Stephen King - master of horror and goosebumps. I've been a fan since I was 10 years old. One of the few authors whose books I'll pick up just based on his name. He takes about 100 pages to set up his stories and then they take off from there. Totally worth it. It's very rare that he has an off book. Fav'rites:
The Stand; It; Salem's Lot; Firestarter; The Shining; Pet Cemetary; Four Seasons; The Green Mile; Bag of Bones...ah, hell, they' re all good...
Carl Hiaasen - don't let the craptaculous movie
Strip Tease throw you off - Hollywood always has a way of fucking up a good book. He writes mystery/suspense wrapped up in a healthy dose of comedy. Always funny and entertaining.
James Ellroy - best known for
L.A. Confidential (a rare book Hollywood actually did a great job with) this guy is a master at the retro murder/mystery.
The Black Dahlia is another excellent tale he did - a work of fiction based on the real life Black Dahlia murder where the grusomely tortured and dismembered body of Elizabeth Short --
http://www.bethshort.com/scene21.htm -- was discovered in 1947. A movie based on the book is coming out this fall. I'm hoping Hollywood does as good a job with
Dahlia as they did with
Confidential, but regardless Ellroy has a knack for capturing the dark and disturbing aspects of people and crime.
My Dark Places, Suicide Hill and
Because The Night are also recommended.
