ŷ������

Ok, Im coming off the back of a few mediocre reads and I need a good read. Something:

1. Like King would write, with great character development, which really paints a picture
2. With a great story, maybe a bit of humour, not short (500+ pages)
3. Not too heavy like Pillars of the Earth, not that that it isn’t a great read
4. Not fantasy, and if it were a movie an ‘R�� rating would be quite fine (but not soppy romance)
5. If it’s a novel which is meant to be taken somewhat seriously, then something with absolutely zero ‘as if�� plot moments
6. With a style of writing which doesn’t tell you the story, but rather it develops in front of you via the experiences of the character.

Ideas anyone please? (P.S, I kindle read, so its got to be on Amazon (Australia).)

Thanks in advance.

Have you read any Neal Stephenson

Neil Stephenson is a great idea... the golden age or snow crash. Also Neil Gaiman if you haven't read him, American Gods or if you want a humor, Anansi Boys (350 pages); Anne Rice if you want horror, I really enjoyed The Witching Hour (1042 pages - small print) though it is long and maybe overly detailed. If you want extreme horror, try Karen Slaughter, Pretty Girls (it's brutal). I also liked The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russel - though it has religious overtones (A message comes from outer space and the Jesuits send a mission there to convert the planet). I also really like Tom Robbins... lots of humor and confusion, or Christopher Moore... Noir is good, funny homage to detective novels of the 40s. Let me also add The Haunting of Hill House, per Mr. King one of only two great horror novels written in the 20th century, the other being turn of the screw. Of course he modestly didn't include his own work.

Really recommend trying John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series. He’s my favourite author outside of Stephen King. It’s a detective series that starts out much like a serial killer style that slowly turns into much more as Parker’s past is revealed. I’m on the 10th novel in the series and it’s damned good and I wouldn’t recommend it if I didn’t think it wasn’t up there with King.

I would recommend books that Stephen King raved about
Nick Cutter; ”The Troup��

Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—stumbles upon their campsite, Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. An inexplicable horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival that will pit the troop against the elements, the infected ... and one another.

Nick Cutter; ”The Deep��

A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys…then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily…and there is no cure. But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia�� has been discovered—a universal healer, from initial reports. It may just be the key to a universal cure. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But now the station is incommunicado, and it’s up to a brave few to descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

May I recommend Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz. I'm not sure it meets all your criteria, but I thought it was excellent when I read it last year.

I see you have read The Passage. Have you thought about continuing the series and read The Twelve.

Also, The Terror, Boy's Life or Black Feathers

Thanks everyone.
Nick, i still haven’t read your novel. Thanks again for that. I tried to get that Anne Rice Witching Hour on Amazon but they didn’t have it (from memory).
Yes, i have read The Troop, twas good. Nick Cutter is great.

And yes, i have The Deep but haven’t read it yet.

Ill check out the others recommend above, thanks All. (Annoyingly, you cant keep looking at the posts whilst you create a post, so I have to keep posting this comment in dribs and drabs and sorry if I haven’t mentioned you all by name.

Yes, i have read The Passage.

Andrew wrote: "Thanks everyone.
Nick, i still haven’t read your novel. Thanks again for that. I tried to get that Anne Rice Witching Hour on Amazon but they didn’t have it (from memory).
Yes, i have read The Tro..."

Hey Andrew, glad my book wasn't among your mediocre reads.

Hehehe Nick, yes, it was not one of those mediocre ones. I have a couple of weeks off in April and i plan to read it then when i can have a paperback with me as opposed to my ipad.

Andrew wrote: "Hehehe Nick, yes, it was not one of those mediocre ones. I have a couple of weeks off in April and i plan to read it then when i can have a paperback with me as opposed to my ipad."

I understand, I need two books these days to read a book, the iPad to actually read, and the paperback to know where I really am, and to check back for things. I've got to get better with bookmarks and believing the iPad when it says you are 68% through. I prefer the bookmark sticking out of the book itself.

Ok, The Haunting if Hill House, it is. Thanks Nick. Not an epic (keep the suggestions coming friends 😀), but seems one of those novels we should all read.

Andrew wrote: "Ok, The Haunting if Hill House, it is. Thanks Nick. Not an epic (keep the suggestions coming friends 😀), but seems one of those novels we should all read."

Let me know what you think, Andrew.

I'm really enjoying The Other People by C.J. Tudor.

Might not be long enough, but Silence of the Lambs is great.

The Chill by Scott Carson

The Chill I thought was a little draggy more than half of the way through, but it picks up. I'm glad I continued.

And it's Scott Carson 1st book, I think. I will definitely be looking for him in the future

Wyatt wrote: "Might not be long enough, but Silence of the Lambs is great."

Silence of the Lambs is great, but I also highly recommend Harris' first one, Red Dragon. It was SO good!

Kateblue wrote: "The Chill I thought was a little draggy more than half of the way through, but it picks up. I'm glad I continued.

And it's Scott Carson 1st book, I think. I will..."
Yeah, it dragged a little in places but I thought it was a good old fashioned ghost story. I'll be looking for more from him too!