The Obligatory Top Ten List

I actually got a request for this, which means at least one person is still following the blog. So, it's time to list my favorite down-and-dirty crime reads of 2010. Most of these were new releases, but a couple of the books came out in 2009. Hey, my list = my rules. Ya gotsa problem widdat?

These are in no particlar order, but I will say that Benjamin Whitmer's Pike was my absolute favorite novel of the year. To paraphrase the great Nigel Tufnel: "It's like how much more noir could it be? And the answer is none. None...more noir." If you haven't read Pike yet, do yourself a favor and snag a copy right away. Rural noir at its hardscrabble finest.

Okay, now for the rest of the list:
The Ghosts of Belfast (aka The Twelve) by Stuart Neville
Kings of the Earth by John Clinch
Young Junius by Seth Harwood
Criminal Volume 5: The Sinners by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield
Thunder Beach by Michael Lister
The Deputy by Victor Gischler
The Devil by Ken Bruen (even though the supernatural aspect felt out of place)
Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark

Discuss...

The Sign of Four

J. Kingston Pierce and the Rap Sheet mob challenged crime writer/bloggers to play this "Fours" meme. Since I was a good boy and got some writing done today, I'll take a shot at it.

4 movies you would watch over and over again:
Jaws
The Big Lebowski
L.A. Confidential
The Goonies

4 places you have lived:
Utica, New York (I was born there)
Herkimer, New York
Hollywood, California
Friendship, Maine

4 TV shows you love to watch:
Deadwood
Doctor Who
Battlestar Galactica
Law & Order

4 places you have been on vacation:
The family camp on Haymock Lake
Pemaquid Point/New Harbor, Maine (my favorite place to go)
Tijuana, Mexico (don't ask)
New Hampshire

4 of your favorite foods:
tomato sandwiches
Spanish rice
shrimp
pizza

4 web sites you visit daily:
Crimespot
Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
The Huffington Post
Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

4 places you would rather be right now:
At Pemaquid Point, no matter what the weather.
Heading due north.
Scotland.
Ireland.

4 things you want to do before you die:
See Bitter Water Blues get published.
Write and publish several other novels.
See polar bears in the wild.
See great white sharks from inside a diving cage. Seriously.

4 books you wish you could read again for the first time:
The Long Home by William Gay
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Norwood by Charles Portis
The Grifters by Jim Thompson

Tag 4 people you think will respond:
Chris Holm
Stephen Blackmoore
Keith Rawson
Clair Dickson