Mystery/Suspense Genre Discussion

[DennisK]

I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. I think it took me 2 days as I had a difficult time putting it down. I consider it a suspense novel even though I suppose it should be classified as a science fiction story. It was suspenseful from beginning to end – There were no bad guys or crooked dealings – just high adventure. There is already a review for this book; so I will leave it to describe the story – great book – lots of fun to read. 4 out of 4, or 5 out of 5 – however we are doing that now.

-- 23 Jan 2016, 01:21 --

I have become a Lee Child fan by reading some of his books using random selections. Before I go any further, I want to start again with is first book: Killing Floor

[gali]

I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. I think it took me 2 days as I had a difficult time putting it down. I consider it a suspense novel even though I suppose it should be classified as a science fiction story. It was suspenseful from beginning to end – There were no bad guys or crooked dealings – just high adventure. There is already a review for this book; so I will leave it to describe the story – great book – lots of fun to read. 4 out of 4, or 5 out of 5 – however we are doing that now.

-- 23 Jan 2016, 01:21 --

I have become a Lee Child fan by reading some of his books using random selections. Before I go any further, I want to start again with is first book: Killing Floor

I think it is more Sci-Fi than suspense. I am glad you enjoyed it.

I didn't read any books of Lee Child, but I plan to.

[anonanemone]

I think The Martian can definitely fall into the suspense category, as well as SF. I had trouble putting it down until it was done. @graverobber This book will definitely be right up your alley!

I'm reading Showdown by Ted Dekker. This is my first foray into the works of this author courtesy of our local Friends of the Library. I can say that so far I am both mystified and in suspense. I think this novel can fall within the suspense category.

In Showdown a mysterious preacher wanders into Paradise, CO. He has a widespread effect on the small town. Does he bring a message of hope or does he bring death and destruction? As the town is isolated by a sand storm, only time will tell.

Rating to come...

[kio]

Great book. I personally would consider it a sci fi/suspense. There are all different kinds of suspense and this book definitely gave me feelings of, "apprehension, tension, and anxiety" that developed from an unpredictable situation.

[DennisK]

I just completed Lee Child's Killing Floor. This is Child's first Jack Reacher book. Being his first book, I expected this one to be less expertly written than those that I have already read. I was wrong. Child is a master at suspense and mystery. The high level of story telling throughout all of his books that I have read have been consistent.
The main character of his novels is Jack Reacher who is an ex-military policeman. Reacher has no home, nor does he own a car. He just has the clothes on his back and a pension from his courier in the military. He travels the roads of America. What I like about this character is the freedom he represents. With no possessions, his life is very simple; that is, until he arrives into town. In The Killing Floor, the town is Margrave, Georgia. He was arrested for a murder that took place along the road that he had walked to get into town. That murder expanded into a story that carried a mystery I could not penetrate until the end of the book. The story grabbed me from the beginning and it didn't let me go until it's explosive end.
Child's writing is easy to read which makes it a fast read. It it pure entertainment. I will give this book a 4 out of 4.

[Gravy]

Better late than never!

I read Micro, by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston, and I rated it a 3/4.
Knowing that Micro was started be Crichton, and finished by Preston (after Crichton's death), I started it with mixed feelings.
Michael Crichton has long been one of my favorite authors, with his mixing together of fact and fiction until even time travel seemed plausible, I never had to look far for my dose of "real" science in my fiction, and I've yet to fill that void in my palate of fiction. Needless to say, I had to read Micro, and while it took me awhile to get around to it, get around to it I did.

Micro is about a group of twenty somethings who travel to Hawaii to interview for jobs at a biotech lab, but things don't go as planned. Soon they find themselves in the Micro world, where even the tiniest creature is a mighty threat. Added onto that Crichton's love of a ticking clock, and you have the "microbends", meaning, if they don't get returned to their correct size within two days, they'll die.
And of course you have to have the bad guy who'll stop at nothing to make sure they don't return from the wilds of Hawaii.

I liked this book, I really did. It started pretty slow (for me), and didn't have as much of that "science" that I mentioned before, but it was a solid idea. I can't help but compare it to what I believe it could've been had Crichton actually finished it, and I believe much of what I missed would have been there, and I would be rating it a 4, if he had. Sadly, that was not to be.
I give Preston full points for doing something not a lot of people would have had the guts to, and doing it well enough that a die-hard Crichton fan gave it a 3 out of 4.

I think one of my favorite aspects about a lot of suspense/mystery/thriller books is the aforementioned ticking clock, and this one was well done.

I'm glad that I still have some classic Crichton to read. I also hope that the void left in this genre by Crichton's death is one day filled, and hopefully by someone who loves science as much as he did.

[elivia05]

I would like to read the Martian by Andy Weir. From what I read in Amazon, it is a science fiction story about a man who is presumed to be dead and left on Mars by his team who returned to Earth. Somehow, he must find his own way back to Earth. This should be suspenseful enough to fall into January's category. Netflix shows the movie to be released in DVD form, sometime this February. This would have been a good candidate for December's read, but I'll just treat it as a suspense novel.

I have seen the movie and I loved it. I have always wanted to read the book, but I know that I will enjoy it less because I will be comparing it to the movie throughout.

[Arcanthia Zeal]

I hope you guys did read Lee Child books. They are easy reads and each chapter is a page turner you cannot just put it down.

I have read 5 of the Jack Reacher series and recommend them all.

Happy Reading

Arcanthia Zeal

[eigen wees]

I do love the Jack Reacher series. I have read about 4 of them and indeed they were page turners. I wonder which one you preferred most?