Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

I had a really good month of reading. Here are my September reads:

Top Reads

Thirteen Hours
Deon Meyer
A well written police thriller set in South Africa. Lots of suspense and tension, as the story took place in real time over the 13 hours of the title, but also had great characterizations and gave a vivid picture of the New South Africa.

London Boulevard
Ken Bruen
Dark, violent, and funny with the author's trademark style and tons of crime fiction/authors references.

A Demon in My View
Ruth Rendell
An award winner back in 1976, I found this to be a very satisfying though disturbing tale of psychological suspense. The narrative flow was excellent and kept the tension level high, the characterizations were spot on, and I especially liked that it was not graphically violent.

Finders Keepers
Belinda Bauer
Dark and disturbing with a narrative pace that made the book hard to put down, this was a quite good conclusion to the fairly loose trilogy of thrillers set in rural England.

Good Reads

Eighty Million Eyes
Ed McBain
An enjoyable entry in the 87th Precinct series. Steve Carella, Meyer Meyer, and Bert Kling are the featured detectives and have two interesting cases to investigate.

Storm Prey
John Sandford
This series is always consistently good. Lucas and his crew look into a robbery at the hospital pharmacy. Lots of bodies, suspense, humor and excellent narration by Richard Ferrone made this well worth the listening time.

Pray for a Brave Heart
Helen MacInnes
Post World War 2 suspense with the action mainly taking place in Switzerland, this started a bit slowly but soon found its groove.

A Death In Vienna
Daniel Silva
Nicely done espionage fiction, featuring art restorer and former Israeli agent Gabriel Allon. The plot deftly mixed historical facts and globe trotting action. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by John Lee who did an excellent job with all different character's nationalities.

They Do It with Mirrors
Agatha Christie
Miss Marple always entertains and in this entry she visits an old school chum at her Victorian mansion which has been turned into a rehab center for young criminally inclined men. Listened to the audio version which was ably read by Emilia Fox.

Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World
David Maraniss
Rome 1960 was the Olympics of the greats Rafer Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, and the then known as Cassius Clay and this book is a fairly comprehensive and interesting look at the Games and the social and political climates at the time.

Black Wattle Creek
Geoffrey McGeachin
This had all the elements I enjoy in a historical mystery. The Australian setting was well described and interesting, the characters were well drawn, and the plot used the Cold War era to good effect. Maybe not quite as good as the first book in the series The Diggers Rest Hotel but still entertaining. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Peter Hosking who did a nice job.

OK Read

Blackout
David Rosenfelt
A pretty standard thriller that did the job but was not really note worthy. The plot perked along and the ending had some tension but most of the characters were pretty one-dimensional. Listened to the audio which was narrated by Jeff Steitzer who was OK.

Very nice month Sandi! Quite a variety from Ken Bruen to Agatha Christie to Lucas Davenport! And the Group Read discussions on Rosenfelt's Blackout were fun!

Very good month Sandi

Great month Sandi. Blackout came in for me at the library. I have a couple ahead of it, will try to read just so I can read the spoiler thread!!

Good month! The Olympics book sounds interesting.

Fascinating array of books, as always. "Satisfying though disturbing tale of psychological suspense" is the very definition of Ruth Rendell stories, she rarely disappoints. Keep meaning to get to Daniel Silva, will do so one day