Rose is, in my opinion, Martin Cruz Smith best novel. It’s a historical mystery that seems to break all the rules. It is vivid, engrossing, and brilliant. It is beautifully written, and its unusual plot and location only serve to deepen one’s interest. This is the sort of novel that captures and transports us to a different world, and involves us so thoroughly in the action that we never want to leave. Is it historically accurate? I don’t know, but nor do I care. It feels real, and that’s good enough for me.

By the time Martin Cruz Smith wrote this novel, he had already proven himself a master storyteller. He is the author of such winners as Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square. But if you’re looking for Arkady Renko or a Russia setting, I have to warn you, they aren’t present here.

This is an ambitious and riveting mystery that clearly shows Mr. Smith’s versatility and mastery of his craft. I read the entire thing in one sitting, and now I wish I had read slower. I highly recommend this unusual page turner. If you don’t like it, I suggest you grab your wrist and check for a pulse. Get it now.

I have read many books in my lifetime. From classics to science fiction to even an occasional romance novel, but of all these books, only very few have had the power to actually influence my life. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of these novels.

This riveting masterpiece takes you on the journey of a despondent young man contemplating an unthinkable ethical dilemma. Within the opening pages this novel will grab hold of you and send you back to 1800 Russia where you will vividly live the mental anguish and rationalization of the protagonist’s choice and the unexpected ramifications of his actions.

I love this story because I feel that it truly speaks to the human condition. Every single one of us at one point or another has faced ethical and moral dilemmas and the pressures that come with making the right choice.

If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of this novel and get ready for a twisted tale of greed, crime, and punishment you won’t soon forget.

This well plotted, character driven first novel is no Silence of the Lambs, but it is a can’t be put down page turner that is loads of fun to read.

The author was not shy about setting the stage for a series featuring the femme fatale Gretchen. I can’t wait to see what other adventures Chelsea Cain has in store for us. Pick up Heartsick today and enjoy.

This deeply intriguing, visceral, and heart pounding thriller is one of the best crafted stories I’ve ever read. Set in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake, this can’t be put down story grips you from the very first pages and never lets go.

Flacco, a screenwriter by trade, uses his considerable talent to craft a page turner novel that is richly crafted, sports deep complicated characters, and a villain that makes even the most jaded reader’s blood run cold.

I truly loved this remarkable novel and it saddens me that it is not as well known as it rightfully should be. If you read no other book this year, read this one. You won’t be disappointed.

Tom Rob Smith. Repeat it to yourself. This is a name you need to remember. It will soon be as much a household name as Stephen King. It is almost inconceivable that this is his first book. Many very talented an author, with years of experience pounding the keyboard honing their craft, would sell their souls to write something half as good.

From the haunting opening sequences this story takes hold of you and never lets go.  In this remarkable book the author reworks the story of Andrei Chikatilo, Russia’s most notorious serial killer, into a chilling, riveting, and unforgettable jaunt through Stalinist Soviet Russia.

This couldn’t put it down unforgettable page turner draws you into a nightmarish world were the rules of justice and common human dignity are turned upside down.  This is at once a thriller, a mystery and a historical romance, but above all this is a serious book that will force you to fall in love all over again with basic concepts so many of us take for granted, such as liberty, democracy and the freedom to pursue ones own happiness.

This book has it all. From pedophilia to police misconduct to racial tension and all around mayhem this is a non stop thrill ride you won’t soon forget.

If this is your first dance with Michael Connelly and Harry Bosch, his tortured lead character detective, consider yourself fortunate there are many sleepless nights soon in your future as you compulsively make your way through the whole series.

Combined with its sequel War and Remembrance these two volumes are the definite true and only real masterpieces to come out of the Second World War (in my humble opinion of course). What makes them even more amazing is their page turning can’t be put down quality.

These two massive volumes, over a thousand pages each, follow the lives of an American family, leading up to the war in the first volume, and during the war in the second. A la Forrest Gump, the protagonist Victor Henry manages to find himself a minor player in every significant event during those tumultuous times.

These books are the most historically accurate works about the war ever written. This is not by accident. Rather than run the risk of botching the job, Herman Wouk hired competent historians to help him thoroughly research this remarkable epic.

After finishing these two volumes you will know more about the Second World War than you ever could have learned by actually formally studying it. Hell, when I was done I had trouble convincing myself I really hadn’t lived through the war.

All that said, the best part of these two amazing fiction books is this–they’re a hell of a great read.

For a long time I refused to read this book. I mean rabbits, really. But my bias and ignorance kept me away from one of the best fiction books of all time. Talk about couldn’t put it down.

At first it seemed to me that the author was a little slow to catch his groove but about ten pages into it I realized I was working my way through something exceptional.

This book is touching, exciting, at times poetic, but overall exceedingly beautiful and a can’t be but down hell of a thrill ride. You’ll laugh you’ll cry but above it all you’ll never be able to walk by a wild rabbit again without wondering, hum what’s the little bugger thinking?

Set in Sweden, we get an inside look at Swedish culture and the quirks of Swedish law. The best way to describe this thoroughly enjoyable read, is as an Agatha Christie mystery on steroids. Once I picked it up it was virtually impossible to put down. The book does have its flaws, but it is such fun reading that they are easily forgivable.

Sadly the author of this excellent book passed away shortly after handing in this and two other manuscripts. He will be sorely missed. Hopefully the other two books are as good as this one.

Talk about books you can’t put down.  I literally read this book in one sitting. I had to call in sick to work to accomplish it, but I got it done.  This is a well paced spine tingling thrill ride. I was half way through the book before I realized there were no chapters to be seen anywhere.  This of course is a tension building device, not allowing the reader a natural pause in the story telling, but the author pulls it off to great effect.

Don’t confuse this excellent work of fiction with the very crappy movie by the same name.  It is an old cliche that the book is always better than the movie.  But in this instance the disparity is so great watching the movie actually damages the reading experience by very clumsily forcing pictures in your head that replace the ones so carefully placed there by the author. Stay very far away from it.

This is the sort of book that hearing too much about the story from the beginning tends to ruin the experience. Four friends are on vacation in Mexico. They decide to help a German vacationer look for his brother at an archeological dig where he’s shacked up with a girl.  It goes from there.  Enjoy.