Award-winning author and journalist. Editor. Former president of Sisters in Crime. How many hats can Hank Phillippi Ryan wear? Her latest Jane Ryland novel, What You See, was an award nominee. And, her Charlotte McNally mysteries, such as Air Time, are being reprinted in hardcover.
As busy as she is, Hank took time to suggest a few books for us for summer reading. We have four titles.
Like Terry Shames, Hank recommends Noah Hawley’s Before the Fall. She says, “A master class in structure – and not just a plane crash thriller, but a wonderful examination of television, journalism, celebrity, passion, family, deception and the way we live and think today. I carried this book around with me so that if I ever had any time at all, I could sneak in a few more pages.”
She suggests Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go. “Completely surprising. I actually went back, after one astonishing development, to check if the author had played fair with this riveting psychological thriller. Yes, indeed, it all works perfectly. It’s amazingly and brilliantly clever.
Ryan picks one of our July authors. Linda Fairstein will be at The Poisoned Pen on July 27 with Hank’s suggestion, Killer Look. Hank wrote, “She’s on my absolutely must read list, and I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. Top of the pile when it comes out in late July.”
Her final pick is nonfiction, a look inside the world of a crime fiction author. Reacher Said Nothing is by Andy Martin. “I didn’t know what to expect, and bought it with a kind of apprehensive curiosity, wondering if this idea could possibly work – Martin shadows Lee Child through the writing of Make Me. It turns out to be one of the most instructive and educational (and affectionate) books about writing I’ve read in a long time. (It’s also got a lot of fun insider stuff.)
I loved Hank Phillippi Ryan’s comment. “This is such a fun idea – and kind of impossible to choose.” You’ll have to choose, though, unless you decide to pick up all the books. They’re available through our Web Store, along with Hank’s books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/