All my favorite detectives are getting old.

I turned to thrillers for my main reading diet in the 80s. I sampled a ton of them and eventually settled on a coterie of writers whose every book I read. I've kept that up until this day.

From literary, like John Le Carre, James Ellroy, and James Lee Burke to fast, simple reads, like Lee Child and John Sandford, and everything in-between. Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Thomas Perry, Stephen Hunter. (I'm aware they're all men--I liked early Nevada Barr, Patricia Cornwell, and others, but eventually lost interest. I never could get into the smart ass detectives, male or female. Just as I can no longer stand James Ellroy's style or John Le Carre existentialist angst.)

There is usually a bonanza of new books to read in January and February--novels that came out at Christmas and are finally available used.

I'm currently reading the latest Bobby Lee Swagger book, by Stephen Hunter. Swagger is an old man now, with a hip replacement. The gun fetish is a little much--gun porn.

But it occurred to me that all these old detective/spies/cops are getting old. Connelly's Bosch is retired, picking up odd cold cases. All these old guys are finding it hard to get around and chase the bad guys. My favorite current thriller writer, Thomas Perry, has somewhat avoided this by writing diverse characters. Then again, one of his latest books is called, "The Old Man."

It can get silly, like Lee Child constantly trying to find ways to get Reacher in the thick of things, or Gabriel Allon being an active agent though he's now in charge of everything. In fact, all these guys have either reached the pinnacle of their career--and therefore have the Star Trek problem of having the leader of the whole enterprise (heh) doing away missions, or have washed out of the department and therefore have no access to the procedures--which is a problem in a procedural novel.

So this would be the downside of having a franchise character. Eventually they age out.

Just as I have apparently aged out. What's alarming is that I haven't been able to replace these "old" standbys with new writers. Were the 80s a Golden Age for these kinds of books, or have I just missed the boat? I know I try new writers all the time, but almost none of them fit the bill. Most I find either adequate or bad or gimmicky. (Gimmicky seems to be the new thriller model...)

Eventually, I'm going to need to find good replacements for these guys--or switch genres again. I've always read SF, and a bit of fantasy, occasional horror, some non-fiction, and the occasional literary novel (less and less of those, because--my God, most of them are boring.)

The fact that I haven't really liked most of the SF award winners from the past decade is probably just me getting old and not getting into the swing of things.

It's my own fault--and somewhat alarming to realize that I've become so predictable in my tastes.