Cavallaro's Cavalcade of Carnage
Well, it's the end of the year and Top Ten lists are in vogue again, busting up everyone's wish lists. In other words...it's an exciting time to be a reader. I haven't seen as many "Best of the Decade" lists, and I don't believe I've seen any of them that are ranked. This is where I come in.

My Method: I read exactly 1,087 books in this decade, so bottlenecking that down to TEN books was borderline impossible. Here is how I did it. First, I listed every book that I ranked #1 or #2 for every year of the decade. This reduced 1,087 books read down to my 20 favorites. This was the hard part. I was able to eliminate 7 of these that I felt weren't quite in the elite tier with the rest of them. (which was an absolutely soul crushing effort by the way) Now I was down to 13. In order to shave off those last three, I assessed each book individually on the following:

-how memorable is this book?
-how addictive was the plot?
-quality of protagonists
-quality of antagonists
-overall emotional attachment to the story

This may seem excessive, but I was having a really tough time quantifying the quality of books that are THIS good. Before I get to the top ten...

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I told myself that I wouldn't do this, but I didn't feel right about leaving these three books off of the list completely.

Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke. Like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, but with more heart. Extreme horror needs more books like this.

Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz. In a decade where coming-of-age novels saw a resurgence, Janz's novel was easily one of the best.

The Summer I Died by Ryan C. Thomas. Another extreme horror novel that I feel did not get the recognition it deserved. I've got ya back Ryan.

Okay, here we go...

10: The Five, by Robert McCammon. My favorite band-on-the-road novel

9: The Murder of Jesus Christ, by John R Little. Still not sure what genre this is, but sure is a great story.

8: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. In my opinion, Gaiman's best work. And yes, I've read American Gods.

7: Penpal, by Dathan Auerbach. This may be the creepiest book I've ever read.

6: Behind Her Eyes, by Sarah Pinborough. Pinborough's fame skyrocketed with this one, and deservedly so.

5: A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay. For me, the most memorable Stoker award winner of the decade.

4: The Memory Tree, by John R Little. Still my favorite time travel story, and I LOVE time travel stories.


3: The Listener, by Robert McCammon. Simply, one of the best books by one of the best writers working today. Regardless of genre.

2: The Secret Life of Souls, by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee. Ketchum and McKee don't even need bloodshed to hurt you. Ketchum's swan song, RIP.

1: The Death House, by Sarah Pinborough. An emotional coming-of-age, dystopian tale that transcends YA fiction.

Done! Happy 2020 everyone!
Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn



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