Books like 10 Days — picked by fans

Coffin is a retired detective sergeant out of Portland, Maine. I love books by authors who write what they know and, obviously, write it well.

This book is the first in a series involving Portland PD Detective Sergeant John Byron. Coffin draws on his life experience to create an exhilarating, believable suspense novel and a likable character I want to continue to read. 

From the first page of Shelter in Place, the characters sucked me into their lives, had me cheering for them, crying for them, and holding my breath through terrifying situations.

The feisty female main character doesn’t want romance nor rescuing but that doesn’t mean she won’t get it. The “bad guy” comes up with enough getaway tricks to rival James Bond, and will leave you asking, “wow, what next”? I read this in one riveting stretch; absolutely could not put it down.

John Connolly is simply a terrific writer. In this Detective Charlie Parker novel, the Maine woods are a character in themselves—sinister, overbearing, and almost certainly harbouring—you guessed it—real evil. Connolly’s Charlie Parker is haunted—literally—and dangerous. He’s a complex and darkly charismatic figure that I find compelling. The Wrath of Angels has at its core the battle between Good and Evil, but it is played out by imperfect characters in a very spooky atmosphere. It has all the ingredients of a horror novel, doesn’t it? But John Connolly manages darker themes believably and again, for me, it mixes genres beautifully—and believe me, that’s not easy.

I loved this book because of the relationship of the villain to the protagonist. In fact, as I was writing my own novel, I used Connolly’s as a model. Oh, that I could write like John Connolly. The twists and turns, the little truths about life revealed.

I like layers in my mysteries and writing that is more lyrical. Flawed protagonists appeal to me, and Charlie Parker with his wife and daughter haunting him fit that need. And then there are Angel and Louis, the bad-good guys and loyal friends of Charlie. Every detective needs loyal friends who look out for them.

Connolly’s mysteries are dark, and the level of evil disturbing, but I like that.

I absolutely love Nick Bostrom's book because it dives deep into the fascinating yet daunting future of artificial intelligence, a topic that resonates with my own work. Bostrom's exploration of how superintelligent AI could emerge and the profound risks it poses is both thought-provoking and essential reading for anyone curious about technology's trajectory.

His insights on the challenges of control and alignment really struck a chord with me, as they highlight the importance of designing AI systems that prioritize human values. This book not only raises critical questions but also inspires a sense of urgency to navigate the future responsibly, making it a personal favorite and a vital resource for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and ethics.

I recently discovered Reid’s writing and I love the slow literary suspense of Foe, his twist relying upon an unreliable first-person narrator.

Farmer Junior is selected by lottery as a possible candidate for an off-world workforce colonising space. The narrative takes place on earth, however, and it is a domestic portrait of a marriage as much as it is science fiction. Junior is a transparent and sincere narrator. His unreliability comes from what he himself does not know and his hazy memory of his own past. ("Everything blends into a nebulous fog.")

His narrative reveals more than he realises, including through his treatment of a horned beetle in their closet. As with the best fiction, it holds a mirror up to our own humanity. 

I fondly remember the first time I encountered Author C Clarke. I had read science fiction before and considered it my favorite genre. But I had never been whisked away to the stars and into the minds of intelligent machines as I was reading this book.

Clarke envisioned a future where human technology has usurped human curiosity. The ability of our machine creations to satiate our needs and wants—a time when our creations far outstripped our human capacity. I didn't know it then. But I know now that his concepts were real. It is only now in the twenty-first century that the future he prophesied is emergent. Even though we may not see exactly the same technology Clarke envisioned, we can see his ideas applied to us in the way intelligent machines shape our destiny.    

Clarke's re-write of his novel Beyond the Fall of Night delivers the classic hero Alvin.… show more.

The year is 2095, and human beings must take performance enhancement pills to compete with automated systems. The future in Machinehood could be ours tomorrow.

Welga and Nithya, the novel’s protagonists, are constantly on the verge of burnout while pushing themselves to perform. A mysterious terrorist organization called the Machinehood turns up to demand equal rights for AI, and that humans put an end to pill manufacturing, triggering events around the world. Parts of the novel are set in Chennai, India, and despite all its futuristic advances, the city retains its present day identity. Machinehood also portrays women in technologically-driven spaces, which is something I'm always rooting for.

Biko and The Thief follows Lindewe Glover, a thief attempting to rob the starship Stephen S. Biko while its passengers are in stasis.

After her attempt is derailed, she must reckon not only with the ship’s mother AI and unforeseen defenses, space pirates, and the dangers of deep space, but also with the prospect of spending the Biko’s entire flight time awake and alone.

Her profession may be dubious, but her plight is anyone’s nightmare. Greene’s episodic storytelling will leave you curious about Lindi’s survival and the repercussions of her foiled theft.

A fantastic expose about the perils of Artificial Intelligence written with clear passion for a just and equitable AI future.

This book serves as an introduction into AI’s deep learning technology and its political effects. In easily digestible prose, it charters the ways that AI impacts society and how it feeds into various social predicaments, such as the rise of right-wing movements in Europe and North America.