For the last two years I’ve kept a log of all the good books I read, regardless of when they were originally published. You can read my 2015 list by clicking here, and 2016’s by clicking here.
And since I’m nothing if not predictable, I decided to repeat this process for 2017.
So, here’s a look at the best novels, short story collections, and other books I read in 2017.
In 2015, when I interviewed writer Adam Christopher about what was then his new novel Made To Kill, he described that novel as “a hardboiled science fiction mystery, written in the style of Raymond Chandler.” Now he’s continuing the adventures of his robot hitman Ray Electromatic in both a new nove, Killing Is My Business (hardcover, digital) and a new novella, Standard Hollywood Depravity (paperback, digital), the latter of which came out a few months ago.
Originally released on Xbox One and PC, the third-person acrobatic action game Rise Of The Tomb Raider was an invigorating adventure that was easily one of the year’s best games and a worthy successor to 2013’s Tomb Raider. Now we have Rise Of The Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration (PlayStation 4), which not only brings this game to Sony’s system, but it also includes both new and previously available story add-ons and challenge modes, making this the definitive edition of a great game.
Upon hearing that iconic crime novelist Raymond Chandler was not a fan of science fiction, you’d expect a Chandler-loving sci-fi fan to think, “ah well” or “oh man” or maybe even “fuck that guy.” But instead of being pouty or petty, writer Adam Christopher took it as more of a challenge. Thus we have Made To Kill (hardcover, digital), the first in a trilogy of sci-fi crime novels he’s describing as “Chandler-esque.”