People always ask, so here are my favorite crime fiction books (in no particular order):
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
Clockers, by Richard Price
Lush Life, by Richard Price
Theft, a Love Story, by Peter Carey
True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey
The 25th Hour, by David Benioff
City of Thieves, by David Benioff
Ordinary Gracy, by William Kent Krueger
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon
Lie in the Dark, by Dan Fesperman
The Small Boat of Great Sorrows, by Dan Fesperman
The Zero, by Jess Walter
Citizen Vince, by Jess Walter
Out, by Natsuo Kirino
Paris Trout, by Pete Dexter
The Paperboy, by Pete Dexter
Little Bird of Heaven, by Joyce Carol Oates
Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett
Cotton Comes to Harlem, by Chester Himes
A Rage in Harlem, by Chester Himes
The Underground Man, by Ross MacDonald
The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
The Grifters, by Jim Thompson
Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household
In the Woods, by Tana French
The Likeness, by Tana French
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin
Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
Rose, by Martin Cruz Smith
Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson
Angles, by Denis Johnson
The Contortionists’s Handbook, by Craig Clevenger
The Collaborator of Bethlehem, by Matt Beynon Rees
Listening Woman, by Tony Hillerman
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
Absalom, Absalom!, by William Faulkner
The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
I do read about real crimes too, such as:
Havana Nocturne, by T.J. English
You Got Nothing Coming, by Jimmy A. Lerner
My Dark Places, by James Ellroy
Makes Me Wanna Holler, by Nathan McCall
Killing Pablo, Mark Bowden
Homicide, by David Simon
Spoken in Darkness, by Ann E. Imbrie
Hell’s Angels, by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Iron House, Stories from the Yard, by Jerome Washington
A few of my must see crime movies:
The Third Man
Deliverance
Bugsy
The Last Seduction
Memento
The Man Who Wasn’t There
No Country for Old Men
The Maltese Falcon
Lonestar
Point Blank
Heavenly Creatures
To Catch a Thief
Trainspotting
The Quiet American
The 25th Hour
Bringing Out the Dead
Eastern Promises
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Impostor
The Secret in their Eyes
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Big Sleep
The Blues Brothers
Risky Business
Of course, we can’t ignore TV either. If you haven’t already, watch:
Breaking Bad
The Wire
The Shield
Foyle’s War
Sherlock (BBC Series)
Boss
True Detective
Boardwalk Empire
Orange is the New Black
