Watching Spielberg’s new Indiana Jones film this weekend got me thinking: are there any Indiana-esque novels out there? I know of one–and it’s a doozy. It’s William Dietrich’s Napoleon’s Pyramids. The novel works on a lot of levels. It’s a mystery, it’s an adventure-thriller, it’s a mathematical puzzler. But mostly it’s a study of a charming, clever American and his attempt to discover the meaning of a strange medallion he won in a card game. Dietrich know his history, and one of the joys of this novel is when real historical figures (including, of course, Bonaparte himself) show up in the text. Napoleon’s Pyramids is a very fun read. Highly recommended. 

From time to time I like to laugh when I read fiction. The most hilarious (nay, uproarious) novel I’ve read in the last few years has to be Jonathan Ames’s Wake Up, Sir! There is really no accurate way to describe this book. It’s about as inventive as anything you will read. If you are a fan of P.G. Wodehouse, and if you like the McSweeney’s group, then you will enjoy Ames’s story of a dysfunctional writer and his obedient manservant.

I became a voracious reader of genre fiction in high school. One of the finest books I read in my teens was Scott Smith’s masterwork A Simple Plan. (Plan became the basis for a very fine Sam Raimi film.) Scott Smith gained notoriety recently for his horror novel The Ruins, and it’s very interesting to look at the similarities between the two novels, even though they come from two completely different genres. Even though The Ruins is a very fine (and terrifying) book, A Simple Plan is Smith’s opus. It is a pitch perfect thriller, combining everything you would want in a suspense novel. There aren’t many better edge-of-your-seat reads out there. 

People often ask what my favorite movie is. It’s a tough question, especially considering I like many different kinds of films. I like strange films and mainstream films; thrillers and action flicks; rom coms and docudramas. I like it all. But my favorite movie (and another film that, even though it had its moments of acclaim) is underrated as far as “great” recent movies go, is Jim Carrey in Peter Weir’s The Truman Show. What it has to say about privacy and freedom and individual rights and voyeurism and conformity and the TV culture is just amazing–and on top of that it is a tremendously well-made film. It works as a thriller, a drama, a comedy, a romance, and a philosophical big idea flick. Highly recommended for those who haven’t seen it, and for those who have rent it and watch it again. You will enjoy it as much as you did the first time you saw it. 

From time to time I read true crime, and the best I have found is Simon Worrall’s brilliant The Poet and the Murderer. The book’s greatest mark is its fine writing; but it is also massive in breadth and scale. It is about forgery, and bomb making, and the Mormon church, and the poet Emily Dickinson, and the sociological impact of religion, and sociopathic behavior, and on and on. A very entertaining and thought-provoking read that I immensely enjoyed from start to finish.  

Idiot that I am, it took me a long time to discover Lee Child. I have to admit that a few mystery/thriller novelists write cringe-worthy prose. Child is the real deal, both in terms of his writing and his plots. He is, as far as I’m concerned, the best in the business right now.  

I do not read straightforward mysteries too often, but I do enjoy a good whodunit from time to time. The best I’ve read in the last few years (and perhaps ever), is Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution. Structurally, it is about as fine as you get for a mystery novel. Well-written, suspenseful, atmospheric, with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most particular reader, this one is a gem. 

This one goes way back, but it’s a good one. If you enjoy weird books with a fantasy/sci-fi lean, and if you have a penchant for Victorian romps featuring real-life characters from history, and if you like the occult, and if you like alternate universes, and if you like Sherlock Holmes tales–then you might like F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre’s The Woman Between the Worlds. I happened to be watching television one night when the great Harlan Ellison recommended it on the Sci-Fi Channel. This book is truly weird, and truly a lot of fun.  

One of my literary heroes is Robert McCammon. McCammon’s work — especially the masterpiece Boy’s Life – had a profound effect on my life when I was growing up. I had the pleasure of sitting beside McCammon at the Southern Kentucky Books Fest last weekend, and it was a real pleasure. I wouldn’t be where I am without that man’s novels. If you haven’t read Boy’s Life then I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. One of the great coming-of-age novels of the last 25 years.  

There is a really cool blog called The Pg. 69 Test. Recently I ran Obedience through the test, and you can see the results here.