May is a popular month. Publishers are getting ready for what they hope will be a profitable summer reading season. Today's list has some - well I will call them B list authors. You may have heard of them but perhaps you won't have. Two of today's titles sound really really good to me. See if any appeal to you.
Terry Hayes was a journalist who became a film producer. He published his first novel in Great Britain last year and on May 27th, it is being published in the US. I Am Pilgrim is about a retired secret agent who wrote a book that became a classic in forensic science. When a woman is found dead, lying face down in a pool of acid, with no face, no teeth and no fingerprints, he is called back into the work by the NYPD. On it's British publication, the head of the Penguin Random House called it "the best debut thriller since The Day of the Jackal." Pretty high praise for this one. Another twitter comment said "Sleep is for wimps right? That's all I'm saying. #iampilgrim" Sounds like one to keep you up at night.
Greg Iles, an author close to making it onto my A list, comes out with Natchez Burning on April 29th. That is almost May, isn't it? This title feature Penn Cage, the southern lawyer from The Devil's Punchbowl. Cage is shocked when his father is accused of murdering his former nurse. When he starts investigating, even more secrets come out. This is the first of a trilogy so if you like Iles, start now with the first one. Keep in mind that it took Iles 5 years to write this book because he was in a horrible auto accident and was placed in a medically induced coma for awhile. Also, while he was writing this, his father - who is the inspiration for Dr. Tom Cage in this book - died. So, he has been through some life changing events. This title, might have a different tone than his previous ones. Those who have read it say at 800 pages in length, it still kept them on the edge of their seat and they were never bored.
I happen to have read Philip Kerr's previous books featuring WWII German homicide detective Bernie Gunther. I really liked the atmosphere he presented. Prayer, which comes out on May 6th, is a change for him. Gil Martins, an agent with the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Unit in Houston, thinks he has sent an innocent man to death row. He begins to question everything - the system, his religion, the world in general. While his crisis in faith is going on, he is tasked to investigate the killings of prominent religious people. People either seem to love this or hate it. Many have said it is a page turner and extremely well written - even beautifully written - but others have said it wasn't their cup of tea. You can decide for yourselves.
Sarah Lotz who has written horror and a YA zombie series gives us The Three on May 20th. 4 passenger planes crash almost simultaneously in different parts of the world. In all of the crashes, only 3 children survive - one from the US, one from Japan and one from Great Britain. An evangelist declares them 3 of the 4 harbingers of the apocalypse. Wow - everyone who has read this one, can't put it down. They call it terrifying, a mind-bender and extremely suspenseful. Part of the book is written as an expose by a fictional investigative journalist with letters, interviews and emails. It is said to be extremely easy to read and really suspenseful.
Michael Palmer has another medical thriller, Resistant, also coming out on May 20th. The governmental scientist committed to researching antibiotic resistant bacteria is kidnapped. Dr. Lou Welcome's best friend's leg injury is being attacked by the same bacteria. Trying to save his friend's life, Welcome investigates what has happened to the scientist and uncovers an evil plot.
Lastly, Matthew Quirk, has The Directive coming out on May 27th. This is Quirk's 2nd book after The 500. It again features Mike Ford, a prior conman, Harvard Law School grad. Interesting combination there. In this one, Mike steps in when his brother has been roped into a plot to steal a secret worth billions of dollars from a trading desk at the Federal Reserve. Quirk might be an interesting author to follow. Mike Ford is said to be a less cranky version of DMille's John Corey. So if you like adventure and plot over character development, this might be for you.
Enjoy deciding which of any of these, is your 'must read'.
No comments:
Post a Comment