I love these books because they hold thinking as the highest virtue, and they value the rights of the individual. I like to challenge the norm. These stories seek to preserve and enhance human life through art and science.
MacDonald wrote
twenty-one novels in his classic Travis McGee series, which has been praised by
many best-selling writers, from Dean Koontz to Lee Child, Sue Grafton to
Stephen King, as foundational to their own careers. This oneâs my favorite.
As Travis untangles a
massive financial crime, heâs drugged and put in a mental hospital. Can he free himself and expose the truth?
I guess I like this
one best because chemically-induced hypnosis is a frequent subject of my own series. Full of action, serious questions about the human mind, romance,
and fun.
From a beloved master of crime fiction, Nightmare in Pink is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat.
Travis McGeeâs permanent address is the Busted Flush, Slip F-18, Bahia Mar, Lauderdale, and there isnât a hell of a lot that compels him to leave it. Except maybe a call from an old army buddy who needs a favor. If it wasnât for him, McGee might not be alive. For that kind of friend, Travis McGee will travel almost anywhere, even New York City. Especially when thereâs a damsel in distress.
Of all twenty-some books (and counting) in Childâs Jack Reacher series, this one stands out. In an interview, Lee once said, "I just wrote this one by the numbers." To me his final solo effort feels like he finally figured out how to say what he always wanted. Itâs personal, yet geopolitical. Empathetic, yet very tough. In this tale of two half-cities run by rival gangs, the Armenians and the Ukrainians, he does so simply and brilliantly.
The storyâs government is corrupt, as so many are, full of bribe-taking politicians who are unable to protect the citizenry from organized crime. To fill that void, in steps Jack Reacher with some intuitive detecting, a little romance, and a lot of bad-guy killing.
There's trouble in the deadly wilds of Nebraska . . . and Reacher walks right into it. He falls foul of the Duncans, a local clan that has terrified an entire country into submission.
But it's the unsolved case of a missing eight-year-old girl that Reacher can't let go.
Reacher - bruised and battered - should have just kept going. But for Reacher, that was impossible.
What, in this fearful county, would be worth dying for?
_________
Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, Worth Dying For follows on directly from the end of 61 Hours.âŠ
The people of Luna
(Earthâs moon) want to be free, no longer vassals of Earth. When they realize
survival has become a life-and-death situation, the revolution begins.
Earthâs government may
have atomic weapons and space ships, but Lunaâs revolutionaries have Mike, a
brilliant and humorous sentient computer, and another secret weapon. An obvious
one when you consider the potential energy at the top of a gravity well
thirty-two feet per second deep.
I love the
iconoclastic feel of this story. Rational anarchists wanting to be left alone to
live, love, and prosper. Thereâs a reason this book has remained in hard-cover
print for so many years. Probably Heinleinâs greatest work, itâs full of
political philosophy and thrilling action. Mike are you still out there
somewhere?
In 2075, the Moon is no longer a penal colony. But it is still a prison...
Life isn't easy for the political dissidents and convicts who live in the scattered colonies that make up lunar civilisation. Everything is regulated strictly, efficiently and cheaply by a central supercomputer, HOLMES IV.
When humble technician Mannie O'Kelly-Davis discovers that HOLMES IV has quietly achieved consciousness (and developed a sense of humour), the choice is clear: either report the problem to the authorities... or become friends.
And perhaps overthrow the government while they're at it.
This classicâs background is integrity, while its foreground is architecture.
Howard Roark is an innovative architect who always follows his own ideas over what other people think, even when everyone turns against him.
Reading this story never fails to motivate me. Achievement, striving for perfection, and determination are qualities I love. Thereâs a powerful message here for any individual who prizes these values and an exciting demonstration of how human thought, like the form of a building, must always follow function.
Based on a simple question: âCan a man escape from a high-security prison cell using only his mind?â The Problem of Cell 13 is everyoneâs favorite. The story offers a convincing answer and a mind-bending ending you just donât see coming.
This collection of short stories demonstrates how someone can solve even the most impossible mysteries if one harnesses the formidable power of oneâs mind. As I walk mentally side-by-side with Futrelleâs protagonist, Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, I find myself consistently unable to solve each puzzle first.
Unfortunately, Futrelle died young on the Titanic, taking several new stories down with him. At least we can still enjoy what he left behind, one of the greatest collections of mysteries youâll find anywhere.
This irascible genius, this diminutive egghead scientist, known to the world as âThe Thinking Machine,â is no less than the newly rediscovered literary link between Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe: Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, whoâwith only the power of ratiocinationâunravels problems of outrageous criminous activity in dazzlingly impossible settings. He can escape from the inescapable death-row âCell 13.â He can fathom why the young woman chopped off her own ïŹnger. He can solve the anomaly of the phone that could not speak. These twenty-three Edwardian-era adventures prove (as The Thinking Machine reiterates) that âtwo and two makeâŠ
Distant for many years, Franklin out of Pennsylvania and his step-brother Everon out of Nevada are connected by a single link: Their sister Cynthia. Enter The NightmareâA nuclear bomb is detonated in New York. Banker, wife, mother, Cynthia lives in New York.
The military has quarantined the city, its bridges and tunnels destroyed or blocked. Easterly winds have forced the bomb's radiation cloud out over Long Island. But the wind is about to change. Franklin climbs mountains and truly understands people. Everon can fly anything. And Cynthia's brothers are determined to find her. If it were your sister, what would you do?
As a child, I lived in a small valley sheltered from the night city lights. I could see the stars, and from that time, that is where my imagination dwelled. As a teenager, I read several of the books I have listed here, and from that point, I was inspired to read more and also to write myself. I sincerely believe that despite our current problems, humanity will outlive its troubled childhood and reach for the stars. We are destined for the stars, and only in the works of science fiction writers is that future explored. The books below helped me to become a successful author in my own right.
An alien starship appears in the Solar System! Humanity faces a glorious future, or total extinction, and only Joe Falcon can make the choice. Never would Joe have imagined it would fall to him to make the decision that would alter the destiny of two worlds, launching humanity towards a glorious future, or to extinction.
Falcon's Call is an action packed dive into the unknown, written in the style of the great, classic, science-fiction stories. If you like surprising plot twists, compelling characters and a hero who actually cares, you must read this new novel by Mike Waller.
Reader's Favorite Gold Medal winner 2019 B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree 2019 Chill With A Book Premier Award 2019
In a heart-pounding battle for humanity's survival, one man holds the key to a glorious future or utter extinction.
In a race against time, Earth and Mars race to claim a derelict alien ship as it enters the Solar System, both aware that whichever planet succeeds might in so doing achieve technological advantage over the other. But who should they send? Joe Falcon, an unlikely candidate, never saw himself as the "right" person. Accompanied by a crew of misfits, each fleeing their ownâŠ
