Quit Fucking Around
I posted this a while ago on a different thread, but it applies here. Anyone wanting great non-Elmore reading, look no further.
Charles McCarry (The Tears of Autumn, The Secret Lovers, The Last Supper) - as good as it gets
James Crumbley (The Last Good Kiss, Dancing Bear, The Wrong Case) - almost as good as it gets
Hunter Thompson (Hells Angels through The Great Shark Hunt) - pure genius, especially “Vegas” & “Campaign Trail”
Ross Thomas (anything) - consistently excellent
Thomas Harris - The Silence of the Lambs is one of the 10 best books of the 20th century, IMO
Lawrence Block (the Scudder books) - solid, dependable, terse, very well written
James Lee Burke (early stuff, especially Black Cherry Blues) - a writer’s writer
Andrew Vachss (Strega, Blue Belle, Shella, Born Bad) - Vachss over-writes, his prose sometimes is overwrought, but these titles are winners.
As to McCarry and his books, a little more should be said. A few blurbs are below. Some actually understate the truth. For me, the three McCarry books I listed above are the literary equivalent of Rubber Soul-Revolver-Sgt. Pepper, or Bringing it All Back Home-Highway 61 Revisited-Blonde On Blonde.
“There is no better American spy novelist. It’s like the best parts of ten John le Carré novels all put together.” Time Magazine
“[T]he foremost American fabulist of the trade….[McCarry’s] scrumptious writing carries triumphantly from one climax to another and the plot unfolds with vivid velocity to an explosive end.” The LA Times Book Review
“As a storyteller, McCarry surpasses Len Deighton and John le Carré...his novels have a multi-dimensional quality, a deep sensitivity, and a verisimilitude that tells you the author knows what he’s talking about.” The Washington Post
“Charles McCarry…resides in the upper reaches of spy fiction’s Mount Olympus.” Boston Globe