TOP TEN TUESDAY

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted weekly by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish. They are a group of very creative minds and I always enjoy reading the lists. This is my first time participating, and I'm going to cheat right out of the gate. This week's theme is Top Ten All-Time Favorite Authors.

If I ever hope to be productive again, setting out a Top Ten won't be possible as I'll soon be knee-deep in spreadsheets and algorithms. Surely if we're talking all-time Enid Blyton has to be in there. Franklin Dixon, Laura Lee Hope. All of those authors peppered my childhood with reads that fed my bookish fever and paved the way to what I'm reading today. I got into the Robert Ludlum books at a very young age. Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series was a biggie in my early teens and particularly special since I read them with my dad.

So how could I figure out the version of me who was creating this list? How could my sieve-like memory not forget some pivotal voice? What comes easily, however, is the fact that three authors have held the top spots on my "Best of" list for more than two decades (against some pretty stiff competition). So today I give you my Top Three All-Time Favorite Authors. They're in order, and I'm highlighting the book of first discovery and my favorite title to date.

Don Winslow  

Back in the day when I was surrounded by fantastic book stores, I could spend all day perusing the shelves, letting my cover nerd go wild. On one such outing, way back in 1991, I discovered a book by Don Winslow called A Cool Breeze on the Underground, and a new literary love affair was born.

Thankfully, Don has gone on to write many outstanding works since that time. Cool Breeze was the first in the Neal Carey series, which remains a favorite.  He wrote Savages (adapted to film by Oliver Stone) and its kickass prequel, The Kings of Cool. He's also written a surf noir series near and dear to my heart, and several great standalone novels.

But most importantly, oh so very most importantly, Don wrote the book that has become my rote response when I'm asked about the best book I ever read. And he did it against the odds (mine and probably his as well). While I'm a sucker for law enforcement and private eye stories, I've never been much for arcs that focus on drug trafficking or cartels. In addition, I start to get hives around books over 350 pages.

So what's a girl to do when her favorite author writes a 500+ page tome about the drug trade? In this case, put her trust in the hands of a literary master and buckle up for the ride. If you've not read The Power of the Dog I urge you to do so. Don worked on TPOTD for at least ten years and it's a masterpiece.

Even better, he's written a sequel, The Cartel, coming out June 23rd. Don is going on tour to talk about The Cartel and if you get a chance to see him, do. He's a fascinating individual with a super cool background and I promise you'll enjoy every minute.

Here's a little tidbit about Don. The last time I saw him, I had acquired a hardcover first edition copy of A Cool Breeze on the Underground and I asked him to sign it. He asked me twice if I was sure I wanted it personalized, as a personalized copy would decrease the resale value. Ha! As if they're not going to have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

Tour dates can be found on Don's site here.

Daniel Woodrell

Next in line is Daniel Woodrell, who writes some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. I also discovered Daniel's work early on, 1996 to be exact, when I came across a paperback copy of Give Us a Kiss: A Country Noir.

Country noir? What was this beast? I think this might have been my first love in the category of dark and gritty noir fiction. Daniel Woodrell can take the ugliest, meanest, blackest of things and make you fall in love with it through language.

I immediately bought everything in Woodrell's backlist and pre-order everything he's published since. While I think Give Us a Kiss remains my sentimental favorite, it's in a tight heat with Winter's Bone. If you've not seen the movie adaptation of Winter's Bone, it's one of those instances where the film nails it. I highly recommend both.

Whatever you do, go read some Woodrell, it's some of the most beautiful brutal writing you'll ever come across.

Robert Crais

Whereas Daniel Woodrell makes ugly things beautiful, Robert Crais brings a humor to the page that's trumped only by his ability to create engaging, multi-dimensional characters you can't help but fall in love with. He's built a legion of adoring fans with his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series.

I first discovered Bob Crais and Elvis Cole the same way I did the previous authors and about the same time: meandering the shelves in 1990. Once again, the cover and title of a paperback caught my eye and I was hooked from the get-go by The Monkey's Raincoat. Sixteen series books later (seventeenth due later this year) and Elvis and his partner/sidekick Joe remain as fresh and important as the day I read page one of Monkey's Raincoat.

Again, tough to pick a favorite here, but you can't do much better than L.A. Requiem, which won just about every major award in its genre in 1999. I recommend reading the series in order because the character and relationship development is so damn beautiful, but if you just go pick any one up I'm going to give a cheer. Start anywhere, just start.

There they are, my Top Three Favorite All-Time Favorite Authors. If you've hung in there, thank you. Aren't you glad I didn't do ten?