The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,064 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Exiles

Robert Craven ❤️ loved this book because...

The third Aaron Faulk investigation sees him arriving in the the Outback town of Marralee for a christening - a town that a year earlier suffered the disappearance of a local woman, Kim.

Harper's skill is how she teases out the plot and Falk's character's subtle style of dealing with two puzzles rather than just the disappearance. The handing of the characters and the undertow of coercive behaviour is both sympathetic and nuanced

Harper is the real deal. I love her books.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Jane Harper,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Addictive storytelling' - Ann Cleeves
'An avalanche of suspense' - David Baldacci

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER from acclaimed international sensation Jane Harper.

A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night.

Her baby lies alone in the pram, her mother's possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes.

A year later, Kim Gillespie's absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations on a rare break from work is federal investigator Aaron Falk, who begins to suspect that all is…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The House at the End of the World

Robert Craven ❤️ loved this book because...

This is a masterclass in tension building. With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe and the early 1970s books of Crichton, Tryon and Levin, Koontz develops the character Katie who lives alone on a lighthouse coming to terms with a tragedy. The nearby island of Ringrock, she discovers is home to a government research facility and something over there has gone very wrong.

Koontz is a wonderful writer and a great observer of character. He keeps a tight reign on the plot and the jump scares when they come are well executed.

As good as King on a good day, I would recommend this excellent book - the characters, particularly Katie and Libby are fully realised and deal with the unfolding crisis and its aftermath plausibly.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Dean Koontz,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The House at the End of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Soon no one on Earth will have a place to hide in this novel about fears known and unknown by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortresslike stone house on Jacob's Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting.

The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob's Ladder in search of someone-or something-they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

Robert Craven ❤️ loved this book because...

David Grann's incredible book brings life to the men who served aboard England's fleet in the 18th century and reads like a contemporary thriller.

A squadron of ships complete with armed marines are tasked with seizing and returning to England a Spanish shipment of gold that departs South America twice yearly.

But navigation in the 1740's was still dead reckoning & luck. All the ships including The Wager get separated rounding the tip of South America and The Wager is wrecked.

What happens next results on one of the most famous naval trials in history.

Grann draws on the numerous files and turns this far from boring facts and figures into a compelling page turner.

Recommended

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By David Grann,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked The Wager as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian

'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator

'A cracking yarn... Grann's taste for desperate predicaments finds its fullest expression here' Observer

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER

From the international bestselling author of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck, mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.

On 28th January 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Malign Intent

By Robert Craven,

Book cover of Malign Intent

What is my book about?

An August bank holiday should be about relaxation, taking time out to see family and friends and enjoying a beer or two. But when former gonzo journalist, Aonghus Hanafin is found hanging along a desolate estuary, the nearest SIO to the incident, Garda Inspector Pius John Crowe, is called to examine the scene.

Crowe has seen enough dead bodies in his time to suspect that Aonghus Hanafin wasn’t the hanging kind. He discovers a puzzling detail too; the late journalist had MS.

So how could Hanafin hang himself from a tree along a desolate estuary between two rural parishes?