LATEST REVIEWS

PLEA OF INSANITY by Jillian Hoffman: Julia Vacanti is a prosecutor in Miami who's fairly new to the job.  She has a one night stand with the star prosecutor in the office, and the next thing she knows he's insisting she second chair on a media-hot murder case.  Dr. David Marquette is a successful surgeon who is accused of murdering his wife and three young children who is pleading insanity, claiming that he's schizophrenic.  Is he a psychopath just trying to fool the court-appointed psychiatrists or is he really insane? Julia has a little personal experience with that question; her brother murdered her parents, leading to all sorts of complications with this case.  A very gripping read despite some holes in the story, and probably Hoffman's best book since her debut novel, Retribution. 06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

KISS MY MATH by Danica McKellar: You know how you sometimes get those strange and illogical recommendations from Amazon.com? Well, math is apparently a mystery to the good folks at Plume Paperbacks who sent me this book aimed toward making teenage girls like, you know, math and stuff. After all, her previous book was MATH DOESN’T SUCK, so maybe she is doing something right. Actually as a Georgia Tech graduate, I am pleased to announce that I found no errors in their calculations and in many ways can see why this book could/should be popular with young teenage girls. With chapters like “Didn’t That Guy Say He Was Going to Call? – Using Variables to Translate Word Problems” and step by step instructions starting “Duh. Okay, we don’t panic…” this would seem to hit its targeted audience quite well. If the shoe fits, etc. and so forth, but having no teenagers in the house, and having long ago solved the mystery of “Amanda, Davana, and Emily all have the same phone (fat chance), and they’ve all started collecting ringtones for them. Amanda has twice as many ringtones as Davana, and Emily has 3 more ringtones than Amanda. If together, they have a total of 103 ringtones, how many ringtones does Davana have?”, I think I’ll go back to my first love – real mysteries. Thanks anyway, Plume Paperbacks, particularly for the chapter “Creative Uses for Bubblegum.”. 06/09 Jack Quick 

PREY by Rachel Vincent: It’s been nine months since Faythe has last seen Marc. Nine months since her trial for killing and accidentally infecting a human in Pride. Nine months since Marc was exiled. The plan was to meet Marc in the free territory—territory not under Pride control—so that he can help escort them to where Manx will now face the council for her own crimes. While on their way, the team is attacked by a pack of strays. Strange as it is that a group of strays would band together, the team has much worse to worry about when Marc is captured. They fear he may be dead, but Faythe knows differently. Still, time is running out and a war is about to be waged between the Prides as Faythe’s own family comes under siege from enemies within the werecat community. This fourth in the series will leave readers breathless waiting for the next installment. Conflicts that have been building in previous books are finally coming to a head and I’m just dying to see what will happen next. 06/09 Becky Lejeune  

FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN by Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum is back, along with Ranger, Joe, Lula and the rest of the gang.  This is an edgier story than most; Lula accidentally witnesses a man get decapitated and for some reason, the guys who did it don't want witnesses.  Lots of shooting, firebombing and the usual mayhem ensues, but not as many laughs this time out for me. If you haven't read this series, don't start here, but if you're looking for some light summer reading, go for it.  06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child:  “Suicide bombers are easy to spot.  They give out all kinds of tell-tale signs.  Mostly because they are nervous.  By definition, they’re all first-timers.” New York City. It starts at two in the morning in a New York City subway car heading uptown.  Six people, one of them Jack Reacher, four innocents and Susan Mark, whose lonely heart, estranged son, and big secret create a big hole.  Reacher must find out how big and deep that hole is. How many places - Washington, California, Afghanistan -  how many lives from a US Senate candidate to a beautiful young woman with an unbelievable story and many others along the way. Yes, Reacher can handle the truth – if he can only find it.  Like riding a roller coaster in the dark – until lights finally come on – but only at the end of the ride.  Possibly the best Reacher yet. 06/09 Jack Quick 

MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU by Darin Strauss:  Can there be anything more frightening than Munchausen syndrome by proxy, the psychological disorder which leads parents to abuse their own children in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves.  Josh Goldin is a happily married TV airtime salesman living on Long Island with wife Dori, and an eight-month-old son named Zack.  When Zack is treated twice for mysterious and life-threatening symptoms, the head of a pediatric ICU, Dr. Darlene Stokes, suspects Dori suffers from that disorder.  The Goldin are Jewish, Dr. Stokes is black, and situation leads to a topsy-turvy world where doctors are trying to save babies from their parents, police legally tear families apart, and everyone turns on everyone else.  In the midst of this chaos Josh sees all his faith and preconceptions torn abruptly away. What is left is not pretty. 06/09 Jack Quick 

DEFENDING COLLEGE HEIGHTS by Stuart Nachbar:  Military recruiting in the sixties was hazardous duty on some college campuses. Now, Army Captain Kevin Callahan has survived Iraq only to be stabbed to death at Hudson Technical University, a small private engineering school located in College Heights, in New York’s Hudson River Valley.  A message left on Callahan’s shirt reads, “No more lies.”  Is this the result of opposition to the war and current recruiting practices as the news media and pro-military and anti-war activists believe, or is there more to this story?   Callahan’s uncle, Philadelphia area urban planner Jack Donnelly, is determined to find out. He takes the position of special assistant for campus planning at Hudson Tech, working with president Martina Tiernan.  Callahan isn’t sure about Tiernan’s motives, but he is determined to find why his nephew died. The answer shocked him and will surprise you. 06/09 Jack Quick 

RULES OF DECEPTION by Christopher Reich:  Does anyone truly know another person? Emma, the wife of Dr. Jonathan Ransom of Doctors Without Borders, dies in a skiing accident in the Swiss Alps.  Afterwards, the grieving Ransom receives a letter, posted to Emma, but delayed in delivery until after her death.  The note leads to the discovery that Emma led a double life as a spy.  Suddenly Ransom is in a frantic life and death chase across northern Europe. The plot is extremely complicated with a huge cast of characters, but the pace is breathtaking and in the end, you will see how it all fits together – albeit you may be totally exhausted by that point. One of my best reads of the year. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE BASINGSTOKE CHRONICLES by Robert Appleton:  The Fountain of Youth and time travel are among mankind’s oldest dreams, and although neither have come to fruition in real life (that we know of) the subjects continue to fascinate us.  Lord Henry Basingstoke and his friend, Rodrigo Quintas, are professional scuba divers, when a strange corpse is found floating off the coast of Cuba. The body itself isn’t that unusual but it is wearing a garment made from an animal extinct for over nine thousand years.  Attempts to solve the mystery actually open them to a daring journey back in time into a hidden land of rainforests, deadly creatures, and a doomed civilization.  Will they survive?  Will they return to the present?  It becomes, quite literally, a race against time. NOTE: This book will not be available until Sept., 2009.  06/09 Jack Quick 

COLLISION by Jeff Abbott:  Two unlikely figures collide violently and then work together to save their lives. Ben Forsberg, a widower whose wife was assassinated by a sniper while on their honeymoon.  Pilgrim, a shadow warrior with an invisible covert-ops group called the Cellar. They are brought together by another assassination in Forsberg’s native Austin, Texas, where Pilgrim was supposed to be one of the victims, and Forsberg is suspected of being involved.  Throw in Sam Hector, head of a vast private security firm à la Blackwater;  Jackie, a sadistic Irish assassin crazed with grief at the loss of his older brother; and Khaled, zealous associate of a group called Blood of Fire, and you have a pot which takes little stirring to bring to a boil. Who is on which side for what reason for how long?  Afterwards you may want to read a Lee Child or Tom Clancy to cool down. 06/09 Jack Quick 

PASSPORT TO PERIL by Robert B. Parker:  Way back before Robert B. (B for Brown) Parker started writing about Spenser, there was another Robert B. Parker (B for Bogardus).  The original Robert B. Parker is spotlighted in this Hardcase Crime Book Number 57 which takes you on a run behind the Iron Curtain.  Parker, a World War II foreign correspondent knows the territory and this 1951 thriller originally published almost sixty years ago captures the fears and dangers of the era perfectly.  So take a trip on the Orient Express back into time to a place that is no more – “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.” 06/09 Jack Quick 

CROSSING THE CENTER LINE by Allan E. Ansorge:  The first attempt to kill Carl Fletcher cost him the life of his fiancée, the full use of his right leg, and his career in law enforcement.  The second attempt endangers Michael McCaffery, Carl's ex-partner in the Sheriff's Department of Lake County, Wisconsin, who survives only because the would-be killer was dumb enough to wear leather-soled shoes on a slippery boat deck.  Now it’s up to Carl and Michael assisted by Carl’s gun-toting Internet addicted mother and a cast of other volunteer amateur sleuths to find out what is going on before more bodies turn up.  There are shoot-outs, legal shenanigans, and even a few moments of romance, in this somewhat off beat police procedural.  Not bad, not bad. 06/09 Jack Quick

CITY OF SOULS by Vicki Pettersson: This fourth in the Zodiac series proves that Pettersson just keeps getting better and better. The balance in this world has been upset after the events of The Touch of Twilight and it’s Joanna Archer’s fault. Zodiac Troop 175 is losing strength and support after Joanna borrows energy from one of the changelings. In the end, Joanna’s own soul splintered, leaving the child with growing powers and the girl set to take her place now living a slow death. Joanna knows of only one other agent to have made this same mistake, but has no way of finding him without access to the manuals that tell the tales of Light and Shadow. Then Warren, leader of their division, reveals a secret that has long been kept hidden from agents of both sides. There is a world other than our own. A world where women rule and rogue agents hide. It is here that Joanna might track down the missing agent and learn the secret to setting things right. But entering this world comes with a very heavy price and Warren has been keeping many more secrets that could affect not only the war between Light and Shadow, but could put Joanna herself at risk. Though there is some catch-up material in this book, the series is quite intricate and I wouldn’t recommend reading them out of order. This is one of the most original urban fantasy series out there and it’s one of my absolute favorites in the genre. Highly recommended. 06/09 Becky Lejeune  

SWORN TO SILENCE by Linda Castillo: The body of a young woman has been discovered in the tiny town of Painters Mill, Ohio. She has been mutilated and defiled beyond imagination. But this isn’t the first time such a travesty has occurred in this quiet town. Sixteen years ago, a serial killer struck. Chief of Police Katie Burkholder was fourteen at the time, and would have been a victim herself if she hadn’t killed the man first. Her father and brother buried the body and the crime was never spoken of again. Everything about this new scene points to the same killer. How then, if the man is dead, could his crimes be repeating after all this time? And where has he been for over a decade? As Katie tries desperately to hide her own past and still uncover the identity of the killer, the bodies begin to pile up and the small community grows impatient with their Chief’s secrets. Castillo is the author of a slew of romantic suspense novels, but Sworn to Silence promises to be the breakout title for the author. Katie Burkholder, a character I hope we see much more of in the future, is a great lead with a different background—a former member of a close-knit Amish community who has returned home to become Chief of Police. Castillo’s debut thriller is not for readers with a weak stomach either. Fans of Thomas Harris and Chelsea Cain are going to love this one. 06/09 Becky Lejeune  

THE CUTTING by James Hayman: Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe always thought that moving his daughter from New York to small-town Portland, Maine, would mean that he wouldn’t have to worry about her safety. He was wrong. When the body of a missing teenager is discovered brutally murdered and a second woman goes missing, McCabe must face up to the fact that no place is truly safe anymore. The girl is found dumped in a scrap metal yard, her heart expertly cut from her chest. McCabe is sure that this points to someone in the medical profession and has his eye on a very specific suspect, but this man’s position in the community leads to some difficulty in the investigation. Then McCabe learns that this may not be the first time the killer has struck. A cold case in Florida with striking similarities only cements his theory, but it may mean his career in proving it. Hayman’s debut works on many levels, but best of all, it’s a real page-turning read. Readers will never tire of this kind of thriller as long as authors like Hayman keep spinning such gripping tales. I do hope this is the first in a series, though, as McCabe’s own backstory leaves plenty of room for more. 06/09 Becky Lejeune 

THE MEMORY COLLECTOR by Meg Gardiner: Jo Beckett, the forensic psychologist in the excellent Dirty Secrets Club, is back, only this time she’s called to the airport to determine whether or not Ian Kanan should be arrested or hospitalized; no more “psychological autopsies” for Beckett. One of the things I liked best about the Dirty Secrets Club was the unusual occupation; shrinks are a dime a dozen in thrillers, but I had never heard of a forensic psychologist who does psychological evaluations on the dead until Gardiner introduced me to it.  To revert this character to yet another run-of-the-mill, super-smart, able-to-make-an-evaluation-in-a-single-bound psychologist, does the character, and the reader, a disservice.

Back to our story.  Kanan was acting erratically on his return from a business trip to South Africa, and had to be physically restrained on board the plane.  Beckett quickly determines he has a very rare condition called “anterograde amnesia,” the inability to form new memories. This means that Kanan forgets all new information every five minutes. Really.

This book is apparently an exercise in thriller writing for Gardiner; she’s included just about every gimmick and device used in the genre, from the rare medical condition that appears to be spreading and taking lives, a race against the clock with a kidnapped family-in-peril, high tech super-deadly explosives, international terrorists, high speed car chases, and a couple of strong women who can make jokes while outrunning a homicidal maniac. The complete lack of character development and terse writing style makes for a fast-paced story, but not necessarily a good one. 06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch. Copyright © 2009 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission.

BRIMSTONE by Robert B. Parker:  After Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch cleaned up the rough-and-tumble Old West town of Resolution., they set out to find Allie French, the woman who stole Virgil’s heart in Appaloosa. It took them over a year but they finally found her in a small-town brothel and the three head out to the aptly named town of Brimstone.   Pike, the town’s richest citizen hires Cole and Hitch to keep the peace in Brimstone.  Strangely the most danger appears to be from the sanctimonious church leader, Brother Percival, who professes to save the souls of Brimstone with his own brand of fire.  In the process the Reverend’s actions seem to be benefitting Pike more than saving souls.  Anyway, with Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, the situation is always in hand, even if it isn’t.   Robert B. Parker sure knows how to write a book. 06/09 Jack Quick 

SANCTUARY by Ken Bruen:  Reading a Bruen book is not unlike seeing a bad automobile accident – you know you shouldn’t gawk, but you just can’t help yourself.  Jack Taylor’s plans to go to America have been postponed because Ridge, his former partner, is diagnosed with cancer, so he stays to support her: “It’s God’s own vicious joke, the only woman I managed to keep in my life was gay.”  He gets involved in the hunt for a killer, falls off the wagon, climbs back on, and somehow or other, manages to keep it loosely together.  Let’s hope there are at least one more pint and a fag in his Xanax and whisky driven future. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE BRASS VERDICT by Michael Connelly:  I work in the newspaper business and am eagerly anticipating reading Connelly’s latest – SCARECROW  featuring Jack McEvoy, the LA Times reporter from THE POET who is being downsized from his job.  That is the reality of being in the newspaper business today. I have enjoyed all of Connelly’s previous Harry Bosch efforts but feel that THE LINCOLN LAWYER, with Mickey Haller, may have, in fact been his best ever.  Now, Mickey Haller is back.  His friend and fellow attorney Jerry Vincent is murdered, and Mickey inherits all Vincent’s cases, including a career-maker: the trial of a studio executive accused of killing his wife and her lover. Imagine my delight 46 pages in to learn that, in fact, Harry Bosch is the detective working the Vincent murder, and then on page 59, guess who shows up?  Jack McEvoy.  To say much more might introduce plot spoilers.  Let me just say if you enjoy good legal thrillers, this one is for you.  If you like police procedurals this one is for you.  If you like good writing, this one is for you.  If you like interesting characters, well, you get the point. 06/09 Jack Quick 

VISIBILITY by Boris Starling:  Its 1952 and the Cold War plus the Korean conflict are keeping everyone jittery.  Herbert Smith, "once of the British Army, latterly of MI5" and now a detective with "the Metropolitan Police's Murder Squad," draws the case of a drowned man found in a Hyde Park pond in the thick London fog.  The victim, a young biochemist and son of a highly placed government official, in the hours before his death had claimed to be in possession of a discovery that could change the world. Smith soon discovers that his inquiries are creating a panic in the covert world as agents from his own MI5 as well as the Soviet Union and U.S. (along with a renegade Nazi mad scientist) surface.  Reminiscent of le Carre and Forsyth, Starling stands equal to them with this great period English police procedural. 06/09 Jack Quick

THE ANGEL’S GAME by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: Zafón brings to life an eerie version of 1920s Barcelona in his second U.S. release. Readers will remember Sempere and Sons bookshop and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books from the author’s first release, The Shadow of the Wind. In Angel’s Game, author David Martin has been working for years writing penny-dreadfuls under a pseudonym. He longs for the recognition and respect deserving of a real author, however, and takes a commission from a strange man offering him unreal payment and favors in return. David, whose success prompted him to rent a foreboding home called The Tower House, has learned that there may be a deeper connection between himself and the previous owner of the home, a lawyer who left his business to write. As David digs into this man’s life and what led to his mysterious drowning, he begins to wonder what fate may await him at the end of his contract. Angel’s Game is very similar in many ways to Shadow of the Wind, but is no less magical a read. It’s one that begs to be savored and read slowly because, upon entering Zafón’s created world, you never want to leave. I’ve been waiting in great anticipation for Angel’s Game and was, obviously, not let down. I highly recommend that if you have not yet read Shadow of the Wind, you run out and buy both books now. 06/09 Becky Lejeune    

SILVER FALLS by Anne Stuart: After her daughter’s best friend is murdered, Rachel Chapman finds herself looking to settle down and provide some stability for her teen. She thought that marrying David Middleton was the perfect solution, but she was oh, so very wrong. Caleb Middleton has returned to his hometown of Silver Falls with one thing in mind, stopping his brother before it’s too late. Rachel is drawn to Caleb initially, but when the bodies start to turn up in their quaint little town, she becomes convinced that there must be some connection. She’s right, but not in any way she can imagine. And she is in no way prepared for the secret her new husband’s family has been hiding. Poor Rachel, the reader knows from the very beginning what a creep David is, but for her and her daughter, the worst they’ve been through is nothing compared to what’s to come. Silver Falls is heavy on the suspense and guaranteed to keep readers up late into the night. David Middleton is the most skin-crawlingly, creepy bad guy I’ve come across in a while. 06/09 Becky Lejeune    

PERSONAL EFFECTS: DARK ART by J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman: Zach Taylor, a young art therapist making a name for himself in his field, has been asked to take on the biggest case seen in the history of Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital. Notorious serial killer Martin Grace is set to go on trial in just a short time, and it’s Zach’s job to determine whether the man is fit for the hearing. Grace has always claimed innocence, but there are two things that make his case stand out amongst the others: Grace suffers from psychosomatic blindness, and he claims that the person responsible for the killings is someone he refers to as “the Dark Man.” Zach soon finds himself confronting memories of his own mother’s death and questioning whether Grace may be linked to a dark and sinister force of a supernatural origin. This unique and innovative thriller takes the form of a patient file with props, or “personal effects,” websites, and even telephone numbers, that allow the reader to follow right along, and even interact, with Zach Taylor’s investigation. A very different delivery, a great concept, and a fun read besides. 06/09 Becky Lejeune    

SACRIFICE by S.J. Bolton: The discovery of a body on the small island of Shetland sets off a chilling chain of events and uncovers a dark and ancient secret in Bolton’s page-turning debut. Tora Hamilton has only been on Shetland for a short time when she discovers a body buried within the boundaries of her new property. At first, officials believe that the remains may be one of the famous “bog bodies”—ancient remains preserved in peat—and therefore none of their concern. Evidence points to a ritualistic murder: the woman’s heart has been cut from her chest and runes carved into her flesh. Tora realizes, however, that the body cannot be as old as the police think, and her suspicions are confirmed; the body is that of a young woman killed just two years ago. Though she is warned off of the case, Tora can’t help but feel some responsibility toward the dead woman and begins to assist one of the investigators on the case. Tora’s discoveries lead her to one of the island’s oldest folk legends, and evidence that that the tale may be more fact than not. Bolton’s heroine is really put through the wringer in this one. I love the combination of folklore and mystery in this one, it makes for one of my favorite kinds of thrillers.  06/09 Becky Lejeune   

ORGANIC AND CHIC: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets That Taste as Good as They Look by Sarah Magid: Bakers beware, this enticing cookbook is going to be next on your must-buy list. As the shift in the cooking world comes more and more to local, organic, and healthy-as-can-be cooking, books like Organic and Chic keep popping up everywhere. The difference is that Magid’s book is all baking: delectable cakes, cookies, “junk food favorites,” and even things to bake with your kids are all included. Magid also tells you where to find the ingredients the book calls for (many are readily available at national store chains) and provides info on where to get some of her own favorites. And best of all, Magid includes a chapter on cake decorating. Yep, her cakes are beautiful and a bit intimidating if you aren’t sure how to go about getting the same effect, but she provides easy-to-follow instructions on sugar sculpting, icing, and designing a cake. Each recipe comes with a little anecdote about where the idea came from or when she likes to make which recipe for what occasion. Best of all, the instructions really are easy to follow and the pictures are totally mouthwatering. My favorites so far are the Double Ginger Cookies and the Sweet-Potato Cookies.  (Note from the BookBitch: the marshmallow frosting is to die for!) 06/09 Becky Lejeune   

DIE FOR YOU by Lisa Unger: Isabel Raines is a novelist in love with her husband of five years, Marcus.  Marcus is partners in a high tech computer game company and is on the verge of making the biggest sale of his career.  One morning he leaves for work, and disappears.  Isabel is frantic, the police won't help - men leave - so she goes down to his office to see what she can find out.  While she's there the FBI show up and lock her in an office while they tear the place apart.  They let her go, and she finally hears from Marcus, but before she can say anything, she hears a horrible scream and then the phone goes dead.  That's her last contact with her husband, but she won't rest until she finds out what happened to him. This is killer suspense, the pacing is just relentless, and the story is intense until the shocking ending.  Unger just keeps getting better and this is her best book yet.  06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch.

TRIPLE CROSS by Mark T. Sullivan:  In this era of Bernie Madoff, AIG bonuses, government bailouts and the collapse of institutions like FannieMae and FreddyMac, Chrysler and General Motors, Sullivan has written a novel that might strike a chord with many.  Half a dozen of the richest men in the world are celebrating New Years at the Jefferson Club, a spectacularly exclusive private club in the mountains of Montana when the Third Position Army, a group that says it is revolting against “corporate tyranny” takes over.  After freeing most of the guests, they hold a people’s trial for the financial barons that is webcast live.  After the evidence is presented the group invites the viewers to decide – guilty or innocent.  Those who are voted “guilty” are then dispatched—on camera—in novel and grisly ways. Terrorism meets reality TV. Obviously politically incorrect, but on a certain level, it felt good. 06/09 Jack Quick

KING OF SWORDS by Nick Stone:  Stone’s 2007 thriller Mr. Clarinet was one of my top ten reads for last year. This second thriller is actually a prequel which begins when Detective. Sergeant Max Mingus and his black partner, Detective Joe Liston, of the Miami PD discover a decomposed body in a primate park.  When a tarot card—the ominous King of Swords—is found in the victim's stomach and his entire family killed, it's clear something darker is at work.  The detectives are soon hot on the trail of a young Haitian pimp and his fortune-teller mother, who are thought to be linked to voodoo gang leader Solomon Boukman.  Mingus and Liston soon realize that with the rampant police corruption there is no one they can trust and they are both in way too deep to back out.  There are hauntingly violent and gruesome scenes as in Clarinet, but if you can stand the heat, Stone has turned out another great read. 06/09 Jack Quick 

SERIAL by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch:  “The hardest thing about killing a hitchhiker is finding one to pick up.”  That opening line ranks right up there with the tale of the sadist marrying the masochist - and no one being satisfied.  What if a crazy driver picked up a nutcase hitchhiker?  What if two great writers came up with an innovative experiment in collaboration?  Kilborn wrote the first part, Crouch wrote the second part.  Together they wrote the third part in a series of 100 word e-mails with neither having read the other’s opening section.  What will happen to you if you read this? That is the easiest question of all. You will be entertained. 06/09 Jack Quick 

NOTE: This is a free downloadable novella available on the BookBitchBlog.

PANIC ATTACK by Jason Starr:  Things were nearly perfect for Dr. Adam Bloom. Admittedly, he did have some bad dreams, but he and his wife Dana live in a luxurious house and his practice has given him financial security.  All this is shattered when Marissa, their twenty-two-year-old college graduate daughter wakes him up one night and says, “Somebody’s downstairs.”  Adam shoots one of the two intruders dead, but the other escapes, and this ends the Bloom’s orderly life. Adam no longer feels safe but refuses to move since he has lived there all his life.  The ensuing stress takes its toll on their marriage.  Then Marissa meets a young, talented artist named Xan.  Adam feels that something’s not quite right with Xan, but his daughter ignores his warnings and falls deeply in love with him.  Because this is a Jason Starr novel, you know these people going to make a train wreck of their lives. 06/09 Jack Quick 

ROAD DOGS by Elmore Leonard:  Its reunion time with three of Leonard’s most memorable characters. Jack Foley (Out of Sight) is back in prison in Florida, and hooks up with Cundo Rey, the pint-size Cuban (LaBrava), who soon engineers their early release--legally, this time.  Jack's happy to be out and enjoying the California hospitality of Cundo and his wife Dawn (LaBrava and Riding the Rap).  There are just a few issues. Dawn is lovely but husband Cundo is a murderously jealous husband who may get tired of Jack being around.  Dawn likes M-O-N-E-Y and thinks Jack may be the best meal ticket.  Jack – well first he owes Cundo thirty big ones from getting him sprung.  When you have robbed a hundred and twenty or banks, the solution to that problem would seem to be at hand? Nobody does it better than the senior Mr. Leonard, so kick back and enjoy this one like a fine Havana with a pitcher of fresh mojitos. 06/09 Jack Quick  

GRAND CAYMAN SLAM by Randy Wayne White:  Captain Wes O’Davis has been having a fling with the nanny hired to mind the son of  Sir Conan James and Lady James, British aristocracy with powerful connections.   When the boy is kidnapped and the nanny’s body is found in Davis’ Grand Cayman cottage, it got a bit dicey.  But O’Davis had a food reputation and a solid alibi, so he enlists friend Dusty MacMorgan, ex-Seal and now charter boat captain to work with him to find the kidnappers, rescue the boy, and avenge the young lady who had come from England to Caymans only to die.  Not world class literature but a good action yarn. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly: Former journalist Connelly pays tribute to the troubled newspaper business with the return of Jack McEvoy (The Poet.) The L.A. Times is downsizing, and Jack is next on their hit list.  Determined to go out with a bang, he goes after a story about how an African American teenager turns murderer.  Except the boy's family blames McEvoy for their troubles, insinuating that it is his story that will ultimately put their "innocent" child in jail. McEvoy digs and soon finds that the boy's confession is tainted, to say the least, and realizes that there is a serial killer on the loose. He hooks up with FBI agent Rachel Walling, and together they go after the Scarecrow. a brilliant, high tech, very scary whacko. If you like multiple plot twists, terrific suspense, engaging characters and a completely gripping story, then you won't want to miss this.  Connelly is the master - run to your nearest bookseller/library and settle in for a hell of a ride.  (And check out all the websites that are mentioned throughout the book, they exist...) 06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch.

FUGITIVE by Phillip Margolin:  Charlie Marsh was a former prison inmate who reinvented himself as the Guru Gabriel Sun when he saved the warden’s life during a prison riot. His newfound wealth and fame soon dissipate when he was suspected of murdering a U.S. senator. Charlie was having an affair with the senator’s wife and he disappeared after the murder, hiding out in the People’s Republic of Batanga, a small African country with no extradition that's run by a cannibal dictator. The dictator's wife is tortured and killed when he finds out she is having an affair with Charlie. Charlie knows his days are numbered and he seeks help from an American tabloid. They smuggle him out of Africa and home to the US, where he will have to stand trial for the senator’s murder. The senator’s wife had been acquitted of being an accessory years earlier when Frank Jaffe defended her, and his daughter, Amanda, will now defend Charlie; that is, if Batanga’s secret police don’t get to him first. The pages fly in this violent, twisty tale of one man’s journey through the legal system. 06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch. Copyright © 2009 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission.

DEADLOCK by Robert Liparulo:  “The mission was simple – kill everyone. The complications came in the details, such as the directive to keep it quiet.” No “dark and stormy night” here, just the beginning of an action packed thriller that makes Rambo read like a nursery rhyme.  Brendan Page is a billionaire military industrialist who is used to getting what he wants.  What he wants now is to teach John “Hutch” Hutchinson as lesson. Hutch has uncovered some dirt that jeopardizes Page’s empire – specifically that Page is using a private army to settle his own scores. But Page’s teaching operation goes terribly wrong, and Hutch's son is kidnapped.  Now it’s Die Hard, Mission Impossible, and every other unrealistic but satisfying foray in which one determined man overcomes all obstacles and exacts his own brand of revenge.  I wore my seat belt throughout this one. 06/09 Jack Quick

DARLING JIM by Christian Moerk:  From beyond the grave Fiona Walsh provides the means for Niall, a young mailman in Dublin, to solve the mystery of the murder of Fiona, her sister and her aunt, while maybe saving the remaining sister. Jim is an itinerant story teller who leaves behind young female victims.  It seems that his macabre mythic narratives are more fact than fiction, as Niall learns from a diary found in the dead letter box after Fiona’s death.  Will Niall become another victim of Darling Jim, or will he be able to unravel the Celtic knot? Moerk captures the darkness as well as the light that combine to form the Irish spirit. Nicely done. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE BODY BOX by Lynn Abecrombie: This is the first of two books by Walter Sorrells using this penname, featuring a feisty African-American detective Mechelle Deakes.  Let me say first that I am mildly claustrophobic and generally avoid “buried alive”, spelunking, scuba diving or submarine books.  I also avoid those that involve child abuse or animal abuse.  However, I made an exception in this case, and am glad I did. Abecrombie is an excellent writer and his character has a lot going for her.  Deakes has been demoted to the Atlanta Police Department's cold case unit after getting busted for buying crack, and ends up working on a series of unsolved murders in the city and surrounding areas that date back to the '80s. Each case involves children whose bodies exhibited unusual bone decalcification, the result of malnutrition. Deakes and her shady partner, Lt. Hank Gooch are determined to solve the case. How they get there is a great police procedural. Recommended. 06/09 Jack Quick 

BLIND FEAR by Lynn Abecrombie:  In this follow-up to The Body Box. former Atlanta police detective Hank Gooch, bored with retirement, returns to work with a vengeance when his former partner, Sgt. MeChelle Deakes of the cold case unit, is abducted.  The kidnappers aren’t asking for ordinary ransom – what they want is for Gooch to solve old homicide with proof that would stand up in court.  Deakes is still the character from the previous outing while Gooch is Mr. Steady. Another nicely done police procedural. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE LOST VAN GOGH by A.J. Zerries:  It is a truism that the larger the organization, the more narrow the specialization of its members.   So it shouldn’t be surprising that an organization as big as the NYPD would have an “art cop”, a member of the Major Crimes Squad who specializes in crimes related to art.  Usually detective Clay Ryder is following up on thefts, like the two priceless paintings stolen from a Central Park penthouse.  But this case is just the opposite. A previously unknown Van Gogh shows up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, having been shipped from Argentina via UPS.  It is up to Ryder to track back to the Nazi pillaging of Jewish-owned art treasures, with an especially barbaric SS officer believed to have escaped to Argentina, the Israeli Mossad agents on the SS officer’s trail, and ultimately to protect the rightful  heir to the Van Gogh portrait, one Rachel Meredith, a film-history professor at NYU. Interesting and complicated, particularly for those who are art buffs.  06/09 Jack Quick 

SOMEBODY ELSE’S DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Brundage:  This a cross between Peyton Place and a Jackie Collins tell all, where nothing is at it seems.  Nate and Cat are in the San Francisco drug scene when Cat gets pregnant. Knowing they cannot raise a daughter, they give up Willa for adoption.  Fast forward. Willa now attends a private New England day-school and lives in upper middle class comfort with her adoptive parents.  However, her adoptive father, Joe is one of the nation’s largest producers of porn.  The lid starts to come off when Nate, now clean and respectable is hired by the Pioneer school. At the same time the son of a struggling artist, Claire Squire, gets a back-door admittance to the land of school ties, little plaid skirts, and do-gooder opportunities.  Guess what – fireworks follow.  Would probably be a good Oprah pick, but never really got me going.  06/09 Jack Quick 

RESONANCE by A.J. Scudiere:  Approximately 200 million years ago, map north was magnetic south. Ten million years later, the poles switched places and have continued to do so about every sixty million years. The last polar shift sixty five million years ago caused the deaths of entire species, species we call dinosaurs.  Right now Dr. Becky Sorenson has some seriously mutated frogs in her lab.  In Los Angeles bees are making abnormal columns on the side of the freeways.  In Georgia, birds are migrating out of season. People are dying now from what might be SuperAIDS. Is this the beginning of the next polar shift? We are five million years overdue.  How much time do we have left? Just when you thought we were safe from a swine flu pandemic, this comes along. Depending on your own orientation, this one is either: interesting, intriguing, or don’t-turn-out-the-lights-I-am-scared-witless reading. You decide for yourself.  06/09 Jack Quick 

DEADLY EXCHANGE by Geoffrey M. Gluckman:  Of course this is a work of fiction, isn’t it? Jennifer Chance is a world-renowned motivational speaker who is not who she seems.  She works for Lectures and More, Inc., a company representing the world’s top motivational speakers. Ulrich Rogers who spearheads the company and its reeducation programs has a new technological advance: a mind-altering radio frequency device sold as a work-site enhancement product. Jennifer learns of Rogers’ plan to use the device to take control of America. She teams up with Frank Revere, an enigmatic former government counterintelligence agent, as they try to untangle deception.  Gluckman is a former federal agent and international lecturer. Although you may think his premise somewhat absurd, a reminder that an injectable sub-dermal RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) the size of a grain of rice which can send and receive data and be tracked by Global Positioning Systems has been around since early 2002. Makes you wonder.  06/09 Jack Quick

THE STRAIN by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan: The Strain, the first in a new horror trilogy, is a collaborative effort between mystery/thriller author Chuck Hogan and award-winning director Guillermo del Toro. It begins with the legend of Jusef Sardu, a tale that stays with Abraham Setrakian through his growing years and beyond as he escapes Nazi troops, movies to Italy where he learns all he can about the legend of the strigoi (vampire), and eventually settles down in New York City. Then an international flight, inbound from Germany, lands at JFK… and goes dark. When investigators are finally able to crack the plane open they discover that every passenger is dead: no signs of struggle, no signs of biological weapons, nothing to indicate cause of death. Dr. Ephraim Goldweather, a member of the CDC’s Canary project, is called in to unravel the mystery and finds that they were wrong in assuming that everyone had died. There were four survivors, none of whom can shine any light on the events onboard. And then the real dead bodies begin to disappear. Setrakian tries to warn them all, but by the time Goldweather and his partner Nora begin to listen, it may be too late for everyone. This is classic vampire horror del Toro style; there are hints of Dracula and even Blade II. The inclusion of vampire legends and mythology are fascinating and bring an extra depth to the tale. I can’t wait to continue on with book two, The Fall. 06/09 Becky Lejeune   

GOTCHA! by Christie Craig: In Christie Craig’s latest romantic mystery, Houston girl Macy Tucker has had it with men: All they bring is disappointment. So now it’s time to swear them off and make her own plans for the future, plans that certainly don’t include a new love interest. When her little brother inadvertently lands his whole family in trouble, and escapes jail trying to protect them, Detective Jake Baldwin is forced to get involved. Something about Macy really turns him on and all he can think about is keeping her safe from trouble. And as hard as headstrong Macy tries to resist Baldwin’s charms, she has to admit that he’s getting under her skin. But now’s not the time for romance. Not with her brother on the run from the law and a crazy psychopath stalking Macy. Just goes to show that the best-laid plans sometime fail. Before long, bullets are speeding past, a couple of hospital visits are involved, and Macy is head over heels for a guy she is sure is completely wrong for her. Gotcha. makes for great forget-all-your-worries reading. It’s funny and really hooks you from the very beginning. A fun way to kick off summer. 06/09 Becky Lejeune   

BLOODY GOOD by Georgia Evans: This first in a new and original paranormal/fantasy trilogy is one of my new favorites. It’s World War II and the tiny village of Brytewood is about to get some unwanted visitors in the form of four blood-sucking vamps sent straight from Germany. Their plan is to infiltrate the small town, hiding out as loyal British citizens, wreaking havoc and giving the Axis the upper hand in the war. Worse yet, they are being helped by internal spies. When Dr. Alice Doyle finds a man stuck in a tree and in pretty bad shape, she rushes him back to her clinic for immediate treatment. The man seemed in dire condition, but apparently he was well enough to walk away when no one was watching. Then a local farmer dies of an apparent heart attack, and Alice demands further investigation. It’s discovered that the man had been completely drained of blood. Strange and inexplicable in and of itself, but then she hears that some local livestock has also been recently drained. Alice, part pixie, has always denied the existence of her “other” blood, but now she and her friends can no longer deny that something evil has entered they quaint town. I love everything about this series: the English countryside during WWII, all of the different “others” that are making an appearance, and the perfect blend of humor, romance, mystery, and, of course, paranormal stuff. Book 2, Bloody Awful, is due out in July and book 3, Bloody Right, will be released in August. Georgia Evans is a pseudonym for paranormal romance author Rosemary Laurey. 06/09 Becky Lejeune  

"The whole family is a bunch of dangerous freaks...Most are ex-cons or junkies or deranged from inbreeding. Five have died violently, three are back in prison, two have gone insane from untreated venereal disease, and one writes book reviews."

Triggerfish Twist by Tim Dorsey

LAST MONTH'S REVIEWS:

THE LAST CHILD by John Hart: When twelve-year-old Alyssa Merrimon disappeared, her family fell apart. Her twin brother Johnny became obsessed with trying to find her, her father took off, not to be heard from again, and her mother sank into a world of drugs and booze, helped along by a wealthy boyfriend who liked beating her and Johnny. Detective Clive Hunt is also obsessed, both with finding Alyssa, and with her mother, and his obsession costs him his marriage and puts his job is jeopardy. But this is Johnny’s story and his quest to find the sister he lost, leaving no stone unturned. He takes his mother’s car when she’s passed out and spies on all the small townsfolk of Raven County, NC, occasionally taking his best friend Jack along, and he keeps meticulous records. The world is a dark place when seen through his eyes, and Johnny is an unforgettable character in a finely drawn, yet enthralling adventure. With his best novel yet, the Edgar award winning Hart (Down River) firmly cements his place along side the greats of the genre and beyond. One of the best books I've read this year. And don't miss my interview with Hart on the BookBitchBlog.  05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch. Copyright © 2009 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission.

SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley:  The title is a misnomer; the sweetness in this book starts at the top and runs all the way through. Twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is a precocious, brilliant, brave child stuck in a motherless home in a small English village in 1950.  She loves chemistry and has her own lab, where she's completely fascinated by poisons.  When she finds a dying man in her yard, she thinks it exciting.  But when her father is arrested for his murder, Flavia knows she can solve the crime and save the day.  Of course she stumbles into a little trouble in the process, but nothing that she can't get out of.  This book was entirely too cute for me, and I couldn't help but wonder why it is being marketed as a book for adults.  It's received accolades, in part because it is a first novel by a septuagenarian. Nevertheless it seems to me that its appeal would lie more with prepubescent girls who admire Harriet the Spy and Pippi Longstocking.  05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE MOONPOOL by P.T. Deutermann:  Cameron Richter is back (The Cat Dancers and Spider Mountain). The retired cop who runs Hide and Seek Investigations, a PI firm staffed by other ex-cops is in Wilmington, NC following up on the death of one of the firm’s agents, Allie Gardner.  The location of the death – a gas station bathroom.  The cause of death – ingestion of a highly radioactive liquid.  Although there is no solid reason to suspect a connection, Aristotle Quartermain, chief of security at Helios, the local nuclear power station hires Hide and Seek to determine whether it would be possible that the contaminated liquid came from their Moonpool – the pond where spent fuel rods were stored.  Aiding Cam are his German shepherds, Frick and Frack, along with some first rate agents in this great thriller. Hopefully, Mr. Deutermann, who has nine stand-alones as well as these three in the Richter series will churn out more featuring this very engaging sleuth. 05/09 Jack Quick 

PROOF OF INTENT by Walter Sorrells:  I recently learned Walter Sorrells is Lynn Abercrombie is Ruth Birmingham.  Whatever the name, the result is a good tale.  Charley Sloan had a bad day yesterday but today is worse. Local author Miles Dane calls him to his house in the wee hours of morning where Sloan finds the author and Dane’s dead wife.  Dane tells his tale to Sloan who calls the police.  Upon their arrival he proceeds, in front of Sloan, to tell the investigators a different story.  So Dane is a liar? But is he a murderer? Did he kill his wife or is he trying to take advantage of the event to revive his flagging career? A different take on the ordinary whodunit and Sloan must find out the truth. It really gets dark when evidence surfaces that Dane seems to be following a script based on one of his own novels.  Stay tuned for this finish. This one goes to the wire. 05/09 Jack Quick

THE UNSEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff:  Alexandra Sokoloff’s latest paranormal thriller is a masterful blend of fascinating fact and chilling fiction. From 1927 to 1965, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, had its very own parapsychology department. Just recently, 700 boxes of material from this department have been opened up to the public for viewing. Dr. Laurel MacDonald has only just relocated to the university’s psychology department and she finds herself drawn to these files, curious about what seems to have been the rather sudden closure of what was such a renowned program. Her search leads to evidence of a shocking experiment that may have ended to multiple deaths, an experiment that was expertly covered up and remains a secret even today. Laurel is surprised to discover that her own family has a connection to this incident and she decides that this will be the subject of her scholarly research. As she gets closer to the truth behind the events of 1965, however, she also finds herself closer to an evil that must never be released. Sokoloff never fails to surprise me with her tales. Her fabulous choice of setting and the original twist on what is essentially a true story (the experiment is fiction) make this an unsettling and highly entertaining horror/thriller read. 05/09 Becky Lejeune  

BLIND SIGHT by Terri Persons:  FBI agent Bernadette St. Clare and her boss Tony Garcia return in this fast-paced third installment to the series. When a hunter discovers the mutilated body of a teenager in the woods, Bernie and Tony are called in to investigate. The girl, the missing daughter of a U.S. senator who is very outspoken against the feds, had been pregnant, but the body of the fetus is missing. Nearby folks whisper of witchcraft and Satanism, a fact that becomes very significant when investigators discover a pentagram etched in blood on the dead girl’s forehead—a pentagram that is subsequently wiped off by a person, or persons, who aren’t keen on their group coming under investigation. Bernadette must once again rely on her very unreliable “sight” to help solve this case. Meanwhile, she and Garcia are growing ever closer, a fact that must remain as secret as her special ability. Persons does a great job of balancing the supernatural element with what is essentially a traditional police procedural series. 05/09 Becky Lejeune  

THRILLER 2 edited by Clive Cussler:  Members of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) team up once again to bring fans another gripping anthology of short stories. In this all-new collection, a whole different set of authors has been chosen to thrill and chill readers of the genre. Simon Wood, Marcus Sakey, Lisa Jackson, and Tim Maleeny are just a few of the twenty-three contributors to this collection of tales. Bestselling author R.L. Stine cooks up a surprising tale of revenge in “Roomful of Witnesses,” Spanish author, Javier Sierra shows readers just why he’s an international success in “The Fifth World,” and David Hewson breaks from his Rome series with a shocking story of terrorism in “The Circle.” Some of the authors may be old favorites and some may be completely new to you, but one thing’s for sure: each of these tales is guaranteed to keep you in suspense to the very end. 05/09 Becky Lejeune  

LUST, LOATHING AND A LITTLE LIP GLOSS by Kyra Davis: In the fourth title of this hilarious series, mystery author Sophie Katz has finally saved up enough money to buy her first home. Unfortunately in the San Francisco housing market, Sophie can only afford a modest fixer-upper. When her slimy ex-husband, who just happens to be a realtor, approaches Sophie with the deal of a lifetime—a fabulous renovated Victorian in a very desirable neighborhood, selling for way under market value—Sophie knows there must be a catch. And there sure is. Sophie and her ex arrive just in time to find the owner dead of a heart attack. Still, the owner’s son seems pretty anxious to unload the property, but only if Sophie can prove that she can make contact with the other side. The deal also comes with the stipulation the Sophie join a group obsessed with the undead. Then one of the members is murdered and it looks as though Sophie’s dream home may slip through her fingers. But Sophie’s not going to go down without a fight; she’s going to solve this one and get that house even if it means exposing herself to a crazed psychopath. Such a fun series. Davis’s cast of quirky and loveable characters never fail to crack me up. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child: Jack Reacher is back in the 13th entry in the series, and Child continues to prove that a series can grow and get better.  Reacher is riding the New York City subway at 2:00 a.m.  The car isn't crowded, there are just five people at that hour but one of them, a young woman, has Reacher on alert.  Many years earlier, Israeli intelligence had come up with a list of twelve signs that inevitably proved a person was a suicide bomber.  After 9/11, that list became part of police training all over the world and was studied by all law enforcement.  Reacher notices this woman is exhibiting all twelve signs. He manages to avoid the catastrophe he envisioned, but as he starts working with a local cop to try and figure out what was going on, the FBI gets involved as does a politician running for senator, and two women from Afghanistan.  Reacher is on the move between NY and Washington DC, looking for answers but he's being lied to.  His life is in danger and he's not sure if it's because of what he knows or what he's about to find out.  This tightly plotted thriller is as thought provoking as it is exciting.  Fans of the series will love it, and newcomers impressed and intrigued enough with this larger-than-life character to go back and read the rest of the series.  05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE MANUAL OF DETECTION by Jedediah Berry:  This debut is easy to read, but difficult to describe.  A relatively simple story, but exceptionally well told.  Charles Unwin is the personal clerk for legendary detective Travis Sivart, the key man in the Agency, in an unnamed rainy city.  When Sivart goes missing, Unwin is promoted to fill the vacancy.  All Unwin wants to do is find Sivart so he can go back to being a clerk.  With the help of a book – Manual of Detection – he sets forth on his adventure.  What makes this book so memorable is the quality of Berry’s writing.  For instance, his description of Unwin - “life time resident of this city, rode his bicycle to work every day, even when it was raining.  He contrived a method to keep his umbrella open while pedaling, by hooking the umbrella’s handle around the bicycle’s handlebar…Today he was behind schedule. He had scorched his oatmeal, and tied the wrong tie, and nearly forgotten his wristwatch…Now his socks were getting wet, so he pedaled even faster.” Can’t you just see the epitome of every meek little minor bureaucrat in that simple description.  “Even Mr. Duden alluded to (his work), most often when scolding someone for sloppy work. “You like to think your files stand up to Unwin’s and you don’t even know the difference between a dagger and a stiletto?”  Highly recommended. 05/09 Jack Quick 

EIGHT IN THE BOX by Raffi Yessayan:  The television series Law and Order meets the city of Boston in this first novel, although at times it comes close to sounding like a legal spinoff of the TV show Friends.   I won’t bother you with all the details since I don’t remember most of them. In fact, I think it possibly was written as a cop/lawyer/serial killer/pyschopathic/urban life love story by a group of demented first year journalism students as a class exercise.  Too many main characters, too many side stories, and an Assistant District Attorney who  juggles hundreds of cases piled on his desk, puts the make on a fellow lawyer and in his spare time, helps officers and attorneys catch an elusive maniac serial killer who drains the blood from the bodies of his victims and carts off the now-empty body. Bleeh. 05/09 Jack Quick 

BOMBSHELL by Barbara and Max Allan Collins:  Max Collins has been one of my favorite authors for a long time.  In BOMBSHELL, Collins and his wife offer an extraordinary what if? look into history.  In 1959, Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev comes to the U.S. to address the UN and meet with President Eisenhower.  The other two things he wants to do are visit the new Disneyland and meet Marilyn Monroe.  The mercurial Khrushchev is delighted with his Monroe meeting but incensed when his Disneyland trip is cancelled.  Marilyn helps hatch a plan to protect "Nikki," who winds up getting his Disneyland visit after all--and with a very comely guide.  While aspects of the book read like a Doris Day movie of the era, it is all played out before the backdrop of nuclear annihilation.  If you lived through those times, you will never forget the Civil Defense films, the fallout shelters, and the very real fear that one mis-calculation could send the world over the brink.  Definitely a different read and recommended. 05/09 Jack Quick 

THE WHOLE TRUTH by David Baldacci:  Viral marketing is a marketing technique that uses pre-existing social networks to achieve marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.  When the huge advertising and lobbying budget of mega-defense contractor, Ares Corporation, seem to be losing its effectiveness, Nicholas Creel, the billionaire founder of the company, decides to use viral marketing to generate new demand. As he says, “I’m not interested in wars that stop at a hundred days or devolve into gloried gangland street fights.  That doesn’t even pay the light bill.”  Starting by planting fake news stories on the Internet about Russian atrocities, the propaganda campaign soon turns violent with the massacre of the members of a London think tank, the Phoenix Group, apparently by a Russian hit team. It’s all high tech and high suspense, with only a shadowy operative named A. Shaw and a disgraced female journalist to thwart Creel's evil plot. Better leave the lights on for this one which is reminiscent of some of the early Robert Ludlum thrillers. 05/09 Jack Quick 

THE DREAM OF THE BROKEN HORSES by William Bayer:  David Weiss is a very successful forensic artist, but when the presiding judge in a celebrity murder trial in his Midwestern hometown of Calista bars cameras, Weiss gladly accepts an assignment on behalf of ABC as a courtroom sketch artist. His real interest in returning to Calista, however, is in another murder that occurred twenty five years earlier.  Barbara Fulraine and her lover, Tom Jessup, were gunned down in the cheap Flamingo Court motel.  Soon after the homicides David's father, who was also Barbara's therapist, committed suicide.  Weiss is convinced Barbara Fulraine's death was the cause of his family's breakup, but his attempts to learn more are rebuffed.  As he unravels the story of  Barbara Fulraine fueled by her diary which he has found,  he uncovers ample dirty laundry in what turns out to be a classy and compelling psycho erotic suspense tale. 05/09 Jack Quick 

STRANGE ANGELS by Lili St. Crow: Dru Anderson and her father don’t live normal lives. Sure, Dru attends high school like all the other kids her age—her father is adamant that she earn a decent education even amidst all the relocating that comes with his job. But Dru’s dad doesn’t work a regular job like other dads. Nope, Dru and her father are hunters tracking down the things that go bump in the night—things most people will never know exist in their world. One day, Dru’s dad doesn’t come home. And then, when he does finally return, Dru is forced to kill him. See someone turned Dru’s dad into a flesh-eating zombie and now Dru is going to hunt that person down and make them pay. Dru’s hunt will lead her to some big revelations about her family and her own destiny, if she survives that is. I loved this book. Lilith Saintcrow’s teen debut has a very dark and adult feel, harder and edgier than most teen titles. This first in the series, and the heroine, are just what I had hoped for and expected after reading Saintcrow's adult titles. Dru is a strong female lead and while the book is very teen appropriate, I think it will definitely appeal to adults as well. Highly recommended. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith: It's been four years since Leo hunted down the serial killer in Child 44, four years since he was allowed to start his own investigative office focusing strictly on homicide. In the course of an investigation involving the death of a local printer, Leo determines that the man is actually a suicide rather than a homicide. He does discover evidence that seems to point to blackmail as the factor that forced the man into his decision. Meanwhile, Leo’s old boss approaches him to discuss yet another case of blackmail. The man is drunk and Leo convinces him to put off the talk until they are both rested. That evening Leo’s boss kills his family before turning the gun on himself. These two men are just the beginning. Though Russia is in a state of change, someone is anxious to ensure that no one forgets the crimes of the past, and that includes the things Leo himself did as an officer of the state. Leo’s home situation complicates matters and leaves him distracted, which may be why his adopted daughter is so easily taken hostage, becoming a pawn in this game of politics and murder. Tom Rob Smith is off to a brilliant start and will not disappoint fans of his debut, Child 44. Both titles are an absolute must read for thriller fans. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

THE TOWER by Simon Clark: Fabien has always been a lucky one. Raised with money and all the opportunity it affords him, he has become something of a control-freak. When he lands a cushy job as a house sitter for The Tower, a home dating back to early colonial times now under contract to be renovated into condos, he drags his band mates and his girlfriend along for the ride. His idea is that the band can spend the month secluded and without distraction so that they can concentrate on learning his songs, songs he’s sure will get them on the fast track to a record deal and the big leagues. His band mates are just hoping for a little fun and relaxation in the countryside. The Tower has other ideas for the group, however. The Tower has a taste for blood and it has been far too long since that craving has been satisfied. Simon Clark is great at creating atmosphere. The whole tone of the book is very gothic and creepy, but I was left wanting more. The history of The Tower was one aspect in particular that was touched on but not as in depth as I would have liked. I was left unsatisfied with the catch-all “just because it’s evil” explanation, or lack thereof. It would be great if another book featuring The Tower were around, but not so as of yet. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

WRITTEN IN BONE by Simon Beckett: After the events of The Chemistry of Death, Dr. David Hunter has returned to his calling as a forensic anthropologist. David is ready to go home after helping on a case in the Grampian highlands when he is called to yet another scene. It seems a body has been discovered on Runa, a small island off the coast of Scotland. Most of the official police force is tied up with a massive train wreck and they need David to examine the remains and determine whether it is in accidental death or something requiring further investigation. David grudgingly agrees, knowing that it will cause problems back home, but also realizing that his help is necessary given the circumstances. Upon arrival in Runa, David discovers that the circumstances surround the death certainly do warrant further serious investigation. In fact, David is certain that the body in question is the result of a homicide, but before the investigative team can arrive, a severe storm system cuts off all access to the island. What’s more, communication with the mainland also goes down and David finds himself trapped on the tiny island with a killer who is getting more desperate every day. Simon Beckett’s series is every bit as entertaining and well written as Kathy Reichs and Jefferson Bass’s respective series. Great for readers who can’t get enough of the forensic craze, or anyone looking for a well-plotted mystery. 05/09 Becky Lejeune

KILLER CUTS by Elaine Viets: This is the latest entry in the fabulous Dead End Job series. Helen Hawthorne, who likes to live below the radar and work for cash only, gets a job as assistant to a hair cutter to the stars.  Miguel Angel deals with celebrities and tourists with same good grace and humor.  One of his clients hires him to do her hair and makeup for her wedding to Kingman “King” Oden, a cable gossip star.  King makes it through the wedding, but turns up dead in the pool a few minutes later.  Cops find drugs in Miguel Angel's bag and he becomes the prime suspect in the murder.  Helen is sure he didn't do it and sets out to prove it and find out who did, with the help of her fiancé.  Nothing falls into place easily here, but there are lots of laughs on the rocky road to marriage.  This is a great beach read, breezy and fun - another winner from Viets. 05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

SHADOWS STILL REMAIN by Peter deJonge:  deJonge is a much better author on his own than with James Patterson (Beach Road).  NYPD Detective Darlene O'Hara, is looking for missing NYU student Francesca Pena, a very pretty teenage girl with long jet-black hair and bottomless brown eyes whose body is eventually found in East River Park. She has been tortured and assaulted to the point that the ME thinks she probably died of heart failure.  The focus of the investigation is David McLain, Pena’s ex-boyfriend, who first reported her missing. McLain had been in town visiting and staying with Pena and his story doesn’t seem to completely add up. McLain remains O'Hara of her own son and this causes her to continue the investigation with extreme consequences.  In many respects this is a predictable police procedural with many of the usual characters, but deJonge keeps the pace going nicely and has set up the situation nicely for follow on outings. 05/09 Jack Quick 

THE LONG FALL by Walter Mosley:  Leonid (his father was a communist named Tolstoy) McGill is a black New York City private detective from the old school now trying to move from “ crooked to slightly bent.”  At 53, he knows that he can’t go back and undo some of his past exploits which cost at least one innocent man his life.  But going forward the former boxer hopes to be able to steer his children to a better life. McGill soon finds the upward path is quite slippery and you can fall off before you know it – like finding the current whereabouts of some young men who begin contracting fatal conditions after McGill turns their names over to an Albany PI.  His 16 year old son Twill is getting in over his head with a suicidal girl.  McGill shares a lot of Easy Rawlins knack for earning powerful friends by performing favors and has some of the toughness of Fearless, but he's got his own dark secrets and hard-won philosophy. New York's racial stew is different than Los Angeles's, and Mosley stirs the pot and concocts a perfect setting for an entirely new series. 05/09 Jack Quick 

THE CHAMELEON CONSPIRACY by Haggi Carmon:  Third outing for Agent Dan Gordon, Senior Investigative Attorney for the Office of Asset Recovery and Money Laundering of the U.S. Department of Justice, who holds law degrees from the United States and Israel and has a three year stint in Mossad, as well as CIA credentials.  It will take all of Gordon’s skill and experience as he goes against the master criminal and con man known as the Chameleon who has eluded international law enforcement for twenty years.   As Gordon pursues his prey, he uncovers the fact that there is yet another side to the mysterious Chameleon – he’s an undercover sleeper agent. The Chameleon has been on the loose for twenty years, but he has never had Dan Gordon on his trail, an agent who will go anywhere, anytime, anyplace to face any danger – to succeed. 05/09 Jack Quick 

LORDS OF CORRUPTION by Kyle Mills:  For Josh Hagarty, there is good news and bad news.  The good news is he has managed to escape a hardscrabble life in Kentucky and has earned a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA.  The bad news is that he has mega student loans, a younger sister and an alcoholic mother back in Kentucky to support, and worst of all, a prison record stemming from a high school involvement in an armed robbery, which make him virtually unemployable.  So the offer from NewAfrica to manage a farming project in an underdeveloped African country is almost too good to be true.  And in fact, it is.  What the recruiter left out was that John’s predecessor was hacked to death by a machete, there is Russian involvement in the charity, and the President of his host country is interested only in how much money he can skim off the top.  With the help of Annika Gritdal, a beautiful Scandinavian aid worker, and alcoholic journalist J.B. Flannary, Josh must fight to uncover the truth behind NewAfrica – and keep the three of them alive.  A first rate thriller. 05/09 Jack Quick

CEMETERY DANCE by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: In the latest Pendergast thriller, the illustrious detective must team up with D’Agosta to investigate what appears to be a killing by zombie. Worse yet, the victim is someone the two men consider a close friend. All evidence points to the killer being one of the vic’s own neighbors, a man who turned up in the morgue prior to the killing. Pendergast calls on the help of his childhood tutor, a man who specializes in Obeah and vodou, when the search leads to a strange cult centered in Manhattan. Public sentiment regarding the group in question has always been on the negative side, but the link to this recent murder is just what certain protest groups need to feed the fire. Soon it seems as though all of Manhattan is watching, just waiting to see what will happen, and Pendergast and D’Agosta are right in the middle. Preston and Child have done it again. Pendergast is as good as ever and, as usual, readers will be dying to know what comes next for this strange and fascinating character and his friends. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

MONSTER by A. Lee Martinez: Monster is a freelance cryptobiological rescue agent—a division of animal control specializing in beasties and creatures of strange origin. Oh, and he changes color. When Monster and his paper gnome partner, Chester, are called to a grocery store with a yeti problem, they meet Judy, one of the night staff. Judy’s life isn’t glamorous. In fact, it’s a little boring. That must be why, when the trolls appear in her closet, she decides that Monster’s line of work is pretty interesting. Judy is a light cog, someone who can see magic but can’t remember it, which makes tagging along with Monster a bit difficult at times, but a memory spell fixes that. Course, Monster isn’t the easiest person to be around (he’s not very likable) but even he has to admit that strange things are happening around Judy at an alarming rate. Before he can find out why, Judy is kidnapped by a crazy cat lady and Monster’s house is wrecked, something that will be difficult to explain to his demon girlfriend. But that will be dealt with later, right now Monster has to find Judy and figure this whole thing out. Fun stuff. Martinez’s fantastical fiction will appeal to readers who enjoy Christopher Moore and Mario Acevedo’s Felix Gomez mysteries. 05/09 Becky Lejeune 

WORST NIGHTMARES by Shane Briant: Best-selling and award-winning author Dermot Nolan has a problem. It seems the well has run dry, at least for now. Nothing is inspiring him and he has already run through his million-dollar advance, with no possible way of paying it back. When he first receives the Dream Healer’s journal, Dermot is annoyed and disgusted. Annoyed that yet again someone has approached him to get their book published, and disgusted with the writing and the story. The “journal” recounts the murders of victims chosen based on their worst nightmares. Each of these people approached the Dream Healer through his website, thinking that he would cure them of the dreams that plague them. Instead, they were brutally murdered and all of it has been recorded for Dermot to read. He and his wife, Neela, never thought that it was real, though. In fact, when the author kills himself, it is Neela who convinces Dermot to take the story and make it his own. But Dermot never told his wife what he found at the so-called murder sites. And then someone dies in a scene straight out of Dermot’s new bestseller. Briant’s debut, a thriller/horror reminiscent of both King’s Secret Window, Secret Garden and Saw, is a twisted read. I would have liked more from the Dream Healer’s perspective, but given that he dies in the beginning… or does he? 05/09 Becky Lejeune

INTENT TO KILL by James Grippando: Finally a stand-alone thriller from the writer of the Jack Swytek series.  I like the series, but I love his thrillers more.  This one will remind you how good Grippando can be - his earlier thrillers like Found Money, The Abduction and The Pardon are terrific and so is Intent to Kill.

Ryan James was an up and coming baseball star in the minor leagues, and ready to move up to the majors; that is, until his life fell apart.  His wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident, leaving James alone to raise his preschool-age daughter. The driver of the hit-and-run was never found, James loses his focus on the game and eventually is dropped from the team, moving over to jock radio instead. Three years after the death of his wife, new rumors start surfacing about how she died, and it appears it may not have been an accident at all.  His brother-in-law, a young man with Asperger's Syndrome, calls the radio station and on air tells James that he killed his sister.  All hell breaks loose, and the story just rockets.  The characters are so well drawn that it is easy to suspend disbelief and become part of the world Grippando created.  Don't miss it.  05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE SPLENDID TABLE'S HOW TO EAT SUPPER: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift:  I am a huge fan of public radio, and The Splendid Table is one my favorites.  It's a show for foodies - they discuss everything food-related: restaurants, recipes, pots, knives, cookbooks, even food poetry.  Radio host Kasper and her producer, Swift, have put together a book that is part cookbook, part shopping guide, part cooking teacher and totally wonderful.  The recipes are interspersed with all sorts of tips to make any cook's life easier, like how to make frozen shrimp taste good and the do-it-yourself dressing kit. My garden is overflowing with tomatoes, so I get to make the yummiest Ripe Tomato Stack with Pine Nuts and Mozzarella, which the authors claim is the most downloaded recipe on the site.  It takes caprese to another level and is really delicious. That is one of the best things about this cookbook - most recipes offer variations.  While I enjoyed the South of France Tomato Soup, I prefer the variation, Old Time Summer Tomato Soup.  One of my new favorite cookbooks for sure.  05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch 

SPADE AND ARCHER by Joe Gores: Joe Gores is to Dashiell Hammett as Michael Connelly is to Raymond Chandler. There are strong parallels between Hammett and Gores. Both were residents of San Francisco and their work reflects a knowledge of place and its history. Both actually worked as private detectives for a time and both have written about fictional detective agencies - Hammett, the Continental and Gores, Dan Kearney and Associates.

Gores' respect for Hammett led to Hammett's daughter approving Gores' Spade and Archer, a prequel to The Maltese Falcon. It succeeds in every respect. As it happens, I watched The Maltese Falcon again midway through my reading and not a beat is missed. I think that Hammett himself would have liked it. (Although he would have wanted to be paid, too.)

Spade and Archer is the story of Sam Spade coming to San Francisco from the Seattle area and setting up his own one-man shop. It explains how he came to hire his secretary Effie and eventually bring in Miles Archer as a partner despite his deficiencies in character. Although the novel involves several different cases, there is a connected thread in the form of a criminal mastermind who kills any potential witnesses and is never seen. Sam methodically works his way through each case in approved, old time private detective fashion, with shoe leather, booze, and assistance from colorful characters he knows and solves each of them to the grateful client's satisfaction. Although not before making sure that he has run up a sufficient bill to compensate himself and Effie.

Each case story is a treat and the final confrontation is perfect for a black and white movie. (It is too bad that John Huston, Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook, Jr. are no longer around. But that means that you can cast your own actors as you read.) This book will be on my list of annual favorites for 2009. If you are a fan of noir crime fiction, Dashiell Hammett, or old movies, you are in for a rare entertainment. Enjoy.  05/09 Geoffrey R. Hamlin

FLIPPING OUT by Marshall Karp:  Maybe someone mistake them for the LA Clippers, the perfectly terrible professional basketball team that also resides in Los Angeles, but then again, maybe not.  The latest case for ace LAPD homicide detectives Michael Lomax and Terry Biggs is way too close for comfort.  Their significant others, along with the wives of some fellow officers, are involved in a partnership with popular mystery writer Nora Bannister, to buy, fix up and flip houses in the then highly competitive Southern California real estate market, i.e. the LA Flippers. So when the members of the partnership start dropping like the current real estate market, Lomax and Biggs, set out to find damning evidence before they lose their own loved ones and/or higher-ups shut the case in their face.  This third outing has the humor Karp included in RABBIT FACTORY and BLOODTHIRSTY but notches up the suspense very nicely.  Definitely recommended. 05/09 Jack Quick

FINAL FINESSE by Karna Small Bodman:  Nicely done thriller featuring an unusual main character. Samantha Reid is the White House Deputy Director for Homeland Security, who grew up in the Texas oilfields, with her oilman father.  When a natural-gas pipeline explodes in Oklahoma, she senses there is more to the story and tries to get official attention.  Failing that, when there are repeat explosions she teams up with Tripp Adams, Vice President of GeoGlobal Oil & Gas, owner of the pipelines, to investigate.  Inevitably the two become more than “work partners”.  Then the stakes are raised to an even higher level and it falls to Reid to break all the White House rules to save Tripp and prevent further disaster. Bodman’s six years service within the White House are nicely reflected in the details of this third offering from Bodman.  I hope to see more in the future. 05/09 Jack Quick

HIGH MIDNIGHT by Stuart Kaminsky:  Its number 6 in the World War II era adventures of LA PI Toby Peters, Detective to the Stars.  This one ain’t High Noon but like that famous 1952 classic, it does feature Gary Cooper. Someone wants to make a movie with him so badly they resort to threats, blackmail, and murder. With a little help from a writer type named Ernest Hemingway, Peters stumbles over corpses, avoids stray bullets, and tries to keep from being turned into a Kosher hot dog by some menacing East Coast thugs. Remember the words of Client Eastwood as Dirty Harry, “Nobody, I mean, nobody, puts ketchup on a hot dog.” If you are a movie buff, this series is for you. 05/09 Jack Quick

THE WORST KIND OF LIES by John Patrick Lamont: Billed as the first of the Sum of Life Trilogy, The Worst Kind of Lies is a tell-all about greed, deceit, betrayal and even murder (??) in the modern insurance industry.  At 500 pages it contains more minutiae than most would care for about that industry. Moreover the fact that the company being dissected is Titanic Insurance Company of Kansas should tell you most of what you need to know.  If you get your kicks watching MSNBC and the stock market ticker, you will love this one. Otherwise, might want to stick to lighter fare. 05/09 Jack Quick

THE LEGAL LIMIT by Martin Clark:  Martin Clark is tabbed as the “drinking man’s John Grisham.” May he be so successful.  Legal Limit is the old Cain and Abel, am I my brother’s keeper tale, very nicely told.  Mason Hunt is a young attorney in southern Virginia when his brother Gates, a former high school football hero turned bad, kills a rival for his girlfriend, with Mason as a witness.  The two hide the crime and swear each other to secrecy.  Mason goes on to marry a beautiful artist and work as the district attorney in his home town of Stuart, in Patrick County. Gates life continues to deteriorate leading him finally to a 44-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. At this point Gates is bitterly resentful of his brother’s success and threatens to tell all unless Mason helps get him out of prison. It’s a well written story of family ties turned into nooses, and definitely recommended. 05/09 Jack Quick

THE LITTLE SLEEP by Paul Tremblay: If LA P.I. Toby Peters in Stuart Kaminsky’s series can be assisted by a dwarf, a less than hygienic dentist, and an ex-wrestler, then it makes perfect sense that South Boston P.I. Mark Genevich can be narcoleptic.  He suffers hypnologic hallucinations, waking dreams that make it kind of tough to solve cases. I mean, did it happen or was it a dream.  Jennifer Times, a daughter of the powerful local D.A. and a contestant on American Star, is no dream.  When Mark comes to from his latest hallucination he finds on his desk a manila envelope containing risqué photos of Jennifer.  Are the pictures real, and if so, is Mark hunting a blackmailer, or worse?  Not badly written, and it is a nice gimmick for a “one off.” I don’t see it holding up for a series, but then not all P.I.s end up in series, either. Worth a try. 05/09 Jack Quick

RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL by Jamie Freveletti: Emma Caldridge is one lucky woman. When her plan crashes in the jungles of Columbia, Emma finds herself thrown clear of the wreckage, hidden from the group of guerillas that arrives soon after to round up the remaining passengers. And Emma has some tricks up her sleeve as well: She’s a biochemist who runs ultramarathons. In other words, Emma has just the resources one would need to survive in such a situation. She tracks the guerillas and passengers as they trek into the woods, keeping far enough behind to remain undetected, hoping that she can last long enough to be saved. But Emma is hiding a secret as well. A secret that makes her a valuable commodity in the war that is taking place around her. Meanwhile, as American authorities begin looking for the persons responsible for the crash, their intel on Emma is beginning to make her look like a possible suspect. It will take everything Emma has to make it through this one, and the forces after her can’t imagine what they’re going to come up against. Running From the Devil is a page-turning adventure/political thriller and a fabulous read. Freveletti, already accomplished in so many ways, is sure to add best-selling author to the list after this one. 05/09 Becky Lejeune  

DARKBORN by Alison Sinclair: In this first book of a new trilogy, Alison Sinclair weaves a tale of political intrigue and social upheaval set in a world with a fascinating history. Ages ago, the people of this world were cursed, leaving two races: The Darkborn and the Lightborn. Darkborn can never go into the light; they see through sound and abhor the magic that left them they way they are. They live in a dark world that the Lightborn can never enter. The Lightborn revel in their magical abilities, just one more reason for the Darkborn to fear their differences. For the most part, these two races live completely separate, but in the town of Minhorn they live side by side. Physician Balthasar Hearne has become friends with his own Lightborn neighbor and this friendship will be his saving grace. When thugs attack Bal looking for information on a recent patient, it is his neighbor who comes to his aid. His wife, Telmaine, a woman with significant magical abilities that have been thus far successfully hidden, even from Bal himself, manages to save him with the help of another. Sadly, though, one of their daughters has been taken hostage and they are all about to become pawns in a game that could mean the end of peace between the races. This rich and creative tale is just the beginning and readers will be as anxious as I am to continue the series. 05/09 Becky Lejeune    

MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE by Thomas Ligotti: In this time of economic crisis, I’m not sure if Ligotti’s tale of “corporate horror” becomes more amusing or more chilling. In “My Work is Not Yet Done,” the first part of this slim novel, office employee Frank Dominio has been let go after enduring humiliation from his coworkers, a demotion, and even theft of his ideas. His elaborate revenge plot is changed, though, when Frank discovers that he is no longer hampered by the physical world. The book also contains two other tales, “I Have a Special Plan for This World,” which, despite appearances, does not seem to be connected to Frank’s own tale, and “The Nightmare Network,” a series of disturbing want ads and internal memos from a nightmarish corporation that seeks to control and ultimately ruin everything. Ligotti’s creepy tales are highly original and contemplative. Perhaps not the best read for a work break, but otherwise recommended for any horror fan looking for something different in the genre. 05/09 Becky Lejeune   

BAD THINGS by Michael Marshall: Something sinister is waiting for John Henderson in the town of Black Ridge, Washington. Once, Henderson and his family called this quaint town home. But when John’s four-year-old son died, everything changed. It’s been three years and John, now a waiter in a beach restaurant in Oregon, is still trying to put his life back together. A mysterious phone call from a woman who claims to know what happened that fateful day finally prompts his return and a chance for him to gain closure. Maybe. The woman, Ellen Robertson, is recently widowed and still grieving her loss. At first, John can’t see any connection between the two events, but he knows that something is very wrong with Ellen’s story. As he begins to look into her situation, John comes to realize that there is indeed something strange going on in this tiny town. He should have left it alone. He should have never returned in the first place. But now it’s too late and John’s only hope is unraveling the mystery of Black Ridge. Michael Marshall is an amazing author who has yet to garner the attention he truly deserves. His combination of supernatural elements and superior plotting puts him right up there with the best in the thriller genre and also makes his stories appealing to a wide variety of readers. Bad Things is smart, gripping, and terrifying.  05/09 Becky Lejeune  

But wait, there's more.  There is a list of the books on my bookshelf (okay, in piles all over my house.) and books that I am impatiently waiting for publication on that I am very excited about.  The HOT List is where to find what's new and what's hot, with the emphasis on fiction. 

Virgins is dedicated to those first time authors who you may not have heard about...yet. 

Additional lists include my lists of favorite books, along with brief reviews: 2008 Favorites, 2007 Favorites,  2006 Favorites, 2005 Favorites, 2004 Favorites, 2003 Favorites, 2002 Favorites, 2001 Favorites, 2000 Favorites, 1999 Favorites and 1998 Favorites. The visitors to this site have chosen their favorites for 2001 and 2002 as well.

For information about reading group titles & events, including a list of favorite book group selections, see the Book Groups page.

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