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Recommendations from past Reading Clubs

David Baldacci, Simple Genius. 
A great read keeping you on the edge of your chair as the multiple levels of the plot are revealed.  Who was/were the murderer/s?  What happened to Michelle as a child to make her such a driven adult?  Read this and find out!

Steve Berry, The Romanov Prophecy.
Great thriller with lots of history. I learned a little more about the murder of the last Tsar of Russia.

Suzanne Brockmann, Force of Nature.
A hair-raising adventure in which the four main characters are in mortal danger on land and sea as they try to stop the smuggling of a top al-Qaeda operative into the U.S.

Dan Brown, Angels and Demons.
This religious thriller was well researched and an intensely entertaining read. My need for knowledge of both science and religion was completely satisfied. The intricacy of the story and the mystery behind it was totally captivating.

Linda Castillo, Sworn to Silence.  
Good story about a police chief in a small Amish town. She brings a connection between the English and Amish but she and her family have secrets that could destroy them.

Lee Child, One Shot.
Spectacular. Jack Reacher is a superb hero—Superman, the Lone Ranger, John Wayne, all rolled into a believable, likeable, admirable everyday hero. Story is taut and suspenseful.

Catherine Coulter, Tailspin. 
Breezy banter and glimpses of home and family provide charming counterpoints to the action-packed FBI investigations of two separate series of attempted murders.

Nelson DeMille, The Lion’s Game.
A fictional story of terrorism as it occurs in the U.S. As a member of an anti-terrorist task force, John Corey combines his talent as an NYPD officer and CIA agent to search for the Lion, a supposed Libyan defector who craftily destroys a plane full of passengers as it lands in NYC. This is a truly suspenseful thriller that’s based on historical fact.

Robert Dugoni, The Jury Master. 
A great story about a lawyer who learns secrets about his childhood.

David Ellis, Line of Vision.
The journey we take to the conclusion is interestingly developed by the author. We wonder about the narrator and why he is behaving as he does, not really knowing what to expect. Is he guilty of murder—or not?

Jasper Fforde, Something Rotten. 
In this “alternate reality” mystery,  Literary Detective Thursday Next returns to Swindon from BookWorld only to face a myriad of hilarious problems.

Ian Fleming, The Man with the Golden Gun.
Enjoyed this James Bond story. Just like the movies—fast-paced, impossible situations, “toys,” and just fun. Bond has recovered from being brainwashed at the hands of the KGB. In order to prove he’s fine, he takes on a criminal cooperative in Jamaica.

Stephen Frey, The Protégé.
Yet another fictional adventure into the business world that’s educational and exciting. The characters are believable.

Carol Goodman, The Drowning Tree.
With its secrets, mystery, and classical allusions, this book is as satisfying a read as any of the best.

Tim Green, Exact Revenge.
A riveting story. The hero, wrongly imprisoned, escapes, receives a vast fortune and uses it to exact revenge from those who wronged him. The reader goes along for a breathtaking ride.

Michael Gruber, The Book of Air and Shadows. 
A good literary thriller involving a lost Shakespeare document.  Fast-paced with many plot twists.

Brian Haig, The President’s Assassin.
A top-notch thriller. Great suspense, a wonderful hero—Sean Drummond—terrible violence, terrific plot, violent killers who act like terrorists, and Sean working his way through it to an unexpected ending. Great read!

Arthur Hailey, Detective. 
He just didn’t write enough books. Detective had a great protagonist, a fine plot, and made for a marvelous read. I was sorry when I finished it.

Robert Harris, The Ghost.
This fascinating fictionalization of current events is a page-turning thriller that revolves around the former British Prime Minister whose biographer has mysteriously disappeared. The story also is a revealing look into the profession of ghost writing.

Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip.
Another good reason to read Hiaasen. It is, as usual, filled with quirky and interesting characters and, even though you know the good people will wind up victorious, you always have to wait until the end to find out how it plays out.

Tami Hoag, Deeper than Dead.
In 1985, the lives of four children are changed forever when they stumble upon a dead woman in a park.  A detective sets out to catch the serial killer, which is more difficult at a time when police did not have sophisticated computers, cell phones, etc. 

Linda Howard, Up Close and Dangerous.
A compelling survival tale set in the mountains of Idaho in which the pilot and his passenger, the widow of a wealthy older man, are stranded after the crash of their sabotaged plane.

Joseph Kanon, The Good German.
A combination of plots and events in Berlin at the end of WWII in Europe: the question of how Hitler’s persecution of Jews could occur; the devastation of Berlin in air raids; bringing Von Braun and the rocket scientists to America; and a good love story.

Elmore Leonard, The Hot Kid.
Like no other Elmore Leonard book I’ve read. He makes the transition from big city crime to cowboys and robbers as easily as falling off a horse. A really fun read.

David Liss, A Conspiracy of Paper.
A great combination of history and mystery. It also has the strangest protagonist—a Jewish prize-fighter in 18th century London who is a private detective a la Mickey Spillane.

Patricia MacDonald, Not Guilty.
Is Keely Bennett’s son guilty of murder? Even though evidence points to the teen, who is scarred by a violent event in his past, his mother lets nothing stand in the way of her quest for the truth. This book would make a great movie.

Philip Margolin, Lost Lake.
He writes a fascinating story and has a clear ending. A very diverse tale.

Charles McCarry, Old Boys.
A well-crafted, suspenseful story with a very likeable older hero (70ish). Characters were well-defined. Story is quite captivating, taking the reader to exotic places in a world of old and new espionage. Don’t miss it!

Bob Morris, Bahamarama.
Fast reading and witty writing. Mystery of sorts involving Cuban thugs and a landowner who has specimen palm trees and land worth a lot of money, and a kidnapping.

Edmund Murray, The Peregrine Spy.
An interesting and disturbing account of how our “intelligence” services function—and don’t. The lack of cooperation and the ruthless competition are unnerving to the average citizen.

Perri O’Shaughnessy, Motion to Suppress.
Suspenseful, kept me intrigued, twisted the plot. Developed a picture of a dishonest person and then slashed it apart.

Matthew Pearl, The Dante Club.
Interesting treatment of a mystery using famous Bostonian literary personalities to solve a series of murders based on Dante’s Inferno.

George Pelecanos, The Night Gardener.
Skillful character development and a sense of “being there” characterize this fascinating crime novel about the hunt for a serial killer in Washington, D.C.

Stella Rimington, At Risk.
The author’s personal experience in the British intelligence service allowed her to provide a believable backdrop for an exciting terrorist thriller.

Michael Robotham, Lost.
A riveting story full of twists, turns, suspense, snipers, murder, kidnapping and a most likable D.I. Vincent Ruiz and his young associate Ali. Vince pieces his memory back from amnesia and the story races on. Terrific!

John Sandford, Certain Prey.
The author has an ear for the speech of those in various social classes. He also has clever solutions to mysterious and/or illegal acts.

Lisa Scottoline, Lady Killer.
Scottoline is at her best with this catchy thriller that has Philadelphia attorney Mary DiNunzio helping a former schoolmate Mary regarded as the quintessential “mean girl.”

Jill Shalvis, Get a Clue.
Romantic, sexy who-done-it book. A little of everything for everyone.

Daniel Silva, Death in Vienna.
A fine espionage book by one of the better writers in the genre. His characters are believable and the plots are convoluted enough to retain one’s interest. Combines historical events with excellent spycraft and plausible human reactions.

Martin Cruz Smith, Wolves Eat Dogs.
Smith rarely disappoints this reader. The plot, setting, and especially the characters make this a gem for mystery readers. A bonus is that one always learns something about Soviet or post-Soviet society. In this case, the Ukraine is featured.

P.J. Tracy, Dead Run.
The mystery begins when the Monkeewrench women stumble upon a deserted Wisconsin town. What happened to the people? Who were the men with the MiGs? The book moved smoothly from crisis to crisis, always keeping you involved, interested, and wanting to know the outcome. An extraordinary page-turner.

Barbara Vine, A Fatal Inversion.
A thinking man’s murder mystery. Suspense simmers and the reader at the end is completely taken by surprise. A delightful puzzle for the mystery fan or anyone who enjoys good writing and plot development.

Camilla Way, The Dead of Summer.
A fascinating, face-paced novel about a young woman’s experience with murders that occurred when she was a teenager.