The Blue Flame vs The Color of Death: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Thriller
The Blue Flame
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Private investigator Derek Strange returns in a riveting drama about revenge, greed, and redemption—from bestselling author and Emmy-nominated writer for HBO’s The Wire and Treme, George Pelecanos. He was curious. It…
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The Color of Death
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Bruce Alexander Cook (1932 – November 9, 2003) was an American journalist and author who also wrote under the pseudonym Bruce Alexander, creating historical novels about a blind 18th-century Englishman and also a…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Color of Death has the widest readership — 5400 ratings behind its score.
- The Blue Flame runs the darker storyline; The Color of Death stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Blue Flame | The Color of Death | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.3 (191) | 4.3 (5400) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (1) | 3.2 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (47) | 4.5 (354) |
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Reception
| The Blue Flame | The Color of Death | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 191 | 5400 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 4301 | 5866 |
| Reading it now | 57 | 1510 |
| Written reviews | 45 | 441 |
| Wikipedia attention | 106 | 185 |
| Pages | 176 | — |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Blue Flame or The Color of Death?
The Blue Flame has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Blue Flame 4.3/5, The Color of Death 4.3/5).