Richard Cosgrove's 3 favorite reads in 2023

The Drift takes the classic trope of having what initially appear to be three very distinct and separate stories gradually converge on each other and delivers a masterclass on how to pull it off with style and aplomb.

The phrase ‘page-turner’ is often bandied about, but I genuinely found I couldn’t stop reading due to CJ Tudor’s effective use of short chapters and advancing each of the stories in a rapid-fire round-robin manner. Each chapter ends with a tantalizing hook that encourages you to push on until, finally, the pieces all fall into place in a series of powerful but logical revelations.

The Drift is only Tudor’s fifth book, but already, she has become one of only a handful of authors that I make a point of picking up on release day.

I love it when I discover a new series that captures my imagination, as the original zombie apocalypse novel Autumn did back in 2001. I also love it when a beloved series comes to a satisfying conclusion, which Autumn did with the fifth novel in the series. 

So why do I love Autumn Exodus, then? Simple. David Moody was able to revisit the Autmn universe and breathe new life into it (yeah, I know, taxi!) with his London trilogy, of which Exodus is the thrilling and equally satisfying climax.

Whereas the original series developed on a book-by-book basis, Exodus is the finale of a tightly plotted three-book journey packed with believable characters being put through hell, and I closed it after its final unexpected sucker punch with a grin on my face. 

They say a lie is best hidden between two truths, and with Chasing The Boogeyman, Richard Chizmar has created the literary equivalent by embedding a tale of how he became obsessed by a fictional killer in his old hometown into his own autobiographical childhood.

This reads like one of the many true crime books I devoured in my younger years, and Chizmar expertly draws the reader in until they believe that this all really happened with the skill and panache that you’d expect from one of the few writers who have collaborated with a certain Mr. S King, Esq.

Easily one of the most original literary publications I’ve read since S by JJ Abrams nearly a decade ago, and if that’s not high enough praise, then I don’t know what is!