The World's Common Tater

I originally wrote this on Medium. My Medium profile is here. So far most of my posts on Medium have been imported from here. This is one of the few originals I’ve done there. I decided to put it here as well in case I leave Medium at any point.

While I read a wide variety of books, I am generally most excited when a new book is released in one of my favorite series. I enjoy revisiting favorite characters. Here is a short list of some of those favorites.

The Harry Bosch Series by Michael Connelly – Connelly is perhaps the best police procedural author out there today. I love that he allowed Harry to age and dealt with all that came with reaching retirement age. The addition of Renee Ballard has kept the series fresh.

Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers by John Sandford – I will list Lucas and Virgil together since they inhabit the same world and pop up in each other’s books. I love how they each go about their cases in a very different manner, but work well together when necessary. As above, I also like that he allows the characters to age and grow. It was also smart to move Lucas to a new job where it makes sense that he keeps getting these serious cases.

The Dismas Hardy Universe by John Lecroart – I came across this series by accident. My wife was at work and a coworker was about to throw a book away after they finished it. She rescued the book and brought it home to me. It was A Certain Justice and focused on Abe Glitsky. I loved the book and looked for more. This is a great series with a large cast of characters who each get their own books. It started with Dismas and his rise from former attorney/bartender to prominent defense attorney and expanded out to his best friend/cop Abe and others.

The Butch Karp series by Robert Tanenbaum – Butch Karp is the New York DA. His wife Marlene works to protect women from abuse. The series went from a standard legal thriller series to a bonkers series that includes a society of mole people led by a weird, charismatic killer, a former Vietnamese soldier/assassin, Karp’s daughter who is a language whiz and has a connection to the leader of the mole people, and a family connection to the Russian mafia. It is a fun group of weird characters, though.

Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by Robert Crais – Elvis is a wise-cracking PI. Joe is his silent but deadly friend and partner. In the beginning, Elvis was always the main character and Joe was the interesting side character. Joe has since taken a lead role in several books. I find him more interesting if less fun than Elvis. Always a good story.

Rosato & Associates by Lisa Scottoline – Lisa is a great author and a very nice person. I’ve been reading her books for years. I still enjoy Rosato & Associates even though they sometimes annoy me. It’s good to have legal thrillers focused on an all women law firm. Her stand-alone books are also very good.

Alex Delaware series by Jonathon Kellerman – Alex is a psychologist who works with his best friend, homicide detective Milo, on cases odd cases. Alex and Milo are a great mismatched pair that work well together. The cases are always interesting and don’t always end the way you expect.

The Alan Gregory Series by Stephen White – This series has ended. I appreciate that White decided to end the series when he felt it was done. I think other authors are past the point when they should have ended a series and yet they continue. Alan is also a psychologist who helps a cop friend with cases. This series deals more with confidentiality issues than the Delaware ones since Alan usually ends up mixed up in the case due to a client. It also deals with his wife’s struggles with MS.

The IQ Series by Joe Ide – This is a relatively new series with a different type of lead character. IQ is not a cop or PI. He’s just a guy who uses his skills to help out people in the neighborhood. He eventually gets involved with higher-stakes cases. The series also follows his friend and sometimes partner Dodson who is struggling with how to make money on the straight and narrow.