Classic Rock Bottom

Back for a second year, my Couch Potato Top 10 Mystery/Thriller novels of 2014 runs the gamut from the shady world of private eyes to law enforcement homicide investigations, from the wilds of Wyoming to the international hopscotch of chasing down terrorists and all sorts of destinations in between. By the way, if you want to check out last year's list, click here.

Before I delve into the countdown, there are a few housekeeping items to take care of first:

BookKeeper

Last year, I wrote about finally being turned onto the works of author C.J. Box. This year's new-to-me author discovery was Jussi Adler-Olsen and the book The Keeper of Lost Causes.

The series centers around the Danish Cold Case squad known as Department Q and the aforementioned Keeper was the first installment.

The book was recommended to me by a staffer at The Bookstall shop located in Marion, Massachusetts over the summer and when I sat down to read it, I was transported to an unfamiliar country where my lack of day-to-day understanding of how life works there wasn't an impediment to enjoying a chillingly cunning and evil plot. The book was so entertaining and compellingly written that when I saw the next two books in the series had been translated and published in the U.S., I immediately grabbed them up.

Though prose novels are the main focus of this end of the year countdown piece, I'd be a little remiss if I didn't mention three mystery series from the comic book world.

The first is Stumptown Volume 3 - The Case of the King of Clubs by Greg Rucka with art from Justin Greenwood and Ryan Hill.   The set in Portland, Oregon ongoing series features female detective Dex Parios tracking down the perpetrator of a crime against an acquaintance following a soccer match.

Next up, the Ed Brubaker series Velvet. It is an international spy thriller and the first installment "Before the Living End" introduces us to Velvet Templeton, a secretary for a shadowy government agency...or is she? When she's framed for a crime she didn't commit, it sets off a worldwide fight to clear her name. The 1970's setting with flashbacks to earlier days works wonders with both the dialogue and visual storytelling from Steve Epting and Elizabeth Breitweiser.

Finally, there is the relatively new series called Copperhead by Jay Faerber. It was originally solicited with the tagline "Deadwood in Space" but the sci-fi Western setting has also dealt in a thus far compelling murder mystery as well. The art from Scotty Godlewski is superb and one of the main supporting characters has my pick for Name of the Year in Budroxifinicus.

BookCopperhead

With those bits out of the way, let's honor the voice of my youthful Sunday morning music adventures, the late Casey Kasem and get on with this year's countdown. (Please note that any book published in either hardcover or paperback during 2014 is eligible for inclusion on my list.)

10. Silken Prey by John Sandford

The 24th novel in Sandford's "Lucas Davenport" series finds the investigator up to his eyeballs in political dirty tricks when a state senator gets implicated in a horrific crime on the cusp of Election Day. Things begin to spin further out of control when the person responsible for the dirty tricks turns up missing.

Sandford weaves a brisk, moving tale here and the inclusion of a couple of characters from his Kidd series helps drive the investigation along. While it is always perilous to navigate a long-running series and keep things fresh and interesting, the Davenport novels have always served to captivate my imagination with each successive novel.

BookPrey

9. Robert B. Parker's Wonderland by Ace Atkins

Despite the passing of Robert B. Parker, the Spenser series has continued unabated. The prolific Parker left behind some unfinished works that writer Ace Atkins has fleshed out and created a whip-smart story that really feels like a true Spenser adventure. The added bonus of the book's plot tying in with events going on in real world Boston surrounding efforts to get casinos built in-state gives the book an extra dose of dramatic heft.

Spenser's friend Henry Cimoli asks for his help when he's being harassed by people trying to buy his condo. With the help of his apprentice Zebulon Sixkill and the ever present Hawk, Spenser ends up besieged on one side by a Las Vegas developer and the soul destroying efforts that make up the Boston political scene/machine.

I'm not normally a fan of an author's work being continued after they've died, but Ace Atkins has done a wonderful job thus far with his additions to the Spenser world. Atkins has his own thriving career outside of the Spenser novels, but his work here will only serve to burnish his reputation.

BookSpenser

8. The Beast by Faye Kellerman

 Whenever there is a new Peter Decker / Rina Lazarus book on the store shelves, I know that it is going to be a great book to read. Faye Kellerman has never failed to give me a sparkling new adventure that combines the ins and outs of Decker's homicide investigations with the warm and comforting relationship between he and his wife Rina, along with the travails of a family life that is by no means "normal". Not when their own grown children have scattered to the winds and they are busy taking care of a wise beyond his years teenager fathered by a well known hit man.

In The Beast, Decker is tasked with investigating the death of a crazy billionaire found with a live Bengal tiger in his apartment. As the investigation proceeds, the victim is found to have rather exotic and distasteful appetites and suspects in his death abound.

What helps set this tale apart is how once the main plot is resolved, Kellerman closes out the book by shaking up the status quo heading into her next book. And while I'm by no means religious, I've always been very appreciative of how the author describes the Orthodox Jewish lifestyle led by the two characters. From the ceremonies to the day to day observational requirements, it helps make the characters seem that much closer to being real from one scene to the next.

BookKellerman

7. The Chase by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

The second book in the O'Hare / Fox series has the distinction of being the last book I read before my cut off date for inclusion to this list.

I'm a huge fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series so when I first learned about the plans for this series, I had high hopes. I enjoyed the first book, but in all honesty, I think The Chase tops it.
FBI agent Kate O'Hare was obsessed with catching international thief/con-artist Nick Fox. But when she finally did catch up with him, she had no idea she'd end up partnered with him after he cut a deal with the FBI. When the duo are secretly called upon to help find a lost piece of art to help the U.S. government save face with the Chinese, they are matched up against a ruthless former White House Chief of Staff. To help make matters worse, he's now the head of a rather unsavory private mercenary army with unlimited firepower and cash at his disposal.

While the cons and diabolical circumstances might sound like a mash-up of the TV shows White Collar and The Blacklist, the authors take a light and breezy path so that while the possible bad turns that await our heroes aren't any less serious, they don't overwhelm the playful banter shared between O'Hare and Fox.

All in all, the book is a vastly entertaining tale that hops around the globe as the reader marvels at the ingenuity of the plot.

BookEvanovich

#6 - Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft 

The Boston setting was an immediate draw for me and the book is one of two debut novels on this year's list. When you factor in that series lead Fina Ludlow is a crafty and feisty heroine you can easily get behind, Thoft has the makings of a compelling series.

We first meet Fina when her sister in law disappears. While her not entirely above board lawyer father doesn't want the cops involved, Fina has to weigh the demands of family loyalty over searching for the truth while she investigates.

Though I did figure out what was going on in the B-Plot involving the character's niece pretty quickly, watching Thoft's handling of how that story got resolved (for the first book anyway) was superb.

BookLoyalty

5. The Heist by Daniel Silva.

When a friend of Israeli spy Gabriel Allon stumbles into a murder scene and is suspected of the crime, its up to the former assassin to find out who really killed the victim. Complicating matters is the need to find a missing art masterpiece that hasn't been seen in decades. In the quest to find it and save his friend, Allon determines that in order to find one masterpiece, they'll have to steal another. He'll need the help of his longstanding team as well as a mysterious newcomer with an agenda of her own

A Gabriel Allon story is a perennial addition to any best of list because Daniel Silva invariably crafts a thriller that meets every possible expectation of the reader. There is a short list of thriller writers who have to be bought in hardcover and read as soon as they hit the bookstore shelves and Silva is on said list. The Heist rises to the level past novels have set and continues to whet the appetite for what comes next.

BookSilva

4. The Wrong Girl by Hank Phillippi Ryan

 Newspaper reporter Jane Ryland is back and immersed in helping a former co-worker when she finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation with Detective Jake Brogan. Ryland's colleague thinks she's been reunited with the wrong birth mother by an adoption agency. Brogan is dealing with young children headed into the nightmare that is the Massachusetts foster care system after the death of their mother. It all ties back to an adoption agency and things spin out of control from there.

Ryan's day job as a reporter for Boston's Channel 7 helps make sure the details of the story are as accurate and chilling as they can be. With the horrid year that the true life foster care system in Massachusetts had in 2014, this novel helps to serve as a timely wake up call without sacrificing the dramatics of the fictional story. The book captures the feel of life in Boston and the start/stop nature of the relationship between Ryland and Brogan is smartly described and handled. Ryan even throws in an end of book twist to the origins of how the "case" gets started. While I saw it coming, most readers will appreciate that little moment of upheaval.

BookWrongGirl

3. Breaking Point by C. J. Box

 This year, I finally caught up with the entire Joe Pickett series by C. J. Box, and now I'm pretty much addicted to the adventures of the Wyoming Game Warden.

First I read Cold Wind and Force of Nature. Each of those books built on my belief that Box gets better and better with each successive book. And then everything came together with a crescendo as I read Breaking Point.

Joe Pickett ends up in the middle of the case of two murdered EPA employees when the chief suspect turns out to be Butch Roberson, the father of one of Pickett's daughter's best friends. When it is learned that the EPA was standing in the way of Roberson and his wife building a retirement home on land they purchased, everyone assumes Roberson just snapped.

But as he tracks down his quarry, questions arise as to the real motives behind the entire case. Is it simply a "little guy vs. Big Government" or could more personal but no less sinister matters figure into things.

Since discovering the work of Box last year, the author has been immensely entertaining with his Joe Pickett stories. With Breaking Point, it is my opinion that Box has hit the level of master storyteller. His books are MUST READS...Nuff Said!

BookPickett

2. Never Go Back by Lee Child

When Jack Reacher arrives at his former Army unit to ask out Major Susan Turner (whom he first "met" as a voice he liked on the phone in the novel 61 Hours), he lands in the jackpot right quick. Turner is under arrest, and soon Reacher is in custody himself. He's accused of a crime he has no recollection of and then gets hit with the double whammy that he might be the father of a teenage girl. With forces aligned against them and trying to keep he and Turner apart, Reacher breaks them out of prison and launches his own investigation. Unsurprisingly, violence ensues.
The testosterone driven Jack Reacher stories are always good for a pulse pounding thrill ride and Never Go Back doesn't disappoint in that regard. The notion of a man with no ties possibly being hit with surprise fatherhood was a nice narrative twist from Lee Child. I loved how the whole story depended on the simple fact of Reacher liking the sound of Turner's voice. You'd think by now, in the course of the series, that someone would have a note in Reacher's military file that he's a man not to be trifled with. As readers, we figured that out long ago.

BookReacher

1. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

 Full disclosure: I received this book from the publishing company for the purposes of a review. You can read the full review HERE.

In part, the review reads:

"While a seedy motel room occupied by a body that has spent three days in a bathtub full of acid might not be anyone’s idea of a tourist spot destination, Terry Hayes manages to make you feel every second, every sight and every nasty vibe you could expect to find in such a location.

And that’s where we come in at the beginning of I Am Pilgrim - a New York motel room discovery invariably leads to more bodies, seemingly unconnected, but inexorably each new death is a link in a chain that leads to an ingenious terrorist plot designed to destroy America.

The man known as “Pilgrim” is a man who doesn’t exist…with exception to the shadowy recesses of a long defunct black ops intelligence agency. He’s the unknown author of the greatest investigative technique handbook, a man apart who finds himself tracked down by a brilliant NYPD detective and finds himself attached to the motel room murder case despite a clear desire to stay far away from any sort of ties to the “real” world.

As the story unfolds, we find out through Pilgrim’s narration all the details of his life and that of the antagonist who led them on their soon to be collision course. The details of each story are well drawn and invariably exciting to make your way through. Each character has lived a life of high drama and intrigue. A life in service to country and/or an ideal."

I called it one of the finest thrill rides of the year, but that was back in March. Was it good enough to last the year as I read other books? YES it was!

The fact that this was the first novel by author Hayes makes the story that much more amazing. Real life events that unfolded over the course of the year only serve to heighten the story's level of tension. It is probably the best debut novel I've read since John Sandford's Rules of Prey.

Since I received the book in the mail, read it and wrote my review, I Am Pilgrim has dominated the book conversation in my life. My copy was lent out to people, I bought a copy for a holiday gift and I talked about it all the time (at work, at a dental appointment, etc.). When friends asked me for a book recommendation, this was the first title that rolled off my tongue. And online, I mentioned it regularly on Facebook and Twitter. When I saw other people (including celebrities and other authors) raving about the book, I kind of snickered to myself about these late to the party people.

I Am Pilgrim is hands down the best book of the year and a game-changing kind of read in the thriller genre. Authors are always looking to write that Next Great Book. Terry Hayes got it right in his first offering!

BookPilgrim1

BookPilgrim2

 

Well, that's my list for this year? What's yours? Did you get to read everything you wanted to? I know that I missed out on books by Ellen Hart, a new Hank Phillippi Ryan story, books by Jon Land, Alex Marwood and Greg Rucka. I'm sure there are a few other names I'm leaving out too. Here's to 2015 giving me the time to finish everything I want to read.

Happy Reading to All!

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