Friday, August 17, 2012

My Recent Reading List

It's almost a cliche at this point to say that teen fiction isn't just for teens anymore. Just last year, the Association of American Publishers ranked Children's/Young Adult books as the single fastest-growing publishing category and NPR just published Listener's Picks for the 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels. The first two books on my recently read list are young adult murder mysteries by one of my all time favorite authors, Greg Herren. This genre is relatively new to Herren, but what a way to start!

Sara by Greg Herren

For Tony Martin, being a senior means being a star on the football team, classes to get through, hanging out with his friends—and dating Candy Dixon. And once he graduates, he’s getting out of Kansas and never looking back. But his best friend Glenn’s decision to come out and be openly gay at their small rural high school creates a lot of problems for the two of them. But a beautiful new student arrives at Southern Heights High—Sara. When all the kids who’ve been mean to Glenn start dying in very strange circumstances, and Glenn starts acting strangely, it’s up to Tony and Candy to get to the bottom of what’s going on in their school—before it’s too late for them.

Sleeping Angel by Greg Herren

Eric Matthews survives a near-fatal accident only to find his whole life has changed.

Eric Matthews wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how he wound up there—and soon learns that it's vital that he remember. Apparently, he was in a car accident—and the body of classmate Sean Brody was found in his car, shot to death. But nothing makes sense to Eric. He and Sean weren't friends. In fact, they disliked each other--Sean was gay and Eric is...well, he's not sure of much right now! Except he is certain he didn't shoot Sean, even though he can't remember anything about the day of the accident.

To make matters worse, he starts having psychic flashes about the people around him: his doctor, a nurse, his mother, and other visitors.

As Eric's memories slowly start to come back to him, he becomes more and more certain that not only is he innocent, but that the real murderer is out there….and wants to shut him up permanently.

Fair Game by Josh Lanyon

A crippling knee injury forced Elliot Mills to trade in his FBI badge for dusty chalkboards and bored college students. Now a history professor at Puget Sound university, the former agent has put his old life behind him—but it seems his old life isn't finished with him.

A young man has gone missing from campus—and as a favor to a family friend, Elliot agrees to do a little sniffing around. His investigations bring him face-to-face with his former lover, Tucker Lance, the special agent handling the case.

Things ended badly with Tucker, and neither man is ready to back down on the fight that drove them apart. But they have to figure out a way to move beyond their past and work together as more men go missing and Elliot becomes the target in a killer's obsessive game...

3 comments:

x said...

I didn't realize there were so many YA books with gay characters. So awesome! Thanks for the list and the insight. As always:)

brotherdoc said...

Hey, Joe, since you like mysteries and gay fiction have you read any of the books by Anthony Bidulka about a gay private detective Russell Quant, who lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan? First one I think is "Amuse Bouche" and it's pretty amusing. Nothing steamy but lots of clever gay asides throughout the story. Author has a pretty cool web site. You might enjoy them if you have time in your busy schedule! How did the first week back go?

Sunne said...

Have you read the Adrian English series by Josh Lanyon? Sooo good...

Or the "Cut and Run" series by Abigail Roux...just saying...