Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid I found myself watching cop shows and wondering “These cops seem to be on duty all day and all night. Don’t they have families?” And when I’d read dramas in which characters took lavish vacations and bought expensive cars, I’d think “Doesn’t anyone worry about money?” While I certainly don’t believe that fiction should always strive toward perfect realism (I love fantasy and sci-fi stories!) I do think that adding everyday problems and concerns makes a character much more relatable and interesting. A detective chasing a serial killer is exciting. A detective suffering from an excruciating toothache while chasing a serial killer adds another layer of delicious tension.


I wrote

Book cover of Small Town Sins

What is my book about?

Small Town Sins is set in Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former coal and steel town whose best days are long past.…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Night Always Comes

Ken Jaworowski Why did I love this book?

It’s difficult to choose just one book by Willy Vlautin, because the guy is so good at telling the stories of ignored lives in overlooked places. But his most recent, The Night Always Comes, may be his best.

In it, a working-class woman goes on a dangerous odyssey to get money she desperately needs. Valutin is one of those authors I read and think of his characters: “Oh my gosh, I know people just like this.”

By Willy Vlautin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there’s something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it’s all Portland’s loss.”—Portland Monthly Magazine

Award-winning author Willy Vlautin explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in this scorching novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family.

Barely thirty, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with…


Book cover of The Last Thing He Told Me

Ken Jaworowski Why did I love this book?

In The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave proves that your main characters don’t have to be super-sleuths or hard-boiled P.I.’s to solve a mystery.

They just have to be people you care about, who find themselves in situations that force them to be resourceful. In Laura Dave's book, the characters act and sound like good friends, and that makes the story even more gripping. 

By Laura Dave,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Last Thing He Told Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

* SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES STARRING JULIA ROBERTS *

'Brilliant. Pacy tense and twisty' - LISA HALL

'I adored this beautifully written thriller' - JO SPAIN

IT WAS THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME: PROTECT HER

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his new wife, Hannah: protect her. Hannah knows exactly who Owen needs her to protect - his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. And who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.

As her increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, his boss…


Book cover of The Guards

Ken Jaworowski Why did I love this book?

There are a dozen reasons to read anything by Ken Bruen, but the best is this: His books are fun.

Unlike so many self-serious writers, Bruen never forgets that he’s writing for readers. And Bruen’s most compelling creation is Jack Taylor, a washed-up private investigator who always has a sharp comment, even when stuck in a scary situation. I read Bruen and find myself cackling just as often as I gasp.

By Ken Bruen,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Still stinging from his unceremonious ouster from the Garda Síochána—the Guards, Ireland's police force—and staring at the world through the smoky bottom of his beer mug, Jack Taylor is stuck in Galway with nothing to look forward to. In his sober moments Jack aspires to become Ireland's best private investigator, not to mention its first—Irish history, full of betrayal and espionage, discourages any profession so closely related to informing. But in truth Jack is teetering on the brink of his life's sharpest edges, his memories of the past cutting deep into his soul and his prospects for the future nonexistent.…


Book cover of The Bone Collector

Ken Jaworowski Why did I love this book?

A Deaver book is a master class in plotting, and beyond that, I once read a piece of advice from him that was so brilliant, I was angry that I hadn’t thought of it first: He said (and I paraphrase) that if you think you have writer’s block, you probably instead have idea block. Since you already know how to write, you just don’t have a grasp of what you’re trying to say. 

That advice is so simple, yet so smart.

By Jeffery Deaver,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Bone Collector as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Goodbye Man, discover Jeffery Deaver's chilling thriller that inspired the film starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington and is now a major NBC TV series.

Their first case, their worst killer . . .

New York City has been thrown into chaos by the assaults of the Bone Collector, a serial kidnapper and killer who gives the police a chance to save his victims from death by leaving obscure clues. Baffled, the cops turn to the one man with a chance of solving them - Lincoln Rhyme.

Left paralysed by a debilitating…


Book cover of A Simple Plan

Ken Jaworowski Why did I love this book?

I disagreed with almost every action by every character in this book. I’d find myself saying to them: “Don’t do that!” But they did do that. And it kept me reading nonstop.

It’s a strange feeling, to watch characters spin out of control, yet be unable to look away. It's also the mark of terrific storytelling, and writing that I greatly admire.

By Scott Smith,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Simple Plan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Spectacular. . . . Ten shades blacker and several corpses grimmer than the novels of John Grisham. . . . Do yourself a favor. Read this book.” —Entertainment Weekly

Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane–the pilot is dead and his duffle bag contains four million dollars in cash. In order to hide, keep, and share the fortune, these ordinary men all agree to a simple plan.


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of Small Town Sins

What is my book about?

Small Town Sins is set in Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former coal and steel town whose best days are long past. There, three restless souls have their lives upended: Nathan, a volunteer fireman who uncovers a secret stash of money in a burning building and takes it; Callie, a nurse whose young patient may not have long to live, despite the girl’s fundamentalist parents’ ardent beliefs; and Andy, a recovering heroin addict who undertakes a nightmare mission to hunt down and stop a serial predator.

Book cover of The Night Always Comes
Book cover of The Last Thing He Told Me
Book cover of The Guards

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,487

readers submitted
so far, will you?

You might also like...

The Blighted Mission

By E. Chris Ambrose,

Book cover of The Blighted Mission

Ad
E. Chris Ambrose Author Of The Mongol's Coffin

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

As an art school drop-out who'd been majoring in sculpture, I'm fascinated by material culture—artifacts created by early peoples that reveal their cultural values. Often, the relics and sites that engage both archaeologists and readers suggest unexpected depths of knowledge that show human ingenuity through the ages. I strive to incorporate the details of an artifact or monument's creation into the clues and descriptions in my work, hopefully illuminating a little-known historical realm, if only by torchlight as the adventure unfolds. The fact that I get to explore so many exotic locations, in research if not in person, is a definite plus!

E. Chris' book list on weaving adventure and history

What is my book about?

Disgraced British anthropologist Nigel Rowe hopes his YouTube adventure channel will be just the treat to redeem him, but vengeful treasure hunters have other plans! Seeking a legendary Jesuit mission in Baja, Nigel saves his producer’s life when the man takes a bullet meant for him. 

When an ex-Marine strolls up for a bodyguard interview, and dresses him down for his lax security, she might be precisely what he needs, or the last face he'll ever see. They plunge into the desert in search of fame, fortune and viral footage. Will he survive long enough to work out who's after…

The Blighted Mission

By E. Chris Ambrose,

What is this book about?

A disgraced British anthropologist hopes his YouTube adventure channel will redeem him, but vengeful treasure hunters have other plans.

From the author of the internationally best-selling Bone Guard archaeological adventures!

On the trail of a legendary Jesuit mission in Baja—and the treasure it may contain—Nigel Rowe leaps into action to save the life of his producer when the man takes a bullet meant for Nigel. Alas, the list of those who might wish him dead spans the globe and ranges from American treasure hunters to Russian mobsters to his own dear brother, with their mother's consent if not her explicit…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in gentrification, murder, and murder mystery?

Gentrification 23 books
Murder 1,077 books
Murder Mystery 567 books