2014 was
a great year for reading in both quantity and quality. I finished 64 titles,
and will likely finish one more—Logan’s
Search by William F. Nolan. I surpassed last year’s mark by nine. The
majority of the titles were fiction, but the total includes a tolerable number
of nonfiction works, too. The nonfiction tended towards history and true crime,
which included a number of interesting titles including A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger and My Silent War by Kim Philby.
I entered 2014 with two reading goals—1. Increase
the number of “new” authors (in 2013 I read only five authors new to me); and 2.
Increase the number of female authors on my reading list. I successfully
increased the number of new writers, but the second goal was an abject failure.
I only read one book—a nonfiction book titled Dirt, Water, Stone: A Century of Preserving Mesa Verde by Kathleen
Fiero. So, 2015 will have to be the year of the woman in my reading list.
I became acquainted with the work of eight authors
in 2014: Andrew Hunt (City of Saints),
Richard Hoyt (Trotsky’s Run), J. J.
Maric (Gideon’s Staff), Stephen
Overholser (Shadow Valley Rising),
Steve Brewer (Baby Face), Michael
Parker (The Eagle’s Covenant), Robert
Parker (Passport to Peril), and Gregg
Loomis (The Julian Secret). The best
of the “new”—not so new really since it was published in 1982—was Richard Hoyt’s
Trotsky’s Run.
As is my habit, I returned to old favorites
many, many times. In fact, four authors accounted for 24 titles, which is
approximately 38 percent of the total for 2014. I read nine by Harry Patterson,
eight by Ed Gorman, four by Garry Disher, and three by Lawrence Block. I had a
few special projects that inflated the number of titles read by specific
authors including my ongoing initiative to read and review all of Harry
Patterson’s early novels—34 novels published between 1959 and 1974—interviews
with Garry Disher and Ed Gorman, not to mention an Introduction I wrote for
Stark House Press’s forthcoming release of Mr Gorman’s classic private eye
novels The Autumn Dead and The Night Remembers. An omnibus I
recommend absolutely.
Now all that is left is my top five favorite
novels of—at least that I read in—2014. No rules, except no repeats. If I read
it in a prior year it is not eligible for the top five. It was difficult
to pare the list to five, and there were three or four that were cut from the
list that I wish hadn’t been. With that said, my five favorite novels of
2014 are—
5. Murder
as a Fine Art by David Morrell. The work of David Morrell has been
a staple of my reading since my teens, and I generally read his new work as it
is released. Murder, however, was an
exception. I waited more than eighteen months from its release before reading
it, which was a mistake because it is, simply put, fantastic. It is a Victorian
novel—think of the journal entries of Dracula mixed with the sophisticated
mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, and the setting and description of Charles
Dickens—but also very modern, and very David Morrell.
4. Trotsky’s Run by Richard
Hoyt. Trotsky’s Run is my first experience with
the work of Richard Hoyt. It was published in 1982 by William Morrow, and
I ran across the mass market edition released by TOR in 1983. It is an
espionage novel with a cleverly devised plot, humor, a little tradecraft, a
bunch of history—both now and then—and a somewhat satirical view of cold war
paranoia. Read the Gravetapping review.
3. Goin’ by
Jack M. Bickham. Goin’ is a running-from-age
novel rather than a coming-of-age novel. Stan is middle-age. He has a wife, now
ex-wife, and a daughter. He is miserable, empty, and searching for something to
make things better. He buys a small Honda street bike and hits the road. He
finds adventure in the same vein as a 1960s television show—think Route 66. It has the feel of a
coming-of-age tale, but it is shadowed with a darkness and cynicism that comes only
with age and experience. Goin’ spoke
to me—I, somehow, am inching in to middle age. I understood the struggles, and
fears of the protagonist. Read the Gravetapping
review.
2. Whispering Death by Garry Disher. This is the sixth, and most recent, entry in the Hal Challis and Ellen Destry series of crime novels. It is a police procedural of the best kind. It is human, interesting, and entertaining. The antagonists are a serial rapist, and a brilliantly executed professional criminal named Grace. The beauty of this novel, and everything written by Mr Disher, is the crafty manner information is kept from the reader—from back stories to motive.
2. Whispering Death by Garry Disher. This is the sixth, and most recent, entry in the Hal Challis and Ellen Destry series of crime novels. It is a police procedural of the best kind. It is human, interesting, and entertaining. The antagonists are a serial rapist, and a brilliantly executed professional criminal named Grace. The beauty of this novel, and everything written by Mr Disher, is the crafty manner information is kept from the reader—from back stories to motive.
1. Strangers by Bill Pronzini. Strangers is a special novel. It is atmospheric, weighty,
and entertaining. It is plot driven, but the procedural mystery runs a distant
second to its raw emotional impact. The setting—desolate, stark, empty—fits the
thematic structure of the story. It is
one of the more powerful Nameless novels. Its emotional impact is on par with
Mr Pronzini’s standalone work; particularly his masterful Blue Lonesome—which shares a
similar setting, but very different leading woman—and The Crimes of Jordan Wise. Read
the Gravetapping review.
Ben, you read some very interesting fiction in 2014. I'm making a note of some of your new authors and favourite novels. Your two reading goals have been my goals too except I have been faring poorly on the second goal. Three authors I definitely intend to read in 2015 are Ed Gorman, Bill Pronzini, and Lawrence Block. I know I'm in for a treat. About Harry Patterson, what can I say? Any friend of Patterson or Higgins is a friend of mine. I continue to look forward to reading your reviews of his early novels. How many of the 34 novels have you read and reviewed so far? I'd love to sit with a stack of them.
ReplyDeleteA very Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family, Ben!
Prashant. You can't go wrong with Gorman, Pronzini, and Block. My favorite Block novel of 2014 was A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, which is the basis for the film of the same title.
ReplyDeleteHarry Patterson's work is interesting. I've been reading and re-reading it since I was 14 or 15, and I never seem to tire of it. It seems like an old friend. I have reviewed 17 of the first 34. Mostly in order; however there have been a few reviewed out of order.
Thanks for reading, and I agree. Any friend of Harry Patterson's work is a friend of mine.
Ben