OT....So What You Reading?

[Slytherin Snape]

I read a lot and read pretty quickly (goes with the profession I guess), so I go through a fair amount of books. I'm not much of a sci-fi/fantasy reader, usually sticking more with mystery/police procedurals and "straight up" fiction. Some good ones I'd recommend:

The Poet and The Narrows, both by Michael Connelly. The Poet is a "stand alone" book which introduces new characters from Connelly, while The Narrows, its "sequel", also incorporates the lead character from Connelly's "Harry Bosch" series. They are mystery/police procedurals that center around the hunt for a very, very clever serial killer - with an interesting twist at the end of The Poet that brilliantly sets up The Narrows . You don't need to have read the Bosch series to understand The Narrows, as long as you have read The Poet first.

The Cooper & Fry series by British author Stephen Booth: Black Dog, Dancing with the Virgins, Blind to the Bones, and Blood on the Tongue. The series revolves around the characters Detective Constable Cooper & Detective Sergeant Fry, a male/female team of English Detectives, who have some interesting personality conflicts. He's the local boy son of a fallen police hero, she the career driven "outsider".

The Distant Echo by Val McDermid. A very good page turner set in Scotland. The first half of the book takes place in the winter of 1978 when 4 students "find" the body a woman who has been raped and murdered. After following the initial investigation until it stalls out, the book jumps to December 2003 where the original case has been re-opened as a "cold case". Things spiral out of control from there until we finally learn what really happened that night in 1978.

The Detective Inspector Tom Thorne series by British author Mark Billingham: Scaredy Cat, Sleepyhead, and Lazy Bones. DI Thorne is a bit more rough around the edges than most of the "heroes" of British police procedurals, which makes him all the more likable. He likes to drink, watch football (soccer), distains his superiors, has disastrous relationships with women despite his best efforts, and his best friend is the police department's gay pathologist (who himself is pretty rough, not "flaming" at all). A very intelligent, wry detective series.

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ July 06, 2004 12:59 PM: Message edited by: ?SNAPE? ]</font>

[Mr. Bungle]

I've been reading this:

[Drau]

Terry Brooks: "The Voyge of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch"

after that will be "Dark Tower: Wolves of Calla"

[grail25]

Originally posted by pairadocs:

Up next is DaVinci Code, then I'm going to read the Bourne books by Ludlum.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">DaVinci is probably next. I've read all the Bounr book, the second one (don't remember the title) was the best of the bunch imo.

Right now I'm reading "blood and gold" by Anne Rice. It's in the vampire chronicle, pretty good actually.

[316what]

Dept of Defense Acquisition regulations aka the cure for insomnia. In between naps, I mean readings, I'm also taking an online Defense Acquisition course. Very dry and boring but will look awesome on my resume next year when I get out of the Air Force and become a gov't civilian employee.

[Slytherin Snape]

Originally posted by Dolphinstardust:
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown prelude to DaVinci Code...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I've read both of those and, depsite the DaVinci Code getting most of the major press, I enjoyed Angels & Demons much more. It was probably at least in part because I enjoyed the setting of Angels & Demons in Rome much more than DaVinci in Paris. I just felt the "descriptive" quality of Angels & Demons was much, much fuller - I really got a feel for Rome that I didn't get for Paris. Both good reads, but I prefer the "bastard stepchild" to the "blockbuster". [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ July 06, 2004 12:56 PM: Message edited by: ?SNAPE? ]</font>