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—Jedidiah Ayres

My best of 2010 in no particular order:

Noir at the Bar. It was an amazing year for the tawdry little event that I host along with Scott Phillips. We were validated by the participation of Pinckney Benedict, Laura Benedict, Sean Doolittle, Derek Nikitas, Dennis Tafoya, Tim Lane, Matt Kindt and Jonathan Woods. We also got to see the first public readings of Matthew McBride, Chris La Tray, Dan O’Shea and (I think) Cameron Ashley. Don’t have any idea how 2011 could possibly top that.

People I know getting book deals. You guys make me sick. (You can find those guys HERE and HERE)

Great debuts: Jack Clark – Nobody’s Angel, Benjamin Whitmer – Pike, John Rector – The Cold Kiss

Knockout sophomore efforts: Dennis Tafoya – Wolves of Fairmount Park, Roger Smith – Wake Up Dead, Millard Kaufman – Misadventure, John Brandon – Citrus County.

“Discoveries” – Lynn Kostoff, Dave Zeltserman, Larry Brown, Thomas McGuane, Jim Nesbit

Good films from great books – Winter’s Bone, The Killer Inside Me, True Grit (it’s gonna be, I just know it)

Young punk upstarts online – Crimefactory, Muholland Books blog

And in print – Needle, Beat to a Pulp (yeah, in print)

Unconfirmed accounts of people reading my bullshit: William Gay, Chris Offutt, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jedidiah Ayres recently made his big screen debut playing the part of Yogi Bear. He loooooooovess pic-i-nic baskets. He blogs at Hardboild Wonderland and B&N's Ransom Notes and his fiction has appeared in more publications than you can shake a dead cat at. (which makes the editors of Crimefactory Magazine green with envy.) He also penned the screenplay for the film Mosquito Kingdom

The Best of Whatever---Benjamin Whitmer

First, I should apologize for how abysmally ignorant I am when it comes crime fiction. All I can say is that thanks to Keith Rawson, Brian Lindenmuth and Jedidiah Ayres, amongst others, I’m learning a little something, so next year’s list is gonna be a hell of a lot better. I’m keeping a notebook of all the book recommendations I’ve gotten, and I’m working through it slowly. Eric Beetner, Craig Clevenger, James Sallis, Jonathon Woods, Megan Abbott, Hilary Davidson, Anthony N. Smith, Daniel Woodrell -- I’m so damned behind I get embarrassed to go out in public. And that’s not even counting the new stuff I’ve yet to read by authors I follow, like Stephen Graham Jones and Gary Phillips.

But, anyway, I know folks have been including other stuff besides books in their lists, but the fact is, excepting my family and friends, I don’t really give a shit about anything else. Gun parts, maybe, but I’m betting an ode to my 1911’s new Cylinder & Slide 4.5 pound trigger pull set wouldn’t enthuse much of anybody besides myself.

So, books, in no particular order (and, yeah, I’m sorry, there are eleven of them -- I couldn’t figure out the one to bump):

Blood’s a Rover by James Ellroy. I’ve liked Ellroy for years, but I thought this one was the big one, his great white whale. It may not the most nuanced depiction of government repression, but it’s sure as hell among the most compelling, and the conspiracy-fueled paranoia puts it among the likes of Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs.

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. This book killed me. A movement of young poets, The Visceral Realists, hitting hard against the established literature of their day, and what it cost them. The beauty of refusing to compromise, and the breakdown afterward.

The Chieu Hoi Saloon by Michael Harris. Stephen Graham Jones talked recently in an interview about how some writers write to live, write like each book has got to be the one that can save their life. Like Jones, those are the only books I care about, and this is one of them.

A Glass of Water by Jimmy Santiago Baca. I’ve been a fan of Baca’s poetry for years, and this, his first novel, sure as hell didn’t disappoint. Beautiful and brutal.

Twilight by William Gay. My first William Gay, and now I’m stocking up on everything he’s ever written. Jesus, what a book.

A Better Angel by Chris Adrian. There were moments reading this collection of short stories when I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. And now that I know what he knows about us, about human nature and all that shit, I probably should have.

Poachers by Tom Franklin. I came up with the short story “Poachers” by luck of the draw for a Spinetingler Magazine review, and went after the whole collection by way of context. Not knowing that it would leave me crawling around the floor looking for the other half of my brain.

Lethal Injection by Jim Nisbet. A subtle reflection on death in not-so-subtle -- in all the right ways -- garb. Hardcore, politically-charged, experimental crime fiction, yeah, I’d like a lot more of that.

The Chandler Apartments by Owen Hill. A bisexual, Berkeley, book-buying, poet detective on a murder case. It’s just as funny and violent as you’d hope it would be. A wonderful book.

Late Rain, by Lynn Kostoff. This one snuck up on me. It’s impeccably plotted and paced, sure, but just when you think you’ve got it figured out, all the lights come on in one brilliant passage that makes you have to go back and reread the whole damn thing. Which is, of course, even better than the first time around.

The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schultz. Strange, poetic, dreamlike, “a fabric of nightmares and hashish,” with one of the greatest and most scathing allegories for American commercialism ever put to paper. Not for everyone. Not always for me. But, yeah, amazing.

And now, not to get all weepy, but the one thing I’d put at the top of my list that ain’t fiction is finding this crime fiction community. Being introduced to the great crowd of slouching misfits and killers at Crimefactory, Spinetingler, Temporary Knucksline, Do Some Damage, Crimespree Magazine, The Pulp Primer, Hardboiled Wonderland, and all the other websites, focal points, autonomous zones, and internet dives that I’ve been trolling lately, has been a fucking revelation to me.

So, an end-of-year wish for all of you, from my very favorite crime -- or, at least, adventure -- writer:

“Gulp down your tears and hie aloft to the royal-mast with your hearts; for your friends who have gone before are clearing out the seven-storied heavens, and making refugees of long-pampered Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, against your coming. Here ye strike but splintered hearts together-- there, ye shall strike unsplinterable glasses!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Benjamin Whitmer was born in 1972 and raised on back-to-the-land communes and counterculture enclaves ranging from Southern Ohio to Upstate New York. One of his earliest and happiest memories is of standing by the side of a country road with his mother, hitchhiking to parts unknown. Since then, he’s been a factory grunt, a vacuum salesman, a convalescent, a high-school dropout, a semi-truck loader, an activist, a kitchen-table gunsmith, a squatter, a college professor, a dishwasher, a technical writer, and a petty thief.

He’s published fiction and non-fiction in a number of magazines, anthologies, and essay collections. His debut novel is Pike, published by Switchblade (PM Press) He Blogs at Kick Him, Honey

The Best of Whatever—Brian Lindenmuth

One of my favorite old school SF/F websites was Fantastic Metropolis (RIP) and they did annual "read & appreciated" lists that were a boon to me at the time (and still are). So when Keith didn't ask me to participate I farted in his general direction and sent one anyway. My top 10 list of 2010 release and crime fiction will appear at Spinetingler at the end of the year.

So here's my varied shit I liked in 2010.

Now is the time to catch a hold of the two modern masters, Lynn Kostoff & Jim Nisbet, and never let go. Lynn Kostoff is the best crime writer you haven't read yet and Jim Nisbet is the craziest. 2010 saw the re-release of Kostoff's A Choice of Nightmares and the release of Late Rain. A Choice of Nightmares is great and his books only get better with Late Rain possibly being his best yet. I only say possibly because his second novel, The Long Fall is an all-time crime favorite of mine, yes it's that good. But hell, Kostoff has never written a bad book and trying to figure out which of his are the best is like trying to pick the best Pixar movie. Someone reprint Long Fall now dammit. 2010 also brought us the start of Overlook's ambitious re-issue project of Nisbet's entire back catalog. That means in addition to the new stuff you've FOUR Nisbet books this year.

I also had the occasion to read another older book that instantly became an all-time book for me, Four Corners of Night by Craig Holden. Holy mother hell what a book. It starts out as a police procedural then turns into a deep character study of two men who are lifelong friends then runs the whole damn thing through the grinder. I was gutted after reading it and encourage you to do so if you haven't yet.

Ree Dolly is Mattie Ross's granddaughter and it's only fitting that we get filmed adaptations of both Winter's Bone and True Grit. The former is a brilliant movie and the latter isn't out yet but damn after seeing the previews I've got high hopes. If you haven't read those books (or those authors) yet then do so now. If you haven't seen the movies yet do so now (or when you can).

Matt Kindt's milieu is genre. Not just any specific genre mind you but genre itself and all of the story types that fit under genre fiction. Pistolwhip has its way with noir, Super Spies has its way with spy stories and his latest, Revolver is a mash of different stuff and defies categorization. It's also one of the best graphic novels of the year

Recently I was heartened to see a passing comment from Benjamin Whitmer in the comments of one of his posts about 20th century hobo books. One of the best books I read this year was a re-issue by one of the greatest hobo writers EVER, Circus Parade by Jim Tully. His best books are currently being reissued and you should probably get acquainted. Did you know that one of crime fictions best writers, Charles Willeford, also wrote a hobo book? He did. It was called I Was Looking For a Street and it too was re-released this year. Do yourself a favor and read this.

Waste by Eugene Marten & Bloody Women by Helen Fitzgerald are the greatest fucking psycho-noirs you haven't read yet. Marten is an unknown commodity in the crime fiction community but shouldn't be and U.S. readers need to get hip to Fitzgerald NOW -- she's like Allan Guthrie with ovaries -- c'mon!

Terriers on FX was a great TV experience and it's a shame it only lasted one season. But what a season it was. A buddy PI drama, comedy that started off creaky before turning into an emotional slaughterhouse. When this comes out on DVD make sure to catch up with it.

Initially almost everyone liked Inception and then a creeping tidal wave of backlash seemed to crash against it. In the long run I don't know what the final tally will be but for me Inception was exhilarating and captivating. I loved it (even if I'm still waiting on the van to hit the water).

Mulholland has stormed onto the scene with daily essays on a variety of topics (full disclosure: I've written a couple of them). One of the remarkable things is their willingness to write about the community and genre at large instead of just limiting themselves to their own stable of authors. This is the way forward for publisher websites. Two standouts, and two of the best online pieces I've read all year were "Dead Mower Dreams and the Weeds of Boo Radley" by Tom Piccirilli and " Insulting Your Intelligence (“Just gimme some noiriness”)" by David Corbett. Both are drop dead brilliant and articulate thoughts in a way that I envy.

You want to be on the fucking bleeding edge of crime fiction then you buy every book that Switchblade puts out without hesitation.

Jess Walter is a long time favorite of mine but I hesitated when I saw what last year's book, The Financial Lives of the Poets, was about. I waited until the book became available from the library and after trying to read the first chapter through a haze of laughter tears I knew I was wrong and I never should have doubted him. The Financial Lives of the Poets tackles nothing less than the current financial crisis and manages to make you laugh. Just. Brilliant.

2010 brought us a guy who doesn't talk about doing something, he just does it. That guy is Steve Weddle and this year he brought us Needle Magazine. Needle picked up the ashes of the much lamented Murdaland, gave it a new operating model and boom! Three issues later he's serializing Ray Banks novellas. If Murdaland was like a TO, talking shit and letting the personality take over then Needle is like Jerry Rice, just catching the ball and moving on to the next play.

Two of my favorite comics this year were Meta-4 by Ted McKeever and The Bulletproof Coffin by David Hine and Shaky Kane. I'll be honest, I'm not too sure I know what in the hell they are about but I can't stop reading them and think they may be awesome.

That’s my brain dumpings out on the page for all to see. Maybe you’ll find something there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lindenmuth. Spinetingler Magazine. Yeah, he's that guy.