📺 The Thick of It (2005) – The series has been described as the 21st century's answer to Yes Minister. It highlights the struggles and conflicts between politicians, party spin doctors, advisers, civil servants and the media.
🎦 Mind Games (2001) – From award-winning writer Lynda La Plante. A serial killer is at large and committing a series of horrific murders. Frances O'Neill (Fiona Shaw) must use her strong religious background and training as a profiler to try to get inside the killer's mind and track him down
📕 Martin Amis (1989) London Fields – a darkly comedic, apocalyptic noir set in a degenerate, end-of-millennium London. The plot follows clairvoyant femme fatale Nicola Six, who orchestrates her own murder, manipulating two men—violent Keith Talent and romantic Guy Clinch—while terminally ill narrator Samson Young attempts to document the crime.
📕 Richard Price (as Harry Brandt) (2015) The Whites – focusing on the life of NYPD Sergeant Billy Graves and his Manhattan Night Watch team as they investigate a murder at Penn Station, which leads to a deeper, haunting case from their past. The book explores the realities of police work, the psychological toll it takes, and the cases that stick with officers, known as "The Whites," using Price's signature realistic and lyrical style.
📕 Thomas Perry (2016) Forty Thieves – When a researcher is murdered, former LAPD detectives Sid and Ronnie Abel are hired to find the killer, only to discover that assassins Ed and Nicole Hoyt, equally skilled and devoted to one another, are also on the trail. As the two couples’ investigations collide, Perry weaves a sharp, suspenseful narrative filled with clever twists, tight plotting, and psychological nuance, exploring love, loyalty, and the blurred boundaries between justice and vengeance.
📕 William Landay (2012) Defending Jacob – It tells the story of a father dealing with the accusation that his 14-year-old son is a murderer.
📗 William Gibson (1984) Neuromancer – A seminal cyberpunk novel that defined the genre, following washed-up hacker Case as he's recruited for a high-stakes heist against powerful AIs, aided by the street samurai Molly Millions, in a gritty, high-tech future. It's known for its dense, jargon-filled prose, its vision of cyberspace (the "matrix"), and its influence on modern technology and fiction like The Matrix. The book won major sci-fi awards and launched Gibson's Sprawl trilogy.
📺 New Tricks (2004) 12 seasons – A team of retired former detectives with over 80 years service between them and three very distinct personalities is recruited to re-examine unsolved crimes. The squad is headed up by Sandra Pullman - a detective in disgrace after bungling a hostage situation.
🎦 Knives Out (2019) Director: Rian Johnson - When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate, the inquisitive Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.
📚 Homer (c. 8th century BCE) The Iliads of Homer – this poem about Troy is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. Like the Odyssey, the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version. The Iliad is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature and is a central part of the Epic Cycle.
📺 Silicon Valley (2014) – Parodying the culture of the technology industry in Silicon Valley, the series focuses on Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), a programmer who founds a startup company called Pied Piper, and chronicles his struggles to maintain his company while facing competition from larger entities.
📺 The OA (2016) – a popular, mind-bending Netflix original series about Prairie Johnson, a blind woman who returns home after being missing for seven years, now with her sight restored, and recruits locals for a mysterious mission involving other dimensions and near-death experiences.
🎦 Her (2014) – The film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice.
📚 A Study in Scarlet (1887), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would go on to become one of the most well-known detective duos in literature.
🎦 Walden (2023) – Discovering he has a terminal illness sends a court reporter into a rage that has been simmering deep within him for years and now he is about to take justice into his own hands.
📕 Dan Chaon (2022) Sleepwalk – Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon is a 2022 literary thriller about Will Bear, a man living off-grid who works as a henchman for a shadowy organization, whose life is upended when he's contacted by a woman claiming to be his daughter, leading him on a journey through a near-future America divided by factions. The novel blends suspense, dark humor, and science fiction as it follows his road trip and search for connection in a dystopian world dominated by corporations and fringe groups.
📺 The Booth at the End (2011) – One of the best, if not the best, series I've ever seen. Season 1 & Season 2
I got so many more books, movies, & TV shows... it's gonna make you puke.