My Top Ten Favorite Novels of 2023
These are my favorite
novels published in 2023. 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.
The Drift by
C.J. Tudor
Hannah
awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. During a
hasty escape from a secluded boarding school, her coach careened over a
hillside road during one of the year's heaviest snowstorms, trapping
her inside with a handful of survivors, a brewing virus, and no way to
call for help. If she and the remaining few want to make it out alive,
with their sanity--and secrets--intact, they'll need to work together
or they'll be buried alive with the rest of the dead.
A former detective, Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She is in a cable
car suspended far above a snowstorm and surrounded by strangers in the
same uniform as her, with no memory of how they got there. They are
heading to a mysterious place known to them only as "The Retreat," but
when they discover a dead man among their ranks and Meg spies a
familiar face, she realizes that there is something far more insidious
going on.
Carter is gazing out the window of the abandoned ski chalet that he and
his ragtag compatriots call home. Together, they manage a precarious
survival, manufacturing vaccines against a deadly virus in exchange for
life's essentials. But as their generator begins to waver, the threat
of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger, and their
fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails--for good.
The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part
of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater threat--one
that threatens to consume all of humanity.
I have enjoyed all of
Tudor's previous novels, but I found this one to be a bit different and
really quite special. Everyone's mileage may vary, but this is a
striking and memorable experience.
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
Israel Pike was a killer, and
he was an honest man. They were not
mutually
exclusive.
After discovering
seven men murdered aboard their yacht – including two
Senate
rivals – Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man
infamous on
Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade
before, Israel
has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret.
Elsewhere on the
island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from
his
alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not
alone. A
mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a “Make a sound and I’ll
kill
you.”
As the investigation
barrels forward, Lyman, Israel, and the fate of
the case
collide in immutable ways.
Michael Koryta has been a
favorite of mine since The Ridge in 2011. This one is right up
there with that book. Lyman Rankin is an extraordinary character as is
Israel Pike.
Each book is
distinctively different, but what never changes is Koryta's dedication
to the quality and craft of his work. Never boring, never inconsistent,
never pedestrain.
City
of Dreams by Don Winslow
Hollywood. The
city where dreams
are made.
On the losing side of
a bloody East Coast crime war, Danny Ryan is now on the
run. The Mafia, the cops, the FBI all want him dead or in prison. With
his
little boy, his elderly father and the tattered remnants of his loyal
crew of
soldiers, he makes the classic American migration to California to
start a new
life. A
quiet, peaceful
existence. But
the Feds track him
down and want Danny to do them a favor that could make
him a fortune or kill him. And when Hollywood
starts shooting a film based on his former life, Danny
demands a piece of the action and begins to rebuild his criminal empire.
Then he falls in love.
With a beautiful movie
star who has a dark past of her own. As their worlds
collide in an explosion that could destroy them both, Danny
Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born.
Or where they go to
die.
From the shores of
Rhode Island to the deserts of California where bodies
disappear, from the power corridors of Washington where the real
criminals
operate to the fabled movie studios of Hollywood where the real money
is made,
City of Dreams is a sweeping saga of family, love, revenge, survival
and the
fierce reality behind the dream.
This
is the second in a trilogy that Winslow insists will be his
final opus. Danny Ryan also appeared in 2021's City on Fire. They
should really be read in order to get the full effect.
Burner by
Mark Greaney
Alex
Velesky is about to discover that the hard way. He's stolen records
from the Swiss bank that employs him, thinking that he'll uncover a
criminal conspiracy. But he soon finds that he's tapped into the mother
lode of corruption. Before he knows it, he's being hunted by everyone
from the Russian mafia to the CIA.
Court
Gentry and his erstwhile lover, Zoya Zakharova, find themselves on
opposites poles when it comes to Velesky. They both want him but for
different reasons.
That's
a problem for tomorrow. Today they need to keep him and themselves
alive. Right now, it's not looking good.
The Gray Man is always
worth following. This one has cutting-edge plot dealing with
international banking, techno-spying, and espionage. Greaney does a
nice of job keeping Court Gentry's escapades from spiraling into the
supernatural abilities.
Dark Angel by John Sandford
A
joint operation between the
Department of Homeland Security
and the National Security Agency seems perfect. Along with a reluctant
government computer programmer, Rod Baxter, Letty is asked to
infiltrate a
hacker group. While they work to uncover the plans of the hacker group,
Letty
and Rod believe they’ve been lied to about the mission.
Letty is smart and
determined, with a somewhat warped sense of humor and a
tendency to be rash at times. She also takes after Lucas in several
ways
including her proficiency and knowledge of guns and her love of
fashion. Rod is
somewhat stereotyped in the beginning of the novel. He’s characterized
as
cowardly, intelligent, and slovenly. However, he is the character who
experiences the most dramatic changes in attitude and outlook as the
story
unfolds.
I am a fan of Sandford's Virgil
Flowers series, but not quite as much for the Lucas Davenport books. I
am much more intrigued by this new series focusing on Lucas's daughter
Letty. She seems like a character with room to grow and has an
interesting circle of friends and colleagues.
Big Swiss by
Jen Beagin
Greta
lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson,
New York. The house is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees.
Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who
calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a
repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss.
One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss’s voice in town and they quickly
become enmeshed. While Big Swiss is unaware Greta has eavesdropped on
her most intimate exchanges, Greta has never been more herself with
anyone. Her attraction to Big Swiss overrides her guilt, and she’ll do
anything to sustain the relationship.
I've read all of Jen
Beagin's books. I am unable to figure out exactly
why. I cannot identify with or fathom why her main characters
do what they do. I just really enjoy following along. I also find her
humor to be as surprising and delightful as her characters are
unpredictable.
The Watchmaker's Hand by Jeffrey Deaver
When
a New York City construction crane mysteriously collapses, causing mass
destruction and killing several people, Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are on
the case. A political group claims to be behind the sabotage and
threatens another crane collapse in twenty-four hours, unless their
demands are met. The clock is ticking.
With New York in a panic, the stakes are higher than ever for Rhyme and
his team to unravel the plot before the timer runs out and more cranes
crash down, reducing the city and its people to rubble. Then Rhyme
realizes that the mastermind behind the terror is his own nemesis—the
Watchmaker.
This is a return for
Deaver to the sharply plotted and tightly-written novels of the early
Rhyme books. It is possible that the Watchmaker brings out the best in
both Deaver and Rhyme.
Here the victim's
daughter is a wonderful character and helps bridge the gap between the
police procedural and the emotional culmination of the solution to the
crime.
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
In
the fall of 1863, the Union army is in control of the Mississippi
river. Much of Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is
occupied. The Confederate army is in disarray, corrupt structures are
falling apart, and enslaved men and women are beginning to glimpse
freedom.
When Hannah Laveau, a formerly enslaved woman working on the Lufkin
plantation, is accused of murder, she goes on the run with Florence
Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher, dodging the local constable and
the slavecatchers that prowl the bayous. Wade Lufkin, haunted by what
he observed—and did—as a surgeon on the battlefield, has returned to
his uncle’s plantation to convalesce, where he becomes enraptured by
Hannah. Flags on the Bayou is an engaging,
action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a
brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes
with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged
colonel, and a powerful story of love blossoming between an unlikely
pair. As the story unfolds, it illuminates a past that reflects our
present in sharp relief.
This one was written for
Burke's daughter who had been ill and committed suicide. Even with an
historical setting, it is clearly a very personal and persuasive story.
Holly by Stephen King
When
Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help
locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case.
Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just
died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s
desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.
Mere
blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and
Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married
octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong
academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of
their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s
disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what
they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.
Holly
Gibney is one of King's best characters and that's saying a lot. The
plot is a bit wild, but does have some intriguing logic to it. It was a
tough one for Holly. I might have wished for her to be a bit more
prescient and more involved in the result. However, any book
with Holly in it has a decent chance for making my top ten.
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
In
the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is
trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has
lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish
American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands
proudly apart.
One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t
come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck
by a subway train under mysterious circumstances. The two events seem
unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her
missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking
questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the
men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their
business.
Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of
its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb
thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an
unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism.
I never expected another
Dennis Lehane novel to make my top ten since my disappointments in
Mystic River
and Shutter Island. Lehane's development of Mary
Pat Sweeney from a seeming stereotype into a full dimensional woman,
damaged, but with a well of strength she finds she must summon to meet
whatever obstacles are dropped in her way.
This is also a very
effective portrayal of an historic time in the country in the 1970s and
especially in the city of Boston.
Honorable Mention:
What Have We Done
by Alex Finlay
Good Bad Girl by
Alice Feeney
The Drowning Woman
by Robyn Harding
Lone Women by
Victor Lavalle