Tag / Jeffery Deaver

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Streaking Authors

Every other year or so, we take a fresh look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  I thought it would be interesting to mix it up a bit and, instead of looking at the overall total, to instead look at the authors I have read continuously for the longest period of time.  So, without further ado, it’s time to take a look at which authors have the longest streak of consecutive years read.

Ten

Jeffery Deaver – Thanks mostly to his Lincoln Rhyme series, Deaver put together a streak of ten years with at least one book read by me starting in 2015 with The Vanished Man and ending in 2024 with Fatal Intrusion, his first collaboration with Isabella Maldonado.  After a one-year absence, corresponding with my completing the Rhyme series, he returned in 2026 to hopefully start a new streak.

Nine

Riley Sager – Sager burst onto the scene in 2017 with his first novel, Final Girls.  Every year since, he has put out a new book and I have read it, continuing through last year’s With a Vengeance.  He can extend his streak and tie Deaver for the longest if the library can deliver his latest in the next two months or so.

Karin Slaughter – Another current streak, Slaughter first came across my notice in 2018 thanks to Pretty Girls.  Due in part to her Will Trent and Grant County series, she has showed up at least once every year since, including Girl, Forgotten, which I completed earlier this year.

Eight

Richard Castle – The ghost writer for Richard Castle, the character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in Castle, made appearances in eight straight years, thanks to the novels that were supposedly written in the show, starting in 2010 with Heat Wave and culminating in 2017 with A Bloody Storm.

Six

Sarah Pekkanen – Starting in 2020, with her writing partner Green Hendricks, Pekkanen started her streak with The Wife Between Us.  Her streak outlived the partnership, continuing through last year with The Locked Ward.

Five

Nancy Holder – Thanks to her television show tie-in work, Nancy Holder was able to string together a streak of five years, starting in 1998 with Halloween Rain, based on the adventures of Bully the Vampire Slayer, and finishing in 2002 with The Burning, a collaboration with Jeff Mariotte.

Stephen King – My history with King is long but contains many frequent breaks.  His longest streak, which is current through the end of the year, started in 2021 with Later and runs through last year, when I completed his latest, Never Flinch.

Mary Kubica – The local author first came to my attention in 2015 with The Good Girl.  She appeared at least once annually through 2019, when I completed When the Lights Go Out.

Rebecca Forster – Forster was a constant presence as I worked through her Witness series, beginning in 2021 with Silent Witness and completing last year with Lost Witness.

Alex Finlay – Finlay first landed on my Kindle in 2022, thanks to Every Last Fear.  His streak continues on, thank to this year’s The Anniversary.

Richard Osman – His Thursday Murder Club series has helped him put together a streak of five years, starting in 2022 with The Thursday Murder Club and continuing through 2026 with The Impossible Fortune.

Elin Hilderbrand – We wrap up with Hilderbrand, who also has a current five-year streak going into 2027.  She started in 2022 with The Hotel Nantucket and continued this year with Winter in Paradise.

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Book 26 (of 52) – The Grave Artist

The Grave Artist – Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When their sophisticated AI identifies that a death at a wedding ruled accidental may in fact be a homicide, HSI agent Carmer Sanchez and her civilian partner Jake Heron find themselves on the trail of a potential serial killer.  While they track down the killer, Sanchez’s sister digs deeper into their father’s murder.  When the two cases intertwine, Sanchez and Huron have to hurry to stop the killer before his next victim hits too close to home.

Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado return for The Grave Artist, the second entry in their Sanchez & Heron series.  The tale once again includes plenty of twists and turns, including the introduction of a blatantly incompetent new temporary boss who hopefully will not be heard from again.  The ending set this group up as an ongoing concern in-universe, so I expect we will be seeing a new entry sooner rather than later.

 

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Prolific Authors Wrap Up

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. This year, I’ve far surpassed my previous record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into all of those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 109 authors I’ve read more than once.

Largest Increase (since 2023)

Pieces of Her – Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter – 7
Stephen King – 6
Laura Lippman – 6
Jeffery Deaver – 4
Lee Goldberg – 4
Elin Hilderbrand – 4
Kathy Reichs – 4

Largest Increase (since 2011)

Solitude Creek – Jefferu Deaver

Karin Slaughter – 19
Jeffery Deaver – 18
Erle Stanley Gardner – 14
Richard Castle – 13
Stephen King – 12

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Prolific Authors – 22 Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 1xx books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We conclude today with the sole author I’ve read 22 times, a level unseen two years ago.

Jeffery Deaver

In 1999, the first entry of Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, The Bone Collector, was adapted into a film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.  Around that time, I picked up a paperback copy, which I read in 2000.  I slowly added additional titles as I would find them as remainders, picking up new hard covers for $3 or $4.


Things increased in 2015, when I started picking up titles on deals through the Amazon Kindle store or from the library, leading to 17 additional books added to my read bookshelf.  In August of last year, I finished off the Lincoln Rhyme series with The Broken Window.  There is still room to grow, as I have three remaining entries of his Kathryn Dance series, although my local library does not have them available in an electronic format, and what looks to be a new series where he has teamed up with Isabella Maldonado.

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Book 53 (of 52) – A Killer’s Game

A Killer’s Game – Isabella Maldonado

When FBI agent Dani Vega goes undercover to infiltrate a team of killers responsible for the death of a congressional chief of staff, she understands that she is putting her life at risk.  When that team is led into a trap and forced to fight each other to the death in an elaborate game planned by a former client, she is really put in a precarious position.  Can her Army Ranger training keep her alive until the FBI can locate and rescue her?  Or has she finally reached the end of the line?

A Killer’s Game is my first time reading Isabella Maldonado’s solo work, following her collaboration with Jeffery Deaver last fall.  I liked the Dani character, even if the situation she found herself in was a little over the top.  Overall, a good effort and I hope to read more going forward.

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2024: The Year In Books

As 2024 comes to a close, my fourth full year of remote working, I managed to once again surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 61 books, two books more than my previous high set last year and my fourth consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I completed the challenge in mid-November and surpassed last year’s total in mid-December.  I read 22,622 pages, by far my highest total of all time and just the second time I’ve managed to surpass 20.000 pages.

Of those books, only five were non-fiction and, of the remaining 56 novels, only five were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with two hard covers, two paperbacks, 53 e-books and no audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 46 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

Over 69% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 19 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Jessica Knoll Isabella Maldonado Kathleen McGurl Lisa Taddeo
Lisa Jewell Millie Bobby Brown J.M. Dillard Lee Goldberg
Avery Cunningham Margot Douaihy R.F. Kuang Jessica Simpson
Jeffrey Lang Dayton Ward Holly Wilson Karin Smirnoff
Walter Beede Michael Connelly Rob Harvilla

Karin Slaughter, Jeffery Deaver, Laura Lippman, Elin Hilderbrand, Jessica Knoll, Michael Connelly, Minka Kent, Lee Goldberg, Rebecca Forster, Stephen King, and Sarah Pekkanen were the authors that I read multiple titles from during 2024.

17 of the books I read were released this year, while only three of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1997.

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Book 54 (of 52) – Fatal Intrusion

Fatal Intrusion – Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When a killer attacks the sister of a Homeland Security agent, she starts to investigate on her own.  Coming across an impenetrable encryption found on his phone, she turns to an old “acquaintance”: a hacker she arrested years before.  Against her better judgement, he joins the investigation, using his special skills to help track down the killer and the real motives behind his attack.

Long time favorite Jeffery Deaver and new-to-me Isabella Maldonado team up on Fatal Intrusion, the first entry in what is bound to become a new series.  The tale includes plenty of twists and turns that I’ve come to expect from Deaver, and the ending sets up future adventures for the duo.  I expect we will be seeing a new entry sooner rather than later.

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Book 34 (of 52) – The Broken Window

The Broken Window – Jeffery Deaver

When Lincoln Rhyme’s cousin is arrested for murder, the criminologist is able to link it to a number of crimes where the evidence appears airtight.  The investigation brings Rhyme, Sachs, and crew into the world of data mining, where they learn of the data collection companies that know almost everything about us, and their unsub who is using that data to commit his crimes and nearly perfectly frame someone else.  When computer manipulation starts putting the team and their loved ones in jeopardy, they need to find and stop the man they call 522, but can they do it in time?

In 2000, I read The Bone Collector, the first entry in Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme saga.  With The Broken Window, the eighth entry out of sixteen, I have now completed the entire collection.  I assume there will be books coming, as the latest entry set up a new nemesis for Rhyme, but since that just came out less than a year ago, so I may have some time to wait.

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Book 19 (of 52) – The Watchmaker’s Hand

The Watchmaker’s Hand – Jeffery Deaver

A suspicious crane collapse and a post on the dark web puts Lincoln Rhyme and his crew to work.  The investigation leads them to the Watchmaker, Rhyme’s arch-nemesis.  Can they figure out the Watchmaker’s true target in time?  And who is his mysterious new partner?

The Watchmaker’s Hand, the 16th and latest entry in the Lincoln Rhyme series from Jeffery Deaver, and the fifteenth that I’ve read.  In this entry, Deaver says farewell to the long-running nemesis to Rhyme while introducing a new baddie who has a personal vendetta against our protagonist.  I assume this means there will be additional tales in the series to come, so even though I may soon complete the existing books, there should be more to come in the story of Lincoln Rhyme.

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2023: The Year In Books

As 2023 comes to a close, my third full year of remote working, I managed to far surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 59 books, four books more than my previous high from last year and my third consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I completed the challenge in late November and surpassed last year’s total in mid-December.  I read (or listened) to 21,394 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the fourth time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, eleven were non-fiction and, of the remaining 48 novels, only four were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 53 e-books and two audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 44 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

Over 61% of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 22 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Selma Blair Stacy Willingham Gillian McAllister Chuck Klosterman
Gabrielle Zevin Ronan Farrow Matthew Perry Amor Towles
Jason Rekulak Emily St. John Mandel Bonnie Garmus Thomas Mullen
Naomi Hirahara Maitland Ward Busy Phillips Elliot Page
Jinwoo Chong Maureen Ryan Minka Kelly Britney Spears
Emily Henry Rebecca Makkai

Jennifer McMahon, Karin Slaughter, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Erle Stanley Gardner, Grady Hendrix, Jeffery Deaver, Laura Lippman, Ruth Ware, and Stacy Willingham were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2023.

18 of the books I read were released this year, while only five of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1934.

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