The Terror by Dan Simmons if you like horror mixed with history! It’s based on the mid 1800s Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Two ships are stuck in the ice, and there’s something out there in the darkness. Incredibly atmospheric and filled with dread. I haven’t read anything else that has made me feel so *cold*.
5ft8lady on
Justice by Faye kellerman.
Two narrators for the novel, one dead prom queen.
A nerdy girl who is excited that the popular guy in school chose her to be his girl.
A detective who thinks the popular guy is a cold, calculating psychopath.
While reading each person point of view, you try to figure, which person is correct.
baifengjiu on
I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harpman
A group of 39 women and a young girl is kept behind bars in a prison that silent men guard. No woman can remember how she got there and the guards never talk to them or reveal anything. As time passes a unexpected chance for escape emerges but even then freedom may not be as close as they once thought.
ilyKarlach on
My favourite standalone novels
We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver – the mother of a school shooter (Kevin) writes letters to her estranged husband about her difficulties raising him. Has a real “nature vs nurture” argument going on with itself
Azincourt, by Bernard Cornwell – the Battle Of Agincourt and the events leading up to it, told through the eyes of an English longbowman
His Bloody Project, by Graeme Macrae Burnet – a triple murder in the Scottish Highlands, told through the murderer’s diary, court transcripts, medical reports, etc. The murderer doesn’t deny doing it, so the mystery is more to *why* he did it
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt – this one did blow up on tiktok in the past couple of years and you may have already read it, but it is well deserving of the praise it gets
smalltownlargefry on
Here’s a few that I really loved in the past year
The Nix by Nathan Hill. It’s about the relationship between a mother and son. There’s some humor, some heartbreak, if you’re into post modernism, I would highly suggest this one. Great all around book that has successful payoff and Hills writing is just spectacular.
The Trackers by Charles Fraizer. Set during the early depression in Wyoming, the main character is an artist and is commissioned to do some work as part of one of FDR’s new deal plans. A woman goes missing and her husband ask the main character to find her. It’s a lot of fun. Something for everyone in this one.
Sing Backwards and Weep by Mark Lanagan. It’s his memoire. He was in bands like the Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age and a very talented solo artist. Follows his like in 80-90 Washington State, drugs, grunge music scene, getting clean, and so much more.
I am going to stick with the ones that stuck with me – and that all make my “this should be a movie or a TV series” list –
Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris – Set at an English boy’s school, the story is told from three points of view: the past story of the young child of St. Oswald’s porter, the current journal of that same kid as a new hire who schemes to take St. Oswald’s down and the near-retirement classics professor who realizes accidents might be deliberate. Very good suspense, slow burn, great plot twist.
The Cellar, by Minette Walters – Upscale African couple keep 14 year old Muna in the basement as their virtual slave. But when their son doesn’t come home from school one day, Muna’s role in the household changes and there is a dramatic power shift. Very dark, almost horror and one of those books you’ll probably read in one sitting.
Hidden Fires: A Holmes Before Baker Street Adventure, by Jane Rubino – I admit I am a fan of Holmes and read a lot of the “new tales” but this one was a standout as a Holmes novel and a historical thriller. In one of the Conan Doyle tales, Holmes tells Watson that the most winning woman he ever met was hanged for poisoning her children. This is the story of a mid-20s Sherlock Holmes, his meeting with the woman, and an early encounter with Moriarty. Great characters, a series of plot twists, and another book you might read in one sitting.
In the “just for fun” category – Virginia Lanier’s debut novel in her mystery series “Death in Bloodhound Red” – JoBeth Siddon trains bloodhounds for search and rescue, and gets mixed up in murder. There were a crop of offbeat Southern mysteries from the 80s on, but this is probably the best of the lot. Great characters and setting, LOL dialogue, plus she obviously knows her dogs – and cats. Very sad that Lanier died only 5 books into the series.
7 Comments
The Terror by Dan Simmons if you like horror mixed with history! It’s based on the mid 1800s Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Two ships are stuck in the ice, and there’s something out there in the darkness. Incredibly atmospheric and filled with dread. I haven’t read anything else that has made me feel so *cold*.
Justice by Faye kellerman.
Two narrators for the novel, one dead prom queen.
A nerdy girl who is excited that the popular guy in school chose her to be his girl.
A detective who thinks the popular guy is a cold, calculating psychopath.
While reading each person point of view, you try to figure, which person is correct.
I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harpman
A group of 39 women and a young girl is kept behind bars in a prison that silent men guard. No woman can remember how she got there and the guards never talk to them or reveal anything. As time passes a unexpected chance for escape emerges but even then freedom may not be as close as they once thought.
My favourite standalone novels
We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver – the mother of a school shooter (Kevin) writes letters to her estranged husband about her difficulties raising him. Has a real “nature vs nurture” argument going on with itself
Azincourt, by Bernard Cornwell – the Battle Of Agincourt and the events leading up to it, told through the eyes of an English longbowman
His Bloody Project, by Graeme Macrae Burnet – a triple murder in the Scottish Highlands, told through the murderer’s diary, court transcripts, medical reports, etc. The murderer doesn’t deny doing it, so the mystery is more to *why* he did it
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt – this one did blow up on tiktok in the past couple of years and you may have already read it, but it is well deserving of the praise it gets
Here’s a few that I really loved in the past year
The Nix by Nathan Hill. It’s about the relationship between a mother and son. There’s some humor, some heartbreak, if you’re into post modernism, I would highly suggest this one. Great all around book that has successful payoff and Hills writing is just spectacular.
The Trackers by Charles Fraizer. Set during the early depression in Wyoming, the main character is an artist and is commissioned to do some work as part of one of FDR’s new deal plans. A woman goes missing and her husband ask the main character to find her. It’s a lot of fun. Something for everyone in this one.
Sing Backwards and Weep by Mark Lanagan. It’s his memoire. He was in bands like the Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age and a very talented solo artist. Follows his like in 80-90 Washington State, drugs, grunge music scene, getting clean, and so much more.
– [Nevermoor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6a6d5ca1-b2f5-47be-828c-018144d3bbc7)
– [The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67)
– [Sal and Gabi Break the Universe](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/097337c3-ebf2-429a-80de-f345099b142c)
I am going to stick with the ones that stuck with me – and that all make my “this should be a movie or a TV series” list –
Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris – Set at an English boy’s school, the story is told from three points of view: the past story of the young child of St. Oswald’s porter, the current journal of that same kid as a new hire who schemes to take St. Oswald’s down and the near-retirement classics professor who realizes accidents might be deliberate. Very good suspense, slow burn, great plot twist.
The Cellar, by Minette Walters – Upscale African couple keep 14 year old Muna in the basement as their virtual slave. But when their son doesn’t come home from school one day, Muna’s role in the household changes and there is a dramatic power shift. Very dark, almost horror and one of those books you’ll probably read in one sitting.
Hidden Fires: A Holmes Before Baker Street Adventure, by Jane Rubino – I admit I am a fan of Holmes and read a lot of the “new tales” but this one was a standout as a Holmes novel and a historical thriller. In one of the Conan Doyle tales, Holmes tells Watson that the most winning woman he ever met was hanged for poisoning her children. This is the story of a mid-20s Sherlock Holmes, his meeting with the woman, and an early encounter with Moriarty. Great characters, a series of plot twists, and another book you might read in one sitting.
In the “just for fun” category – Virginia Lanier’s debut novel in her mystery series “Death in Bloodhound Red” – JoBeth Siddon trains bloodhounds for search and rescue, and gets mixed up in murder. There were a crop of offbeat Southern mysteries from the 80s on, but this is probably the best of the lot. Great characters and setting, LOL dialogue, plus she obviously knows her dogs – and cats. Very sad that Lanier died only 5 books into the series.