The plot of this story is as simple as its title. Three men find a plane with four million dollars in it. They decide to keep the money. What at first seems like a simple matter of dividing up the money and trying to keep it secret soon turns into a rollercoaster ride down the darker side of human nature. This is a well thought out, remarkably well-paced suspense thriller that will keep you turning pages all the way to the end.

Scott Smith has a remarkable talent for writing stories that are at once mesmerizing and at the same time deeply moving. Like his newest novel, The Ruins, his stories are not about weird situations, but how people react when caught up in them. This novel is replete with characters so vivid and alive that they seem to jump off the page.

As I read I couldn’t help but ask myself ‘Would I do that?’ You will undoubtedly ask yourself the same question. Prepare yourself however, you may find yourself surprised by your answer. If you haven’t read Scott Smith in the past get this novel today. You won’t regret it.

This was my first, and still my favorite Elmore Leonard book. I’m not sure what combination of factors brought the whole thing off to such great effect, but I loved it. This novel spurred me on to read Elmore Leonard’s entire body of work.

Considering there are over 40 novels to his credit, you would think this was no easy task. But in fact, the opposite is true. I flew through most of them, and my only regret to this day is that there aren’t more of them.

Killshot is a fast paced, intricately plotted crime novel that’s like nothing else you’ve ever read. The characters couldn’t be more colorful or real, and the story just keeps you turning pages. If there is one book that embodies the essence of the couldn’t put it down winner, this is it.

P.S. There’s finally a movie based on this book that should be hitting theaters soon. I just hope Hollywood doesn’t screw it up.

Here I go again. Just can’t get enough of Arkady Renko. I knew Havana Bay was going to be a couldn’t put it down winner, when in the opening pages a character tells Renko, “A dead Russian, a live Russian. What’s the difference?” Talk about cynicism.

Havana Bay is the fourth book in the Arkady Renko novel series. Although some of Renko’s fans will be disappointed and upset at the turn of events that led their favorite investigator to Havana, Cuba, this novel is a riveting page turner that delivers.

Renko arrives in Havana Cuba with nothing to lose and delves into communism, a state he knows too well, in search of an old friend. Place a Russian in Cuba who speaks no Spanish, knows nothing about the island and its history, and can’t contain his need to ask questions, and you can’t help but get a heart-stopping thriller.

If you don’t’ already own it be sure to pick it up. For maximum satisfaction, it is strongly recommended that these novels be read in the order they were written.

Having read Gorky Park and Polar Star back to back, I didn’t know if I had the mental stamina to embark on another rollercoaster ride with Arkady Renko. The thought of another unrelenting page turner was exciting, yet exhausting.

However, the day after finishing Polar Star found me right back at the bookstore. But could I endure another string of sleepless nights completely absorbed in another couldn’t put it down page turner? I figured I just read a couple of chapters and then get some sleep. Of course I didn’t count on how quickly, in the hands of a master storyteller, one can be hopelessly ensnared. Like a junkie, I was hooked and couldn’t stop reading until my alarm clock, quite rudely, let me know it was time to go to work.

What I’ve enjoyed most about the Arkady Renko novels, is the author’s ability to make the protagonist seem so real that after I’ve finished one, I find Arkady Renko constantly cruising through my thoughts. This installment wasn’t much different.

In Red Square, Arkady Renko goes after the ghost of his past only to find that the future he had concocted in his mind all these years, in no way mirrored his current reality. I strongly recommend these novels are read in the order in which they were written. Pick up the first one now, if you haven’t yet done so, and get ready to be swept away.

WARNING: If you’re suffering from chest pain, shortness of breath, or stress put the book down and step away from the bookshelf. I repeat: STEP AWAY FROM THE BOOKSHELF.

But if you’re like me, and you like sharp turns, big hills, and free falling, get ready to sail out into the Bearing sea on the Polar Star and be enthralled by this stomach lurching, white-knuckle gripping, page turning, heart throbbing experience.

If you didn’t already come to love Arkady Renko in Gorky Park, you will in this novel. The author, mercilessly takes you along with Renko on a series of unpredictable and shocking twists and turns that are sure to keep your heart rate up and your stomach churning.

If you don’t already own it be sure to pick up this couldn’t put it down winner and let it sweep you away in its story telling magic.

What a treat! I’d never heard of Jack Ketchum before yesterday, but oh boy am I a fan. I got through Old Flame in about two hours and now I wish I would have slowed down and taken my time. This is a remarkable work of fiction by a master storyteller. What’s this surprisingly good couldn’t put it down pager turner novel about? Think fatal attraction to the power of fifty, then add in some first rate suspense.

The only flaw I could find with this story was that it was way too short, more of a novella really. But seen in the right light, this is another plus for this highly skilled author, who seems to grasp the idea that a story ends only where it must and that to force it to continue is to ruin it. I can’t wait to delve into some of his other works. The plot was fresh and surprising, and the pace was slow and torturous building painfully to a hell of a climax. Jack Ketchum is the real deal.

The Appeal is the first Grisham book I have enjoyed reading in a long time. It wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But, at least for me, it was a couldn’t put it down page turner that kept me reading uninterrupted all the way to the end. After the very bad Bleachers, the even worse Skipping Christmas, and the downright awful Playing for Pizza, I found this novel to be a breath of fresh air.

It is light, fun, easy reading. If you overlook the lack of a strong central character, the cartoon-like stereotypes, the thinly veiled political bias, the one dimensional characterizations, and the nonstop almost Marxist sermonizing about evil corporations, this book is a good read. Grisham’s talent really lies in the legal thriller and any return to it, however shallow, it’s good news to me. If you’re a Grisham fan, and have missed his legal thrillers, you can get somewhat of a fix here.

The Faithful Spy is one of the best books I have read in a long time. This is Alex Berenson’s first novel and the first of his works I have read. For it being the author’s first effort it is an amazing accomplishment. His mastery of storytelling concepts is stronger than that many of today’s bestselling authors.

From the opening sequences this novel was a couldn’t put it down rollercoaster ride. The in-depth detail and the breathtaking realism of some of the scenes were so well done I felt like I was actually there. The book is amazingly well researched. Some details are so precise I can’t imagine how the author knew them. I would’ve of thought he made the stuff up if I hadn’t received formal training in some of these subjects. His knowledge of the military and wartime Afghanistan and Iraq is also first class. I was so impressed, that I found myself deeply disappointed when he has some guy in a scene put on a shirt with handcuffs on. (Berenson buddy, come on. Not possible. At all.) Great book though. Buy it, open it, devour it.

Finding a truly remarkable novel, so good that it can’t be put down, it’s no easy task. For me is about one in twenty. That’s a lot of crap to wade through before finding something special and worthwhile. The feeling I get when I do make such a discovery is indescribable. My heart flutters, my breathing quickens, and until I’m done reading sleep is impossible. Sometime though, the experience is so strong it can be described as almost religious.

I started reading Harvest with very low expectations. I had read two other Gerritsen novels in the past and I was not too impressed. In this gripping, fascinating, complex and enthralling work of fiction, the former internist turned novelist truly outdoes herself. This is a medical thriller of surpassing quality and depth.

This page turner of a novel easily makes the list of the best top ten thrillers ever written. It contains twists upon twists and characters so vivid and real your heart goes out to them at every turn of the page. It is the book that propelled Tess Gerritsen to well deserved fame. If you haven’t read it, it’s time. Don’t wait, pick it up today.

Modern thriller writers like to inject exotic locales into their plots. Most of the time this is nothing more than window dressing, a way to give a little depth to otherwise faulty, lackluster stories. In John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, the locale is as important to the central theme of this rollercoaster, page turner of a story, as his Buddha obsessed Thai detective.

This intriguing, suspenseful, and at times deeply fascinating novel follows the adventures of Thailand’s only honest policeman as he tries to solve the murder of an American Marine. I particularly enjoyed the occasional heavy doses of Asian insights that serve to deepen the story considerably. I highly recommend this ambitious and very enjoyable couldn’t be put down book. Don’t be surprised if after finishing it, you get an overwhelming urge to jump on a plane to Bangkok.