I know its a very daunting task, listing out the ten best authors from a population of scores!!! Man had started writing for thousands of years, and from time immemorial, we have seen some very great and creative authors come and go, but in today’s world, when philosophy and reality takes a secondary role, and the only thing that matters is ’entertainment’, then the list certainly gets smaller. Listed below are ten of my favorite authors, mainly popular fiction writers and in no specific order.

1.Jeffrey Archer
Whatever people say about Archer, he still knows how to spin a intriguing tale. The first Archer book I read was ’Not a penny more, not a penny less’ and it still captivates me, after 100’s of readings. Other notable works of archer are Kane and Able, A twist in the tale etc . Pick these up and you wont be disappointed.

2.Arthur Hailey
Arthur hailey writes or used to write after doing through research on a particular subject. It may be Hotel or Airport, he makes sure that he covers all aspects in the subject. Other great tales by him are Strong Medicine about Pharama, The money Changers of course about men and women who play with money.

3.Helen McInnes
I don’t really know why I like her books, they are not really great by are extremely readable. The Double Image, The Salzburg Connection are extremely good thrillers.

4.Alistair MacLean
He was another guy who was quite predictable when it comes to the story line, but was a good story teller. I still remember around 8-10 years back, I was desperately looking for a Alistair MacLean book after exhausting all the books by him in the library, and it was then I came across Alistrain MacNeal (who was really a sardarji), just lean was changed to Neal. His great works are The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra etc etc.

5.Desmond Bagley
He is in many ways no different from Alistair MacLean or Ludlum, but his stories are different. He writes about Earthquakes in Landslide and avalanches in The Snow Tiger. Other good works are The Tightrope men and Juggernaut

6.Robert Ludlum
When it comes to intriguing Themes and the illuminati and other secret organizations, who secretly rule the world, no one spins a better tale than Ludlum. Who has not read the Bourne series by him - The Bourne Identity ,The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum . Couple of other good works are The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Matlock Paper etc. A very good story teller.

7.Nevil Shute
Some of his novels are quite bleak without any optimism, like the On the Beach but writes stories with love in it as well like A Town Like Alice. Another book by Shute I like is Pastoral.

8.Harold Robbins
People may say that he writes Crap and is usually associated with stories about sex and stuff like that, but I loved his books, at least some of them. Do you know that couple of his books were made into films??? I love Carpetbaggers, Dreams Die First, Memories of another day, Goodbye Janette, Never Leave me etc etc etc. Would like to warn you that some of these books has very very explicit sexual content, great reading none the less...

9.P G Woodhouse
He is probably one of the most incredible writers I have come across, his characters are very vivid and the style unexplainable, I love Meet Mr Mulliner which is think is one of the most funniest books I have read, other good ones are Right Ho Jeeves , Piccadilly Jim , Carry OnJeeves ,Leave it to Psmith etc etc. One of the most humorous writers that ever lived...

10.Which One
I think I will leave the 10 one for you to decide. Some of the names that crop into my mind are Ed Mcbain, Agatha Christie, Sheldon, Jack Higgins etc etc. Need to get back to work and will do exactly that. Decide on the tenth name and do let me know, either a M2M or a comment will do....hope you enjoyed reading this list

Peace
Ranjith