Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved mysteries and the detectives that solved them. Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot were heroes to me, but as I grew older and the world grew more complex, I started reading novels where it was not so easy to separate the good guys from the bad. The world was not black and white anymore, and justice was not so simple. Characters who had to work around the law or took matters into their own hands to earn justice became my new heroes. Phillip Marlowe and Sam Spade, while not saints themselves, did whatever they had to in order to serve justice, and I admired them for it.


I wrote...

In Bad Faith

By Geoffrey Carter ,

Book cover of In Bad Faith

What is my book about?

In Bad Faith is a spellbinding mystery in which Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Talk Talk

Geoffrey Carter Why I love this book

I loved the way the author drew us into a character who was incredibly strong, stubborn, and determined not despite, but because of, her disability.

I was holding my breath right up to the end, wondering how Dana would react when she finally tracked down the man who stole her identity, and was pleasantly surprised at her version of justice.

T.C. Boyle is one of my favorite writers because his stories are breathtaking and unpredictable. This story rocked me from the beginning; Boyle brought me right into the world of a woman who cannot hear, and—more importantly—that no one listens to.

By T.C. Boyle ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Talk Talk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There's more than one to way to take a life in this masterful thriller from one of the greatest voices in American contemporary fiction

Dana sits in a courtroom with her legs shackled as a long list of charges is read out, many of them dangerous. But the panic that grips her is not because she has been caught. She knows there has been a terrible mistake - she didn't commit any of these crimes. As Dana and her lover Bridger set out to clear her name and find the person who is living a blameless life of criminal excess…


Book cover of Farewell, My Lovely

Geoffrey Carter Why I love this book

This book simply knocked me out when I first read it, mostly because the characters were so gripping and vivid.

Philip Marlowe was the quintessential hard-boiled private eye working to find justice in a rotten world—a sort of modern-day Don Quixote. I was also enthralled by Chandler’s depiction of a morally bankrupt Los Angeles, full of shysters, criminals, and false messiahs.

I admired the dogged hero’s determination to—despite numerous temptations not to—get at the truth of the matter. Ironically, when justice is served, no one is better off for it.

By Raymond Chandler ,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Farewell, My Lovely as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the forthcoming film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson

Philip Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.


Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Only Good Indians

Geoffrey Carter Why I love this book

I was amazed at the subtle way this horror story unfolded and how the evil presence slowly began to reveal itself. It draws you in completely.

When the hunters become the hunted and justice is brought by those who were wronged, it is one of the most satisfying aspects of this book. The masterful way Mr. Graham interwove elements of Native American culture and the power of Nature was beautiful, even in its most horrifying aspects.

The final sequences are truly breathtaking, and the final justice is more than gratifying.

By Stephen Graham Jones ,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked The Only Good Indians as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Thrilling, literate, scary, immersive."
-Stephen King

The Stoker, Mark Twain American Voice in Literature, Bradbury, Locus and Alex Award-winning, NYT-bestselling gothic horror about cultural identity, the price of tradition and revenge for fans of Adam Nevill's The Ritual.

Ricky, Gabe, Lewis and Cassidy are men bound to their heritage, bound by society, and trapped in the endless expanses of the landscape. Now, ten years after a fateful elk hunt, which remains a closely guarded secret between them, these men - and their children - must face a ferocious spirit that is coming for them, one at a time. A spirit…


Book cover of The Night of the Hunter

Geoffrey Carter Why I love this book

I love this book because of its breathtaking suspense.

I read it years ago and remember it keeping me up at night. Because it is from a child’s point-of-view, the fears and understanding of the evil shadowing them are all the more harrowing.

I was afraid for the children, even as their shrewdness for survival kept them one step ahead of their nemesis and wanted to know what happened to them—and their benefactor—after the final page.

By Davis Grubb ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Night of the Hunter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The bestselling, National Book Award–finalist novel that inspired Charles Laughton’s expressionist horror classic starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters.
 
Two young children, Pearl and John Harper, are being raised alone by their mother in Cresap’s Landing, Ohio. Their father Ben has just been executed for killing two men in the course of an armed robbery. Ben never told anyone where he hid the ten thousand dollars he stole; not his widow Willa, not his lawyer, nor his cell-mate Henry “Preacher” Powell. But Preacher, with his long history of charming his way into widows’ hearts and lives, has an inkling that…


Ad

Book cover of Every Witch Way but Ghouls

Every Witch Way but Ghouls by K.E. O'Connor,

A witchy paranormal cozy mystery told through the eyes of a fiercely clever (and undeniably fabulous) feline familiar.

I’m Juno. Snow-white fur, sharp-witted, and currently stuck working magical animal control in the enchanted town of Crimson Cove. My witch, Zandra Crypt, and I only came here to find her missing…

Book cover of Presumed Innocent

Geoffrey Carter Why I love this book

I loved the way Scott Turow navigates the law and the courtroom in his fiction, and this novel especially.

Not only is this story a breathtaking page turner, it pins down the fine points of the law and behavioral nuances of the people who practice it.

This was one of the books that kept you up all night and then you found yourself wanting to read again—to find the trail of breadcrumbs you missed the first time through. Justice is served, just not as expected.

By Scott Turow ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Presumed Innocent as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Rusty Sabich is a prosecuting lawyer in Chicago who enters a nightmare world when Carolyn, a beautiful attorney with whom he has been having an affair, is found raped and strangled. He stands accused of the crime.

This 'insider' book by a Chicago lawyer was one of the great novels of the 1980s, selling more than nine million copies, and was made into a famous film starring Harrison Ford. It's a supremely suspenseful and compelling courtroom drama about ambition, weakness, hypocrisy and American justice.


Explore my book 😀

In Bad Faith

By Geoffrey Carter ,

Book cover of In Bad Faith

What is my book about?

In Bad Faith is a spellbinding mystery in which Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy heir Lionel Bing to discreetly help “fix” scandals and legal problems for his father’s wealthy friends. Bing, a brilliant but troubled investigator, suffers from PTSD symptoms after witnessing the murder of his mother as a child. 

West, himself haunted by a murder case he was unable to solve, joins forces with Lionel to investigate the case of a five-million-dollar loan fraud from a local bank. The case takes them and forensic specialist Mia Lockwood from elite financial boardrooms to the jungles of Mexico where they uncover an unlikely link between a gold mine, the Catholic Church, and the ruthless chief of a cartel.

Book cover of Talk Talk
Book cover of Farewell, My Lovely
Book cover of The Only Good Indians

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,211

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 You might also like…

Book cover of Pinned

Pinned by Liz Faraim,

“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.

At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…

Book cover of Reddy

Reddy by J L Wilson,

This is for those readers who like unusual settings and independent female characters in mid-life.

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in private investigators, presidential biography, and murder?

Murder 1,134 books