A Good Thriller discussion

We all mention the authors we love, the series we love...

But...

Are there any authors you have read one book and would not read again

One I read and did not like at all

Stuart MacBride

Sean wrote: "We all mention the authors we love, the series we love...

But...

Are there any authors you have read one book and would not read again

One I read and did not like at all

Stuart MacBride"

John Sanford, James Lee Burke Micheal Connelly are my go-to reads

I hate to say I would NEVER read an author after one book because styles can change from one piece of work to the next, but a few I haven't liked are Ian McEwan, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Clive Barker.

There are also writers I know are going to be either one star or five star for me, which leads to a few DNFs, like Chuck Palahniuk and Christopher Moore.

Dorothy Sayers. I Know She is a classical writer, but She bores me.

Lee Child, Robert Crais, John Grisham, John Connolly, David Baldacci. All of them are generic and have awful prose and treat readers as braindead.

Collen Hoover. I hate Verity and I am afraid her other books will be like that one. I found It Ends with Us on a Goodwill hunt, so anyone out there is it worth the read and is there endless sex scenes in it?

Pat Cornwell - I stopped caring about Kay Scarpetta and her cronies.
Colin Dexter - Slow paced and tedious.
Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum is dumb as a rock
A. J. Finn - can't see what was so great about The Woman In The Window.
Frederick Forsythe - too much back story.
Elizabeth George - too long-winded (explores every nuance of every emotion every character experiences).
J. A. Konrath - He ended the plot line of one book on a cliffhanger that required buying the next book in the series to find out what happened.
Steven King - I don't think he's as great as many people think.
Louise Penny - just couldn't get into the one Gamache story I read.

Any serial killer series like James Patterson's 'Women's Murder Club' (serial killer stories define formulaic)
Any writer who has his small town character suddenly solving crimes that could lead to (a) destruction of the American way of life or (b) the destruction of the world
There are a host of less well-known authors I won't re-read - too many to list them all here.

Ruth Ware. What a terrible writer. Her stories are a mess when she's not copying someone else's, the characters grate on the nerves and the situations are unbelievable or just stretch the imagination too far. She's very bland, flat and her books stretch on longer than they should.

Patricia Cornwell. Her Kay Scarpetta series is just too unbelievable and annoying, her characters are utterly unreal and unlikable, and the continuity issues annoy me.

C.J. Box. He's a sexist and it shows in his books as well as beating the reader over the head trying to preach about whatever he's interested in at the time. Get off your fucking soapbox, if I wanted to be harangued at I'd go to a rally not have someone try to shove their point down my throat in a book I'm reading to get away from the real world.

David Baldacci. Can't write a female character to save his life. His books are far too convoluted to be believable. All his hero male characters are too perfect to be real and the way they treat the poorly written woman makes me shake my head in disappointment. When he can keep a story on track from what the blurb says it's about is an achievement of itself.

Sue Grafton. She got too famous and just threw in the towel/called it in for the latter half of her career. Her writing and characters went downhill and just fell apart. Her work also became just too ridiculous to believe, considering at the beginning it looks like she put in research and effort into the world, characters, and careers they had.

James Patterson. While I like what the man has done for charity and other authors getting off the ground his writing is just horrible. His name just got too big and his ego along with it that he doesn't put much effort into any of his writings anymore and relies on his name and his older works to get by. He churns out so many books that are of poor quality it seems he's just in it for a quick buck. Also, his more recent works are very sexist. He needs to be brought down to earth again and try focusing on quality over quantity in writing.

Nora Roberts. Second verse, same as the first. She hasn't had an original idea in ages and reading the same thing, again and again, is boring, especially when the females are silly little nit wits who must be saved by the male hero who is only half as good as the villain.

Christine Feehan. I'm sorry but when you start writing and advocating that rape and physical, mental, and verbal abuse are romantic and something every woman should hope for in a man you need to get your head examined and stop writing immediately.

Erle Stanley Gardner,and his Perry Mason series.
Found his writing style too stiff and mechanical.

Ian Fleming. The Bond films are so different compared to his books,as is the character.Fleming totally bores me.

Alistair MacLean (sorry Sean,I know you like him).I like the movies based on his books,but not his writing style.

Stephen King,I was never a fan.

Aditya wrote: "Lee Child, Robert Crais, John Grisham, John Connolly, David Baldacci. All of them are generic and have awful prose and treat readers as braindead."

It is a bit harsh to say that these authosr treat their readers as brain dead. Grisham and Baldicci are great story tellers. Each one may not be a literary giant in creating great charachters or dialouge, but people enjoy a good story. They have thousands of fans and just because you don't enjoy them that doesn't make everyone stupid. Writing is an art more than a science. In art, whatever the artist meant may not be what the customer enjoys about it. I can enjoy a less than perfectly written book if there is a good story line. That is my taste (and many others) but not yours.

Yes,some of Grisham's books are great stories.

There are a lot of popular writers whose stuff just did not grab me...

James Patterson - - I read his first novel and thought it was rather mediocre. Haven't tried to sample any of his other stuff, as I didn't think he was worth the effort. I still don't.

John Sanford - - same as above

Patricia Cornwell - - managed to get through about six books in her Scarpetta series and then it starting going off the rails for me very quickly.

C.J. Box - - I finished OPEN SEASON and tossed it aside. His main character just didn't engage me, which was sad after all of the accolades the novel had racked up.

Janet Evanovich - - I struggled to read the first SP book and then was thirty pages into her second novel when I figured out who the bad guy was and what he was up to. Yet somehow Stefanie Plum couldn't see the clues. JE can write female humor but she should leave the mystery writing to the professionals.

David Baldacci - - read the first two John Puller novels and that was enough for me to start looking elsewhere for better plotlines and characters. His other series may be decent but I am not very tempted to sample them.

Robin Cook's medical thrillers.Read four but won't be reading him again,hard to care about the characters or what happens to them.

Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series.Read a couple,bored me.

Sue Grafton,read one not too impressed.But I have another of her books,so will give her another shot.

Sabrina wrote: "Ruth Ware. What a terrible writer. Her stories are a mess when she's not copying someone else's, the characters grate on the nerves and the situations are unbelievable or just stretch the imaginati..."

I agree with Ruth Ware. I've read four of her books now, and at the end of each I said I wouldn't read another. But then something drew me back to the next to be be equally disappointed.

David Baldacci a favourite of mine.

Will Robie his best books....

James Patterson.... A cheat, hardly touches his books all his co-authors do the work now he just makes the money.

Gillian Flynn

Yes well said.

and film was rubbish !

Dan Brown. I read DaVinci and Angels & Demons. Those were good. I then read The Lost Symbol and was insulted by the numerous factual errors that I was turned off from reading from him again.

Colleen Hoover. I read Verity and I thought it has to be the worst book ever written. So many loved it but I did not. I don't want to read anything else by her. I found one of her books at Goodwill but I gave it away. That is the only I won't read again.

Toni Morrison. Too complicated. Someone told me that you to read her books twice to really understand them. I have way too many books on my TBR pile to do that!

Alex Michaelides. WTF? Horrible writer. He does an enormous disservice to the mental health community. He can't write a decent female character and I think he secretly really hates them. The fact that his most recent book is nothing but a long-winded ramble about women being the cause of men's violent behavior and that they brought it on themselves is gross. His plots are too unbelieveable.

Colleen Hoover. I thought Verity was discussing. I just really hated that book and I won't ever pick up anything by her again. Many have told me to but I just won't. I know many love her but i find her so predictable. I guess I am a light weight with sex in a book but that book was definitely not for me!

Patricia Cornwell. Read The Front and the writing felt so disjointed that nothing made any sense.

Here are the authors I will never read again.
1. Agatha Christie, I have read three of her books, and each bored me, and what author hates her own characters?
2. Heather Graham, I read Dead By Dusk, and it made no sense. I never knew if the characters were awake or dreaming things.
3. Sarah J. Mass, I read A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Assassin's Blade. The first story was good, I felt the second story wasn't needed, and the third one dragged and A Court of Thorns and Roses; nothing happened for most of the book.
4. Jennifer McMahon, I read Promise Not to Tell, and it was so dull.
5. Kate Clayborn, I read Love Lettering at the being of last year, and I still don't know how I finished it. Read my review of it here, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Russell wrote: "Dan Brown. I read DaVinci and Angels & Demons. Those were good. I then read The Lost Symbol and was insulted by the numerous factual errors that I was turned off from reading from him again."

Recently I read Deception Point by Brown and I liked it. It is more of a regular thriller compared to his Code and Symbol stuff.

James wrote: "There are a lot of popular writers whose stuff just did not grab me...

James Patterson - - I read his first novel and thought it was rather mediocre. Haven't tried to sample any of his other stuff..."

I would strongly recommend that you try Baldacci's other series. The first three Amos Decker books are very good.

Ruth wrote: "Patricia Cornwell. Read The Front and the writing felt so disjointed that nothing made any sense."

I agree, Cornwell is probably the only author I avoid at all costs.

Cody McFadyen, Shadow Man, Episode 1, Shape of You

Someone comes home to their pet dog, fully awake and aware, having had the unspeakable done to him. It was hard for me to read and it stayed with me awhile. Shadow Man has 4 episodes. I don’t want to take the chance of running into something like that again. Otherwise, I enjoyed the booked.

Stuart Woods-I loved his stand alone novels but loathe his Stone Barrington novels. I cannot relate at all to that character.

Arnold wrote: "Russell wrote: "Dan Brown. I read DaVinci and Angels & Demons. Those were good. I then read The Lost Symbol and was insulted by the numerous factual errors that I was turned off from reading from h..."


Deception Point is a good book! My favorite Dan Brown.

I think we as readers outgrow some of these writers. Some of them are formula writers like Stuart Woods. Stone meets a woman, solves a mystery, says goodbye to the woman and the story ends.

I don't have one that I'd absolutely refuse to read again, but one i probably won't try again is Max Byrd. I've tried two of his books and couldn't get through either of them.

I just finished James Lee Burke's A Private Cathedral.

He's a great writer when it comes to painting word pictures, but I've always had trouble buying into the supernatural he includes in every novel. He's gone way overboard with it in this book. And Dave Robicheaux's morose outlook and Burke's constant portrayal of the rich and powerful as venal, corrupt, selfish, cruel to others, and often criminal has worn thin.

So I won't be reading him in the future.

David:

I fully agree about James Lee Burke. I loved his Robicheaux series when it first started out, but his most recent stuff has been too repetitive for my tastes. Constantly having the rich and powerful as the bad guys has become boring.

Part of it, I suspect, is simply age. He is 85 years old now and I think that he is in a rut that he can't get himself out of. So we keep seeing the same crude plotlines repeated over and over.

It's a real shame too, since there was a period there from 1987 - 2007 where his Robicheaux novels were must-reads for me. And his Billy Bob Holland books were also superb.

I have read 17 books by James Patterson, but won't read anymore. I read an interview a couple of years ago where he described his writing process for all co author books. He writes a 2 page plot outline and then sends it to the co author, who writes the book. This allows him to write so many books. His books do have a predictable formula. I have a family member who recommended him to me who still reads his books. She thinks that he is a genius.
A genius at making money!

I read the entire KingKiller Series by Patrick Rothfuss. The novels were amazing but they took too long in between to publish. Also each book took so long for build up. If I didn’t enjoy the world building I would have given up before the series ended because they actual action took several hundreds of pages and it’s going on a decade and he still hasn’t published the final book. This is with multiple “release” dates.

James wrote: "David:

...It's a real shame too, since there was a period there from 1987 - 2007 where his Robicheaux novels were must-reads for me. And his Billy Bob Holland books were also superb."

I could not get into the Holland books at all.

So true Thomas.

I read an article done by an author who has written so great books, and started with James Patterson.

Andrew Gross. he said the same thing about James Patterson.

Does hardly any work but takes 50% cut on every book.

I agree with
James Patterson
Ruth Ware

Also:
Andrew Klavan
Lisa Scottoline
Stewart Woods
Laurie R. King
Umberto Eco

Marieke Nijkamp

Christine wrote: "Collen Hoover. I hate Verity and I am afraid her other books will be like that one. I found It Ends with Us on a Goodwill hunt, so anyone out there is it worth the read and is there endless sex sce..."

I hated It Ends With Us. It was my first and only Collen Hoover and I won't pick up any more. I finished it and felt like it was a complete waste of good reading time. I don't understand all the hype around her or that book. I had Verity on my TBR but I can't bring myself to read it. My guess is its over hyped like the rest of her books. - For those that like her I apologize, I know this isn't a popular opinion.

I no longer read James Patterson.........initially they weren't too bad, but sadly they started going downhill after the first few.

Nick Harkaway & Aiden Truhen......pseudonyms of Nicholas Cornwell. I read Gnomon (Nick Harkaway) first, which I thought was rubbish. Gave the author another chance, and read The Price You Pay (Aiden Truhen), but sadly thought that was rubbish also. Fingers crossed that the author doesn't publish anything using any other pseudonyms, as I'd hate to inadvertently purchase any other books by this author.

Colleen Hoover........I read Verity, but will not be reading any others.

Agreed Annie

Plus now does not spend that much time, his co writers to most of the work

Have to agree with you about James Patterson, except for the Women's Murder Club series which was coauthored with Maxine Peatro. Don't know what Maxine's "style" is or if she has authored/coauthored any other novels.

James Patterson is the worst. Just uses the same template over and over. I am amazed how many readers like him.

James wrote: "There are a lot of popular writers whose stuff just did not grab me...

James Patterson - - I read his first novel and thought it was rather mediocre. Haven't tried to sample any of his other stuff..."

I agree with all but John Sanford, but mainly because I have only read 1 of his books and have not yet made up my mind about him.

Barbara wrote: "I agree with
James Patterson
Ruth Ware

Also:
Andrew Klavan
Lisa Scottoline
Stewart Woods
Laurie R. King
Umberto Eco"

I agree with you on Lisa Scottoline, I have read 2 of her books and that was more than enough for me. As for the others I haven't read them so I can't comment.

Ruth Ware. She pumps out stories that are simple and the endings are rushed and fall apart.

Never Patterson. Way too simple and formulaic.

James Patterson, David Baldacci, Suzanne Collins and Colleen Hoover!

L wrote: "James Patterson is the worst. Just uses the same template over and over. I am amazed how many readers like him."

~~~~~~~

I feel just the same. He is the worst ever!