I have favourite authors, each the creator of a collection of great books. Among my favourite authors, I must include:
- David Baldacci
- Tess Gerritsen
- John Grisham
- Salaman Rushdie
- Stuart Woods
These writers deliver great books without fail. Some do so, book after book, while others hit the special one after years of buckshot shooting the bestselling lists with their secondary efforts. In most cases, their ‘secondary’ efforts are stratospherically higher than other authors’ primary works. Case in point, Grisham writes books that are popular and bestsellers, one after the other. Often, with so many publications, the level of quality erodes and diminishes as the author likely tires in his efforts. Still, even with his possible fatigue, he is light years above many other authors.
Rushdie seemed to be waning even after his renowned Satanic Verses rocketed to the lofty heights of world acclaim. It was unwarranted acclaim, in my view, as the book appeals to the esoteric elite, to the cerebral intelligentsia, to the philosophical aristocrats who praise and commiserate at lofty heights far beyond my pedestrian comprehension. However, with Knife, Rushdie cut a new swash, most certainly slashing his past efforts with a gash that is his culminating opus of more than three dozen books, a verbal treasure in every word, in every phrase, and with every sentence. With Knife, he refines his goals and captures his verbal gold, unmatched by any of his prior works.
Baldacci has mined many treasures of writing gold, but his opus? A Calamity of Souls. Arguably, the best book Baldacci has ever written. Possibly written as his tribute to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Baldacci takes it to new levels, writing about the universal principles of equality, justice, diversity and integration. This work may be his masterpiece. Some would hesitate to conclude that, adding, ‘until his next book.’
Stuart Woods wrote popular books year after year, reaching his pinnacle of acclamation with his Stone Barrington series. None of his books could hold a candle to his opus piece, Chiefs, written after a ten-year sojourn dedicated to writing his opus in the isolation of Ireland. Chiefs unreservedly is Woods’ masterpiece. It is a straightforward story that is focused and direct but has layers and levels that kick it up to the lofty heights of being an outstanding masterpiece. From the first page, Woods engages the reader and does not relinquish his verbal handcuffing until the book’s climax. Superb writing taken to its anticipated and expected heights.
John Grisham never writes disappointing books. His Camino Island and Camino Ghosts are excellent books without question but I am reluctant to call either his masterpiece, his opus. Both books are, as the expression goes, engaging and entertaining but they aren’t the calibre of the opus shelf. You don’t feel the author has offered his soul to his work. He has thrown in much of himself, but the soul remains aloft and afar.
Now Tess Gerritsen’s The Bone Garden is unreservedly literary gold, her opus and her masterpiece, likely based on years of work.
Gerritsen writes crime thrillers, her most well-known, the Isles – Rizzolli series, always suspenseful, always authentic in atmosphere, without fail, readable and enjoyable. For my specific review of The Bone Garden, click -> 
Reading this book, one savours the effort, sweat, and energy that went into its development. A reader can feel the book’s development, page after page. Gerritsen builds her opus, brick by verbal brick, scene after literary scene and a reader cannot help but feel this development and construction being done by the hands of a master. What a book! What a writer! What an opus!
