Ho Ho Ho!

I love getting (and giving) books for Christmas, and this year's selection is particularly tasty:

• THE CLEANER by Brett Battles, which I just finished. Great debut novel. Think Robert Ludlum, but leaner and tighter, without Ludlum's florid prose and ridiculous dialogue.

• BEST MYSTERY STORIES 2007 edited by Carl Hiaasen
  

• THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF PULPS, Edited by Otto Penzler. Freakin' huge, and loads of fun so far.

• LITTLE GIRL LOST and SONGS OF INNOCENCE, by Richard Aleas aka Charles Ardai (and boy did THOSE covers make the in-laws' eyes bug out when I opened them. Heh.)

• THE 47TH SAMURAI, by Stephen Hunter. Bob. Lee. Swagger. Need I say more?

• SHALLOW GRAVE by Lori G. Armstrong (Actually a birthday present, but I didn't wait).
  

• Megan Abbott's debut DIE A LITTLE, which I've been meaning to read for ages.

• Rounding out the list is a whole bunch O' Ken Bruen: AMMUNITION, VIXEN, and AMERICAN SKIN. This is good because I've fallen behind in my Bruen. Hey, what can I say, the guy's a writing machine.

This should last me a month or so. Thanks to all the folks who know what I want for Christmas..

So what'd y'all get?