My 25 Favorite Authors of Fiction (Alphabetically)
Discover my top 25 favorite fiction authors listed alphabetically, from timeless classics to modern masterpieces. Explore must-read books and literary gems!
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Maia
by Richard Adams
Maia, a peasant girl in the mythical Beklan Empire, is sold into slavery, but a turn of fate sees her become a successful concubine, then a national heroine.
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The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury
For use in schools and libraries only. The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.
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The Postman Always Rings Twice
by James M. Cain
The bestselling sensationâand one of the most outstanding crime novels of the 20th centuryâthat was banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, and acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger. The basis for the acclaimed 1946 film. An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solutionâa solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve. First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America's bleak underside and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger.
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The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler
The renowned novel from the crime fiction master, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe. ⢠Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson. One of The Atlanticâs Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in. âChandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious.â âThe New York Times Book Review
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Persuader
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher takes an undercover assignment to investigate the disappearance of a federal agent from the home of a notorious drug dealer, but Reacher soon discovers that the dealer has ties to a man from Reacher's own past, one that Reacher supposedly killed. Reprint.
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The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
Representing some unsavory characters in his work as a defense lawyer, Mickey Haller takes on his first high-paying and possibly innocent client in years, but finds the case complicated by events that suggest a particularly evil perpetrator.
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The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
by Philip K. Dick
In this wildly disorienting funhouse of a novel, populated by God-like--or perhaps Satanic--takeover artists and corporate psychics, Philip K. Dick explores mysteries that were once the property of St. Paul and Aquinas. His wit, compassion, and knife-edged irony make The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch moving as well as genuinely visionary.
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From Russia with Love
by Ian Fleming
Name: Bond, James. Height: 183 cm; weight: 76 kg; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek and on left shoulder; all-around athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises; languages: French and German; smokes heavily (Nb: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women. Every major foreign government organization has a file on British secret agent James Bond. Now, Russia's lethal Smersh organization has targeted him for elimination. Smersh has the perfect bait in the irresistible Tatiana Romanova, who lures 007 to Istanbul promising the top-secret Spektor cipher machine. But when Bond walks willingly into the trap, a game of cross and double-cross ensues, with Bond both the stakes and the prize...
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The Sandman: Season of mists
by Neil Gaiman
Graphic novel. Morpheus the Sandman travels to hell to rescue Nada, only to be confronted by his enemy Lucifer.
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What Came Before He Shot Her
by Elizabeth George
#1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George delivers an explosive, "absolutely riveting" novel (Entertainment Weekly) that delves into the events leading up to the shocking murder of Inspector Lynleyâs wife. The brutal, inexplicable death of Inspector Thomas Lynleyâs wife, Helen, has left Scotland Yard shocked and searching for answers. Even more horrifying is that the trigger was apparently pulled by a twelve-year-old boy. That story begins on the other side of London in rough North Kensington, where the three, mixed-race, virtually orphaned Campbell children are bounced first from their grandmother to their aunt. The oldest, fifteen-year-old Ness, is headed for trouble as fast as her high-heeled boots will take her. That leaves the middle child, Joel, to care for the youngest, Toby. No one wants to put it into words, but something clearly isnât right with Toby. Before long, there are signs that Joel himself has problems. A local gang starts harassing him and threatening his brother. To protect his family, Joel ends up making a pact with the devilâa move that leads straight to the front doorstep of Thomas Lynley. The anatomy of a murder, the story of a family in crisis, What Came Before He Shot Her is a powerful and emotional novel, full of deep psychological insights, that only the incomparable Elizabeth George could write.
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Vanish
by Tess Gerritsen
FBI agent Gabriel Dean rushes into action to protect his pregnant wife, homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, when she is taken hostage along with others at the hospital by Nicholas Tennant, a black-ops agent in possession of high-level government secrets.
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The Rainmaker
by John Grisham
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠âA taut and terrific page-turnerâ (Entertainment Weekly) from the master of the courtroom thriller âGreat fun to read . . . The complex plotting is Grishamâs major accomplishment.ââLos Angeles Times In development as a USA Network series starring John Slattery Itâs summer in Memphis. The sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylorâs shirt and creditors are nipping at his heels. Once he had aspirations of breezing through law school and punching his ticket to the good life. Now he doesnât have a job or a prayerâexcept for one: an insurance dispute that leaves a family devastated and opens the door for a lawsuit, if Rudy can find a way to file it. By the time Rudy gets to court, a heavyweight corporate defense team is there to meet him. And suddenly heâs in over his head, plunged into a nightmare of lies and legal maneuverings. A case that started small is exploding into a thunderous million-dollar war of nerves, skill, and outright violenceâa fight that could cost one young lawyer his life, or turn him into the biggest rainmaker in the land.
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The Quiet Game
by Greg Iles
INTRODUCING PENN CAGE... From the author of Cemetery Road comes the first intelligent, gripping thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Penn Cage series. Natchez, Mississippi. Jewel of the South. City of old money and older sins. And childhood home of Houston prosecutor Penn Cage. In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, this is where Penn has returned for solitude. This is where he hopes to find peace. What he discovers instead is his own family trapped in a mystery buried for thirty years but never forgottenâthe townâs darkest secret, now set to trap and destroy Penn as well.
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The Cider House Rules
by John Irving
âThe Cider House Rules is filled with people to love and to feel for. . . . The characters in John Irvingâs novel break all the rules, and yet they remain noble and free-spirited.ââThe Houston Post First published in 1985, The Cider House Rules is set in rural Maine in the first half of the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larchâsaint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloudâs, ether addict and abortionist. This is also the story of Dr. Larchâs favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted. Praise for The Cider House Rules â [Irving] is among the very best storytellers at work today. At the base of Irvingâs own moral concerns is a rare and lasting regard for human kindness.ââThe Philadelphia Inquirer â Superb in scope and originality, a novel as good as one could hope to find from any author, anywhere, anytime. Engrossing, moving, thoroughly satisfying.ââJoseph Heller â An old-fashioned, big-hearted novel . . . with its epic yearning caught in the nineteenth century, somewhere between Trollope and Twain.ââBoston Sunday Globe
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The Shining
by Stephen King
This inspiring and compelling book has won ten awards to date, including Honorable Mentions at the December 2012 New England and London Book Festivals, October 2012 Southern California Book Festival and June 2012 New York Book Festival in the category of Spiritual books; is winner of the North American Bookdealers Ě Exchange (NABE) Pinnacle Award for âInspirationalâ books in Spring 2011; and has become a much sought-after reference for people seeking to affect positive change around the globe. Readers are: * taught how to recognize, harness and channel positive personal power for the betterment of themselves, their loved ones, associates and our universe * provided an invaluable checklist of great leadership behaviors and attitudes * taught how to recognize controlling behaviors of others and the negative patterns in society * inspired to be the best they can be * compelled to ask themselves "why am I here; what good can I do for humanity?" * taught how to recognize a self-limiting posture so they can improve their level of self-awareness......to the point of real self-intelligence and, by so doing, break free of lifeâs boxes, labels and restrictions * encouraged to erase their fears, trust their abilities and remove their baggage........and take the journey to empowerment and fulfilment in everything they do!
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Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Tells of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana and shows how one man's dream to create an empire affects others.
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A Judgement in Stone
by Ruth Rendell
On Valentine's Day, four members of the Coverdale family are murdered by their housekeeper in the space of 15 minutes. When Detective Chief Superintendent arrests Eunice Parchman two weeks later, he discovers a second tragedy: the key to the St. Valentine's Day massacre is a private humiliation Parchman has guarded all her life.
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The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger's classic of adolescent angst is now available for the first time in trade paperback. Holden Caulfield, knowing he is to be expelled from school, decides to leave early. He spends three days in New York City and tells the story of what he did and suffered there.
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Winter Prey
by John Sandford
Lucas Davenport agrees to help a Wisconsin sheriff solve multiple murders in a remote wooded area. Both men are challenged by an alien evil.
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The Killer Inside Me
by Jim Thompson
In a small town in Texas there is a sheriff's deputy named Lou Ford, a man so dull that he lives in cliches, so good-natured that he doesn't even lay a finger on the drunks who come into his custody. But then, that would be too easy, for Lou's sickness requires other victims. . . . A nightmarish book of psychopathic evil.
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The Time Machine
by H. G. Wells
The Time Machine, perhaps Wells' best known work, tells the story of the first time traveler. In the distant future the human race has evolved into two beings: the gentle Eloi and their dreaded cousins, the Morlocks, masters of the underworld. Ralph Cosham's performance is possibly the best narration ever of this Science Fiction Classic.Five great stories featuring Wells at his best, delving into fantastic and strange worlds. Included are The Door in the Wall, a haunting classic capturing the pathos of lost youth; Aepyornis Island, the story of a prehistoric bird; The Purple Pileus, involves a life-altering fungus, The Truth About Pyecraft, the delightful tale of a man who must wear lead underwear, and The Strange Orchid, which tells of the macabre appetite of an exotic plant.