I don’t know if they’re the ‘best’ books of the year but the following are those I enjoyed most from the 100+ books I read this year. Not all of them, of course, were first published in 2013. In the order in which I read them:
Red Sky in Morning, Paul Lynch. Charlotte Gray, Sebastian Faulks. Harvest, Jim Crace. Alex, Pierre Lemaitre. Home Fires, Elizabeth Day. Hammett Unwritten, Owen Fitzstephen. Black Bear, Aly Monroe. Bogmail, Patrick McGinley. Bad Monkey, Carl Hiaasen. Graveland, Alan Glynn. A Delicate Truth, John Le Carré. The Twelfth Department, William Ryan. Gold Coast, Elmore Leonard. The Little Sister, Raymond Chandler. I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, Sylvie Simmons. Angel City, Jon Steele. The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith. Tapping the Source, Kem Nunn. In the Morning I’ll Be Gone, Adrian McKinty. Red or Dead, David Peace. Hide & Seek, Xan Fielding. The Convictions of John Delahunt, Andrew Hughes. Tampa, Alissa Nutting. An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. The Black Life, Paul Johnston. When Eight Bells Toll, Alistair Maclean. The Little Drummer Girl, John Le Carré. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad. The Stone Boy, Sophie Loubiere. Marathon Man, William Goldman. The Goodbye Look, Ross Macdonald.
And that’s pretty much it from Crime Always Pays for 2013. A very happy Christmas to you all, folks, and thanks so much for stopping by during the year. I’ll see you all in 2014 …
It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk-tank … Okay, not actually. But it is that time of year, the season of hope, and peace and goodwill to all men and women - aka the week or so when the CAP elves take a header into the vat of elf-wonking juice that has been brewing nicely since the summer solstice. I have to say, I’m very much looking forward to the break. It’s been a great year for yours truly, a hugely enjoyable experience of books published and awards won (okay, one award won), and good reviews and bad reviews, and good people met with, and talked with, and all of it bound up in books - and all of it exhausting. I sincerely hope that you had as enjoyable a year, and that next year will prove to be every bit as interesting and challenging and fun. A very happy and peaceful Christmas to you all, folks, and I look forward to seeing you back here early in the New Year. In the meantime, here’s the Chief Entertainments Elf to serenade you in joyfully tuneless fashion for the season that’s in it. Roll it there, Rudolph …
Well, it’s that time of the year again. It’s been a great year here at CAP Towers, folks, although it wouldn’t have been half as much fun without the Three Regular Readers (you know who you are) along for the ride. I thank you all from the bottom of my black, pitiless heart. I’m looking forward to the break, I have to say. It’s been a busy, busy year - although that, in these straitened times, is not a bad complaint to have. And next year should be every bit as busy, if not busier - and I can’t wait. I sincerely hope that you all have a very happy Christmas, and a prosperous New Year. God bless us, every one. Lily? Over to you, my love …
Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.
