What was the last book you read?
 

Its all about telly programmes and music these days but someone on the "what gives you a buzz" thread mentioned reading gives em a buzz.

So what was the last book you read or what are you reading now?

At the moment im reading

Warlockby Wilbur Smith.......fantastic.

Im also readingtrout at ten thousand feet which is essentially my dream :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

"Mister, are you a Priest?" by Bishop Edward Daly.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

What's a book :erm:

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Everything's Eventual - Stephen King.

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Wee free men Terry Pratchett :D

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Mistress of The Empire - Raymond E Feist and Janny WurtsAboslutely riveting. fantastic character development

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

YEGADS!!!

Ill give you a list of good books if you want :)

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The Drowned and the Saved a very good book, but not one to read if you are depressed.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Well ok - I do know what one is - but I can't remember when I last read one - probably sometime last year on the train to London when I read a Dr Who [Dalek] story.

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Autobiography of Steve Strange

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Glorious Appearing by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B Jenkins

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Last two completed books:

The Sigma Protocol (Robert Ludlum) - increasingly ludicrous but irritatingly readable
Venus (Ben Bova) - well-written piece of adventure/exploration

Currently reading:

Paladin of Souls (Lois McMaster Bujold) - Her second book set in the imaginary land of Chalion, so far a thoughtful, gripping work

In the queue:

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (Lynne Truss) - Cable Forum beware, anal postings by towny are on the way ;)

I love books, me :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

American Gods by Neil Gaimon

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

it was me who said reading gave me a buzz :D

am reading a shelia O'flanagan book atm.....i've read about five of her books in a row....very chick bookish

and am also reading "What is good?" by some philosopher blokie

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Here's a few that i have read in the last couple of weeks

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night - Mark Haddon Bloody Brilliant Book

Faust Among Equals - Tom Hot Very very funny

Vernon God Little Bit hard to get into at the start but definetly worth it

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

OOOHHHH......that was my holiday book last year, very good it was too :) You should check out his website...he has a good blog!

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

just finished reading "The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diaz.. True story and totally riviting.. 500 Spainish people turn up in the Yucutan and overthrow the Atzecs..

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

You know, my wife called me sad because on our holiday, I took a book on statistics with me - it was a good read though

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Ahh yes.......seems interesting.....perhaps this year you may have some of those handly electrical appliance manuals that you havnt got around to yet........you daredevil you :tu:

;)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just finished

QED, The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Dr Richard P Feynman.

Before that was.

Six Easy Peices by Dr Richard P Fenyman.

And am currently reading.

The Elegant Universe - Superstrings, Hidden Dimentions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, by Dr Brian Greene.

Nothing like a bit of light reading. lol.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I am currently reading At The Stroke of Madness by Alex Kava and then after that i'm going to read Heavier Than Heaven The Biography of Kurt Cobain By Charles R. Cross:)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Finished Red Dwarf - Last human about a week ago, gonna have a go at Red Dwarf - Backwards in the next few days and then I have several of the Aliens books lined up... Aliens Vs predator, Genocide & Female war (ive read genocide and female war b4, about 8 years ago when I first started high school)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSS!!!!!

I see Ian Banks new novel has finally been titled"Algebraist"

If anyone likes sci fi I can highy recomend his books........especially the "Culture" novels......breathtaking reading :)


adds to wish list!!

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Ring

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Finished that about a week ago :) Definately an interesting read.

Now reading The broken mirror - Understanding and treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder

...... have had it from the Library for just over a year now...... thought i should read the damn thing :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just finished Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb.Read it Friday until 5 am Saturday morning.Finally a happy ending for the hero.

Before that I finished Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton.

I am now reading a book on David Bowie,another on J.M.WTurner and one on The Pre-Raphaelites whilst dipping into another book on Pablo Picasso.

I'm getting all cultured up here. :D

Incog.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Ah, yes, volume 12 (or is it 13) in the series. As I understand it, Lahaye provides the theology and Jenkins the command of the English language. One of these days, I must try a volume to see what all the fuss is about.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Reading LOTR's at the moment (nearly done), too much bloody singing. :D

Preferred the film's (Awaits backlash).

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Having greatly enjoyed Perdido Street Station by China MiÃÃâ€*’©ville, I am currently nearly at the end of The Scar. Unfortunately, like many sequels, it doesn't quite live up to the original. After this, for light relief, I've got a history of the Hundred Years War by someone whose name eludes me at the moment.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just the three books? OR have you read the Hobbit too? - The Silmarillion?

I preferred the books :) - but each to their own :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Salems Lot by Stephen King :Sprint:

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

...is one of the few King books I've never read - any good?

I must admit to reading The Stand more than a few times :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I agree about the singing.Also in the first one there too many damned hobbits.

Frankly I read LOTR about 25/30 years ago and loved it.Read it recently when the films were due out and wondered what I'd been on the first time round.
It's dialogue is stodgy and I ended up wanting to stomp all the damned stupid hobbits into the ground. :mad:

I too preferred the films.

Incog. :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Has anyone actually read The Silmarillion from cover to cover? I've a sneaking suspion that it might be roughly the same number as the number who have finished Finnegans Wake.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

What can I say? - I read a lot :D

Anyway - the next book I'm going to read is - The Night of The Triffids

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Quite frightening really, don't be on your own when you read it lol

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The Eddie Stobart Story! :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I'm working my way through a box of old scifi books that have been liberated from the top shelf in the living room, where it was too much hassle to reach one down.

Lots of Larry Niven & Fred Pohl, great. I've read all of them before, but not for at least 15 years. :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I'd have to put my hand up to reading the Silmarillion. First read it when I was 11, needless to say I didn't understand a word of it then :D

I enjoyed the films of the same name, but to me they just weren't Lord of the Rings.

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Is Pohl still alive? Considering that he started writing in partnership with Henry Kuttner in the 50s, he must be getting on by now.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

An excellent choice, but I must admit my own fave Steven King book to be Pets Cemetary. I was visiting relatives in Toronto in 1988 when I was reading it, and had just gotten to the bit where the reserected cat is sitting on the dudes chest looking at him when he wakes up. Only for me to wae up that night, and find my aunts cat sitting on my chest watching me........... Talk about freaky. :shocked:

Think my next read will be a book called 'Masters of Death - The ss-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust. Looks like a really good read.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Yes, I have.

Are you kidding? The Silmarillion takes a little work, but at least it's comprehensible!

On the topic, I've just read the most excellent "A Hat Full of Sky", the latest book by Terry Pratchett (and a follow up to The Wee Free Men).

As I may have mentioned before ;) it's a "book for children", not a "children's book" and is *entirely* worth a read. It's funny, clever, not patronising and very *very* well written.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Well, yes, I was kidding slightly. I once glanced (and glanced is the operative word) at Finnegans Wake and decided that it wasn't for me. Any book that requires buying a guide to it first is not for me. OK, I did read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man many, many years ago.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

for the record..........i cant remember the last time i read a book, i was too interested in science current affairs etc to read books of fictional relavence..........

i do enough reading as it is :disturbd:

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

ah, but your reading is ultimately introspective, a good novel allows one to 'escape' & indulge another perspective :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I'll never have sex with you again! - A book of humourous birth stories which often moved me to a tear

Pornucopia - A strange erotic tale about a man's search to get his original 3.97 inches back. Much naughtiness :naughty:

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Yeah, i think though that i would have enjoyed the books a LOT more had i NOT seen the film funnily enough. Your own imagination is way better than someone elses interpretation off a book i think.

Probably why so many book to film projects go wrong.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

This is very true, in most cases I (personally) think that the book is often better than the film. In fact the only case that immidiately springs to mind - whereI thought the opposite is 'The Tommyknockers' - I thought the TV movie was a lot better than the book.

In the Lord of the Rings' case - I am glad that the films have been made as they will give an access to the general public to the story. But there is still a lot of the story (Tom Bombadil anyone :)) missing which is a shame.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Don't get me started :mad: There was a funny bit in the film, I forget which bit now but where Sam says 'we shouldn't be here' in a scene which isn't in the book and I blurted out 'no you shouldn't' in the middle of the cinema :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

LOL,
I remember reading the book and this guy called Tom Bombadil sprang up, i thought - hold on - this guys not in the film - hmmm, interesting. Then a few pages on i just wanted to smack his brains out with a large stick. :mad: He pretty much ranks as the ONLY character from a book that has managed to really **** me off.

Then i realised why he wasnt in the film. Whats the score with his wife though, anyone know? They didnt elaborate on that but suggested that she was special...

Edit : Beat me to it - Looks like im not the only one :D ^^

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

It's mainly about the way it was written, Tolkien wasn't just writing a single novel that had a beginning and an end, but a whole world where every character had their own history and destiny. So you get bits like with Tom Bombadil, where the main characters cross paths with him and he is not just a supporting character but a whole individual, but because Lord of the Rings was not his story you only get a short snippet of his life. There's another book called The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which I believe is a childrens book. Really, to get the true LOTR experience, you have to read everything else like Unfinished Tales. Christopher Tolkien has also done a very good job of collating some of his fathers notes and essays.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

The last one I read was Wilt by Tom Sharp (for the fourth or fifth time!) - I read somewhere that Wilt 4 is out in the late summer!

Before that it was Soldier 5 by Mike Coburn.

Next will hopefully be the latest book about Paddy Mayne (at one time the most decorated soldier in the british Army; Boxer and Irish Rugby international!) But I might just dig out Vintage Stuff by Tom Sharp!

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Sorry - Just one more LOTR post from me,

Given that i was banging on about Tom earlier i decided to have a look around the web and see what the internet nuts had to say about him. Didnt have to look for long - and stumbled upon this.

http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/theories/bombadil.htm

Interesting read.... (Only if you read / can remember the book)

Check out the Next/Previous topics as well for some laffs.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just Finished: "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser,
I'll never eat at a Mcdonald etc.. ever again!!!

Just started: "No Logo" By Naomi Klein

Been reading for 5 years: LOTR currently on the Two Towers

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I said that too.. I think I lasted 6 months.... the only thing that made me feel a little better is that the book is mostly based on the american food industry and I hope (naively, I'm sure) that those sorts of things (like the stuff in the slaughter houses, and the jets of excrement) don't happen over here...

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I've tried to avoid them latley because of Dietry reasons but cannot seem to resist a KFC every now and again, but have managed to avoid Mcd's, and Burger King, (Because they are not behind my house like KFC)
I hope that none of that goes on over here, although with the BSE crisis and the Foot and mouth epidemic, over here, I'm wondering what else might have been going on in the years running up to them.
But then again that might just be me being paraniod!

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

What book are you reading though?

Incog.:)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

i indulge in worldwide prespectives, diffarent news organisations, diffarent reports etc :D :pp

all sorts :pp

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just re-read Michael Chrichton's "Timeline" (needed something for the train).

Next up...Probably "Plague Wars"

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Ah, but if he hadn't been in there, then the Harvard Lampoon would never have been able to come up with "Tim Benzedrino" and "Hashberry" in "Bored of the Rings"...! :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Dont you mean the day of??

Once youve read it Ive got the bbc series kicking around ......its brilliant :)

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Well spotted - but no I don't :) - I mean the sequel. Which is the Night of the Triffids.

I taped the BBC series earlier this year off UK Gold :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...206870-3455637

Speaking of osbcure sequels - did you know there was a sequel to the novel of 'When Worlds Collide'

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

A Sequel?????? :shocked:

Its just not the same !!

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

No - but it was still a good book.

It was nice to see what happened to the characters - old and new :)

It is worth a read if you liked the original.

Next up... Foundation (asimov) which I've had for a LONG time - but never got round to reading.

(and YES - I know some people like the trashcan man ;) )

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Bah! Can't anyone stop these b*ggers who try to carry on with someone elses idea?All those damned Dune sequels and prequels written by other people.And Asimovs Foundation series.Get's on my tits this does.Also lay off the Blade runner 'sequels'.They are utter pap and follow on in the the style of the films not the original PKD Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep style.There is no one to touch the genius of PKD.

Sorry getting off my rant box now. :rant:

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Fair point, rather than a rant, I think. :)

I know the Wyndham estate gave permission for Simon Clark to produce this book, but it seems like cheating to me - have some of your own ideas Mr Clark :(

There should be a rule that only the original author can produce a sequel.

Having said that, one of the things that stopped me buying new SciFi (and Fantasy) books, was that they moved away from being self contained to becoming trilogies & beyond - Mission Earth anyone, a decology!!! Different stories within a 'world frame' set by an original story, Like Terry Pratchett, or the 'known space' stories by Larry Niven are ok - it's the ones where the story isn't finished until the last volume, I mean.

I still buy some, if I can get them second hand, Red/Blue/Green Mars, was a recent purchase, for example at 80p each ;)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Allow me to insert a small spelling correction here. I have, at this very moment, a copy of volume 10 in my grubby mitt. On the back cover it is described as the grand finale of "The biggest science fiction dekalogy" ever written. A small footnote helpfully explains (presumably for the benefit of the linguistically challenged) that a dekalogy is a group of 10 volumes. Having ground to a halt after, IIRC, volume 2, I doubt if I'll ever get round to reading it.

Even Proust didn't reach 10 volumes with ÃÃâ€*’â‚ ¬ la recherche du temps perdu.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Thanks, now I can get on it!!

I agree *entirely*! The "prelude to Dune" stuff stinks and, in the worst Star Trek traditions, pi$$es all over the continuity of the series.

I never actually thought Foundation was that great, but it just got worse with time. Other "franchise" works based on Asimov's ideas are also cr@p.

Don't touch the Blade Runner "sequel" with a barge pole. Blade Runner 2 tries to square the circle between the book "Do Androids..." and the film and makes a *complete* pigs ear of the entire thing!

Ok, rant over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled flame throwing...!

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I believe that's actually spelled "Drekology" (or, at least, should be!)

But I know what you mean. I see a new work by a new writer and it's billed as "Book one in the XYZ trilogy" and my response is "oh gods, here we go again, another lot of turgid pap churned out to make money" :(

Hear hear! If you haven't read him, may I recommend Allen Steele ("Clarke County, Space", "Lunar Descent" and "Orbital Decay" are three excellent works) he's well worthy of taking up the mantle of the "Hard SF" writers such as Clarke and Niven.

I tried that series recently and was frankly disappointed with it. I got about half way through Blue and just gave up. It seemed that Kim Stanley Robinson can write good technical stuff, but doesn't know how to put together a good story, eg he casually tosses away a line about a child being the n-th one born on Mars, but the *first* one, which should have been a *major* event, doesn't even get a mention!)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I just ordered Do androids dream of electric sheep - along with some other Books :- Martian Time-Slip - Ubik: Glen Runciter is dead - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - A Scanner Darkly. All in one volume, As I've never read do androids dream of electric sheep and I quite fancied it....

So I hope it's quite good, I hope the others are ok too.

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PDK writes super intelligent literature that just happens to be SF.

Incog.:)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

i just trudged through the stand complete and uncut by stephen king. great book though it seems to jump around in places.

have read every stephen king book and am onto james herbert now, must say though favourite book of all time is probably IT. ah the evil clown. the film version was utter pants though.......

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

The Stand's brilliant - I picked it up in a second hand shop for about six quid years ago and couldn't put it down (the mini-series was good as well :tu: )

IT's a great book - along with the first Poltergeist film, it put me off clowns for life :(

As for James Herbert, I'd recommend the later ones - Others, Once and Nobody True are really good, but his earlier stuffs worth reading as well.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

The Foundation trilogy (not the later stuff) is something that you should read when you are young and new to SF. Don't forget that they were written in the first half of the 40s. I'd agree with you that they're not exactly one of the gems of English literature, but in their time they were some of the best SF available. One other thing; you quite often come across the claim that Asimov based the series on the fall of the Roman Empire. Yes, the basic premise, the unstoppable fall (due to historical circumstances) of a great empire and the emergence of barbarian successor states, is but the rest has a much vaguer connection. For example, it forgets that it was only the Western empire that fell; the Eastern empire survived for many more centuries. The other part that has a historical analogue is in, IIRC, Foundation and Empire where the last strong general is stopped because of jealousy on the part of the emperor. This brings to mind Justinian and Belisarius.

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He also wrote some *very* strange stuff (allegedly chemically inspired!), but overall it's defintely good stuff and very thought provoking at times.

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Yes, there's a definitely distinction between the first three books and Foundation's Edge which was written 20 years after Asimov painted himself into a corner and couldn't find a way out...!

They do rather show their age (and the fact that they were written as installments because at the start of each half of the books someone finds an excuse to explain Psycho History!) but they are worth a look, it's just that, in hindsight, the flaws are also visible.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

i have read the others, the dark, the ghosts of sleath and the magic cottage. the others gave me nightmares for a few days after though :cry: damn all those freaks... (i was younger when i read it)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

If you want a genuinely scary ghost story, try The Woman in Black by Susan Hill; it's not very long. There was an excellent TV adaptation in the 90's.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

the others wasnt abuot ghosts though... just genetic freaks/mutants etc... my overactive imagination ;)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I have read most of the Point Horror books by R.L Stine. I haven't really got a favourite one.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Well having not read a book for years.

I have just read 200 pages in one go and been engrossed into it.

Ricky - Ricky Tomlinson autobiograpy.

Fantastic read up to now.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

I got my Philip K Dick book yesterday - so I'm going to make a start on that at work today - I'll let you know how I get on :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Just Finished Powder By Kevin Sampson Wouldn't say it was great, but it was alright.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

cor are they still around? i read most of them a decade ago (and now i feel old) :(

im reading catch 22 atm

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

'The Kid' by Kevin Lewis. Heartbreaking true story...

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Still or again?

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

To save me checking the previous 6 pages, which particular title is this?

A Philip K Dick anorak-type question. If my memory serves me correctly, a character in one of his books was called Horselover Fats. Why was this name chosen?

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

The book contains :-

1) The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
2) Martian Time-slip
3) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (what i got it for)
4) Ubik
5) A Scanner Darkly

I've never read a Philip K Dick book before...

I also got 2 Ray Bradbury short story books (I Sing the Body Electric & The Golden Apples of The Sun) And another 5in1 - HG wells

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Pratchett's Wee Free Men! Girlfriend bought it as she thought it was part of the Discworld series. Its not, its aimed at the younger reader, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am currently reading the second (which I went out and bought) in the series.

I have all but the last discworld series books.

Next book will be a Pratchett or another of the excellent Robert Rankin books.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Excuse me for not reading the whole thread and asking a question which may have been asked but....
Isn't Blade Runner based on number 3? I haven't got the DVD as I can't seem to find the original version (which I prefer). I used to watch that once a month as a student.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

It is indeed based on number 3 - which is why I bought it :)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Ah, Pratchett & Rankin :)


I've read all of the DW books bar the latest one, plus have also read & thoroughly recommend the excellent Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman collaboration "Good Omens".

I haven't read any Rankin books in ages, but I enjoyed all the "Brentford" & "Armageddon" books.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Pratchetts kids books are also excellent (Good Omens was one of the first books of his I read by the way!).
Diggers, Truckers, and the other, are all very readable.

I've ordered the book recommended by Dilligaf, its £9.09 from Amazon.co.uk at the moment.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Very loosely based on, yes.

The similarities between Blade Runner and Do Androids are, frankly, limited to a few character names and the Voigt-Kampff test, anyone who bought it thinking it was the film of the book (or the book of the film) would be very confused and disappointed.

The book is good, the film is excellent, but there's no real relationship between the two.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

As I've probably mentioned before, Pratchet writes "books for children" rather than "children's books". The difference is subtle, but important.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

A history of Carrowmenagh .. very boring, I was forced to read it.

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

A history of the Hundred Years War by someone-or-other that happened to be lying around (which explains why the French hate the English) and Dawkins' tome about Darwinism 'The Blind Watchmaker'. Anyone for an evolution thread? :P

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

Gor for it ..... :D I'm just in the right frame of mind ;)

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

i'm reading "false memory" by Dean koontz.... bought it in hardback in a charity shop today for a quid.... the rate i'm going through books atm, means charity shops are a god send :D

Re: What was the last book you read?
 

When I was younger I used to really like Dean Koontz - he wrote some really good horror/thrillers - even if they were really improbable - 'whispers' springs to mind, as does 'Servants of twilight' - and they had some very descriptive sex scenes too (as 13/14 year old boy these are important :D) - I just find these days he's trying to be a Writer (with a capital W) - rather than doing what he's good at - his last few books have been pretty crap - 'From the corner of his eye' being top of the list, and those other ones about the boy who's allergic to light.. far too artsy and clever, rather than being a page turner

I'm reading 'One Door away from Heaven' by him at the moment - I'm only a 100 pages into it and so far it seems ok - I'm hoping it's a return to form from him, but I won't hold my breath.

False memory is the one that involves haiku isn't it?

I would really recommend reading his older books, I really enjoyed them.

Edit: lightning was another really good one, if you could get past the improbable story line.