Top of the morning to you! Happy St. Patrick's Day and before we go any further, can we just talk a minute about how fast the winter went by? I feel like I just sat down after Valentines's Day. My daffodils are starting to pop, making my garden look like a pot o' gold and the sun has finally come out from behind the rain clouds. While it is still a bit too chilly to sit on my porch, it's getting closer to the time when I'll be out there listening to the peepers every evening with a good book.

Today we are continuing our March Murder Mystery Madness blog series, but are taking a closer look at the sibling of murder mysteries, thrillers. Thrillers and mysteries often are lumped together or at least near each other in a library or bookstore. Typically a murder mystery starts with a murder and a sleuth works to solve before the end of the book, and much of the time they get tangled up in the killer's sights before the dramatic finale. Thrillers are similar except the protagonist is trying to solve a mystery while being pursued from the very beginning, raising the stakes, and bring the emotions of the chase to the very forefront of the story.

Here are my favorites, and one I want to read. As a reminder, these are just my personal opinions, and I'm sure there are many I've missed. If you have read any of these or know of one I've missed, drop me a comment below.

Angels & Demons

I know people have strong feelings on this book. They either love it or they hate it, and I'll be upfront and say I'm firmly in the love it category. Because of this book and the following The Da Vinci Code, I have permanently fallen for the main character Robert Langdon, who I see as a more approachable Indiana Jones. To be fair, it helps that I read these two books before going to Rome and Italy for three weeks. Kind of puts things in perspective when you're there looking at a statue by Bernini with this story still swirling in the back of your mind. I've read every book in this series a couple of times, and I enjoyed them all. I love the fast pace and meticulous research. If you want to learn more about Dan Brown, check out this CBS Sunday Morning interview. Does anyone else think it's so awesome his house is like straight out of one of his books? How cool is that?

Split Second

Whereas Dan Brown focuses on religion and ancient secrets, Baldacci lets us into the Secret Service with a presidential assassination and presidential abduction. If you want something similar to this type of story, The President is Missing was a collaboration between Bill Clinton and James Patterson, that I also enjoyed.

Seven Deadly Wonders

I love this series almost as much as I love Dan Brown's Robert Langdon. This series strikes me as an Indiana Jones series with higher stakes, newer technology, and a crew of people you wouldn't expect working together. If you enjoy puzzles, riddles, symbology, and booby-trapped ancient tombs, this is a must-read.

Along Came A Spider

This series is on my summer list! I haven't read it yet, but I'm a huge James Patterson fan, and this series about Alex Cross's quest to find his missing family is one of his most famous. As it stands right now, there are thirty books in the series, which draws me even more. I love having a long series to look forward to after I get to know the characters. I don't want the story to end.

Well, those are my picks for thrillers! I hope I've added at least something to your TBR pile. Have you read any of these? Got any suggestions? Leave me a comment below! I'd love to hear from you!

See you next time when we wrap up mysteries and get back to our regularly scheduled program.

Onward!

Kathryn