Crime, Thrillers & Mystery book recommendation

exia

exia

exia

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OK so I've recently gained an aspiration for wanting to read books, but as I look around (mainly the internet) I'm lost at where to start!

I'm 21 studying at uni, read a lot of manga, articles, non-fiction etc but never really picked up an actual fiction book. Anyone got any recommendations? Mainly interested in the crime, thrillers, mystery & fantasy categories.

Friend recommended The Da Vinci Code & Angels and Demons but as I've seen the movies so I suppose I've kinda already spoiled it for myself. Any help much appreciated!
 
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I have always championed George V. Higgins for modern American crime, he was a lawyer so knows how these criminals think and act. Try his first ones ''Kennedy for the Defence'' and ''Penance for Jerry Kennedy'' Another American George is George Pelacanos who is involved in the TV series The Wire.
If you like dialogue then Elmore Leonard is your man, though Higgins also has an ear for the way people talk (one of his books is just 3 guys talking about another guy which is a challenging read)
Or the classic crime of Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, which I am reading just now
 
As well as the above, you could try:

Karin Slaughter, Tess Gerritsen, Tami Hoag, Kathy Reichs, Alex Kava, Harlan Coben, Stieg Larsson, John Connolly, Patricia Cornwell, Jack Kerley, S J Bolton to name a few :D

Fantasy wise, Terry Pratchett, James Barclay, George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones Series), Robert Jordon (Wheel of Time Series). :)

Happy reading :D
 
I can recommend Carl Houseman books by Donald Harstad. Written from the pov of a small town deputy in the Mid West USA, they have a touch of realism about them due to the author being an ex-small town deputy from the Mid West.

I've personally read Eleven Days, The Known Dead and Code-61 - enjoyed them all. Similarities to the X-Files in all of them I thought.
 
Edward Bunker might be worth a read - he was a criminal who started writing crime fiction after coming out of prison, you may also know him as Mr Blue from Reservoir Dogs. Pretty good stories for the couple I've read.

Fantasy wise you might appreciated J.R.R. Tolkien - Lord Of The Rings or Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (and follow ups). As a thriller/fantasy then the daddy would be 1984 by George Orwell, a truly magnificent book.
 
An excellent old school mystery/thriller is Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow by Peter Hoeg. It also has one of the most surprising lines to close a chapter that I've ever read, but I'll not spoil that for you right now.
 
Thanks a lot for these lads, have made a list of all the authors & books mentioned, will start reading my way through them!
 
hood1971 said:
Henning Mankell's wallander series is very good and feels realistic.
Click to expand...

Second that. I love all the Wallander books especially Firewall. It might seem a bit 'dumbed' down as Mankell and his target readers aren't the most computer literate but it's an awesome book in my eyes. Didn't do nothing else but read until I finished it!

There is a story that follows even if its a new crime for each book so I would recommend to start from the first one if you do :)
 
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