Photo: Martha Pavlidou

27 of 30
Visitation Street
320 pages; Dennis Lehane/Ecco
It is partly because of Dennis Lehane that I wrote my first book, Sharp Objects. After reading his book Mystic River, I was like, Oh—that's how that's done. I really admire his whole body of work. That's why I'm excited about Ivy Pochoda, whom he picked for his new book imprint. You know that if he's given her his stamp of approval, the book is going to be good, and with the setting of Red Hook, Brooklyn, that it's going to have a true, strong sense of place.
— Gillian Flynn