Favorite Crime Fiction of 2010
This year I really branched out and read new authors rather than my favorites ones. Even though I read a lot of Michael Connelly, I was introduced to a whole host of great writers, such as Adrian McKinty, Craig McDonald, Philip Kerr, and Stuart Neville. The first four books on my list were a real treat. They took me in new and different directions and will remain in my pantheon of favorites for a long time to come. I highly recommend these compelling stories:
1. The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (2010)
2. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos (2006)
3. Sweetsmoke by David Fuller (2008)
4. The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville (2009)
5. A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock (2008)
6. The Hidden Man by David Ellis (2009)
7. The Mystic Arts of Erasing all Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (2009)
8. Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (2009)
9. Echo Park by Michael Connelly (2006)
10. The Reversal by Michael Connelly (2010)
Most Fun Read of 2010: Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski (2010)
Other books that I enjoyed in 2010:
One from the Other by Philip Kerr (2006)
The Overlook by Michael Connelly (2007)
Head Games by Craig McDonald (2007)
Fifty Grand by Adrian McKinty (2009)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (2009)
61 Hours by Lee Child (2010)
Out of Range by C.J. Box (2005)
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (2009)
Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks (2009)
The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta (2009)
Night Work by Steve Hamilton (2007)
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (2009)
Sacred by Dennis Lehane (2005)
The First Rule by Robert Crais (2010)
The Mystery Bookshelf 
My target was to read 25 books and I’ve actually read 37 (up on the 29 I finished in 2009 but that did include the Millennium Trilogy which were rather lengthy!) representing just 27 authors not counting the various authors who contributed to the “Plots with Guns” anthology that I read during the year. This obviously suggests that I’ve continued my tendency to “discover” a new author and then read everything available by him / her which in 2010 meant reading Troy Cook (2 books), Peter Spiegelman (x3) and Michael Harvey (x3). Other authors that I read multiple times this year were old reliables George Pelecanos and Robert Crais as well as Brian McGilloway and Jason Starr.
Of these 27 authors, 16 were ones I read for the first time in 2010 – nearly 60% so I guess I’m still discovering new (to me) talent which is good rather than just sticking with the perennial best sellers though these were also represented – take a bow, Michael Connelly & John Connolly. Other minor interesting points – I rediscovered the council library this year so I saved myself a few euro with 13 of the books being checked out from the local library and towards the end of the year I also remembered my Sony eReader so finished the year having read 3 books electronically (which is the same as for 2009).
Ok time to move on to making my own highly personal awards for ’10:
Best Novel: John Hart “The Last Child”
Runners-up :
Brian McGilloway “Borderlands”
Brian McGilloway “Gallows Lane”
Don Winslow “Savages”
George Pelecanos “Shoedog”
George Pelecanos “The Way Home”
John Connolly “The Whisperers”
Joseph Wambaugh “Hollywood Moon”
Ken Bruen “American Skin”
Michael Harvey “The Chicago Way”
Michael Harvey “The Fifth Floor”
Michael Harvey “The Third Rail”
Peter Spiegelman “Black Maps”
Peter Spiegelman “No Way Home”
Peter Spiegelman “Red Cat”
Robert Crais “Lullaby Town”
Robert Crais “Stalking The Angel”
Stephen Jay Schwartz “Boulevard”
Stuart Neville “The Twelve” aka “The Ghosts of Belfast”
Troy Cook “47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers”
Troy Cook “The One Minute Assassin”
Victor Gischler “Gun Monkeys”
Wallace Stroby “The Barbed-Wire Kiss”