Robert B. Parker has often been recommended to me as a great writer of crime fiction. Unfortunately, no specific title has been cited, he has written so many books I don't know where to start. Any recommendation?
I have a similar problem with Dick Francis, so many books, where to start?
Thanks!
2007-12-11 14:18:43 · 5 answers · asked by tuinui 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Parker has several series-- Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall and Spenser. Spenser is, in my opinion, his best, so I'd start with the first Spenser book: the Godwulf Manuscript.
Francis is harder because he has only done a few books with returning characters-- Sid Halley was in I think four books and Kit Fielding in two. And just about all of Francis' books are good; there were just a couple of clunkers. His first appearance was in Odds Against-- his last in Under Orders. I think I'd read the first Sid book if I were just starting out on Francis. I liked In the Frame and Proof really well, too-- they're standalones.
Hope you enjoy these!
2007-12-11 14:36:18 · answer #1 · answered by princessmikey 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The BBC ran a poll a few years back and they captured the 100 most popular books. Search for "Big read top 100" should find it. I won't reprint the whole thing, but the top 20 were 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling 6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne 8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis 10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë 11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë 13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks 14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier 15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger 16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens 18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott 19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres 20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy Some of these may date, like 3, 5, 13 and 19, but I bet in 50 years time the list will be pretty similar. Judging by your list you might like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
2016-05-23 03:57:50 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with another responder that Robert B. Parker's Spenser series is the best. Early Autumn is an early one that is quite good.
His latest ones (for about the past ten years) are really novelettes expanded into book form with the use of very wide spacing.
Dick Francis's novels are pretty much not a series: he has a few about one person, whose name I forget, but most are stand-alone novels: you can read any of them without needing to know a back-story. He is consistently quite good.
2007-12-12 09:47:13 · answer #3 · answered by MarianariaBibliotecaria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dick Francis is prolific, but all of the books are enjoyable reads. I found one of his most recent novels - Under Orders - quite good, with some great underlying/controversial issues within the Thoroughbred industry being explored in a classic mystery.
2007-12-11 14:26:37 · answer #4 · answered by Zombie Birdhouse 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I love Answers for censoring a persons first name just because it MIGHT be a bad slang word. LOL
The short form of Richard is not Rick - change the R to a D.
2007-12-11 15:45:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋