Monday, June 30, 2014

Underated (or Underread) Authors

J. Kingston Pierce picks his choice in his Kirkus Column here.

One of my many choices would be Jo Ann Beard whose BOYS OF MY YOUTH and IN ZANESVILLE are two of my favorites.
 

Who would you choose? 

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not familiar with Beard at all.

Let's see. In the mystery field here are a few:

Steven F. Havill (southern New Mexico)
John R. Riggs (small town Wisconsin)
Chris Knopf
Jamie Freveletti (who says women can't write great thrillers?)
Lori Armstrong (South Dakota)
Martin Edwards (England's Lake District)


Jeff M.

8:03 AM
Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more that Martin Edwards' work ought to get more attention than it does.

8:07 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Have only read Martin Edwards in that bunch. Wait, I think I did read a Chris Knopf.
I thought Freveletti won an Edgar or Anthony, maybe not.

9:26 AM
Anonymous said...

Patti: Her debut thriller, Running from the Devil, was chosen as a “Notable Book” by the Independent Booksellers of America, awarded "Best First Novel" by the International Thriller Writers, awarded a Barry Award for "Best First Novel" by Deadly Pleasures Magazine, and nominated for a Macavity Award for" Best First Mystery" by the Mystery Readers International and "Favorite First Novel of 2009" by Crimespree Magazine.

But I daresay you ask the average person on the street and they will never have heard of her, especially in the context of Grafton, Evanovich or Cornwell.

Jeff M.

9:41 AM
Charles Gramlich said...

Yeah, I'm not familiar.

11:43 AM
George said...

Marvin H. Albert is one of my favorite underrated writers. He was a consummate professional.

11:47 AM
Cap'n Bob said...

Me. Well, maybe not underrated but certainly underread.

3:06 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

New to me, George.
I know the feeling, Cap'n.

3:30 PM
Gerard said...

John R. Riggs (small town Wisconsin)

I'll have to check that guy out.

4:50 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Me. too.

4:56 PM
Anonymous said...

Riggs' detective of sorts is a small town newspaper editor, Garth Ryland. Since his newspaper is a weekly (I think; it's been a while since I read these) he has time to solve local mysteries.

THE LAST LAUGH is the first in the series. At least a few of them were published in paperback as well as hardback editions.


Jeff M.

8:58 PM
Jerry House said...

So darned many, Patti. The first that came to mind was Steven Torres who writes (among other things) the great Precinct Puerto Rico series.

Two completely different writers whose works I devoured in the past were Irving Shulman and Max Shulman. Are either in print at all today?

6:56 AM
Todd Mason said...

How many hours we got? I'm always beating drums for Avram Davidson, William Campbell Gault, Joanna Russ (particularly beyond THE FEMALE MAN, though that is her best novel), and a slew of others (including such not quite widely-read enough writers as Kate Wilhelm and Kit Reed and Muriel Spark beyond BRODIE)...Algis Budrys, Janet Fox, R. A. Lafferty, David Redd, Ms. Lee Hoffman...

9:43 AM

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