THE 25 OF 2025: 5-1
- wildremuda
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
We are now at the final five crime novels and thrillers of the first quarter of this century. that were my favorites. For recap, the other twenty were-
25. THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias
24. THE DAMAGE DONE by Hillary Davidson
23, THE LAST DEATH OF Jack Harbin by Terry Shames
22.THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE by Lou Berney
21. THE NIGHT OF BABA YAGA by Akari Otari
20. HOLLOW MAN by Mark Pryor
19. A FINE DARK LINE by Joe R. Lansdale
18, MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane
17. FRANK SINATRA IN A BLENDER by Matthew McBride
16. MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust
15. DONNYBROOK by Frank Bill
14. COTTONWOOD by Scott Phillips
13. TRICKY by Josh Stallings
12. THE MAN WHO CAME UPTOWN by George Pelecanos
11. WINTER COUNTS by David Haska Wanbi Weiden
10. BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S.A. Cosby
9. THE BOOK THIEF by Dennis Tafoya
8. THE MAGDELYN MARTYRS by Ken Bruen
7. THE DEVIL'S GARDEN by Ace Atkins
6. KINGS OF COOL by Don Winslow
The last five books are all ones I've reread at least twice by authors who if I didn't instill a rule of ruling out multiple books by one writer could have had other works. Also, these choices are probably at my most personal, so its heart over head with these.
DARE ME by Megan Abbott- This examination of teen-girl drive and competition ,when a cheerleading squad goes into upheaval with the introduction of a new coach. stood out from her unique body of work that expressed one of the freshest voices in crime fiction. This book showed us new places you could take the noir genre and opened its definition without diluting it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've never been more afraid of teenage girls since I was a teenage boy.
WINTER'S BONE by Daniel Woodrell- Woodrell's tough, elegiac look at the women who struggle in an impoverished Midwest where meth and unemployment have crippled the male population. leading many to violence. As Ree Dolly searches for her missing meth cooker father who put the homestead up for bail, she learns the most dangerous people she's up against could be her own family. Told beautifully with distinctive characters.
THE COLD DISH by Craig Johnson- There are probably better books in the series featuring Northern Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire and his band of deputies and friends, but few debuts demonstrated the promise of talent to come like this. Walt searches for a vigilante picking off a group of boys who raped a Cheyenne girl suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome in this well crafted mystery that also delivers pathos and somehow lots of humor as it also looks at the modern west and the hardy souls who populate it. Craig Johnson possesses a skillful, unpretentious effect with words that could be seen from the beginning.
WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE by Reed Farrel Coleman- Like the book mentioned before, I could have picked many books in the Moe Prager series that followed the first one, but this was a revelation in of what you could deliver in emotion and tone in the first case for the Jewish ex- NYPD patrolman who gets pulled into personal cases. He sets up a lot that follows when apolitical mover and shaker asks him to look into the disappearance of his son. Coleman's poetic prose get us the wear the skin of his protagonist that sets up the emotional gut punch of this novel even more.
CRY, FATHER by Benjamin Whitmer- After finishing this book the first time, I promised myself to pick it up at least every ten years, knowing you have to live more to get more out of it. Whitmer follows Patterson Wells, who grieves for his dead young son, through letters he writes to him and ealing with it through the dangerous job of clearing debris after natural disasters. To help out a friend, he goes along with the man' drug dealing son on an exchange that goes horribly wrong, creating a protracted, violent fallout. Whitmer looks into the abyss of what happens to people on the edge of society when they are pushed and doesn't blink. He views even th scuzziest people with humanity. I may have forgotten the details and plot points of Cry Father over the years, but never its emotion.