For purely recreational reading I also like Cussler (not so much though when he co-authors). J. A. Jance is hard to beat. She writes two different venues, one about a cop in Seattle, the other about a woman sheriff in Arizona. Sue Grafton does a pretty good job with her alphabet series ("A" is for Alibi; "B" is for Burglary, etc. ). I like everything Nevada Barr has written. And what about Tony Hillerman? I guess I could go on and on. I think anyone who doesn't like to read is really missing a great treat!
What bothers me is, several of my favorites, including Cussler, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Patricia Cornwell, and several others, seem to be writing because they have a contract rather than in the style they had in their earlier stuff. Clancy is really noticeable. His first several books were very exciting, earthy, and very realistic without gratuitous sex, blue language, or violence. That is not true with his later books. I'm OK with realistic stuff, I just don't want an author to insert it when it is unnecessary and even detracting from the story line.
I haunt thrift stores and garages sales for my books. A benefit of this, aside from the dollar savings, is that I pick up some of the old stuff that is a great read-- Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Zane Gray, Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), etc.
Gene
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