I'm sorry. I just don't get it any more.

Today is a day of frustration.  I've just finished a crime novel written by a previously-unread author  that I am not even going to post about because I thought it was just awful.  It was just poorly written, it read like the author (who is also a screenwriter) was hoping it was going to become another big blockbuster tv series, and it was so out there as to be well beyond where I go when I suspend disbelief.  I put the book down extremely frustrated wondering if this sort of stuff is on course to become the norm in this genre with authors trying to outdo each other with how gimmicky their serial killers can get, or with methods of killing that are just beyond outlandish.  If the point of these violence-soaked novels is that society is getting more violent, well, hello, duh -- it's all over the news; I got that memo already and  I certainly don't need to open a novel to discover that message.  What ever happened to the idea of a decent, intelligent story, or one that tells its readers something about human nature in the process? Does anyone besides me even want that sort of thing any more?  I don't know about anyone else, but the extreme violence in these books  to me is just unnecessary, but seems to be  getting worse, more on the edge -- and  even more frightening --  more popular  as time goes on.

totally flummoxed!

Seriously, folks, today I got an email from goodreads telling me that the winning book of this year's best mystery and thriller category is none other than (drumroll please) Dan Brown's Inferno.  The votes were cast  by readers, and Inferno received 29,132 votes.  Now, contrast that with Jo Nesbø's Police, which got 6, 821 votes.  Frankly, I had a lot of trouble believing this news, considering that a) Police was probably Nesbø's best book so far and b) that (imho) Inferno was DaVinci Code all over again with a change of venue and cast.

I'm seriously not getting how this happened -- not just in the case of Police, but every other exquisite crime novel that's been published in 2013.  Claudia Piniero's A Crack in the Wall, for example, should have at least been nominated, and the same goes for a host of other truly wonderful crime/mystery books -- 21:37 by Mariusz Czubaj -- which was listed as European literature therefore not considered a crime fiction novel; Arnaldur Indridason's newest wasn't on the voting list; where the hell was Andrea Camilleri; Benjamin Black? I think not; Tim Hallinan's wonderful Fame Thief wasn't there; I could go on, but my point is made.  

I don't consider myself in any way shape or form a book snob or "highbrow" reader (I mean, seriously...I read Inferno when it came out)  but jeez! There has to be a point at which people recognize the excellent work being done by not only excellent home-grown crime writers but the international ones as well.  Is there some reason that people don't choose to expand their reading horizons or climb out of their reading ruts? I mean, to each his own for sure, but frankly, this year's choice was just a little more than not right.

okay. that's all. I have ranted and now I am finished.