Who's Your Favorite Author?

[swerb]

Hands down, Dean Koontz for me. Horror/suspense fiction writer. Has a way of describing fear unlike anyone I've ever read. No matter how insane the scenario in his novels, he makes it seem completely feasible and realistic.

Just read his latest, "The Husband" ... about a landscapers who's wife is taken hostage and ransomed for 2 million dollars and then the depths he goes to in order to save her life. Very good book. I've read all but 8-10 of his 40-50 novels.

I also read alot of Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Patrick Robinson ... and assorted others.

Anyone else have a favorite author?

[General]

I am with you, Koontz, King. I also enjoyed the "Rabbit" series from Updike. Although I am a former Jarhead from a long time ago, Clancy sometimes gets too-o-o-o into details for my liking. I also used to enjoy all of the authors in "The Penthouse Forum"

[intenso]

If I had to pick a favorite I'd probably go with Arthur C. Clarke. I also like Tom Robbins, Douglas Adams, Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore.

The best books I've read recently are Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Vladimir Sorokin's Ice.

Right now I'm reading "Bringing Down the House" which was recommended in this very forum.

[bruce8100]

I have to go with Dan Brown. His books are so suspenseful they are hard to put down. If you don't want something dealing with religion, check out Deception Point or Digital Fortress. Both excellent.

[swerb]

I have to go with Dan Brown. His books are so suspenseful they are hard to put down. If you don't want something dealing with religion, check out Deception Point or Digital Fortress. Both excellent.

Im not a big religious guy, but I did recently read "The DaVinci Code" and found it to be excellent and hard to put down.

Everyone's told me that "Angels and Demons" is even better. I may have to check out one of the other two you reccomended instead though ...

[bruce8100]

Yeah Angels and Demons is really good too, just not quite as good as DaVinci Code. You really can't go wrong with any of these four, but Deception Point was my favorite. Looking forward to The Solomon Key this summer.

[intenso]

If you like books about religion and religious conspiracy type storylines, you should read David Morrell.

He wrote a great trilogy in the 80s. The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog.

His stuff is very fast paced, easy to read.

[mswerb]

Dr. Suess, hands down.

[jfiling]

Alfred Bester, the king of science fiction. Harlan Ellison is great if you can get into his style.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

I'm not truly a fantasy guy, but J.R.R. Tolkien has been a favorite for years. I love the detailed world, the languages, and the mythology of Tolkien's writings.

I've become a big fan of JK Rowling and am greatly anticipating the last Harry Potter book. That was a series I avoided for a while, but I couldn't put the books down when I started reading.

Michael Crichton has also been a favorite of mine for a long time. I've read most all of his books and love how much work he puts into researching the subject he's writing on. I'm currently reading Next, his latest book that's about genetic engineering and disturbing. You have fun reading Crichton and learn something from his books.

Also been reading much more of Charles Dickens of late. I didn't like Dickens when I was younger but have really grown to love his writings nowadays.

[StewieG]

Great topic.

Dan Brown is excellent if you want a page-turner. Angels & Demons is a very good book, but I did like the DaVinci Code a little better.

Koontz, King, Crichton...they're all excellent, of course.

Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels are good reads, but some of them really get over the top.

But right now, I'd have to say Nelson Demille is my favorite writer. His series of books about a retired NYC Detective, named John Corey, are great reads. They don't get too far fetched like the Dirk Pitt novels can get, and the character, Corey, is snarky and sarcastic, and has this way of pissing off the main protagonists, as well as pretty much everyone else he meets. He's a hero, but not in the usual sense, as he's flawed, makes mistakes, and is pretty much an everyman. Highly recommended series from me, but you should read them in order. Starts with Plum Island, then The Lion's Game, then Nightfall, lastly Wild Fire, which just came out not too long ago. But if you read them out of order, he recaps what happened in previous books, and it can ruin the endings of those ones.

But yeah, I too can't wait for the Solomon Key from Dan Brown. Is there a release date yet?

[intenso]

I'm a big Michael Crichton fan too. I've ready pretty much everything he's written. Andromeda Strain is probably my favorite. Also loved Jurassic Park and Congo.

[StewieG]

Jurassic Park is my favorite Crichton book. I always loved dinosaurs as a kid, and the movie came out when I was in grade school. I saw the movie first, but immediately went out and got the book, lol.

My favorite King story is "The Body". Stand By Me was based off of that story, which is one of my favorite movies. But I also got into the Dark Tower series. One of these days I'm going to finish that series. I had a tough time getting into book 5, and then got busy. The Green Mile was excellent as well.

[intenso]

Jurassic Park is my favorite Crichton book. I always loved dinosaurs as a kid, and the movie came out when I was in grade school. I saw the movie first, but immediately went out and got the book, lol.

My favorite King story is "The Body". Stand By Me was based off of that story, which is one of my favorite movies. But I also got into the Dark Tower series. One of these days I'm going to finish that series. I had a tough time getting into book 5, and then got busy. The Green Mile was excellent as well.

Maybe because I saw the movie long before I read the novella, but I hated The Body. The movie was so good though, and I probably just had high expectations.

My favorite Stephen King novel is The Stand. I liked one of his more recent ones, Cell. Interesting take on a zombie story.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

I'm a big Michael Crichton fan too. I've ready pretty much everything he's written. Andromeda Strain is probably my favorite. Also loved Jurassic Park and Congo.

Andromeda Strain was good. There've been rumors lately that they might be doing a new film version based on it. I'm sure it'll be more modern than the 1971 version.

The Great Train Robbery might be my favorite Crichton novel, though there are several up there. Sphere was the first book I can remember staying up all night to read through, my heart pumping hard most of the night. Jurassic Park was great and so fascinating to me. Like most kids, I too loved dinosaurs and read it after I saw the movie - one of the biggest film events I can remember. I still recall my dad jumping nearly 10 feet out of his seat when the Raptor tore through the electrical shed. I did too.

[sandlot33]

S.E. Hinton just cause my favorite book was always the Outsiders and haven't read a book in 10 years

[yogi]

When I used to read. I read mostly sci-fi and loved works from Terry Brooks & Terry Goodkind. Obviously, Tolkien.

Also I read and liked Stephen King and Tom Clancey.

I've also read many, many sports autobiographies.

[mattvan1]

Michael Connelly - especially the Harry Bosch series. Connelly is a former beat writer for the LA Times and his stories have a sense of realism with respect to what it takes to be a homicide detective. No heroes, great depth of characters where even the good guys have a lot of flaws.

Second would be Dennis Lehane (Mystic River). He early works are great reads, but I don't believe he has put out anything lately.

And, of course, Hunter S. Thompson.

[dmiles]

I want to know how Swerb has time to read books with fatherhood, pro-sports, web-site to run, event planning, and most likely a job in there somewhere. I need some of what he is having...

[Mr. MacPhisto]

I want to know how Swerb has time to read books with fatherhood, pro-sports, web-site to run, event planning, and most likely a job in there somewhere. I need some of what he is having...

Well, Swerb is also an inventor. He created a machine that allows him to suspend time. Somehow he has managed to make things he uses not be effected by the time stoppage, so Swerb is able to get plenty done while everyone else is put on pause.

[Lebowski]

I like a broad range of books and authors, but here are my three favorites:

Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses are great. Currently reading the Road.

Bret Easton Ellis - His writing and topics and very edgy and borderline disgusting, but he's an excellent author. Less Than Zero is my favorite.

Chuck Palahniuk - Author of Fight Club. Just came out with Rant, which I can't wait to read.

[swerb]

I want to know how Swerb has time to read books with fatherhood, pro-sports, web-site to run, event planning, and most likely a job in there somewhere. I need some of what he is having...

Well, Swerb is also an inventor. He created a machine that allows him to suspend time. Somehow he has managed to make things he uses not be effected by the time stoppage, so Swerb is able to get plenty done while everyone else is put on pause.

To be honest, all the aforementioned items have squeezed several things out of my life:

~online poker
~video games
~for the most part, reading

The only time I get a chance to read is when I travel. My wife makes fun of me for going to the airport 4 hours early. I look at it as an opportunity to woof down some Cinnabon, a couple cups of Joe, and start attacking the growing collection of unread books starting to pile up on the shelves of my office!

And on Memorial Day, I actually had a chance to relax and read. I was sick (read: hungover from Cavs game the night before) ... and our family was over to tend to the little guy and keep the nagging wife at bay.

I read "The Husband" from Koontz in one day. First time I did that in a while.

I've got "Cell" and "Lisey's Story" from Stephen King as my next targets ... anyone read either of them?

[intenso]

I've got "Cell" and "Lisey's Story" from Stephen King as my next targets ... anyone read either of them?

I read Cell a while back and liked it a lot. It's basically a zombie story, but pretty different. I don't know if they are making it into a movie but it would be pretty awesome.

[consigliere]

Yeah, I started reading "Cell" at the airport back when I took my trek to Winter Haven. Didn't get too far as I too have very little time to sit down and read books aside from trips of some sort.....but liked what I had read. Some guy is in the middle of a big city....and the craziness starts right off the bat. People who were on their cell phones all of a sudden become maniacs killing people. People not on their cell phones were unaffected. One of these days I'll pick it back up and finish it off....maybe when I head for vaca in a month.

[swerb]

A year or so ago, I read "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King. I would recommend it highly. Great book. About a guy who's wife dies. Hes miserable, unable to function ... then he starts seeing her pop up, gets strong vibes shes still alive. Helluva ride, helluva read.

[jfiling]

Michael Connelly - especially the Harry Bosch series. Connelly is a former beat writer for the LA Times and his stories have a sense of realism with respect to what it takes to be a homicide detective. No heroes, great depth of characters where even the good guys have a lot of flaws.

Second would be Dennis Lehane (Mystic River). He early works are great reads, but I don't believe he has put out anything lately.

And, of course, Hunter S. Thompson.

I've only read one of the Harry Bosch novels (can't remember which one, something about "wolf" comes to mind), but Connelly is a great writer.

edit - it was "The Last Coyote". Great book.

[leadpipe]

I'm a non-fiction guy. John Krakauer. Into Thin Air (about Everest) Into the Wild, and Under the Banner of Heaven were all outstanding. You crime novel guys will like "Banner"

[buddycowley]

I like a broad range of books and authors, but here are my three favorites:

Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses are great. Currently reading the Road.

Bret Easton Ellis - His writing and topics and very edgy and borderline disgusting, but he's an excellent author. Less Than Zero is my favorite.

Chuck Palahniuk - Author of Fight Club. Just came out with Rant, which I can't wait to read.

1. Am interested in The Road, but am reading too many other things right now.
2. Ellis is awesome. Wrote a paper on American Psycho in college, and is 500 times better to read than the movie.

Two authors to put out there as well:
1. Michael Chabon - If you saw the movie "Wonder Boys," you might know he wrote that a while back. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay is an incredible read and a Pulitzer Prize Winner. Plus, if you like comic books, this novel is an even better read.
2. Christopher Moore - My favorite continues to be Lamb- The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Pal. One of the funniest authors I've ever read. Recent novels A Dirty Job and You Suck (vampire book...) also very funny reads all the way through.

Buddy

[intenso]

I like a broad range of books and authors, but here are my three favorites:

Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses are great. Currently reading the Road.

Bret Easton Ellis - His writing and topics and very edgy and borderline disgusting, but he's an excellent author. Less Than Zero is my favorite.

Chuck Palahniuk - Author of Fight Club. Just came out with Rant, which I can't wait to read.

1. Am interested in The Road, but am reading too many other things right now.
2. Ellis is awesome. Wrote a paper on American Psycho in college, and is 500 times better to read than the movie.

Two authors to put out there as well:
1. Michael Chabon - If you saw the movie "Wonder Boys," you might know he wrote that a while back. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay is an incredible read and a Pulitzer Prize Winner. Plus, if you like comic books, this novel is an even better read.
2. Christopher Moore - My favorite continues to be Lamb- The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Pal. One of the funniest authors I've ever read. Recent novels A Dirty Job and You Suck (vampire book...) also very funny reads all the way through.

Buddy

You need to move The Road to the top of your list, it's absolutely amazing.


And I agree with you on Christopher Moore. Lamb was awesome.

[buddycowley]

Am about half-way through The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Pretty good stuff so far. Has a little bit of A Separate Peace vibe to it.

Just finished A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. If you've been to Starbucks at all, from what I hear, you've seen it. Story of the kid who was fighting in the Civil Wars of Sierra Leone at 13-14 years old. Killing people with AK-47's and grenades and such. A quality ready, and pretty sobering in some spots as well.

Buddy

[Detroit Wahoo]

Great topic.

Dan Brown is excellent if you want a page-turner. Angels & Demons is a very good book, but I did like the DaVinci Code a little better.

Koontz, King, Crichton...they're all excellent, of course.

Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels are good reads, but some of them really get over the top.

But right now, I'd have to say Nelson Demille is my favorite writer. His series of books about a retired NYC Detective, named John Corey, are great reads. They don't get too far fetched like the Dirk Pitt novels can get, and the character, Corey, is snarky and sarcastic, and has this way of pissing off the main protagonists, as well as pretty much everyone else he meets. He's a hero, but not in the usual sense, as he's flawed, makes mistakes, and is pretty much an everyman. Highly recommended series from me, but you should read them in order. Starts with Plum Island, then The Lion's Game, then Nightfall, lastly Wild Fire, which just came out not too long ago. But if you read them out of order, he recaps what happened in previous books, and it can ruin the endings of those ones.

But yeah, I too can't wait for the Solomon Key from Dan Brown. Is there a release date yet?

I am also a fan of Nelson Demille. The book series with John Corey in them are a blast to read. I still think Demille's "The Charm School" is his best book, great spy thriller.

[buddycowley]

Just started reading this:



Looks pretty interesting. Have gotten through the first couple of chapters.

Buddy

[BruceK]

Neal Stephenson

Start with Snow Crash, then Cryptonomicon, and then build up to the Baroque Trilogy

Snow Crash

[intenso]

Neal Stephenson

Start with Snow Crash, then Cryptonomicon, and then build up to the Baroque Trilogy

Snow Crash

ooo this looks great. Putting it on my list. I just started Robert Sawyer's latest, Rollback.

[BruceK]

Intenso --

I have a review of Snow Crash at
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/30/222104.php

His later books are much longer -- that's why Snow Crash is a good starting point

[intenso]

Intenso --

I have a review of Snow Crash at
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/30/222104.php

His later books are much longer -- that's why Snow Crash is a good starting point

nice.



And it looks like the local library has a nice supply of his books, so I'll definitely check him out.