The next genre covered by my Readers' Advisory class was thrillers. Similar to mysteries, but usually quicker-paced and more suspenseful, thrillers are the types of books that get your pulse pounding. With recent hits like Gone Girl (2012), The Good Girl (2014) and The Girl on the Train (2015) [Wow, lots of 'girl' power here!] breathing some new life into the genre, thrillers seem to be more popular than ever.
The required text for whole class was One Shot by Lee Child (2005). While I found the main character of this ninth installment of the Jack Reacher Series a bit too cheesy to handle, I can see how some readers find great appeal in the series. The other thriller I read for this genre week was The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos (2006). Below is my review of the book.
The required text for whole class was One Shot by Lee Child (2005). While I found the main character of this ninth installment of the Jack Reacher Series a bit too cheesy to handle, I can see how some readers find great appeal in the series. The other thriller I read for this genre week was The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos (2006). Below is my review of the book.
| Twenty years after a string of unsolved teenage murders in Washington D.C., another body turns under similar circumstances: found in a community garden with a gunshot wound to the head and semen in the victim’s anus. What’s more is all of the victims’ first names are palindromes – spelled the same way forward as backward. New to the force when these ‘palindrome murders’ were first committed in 1985, now homicide detective Gus Ramone and former cop, turned chauffer Dan Holiday begin to work separately to solve the new murder, both with unique connections to the case. Holiday, in a drunken stupor, discovered the body while Ramone, upon arriving on-scene, learns that the victim is his son’s friend, Asa. The two have history, but can they work together to solve the case? While many categorize this book as a “thriller,” Pelecano’s knack for in-depth characterization and use of interwoven subplots makes it perhaps better described as an intense mystery. Regardless, this book will keep reader’s guessing until the very end. A clever and suspenseful book that touches upon the drug trade, race relations and D.C.’s broken education system, The Night Gardner is a contemporary page-turner that is well worth your time. |  I give this book: |
If this sort of book sounds like something you'd enjoy I would also suggest Echo Park by Michael Connelly, another book that gives a detective the opportunity to reopen a cold case that has haunted him for years. The 12th book in the Harry Bosch Series, this mystery/thriller follows the detective of the same name after someone has reportedly confessed to a brutal murder that took place 11 years prior. When Bosch learns that his partner may have overlooked key evidence before the case went cold, the detective is left questioning himself, his colleagues and the truth of the proclaimed killer’s confession.
Read any great thrillers lately? Leave a comment or tweet me @TessaFoxReads or use #TessaFoxReads.
Read any great thrillers lately? Leave a comment or tweet me @TessaFoxReads or use #TessaFoxReads.
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