Book Series...

Discussion in 'Talk of Books' started by BPearson, May 22, 2015.

  1. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Of course anyone living in Arizona is familiar with J A Jance. Her character Joanna Brady in Bisbee is a good read, but a friend put me onto her Beaumont series taking place in Seattle is head and shoulder above. Once again I have the entire series if anyone wants to borrow them.

    Finished both DeMille's Radiant Angel and Martini's Enemy Inside; both were very, very good.
     
  2. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Half way through PJ Tracy's first in the series Monkeewwrench and it is quite captivating. Thanks for the recommendation aggie. And i'm also in the midst of John Lescroat's The Fall. His most charming character, Dismass Hardy, is in the book but it's what Lescroat calls Rebecca Hardy's first case. That's what I like about series, as the kids age (see, I like kids) they can become a story within a story.

    Also got a recommendation today from a friend in Seattle on vacation. A book seller turned him onto Robert Harris who apparently is quite the wordsmith. The best part is, I'm now back on the hunt. Nice.
     
  3. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    So I did a search for my buddies recommendation of Robert Harris. Looks like he's a history/fiction writer and that's not my cup of tea. I may pick up one of his books and see if like it. The good news I started digging around in the wholesale book lots at ebay and found a couple of other options. I bought William Kent Krueger's 7 book series, Cork O'Connor who is a retired Chicago cop living in Northern Minnesota. Looks like a fun read.

    I also found several others, but was looking for feedback from you guys if they were any good. Here's the ones I am considering:
    * J D Robb's Death series.
    * Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series.
    * Catherine Coulter's FBI series (featuring Dillon Savich and his wife Lacey Sherlock).

    Love to hear your thoughts on any of these three or others.

    BTW, Here's the Ebay wholesale book link. I'm looking forward to the day we have a community center in Sun City and I can donate whole book series for people to borrow.
     
  4. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Kind of odd being the catalyst for a thread that just keeps on going like the energizer bunny, but that was my intent from the beginning. One of my favorites in series is released once a year in June. Daniel Silva began his character Gabriel Allon years ago and we've watched as he aged along with us. What is so interesting is most of these kinds of books are centered around a massively strong, well muscled heron type that is easy to admire.

    Not so with Gabriel; he's diminutive and in his undercover role he's an art restorer. He got his start after the Black September massacre and the Israelis went after those behind it. Gabriel was one of those that hunted down the murderers and made them pay with their lives. That's led us on a journey across the world and through a historical perspective of the never ending conflict between Israel and the PLO (and so many others).

    Silva's latest work is called the English Spy, it starts with a bang and appears to be yet another in great series of books he's written.
     
  5. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    A quick nod of thanks to aggie for sharing the Tracy/Monkeewrench series with us. On book 4 and have shared the first three with good friends who are loving it as well.
     
  6. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    Glad you liked the Monkeywrench series. I hope there will be more...

    I recently got through the first 180 pages of a 600+ page book which is supposed to be the first in a new series. The first book is called "A Long Time Until Now" by Michael Williamson. I was so engaged by the book that I BOUGHT IT! It's been a long time since I bought a new book but this is a great sci fi which has a broad subject matter. I originally got it from the library but because there's a wait list it would be impossible to read at a leisurely pace. I'm saving it for a vacation read.

    Right now I'm reading "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which is a classic sci fi that launched the movie "Blade Runner". Not a gripping read but it was written over 40 years ago. I like reading old classics to see how much of the writer's future predictions have actually come true.
     
  7. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    It would be great to see the Monkeywrench crew back together. The good news is the series has been passed on to friends who are enjoying it as much as we did. Just started the William Kent Krueger series featuring Cork O'Connor. Yet another Minnesota setting.
     
  8. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    14 Book Series? You'll have to let us know if they're written well.
     
  9. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Yup, 14 books total, and dang, I've only got 7 of them. The good news is, I have the first in the series and began it yesterday. Odd, he didn't begin it by introducing characters, just jumped right in with the story. Apparently he's a retired cop living in Northern Minnesota and his wife (who appears to be on the cusp of a divorce from) is an attorney.

    Guess I'll start hunting down the missing 7 books. The entire series is for sale on ebay, but I hate buying duplicates of books I already have. The problem is buying them one at a time becomes more expensive than owning doubles.
     
  10. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Damn, just picked up Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher, Make Me and I can't put it down. I may have to go back and reread the entire series.

    By the way, found the other 7 copies of the William Kent Krueger, Cork O'Connor series. Finished the first and waiting on #2 to come via the US mail. Really, really well written.
     
  11. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Damn!

    Just finished the latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher book...too good. Love when you never see the ending coming.

    By the way, it's called Make Me.
     
  12. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Just finished Sue Grafton's X. Pretty good, and what is most fun is how she incorporated the water shortage back in California at the time this book was written in, late 1980's. Of course she just wrote the book, but her time frame for the series in back then. The old guy she rents the garage from is on a quest to reduce water usage by taking his lawn and all the shrubs out.

    Too fun given what is going on in California, with no water and people doing things to get around water conservation. How's that going for you Tom Selleck?
     
  13. J_and_V

    J_and_V Member

    Have you ever read Karin Slaughter? She has a couple of different story lines but the characters cross over. Set in Atlanta and/or rural Georgia. Mystery/Cop stuff.
     
  14. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    I've seen the name as I have rummaged thrift stores, but had no inclination to pick one up.

    Now i'm inspired. Cool, thanks V, or was this J?
     
  15. J_and_V

    J_and_V Member

    V...J has a huge "Audible" library. What does that have to do with anything? Not many, if any, Karin Slaughter books on Audible.
     
  16. J_and_V

    J_and_V Member

    I take that back, there are a ton of her books on Audible, I just haven't brought them down for J. Bad me.
     
  17. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    Finished the first in the series and wasn't really hooked on his style of writing. You'll have to let me know if you think the following ones are good. We lived through the spear fishing protests up north so that part was interesting.

    Right now I have 4 books from the library to get through....still alternating my fiction/non-fiction.
     
  18. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Hey aggie; I'm on book two of the series by William Kent Krueger and truth be told, I'm sluggishly working my way through. But then I'm kind of in that same rut with the Private series by Patterson et al; so maybe it's just me. Been really busy getting the house ready for rental and reading has taken a back seat.

    Unfortunate.
     
  19. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    Slow to post on this thread but I've still been reading. My latest fiction series read was Robin Cook's 'Host'. The books are all pretty similar in the series but I do enjoy his style. The non-fiction read took a long time to finish but worth it. Erik Larson writes a historical fiction series that has enough facts that I consider it non-fiction. The rather loooong book was about the sinking of the Lusitania titled 'Dead Wake'. His next book I'm reading is 'The Devil in the White City" which is about the World's Fair in Chicago.

    Read on!
     
  20. dilings

    dilings New Member

    Hi Readers, I'm new to Talk of Sun City and love this thread!
    I have read the Sanford Prey series and Wm Krueger series (love both - from MN!). Has anyone read Elmore Leonard books? Such great dialog and many "laugh out loud" moments. I have made a big list of many of your recommendations and look forward to new authors. Since we lived in MN, I will try PJ Tracy first. Scott Turow is the current author I'm re-reading.
     

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