Rawson's Top 5

Like most years since I turned 30, 2010 flew by for me. It was an exciting year, I met and interviewed more than a few of my idols, helped revive a magazine, and started writing reviews along with pumping out fiction. The other thing that set 2010 apart for me was that I read 80 novels this year. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a prestigious reader, but this year there didn't seem to be moment that went by when I didn't have my nose in a book.

I enjoyed most of them, but there were more than a few that left me shaking my head and performing a sky hook into the garbage can with them and even more that left me saying Meh. But there were some truly great reading moments with novels where time stopped moving and I was so absorbed by story that nothing existed outside of it. The following lists are the best of what I read this year.

Quick note, folks. I know I said I would be writing individual reviews for each of my picks, but time managed to sneak up on me and kick my ass. Plus I had a hell of a time narrowing down my choices and I liked so many different novels that I decided to include a top five of my non crime reads and five notable crime titles along with my top five.
Anyway, here we go


My top 5 Non-Crime novels of the year

Yes, I read a lot of non crime fiction. For every two crime titles I read, I dip my toes into another genre. With 2010, I found myself reading a boat load of Urban Fantasy and Apocalypse fiction. In case you didn't notice, there was tons of both.

5) Rut by Scott Phillips
Phillips told me about this book when I was conning--I mean arranging for him to contribute his 'Under the Influence' piece for issue #1 of Crimefactory. Phillips has been one of my favorite novelists for a number of years and I was chomping at the bit to read his take on science fiction. Rut is very much an apocalypse novel, but it's a realistic take on Armageddon, where the end of the human race is slow and drawn out over decades as opposed to a sudden blinding flash of death and chaos. And, of course, the book is hilarious.

4) The Stairway to Hell by Charlie Williams
When I received this novel, Russel Mclean commented on how brilliant he thought the book was. In fact, he called it 'genius'. And Russel, he was right, this is not only a brilliant read, but is Williams best novel to date. Normally I'm not a huge fan of novels about musicians or the pursuit of fame, but Stairway to Hell is so damn funny my predisposed prejudice towards the subject was completely shed. Highly recommended to fans of Neil Gaiman's more vicious novels.

3) Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
Like I said of Victor Gischler, if there was a Kadrey fan club, I'd be the president. (Okay, vice-president, A.J. Hayes would probably be the president) I've put this book into the hands of more people this year than any other. And, yes, crime fiction fans will love it because along with being one of the best examples of Urban Fantasy released this year, it's also one hell of a hard-boiled read. Also on an only interesting to me note, Kadrey is the one author who I own entirely as e-books.

2) The Passage by Justin Cronin
This one got tons of ink this year, but there was a reason for it. The Passage is a fully realized, emotionally complex epic and outside of Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels, the Passage is one of the most original takes on the vampire novel I've ever read. It's also one of the most original takes on the Armageddon, where Cronin advances the remains of civilization not five or ten years into the future, but 80. Great read.

1) The Four Fingers of Death by Rick Moody
This was a bold move by a writer whose previous novels mostly dealt with the malaise of suburban America. Much like Rut, Moody portrays the end times as a slow burn, a culture ravaged by out of control consumerism, short attention spans, and bastardized politics has doomed us. This is a novel within a novel and both story lines are utterly compelling.

My Five Crime Fiction notables:

5) The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson
A slickly written, meticulously researched mystery with heavy noir elements. Davidson's first novel length effort is far from a perfect novel, but it is a highly enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to further entries in the Lily Moore series and where she takes her characters

4) Bad Juju and Other tales of Madness and Mayhem by Jonathan Woods
My favorite single author short story collection of the year. Woods is a master of the short form and each story in the collection is a insane nugget of desperation and over the top violence.

3) Broken Dreams by Nick Quantrill
What I like most about Quantrill's PI Joe Geraghty is that, yes, Geraghty's past life is fraught with tormented moments, but he is not over burdened by them. Geraghty has dealt with his pain and has moved on and is dealing with day-to-day life as opposed to letting it turn him into a self serving prick like most fictional PI's. Broken Dreams is a gripping, atmospheric read and like the Damage Done, it's not perfect, but it is highly readable

2) Print the Legend by Craig McDonald
My favorite ongoing series. Each entry in the Lassiter series keeps getting better and better. I can't wait for One True Sentence.

1) Requiems for the Departed edited by Gerard Brennan and Michael Stone
My favorite anthology of the year in a year over flowing with truly amazing anthologies.

I know this has been one long winded bastard of a post, but finally, here are my top five novels of the year.

My Top Five

5) Pike by Benjamin Whitmer
I commented on Facebook when I first started reading Pike that I felt like I needed to take a scalding hot bath every 50 pages or so. I still hold to this opinion. Pike is stripped down, working class noir. Each chapter is like a punch to the face and is one of the most carefully constructed novels of the year.

4) Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
This genre bender is classic Swierczynski. Whip crack plotting, near nonstop action, and some of the most intelligent, personal writing of Philly's reigning king of pulp's career. One of the few novels I read multiple times this year.

3) Late Rain by Lynn Kostoff and Johnny Porno by Charlie Stella (tie)
Kostoff and Stella seem to be attached at the hip this year and with good reason. Both authors have produced the two best and, far from easily defined novels, of their careers. Yes, both are crime novels on the surface, but there's so much more going on in each of them. Both are tightly drawn character studies without an ounce of fat on either of them.

2) The Wolves of Fairmount Park by Dennis Tafoya
Tafoya's sophomore effort can be easily compared to the best of Richard Price and George Pelacanos. Tafoya skillfully handles this weighty, character driven tome with the deft skill of a far more experienced novelist. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tafoya is the novelist to watch in the years to come.

1) The Cold Kiss by John Rector

The moment I cracked the ARC of the Cold Kiss open, I knew I would be including it on my ten best of list. Two hours later as I turned the last page, I knew it would be my number 1 pick. The Cold Kiss is a perfect balance of character, plot, and action. No, the plot of a young couple coming across a shit load of dirty cash and then being hunted down for it isn't the most original, but Rector manages to make it fresh by combining it with an intense locked room style mystery. By the way, if I was a betting man, I'd put money down that five years from now, Rector will be ranked as one of the most renowned thriller writers in the states. The Cold Kiss is an amazing, can not be missed novel

The Best of Whatever—Poker Ben

PokerBen’s Top 10 Whatever list 2010.

This is in no particular order.

10. The TV show Justified.
This little show starring Timothy Olyphant is a winner in my book. The pilot was based on the Elmore Leonard short story “Fire In The Hole”, and features EL’s series character U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Who knew there were still U.S Marshals? From the kick ass pilot to the gripping season finale, I was hooked. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in season 2, which starts February 2011.Season 1 dvd available January 25th.

9. John Rector’s The Cold Kiss.
It’s hard to believe this was JR’s first novel. A young couple tangle themselves up with a gut shot man, who has a bag full of money. Mix in a horrible blizzard, and being stranded at an old motel full of crazies. This gem of a novel takes off like a rocket and doesn’t let up until the final page. Rector’s 2nd novel, “The Grove”, is sitting on my Kindle waiting to be enjoyed.

8. The Amazon Kindle.
Speaking of the little guy, it definitely deserves to be on my list. I love having the ability to buy a book, and almost instantly have it available at my finger tips. It’s also nice to have the larger print size available when my eyes are tired, and it’s great for traveling.

7. Needle Magazine.
I love being able to stay up to date on the latest sewing and knitting trends. Oh wait, not that Needle Magazine. I meant the one featuring all the awesome crime fiction/noir stories from today’s who's who in the industry.

6. Crimefactory Magazine.
I can’t mention a crime fiction magazine without mentioning the best one of all in my opinion. It’s got everything a crime lover could want, and a lot more. Not a bad purchase price either. Yep, Rawson and company know how to deliver the goods.

5. Ken Bruen’s The Devil.
What can I say about KB that hasn’t already been said. The man is an extraordinary writer. The Devil is the latest installment of his Jack Taylor series. Everything Bruen writes is gold in my eyes. He could write a computer manual and I’d read it.

4. Red Dead Redemption - PS3
First Rockstar games buts out the awesome GTA series, then they take GTA and drop it into the wild west. Yee Haw!

3. Getting my graphic design work some exposure.
I started off just screwing around in Photoshop. I then made Keith Rawson a banner for his blog, sent it to him, he actually liked it, and used it. I did the same thing for Anthony Neil Smith’s blog. He liked it, and down the road actually hired me to design a book cover for his upcoming E-book edition of Psychosomatic.My latest work was for the banner of this blog. All I can say is I’m thrilled. Who knows maybe this hobby can turn into something bigger down the line.

2. Don Winslow’s Savages.
This was my first Winslow. It knocked my socks off. To describe this book in one word---FUN. This isn’t your standard thriller. Sure its got great fleshed out characters, and an intense plot. It also has one sentence chapters, made up words, slang, lists,the author speaking directly to the reader,sex drugs,music. Pretty much the everything but the kitchen sink. You’ll just have to read it.

1. Winter’s Bone.
Both the book by Daniel Woodrell, and the movie directed by Debra Granik. I first fell in love with the book, but after seeing the movie recently, I love it just as much. WB tells the story of Ree Dolly, a 17 year old girl living in the Ozarks struggling to take care of her sick mother and younger siblings. Her father, a meth cook, has gotten in trouble with the law and has put their house down as collateral on his bail bond. He disappears ,and it’s up to Ree to find him before they loose their home. You will not soon forget this powerful tale. It will stick with you long after you’re finished with it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ben Springer (aka Poker Ben) is Crimefactory’s graphic designer at large. He’s created the banners for Bloody Knuckles, Callused Fingertips, (Keith Rawson’s much under used blog) Day Labor, Anthony Neil Smith’s blog, Herman's Greasy Spoon and the cover to the e-version of Smith’s first novel, Psychosomatic. He’s also written reviews for Spinetingler Magazine

The Best of Whatever—Peter Farris

Favorite Books of 2010

I read a lot of great stuff this year...

But I should preface this list with the admission that I haven't read every '10 release I would have liked. In fact, I'm staring at the city skyline of TBR stacks in my office and I can see from here Ron Rash's Burning Bright, Joseph Wambaugh's Hollywood Hills, Hilary Davidson's The Damage Done and a just-published posthumous collection by Barry Hannah: Long, Lost, Happy—four titles that I'm sure belong here based on reputation and reviews alone. Probably fodder for another blog post, right? For the paperback enthusiasts: The Best Fiction Released Last Year That I Didn't Read Until This Year...or something like that.

Anyway, here's some recommendations for what to spend those holiday gift cards on:

JAMES ELLROY – THE HILLIKER CURSE: MY PURSUIT OF WOMEN

A perfect companion to Ellroy's first foray into memoir-land with My Dark Places, The Hilliker Curse is an absolutely fascinating piece of literary psychoanalysis. I couldn't help but feel like a voyeur while reading this, as Ellroy meticulously catalogs his relationships with women in that telegraphic prose that belongs in the Smithsonian. Every obsession, spank session, brood job, perv-out, tryst, toxic relationship, divorce, heartbreak and awkward interaction is all there on the page—the minutiae of Ellroy's sexual history, with his mother's ghost languishing over him through the decades. I'm convinced that Ellroy is a functional sociopath, and if it wasn't for his literary success he'd be on a park bench somewhere, eye-fucking women from afar, rubbing himself through his pants. Thank god we discovered and appreciated his talents while he was still alive. But after reading The Hilliker Curse, I couldn't help but feel bad for Ellroy. Despite the public persona he's cultivated during a bestselling career, underneath was a fragile personality, a man seeking love and sex on his own selfish terms, and a life full of personal disasters to show for it. Certainly not the best place to start if you're curious about James Ellroy, but an amazing peek behind the curtain of a genius.

JOHN RECTOR – THE COLD KISS

I recently got hip to what is technically John Rector's debut novel, although you don't have to read more than a few pages to figure he's got a few (publishable) books hibernating on a hard drive, and another (The Grove) that I'm eager to read. Rector's prose is so economical, so effortless that my first impression was that Raymond Carver had, uh, risen from the grave, watched Fargo and decided to write crime-noir fiction. What I loved about The Cold Kiss was Rector's ability to pile on the bad, a technique I'm a big fan of. As in how much bad can my main characters take? And how many bad (but not stupid) decisions can they make? That makes for great fiction, which The Cold Kiss most certainly is.

PETER RICHMOND – BADASSES: THE LEGEND OF SNAKE, FOO, DR. DEATH, AND JOHN MADDEN’S OAKLAND RAIDERS

The novel that landed me an agent was partially inspired by Peter Gent's North Dallas Forty, and to a larger extent inspired by the Oakland Raiders teams of the 1970's. Although my novel was set in the world of NASCAR, it was the spirit of that renegade franchise that captivated my imagination and influenced the writing without a doubt. Peter Richmond's tale of the NFL's wildest decade, and in particular the most outlaw squad ever to step on a football field, proved to be one of my favorite non-fiction reads of the past decade. Drugs, booze, hookers, pistols, gambling, driving motorcycles through a bar...and that was just training camp. Jack "the Assassin" Tatum, George "the Hit Man" Atkinson, Kenny "the Snake" Stabler, Gene "the Governor" Upshaw, Fred "Freddy" Biletnikoff and John "Tooz" Matuszak. Today's game is a Pop Warner grab-ass by comparison.

TOM FRANKLIN – CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER

I've been a big fan of Tom Franklin for years now, one of the South's best talents (along with Ron Rash and William Gay) that seem hell bent on carrying the torch lit by Harry Crews, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and before them Flannery O'Connor, Faulkner, Welty, Erskine Caldwell and Thomas Wolfe. But Crooked Letter works on so many levels: a crime novel at its core, a coming-of-age story full of estrangement and tragedy that could appeal to a mass audience, and a commentary on the lies and misunderstandings that can haunt a life spent in the “country”…all written by a guy firmly rooted in the aforementioned literary tradition. It's a challenge for a marketing department, sure, but all I know is that Tom Franklin can write like a motherfucker. Nobody has captured race relations and rural decay in the 21st Century South quite like Franklin has with this novel, the fringe existence of folks in his Mississippi no different from what you might find in Georgia, South Carolina or Alabama and no less depressing. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter has heart and soul, an authenticity you can't teach, and that magic that the finest storytellers are able to perform.

DUANE SWIERZCZYNSKI – EXPIRATION DATE

Expiration Date really defies categorization. This is the second novel by Duane Swierczynski that I've read, and a brain-busting treat it is, with dialogue that pops and sizzles and a plot that I can only describe as galloping. His latest is unique in that it refuses to sit still or be defined by genre trappings. It's a thinking-man's thriller, a post-modern mystery, a love letter to his hometown of Philadelphia, a sci-fi noir and ultimately, a story about a man scouring the Microfiche of his shattered family history for closure. Not to simplify what Swierczy pulls off here, but ED really does for astral projection what Inception did for dreams or 12 Monkeys did for time travel...all with an ending that is absolutely knee-buckling. But the highest compliment I can offer to any work of fiction is to say how much I learned by reading it. And I learned a helluva lot about writing by reading Expiration Date.

DAVID J. SCHOW – INTERNECINE

My review from Amazon with a few alterations:

Schow has written the thriller of the year...

But INTERNECINE is not just a thriller. It's a satire, a spy novel, a roid-raging Doc Savage action yarn and a post-modern gun porn masterpiece. INTERNECINE is seven novels working seamlessly at once.

1) GUNS: As in Stephen Hunter would give this novel an enthusiastic double tap. The weapons are exotic, realistic, loud on the page, sinister when holstered, blamming and blaaaawhing every other paragraph and killing EVERYONE. INTERNECINE is righteous literary Peckinpah.

2) LOS ANGELES: INTERNECINE is one of the best novels about L.A. well...ever. Bruce Wagner would smirk with jealousy. Michael Connelly would scratch his goatee in admiration. James Ellroy would shrug his shoulders in arrogant indifference and Raymond Chandler would barf up his liquid lunch in appreciation.

3) SATIRE: This is the post-modern, ironic, meta-transgressive Don Delillo novel Chuck Palahniuk wishes he could write. But Schow is too articulate, too original and far too deft to mimic any voice but the one he's created in INTERNECINE. It is a first person narrative that should be studied in writing seminars.

Believe the hype here, folks. Want to read a thriller with brains? Put down the Patterson and Koontz novels for that flight and let INTERNECINE be your legacy at the crash site.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Peter Farris is a writer from Cobb County, Georgia. His debut novel will be published by Tom Doherty Associates/Forge Books next winter. Find him raving and drooling at the Sentence Salvo