Fans pick 24 books like Strike Me Down

Best Kept Secrets by Great Lakes author Tracey Phillips is a psychological mystery set in and around Indianapolis, Indiana. When I met Tracey at the Writers’ Police Academy in Appleton, Wisconsin, we ended hung out together and became fast friends. We bought each other’s books. And became fans.

Morgan Jewell is a homicide cop with a dark secret. Her best friend, Fay, was murdered years ago and Morgan, who can barely remember what happened that night, worries that she was somehow to blame. Now, as other bodies start surfacing, Morgan and her partner try to piece together the puzzle that might lead to catching a serial killer and resolve the mystery of Fay’s death. The twists and turns and the breakneck pace meant I could hardly put it down.

Geoff Herbach is the award-winning author of YA books. His latest, Cracking the Bell, deals with a major issue in contact sports—concussion. After several years of online writing with him, we met in person at a big mystery convention. A college professor in Minnesota, Land of a Thousand Lakes, he has produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. 

When the main character, Isaiah, is knocked out on the field, the consequences reach far beyond his ability to play, forcing him to think about life with football. He has to consider tough decisions that will have an impact on his family, his team, and his future. How do you decide your path to the future when none of your choices are good?

Another Great Lakes writer, Meredith Doench is an Ohio native who teaches in the English Department at the University of Dayton. Meredith, another member of my writing group, is the author of the Luce Hansen series, Whereabouts Unknown is a standalone introducing Office Theodora Madsen of the Dayton P.D.

Theo is investigating the case of two missing teenage girls, who vanish, each leaving behind a bloody handprint. When Theo is injured and faces a lengthy recovery, the case goes cold while Theo tries to piece together the connection between the two girls before time runs out.

I first met Patricia Skalka when I joined Off-Campus Writers’ Workshop, the oldest continuous writer’s group in the Chicago area. She divides her time between Chicago and a cottage in Door County, Wisconsin. It’s not surprising that Park Ranger Dave Cubiak, her sleuth, moved from Chicago to Door County. 

Cubiak, a former Chicago homicide detective, quit his job and moved to Door County after the death of his wife and daughter. Six deaths among visitors to the popular tourist area entangle an unwilling Cubiak in the search for a clever killer who may be planning more murders as a popular festival floods the charming waterfront villages with more prospective victims. New to the area, Cubiak doesn’t know who to suspect and who to trust.

Coover’s prescient novel pre-dates the explosion of sports fantasy leagues by at least a decade, but places an imaginary league at the center of his story. Anyone who has ever played in fantasy leagues knows their power. The fantasy can take over your life, which is precisely what happens to J. Henry Waugh. The protagonist is a mild-mannered accountant by day, but the owner-operated-madman-in-charge of his self-created league at night. Eventually, it overwhelms his real life. This is a novel about the dangers of living inside your own head.

I like The Crimes of Jordan Wise for several reasons.

First, the author accomplishes the difficult task of making us care about a male protagonist who, although smart and capable, is weaker in some ways than a typical noir “hero.” Second, the author takes the unusual tack of portraying a female protagonist who, while physically attractive and commendably frank, is not as irresistible as femmes fatales usually are. 

We know the two are not right for each other, but we cannot help following them as they go down their intersecting paths of darkness with Jordan Wise’s three perfect crimes—a theft and two murders—as plot points along the way. 

Third, the lovely Caribbean setting and Wise’s intriguing and mysterious sailing partner add some island spice and make the tale stand out from more prosaic noir novels.  I think this book is another one that rewards re-reading.   

This compendium of authors writing around their specific expertise is a compelling read. However, I chose it specifically for one chapter, the chapter on "Communication Apprehension and Accounting Education."

Two of the authors of this chapter were my professors when I was at university and their novel approach to education and assessment, which was years before its time, laid the foundations for skills and behaviors I have used in both my commercial and academic life. Increasingly I see students and professionals who are not as successful in their career due to a lack of communication skills.

For me, this book provides a practical and thought-provoking approach for those looking to understand a fundamental component of the financial world in the 21st century.

The Middle Ground is by far the best overview of the Great Lakes frontier over a period of almost two hundred years. White traces how French fur traders were able to establish a fluctuating “middle ground” with the Indian nations of the region that allowed for a degree of respect, understanding, and intermarriage. When the French were succeeded by the British, this middle ground began to shrink, as English traders wanted to let the cash nexus determine their business practices. When the Americans came to dominate the situation, the middle ground, with the exception of a few figures like William Wells, almost entirely disappeared. The result was devastating for the Indian nations, whose cultures nearly disappeared. White’s thesis has been challenged by Alan Taylor and other historians of the period, but the book remains an essential classic.  

I’m a historian, and I didn’t want to bog down this list with academic history books exclusively. But if I had to recommend one history book, written by a top-notch scholar that offers an accessible and accurate picture of the history of the Great Lakes, it would be Tanner’s Atlas.

This is so much more than just a collection of maps; it is a labor of love by an expert who dedicated her career to understanding the human geography of the Great Lakes region. Readers will find guides to everything from the region’s environmental resources to military clashes between Europeans and Native peoples.

The beautiful maps are further contextualized with text sections laying out the history of the Native peoples of the Lakes from pre-contact through the end of the treaty era in 1871. As someone who believes geography is crucial to understanding history, this is one of my… show more.

What Calloway does for Washington, Wallace does for Jefferson. Even more than Washington, Jefferson talked one game and played another. He could be splendidly eloquent on how much he wanted the Indian nations to become Americans, yet that could only happen, in Jefferson’s mind, if they surrendered their identity as Indians. If anything, the situation was even worse than Wallace suggests, as I point out in detail in my book on William Wells. While there is much to admire about Jefferson, his Indian policy shows how idealism can serve as a front for blatant exploitation and near genocide.