2019 in Review

Some incredible books published in 2019.

Some of my favourite Irish authors were at the height of their talents with Adrian McKinty's THE CHAIN achieving the sort of success his talents have always deserved. Stuart Neville, writing as Haylen Beck, delivered his best yet in LOST YOU, Dervla McTiernan's THE SCHOLAR built on the promise of her first Cormac Reilly thriller and John Connolly proved that a series can continue to get better 7 books in with A BOOK OF BONES, one of the strongest in his Charlie Parker series.

In WANDERERS, Chuck Wendig gave us a modern THE STAND and so much more while Stephen King's own THE INSTITUTE recalled his best. Another long book, Don Winslow's THE BORDER, brought his trilogy to an end with a suitably scathing take on the 21st Century political landscape while Claire North's powerful THE PURSUIT OF WILLIAM ABBEY reflected on the horrors of colonialism which continue to be echoed in the worst today's rightwing rhetoric. Abir Mukherjee gave us the best yet in his series set in the heart of colonial India with DEATH IN THE EAST, the best locked room mystery(ies) of the year. In THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT, Claire North warned of the dangers of trying to rewrite the past in a devastating fantasy.

And, although not published until a few weeks into 2020, Ani Katz's A GOOD MAN is one of the best, and most disturbing, novels I read this year.