Neil Turner's 3 favorite reads in 2023

The premise of Twenty Years Later takes time to come fully into focus, with the narrative switching between crimes spaced twenty years apart.

Author Charlie Donlea utilizes September 11th as a plot device. He handles it with admirable respect, and uses it to provide one heck of a clever twist. As always, the author has a lot going on in this book, all of which he juggles well and ties up brilliantly.

There are times in a Donlea novel when I’ll feel as if there is too much going on, but I’ve learned to trust him; in the end, it’s all necessary and enriches the book. If you appreciate excellent writing, imaginative plot twists, and rich characterization, you’ll enjoy Twenty Years Later.

The Hidden Things is a brilliant thriller that checks all the boxes we look for in a great book in any genre.

The writing is superb, the plot intricate, twisty, and intelligent, and the characters are compelling.  Jamie Mason peppers the story with wit, emotionally charged insights into what makes us human, and digs into her characters with a fascinating granularity that is delightful and moving all at once. Mason gives a wide birth to the copycat pitfalls of the genre and steers clear of tired, cliched characters and events.

The quality of her prose further elevates The Hidden Things. If you haven’t yet read a Jamie Mason novel, give yourself a treat by doing so.

The Bell in the Lake is a fascinating historical novel that takes place in a Norwegian mountain village.

Central to the tale is an ancient stave church and the role it plays in village life over the years. This is a fascinating glimpse into Norway’s past, and contains an unexpected mystical twist that delightfully brings the past to life. The eventual fate of the church is a powerful testament to the folly of blindly bulldozing our way to modernization.

Lars Mytting’s characters are engaging and multi-faceted, and he’s written an emotionally powerful, well-crafted novel that is sprawling in its ambition, yet deeply intimate. I can pay no larger a compliment than to say that it brings to mind Ken Follet’s masterpiece, The Pillars of the Earth—high praise indeed!