2015-16 Modern Thrillers Book List

2015-16 Modern Thrillers Book List

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Summary: Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini, a promising young Olympic runner from Torrance, California, who was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War II. Zamperini's plane went down in the Pacific Ocean and he and two other survivors drifted over 40 days living on rainwater and the occasional fish or bird they could catch. One of the crash survivors died on the raft. Zamperini and the other survivor, the plane's pilot, were finally nearing land when they were captured by the Japanese navy. The Japanese did not inform America of the capture of Zamperini, and after some time he was declared officially dead. His family in California refused to give up hope that he might return alive, however. This thrilling story details Zamperini’s life as a POW and after returning to the US.

Widdop’s opinion: I love Laura Hillenbrand. She tells a story like no other author as her historical research is impeccable. Both Unbroken and Seabisculit are probably the best books I’ve ever read about historical figures from American society. I say best because they are constantly engaging but provide the reader with lessons in history, human suffering and triumph. Do not be discouraged by the length.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
Summary: When author Jeff Hobbs arrived at Yale University, he became fast friends with the man who would be his college roommate for four years, Robert Peace. Robert’s life was rough from the beginning in the crime-ridden streets of Newark in the 1980s, with his father in jail and his mother earning less than $15,000 a year. But Robert was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier when he was accepted to Yale, where he studied molecular biochemistry and biophysics. But it didn’t get easier. Robert carried with him the difficult dual nature of his existence, trying to fit in at Yale, and at home on breaks.
A compelling and honest portrait of Robert’s relationships—with his struggling mother, with his incarcerated father, with his teachers and friends—The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace encompasses the most enduring conflicts in America: race, class, drugs, community, imprisonment, education, family, friendship, and love. It’s about the collision of two fiercely insular worlds—the ivy-covered campus of Yale University and the slums of Newark, New Jersey, and the difficulty of going from one to the other and then back again. It’s about trying to live a decent life in America.

Widdop’s Opinion: An interesting study of what success means in American society. As Camas is very culturally stale, I always look for books that will remind me of what the rest of American is like. This book does the job well. Like Laura Hillenbrand’s books, it also made me very unproductive and anti-social for many days as I felt compelled to find out what happens next.

Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Summary: For readers ofUnbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.

Widdop’s Opinion: I did not think anyone else could tell a true story the way Laura Hillenbrand does. Daniel Brown comes close. I like stories about sports figures but so many are poorly written. This story surprised me because while it is about a rowing crew, it is also about life in Washington state during the Great Depression. It is about human struggle and triumph and remains engaging throughout.

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

Summary: Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes:
Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.

Widdop’s Opinion: See Unbroken. Before Hillenbrand published Unbroken, this was my favorite book (not because I love horses).

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Summary: In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Enduranceand set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day’s sail short of its destination, theEndurancebecame locked in an island of ice.Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men.
For ten months the ice-mooredEndurancedrifted northwest before it was finally crushed between two ice floes. With no options left, Shackleton and a skeleton crew attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. Their survival, and the survival of the men they left behind, depended on their small lifeboat successfully finding the island of South Georgia—a tiny dot of land in a vast and hostile ocean.
InEndurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton’s fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

Widdop’s Opinion: This is THE most amazing story of survival I have ever read. Ever. It’s also well written and action packed.

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Summary: October 1991. It was "the perfect storm" -- a tempest that may happen only once in a century--a nor'easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Creating waves ten stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people on Earth have ever witnessed. Few, except the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat tragically headed toward its hellish center.

War by Sebastian Junger

Summary: InWAR, Sebastian Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat--the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Through the experiences of these young men at war, he shows what it means to fight, to serve, and to face down mortal danger on a daily basis.

Widdop’s Opinion: Sebastian Junger writes like a journalist; very factual. He includes a lot of dialogue in addition to description. He is not one to use rhetorical devices and his description is based on observation. Some are turned off by his style as it lacks the flair that Laura Hillenbrand and Daniel Brown employ as writers. BUT there is something to be learned from Junger’s experiences as he makes subtle social commentary that is necessary to think about as we strive to better understand the world around us.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Summary: On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy.In Cold Bloodis a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.

Widdop’s Opinion: The OG non-fiction thriller. Gotta give Truman Capote credit for stepping out of the box and writing a true story as if it were a fiction story. His actions shaped the decisions made by all other author’s on this list. Plus, who doesn’t love a good murder mystery?

Better Atul Gawande

Summary: The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision.

Widdop’s Opinion: Medicine is a complex topic and Atul Gawande creates an engaging exploration of some of the most controversial and interesting aspects of medicine. This book is divided into chapters but each chapter is a different story. You may also want to read Complications.

The Blind Side Michael Lewis

Summary: When we first meet Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.

Widdop’s Opinion: Michael Lewis can take any subject and create a compelling story. He has a knack for making characters come alive. He, like Junger, likes to challenge one’s perceptions of American society. If you are not interested football, I suggest any other books by Lewis- he’s documented the fall of Wall Street, baseball… All made me think differently about the topics and the characters gave me a better understanding of the tendencies and desires of humans.

A few suggestions…

1.  Most of these books are also made into movies. I’ve seen all the movies and read all the books. There are big differences.

2.  I am open to other choices BUT they must fit into this genre- books that read like fiction but are actually non-fiction. See me with your ideas.

3.  Do not let length dictate your choice. While all of these books are great books, some of the longest ones are the best.