L.A. Starks

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L.A. Starks

Goodreads Author


Born
in Boston, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences
Everything I've read, heard, and done. ...more

Member Since
March 2011

URL


Social media hub https://linktr.ee/lastarks

WINNER'S CURSE: A LYNN DAYTON THRILLER
Pub date: August 20, 2024
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Takeaway: Gripping sprint through the make-or-break oil and gas industry."
"Starks’s latest thriller, the fourth in her Lynn Dayton series, after (The Second Law), takes readers on a raucous ride of misadventure with Lynn Dayton. . . . Fast-paced and dramatic, Starks’s novel offers a slew of fascinating characters, including spies, estranged fathers, and both upstanding and morally corrupt politicians, all while establishing Dayton as a strong female lead, succeeding in a male-dominated, treacherous industry. Starks not only showcases the profession’s heavy sexism but also its complex web of power, effectively
...more

IAN Category Finalist!

I'm happy to announce that Winner's Curse: A Lynn Dayton Thriller was a finalist in the Action category for the 2025 IAN Book of the Year Award! https://www.independentauthornetwork....
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Published on November 16, 2025 16:42 Tags: winner
Average rating: 3.92 · 459 ratings · 229 reviews · 12 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Second Law (Lynn Dayton...

3.90 avg rating — 117 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions
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Strike Price (Lynn Dayton, #2)

4.24 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 2013 — 9 editions
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13 Days: The Pythagoras Con...

3.68 avg rating — 93 ratings — published 2006 — 9 editions
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Dog Days of Summer: Flash F...

by
4.81 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions
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A Time for Eating Wild Onions

3.16 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions
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Robert & Therese Guillard: ...

3.42 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions
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Incurable

3.82 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2020
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Josh Rosen and Bubbe

3.21 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
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Winner's Curse (Lynn Dayton...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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Winner's Curse (Lynn Dayton...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
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More books by L.A. Starks…
13 Days: The Pythagoras Con... Strike Price The Second Law Winner's Curse
(4 books)
by
3.84 avg rating — 360 ratings

L.A.’s Recent Updates

L.A. Starks rated a book it was amazing
The Proving Ground by Michael    Connelly
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Absolutely one of the best books I've read in the last few years. Although fiction, or really maybe because fiction, (authors think hard about "what-if"), The Proving Ground should be required reading for everyone on the subject of AI. While well-res ...more
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Wild Animal by Joël Dicker
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I really liked the Geneva (and general European) settings. This book is translated to English. European sensibility (the SWAT officer). Great twists at the end.

Recommended.
L.A. Starks added a status update: Happy to announce the Winner's Curse is a finalist in the Action category for the 2025 IAN Book of the Year Award Winners!

https://www.independentauthornetwork....

https://lastarksbooks.com/
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Wild Animal by Joël Dicker
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Identity Unknown by Patricia Cornwell
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There are others in this series I've liked more, especially the earliest ones. The relationship stuff feels overdone, a bit florid. However, Cornwell delivers, as always, on action and suspense.

And, there is simply no one better than Cornwell on the
...more
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In the Time of Five Pumpkins by Alexander McCall Smith
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As always, Alexander McCall Smith could be writing a travelogue for publication about Botswana.

This book finds Precious Ramotswe untangling several new situations with the able assistance of Makutsi and Potokwane. The style is stream-of-consciousnes
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Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong
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Read on the recommendation of Tom Nolan, WSJ mystery/thriller reviewer. This is one to read mainly for the setting and time: 1990s China just as it is changing shape. Very sympathetic characters--the poet/police officer is interesting. The politics a ...more
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Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong
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After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
After Anna
by Lisa Scottoline (Goodreads Author)
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This book was recommended as one of the best by Lisa Scottoline, which is saying a great deal since she is a #1-NYT rated author. Engrossing, suspenseful, surprising plot twists, excellent ensemble between the family members, including a haunting bac ...more
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Topics Mentioning This Author

Thomas A. Edison
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
Thomas A. Edison

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And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day”
Shakespeare's Henry V

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“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
Mark Twain

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“Everything you can imagine is real.”
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“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

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“It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. Rain spattered a mysterious, hooded stranger who peered over the ...more
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Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
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Action packed gripping, exciting and tense thrillers, mysteries, that's what we like reading. So many great authors out there to read. Let's share our ...more
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This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more
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Comments (showing 1-22)    post a comment »
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message 22: by Stephen

Stephen Thanks for the friend request. I look forward to reading your books.


message 21: by Carolyn

Carolyn Hi L.A. - thanks for the friend request. I see you are a writer of thrillers, that must be so much fun!


message 20: by L.A.

L.A. Starks William wrote: "UK Amazon URL for Strike Price

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Price...

Just got it in Amazon.co.UK - NOT £0.00, sorry
I actually paid £5.35..."


Hi William,
Sorry if there is confusion. The Kindle Unlimited price is 0.00--that's out of my hands because Amazon itself runs that program. The UK Kindle Countdown discount I mentioned starts (and is the largest) September 12, with an initial price of 0.99 pounds, gradually increasing by the 19th back to 5.35 pounds.

LAS


message 19: by William (last edited Sep 06, 2016 08:56AM)

William UK Amazon URL for Strike Price

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strike-Price...

Just got it in Amazon.co.UK - NOT £0.00, sorry
I actually paid £5.35 - Is this the discounted price?!!


message 18: by L.A.

L.A. Starks Christy wrote: "Thank you for the friend invite.....You said "Purdue!" I'm curious now....do you have a connection to the university?"

I came very close to attending for college, so West Lafayette remains special to me. (And after college I lived and worked in northwest Indiana for a year.)


message 17: by Christy

Christy Thank you for the friend invite.....You said "Purdue!" I'm curious now....do you have a connection to the university?


Mac_dickenson Hi, LA. Thanks for the add!


Ubendran Have A Prosperous New Year.....
Enjoy reading the books....
All D Best for your books challenge....
Give Best books for us....


Samuel Hi, The Orion Team is now doing a "Ask Me Anything" interview with military thriller writer Joshua Hood, author of "Clear By Fire" . Click the link and post questions early!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


Gone With The Wind Thanks for friend request


message 12: by Janey

Janey Mack Hi LA, Thank you for adding me--I love how close our tastes run! Would love to swap reads with you--my first comes out June 30.
Your blurbs look terrific!


message 11: by Rod

Rod Thanks for adding Me as a friend look forward to reading your books


message 10: by L.A.

L.A. Starks taide wrote: "Thanks for the friend request! I read The Summer of Dead Toys a few years ago and I loved it!"

I am about to read The Summer of Dead Toys. I liked The Good Suicides.


message 9: by Raymunda (last edited Aug 31, 2014 11:57AM)

Raymunda Thanks for the friend request! I read The Summer of Dead Toys a few years ago and I loved it!


message 8: by L.A.

L.A. Starks Zenny,
Thanks. Do let me know if you read and like one or both.
LAS


message 7: by Zenny

Zenny Thanks for the invite! I see that you're an author, I'll have to check out your books!


message 6: by L.A.

L.A. Starks Megan wrote: "Thanks for the friend request! I see you are reading Wool as well, how is it? I just started it 5 minutes ago haha."

It is great. Well worth reading--you'll enjoy it.


message 5: by Megan

Megan Thanks for the friend request! I see you are reading Wool as well, how is it? I just started it 5 minutes ago haha.


Carrie Thank you for the friend request. And no no I haven't read nearly that amount, I just want to read that amount, ha ha.


message 3: by Gina

Gina Thanks for the friend request!


message 2: by Beth

Beth Hi L.A.,
Thanks for sending a friend request to this fellow Goodreads author!


Kimberly Thanks for adding me as a friend!


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