The Rap Sheet’s “Crime Life List”

Time is running out to contribute to The Rap Sheet's survey of "mystery and thriller novels that you think every fan of this genre ought to read before he or she dies."

Here's the latest reminder from J. Kingston Pierce, editor of The Rap Sheet:

Don’t forget that we’re still looking for nominations to The Rap Sheet’s “Crime Life List” of mystery and thriller novels that you think every fan of this genre ought to read before he or she dies. Simply e-mail the title and author of the book you’d like to nominate, plus two or three sentences explaining why you think it deserves a place on our roster, to jpwrites@sprynet.com. And in the subject line, please type “Book List.”

The deadline for submissions is this coming Friday, April 4.

See Pierce's original post for more details.

My own nomination:

James Ellroy, American Tabloid

Ellroy made the Telegraph's list, singled out for The Black Dahlia and the rest of the L.A. Quartet. Those are great crime novels, yet Ellroy's finest work is American Tabloid, perhaps the best American novel of 1995 ... and not measured against only crime novels. Superbly written, it's packed with more crimes than any other novel I can think of--and, outrageous as it seems, many of crimes are based on actual events.

--Marshal Zeringue