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 The Promise

Susan Fleet Why did I love this book?

For me, fascinating characters are the best part of a crime novel, and I love Maggie. She may be a dog, but she's smart and quite willing to tell you exactly what she's thinking.

Injured while working as a bomb sniffer dog in Afghanistan, Maggie has now recovered, and she adores her new handler, LAPD K9 Specialist Scott James. She loves helping him capture bad guys, in this case, an obsessive-compulsive egomaniac who builds bombs in his house and sells them to terrorists.

Mr. Rollins has strict rules, and he will kill anyone who doesn't obey them, including Maggie and her beloved handler. Don't miss the thrilling showdown between Mr. Rollins and Maggie.

By Robert Crais,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'One of the most entertaining thrillers of the year... THE PROMISE is filled with suspense, surprises and ably-drawn characters. ... putting him in the company of such greats as James Lee Burke, Sue Grafton, Stephen King and Elmore Leonard. THE PROMISE shows once again why he belongs there' WASHINGTON POST

Loyalty, commitment, the fight against injustice - these are the things that have always driven Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. If they make a promise, they keep it. Even if it could get them killed.

When Elvis Cole is hired to locate a woman who may have disappeared with a…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Killshot

Susan Fleet Why did I love this book?

I love complicated, conflicted villains, so this early masterpiece by Elmore Lenard grabbed me on page one.

The Blackbird, an Ojibwa Indian living in Toronto, is a paid assassin. He's very good at it, but now he's fifty, and he's tired of taking orders, living alone, and drinking too much. The phone rings, and a mobster hires him to kill a man in Detroit. The Blackbird believes this is a sign. In Detroit, he bumps off the target and drives to the nearest bar to celebrate his retirement. No more killing for him. But a fast-talking hustler in the bar tells him an easy way to make big money. So much for retirement.

What could go wrong? Everything.

By Elmore Leonard,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Killshot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The King of Cool returns with another thrilling tale of crime capers.

Arman 'The Blackbird' Degas is a professional hitman: one shot, one kill. But when he's carjacked by ex-con Richie Nix, he finds himself with a lethal partner.

Nix is on his way to shake down a realtor and the Blackbird is along for the ride. But they don't count on Carmen and Wayne Colson getting in their way. Exposed as eyewitnesses, the Colsons are placed in witness protection but soon discover the program contains as many predators as the underworld they're hiding from. But can they outrun the…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Kind Worth Killing

Susan Fleet Why did I love this book?

It's always great to discover a new-to-me author of crime thrillers like Peter Swanson. His two ultra-deceptive main characters deliver shocking surprises.

Two strangers meet in a London lounge, awaiting their flight to Boston. Ted is handsome and married. Lily is beautiful and also married. Attracted to one another, they sit together on the plane and swap stores of their not-so-blissful lives. When Ted reveals that his wife is cheating on him, Lily says, “Sounds like the kind worth killing.” Ted says, “How would I do it?” “So you don't get caught.”

A cross between Gone Girl and Strangers on a Train, Swanson's chapters alternate between Ted's point of view and Lily's and reveal what they're really thinking. A diabolical tale that's ultimately terrifying.

By Peter Swanson,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Kind Worth Killing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You should never talk to strangers...Gone Girl meets Strangers on a Train in this year's must-read psychological thriller. "Extremely hard to put down". (Sophie Hannah). "Chilling and hypnotically suspenseful". (Lee Child). 'Hello there.' I looked at the pale, freckled hand on the back of the empty bar seat next to me in the business class lounge of Heathrow airport, then up into the stranger's face. 'Do I know you?' Delayed in London, Ted Severson meets a woman at the airport bar. Over cocktails they tell each other rather more than they should, and a dark plan is hatched - but…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Absolution

By Susan Fleet,

Book cover of Absolution

What is my book about?

A serial killer targets young women in New Orleans. Is he a priest?

He tortures them, kills them, and takes a gruesome trophy. As more and more women are murdered, residents are terrified, fearing they will be next. When a black female journalist accuses NOPD of targeting only black male suspects, racial tensions boil over in the Big Easy. 

A tip from a prostitute leads Homicide Detective Frank Renzi to suspect a Catholic priest. As Renzi closes in on him, the killer persuades an emotionally fragile teenager to help him escape from New Orleans. Then he will kill her. Will Renzi find them in time to save her?

Book cover of The Promise
Book cover of Killshot
Book cover of The Kind Worth Killing

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