My two most recent victims have been 'Human Traces' by Sebastian Faulks (pronounce that surname - go on, I dare you!) and 'The Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follet. Mr Faulks has managed to carve out a niche characterized somewhat by a certain severity, if not sensationalism. That is not the prevailing style of his writing, which is otherwise perhaps a little unremarkable, but it is the thing which - I would suggest - defines him. He is willing to flirt with the almost pornographic, but not in order to be vulgar. It seems he likes to ground his characters in the 'earthiness' of reality (although you may here protest and say your 'reality' involves no pornography. If that is you, you may at least accept that a lot of pornography is viewed by many people.)
Faulks manages another subject in 'Human Traces' with some impressive delicacy. The inevitable approach of death. I'm sorry if this isn't cheery enough. Blame Faulks. But he manages the approach to death almost as well as Tolstoy handles the act of death itself (in a few of his books.)
'The Pillars of the Earth' is a somewhat longer book. A thousand pages may seem an unnecessary expanse of compressed tree on which to pen what is essentially the tale of a few families in 12th century England. Trust me, the pages run out too fast. That is, if you enjoy a good yarn. I do (depending on the yarn-master/mistress.) I really like the way Follet submerges his characters in the spoken style I presume was used all those years ago, and in the culture and geography, the work habits and clothing of 12th century english folk. I'm also left curious if there was in fact a cathedral town of Kingsbridge. Oh, and it seems the capital city was Winchester at that time. So, really engaging narrative, and I may or may not have possibly learned something that might be rooted in a certain amount of truth. Beat that!!
