5 Novelists You Need To Take with You To The Beach This Summer (Part 1)

It’s August and that means summer is in  full swing! That also means that you probably have a few more trips to the beach, cottage, or maybe a trip overseas. It’s of course a time honoured tradition to bring some great reads along. Some people stock up on their favourite writer and devour a few novels that way. Or you can try and bring a few different novelists along and mix it up a bit. If you want some ideas on which novelist you should you should check out, here are five solid ones. They won’t let you down!

Dean Koontz

Key Novels: Odd Thomas Series, Watchers

Koontz has been writing for almost 50 years and gosh he can write a thrilling yarn like no other. Koontz's novels focus on conspiracies that are based on reality, his characters placed in situations that are equally plausible. Basically situations that can happen to any of us. Koontz is a great novelist to pick up for a beach read, but be warned, he will get you thinking about what your neighbour might be doing or your local government may be up to!

Stephen King

Key Novels: IT, The Stand

The king of horror. King broke out with his debut novel Carrie in 1976 and has never looked back. With his natural, storyteller-precise prose, King laced it with healthy chucks of gore and violence in his earlier works from the 1970s and 1980s. They are certainly not for the faint of heart, but deliver the scares in mega doses. Ever since his near-death experience in 1999 when he was struck by a van, King has elevated his storytelling to a whole new level by toning down the gore and horror and instead looking more carefully at the human condition with more balanced suspense novels. He is certainly one of master storytellers coming out of the 20th century.

Jeffery Archer

Key Novels: Kane and Abel, As the Crow Flies

Archer's breakout novel Kane and Abel has become one of the best selling novels of all time and for good reason. With a compelling story and excellent writing, it has stood the test of time since being release in the 1979. It is a must read! Archer has followed up with other excellent novels, and creates a story like no other. 

Robin Cook

Key Novels: Coma, Cell

The master of medical thrillers. It all started with Cook's first novel Coma which became a runaway best seller. It was eventually made into a successful movie by fellow novelist Michael Crichton.‎ Cook started a new genre which entertained while educating. And audiences clamored for more. Usually set in Boston, Cook's medical thrillers are based on real life situations with healthy portions of conspiracies and mayhem. 

Harold Robbins

Key Novels: The Carpetbaggers, A Stone for Danny Fisher

Before Jackie Collins showed up, Robbins was the undisputed king of the seedy novel. His novels were filled with shallow, yet powerful people with lots of money and loose morals which made compelling reads for millions of readers for decades. Since the 1940s Robbins has sold more than 750 million novels--an amazing feat just recently surpassed by Danielle Steele. If you want the ultimate trash-novel with no holds barred sex, engaging stories and colourful characters then Robbins is your man.

Images courtesy of: CelebrityNetWorth, The Guardian UK, Telegraph UK, OrderOfBooks.com, MerteTinta