TotallyOz Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 I have read most of the books on this list as I do enjoy a good thriller. I will admit that growing up I was in love with Stephen King. I would read every book he wrote and devour it before I fell asleep. I liked John Burdett's book as well and was happy to see him make the list. http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/128718927/audience-picks-top-100-killer-thrillers?ps=cprs Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 I've seen most of these in the movie versions! Of the books, when I was a lot younger I literally (sic!) could not put down The Day of the Jackal and read it overnight - pretty average movie, though. Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent was another - far better than his others, in my view. I loved the two John Le Carre novels, as I do all of his work, and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was a chiller. One group somehow leaves me cold - the Stieg Larsson trilogy. A friend raved about it so much I purchased all three at one go. I found the first book pretty hard going, and then got stuck half way through the second. Maybe I just couldn't get my brain around all those Swedish names! I'm sure we'll all have our favourites that are not on the list. The slower-paced but gorgeously atmospheric Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson is near the top of mine, as is another Scandinavian thriller set in Denmark and Greenland, Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow which was TIME's Book of the Year in 1992. Also, miles better than it's movie version. (Seems I had no problem with Danish names ) Quote
Guest rainwalker Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 Another well received book, though not a thriller, is The Windup Girl, a speculative fiction offering that had me enthralled for 2 reasons. It is very well written and set In the near future as global warming has ravished the world plus it is set in Bangkok. Highly recommended if speculative fiction is your thing. In what must be considered a major coup, it swept all the big science fiction awards. In September 2010, the novel won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel and In May 2010, the novel won the Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 2010, the novel won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. It was named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by TIME magazine, Quote
Bob Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 One group somehow leaves me cold - the Stieg Larsson trilogy. A friend raved about it so much I purchased all three at one go. I found the first book pretty hard going, and then got stuck half way through the second. Maybe I just couldn't get my brain around all those Swedish names! I read all three in a row this past September and, without a doubt, they were the most thrilling, intriguing, and interesting books I've read in a long time. I've probably read 40-50 books since then and, although some were very good, none have held my interest like the Larsson books did. I highly recommend them. Michael mentioned John Burdett's Bangkok 8 and I read that one (along with the next two two sequels) a few years back. While I wouldn't call them great literature, I loved the Thai background to the novels involving Detective Jitplecheep (spelling?) which was often so weird, funny, and "Thai" at the same time. The protagonist Jitplecheep was a detective, buddhist, Thai, son of a madam of the sex industry, etc., and the juggling of all those personas seemed to create a lot of those "TIT" moments. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 I've never been in any doubt that I'm in a very small minority! Quote
Rogie Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 One group somehow leaves me cold - the Stieg Larsson trilogy. . . . none have held my interest like the Larsson books did. I highly recommend them. I fall somewhere in the middle, between you two guys. In fact it was Bob on Gaybutton's forum who effectively encouraged me to get this trilogy. Like Fountainhall, I did feel the 'strange' names and towns are a slight drawback, but I expect I am not alone in doing this - whenever I come across a name not essential to the plot I just skim over it. Rather in the way I do when reading an article or message board post featuring several long-winded (to me at least) Thai names. Unless the name is one I feel I ought to memorise (eg. Yingluck!) I just gloss over it. My reading strategy for 'thrillers' is to pack them in my bag and read 'em on holiday. I ration myself to one Larsson book per trip. So far I have been to Thailand twice since buying the trilogy so am 2/3 of the way through. Like Bob I was soon swept along and very much enjoyed the first two. Probably my most serious dislike are the large numbers of coincidences in the plot. I guess most thrillers rely on that to a degree so maybe I'm being too fussy. Still good books though. Another well received book, though not a thriller, is The Windup Girl, Thank you Rainwalker. I checked your recommendation out. Here is a link to a review in Britain's Guardian newspaper. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/windup-girl-paolo-bacigalupi-review and here is a snippet taken from that review: "Its strongest feature is the worldbuilding Quote
