# Best author you've discovered in the last decade?



## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Who's the best author you've discovered in the last decade?

For me it is someone I bet most of you have never heard of, the Australian writer Peter Temple.

He was going good, winning prizes in Australia, but no international publication, back in the 1990s.

In my opinion, his novel Truth

was the best thriller of the decade.

But the entrypoint for me was Peter Temple's novels about the lawyer Jack Irish and his investigations. I once lived in Melbourne, the city where most of Temple's books are set, and I've lived on the very street in Johannesburg where the opening of In the Evil Day (in the States called Identity Theory) 

is set, and Temple isn't only brilliant on dialogue, he is superb about place.

I guess you can say I'm a fan.

Have you made any startling discoveries? By author, I really mean someone with several books, so that you can really get into him. One-book wonders shouldn't really count.

_--- updated to KindleBoards ebook links_


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Hmm...I was going to say Terry Pratchett, as I think I started reading the Discworld books circa 2002, but then I think I read _Good Omens_ well before that, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, so that may disqualify him. Without Sir Terry, it gets a lot harder for me to decide. I think I'd probably pick Charles Stross, but if Patrick Rothfuss keeps up the quality he showed in _The Name of the Wind_ in the upcoming sequel, I might have to rethink that.


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

Glenway Wescott, author of The Grandmothers, The Pilgrim Hawk and Apartment in Athens

I knew who Wallace Stegner was, so it might not be accurate to say I 'discovered' him in the past decade, but I hadn't read anything by him until a few years ago: Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety.

Also, Denis Johnson.


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## Paul Levine (May 14, 2010)

John Hart, author of "The King of Lies," "Down River" and "The Last Child."

The last two won Edgar awards.

In a word, he's terrific.

Paul Levine

_--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## tim290280 (Jan 11, 2011)

It feels wrong to say I've discovered Jeff, but I read the first Dexter book before the TV show became a hit, so I'm claiming it.

Jeff Lindsay - all Dexter books (bar the shark jump that was Dexter in the Dark).

I just love his use of language, especially his alliteration, and the way he has created such a great anti-hero.


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## mscottwriter (Nov 5, 2010)

Neil Gaiman.  I know he's been around longer than 10 years, but it was about that long ago that I read "American Gods".

Don't you just love finding an author so good that you just have to read every book they wrote?


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

Kate Atkinson! I just finished Case Histories and it was one of the best books I've ever read. It's not new, was published I think in 2004, but I just discovered it. I can't wait to read every book she's ever written. An Amazon reviewer, quoting the Washington Post, described it perfectly:

"*You will like this novel if*:
--You enjoy strikingly crafted, humorous phrases that make you applaud the writer's insights regarding the human condition.

--You like stories written in non-linear fashion, where points of view and major characters change from one chapter to the next, incidents are not always revealed in the order in which they occur, new characters suddenly enter the story for no apparent reason, and you get to use your smarts to deduce what is happening. (Fear not; all is eventually and clearly explained.)

--Several engrossing mysterious threads keep you on edge to find out what the explanations are going to be.

--"Howtodealwithit"--conflicted, troubled people trying to straighten out their lives--is as interesting to you as whodunit.

*You will not like this novel if*:
--You want a slam-bang action thriller with little or no introspection by the characters.

--You're turned off by major changes in story line and characters from one chapter to the next.

--You'd rather not read about incest, (occasional) casual sex, and dysfunctional families with parents who seem incapable of giving love.

--You strongly object to unlikely coincidences that tie plot elements together."


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## Vianka Van Bokkem (Aug 26, 2010)

Cassandra Clare author of The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices Series.



Vianka Van Bokkem


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Robert Sawyer, a brilliant SciFi author.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Probably Irish author John Connelly, whose Charlie Parker thrillers are beautifully written, literate, yet also noir with powerful "quiet horror" overtones.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Pratchett definately. I'd heard the word "Discworld", but I didn't know it from Riverworld or Ringworld. I heard him speak at MiniCon a few years ago, and tried out one of his books "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents". Since then, I have devoured his books.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Louise Penny. I discovered her mysteries about three years ago, and they are one of the few for which I won’t wait for the price to come down.

Mike


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Its  Vince  Flynn for  me..  I'm addicted to his  Mitch Rapp  series.


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## evrose (Jan 7, 2011)

Neal Stephenson.

In all my years of reading, after absorbing millions of words of text, I've never, never found someone who has better command of the English language than he. Some of his books (particularly the Baroque Cycle) can drag a bit, but once you're done you know you've been taken on a completely unique journey.

Runner-ups to:
Bill Bryson
Peter Hamilton
Thomas Pynchon

And in the inverse category of "author you thought was good, but turned out to suck", the winner is:

Arthur C. Clarke

About a year ago I read (or tried to read) a few of his old-school novels. Wow, is that guy overrated. Badly overrated. Most of his work, with the exception of the first Rama novel, is just dull pap.


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## AJB (Jul 9, 2010)

fancynancy said:


> Kate Atkinson!


You beat me to it! Definitely Kate Atkinson. Love her stuff.

Amanda


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Depending on my mood, it would be either Charles Stross or Irvine Welsh


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

bordercollielady said:


> Its Vince Flynn for me.. I'm addicted to his Mitch Rapp series.


Yah! He reminds me of Brian Freemantle's Charlie Muffin, not because the characters correspond in any way whatsoever, except in what they are not. They are not like everybody else's characters in the same job. Mitch Rapp is definitely several cuts above your average musclebound psychopath for works for the CIA. Rapp also reminds me of the late and much lamented Ross Thomas's Michael Padillo.


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## tamborine (May 16, 2009)

Henning Mankell and Chuck Palahniuk. That's just who I discovered in the past couple of years, though; my memory doesn't extend back over the whole decade.


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

For me it would be Dan Simmons (The Terror, A Winter Haunting) and Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora).


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## LRGiles (Apr 28, 2010)

I'll say Michael Grant. Love his GONE series (YA).


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

I have been reading a lot of YA fiction the last decade or so, so I would have to say Rick Riordan.  I love all his books and am always impatiently waiting for the next in any of his series to come out.

In more adult fiction I would have to say Ken Follett.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

I love this thread!  I now have a list of new authors to try!


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## charliehill (Jan 26, 2011)

depends on my mood. crime/thriller-wise, i'd have to say George Pelecanos. his stuff is full of music and sex and noir-ish turns of phrase - very entertaining (i think he writes for The Wire as well...)
for something throwaway i like Matt Beaumont (i've only read 'e', but it was very silly and very funny)
then again, if i want to sit down and really lose myself in a book in which nothing happens (and very slowly at that) Marilynne Robinson does the job...


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## charliehill (Jan 26, 2011)

oooh, oooh, i nearly forgot. for really gruesome historical stuff (i've read some short stories - Poachers - and a novel - Hell at the Breech), Tom Franklin takes some beating...


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## charliehill (Jan 26, 2011)

oooh, oooh, again. if you want whimsical, wistful, melancholic, non-linear meandering, Richard Brautigan is your man. (i've just been reminded of him on another thread. and will stop this now... )


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## Elderdog73 (Jan 27, 2011)

J.A. Konrath or Jack Killbourne (they're the same person)....


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## Raydad (Jan 11, 2011)

Charles Portis (True Grit, The Dog of the South)

Annie Proulx (That Old Ace In the Hole)


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

Pete Hamill...I read _Forever_ and was hooked. He's an amazing writer...


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## MonkeyScribe (Jan 27, 2011)

I love Alan Furst. It's the writing style that I would most like to emulate, a literate novel with a gripping plot.


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2011)

J.K. Rowling had the biggest impact on me in the past decade.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

I've already made my choice in the original post: Peter Temple.

But in the same decade I also discovered James Lee Burke, who is pretty much a thriller writer's thriller writer.

And we should mention Lee Child, whose early Jack Reacher books were stunning.


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

charliehill said:


> oooh, oooh, again. if you want whimsical, wistful, melancholic, non-linear meandering, Richard Brautigan is your man. (i've just been reminded of him on another thread. and will stop this now... )


You know, I might have to agree. I've only read his poetry, but it was just a revelation. Nutty stuff.

Brautigan deserves a lot more attention.


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

Martin Cruz Smith. (Yeah, he's been around for thirty plus years, so I was late to the party.)


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## OliverCrommer (May 17, 2010)

For me, I'd have to say Anita Shreve. I bought_ Body Surfing_ for a quarter at the library book sale, and it was such a page-turner. I mean, the story was OK, but it was her concise writing style that did the job for me.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Iain M. Banks comes to mind, but I only "discovered" about two years ago.  He writes a higher calibre science fiction.


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## TCLuvs2read (Apr 5, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> J.K. Rowling had the biggest impact on me in the past decade.


I have to agree with you foreverjuly.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Luke Davies.


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2011)

TCLuvs2read said:


> I have to agree with you foreverjuly.


Thanks, and you have an awesome quote in your signature. I used to love Steven Wright!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Eric C said:


> Martin Cruz Smith. (Yeah, he's been around for thirty plus years, so I was late to the party.)


Hah! Martin Cruz Smith was late for his own party. He's the classic case of a writer who worked decades to become an overnight success. For years before Gorky Park he wrote these slender crime novels, until he broke out with Gorky Park.

Just as a matter of interest, two other writers mainly known for thick tomes with slender but superior early novels are 
John Le Carre -- A murder of quality
Andrew Taylor -- Caroline Minuscule
-- Waiting for the end of the world


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## peter darbyshire (Jan 22, 2011)

Tony Daniel. He writes the most literary and intelligent sci-fi I've ever encountered. Check out "A Dry, Quiet War" for an example: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/quietwar.htm

Also, Kevin Brockmeier, particularly The Brief History of the Dead and The View from the Seventh Layer. I think he's the Calvino of our age.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

jmiked said:


> Louise Penny. I discovered her mysteries about three years ago, and they are one of the few for which I won't wait for the price to come down.
> 
> Mike


For me, too. I found her through the Edgar Awards, and I've since found Michael Connelly the same way, by going back a few years.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

bordercollielady said:


> Its Vince Flynn for me.. I'm addicted to his Mitch Rapp series.


You can add my name to the Mitch Rapp fan club. Flynn is one of the few authors that will cause me to rush out and buy the newest in the series.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

In the last decade?  Hmm.  I have some all time favorites (like Anne Tyler), but I started reading her stuff well before the last decade.  Same with Florence King.

For writers I've personally discovered in the last decade (though a couple have passed away), it's a toss-up among Shirley Jackson, Ira Levin, and Alice Hoffman.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> J.K. Rowling had the biggest impact on me in the past decade.


I would agree with Rowlings being one of my top authors I have discovered/came across/however you want to put it.
I think I would buy whatever she wrote regardless of what it was, if she ever decides to write anything new.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

JK Rowling definitely falls into the category of having the greatest impact. (Interesting thread idea . . .)

As for writers I've "found": I'd have to say Barbara Kingsolver and Jodi Piccoult. 

For Fantasy, Brandon Sanderson.


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## Tom Schreck (Dec 12, 2010)

Ken Bruen


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## nmg222 (Sep 14, 2010)

Daniel Silva.

I can't get enough of the Gabriel Allon series.


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## Lambert (Nov 12, 2010)

Well I just started reading fiction again recently. That's what a Kindle will do to you. 

I don't have a large sampling, but I have read a few books in the last couple months. There is a book I just recently read by C.J. West called "Sin and Vengeance" which was really good. When I have time I'll be reading the next one in the series "Demon Awaits".

I have a short review on his book here on KindleBoards. http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,50353.0.html

Lambert


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## nobody_important (Jul 9, 2010)

J.K. Rowling   

Oh and Kresley Cole gets the honorable mention.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Pratchett, most definitely (despite his occasional streak of cruelty that I rather detest). I love Harry Potter but I am still not sure J.K. Rowling is indeed a great author - although I, too, will read whatever she writes in the future 
Otherwise, I found many of my newly discovered authors a bit unreliable. Orhan Pamuk - I loved his Istanbul and Snow, disliked all other books of his. Same for Arturo Pérez-Reverte - I loved _The Club Dumas _ (amazing book by the way, especially if you know your Three Musketeers by heart) so I got all his other books (in my pre-Kindle times) and I really didn't like any of them.
I had more luck with some newly discovered "fun" authors - Carola Dun, Gail Carriger, Sarah Caudwell. For non-fiction: Eric Hansen (interesting travel essays and a great book about orchid growers - _The Orchid Fever_).


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

anguabell said:


> Otherwise, I found many of my newly discovered authors a bit unreliable. Orhan Pamuk - I loved his Istanbul and Snow, disliked all other books of his. Same for Arturo Pérez-Reverte - I loved _The Club Dumas _ (amazing book by the way, especially if you know your Three Musketeers by heart) so I got all his other books (in my pre-Kindle times) and I really didn't like any of them.


Er, "anguabell":

If you love any of my books, please don't buy another! You'll hate it.

If you hate the first one of my books you read, do please try another. You might like it better.

I never write the same book twice. Publishers and agents have been beating on me for it for decades. ("You're betraying your readers.")

Interesting authors must be allowed their mistakes and failures. It is what makes them interesting.

I'm amazed at the number of authors I've never heard of before in this thread. What a valuable resource, like a whole library of new books!


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## cftodd (Jan 30, 2011)

Jon F, Merz, Dan Brown, and Joseph Finder


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## TheMerleChloe (Jan 30, 2011)

Oh, that is easy! Jon F. Merz, Joseph Finder, Michael Palmer, Daniel Palmer, Ben Mezrich. 
Jon F. Merz recently released THE KENSEI and released all the Lawson Vampire urban fantasy books yesterday, Joseph Finder released Vanished and BURIED SECRETS is coming out this year, Daniel Palmer just released DELIRIOUS, Michael Palmer will be releasing A HEARTBEAT AWAY in February, and Ben Mezrich had a huge hit with THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES which was turned into a movie the SOCIAL NETWORK winning four golden globe awards.

Jon F. Merz recently announced that his publisher, St Martins Press has asked him to continue his Lawson series and he will be releasing THE RIPPER in 2012! I have to hurry and read all of the books prior to THE KENSEI although each novel is a stand alone.

I was first turned on to Jon in a contest in which I won his book Parallax! It remains as one of my favorite Jon F. Merz books. I mean I could see the scenes in my mind as if it was in a movie! I think that Parallx and many of his other books would make excellent movies!


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## Chryse (Oct 4, 2010)

tim290280 said:


> It feels wrong to say I've discovered Jeff, but I read the first Dexter book before the TV show became a hit, so I'm claiming it.
> 
> Jeff Lindsay - all Dexter books (bar the shark jump that was Dexter in the Dark).
> 
> I just love his use of language, especially his alliteration, and the way he has created such a great anti-hero.


Agreed, although Darkly Dreaming Dexter is just mind-blowing. I wonder if it helps him to have a Hemingway as a wife....


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## joanne29 (Jun 30, 2009)

Karen Marie Moning, Alice Walker, Elizabeth Berg and Emma Donoghue.


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## tim290280 (Jan 11, 2011)

Chryse said:


> Agreed, although Darkly Dreaming Dexter is just mind-blowing. I wonder if it helps him to have a Hemingway as a wife....


It certainly couldn't hurt.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter was the first one I picked up and I was hooked within a page or two. If it wasn't quite so dark then I think it would have been as popular a series as the Larson books.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

tim290280 said:


> It feels wrong to say I've discovered Jeff, but I read the first Dexter book before the TV show became a hit, so I'm claiming it.
> 
> Jeff Lindsay - all Dexter books (bar the shark jump that was Dexter in the Dark).
> 
> I just love his use of language, especially his alliteration, and the way he has created such a great anti-hero.


I resonate with this; I discovered DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER shortly after it's release on Audible.com and well before it was a SHOWTIME hit. So I'm with you there...

...but I would have to say the best overall author I've read in the last decade who isn't a household name yet is...

Kindleboarder Victorine Lieske.

Her romantic suspense novel, NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS, remains the best thing I've read in at least the last 10 years.

And she's a true indie to boot! Yay, Vickie!


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Andre Jute said:


> Er, "anguabell":
> 
> If you love any of my books, please don't buy another! You'll hate it.
> 
> ...


LOL André. You are right, that sounded a bit harsh as I didn't specify why I didn't like the other books - it's not what this threat is about. The reasons are most likely entirely subjective because both authors seem to enjoy the continuous popularity. Either those books didn't appeal to me or I felt the quality of writing is not what I expected. Not because those authors don't write the same book over and over again. Any author brave enough to do something different deserves some credit, as long as they maintain a good level of craftsmanship. Good writing is a good writing. I once read, spellbound, a long magazine article about football (a subject that doesn't interest me at all) only because Salman Rushdie is such an amazing storyteller. I think you can betray your readers only by becoming a heartless calculating hack


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## Bakari (May 25, 2010)

Malcolm Gladwell, hands down!!!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

anguabell said:


> LOL André. You are right, that sounded a bit harsh as I didn't specify why I didn't like the other books - it's not what this threat is about. The reasons are most likely entirely subjective because both authors seem to enjoy the continuous popularity. Either those books didn't appeal to me or I felt the quality of writing is not what I expected. Not because those authors don't write the same book over and over again. Any author brave enough to do something different deserves some credit, as long as they maintain a good level of craftsmanship. Good writing is a good writing. I once read, spellbound, a long magazine article about football (a subject that doesn't interest me at all) only because Salman Rushdie is such an amazing storyteller. I think you can betray your readers only by becoming a heartless calculating hack


Hey, as a teacher of creative writing, my textbooks tell aspirant writers to write series. It's just when I come to the point of starting the second book, there's always another book more attractive I want to write first.

Jute's First Law: Don't do as I do, do as I say!

Thanks for the giggle.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I discovered Michael Nava's excellent mysteries. I should have found them sooner and have no idea how I overlooked them.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> I discovered Michael Nava's excellent mysteries. I should have found them sooner and have no idea how I overlooked them.


I like Michael Nava - _The Little Death _ is my favorite (although quite hearbreaking) - I wonder why he didn't publish anything for a long time?

This is such a great threat - I'm putting together a whole new TBR list!


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## Zackery Arbela (Jan 31, 2011)

I'd have to say R Scott Bakker...I'm a fantasy buff with a taste for the more hard edged stuff...he combines superb world building with gritty realism.


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## billie hinton (Jan 30, 2011)

Marianne Wiggins. Her novel Evidence of Things Unseen is one of my most favorite books. I hadn't heard of her, but after reading that, went back and read her earlier novels - all very good.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

anguabell said:


> I like Michael Nava - _The Little Death _ is my favorite (although quite hearbreaking) - I wonder why he didn't publish anything for a long time?
> 
> This is such a great threat - I'm putting together a whole new TBR list!


_The Little Death_ is great but my favorite is _The Death of Friends_ which had me in tears at the end and believe me, that doesn't happen. He is supposed to be working on a historical novel now but what with running for judge recently and stuff... he may not be writing much.

There are some great writers mentioned in this thread.


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## Sebastian Kirby (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi

It's got to be Robert Harris. Those descriptions........

Seb


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## ToddBush (Feb 1, 2011)

Decade?  Wow, that list is way too long.  Last year?  Justin Cronin comes to mind... um, Dennis Lehane as well.


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## cftodd (Jan 30, 2011)

Wait, hold the phone... Dexter the serial murderer on Shotime started as a book? Oh man I gotta read that. I LOVE that show!



CraigInTwinCities said:


> I resonate with this; I discovered DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER shortly after it's release on Audible.com and well before it was a SHOWTIME hit. So I'm with you there...


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I met F. Paul Wilson at a convention about three years ago. I was aware of his Repairman Jack series but hadn't read any. Now I am a devoted fan.


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, among others.


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## Joseph Robert Lewis (Oct 31, 2010)

NogDog said:


> I think I'd probably pick Charles Stross, but if Patrick Rothfuss keeps up the quality he showed in _The Name of the Wind_ in the upcoming sequel, I might have to rethink that.


Ha! That's exactly what I was going to say. Stross is definitely my new favorite SF writer, and Rothfuss might be my new favorite Fantasy writer.

I'd also throw out there NK Jemisin and Michael Flynn.


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## peter darbyshire (Jan 22, 2011)

NogDog said:


> I think I'd probably pick Charles Stross, but if Patrick Rothfuss keeps up the quality he showed in _The Name of the Wind_ in the upcoming sequel, I might have to rethink that.


I just finished the new Charles Stross book, The Fuller Memorandum. It's the darkest one yet -- about time!


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## Malweth (Oct 18, 2009)

I read a Charles Stross book and it was good, but not really on genre for me. I've been meaning to read another to see if it's a trend.

For me, it's Kazuo Ishiguro. Jeff Bezos turned me on to "The Remains of the Day" (his favorite book, in an interview). The preview for "Never Let Me Go" (the movie) got me going on it though... I remember not really listening to the preview (it sounded like a horror film), but hearing/seeing Ishiguro's name at the end. I read the book (didn't see the movie) and immediately moved onto "When We Were Orphans." Ishiguro is able to carry a theme throughout a book without ever really discussing the theme. His style is stark and simple, which make his messages very profound.

I'm meaning to read some of his others, but I'm on to other books right now. I've been put onto Umberto Eco (and from him to Jorge Luis Borges), but I'm not sure if Eco will be a favorite yet. He doesn't hold a candle to Ishiguro, though.


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## Cherilyn (Dec 27, 2010)

AnnetteL said:


> JK Rowling definitely falls into the category of having the greatest impact. (Interesting thread idea . . .)
> 
> As for writers I've "found": I'd have to say Barbara Kingsolver and Jodi Piccoult.
> 
> For Fantasy, Brandon Sanderson.


Picoult and Kingsolver for me too...I love them!


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

Now that I'm halfway through Roger Smith's next book, DUST DEVILS, I have to sing his praises. The guy write incredibly bleak noir, with a streak of dark comedy throughout. MIXED BLOOD and WAKE UP DEAD just keep piling on the awfulness, and I can't get enough. And they're all set in South Africa. Brilliant.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

Tess Gerritsen (Medical Thrillers)
Laurell K. Hamilton (Horror/Paranormal)
(Patrica Briggs [Paranormal/shifters/vamps] is excellent as well)

I know, I know...that's three (bad monkey)


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

docnoir said:


> Now that I'm halfway through Roger Smith's next book, DUST DEVILS, I have to sing his praises. The guy write incredibly bleak noir, with a streak of dark comedy throughout. MIXED BLOOD and WAKE UP DEAD just keep piling on the awfulness, and I can't get enough. And they're all set in South Africa. Brilliant.


Do you know the books of Deon Meyer?


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## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

I have quite a few that come to mind.... the last decade covers a whole lot of reading.  But, my current new favorite is Lisa Gardner.  I'm reading her Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren series right now and I think she has to be one of the very best psychological thriller writers I've ever come across.


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## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

David Mitchell is very good.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Possibly the mystery writer C.S. Harris. Love her style, even if it scares the liver out of me sometimes.


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## MeiLinMiranda (Feb 17, 2011)

Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm WAY behind the curve on that one!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

MeiLinMiranda said:


> Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm WAY behind the curve on that one!


On the contrary, I take the view that being behind the curve is the right place to be. That's what the Kindleboards is good for. All these people with just slightly different tastes, discovering new writers, so that you don't have to waste your time reading writers you won't get along with. And every time you are enthused enough to write about a writer, as I was about Temple, there's someone else whose profile he fits, who hasn't yet heard of him, so that one hand washes the other as well.


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## crimescribe (Apr 27, 2011)

For literary fiction: Michel Houellebecq, for crime:Karin Slaughter, fantasy: George R.R. Martin.


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## StephenLivingston (May 10, 2011)

Atomised and The Possibility of an Island by Houellebecq were both very good.


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## MaryKingsley (Mar 26, 2011)

it's hard to limit this to one author, but I'd have to say Kristen Hannah.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Margaret Atwood, easily. I've ended up teaching her work, most recently "Oryx and Crake" and "The Year of the Flood." I never intended to be a professor of English. I was off teaching creative writing when I received a call out of the blue from the chair of the English department at Santa Monica College. She said I'd been recommended to her as a great teacher, and had I thought of teaching English before? I hadn't, but it seemed to be a wonderful challenge in that many of my professors had been on the arrogant side, as if no one could read a book without devoting years of study to it. I accepted (fourteen years ago). I thought I'd try to spread the joy of reading to my students, so I always look for contemporary novels, which has forced me to read more new novels. What fun! Atwood is an inspiration to me.


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## brianmartinez (Feb 13, 2011)

I recently became hooked on Ray Bradbury and instantly wished I'd discovered him sooner. Fahrenheit 451, Death is a Lonely Business, Now and Forever, Martian Chronicles- all brilliant. Before that I would have said Craig Clevenger (Contortionist's Handbook, Dermaphoria) or Mark Z. Danielewski for one thing and one thing only: the work of art that is House of Leaves.


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## navythriller (Mar 11, 2011)

John Scalzi. _The Android's Dream_ completely blew me away.


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## Bernard J. Schaffer (Apr 16, 2011)

Carlos Ruis Zafon, author of *Shadow of the Wind*.

Ron Hansen, who hasn't really been too active lately, but his *Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford * was a revelation for me.


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## RobynB (Jan 4, 2011)

Lionel Shriver. LOVE her, and loved _We Need to Talk About Kevin_ and _The Post-Birthday World_.


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## Sam Rivers (May 22, 2011)

C.J. Box is the best author that I have read in a long time.  I love his Joe Picket series which is about a game warden in Wyoming.  There are 11 books in that series.


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## Jenni (Feb 20, 2011)

Two Authors: Laura Benedict and Tim Maleeny. Both very talented writers.


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## Joseph.Garraty (May 20, 2011)

Max Barry, for bizarre satire. Jennifer Government is an awesome piece of work, but I'll read anything he writes.


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## kellymcclymer (Apr 22, 2010)

Carol O'Connell. Her Mallory suspense series is intense. If you haven't read them, you have to read them in order. Mallory's Oracle is first. Without reading that one, it would be very difficult to get into the head of a woman who is so seriously messed up from being a child of the streets who wasn't rescued by her adopted family until she was 11. I wish she'd write another one.


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

Louis de Bernieres.

I discovered him through _Captain Corelli's Mandolin_ which was very good. He really makes the words sing, and he weaves history through a book like no-one else I've read (except maybe Jeffrey Eugenides). He has a whole cast of interesting, diverse, and funny characters, and it's fun just watching them go about their daily business.

I went back after that and read his South American trilogy. He calls himself a Gabriel Garcia Marquez parasite, but I think he does himself and in justice. The three books, _The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts_, _Senor Vivo & The Coca Lord_, and _The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman_ are as playful as their titles, but with a serious heart, and parts are as good as anything in _100 Years of Solitude_.

But it was his next book that was his masterpiece. _Birds Without Wings_ is set in Turkey during World War I, and is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. Reading parts of it can make you go dizzy, holding your breath.

I couldn't write like that if I lived for 10,000 years.


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## Laura Ruby (Feb 22, 2011)

fancynancy said:


> Kate Atkinson! I just finished Case Histories and it was one of the best books I've ever read. It's not new, was published I think in 2004, but I just discovered it. I can't wait to read every book she's ever written. An Amazon reviewer, quoting the Washington Post, described it perfectly:
> 
> "*You will like this novel if*:
> --You enjoy strikingly crafted, humorous phrases that make you applaud the writer's insights regarding the human condition.
> ...


I adore Kate Atkinson for all the reasons mentioned above. I do like her books centered around her private detective character Jackson Brodie -- I think his first appearance is in CASE HISTORIES -- but I also love her earlier novels like BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM and HUMAN CROQUET. The early novels also show her interest in family secrets. (They're also full of biting wit).

I'm also mad for Dan Chaon. His most recent novel, AWAIT YOUR REPLY, is genius. Dark, lyrical, odd, smart, suspenseful. (His earlier novel, YOU REMIND ME OF ME, is even darker and sadder). His short stories rock, too.


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## J.L. McPherson (Mar 20, 2011)

I stumbled upon Ralph Cotton's, _Webb's Posse _ a few years ago and have since read every western the man has published. He has quickly became a favorite of mine.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

bordercollielady said:


> Its Vince Flynn for me.. I'm addicted to his Mitch Rapp series.


That's a mega ditto from me, too.

Patrick Lee is really fantastic also. "The Breach" was his first work and I'm now reading the sequel to it, "Ghost Country". I;m not a big sci-fi/fantasy fan, but Lee's original ideas are so novel and new that they sort of draw you into the story. Very well done, IMO.


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## Bryan R. Dennis (May 19, 2011)

For me it was Haruki Murakami. I read his collection of stories in _Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman_, and I've never really been the same since.


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## Julia444 (Feb 24, 2011)

That's too hard to narrow down!  But I really enjoy the mysteries of Thomas H. Cook.  His books are compulsive and difficult to put down.

Julia


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

Bryan R. Dennis said:


> For me it was Haruki Murakami. I read his collection of stories in _Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman_, and I've never really been the same since.


Oh, yes. _Kafka on the Shore_ was the first I read of his - amazing. I think I've read them all now. Looking forward to his new one.


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## Skate (Jan 23, 2011)

Being a fan of fantasy and everything Celtic, I was thrilled to discover Juliet Marillier's books a few years ago. She uses (mostly) Celtic myths to write her novels and they are all beautifully crafted. The magic in the stories is very subtle and her characters very real. 

She lives 'just down the road' from me (about 80km down the road). I've met her and she's a gracious, generous and very interesting lady.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Skate said:


> Juliet Marillier...
> 
> She lives 'just down the road' from me (about 80km down the road). I've met her and she's a gracious, generous and very interesting lady.


In Oz, 80kim is "just down the road". It's amazing how many first class writers there are in one small nation. This thread was started on the Ballarat (Victoria) writer Peter Temple.


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## Cheryl Bradshaw Author (Apr 13, 2011)

I picked up a Robert B. Parker book a couple years ago and loved it, and now I am a devout fan.  I was emberassed that it took me so long to find him!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Cheryl Bradshaw said:


> I picked up a Robert B. Parker book a couple years ago and loved it, and now I am a devout fan. I was emberassed that it took me so long to find him!


Take your pick:

a) Ooh, you ignorant, you got no street cred. Eeeeverybody knows about Parker!

b) At least you ain't old like us fogies who discovered about Robert B. Parker from the television series Spenser, starring Robert Ulrich.

c) GREAT, isn't he?

d) Wait till you discover the PI with the toy bulldog called Rosie.

His Jesse Stone books have been made into telemovies with Tom Selleck starring and shown in the middle of the night recently where I live (Ireland), so I reread some of Parker's books. There's magic in minimalism.


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## Dolorous Edd Tollett (May 29, 2011)

Too hard to pick a favorite. Who ever happens to keep me interested at that time

Writers who have kept me reading

Heinlein
Robert Jordan
G.R.R.M
Eric Flint (if you like sci/fi and fantasy with a comedic twist read the Philosophical Strangler and Forward the mage, free at bean books)
C.S. Friedman, stories tend to drag at times but still a favorite
Tad Williams
Michelle West
Louis Lamore
Jack London
Orson Scott Card
Gordon R. Dickson
F.M. Busby
Jack Vance
Larry Niven

It is too difficult to pick and stay with a favorite, G.R.R.M is the one who is keeping me going now.


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

Jennifer Belle is really good. So is Douglas Coupland.


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## Chloista (Jun 27, 2009)

Dennis LeHane.  I've ready everything he's written over the past year.


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