Posted on 07/25/2008 3:01:11 PM PDT by Stephanie32
(My first thread, hope I'm doing this right!)
"Some Danger Involved" by Will Thomas
Private investigator in London, late 1800s. Kind of Sherlock Holmesian with a bit more violence and humor.
"Dissolution" by CJ Sansom
Henry VIII is confiscating the land, churches and valuables of the Catholic church. Murder is afoot. The best hunchbacked dwarf lawyer in England, Matthew Shardlake, (who works for Oliver Cromwell) is sent to investigate.
"The Religion" by Tim Willocks.
The siege of Malta, 1575 ad., The Knights Templar v. Suleiman the Magnificent. Very violent and bloody. Had that "wow" factor for me.
A friend of mine started a small imprint called Hard Case Fiction. He recycles forties-fifties lurid crime novellae and mixes them with new writers. Pretty good stuff.
A really good long read is the Berlin Noir trilogy by Phillip Kerr (March Violets, The Pale Criminal & German Requim). They are available in one volume. The series covers a Berlin detective pre-war, war years and post war in a dirty, dangerous Berlin. It's his best work by far. I take it off the shelf every four years or so and am constantly surprised by it still.
I got that for my grandson. We drove to Dallas to see/hear Justice Thomas. My grandson was thrilled, and loved the book. He wore his Gitmo t-shirt under another shirt and jacket.
I think Plague Ship was written by Jack DuBrul....just using Cussler’s characters. I read it last month.
Lonesome Dove.
Shogun.
By Robinson I really Liked Shark Mutiny, Barrcuda 945 and Scimitar SL-2 they are about Terrorism, Iran, China, Oil they are similar to Clancy but not so technical.
By Stuart Woods
I liked The Short Forever, Two Dollar Bill, Dark Harbor which revolve around a former cop Stone Barrington they are kind of like James Bonds meets Robert Parkers Spenser
and also by Woods a book called Beverly Hills Dead which I liked because it takes place in the late 40's and mixes in fiction and old hollywood so the detective might be out to dinner and at the next table was like Errol Flynn or some other actual person that was alive at that time although it is still fiction.
Fiction:
The “Flashman” series by George Macdonald Frasier;
The “Polesotechnic League” series by Poul Anderson;
Anything written by Robert E. Howard;
“Dune” by Frank Herbert;
The “Eric John Stark” stories and novels by Leigh Brackett; and
“Dorsai” by Gordon R. Dickson.
Nonfiction:
“Foreign Devils on the Silk Road” by Hopkirk, Peter.
“Jesus of Nazareth” by Pope Benedict XVI. One of the best books of all time, and the best book on Jesus that I’ve ever read, and I’m not Catholic.
DuBrul is listed as co-author. I like his books, too.
Since you’re a woman, if you’re tired of the leftist indoctrination in most fiction today, you’ll enjoy some classics in women’s fiction by Mary Stewart, 1960’s, especially “Airs Above the Ground.” There’s also an Arthurian trilogy.
And there’s always “Rebecca” by Daphne DuMaurier. She was a great writer.
You’ve probably read “The Shell Seekers” by Rosamunde Pilcher. If not, DO.
I wish more women would respond to your question because I’m just about read out on the good books.
>>Berlin Noir trilogy by Phillip Kerr
Haven’t read the first one, IIRC. Will chase it down, but that is a engrossing read.
Alan Furst’s Trilogy of NightSoldiers, A PolishOfficer and DarkStar are really good too; Europa in the twilight between the two big wars, but many small declared and undeclared ones going on.
I recently found Mary Renault and her novels about Ancient Greece, including her Alexander Trilogy, starting with Fire from Heaven.
Gotta go, could spend too much time exchanging good reads.
“You will have to sail up to the Downs, eating the bread of affliction from your cable-laid baubles, and wetting it with the tears of your misery.”
If you can stomach it, Romeo Delaire’s “Shake Hands with the Devil” is a General's account of the genocide in Rwanda during the 90s (when Mad Albright would not say the word “genocide.").
For fiction - anything from David Gemmel, especially “The Rigante” series beginning with “Sword in the Storm.”
Also, Orwell's “1984” and “Animal Farm” are always worth your time.
I bow before your superior qouting ability!
Non-Fiction - The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. He won a Pulitzer for it, and it is incredible.
Science Fiction - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote three books in the late 70's and early 80's that I consider to be great. The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall
Recently I read 7 books by Ian Douglas, who appears to be a pseudonym for William H. Keith, Jr. It's actually three trilogies (only one book is out in the third), and greatly enjoyed them. They are called The Legacy Trilogy, The Heritage Trilogy, and the Inheritance Trilogy (only one book out). I'm looking forward to book 2 of the latest trilogy wheneven it comes out.
Freehold and The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson paint an interesting picture of a UN dominated future where one colony refuses to knuckle under to the UN iron fist. Freehold can be downloaded free from the Baen Free Library. Lot's of good Bolo books by Keith Laumer and others who have picked up the franchise for a few stories or even a book.
As you can see I'm a bit heavy into Science Fiction. If you haven't explored that genre, you will find a lot of good stuff. Most of the movies are BS.
Or maybe “quoting” would work better.
defective spelchek again.
Yes, I'm on the "write" forum. You know the one that values neural frontiersmen.
Simple people do not care to have the apparent "complexity" of their lives made simple.
[And FWIW, I knew about ET's writings years before Oprah 'discovered' him.]
Good luck. Be.
The Good Terrorist, by Doris Lessing.
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