I read a lot of fiction on my Kindle, especially during pandemic times, and my go-to for free ebook loans through my local library is the Overdrive network.
Even though they’re always adding more books, I’ve kind of burned through many of the book series I’ve enjoyed, so I’m looking for some new recommendations for anything good, either series or one-off.
Some of the books / book series I’ve read and more or less enjoyed (constrained by what’s available on the network):
P.I. style novels: Roland Ford Series by T. Jefferson Parker, Colter Shaw series by Jeffrey Deaver, Quinn Colson series by Ace Atkins
The Pendergast series by Lincoln and Child.
All the Jack Reacher novels
Various James Patterson one-offs and series
Clive Cussler, various series, have been a guilty pleasure, but those are probably done, unless his estate does a Tom Clancy and Cussler’s ghost writers continue the characters.
Greg Iles’ Penn Cage series was really enjoyable- Overdrive only had books 1 and 3 of a 3-book “Natchez Burning” story arc for some reason, and I liked book 1 enough that I bought book 2 on Amazon.
Various Grishams with various levels of enjoyablity.
New Stephen King novels occasionally appear. They’re not as good as his classic stuff but I will still read every one.
The latest book I just finished and really enjoyed was a one-off called “Home Before Dark” by Riley Sager. It’s about a grown woman who, when she was 6, briefly lived in an old spooky house that she and her parents fled after a few weeks, and her father wrote an “Amityville Horror” style book that she believes was completely made up. She inherits the house after her father dies (he never sold it), and she decides to live in it long enough to fix it up and sell it, and also get some answers about what really happened in the house (she has almost no memories of their stay there when she was a child). But her father warned her on his death bed never to re-enter the house, and it begins to seem that maybe there is some truth to her father’s book, which you read in alternating chapters with her account of the house as a grown woman. There are a lot of fun Gothic touches and plenty of plot-twisty stuff.
The series of Clifton chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. The series follows the lives of the Clifton family from after WW1 through the present. Set in Bristol and must be read in order. I think there are 6, maybe 7 in the series.
My library has a ton of pulp fiction books which you can find by searching Hard Case if you’re into that sort of thing. The books tend to be pretty quick and fun reads, some from pretty well-known authors. Stephen King actually has a book in the series – Joyland, maybe?
Are you able to get a library card at a different library, and possibly get access to more books on Overdrive? Perhaps there is a major city or public university that will give you a card and open up access to more books.
My city’s library gets me access to something like 15,000 books on Overdrive. The Denver library, which anybody in Colorado can join, gets me access to 50,000 (or whatever the actual numbers are).
That’s a good suggestion. I have an account at my local NJ library, which is part of a northern New Jersey network, but the selection is terrible. Because I work in NYC, the NY Public Library gave me a card, and their selection is excellent.
I assumed the selection on Overdrive would be the same from library network to network. Interesting that library networks have different varieties of offerings from the same national source, apparently. I suppose it’s a pay level thing.
I think my network has a good selection, I’m just looking for some other ideas for good reads that I may have missed. I browse the “Just Added” section the most. It seems like P.I. style book series and romance novels are the bulk of what gets added. There was a long period where mostly classic novels were being added, which is nice, and I used to be into the classics when I was younger, but now I just go for more easy to read, escapist fare.
Thanks TRC4941, I checked it out online and it does sound right down my alley, but unfortunately my version or selection level of Overdrive doesn’t seem to have any of those novels.
I use Overdrive occasionally, but my local library is quite small and so is the selection. I just checked and we have more than we used to: 53,000. By comparison, Seattle Public Library has 174,000 titles.
if you liked the other Deaver series, you might check out some of the Lincoln Rhyme novels. Most are pretty well done, but they did tend to get a little formulaic (3 red herrings and then the real lead).
For PI novels I’d recommend:
Michael Connelly’s “Harry Bosch” series. There are a lot of them. They feel very realistic in the way the story unfolds…which also involves a LOT of “legwork” and not so much action. But I think that’s the way crime solving probably is - unlike how it is depicted in TV shows.
For a complete change of pace: Robert Crais “Elvis Cole” series. Elvis is much lighter and a smartass, so very fun. The stories with his “muscle”, Joe Pike, are really good/fun.
And for something completely different, I’d recommend the “Game of Thrones” novels. I’ve been listening to the audio books, and they’re fantastic. It is also much better having seen the show as I can put faces to the characters. These are really well done, and despite a huge cast with lots of backstories, the main stories are really well done.
I have read some of the Lincoln Rhyme novels. I agree, a bit formulaic, plus the “arrogant genius who’s smarter than everyone else in the room” shtick of the Rhyme character is kind of insufferable.
I’ve read a lot of Michael Connelly over the years, including some Harry Bosch books. I’m not even sure which ones I’ve read any more. Sometimes I’ll check out an online library book, get halfway through the first chapter, and say “hey, I read this before”.
As for Robert Crais, the “Elvis Cole” and “Joe Pike” names are vaguely familiar, so I think I may have read at least one, but I see Crais has about a dozen novels on my version of Overdrive, so looks like plenty more there to read!
As for the “Game of Thrones” novels, interesting rec, and I see they are all available online, but I just don’t know if I have that level of commitment
The “Cormoran Strike” novels by Robert Galbraith* are some of the most fun P.I. books I’ve ever read**. Crusty old investigator suddenly gets plucky young admin.assistant, who turns out to be pretty good at crime stuff (much to the horror of her fiancé, which adds some soap opera, too). First one’s The Cuckoo’s Calling…
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. True crime, riveting.
Any of Joseph Finder’s books. Light reading, you may not remember anything a week later, but they’re fun while you’re reading. I’d put Baldacci’s “Memory Man” and sequels in there, too. Very Reacher-esque protagonist.
Oh, and the original that Reacher was drawn from: The Travis McGee books by John D. MacDonald. So great.
Oh, who wrote “Beat The Reaper”? Really fun book about a hitman who disappears from that life and goes to med school. But that means that he’ll explain as he’s fighting for his life: “Now, let me tell you about the elbow… it’s held together by a complex series of tendons, and as he swung at me, I twisted those tendons until they slid around the wrong side of the bone…” Looked it up, Josh Bazell. He did a sequel, too.
…
*Hopefully, you can enjoy the excellent characterizations and plots, even though the author’s got some horrid personal views (it’s JK Rowling).
** in my case, listened to. Narrator was great. But I got them from Overdrive, so hopefully you can too.
I had actually been avoiding those, knowing the actual author behind the pseudonym, but I’ll give one a try sometime based on your rec and see what I think.
Yes, I read that one, very good read! I found the info about the creation of modern Chicago and the World’s Fair almost as riveting as the murder stuff. I also read “In the Garden of Beasts” by Larson. It felt very familiar for reasons I won’t get into, this not being the proper forum…
Joseph Finder I see has a few books listed, so I will add him to the list. Baldacci, there are several of his books but I’ve read a couple and found his writing a little clumsy. Might do in a pinch though.
I went back through my Joseph Finder books, and I read that he worked for the CIA, but his work doesn’t have that High Espionage/Robert Ludlum feel… they’re more personal.
But I remembered that I liked his Nick Heller books. First one is “Vanished”, with three sequels.
And I noticed that in reference to “High Crimes”, I wrote “meh.”
Another favorite: Brad Meltzer.
Lately his books have always had historical conspiracies involved. They’re great if you want "Average Guy Ends Up in the Middle of National Treasure". But I love his early work, where you really care about the protagonist (often an innocent guy in over his head)…
The Zero Game is SO much fun. Overdrive has the audiobook, too, read by the great Scott Brick. I also loved The Millionaires, and Dead Even, where husband and wife are opposing sides of a legal battle.
And The First Counsel, where a young White House lawyer ends up on a date with The First Daughter… “And, late one night, the two witness something they were never meant to see.”
Seriously, just read (or listen to) the first chapter of The Zero Game or The Millionaires, you may not stop.
ETA: Forgot about Nick Petrie’s Reacher-esque series (Lee child says they’re the real deal). Try the first book, “The Drifter”.
