2020 Books Read

    1. ***The Broken Kingdoms (N.K. Jemison, 2010). The second book in the Inheritance trilogy. Starts a whole new storyline, different from the first book, with minimal cross-over. 1/1
    2. ***The Other Side of Silence (Philip Kerr, 2017). Not the best Bernie Gunther novel. This one is set in Italy, in 1956. Gunther is concierge at a hotel there, and gets involved in an extortion plot against author W. Somerset Maughm. 1/6
    3. ****American Gods (Neil Gaman). A really strange kind of book, about gods in America who feed off of people’s adulation. Hard to explain, but quite interesting. 1/25
    4. ***Coco Butternut (Joe Lansdale). A novella, short and a fun ride, nothing special. 1/31
    5. ****Pursuit of Honor (Vince Flynn, 2009). A continuation, of sorts, of Extreme Measures. 2/3
    6. ****The Last Man (Vince Flynn, 2012). The last of the Mitch Rapp books written by Flynn. This one involves a CIA agent in Afghanistan who is kidnapped, a Rapp who loses his memory for a while, and other intrigue. 2/9
    7. ***Guns of the Timberland (Louis L’Mour). A logging operation threatens a ranch.
    8. ***The Californios (Louis L’Mour). Set in California, with a ranch in jeopardy of being taken over by the bad guys.
    9. ****Nowhere to Run (C. J. Box). One of the best Joe Pickett novels. Involves two brothers, mountain men, who get the best of Joe Picket. 3/20
    10. ****Cold Wind (C. J. Box, 2011). Missy’s husband is murdered and strung from a windmill. This Joe Picket book is about windmills. 3/28
    11. ****The Pagan Lord (Bernard Cornwell). Uhtred makes an attempt to take Bebbanburg, and then gets caught up in rescuing Mercia from the Danes.
    12. ****The Empty Throne (Bernard Cornwell). Who will be the new leader of Mercia? Uhtred wants Æthelred, in this 8th book in the series.
    13. ****Hell Bent (Gregg Hurwitz, 2019). The fourth Evan Smoak book. Still good.
    14. ***Nomad (Matthew Mather, 2015). The first book in the New Earth series, a strongly science-based post-apocalyptic series. Whereas most post-apocalyptic books involve a plague, EMP, or nuclear war, this one involves a dual-blackhole phenomenon that sweeps into our solar system. 5/10
    15. *****Paradise Sky (Joe Lansdale, 2015). The story of Deadwood Dick, a former slave in East Texas who become a gunman. Loved this western. 5/17
    16. ****The Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart). The first book in her Arthurian saga, told from the point of view of Merlin. 5/25
    17. ****The Hollow Hills (Mary Stewart). The second Arthurian saga. Arthur finally arrives on the scene. 6/1
    18. ****The Last Enchantment (Mary Stewart). The third Arthurian saga, and last one told by Merlin. 6/7
    19. ****The Wicked Day (Mary Stewart). The final Arthurian book, this one told by Mordred and giving a very different take on him. May be my favorite of the four books. 6/11
    20. ***Zero Day (David Baldacci). The first John Puller novel. He’s an army investigator. Not as much action as I was expecting. 6/13
    21. ***Long Way to Mercy (David Baldacci). The first Atlee Pine novel. She’s an FBI investigator based by the Grand Canyon. Quite good. 6/18
    22. ***Greatest Enemy (Jason Kasper). A thriller series on my Kindle. Pretty good, but I don’t think I’ll read any more. 6/23
    23. ***In the Heart of the Fire (Dean Koontz, 2019). First in a series of novellas. I’ll keep reading. 6/25
    24. ***The Empty Copper Sea (John MacDonald). The 17th Travis McGee. McGee and Meyer investigate the disappearance of a guy who is probably still alive. 7/11
    25. **Bubba Ho-Tep (Joe Lansdale). A novella about an elderly guy in a nursing home who goes after an ancient monster of some kind. 7/13
    26. ***Photographing the Dead (Dean Koontz, 2019). Second in the Nameless series of novellas. 7/16
    27. ****Tear it Down (Nick Petrie, 2019). Peter Ash goes to Memphis to help someone who has been receiving threats, and it greatly escalates. A black gang and a couple of white supremacists, not to mention KKK/Confederate treasure, are involved. 7/20
    28. ****The Praying Mantis Bride (Dean Koontz, 2019). Third in the Nameless series of novellas. This one involves a black widow who keeps killing rich husbands.
    29. ****Red Rain (Dean Koontz). The fourth Nameless novella.
    30. ****Huntress Moon (Alexandra Sokoloff). The first in the Huntress series, starring FBI agent Roarke and Cara Lindstrom, whose family was slaughtered by a serial killer when she was a child. Very well done. 8/3
    31. ****Blue Moon (Alexandra Sokoloff). The 2nd in the Huntress series. I’m hooked. 8/7
    32. ***Surprise Ending (Jeffery Deaver). A novella.
    33. ****The Survivor (Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills, 2015). The 1st Mitch Rapp book by Kyle Mills. Quite good. 8/14
    34. ***The Iron 44th (Robert Willey). About the 44th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War.
    35. ****Order to Kill (Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills, 2016). Mitch vs. a top Soviet assassin, playing cat and mouse through the Middle East, mostly Pakistan. 8/20
    36. ***The Mercy of Snakes (Dean Koontz). The fifth Nameless books. Might be the weakest of the five so far. 8/27
    37. ****Red Famine (Anne Applebaum). About Russia’s atrocities particularly enforced family, of the Ukrainian people. 8/28
    38. ****Runner (Patrick Lee, 2014). The 1st Samuel Dryden book, dealing with telepathy. Really good. 8/29
    39. ****The Russian (Ben Coes, 2019). The first in a new thriller series built around a former SEAL named Rob Tacoma. This one involved the Russian mob. Liked it, and will keep reading. 9/3
    40. ****Bookstore of the Broken Hearted (2018, Robert Hillman). A piece of literary fiction set in 1960s Australia, with a backdrop in the Holocaust. Wonderful little story. 9/7
    41. ****Memories of Tomorrow (Dean Koontz). The 6th and final Nameless book, with satisfying reveals about who he is. 9/9
    42. ****Twilight of Democracy (Anne Applebaum, 2020). A look at the spread of authoritarianism, particularly in Europe. 9/13
    43. ****The Circuit Rider (Dan Ames). A really good western, following a minister (with a gunman past) and the woman gunslinger sent as his bodyguard, as they travel across the country to San Francisco. 9/13
    44. ***The First Round Table: The Legends of King Arthur (Bill Gillman, 2017). A somewhat quirky retelling of the Arthur legend, following how he came to the throne. 9/16
    45. ***The List (Greg Hurwitz). A novella in the Orphan X series, this one focusing on Joey. 9/16
    46. ****Close to the Bone (Kendra Elliott). First novella in the Widow’s Island series, with alternating novellas by Elliott and Melinda Leigh. 9/19
    47. ***Aftershocks (Marko Kloos). The first in the Palladium Wars series. Very good writing. 9/20
    48. ***Ballistic (Marko Kloos). The 2nd in the Palladium Wars. 9/23
    49. *****Blue Moon (Lee Child, 2019). The 24th Jack Reacher book. One of his best. 9/23
    50. ****Prussian Blue (Philip Kerr, 2019). The 14th Bernie Gunther novel. Good, not great. 9/26
    51. ***Last Light (Dean Koontz). A very good novella. 9/27
    52. ****Blue Heaven (C.J. Box, 2012). A stand-alone novel set in Idaho, involving bad cops and two kids who witness an execution. 9/29
    53. ***A Bone to Pick (Melinda Leigh). The second novella of the Widow’s Island series. Okay. 10/2
    54. ****Molly (Dan Ames, 2018). First in the Wade Carver series. I love his writing. He’s a private eye in Florida. 10/17
    55. ****The Legacy (R.A. Salvatore). The 7th Drizzt book, and the first in a four-part series called “The Legacy of the Drow.” 10/17
    56. ****Starless Night (R. A. Salvatore). Book 8 of the Drizzt legend. Drizzt goes back to his home territory, and Cati-Brie follows. 10/25
    57. ****Out of the Dark (Greg Hurwitz). The 4th Evan Smoak “Nowhere Man” book. In this one, he’s trying to kill the President, and vice versa. Another winner. 11/1
    58. ****Sugar (Dan Ames, 2019). The second Wade Carver book, in which he’s looking for his long-lost sister. 11/5
    59. ****Disloyal (Michael Cohen, 2020). Michael Cohen’s story as Donald Trump’s “fixer.” Very compelling. 11/9
    60. ***Adrift (CG Cooper). Another series about a former soldier, in the mold of Jack Reacher. I could read more, but might not. 11/11
    61. ****Warriors of the Storm (Bernard Cornwell). The 9th in the Saxon Chronicles. Once again, an army of Danes threaten Mercia. 11/14
    62. ****The Green Ripper (John MacDonald). Someone killed McGee’s gal, and he goes to California to hunt them down. Find himself in the middle of a big conspiracy. Liked this one a lot. 11/23
    63. ***Criss Cross (James Patterson, 2019). The latest Alex Cross book. It looks like Kyle Craig is back, but he’s clearly dead, so somebody is messing with Cross. Not one of my favorites. 11/25
    64. *****The Thicket (Joe Lansdale (2013). Set around 1910 or thereabouts in East Texas. A teen’s grandfather is murdered and his sister kidnapped, and goes after them with the help of a dwarf, the son of an ex-slave, a prostitute, and a big hog named “Hog.” Classic Lansdale buddy book. 11/27
    65. ***The Nine (Terry Cloutier, 2019). The first in a fantasy trilogy. A boy sees nine soldiers kill his family and the rest of his village, and vows to someday kill all nine. 12/1
    66. ***The Wolf at Large (Terry Cloutier, 2020). the second in a fantasy trilogy. 12/4
    67. **The Wolf on the Run (Terry Cloutier, 2020). The third in the “Nine” trilogy. 12/7
    68. ****Passin’ Through (Louis L’Amour). The very first L’Amour book I ever read, back in the 1980s. 12/9
    69. ****The Shadow Riders (Louis L’Amour). A Union Civil War vet and his brothers, all Texans, pursue renegade former Rebels who have abducted their sister and a number of others. 12/11
    70. ****Killer’s Draw (Dan Ames). The sequel to “The Circuit Rider,” which I read earlier in the year. A very good western. 12/14
    71. *****The Son (Jo Nesbo). A stand-alone book about a man, unjustly imprisoned, who escapes from prison and begins seeking revenge. Excellent. 12/19
    72. ***Macbeth (Jo Nesbo). Another standalone, a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth play. Long, involved, and unredeeming. I didn’t particularly care for it. 12/25
    73. ****Greeks Bearing Gifts (Philip Kerr). Bernie Gunther, now working as an insurance adjuster in 1957, goes to Greece and becomes embroiled in a plot involving Nazis. 12/27
    74. ***The Cormany Diaries (Samuel and Rachel Cormany). The Civil War-era diaries of a UB couple. 12/29
    75. **Unsettling Truths (Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah, 2019). An InterVarsity book about the Doctrine of Discover as it applies to slavery and American Indians. Had its moments, but not many of them.
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