Thursday, March 26, 2009

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

I love to be scared. Not grossed out, not turned off by heinous gore and shameless blood and guts, but I adore a great suspense novel. A little voice in the back of my head tsks-tsks some when I admit that I'm fascinated by serial killers, and usually will watch any tv show or movie, or buy any book that features at least one in it. I wonder if some psychologists and psychiatrists would have a field day with that. Either that, or I'd make a great profiler...

So, right now I'm reading TEMPTING EVIL by Allison Brennan, the second book in her Prison Break trilogy, and I'm totally wanting to bitch slap the bad guy. Or at least the main one. Granted, he's a doozy of a psycho, but his whole fixation on the heroine is totally eerie. When I say bitch slap, I mean I want to jack his jaws for being an egotistical psycho, not because he's badly written. "Oh no, he didn't!", has been a common mantra in my head as I've read this one, and I'm only half way through! Love that.

So, among my favorites, I'd definitely list Allison Brennan at the top of my faves list for this genre, with Kay Hooper and Tami Hoag up there as well. Erica Spindler is another one that comes to mind, as well as newcomer J.T. Ellison. Mariah Stewart is an old favorite for the more romantic suspense angle, too. And I know I've got a full arsenal in my TBR to choose from, but right now I'm drawing a blank. Oh! Before Wendy totally gives up on me, I really need to get on the Chelsea Cain bandwagon and read SWEETHEART and HEARTSICK!

I'm always looking for inspiration -- who, in your TBR, would you recommend to me, a diehard romantic supsense/straight suspense fan, that would tickle my sick fancy?

3 comments:

Wendy said...

Ahem, yes - Chelsea Cain. And read them in order - so HEARTSICK first. You'll be saying "Oh no she didn't!" when it comes to the resident baddie, Gretchen Lowell.

The last suspense novel that really got to me was SAY GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner. Oh man, that was one disturbing book. It's due out in paperback soon - but be forewarned it's a Bad Things Happen To Kids book. Not terribly gory, but oh....you know exactly what bad things are happening to those kids.

Sigh, and I really need to read Allison Brennan. I have like half of her backlist in the TBR. Ooooh, and have you read Karen Rose yet? She's fantastic.

Amy said...

You know, I forgot about Lisa Gardner and Karen Rose! I've only read one or two by each of them, but my God, they're good! I want SAY GOODBYE, but I'm trying to curtail my hardback spending. Karen Rose's books are stupefying -- I adore them!

And I just thought of two more -- Lisa Jackson and Beverly Barton, they're both good too, although I didn't enjoy LOST SOULS by Jackson as much as I've enjoyed her others.

Wendy said...

Lisa Jackson is another author I've been collecting....and not reading. My TBR is seriously an embarrassment.

The Gardner is coming out in pb soon. I want to say towards the end of May. Definitely worth picking up. I borrowed an audio copy from work - or else I'd hook ya up.