Authors > Z Authors

Advantages: great writing in two genres
Disadvantages: she won't lay off cheap romance

Tami Hoag is a best selling American author of suspense and romance novels. I can only comment on the suspense ones as I never read romance. I first read one of her books, Cry Wolf, last autumn. I was very impressed and decided to read more and do some research on this author. Before publishing her first book, a romance novel in 1988, she held various other jobs. After a number of love stories she moved on to crime writing. Hoag published thirteen ...
...been made into a TV miniseries. Due to her high profile success she also participated in one of Barbara Bush's literary function and was asked to read at it. Here is a quick overview of her work, afterwards I will mention which ones I'm familiar with. Independent crime Novels - Still Waters (1992) - Dark Paradise (1994) - A Thin Dark Line (1997) - Dark Horse (2002) - Kill the Messenger (2004) - Alibi Man (2007) Kovac/Liska Series - Ashes to ... Read review

Advantages: Hard back and paper back. Very good read.
Disadvantages: the need to ensure that the books in a series are read in chronological order.

Val Mcdermid writes about crime, whether it be based on her own Private Eye - Kate Brannigan, or a forensic phychologist-Tony Hill. She writes serials that involves these characters, and another about a lesbian journalist, Lindsay Gordon. (which I have not read.) Some people may already be familiar with Tony Hill, a pyhycologist who suffers from sexual dysfunction, as some of his stories have been dramatised and can be seen on ITV or DVD box sets. ...
...has an unexpected outcome. Val McDermid's writing is contempory, enguaging and suprising until the end. Any of her stories that you choose to read will make you stay up late just tofinish the next chapter, and the next. If you do choose to read any of the books that are in a series, then make sure you do read them in order or you may find that you spoil the suprise in other books. Once you've read one, you will want to read another. ... Read review

Advantages: A great social commentator
Disadvantages: his later books are not as good

I love Douglas Coupland. He is definately one of today's most important and influential authors. His novels include the modern classic Generation X, (1991) Life after God (1994) Girlfriend in a coma, (1997) All families are psychotic, (2001) Hey Nostradamus (2003) and many more. He has also written some non-fiction such as 'Polaroids from the Dead' and 'city of glass'. He is an amazing visionary and there really is no-one else writing like ...
...his books, in the right frame of mind (open that is ha ha) they can be very inspiring and uplifting. (can I point out that I know this is not a review of an audio book but that is the catagory poor Douglas has been stored under on here) ... Read review

Advantages: More backstory, find out how it all began
Disadvantages: Slow starting

...onto any other book series. Halo: Contact Harvest is the latest of these books, released last September, and I finished it in February. The Story The story revolves around a familiar character from the games - Sergeant Avery Johnson, a young staff sergeant who has been fighting in a human civil war called the Insurrection. After an accident partially due to him that caused the loss of many civilian lives, he is worn out and fed up. So, he ...
... The Writing Halo: Contact Harvest is perhaps the most descriptive in the series: there are long pages of it which slows down the action a bit unfortunately. However, the imagery is definitely good so the words aren't wasted. Fans of the Halo book series will probably be most familiar with Eric Nylund and his style. Eric Nylund has a very readable style that is also very good, and after the fiasco that was Halo: The Flood, by William C. Dietz ... Read review

Advantages: great writing technique, gripping books
Disadvantages: hard to put down books!

I only know her for writing the fabulous teen girly books such as Princess Diaries and The Mediator series. I don't really know anything about her personally...but I plan to do some researching! Of course she is a successful writer as you can see by her book, Princess Diaries, being made into a very successful film. It's more of a 'chick flick' but I'm pretty sure anyone would enjoy it. As for her books-the first one I read, Teen Idol, belonged ...
...taken in by the eye-catching pink girly cover and was glued to the book 'til I finished. I then went on to read several other books by her such as the Mediator books. I don't know what it is that makes her books so great...maybe it's her writing style which shows she really understands her audience and can write in a way they acknowledge or maybe it's the gripping story lines, brilliant characters and suprising twists. I'm not going to ruin any ... Read review