Reader Mailbag: If You Like _ You’ll Love _

Each month one random submitter wins a $25 gift certificate for Amazon. This months random winner is Doug, who actually went through his bookshelf and provided a list of novels he rates 5 stars for people to enjoy. If you like one of these, you’ll like the rest.

Peter Abrahams – A Perfect Crime
David Baldacci – Absolute Power
Linwood Barclay – No Time for Goodbye
James Clavell – Noble House
Harlan Coben – Gone for Good
Harlan Coben – Tell No One
Michael Crichton – Disclosure
Michael Connelly – The Poet
Michael Connelly – The Lincoln Lawyer
Michael C Eberhardt – Body of a Crime
David Ellis – Line of Vision
David Ellis – Life Sentence
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Ken Follett – Eye of the Needle
Philip Friedman- Reasonable Doubt
Philip Friedman – Inadmissible Evidence
George Dawes Green – The Juror
John Grisham – The Firm
Thomas Harris – Black Sunday
Thomas Harris – Manhunter
Thomas Harris – Silence of the Lambs
Greg Iles – The Quiet Game
Clifford Irving – The Trial
Jonnie Jacobs – The Only Suspect
Michael Kimball – Undone
MIchael Kimball – Mouth to Mouth
Stephen King – The Dead Zone
Stephen King – 11/22/63
Robert Ludlum – The Bourne Identity
Robert Ludlum – The Chancellor Manuscript
Robert Ludlum – The Parsifal Mosaic
Philip Margolin – Gone But Not Forgotten
Philip Margolin – After Dark
Philip Margolin – The Burning Man
Steve Martini – Compelling Evidence
Richard North Patterson – Eyes of a Child
Richard North Patterson – The Final Judgment
Gerald Petievich – Shakedown
Nancy Taylor Rosenberg – Mitigating Circumstances
John Sandford – Rules of Prey
James Siegel – Derailed
Randy Singer – By Reason of Insanity
Scott Smith – A Simple Plan
Scott Turow – Presumed Innocent
John Verdon – Think of a Number

Congrats Doug. Here are some more comments:

Ron: This is just off the top of my head. If you like Robert Grisham, you’ll like/love David Baldacci. I just think that these two writers are very similar, and I enjoy reading both of them. I like the way they form their plots, their books follow along an easy to follow trail, and they both have a proven track record. I am reading Memory Man by David Baldacci right now and enjoying it very much. Of course, it depends on the type of books that interest you. I enjoy mysteries, international espionage, history, and biographies. FWIW, my favorite author of all time is: Agatha Christie! You can attribute all that is wonderful about reading mystery fiction to this wonderful writer! I also enjoy Order of Books.com. This is a fantastic website for people who love to read!!

Earl: If you like Joe pickett–cj box–you’ll love cork oconner–william kent krueger…cork oconner is maybe a little more flawed than joe but he is the same type of person…there is right and there is wrong and right is always the way to go…both heroes live in the wilds and both respect the old ways of life in the wilderness,,,cork in part indian and there is often conflict between both ways of looking at problems,,,if you have not read either writer, i cannot guide you to one or the other…try them both you will not be disappointed……..

Sandy: If you like Sue Grafton, you’ll love Dana Stabenow! Both have written other books, but my favorites are their mystery series with a woman protagonist – Kinsey Milhone in Grafton’s alphabet-titles (“A Is For Alibi”, etc.”), and Kate Shugak in the Alaskan setting of Stabenow’s novels. Both authors are wonderful writers whose stories grab the reader from the first paragraph, and both have a set of interesting characters whose backstories are developed more with each book. And yet, each book stands alone as an original and thought-provoking story; no mean trick — but I would recommend reading both series in order.

Bruce: If you like Bernard Cornwell, you’ll like “The Last Kingdome” and when you like it you will love “The Pale Horseman” These are the first two in a series that numbers nine with this years addition. One of the very best series of books I have come across. A beautiful blend of; violence, humor, and religious satire like you have never read before. Uhtred will join your list of favorite all time characters. I rank him right up there with Cusslers Dirk Pitt and Eislers John Rain

Scott: If you love Lauren Willig or Karen White, you will more than love Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley and Juliet by Anne Fortier! Susanna Kearsley and Anne Fortier are amazing dual time line historical/thriller type writers!

Audrey: If you like Sherlock Holmes, you’ll love Harry Bingham’s Fiona Griffith series, starting with Talking to the Dead. Fiona is a Welsh police detective with Cotard’s syndrome — a feeling of such detachment that sufferers believe they are dead. While this can make life difficult, it might actually help sometimes as a detective. Narrated in the first person, Fiona’s thinking is laid bare, and there are similarities to the Great Detective. There are four books in the series now, and somehow each one is better than the last. If you like Dashiell Hammett, you’ll love Reed Farrell Coleman’s Moe Prager series. Prager is an articulate and insightful observer, an ex-cop turned PI who grew up in Brooklyn and is often the only human in the room. The first person narration is luscious, the stories are packed with memorable characters, and the series follows the many highs (but mostly lows) of Moe’s life. If you like Jo Nesbo, you’ll love Arnaldur Indridason. Nesbo’s Harry Hole is a pretty dour guy, while Indridason’s Icelandic Insp. Erlendur is a bit more sociable — but just as tragic. The writing in both series is superb, and Indridason makes Iceland’s bleak landscape an integral part of the series. Each novel contains an intriguing crime while the series follows the Inspector’s troubled past and its consequences.

Sandy K: If you Like Gillian Flynn, you’ll Love Karin Fossum