My Top Ten Favorite Novels of 2024
These are my favorite
novels published in 2024. I make no effort to read a bunch of books I
SHOULD read or which would make anyone else's top ten. Also, there are
no non-fiction or story collections.
Much like
the year in movies, I found it difficult to pull together enough
impressive novels to make a Top Ten for 2024. In fact, this
list is a Top One with nine good to decent novels filling out the
remainder.
I
Cheerfully Refuse
by
Leif Enger
Set in a
not-too-distant America, this
novel is
the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician called Rainy
who embarks in a restored sailboat on Lake
Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife.
He seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs and remote islands of the inland
sea. Encountering swirling storms and rising corpses from the warming
depths, he finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate
people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure
and a lawless society. Amidst the challenges of life at sea
and no safe landings, Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising
humor, generous strangers, and an unexpected companion in a young girl
who won't be left behind. And as his innate guileless nature
begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy’s private quest for
the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up
friends and foes alike in his strengthening wake.
This extraordinary novel
was far and away my favorite of the year. I believe it is the
type of novel that every reader may find something personal in
and may be different than anyone else finds. It is also a book that will offer
much in further readings.
City in
Ruins
By Don
Winslow
Danny Ryan is rich.
Beyond his wildest dreams rich. The former dock worker, Irish mob
soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman – a
Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that
owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a
child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with. Life is good.
But then Danny reaches too far. When he tries to buy an old
hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream
resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful
FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark
connections of his own.
Danny thought he had
buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull
him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to
take everything – not only his
empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his
son.
To save his life and
everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was
– and never wanted to be again. Ranging from the gritty back
rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and
Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City
in Ruins is
an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation,
vengeance and compassion.
This
is the third book in the Danny Ryan trilogy. It is a fitting end to the
Shakespeare-inspired saga. Don Winslow has also claimed that it will be
his last full-length novel as he dedicates the rest of this life to
campaigning against fascism, gun control, and drug enforcement
revision. I have been a fan of this books since his Neal Carey series
in the early 1990s. I am now a fan of his work on behalf of the country
and the world.
Clete
by James Lee
Burke
Clete Purcel – private
investigator, ex-member of the New Orleans Police Department, and war
veteran with a hard shell and just a few soft spots – is Dave
Robicheaux’s longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has
a troubled past. When Clete leaves his car at the local car wash, only
to return to find it ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug
trade from Mexican cartels to Louisiana, it feels personal – his
grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose, and his fists curl when he
thinks of the dealers who sold it.
Just as Clete starts
to trail the culprits, Clara Bow, a woman with a dark past hires Clete
as a detective to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a
string of brutal deaths all link back to a heavily tattooed man who
seems to lurk around every corner. Clete is experiencing shockingly
lifelike hallucinations and questioning Clara’s ulterior motives when
he and Dave start to hear rumors of a dangerous substance with
potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed his car might
have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could’ve imagined.
A few novels back, I
thought Burke had decided to let the Bobsey Twins of Homicide drift off
into the sunset, but I'm happy to see Dave and Clete survived their
wounds well enough to keep up the fight. Here, Clete faces himself and
his efforts to be the good man he never believed he could be.
All the
Colors of the Dark
by Chris
Whitaker
1975 is a time of change in
America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe
Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are
disappearing.
When the daughter of a
wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a
local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in
his wake. Patch
and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and
tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will
lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.
A missing person
mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on
each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the
shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.
I
am still conflicted about this novel. I think it has one twist too
many, but if I think long enough, I almost convince myself it has two
twists too many. That generally means I should just accept it as is, a
very good, if not great story.
The
Instruments of Darkness
by
John Connolly
In
Maine, Colleen Clark stands accused of the worst crime a mother can
commit: the abduction and possible murder of her child.
Everyone—ambitious politicians in an election season, hardened police,
ordinary folk—has an opinion on the case, and most believe she is
guilty.
Defending Colleen is the lawyer Moxie Castin, and working alongside him
is the private investigator Charlie Parker, who senses the tale has
another twist, one involving a husband too eager to accept his wife’s
guilt, a group of fascists arming for war, a disgraced psychic seeking
redemption, and an old, twisted house deep in the Maine woods, a house
that should never have been built.
A house, and what dwells beneath.
There's
enough evil in the world, on the mortal plane, and all the other planes
of existence, to support 21 Charlie Parker novels. Although Charlie
often seems like he's falling apart mentally and physically, I can only
hope John Connolly keeps him fighting the ever-present evil for #22 and
beyond.
Exposure
by Ramona
Emerson
In Gallup, New Mexico,
where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer
is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Native people whose
murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter
streets. He slips unnoticed through town, hidden in plain sight by his
unassuming nature, while the voices in his head guide him toward a
terrifying vision of glory. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put
the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial
specialist to help.
Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis
point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion
after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder
victims. Her unmanageable caseload is further complicated by the fact
that half the department has blacklisted her for ratting out a corrupt
fellow cop. And back home in Tohatchi on the Navajo reservation, Rita’s
grandma is getting older. Maybe it’s time for her to leave policework
behind entirely—if only the ghosts will let her . . .
Emerson has created a
fascinating character in Rita, but both author and character seem like
they have come to a point where a decision about their futures is
becoming necessary. It is a credit to both that I care enough to hope
they do what's best for them, but I would the next one if Rita needs to
keep taking her photographs.
The
Women
by Kristin
Hannah
Women
can be heroes.
When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears
these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic
world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents,
she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965,
the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different
future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she
joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie
is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a
gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and
can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one
of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The
real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to
angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone
to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s
way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often
been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The
Women is
a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and
courage under fire will come to define an era.
I consider Kristin Hannah
one of those writers whose work is so well-written and compelling that
I can't put it down even when I don't always agree with some of her
choices regardin plot and character. This book was not my favorite of
her works, but it is still a cut above the many, many books I read in
2024.
Lost
Birds
by Anne
Hillerman
Joe Leaphorn
may be long retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, but his detective
skills are still sharp, honed by his work as a private detective. His
experience will be essential to solve a compelling new case: finding
the birth parents of a woman who was raised by a bilagáana family but
believes she is Diné based on one solid clue, an old photograph with a
classic Navajo child’s blanket. Leaphorn discovers that his client’s
adoption was questionable, and her adoptive family not what they seem.
His quest for answers takes him to an old trading post and leads him to
a deadly cache of long-buried family secrets.
As that case
grows more complicated, Leaphorn receives an unexpected call from a
person he met decades earlier. Cecil Bowleg’s desperation is clear in
his voice, but just as he begins to explain, the call is cut off by an
explosion and Cecil disappears. True to his nature, Leaphorn is
determined to find the truth even as the situation grows dangerous.
Investigation of the explosion falls in part to Officer Bernadette
Manuelito, who discovers an unexpected link to Cecil’s missing wife.
Bernie also
is involved in a troubling investigation of her own: an elderly weaver
whose prize-winning sheep have been ruthlessly killed by feral dogs.
Exploring the
emotionally complex issues of adoption of Indigenous children by
non-native parents, Anne Hillerman delivers another thought-provoking,
gripping mystery that brings to life the vivid terrain of the American
Southwest, its people, and the lore and traditions that make it
distinct.
It
has been a joy to have Tony Hillerman's daughter breathe continuing
life into Leaphorn, Chee, Manuelito, and the rest of Navajo Tribal
Police. The novels have a slightly different tone with her at the helm,
but the characters are just as compelling, in many ways moreso.
The Princess
of Las Vegas
by Chris
Bohjalian
Crissy Dowling has
created a world that suits her perfectly. She passes her days by the
pool in a private cabana, she splurges on ice cream but never gains an
ounce, and each evening she transforms into a Princess, performing her
musical cabaret inspired by the life of the late Diana Spencer. Some
might find her strange or even delusional, an American speaking with a
British accent, hair feathered into a style thirty years old, living
and working in a casino that has become a dated trash heap. On top of
that, Crissy’s daily diet of Adderall and Valium leaves her more than a
little tipsy, her Senator boyfriend has gone back to his wife, and her
entire career rests on resembling a dead woman. And yet, fans see her
for the gifted chameleon she is, showering her with gifts, letters, and
standing ovations night after night. But when Crissy’s sister, Betsy,
arrives in town with a new boyfriend and a teenage daughter, and when
Richie Morley, the owner of the Buckingham Palace Casino, is savagely
murdered, Crissy’s carefully constructed kingdom comes crashing down
all around her. A riveting tale of identity, obsession, fintech, and
high-tech mobsters, The Princess of Las Vegas is an addictive, wildly
original thriller.
It took me awhile to
become a Bohjalian fan. The Flight Attendant; The Guest Room; and The
Sleepwalker got me started, but The Lioness and this one have me
convinced I will read most anything he writes.
A Calamity
of Souls
by David
Baldacci
Jack Lee is a white
lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to
push back against racism—until he decides to represent Jerome
Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly
wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal
skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are
already stacked against both him and his client. He quickly finds
himself out of his depth when he realizes that what's at stake is far
greater than the outcome of a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life
to furthering the causes of justice and equality for all. She enters a
fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against
the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that
powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by
the Civil Rights era.
Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one
can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict
and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what
once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.
Anyone familiar with my
Top Ten lists will be familiar with Baldacci and how I devour
everything he releases and most of them end up somewhere on my
favorites list. I admit I had more problems with this one, but, again,
nothing else I read in 2024 could bump it down out of the Top Ten.
Honorable
Mention:
Headshot by Rita
Bullwinkel
First Lie Wins
by Ashley Elston
Where They Last Saw Her
by Marcie R. Rendon
Joe Hustle
by Richard Lange