BEST OF 2008: Mark’s picks

 Editor’s note: The following is part of an ongoing series of blogs throughout the month of December in which The Book Nook reviewers list a few of their favorite books published in 2008.

  Three of my favorite books of the year.
 
  "One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation" by Liz Clarke
  Liz Clarke is an award-winning sports reporter for The Washington Post, and she has written one of the best books about NASCAR in recent memory. It’s not a tell-all or some riveting expose about life during the Sprint Cup. instead, as one of the few female motorsports writers, she offers some fresh, poignant perspectives into the male-dominated sport. She has some exclusive interviews with legends Richard Petty and Junior Johnson. And she recollects some fond memories interviewing Dale Earnhardt Sr., who died during the Daytona 500 in 2001.
 

  "The Brass Verdict" by Michael Connelly
  For the first time, Michael Connelly brings his two popular characters, LAPD detective Harry Bosch and lawyer Mickey Haller, into the same novel. It’s a risky assignment, but it mostly works as the two combine forces to solve the murder of Haller’s former colleague, a high-profile lawyer, and the murder of the wife of a prominent film studio leader. Connelly, a former award-winning journalist, brings his strong reporter’s acumen to a spell-binding tale.
 

  "The Gate House" by Nelson DeMille
  This sequel to DeMille’s popular 1990 novel “The Gold Coast” isn’t his best work, but it’s still a mildly exciting read. He reunites many of his characters, including Wall Street lawyer John Sutter and his estranged wife Susan, and throws them into a story involving a young Mafia don named Anthony Bellarosa. In “The Gold Coast,” Susan killed Anthony’s dad, Frank, after having a torrid love affair with him. There are big themes of love, betrayal, revenge and family secrets in this novel set along the wealthy Gold Coast on New York’s Long Island.