of Mr. Heironimous Bosch. 9 Dragons made its appearance right before the Indy B'Con, and try as I might... ok I didn't try that hard... I didn't have time to read it for inclusion in these rankings. As a quick aside I don't want to undersell any of the books at the bottom of the list. Mr. Connelly doesn't know how to write a bad book, but in my case there have been occasions where I have not connected with his work. 13. THE NARROWS - 2004 It is because I love THE POET so much that this book is at the end of the list. When Mr. Connelly is at his best his works has the precision of a watchmaker. THE NARROWS just felt forced and not worthy of the intricacy of THE POET. 12. BLACK ICE - 1993 Second book. Third read. I thought the story was pretty flat. It has been well over a decade since I read this book, but the story of Mexican drug runner...

Murder, Mayhem and the Return of Patrick and Angie

Back from Murder and Mayhem in Muskego IV . It was an ultimately very good weekend if not for a few hiccups. The original intention was to attend the mini-con with my sister who lives in Appleton. Alas, she caught one of the fifty or so colds she will have in the next three months. Everyone at The Hungry Detective office hopes she feels better, and we are already looking forward to attending the fifth installment with her next year. The second minor disappointment was the, I'm sure, entirely unavoidable absences of Duane Swierczynski and Harry Hunsicker . Bummer. (Ed Note. Duane's twitter feed notes a Christening... Cheers to that Mr. Swierczynski!) All of this is, of course, is weighted by the very wonderful news that Dennis Lehane , after taking the balance of a year off after finishing The Given Day, is writing a new book. And it is a Kenzie and Gennaro book. Woo-Hoo! In terms of my own education about Crime Fiction, Dennis is an important figure. I was reading a lot by the...