Best Books of 2006

Cormac McCarthy's The Road (Knopf) nukes the memory of all post-apocalyptic novels past. Deadwood: Stories of the Black Hills (Bloomsbury), a gorgeous companion to the HBO series, is a welcome conversation with David Milch, one of the most beguiling and intriguing artists alive today. Also: Fear of the Dark (Little, Brown) by Walter Moseley; Echo Park (Little, Brown) by Michael Connelly; The End by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins); and, my favorite, Ask the Parrot (Mysterious Press) by Richard Stark, who, 40 years after his debut, The Hunter, reminds us that most other crime fiction is a wasted effort.