Keeping King Patterson out of the Top Five is one feat in of itself, but off the charts completely takes the solid work of the heavy hitters. Luckily, we got them and then some on this month’s Top Five. Sandford, Baldacci, Robb and Robert Parker (risen in the form of Ace Atkins), join newcomer Christina Dodd team up with their own brand of hardened thrillers, and we got ourselves enough action to question what Patterson has in the tank. We’ll see the response, and keep it rolling, next time on the Best of. Until then, keep the gloves off the earbuds on.

 

Extreme Prey
John Sandford
DB 84172
After the events in Gathering Prey (DB 81372), Lucas Davenport finds himself no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor invites Lucas to join his presidential campaign staff. They soon find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2016.

The Last Mile
David Baldacci
DB 83898 / CL 16016
As Melvin Mars is about to be executed for the violent killing of his parents two decades earlier, another man confesses to the crime. Meanwhile, Amos Decker–newly hired on an FBI special task force–takes an interest in Mars’s case after discovering striking similarities to his own life. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.  2016.

Robert B Parker’s Slow Burn
Ace Atkins
DB 84138 / CL 16074
Fire at a boarded-up Catholic church lit up Boston’s South End, killing three trapped firefighters. A year later there are still no answers about how it started. Firefighter Jack McGee–who lost his best friend in the blaze–suspects arson and takes the case to PI Spenser. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2016.

Virtue Falls
Christina Dodd
DB 84107
Elizabeth Banner grew up with the certainty that her father murdered her mother when she was a small child. Twenty years later, she returns to Virtue Falls, where it all happened, and discovers her father is innocent and a killer is still on the loose. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2014.

Brotherhood in Death
J.D. Robb
DB 83804 / CL 16114
Although it is not a homicide, NYPD lieutenant Eve Dallas agrees to handle the investigation when the husband of her colleague, Dr. Mira, is knocked out and his high-powered cousin kidnapped. But the case’s twists and turns bring out Eve’s childhood pain. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2016.