Waiting for Harlan

One of my favorite authors is coming out with a new title in March - Harlan Coben and the title is Six Years. All the reviews I have read have been outstanding. I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival and yes - I am on the reserve list for it. If you are waiting as I am, then perhaps you  might want to try one of these - I've only included ones who might not be thought of as 'BIG' names. I mean often Stuart Woods is used as a suggestion but geez - if you have read Harlan Coben, you've already read Stuart Woods. These are some suggestions of people you perhaps have not thought about.

Don Winslow - he also writes both suspense and mystery novels. Some think his novels are lighter in tone but I always find Coben to have a sense of humor so.... Both authors create sympathetic characters and have clever story lines. Winslow's novels also have snappy dialogue but tend to focus more on the character than the plot. The library has several of his suspense titles. One of his works - Savages - was made into a movie with John Travolta.

Thomas Perry - Perry's novels, like Coben's,  also have twisty plots and are stories where ordinary people face shocking problems. His tone is darker and hard boiled in my opinion. He writes a series featuring Jane Whitefield, a Native American woman who uses native wisdom as well as street smarts to help people get out of trouble. He also writes a series featuring a mob hit man, the Butcher's Boy.

Linwood Barclay is a Canadian author who writes fast-paced, gut-wrenching suspense. Again, like Coben, ordinary people are faced with shocking events. His plots are very intricate. I was introduced to him when his title No Time For Goodbye. It has a fascinating premise - a 14 year old girl wakes up one morning and her entire family has disappeared. 25 years later, she finds out what happened.

Gregg Andrew Hurwitz writes compelling often violent tales featuring innocent protagonists. His plots often sound like they could be Coben's plots. He also started with a series and moved to stand alone suspense. Really fast moving plots. The one that stands out in my mind is a young man is awoken in the middle of the night by a SWAT team who drag him into a helicopter. A terrorist has seized control of a nuclear reactor and is will only talk to him. This is all related to one night when he was a young teenager when tragedy struck and his step father's last words (the title of the book) - Trust No One.

Lastly, Sean Doolittle writes stand alone suspense titles that feature good people in trouble. His are darker than Coben's also and they are more character driven but the plots build dramatically and are filled with action. The Cleanup has a broken policeman working night patrol at a supermarket. He finds himself attracted to one of the checkout girls. She comes to him one night looking for help and he finds himself getting involved and in way, way over his head.

 

While we wait for Harlan, try one of these authors and see what you think.