Books

I just finished reading all but one or two of Michael Connelly's books since I was started reading his great books. He is a great author that gives you a read like a movie...comparable to John Grisham. On a recent day trip to Phoenix, I read 3 of his books and enjoyed each one. My personal favorite is still the Poet or Blood Work if you are looking to pick up a single book to see if you like his style. The only warning I have is that his books contain a lot of profanity which is probably very realistic for the LAPD/crime circuit he writes the most about but not for everyone.

Having run out of his books, I turned to our local used bookstore Falls River Books and asked their very knowledgeable staff, what new authors would I like that compare to Michael Connelly. I was given four suggestions, two of which I read on my recent trip to Phoenix. The first was Phillip Margolin's Proof Positive. This was an excellent book combining CSI like characters and lawyers. No real language issues here and it was a very fast read. I finished the 430 page paperback in about 5 hours and it held my attention the entire time. The second book was Daniel Silva's Prince of Fire. This was an excellent book about an Israeli spy fighting against a terrorist that is supposed to be aligned with modern day real politicians. The book was good but I was slowed by the difficult names of the characters, believe it or not. By halfway through the book, I was fine. But in the first 25%, I kept having to refresh my memory as to what person was who. I think its because the names were so unique they didn't register as well. This is also the fifth book in the Gabriel Allon series, which means I may have missed some context in the previous four. It was a good read but I think if I read more of his work I will start with the first in the series which seems to be the Kill Artist.