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Recommendations based on Beat the Reaperby Josh Bazell
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Gun Seller
by Hugh Laurie
A former soldier turned accidental spy navigates a web of international intrigue and danger. Witty and action-packed.
The Gun Seller tells the story of retired Army officer Thomas Lang, who lives a somewhat hand-to-mouth existence in London , his attention focused mainly on drinking whisky and riding his motorcycle ... (Wikipedia)
A Dirty Job
by Christopher Moore
A comedic journey of a man's life as he is forced to confront death and the underworld.
The story centers on Charlie Asher, a "beta-male" (as opposed to " alpha-male ") who leads a satisfying life as the owner and proprietor of a second-hand store in San Francisco. At the moment when ... (Wikipedia)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
by Michael Chabon
A murder mystery set in an alternate reality, with characters that explore the boundaries of identity and tradition.
The book opens with Meyer Landsman, an alcoholic homicide detective with the Sitka police department, examining the murder of a man in the hotel where Landsman lives. Beside the corpse lies an open ... (Wikipedia)
The Dante Club
by Matthew Pearl
A group of poets, scholars and academics band together to unravel a dark mystery in 19th century Boston.
The Dante Club begins with the murder of fictional Massachusetts Chief Justice Artemus Healey, who had avoided taking a position to stop or support the escaped slaves of the South . Found by his ... (Wikipedia)
The Gone-Away World
by Nick Harkaway
A post-apocalyptic adventure filled with monsters, robots, and a search for hope.
The book is a science fiction epic with elements of comedy and nuclear holocaust fiction . It tells the story of the unnamed main character and his best friend Gonzo Lubitsch and their experiences ... (Wikipedia)
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
by Christopher Moore
A retelling of the life of Jesus Christ, told through the eyes of his childhood best friend.
Biff is resurrected in the 20th Century to complete missing parts of the Bible , under the inefficient supervision of Raziel ; wherefore Biff narrates that he and Joshua (by Biff's account, the ... (Wikipedia)
Faith
by Jennifer Haigh
A family's faith is tested when a priest is accused of sexual abuse. The novel explores the complexities of belief, loyalty, and forgiveness.
"[Haigh is] an expertnatural storyteller with an acute sense of her characters' humanity." — NewYork Times "We have the intriguing possibility that the next great American author is already in ... (Barnes & Noble)
He Shall Thunder in the Sky
by Elizabeth Peters
An archaeological mystery set in Egypt, uncovering secrets of the Pharaohs.
The novel takes place in 1914, as Ramses Emerson works undercover to gather intelligence for the British military, Nefret returns from studying medicine in Switzerland, and Percy Peabody returns to ... (Wikipedia)
Bite Me
by Christopher Moore
A humorous and satirical take on the vampire genre, following a young woman's transformation into a vampire and her adventures with her undead friends.
“Christopher Moore is a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word.” —Carl Hiaasen The undead rise again in Bite Me, the third book in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore’s ... (Goodreads)
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.
Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)
The Financial Lives of the Poets
by Jess Walter
A struggling poet turns to selling marijuana to save his family from financial ruin.
The Financial Lives of the Poets is a comic and heartfelt novel from National Book Award nominee Jess Walter, author of Citizen Vince and The Zero , about how we get to the edge of ruin—and how we ... (Goodreads)
Iron House
by John Hart
Two orphan brothers, one raised in luxury and the other in poverty, reunite to confront their dark past and a dangerous killer.
From the award-winning,, New York Times, bestselling author John Hart, comes a gut-wrenching thriller about two brothers, one woman, and an explosive secret that threatens to tear their whole world ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle
A thrilling detective story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate a mysterious murder on the moor.
Dr James Mortimer calls on Sherlock Holmes in London for advice after his friend Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead in the yew alley of his manor on Dartmoor in Devon . The death was attributed ... (Wikipedia)
Gone for Good
by Harlan Coben
A man's search for the truth about his brother's disappearance, uncovering a dark conspiracy.
As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins' affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman–a girl Will had once loved--was found brutally ... (Goodreads)
Gold Coast
by Nelson DeMille
A lawyer infiltrates an organized crime ring to uncover the truth behind a mysterious death.
Welcome to the Gold Coast, that stretch on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America. Here two men are destined for an explosive ... (Wikipedia)
The Hour I First Believed
by Wally Lamb
A teacher's life is shattered by the Columbine shooting, leading to a journey of self-discovery and healing.
When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in ... (Barnes & Noble)
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.
The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street
by Warren Ellis
A journalist navigates a dystopian world, exposing corruption and social injustices.
After years of self-imposed exile from a civilization rife with degradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job that he hates and a city that he loathes. ... (Goodreads)
The Bourne Identity
by Robert Ludlum
An amnesiac assassin must uncover his past and true identity in a deadly search for the truth.
The preface of the novel consists of two real-life newspaper articles from 1975 about terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as " Carlos the Jackal ." The story opens with gunfire on a boat in the ... (Wikipedia)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.
It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)
Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel
A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)
Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser
A young woman's journey of ambition, navigating the opportunities and pitfalls of urban life.
Late 1889. Dissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18-year-old Caroline "Sister Carrie" Meeber takes the train to Chicago , where her older sister Minnie, and Minnie's husband, Sven ... (Wikipedia)
Lexicon
by Max Barry
A thrilling adventure through an underground world of secret language and mind control.
In a school in Virginia, children are taught the art of persuasion instead of usual subjects. They learn in detail how to handle the power of language to control other individuals by breaking them ... (Wikipedia)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.
Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)
A Single Shard
by Linda Sue Park
A young orphan boy in 12th century Korea dreams of becoming a potter and sets out on a journey to prove himself.
Tree-ear is an orphan who lives under a bridge with Crane-man, a physically disabled man who took him in when Tree-ear was only a small child. Tree-ear is fascinated with the nearby potters in his ... (Wikipedia)
The Thin Man
by Dashiell Hammett
A retired detective called to investigate a mysterious murder.
The story is set in New York City in December 1932, in the last days of Prohibition. The main characters are a former private detective , Nick Charles and Nora, his clever young wife. Nick, son of a ... (Wikipedia)
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
by Neil Gaiman
Collection of short stories blending fantasy, horror and science fiction.
This is an alternate cover edition for, ISBN 0060515236 (ISBN13: 9780060515232)., Fragile Things is Neil Gaiman's second collection of short fiction. A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one ... (Goodreads)
The Warded Man
by Peter V. Brett
Adventure of three unlikely heroes, who must battle monsters to save their world.
As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, ... (Goodreads)
Echo Park
by Michael Connelly
LAPD detective investigates a murder with ties to a past cold case, unraveling a complex web of secrets.
In 1993, Harry Bosch and his partner Jerry Edgar caught the Marie Gesto case. Marie was a young equestrian who went missing. Her car and clothing turned up in an apartment garage but her body was ... (Wikipedia)
Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See
Two sisters navigate the turmoil of 1930s Shanghai, while struggling to protect each other.
Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. In, On Gold Mountain, she objectively ... (Wikipedia)
