Today, it’s Glen Davis’ turn to share his favorite books of 2020. If you haven’t “met” Glen yet, he’s one of the regular participants in “What Are You Reading?” on Thursdays, and he shared his 2019 favorites with us at the beginning of 2020. I enjoy Glen’s dry comments on some of his weekly posts. Thank you, Glen, for discussing your favorite books of 2020.

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2020 was not a good year. Even though I read something like 800 books, very few of them were good. Maybe it was me. Here are some of the standouts;

Best Cozies:

Antiques Fire Sale by Barbara Collins; This year’s entry in the Trash ‘n’ Treasures series is another winner. Vivian Borne is now the sheriff, but it cramps her style. There are all these rules, and she still wants to direct the community theatre and continue her antique business. When the antique house of one of her former beaux goes up in flames, she hurls herself into the house. Whether to save the owner, or his antiques, nobody is quite sure, even Vivian. Vivian thinks it’s murder, but the former NYC cop who now heads the city police disagrees. 
Something of a departure for the series.

How To Frame A Fashionista by Debra Sennefelder; After coming back home after a humiliating expulsion from New York City, a young lady is getting back on her feet, operating a used clothing store. When her former boss, resembling Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, is the primary suspect in a murder, our sleuth investigates, even though she really doesn’t know why she should. I liked the element of doubt in the story.

Best Espionage:

One Minute Out by Mark Greaney; The Gray Man tackles the cause du jour before February 2020: Human Trafficking. On a side job to assassinate a war criminal from the Balkan Wars. The criminal is involved in human trafficking, and The Gray Man decides to help the victims out. This takes him all the way to Hollywood and a Jeffrey Epstein type billionaire, who has critical intelligence on terrorism. What is an assassin to do? Topical one day, passe the next, this one still never lets up.

Collateral by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson;  Tier One is eliminating Russian spies, while the head of the KGB has plans of his own. Meanwhile, the Leader of Russia has plans to annex more of the former Soviet Union with various False Flag operations. Very tense. A lot of people don’t even realize Ukraine is in a war with Russia.

Men’s Adventure:

Double Down by W.L. Ripley;  A former Marine MP, now a security consultant owes a gambling debt to a local mob boss in Las Vegas. To repay this debt, the boss gives him the task of retrieving a suitcase. Unfortunately, a lot of other people also want the case, including a Nicaraguan intelligence goon. After a hiatus, Ripley is back with new stuff, with three books in 2020. One of the few bright spots of the year.

The Mountain by Ryan Konkoly; Ryan Decker is asked to find the missing loser son of a Senator in a part of Northern California dominated by the illegal marijuana industry. What seems to be a normal missing persons case soon turns into a series of sieges and shootouts, as the local growers, and some outside interests want to keep Decker away.

Hard Boiled:

A Dangerous Breed by Glen Erik Hamilton; Van Shaw is trying to rebuild his house when he receives an invitation for his mother to attend a high school reunion. This leads him to a search for his father. At the same time, he gets roped into a nearly impossible heist with a tight deadline by some dangerous people.

Rolling Thunder by A.J. Devlin; Hammer-Head Jed is now a full-fledged private eye, and is asked to find the coach of a roller derby team. Not only does he get a new girlfriend, he encounters dachshund racing bookies, a trashy talk show host and assorted other weirdness.

Biography:

Rock and Roll Children by Sean Frazier; In the mid-1980’s, a heavy metal fan tries to from a bad and get through high school. When the prom committee needs money after a scandal, it’s time to put on a show! A good picture of small town life at the time, and shows how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman’s Ruthless Quest for Global Power by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck; The subject of this biography was little known until recently. An ambitious prince who seeks to modernize Saudi Arabia, and won’t let anyone or anything stand in his way. He’s most famous for his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Turkey. The incident, while chilling on its own, was a canary in the coal mine. After the incident there was no real pushback. A few months later, and vast numbers of people completely disbelieved the press when a pandemic was starting.

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Thank you, Glen!