10. Michael Connelly
Connelly is a best selling author who writes mostly crime fiction. Some of his more well known novels are the Poet, The Lincoln Lawyer and Blood Work. His novels are very formulaic, often with a Whodunit element to it. The problem is that he is not innovative in anyway. He tries to write mystery novels that lack a good mystery. His plots are way too convoluted that they distance themselves too far from reality. With crime fiction, real and gritty is the bread and butter of the genre. Connelly's favourite convention is having the killer either interact or taunt the protagonist. He does this to the degree that it's not believable and can annoy the reader. Yes, there are serial killers who taunt the police but not to the degree Connelly's killers do. In some cases, the killer becomes the best friend of the detective. Some people are reading this and thinking, so what? Who cares? Well, I see your point. Maybe I should lay off a guy who just wants to write pulpy crime fiction. The problem is that Connelly wants to be a dark, edgy writer. Take for example, his protagonist in the Poet. His character Jack McEvoy is a reporter who covers stories about interesting deaths. Or in his words "Death is my beat." Something like that is so cringe-worthy that it takes away from the intensity in the novel. He strives for dark but only writes a grey muddled mess.