FAVORITE 25 OF 2025: 10-6
- wildremuda
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
As we enter the top ten of my twenty-five favorites of the century so far. we get work from some of my favorite authors who contributed more than one masterpiece to this period. All use the genre as a starting point to go deep, wide, and ,at times, both.
BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S.A. Cosby- Not only were my prayers answered for an African American voice in rural noir answered, it was answered by one of the best of crime fictions newest wave of talent. Cosby's take on a top wheelman pulled back into another job works as an examination of race and masculinity as well as delivering a kick ass crime novel with cinematic car chases.
THE BOOK THIEF by Dennis Tafoya - A poignant and gritty novel with a Philly criminal who robs drug houses and hits the wrong one. While at the end of his rope, he falls in love with both books and a bookstore employee. The novel version of a Bruce Springsteen song.
THE MAGDALENE MARTYRS by Ken Bruen- Bruen's most realized and accessible book to feature his anti-social Galway P.I., Jack Taylor. Asked by his drug dealer to find the woman who helped his mother escape Ireland's infamous Magdalene laundries, a dark stain on the Catholic Church. A great look into Irish history with one hell of a twist.
THE DEVIL'S GARDEN by Ace Atkins- Atkins beautifully recreates 1920s San Francisco with a pre-Maltese Falcon Hammett working as a PInkerton detective for the defense in the infamous Fatty Arbuckle trial. A rich historical novel that puts you there.
KINGS OF COOL by Don Winslow- This prequel and sequel to Savages goes deeper than the original , looking at the three original marijuana dealing protagonists as well as their parents now. An exciting crime thriller that also works as an examination in the gaps between two generations.