The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

Join 1,707 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Child Zero

Matt Cost Why did I love this book?

Holm has crafted a chilling tale that races its way through New York City at breakneck speed. A violent massacre occurs in a future world where disease has gained the upper hand. Detective Jacob Gibson is pulled onto the case, thrown off the case, and then lands squarely in the middle of the crux of the case.

At the center of the horror is an eleven-year-old immigrant boy desperately being searched for by multiple powerful interest groups. The question is, why? Who is Child Zero, and what does he have to offer?

Told from multiple perspectives, the suspense is kept razor thin, and the action explodes from the pages. A winner from Chris Holm.

By Chris Holm,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Child Zero as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From molecular biologist turned Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind comes a fact-based thriller about our species’ next great existential threat—perfect for fans of Michael Crichton.

It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated.
 
They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Bloody Soil: A Kolya Petrov Thriller

Matt Cost Why did I love this book?

The NAZI movement is gaining traction in Germany once again, and an American operative, codename Michael, is sent in undercover to infiltrate an evil organization bent upon taking control of the government.

It's a twisting tale that keeps you guessing right up until the end and is highly recommended. This is my favorite book of the series! 

By S. Lee Manning,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bloody Soil as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Evil is on the rise again in Germany... When a mysterious American calling himself Michael Hall arrives in Berlin to join Germany Now, a far-right group, he must prove himself by shooting a prominent Jewish anti-Nazi activist, or face certain death. Afterwards, Germany Now welcomes him into its ranks, planning to use his weapons expertise to create a dictatorship dedicated to the Nazi ideals of 'Blood and Soil.'
Michael, though, has attracted the deadly attention of an unexpected enemy, Lisette. The girlfriend of a neo-Nazi leader, Lisette has a dark secret. To avenge the assassination of her father years earlier,…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of December '41: A World War II Thriller

Matt Cost Why did I love this book?

William Martin gives us a scintillating chase across America at Christmas time in 1941. The true gift of the novel is the humanity of all the characters, from the protagonist to law enforcement to victims and assassins. An edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that will keep you turning the pages.

By William Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked December '41 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From New York Times bestselling author William Martin comes a WWII thriller as intense as The Day of the Jackal and as gripping as The Eye of the Needle. In December '41, Martin takes us on the ultimate manhunt, a desperate chase from Los Angeles to Washington, D. C., in the first weeks of the Second World War.

On the day after Pearl Harbor, shocked Americans gather around their radios to hear Franklin Roosevelt declare war. In Los Angeles, a German agent named Martin Browning is planning to kill FDR on the night he lights the National Christmas Tree. Who…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Velma Gone Awry: A Brooklyn 8 Ballo Mystery

By Matt Cost,

Book cover of Velma Gone Awry: A Brooklyn 8 Ballo Mystery

What is my book about?

Award-winning author Matt Cost brings us back to Brooklyn in the Roaring ’20s and introduces us to Hungarian private eye, 8 Ballo, who is hired to find the daughter of a wealthy businessman.

The search will lead him to cross paths with Dorothy Parker, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Bugsy Siegel, Babe Ruth, and many more as he tries to uncover why Velma went awry.

Now in his mid-thirties, 8 is a college-educated man, a veteran of the Great War, jilted in love, and has his own private investigator business. He enjoys his friends, a good book, jazz music, and a very simple life. When he is hired to find the young flapper daughter of a German businessman, life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Book cover of Child Zero
Book cover of Bloody Soil: A Kolya Petrov Thriller
Book cover of December '41: A World War II Thriller

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