I have been really into historical novels of late particularly by Sara Donati and Diana Gabaldon.  They are both fantastic authors and their books I have found hard to put down...each of them is writing a series of novels so that when I finish one I have to go buy the next to find out what happens to the characters next!  Truly addictive reading.  And they give a fascinating insight to history as well and although there is a touch of authors licence in some of the historical events, generally the history is very accurate and genuine.  Well worth the read!

I agree, Dean Koontz is really good, he always seems to add a human element that you can relate to.

My other favourites not neccessarily from the same genre are:

John Saul
Stephen King (his earlier stuff mostly)
John Grisham
Robin Cook
Patricia Cornwell
Jeffrey Archer
Michael Connelly
Sidney Sheldon
James Patterson
Dan Brown

I also read

Frederick Forsyth
Ken Follett
Wilbur Smith
Tom Clancy
Jack Higgins
and even Mary Higgins Clark, especially for a light read.

I find that when they turn a good book into a movie it never seems to translate the way I picture it, although I  imagine Tom Hanks will do a good job in the Da Vinci Code.

I have rediscovered Ruth Rendell.

Arthur Upfield; d**k Francis; AJ Quinnell; Winston Graham; Stephen King; Joyce Stranger; Nevil Shute; many others, will update from time to time

Why does the name D.i.c.k get bleeped?  

I think it should only be bleeped if its used inappropriately in context.

Sad to hear that Sidney Sheldon died today!
He was one of my favourite authors a few years back.

More recently, into Dean Koontz, Michael Connelly and Raymond E Feist.

My favourites are still.....
Graham Masterton
James Herbert
Campbell Black
Joe Donnelly.

I used to like Clive cussler but find him very childish now, I think his books these days are mostly written by his son, Dirk Cussler.

Love a well written detection or murder mystery , especially a writer who can inject some humour into the characters and construct sentences of more than 10 words :

Jonathan Kellerman
Elizabeth George
John Connolly

Recently found Carl Hiaasen -- satirical / macabre situations , but a good read if you suspend reality for a while !

I cannot believe no-one has mentioned the KING of horror- Richard Laymon.  I currently own around 20 of his books (and have read the rest) and would recommend them to anyone with a stable stomach.  
Comedy- in my opinion, no-one beats Janet Evanovich, although I only like the Stephanie Plum series, not the ones she wrote with that other chick (Full House, Full Tilt etc).  I also own the whole series of these and I am waiting for #13.
Best book I have ever read- 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven'.  Can't remember the author but he also wrote 'Tuesday's with Morrie'  which is also good.

John Douglas has a series of books.

He worked for the FBI in Behavioral Science section. He basically invented profiling. He talks about all the serial killers he helped track down. The Scott Glenn character  in the movie silence of the lambs was based on him.

John connely is brillant his books especially his last one dark angel can take a few chapters to warm up but its worth it , his best book i think is the killing kind but u really need to read the series(based on same character) from the start to understand every dead thing is the first.

Quoted from felicity009

John Connelly is brillant his books especially his last one dark angel can take a few chapters to warm up but its worth it , his best book i think is the killing kind but u really need to read the series(based on same character) from the start to understand every dead thing is the first.

Yes , the first book I read ( after reading a short story written by him in Nocturnes , which he edited ) was Dark Hollow ,  2nd in the series

I went back to Every Dead Thing and moved forward from there

All the characters combine to make a great "ensemble" , but Angel and Louis are my favorites !!

The Unquiet is due out in May .... can't wait !!

ok i just finished reading dark angel and although it was good i found it really hard to get into and didnt think it was as good as the others

Charles Bukowski YEAH BUKO!!!!

As for horror writters I stopped reading king koontz ect in my teens when I found a writter called Poppy Z Brite, the lady is truely a genius of the horror genre. You need an execptionally strong stomach to read her work, but its so well written and so f@*ked up. Just brilliant!

Jodi Picoult has to be my favourite!! Her latest "nineteen minutes"  is about a high school shooting... sad but so real!

Lauren Greenfield another brilliant photographer/ author. "Thin" was my favourite its so relatable, anyone who has suffered from an eating disorder should definately check it out.