Posted on 02/22/2009 6:17:28 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
‘The Glass Key.’ Just put it on my Library request list. Thanks!
I’ve just discovered Lincoln Child, and also Lee Child. Are they related? Both are very entertaining. I LOVE Jack Reacher from Lee Child. :)
Travis McGee was at least as popular as Spencer and more popular than the other two. I but every Harry Bosch novel as it is released, but he is no Travis McGee.
Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes,The Gunsmoke Crew:Matt, Chester, Festus, Doc and Kitty. David”Noodles” Aronson from Once upon a time in America, Harry Faversham form The Four Feathers, The Creeper character played by Rondo Hatten, Major Geoffrey Vickers form the Charge of the Light Brigade, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Lone Ranger and the Shadow.
I have also very recently discovered Lee Child. Jack Reacher is a terrific character. Unfortunately, I have read all the books in the series and feel impatient about the next one coming out (just as with the Patrick O’Brian series).
Have you ever read any of the Donald Westlake “Parker” books (written under the name Richard Stark). Parker is a great anti-hero without being the typical Anti-American Anti-hero.
Anything by Dashiell Hammett is good. "The Continental Op", "The Dain Curse" are also good reads.
He was, IMO, the originator of the hard boiled detective.
Dittos on Jack Reacher. I was surprised to find out Lee Child is from England.
Thanks! I’ll add a Westlake/Stark to my library list as well. :)
Beg to differ about Travis. I enjoyed the first half dozen of John McDonald’s books, but his preachiness started to turn me off. It ruined the aura of Travis’ enviable lifestyle.
I added, ‘Nobody Runs Forever’ as a starting point. How’s that?
That reminds me of V.I. Warshawsky by Sara Paretsky. I enjoyed the first few books but then she kept infusing so much liberalism in them that I just stopped.
I forget their names, but the ‘intellectual’ and the ‘man of action’ in Zorba the Greek. They were a great combination.
Also, the same kind of pairing, Aubrey and Maturin in Patrick O’Brian’s sefaring series. They too were a great combination and played off one another.
Enders Game is perennialy near the top of sci fi book sales. Thats a great name you have there btw.
(i forgot what my name here was when i suggested Ender. doh me)
I but = I buy
Have you read the Kinsey Millhone novels by Sue Grafton? Mom & I were hooked on them from ‘A is for Alibi’ through ‘S’...I think she’s on that letter now.
Kinsey is tough, and not a liberal thing about her that I can see. She’s like Ann Coulter with a gun...Oh, wait, LOL! ;)
Most of the omissions people have mentioned above in "how dare they?" terms are from novels written by authors who are popular but not very good prose stylists. So even if the character is memorable and the book sold well the context in which they appeared would disqualify them in the eyes of a serious critic.
Nero Wolfe??
Oh, goodness. I forgot about him. My ALL time favorite. I have read all of his novels at least three times and they never get old.
It's where I learned words like "ratiocination" and "abditory".
My favorite quote from Archie, "I was so bored I was trying to figure out a third way to cross my legs."
I’m not sure about Lee Child and Lincoln Child being related. Never heard about it.
I usually start at the beginning of a series, but not in this case. Frankly, it did not seem to matter.
I think Lee Child did some prequels (i.e., focusing on Reacher when he was an MP) after establishing Reacher as an ex-MP. (Could be wrong because I read them in order of availability at my library). So, starting at the beginning would really mean starting in the middle.
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