THE EIGHT by Katherine Neville:  Somehow I missed this one when it was first released twenty years ago in 1988.  Katherine Neville's debut novel is a thriller with action divided between 1790 and 1972.  The action centers on a chess set owned by Charlemagne which ended up in a French monastery.  Supposedly players who use it can tap into incredible powers.  As the set is dispersed during the French Revolution, a young novice risks her life to safeguard it.  Alternating with her story are the present-day efforts of a U.S. computer expert and a Russian chess master to assemble the set and solve its mystery.  Kind of a precursor to Indiana Jones and the DaVinci Code, the book has withstood the test of time and will probably continue to be enjoyed for many years to come. 09/08 Jack Quick 

EAST SIDE by John Mackie: Who is killing the priests? There is enough evidence to connect the killings, but not enough to determine why. Detective Sergeant Thornton Savage and the Manhattan South homicide squad are in a race against time to catch a priest-killer before he strikes again. Nothing will stop the cops-not even if their efforts uncover something that could bring down the whole Roman Catholic Church. In the meantime they must care for their own. A well-written NYPD procedural similar to the works of Ed Dee, Dan Mahoney, and Leslie Glass. 10/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

EASY INNOCENCE by Libby Fischer Hellman: When a teenage girl is found beaten to death in the woods, the police figure they’ve got an open and shut case. A local man, a convicted sex offender, was found standing over the body, covered in blood and holding a baseball bat. Georgia Davis has been hired by the man’s sister to find the real killer. The man in question is mentally challenged and, according to his sister, has never shown any signs of violence. Georgia also believes the man to be innocent based on the alarming rate at which the cops have been moving the case to court. Georgia, a cop on suspension, investigated a case only two years prior where a group of teens had been participating in a hazing ritual in the same place this girl was found. Her investigation turns over some rather disturbing information about these teens and their extra-curricular activities. She’s also ruffling some pretty important feathers and someone will do just about anything to make sure she keeps her mouth shut. Easy Innocence is a quick and intense mystery with a clever plot and a tough heroine. Georgia Davis one I hope we see more of soon. Highly recommended. 04/08 Becky Lejeune

EASY INNOCENCE by Libby Fischer Hellmann:  It is always interesting to see how two very different writers approach a similar venue.  I had been reading and enjoying Stuart Kaminsky’s Lieberman series about two Chicago detectives before turning to Ms. Hellmann’s latest.  In Easy Innocence, Hellman begins a new series with Georgia Davis, a former cop-turned-PI in Chicago.  Her case involves a mentally challenged suspect, Cam Jordan, who was found clutching a bloody baseball bat at the scene of the murder of 17-year-old Sara Long.  Jordan’s sister is probably the only one in the world who thinks he is innocent and hires Davis to prove this.  Although Davis doesn’t walk the mean streets of Chicago to the extent of Lieberman and Hanrahan, there is still enough evil-doing to go around.  It will be interesting to see where Ms. Hellman takes Georgia Davis and whether there will be, in future outings, more interaction with Ellie Foreman, the heroine of Hallman’s other series. 05/08 Jack Quick 

Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray: This sweet book is a delicious break from life.  Sorry, the dessert metaphors just seem appropriate.  Ruth is a member of the sandwich generation; her oldest son is away at college, but she still has a teenage daughter at home and her mother moves in after she is robbed in the middle of a bridge game in her own home.  Her husband's company is bought out and he loses his job, and her estranged father has a terrible accident and no insurance and moves in, too.  Ruth's way to escape is to use visual imagery; her picture of solitude and bliss is not a mountain retreat or a deserted beach, but a cake.  Yes, Ruth visualizes herself surrounded by walls of cake and is comforted.  And when the going gets tough, Ruth bakes.  Cakes, of course.  Every day.  Sometimes in the middle of the night, when sleep just won't come.  As the family dynamic changes, they all must learn to adapt and adjust, and eat cake.  Recipes included.  Warning: do not read this book while on a diet.  

Jeanne Ray is one of my favorite authors, her books just touch the heart without being cloy or cutesy.  Her characters are genuine and people you can care about, her stories are simple yet hit home.  She still hasn't topped her first book, Julie and Romeo, which is on my top ten list of favorite books of all time, but this is a very enjoyable read.  Her daughter is pretty talented, too - she's Ann Patchett of Bel Canto fame.

ECHELON by Josh Conviser: Imagine where our technology can possibly take us in the future; imagine the best and then imagine the worst. Josh Conviser has done exactly that in this futuristic thriller. Echelon has consumed everything. The system controls all feasible outcomes and protects society from itself. If a threat is great enough, Echelon will weed it out and eliminate it. After years of dependence on the system, the world finds itself on the brink of global disaster when Echelon is compromised. Ryan Laing, and Echelon operative, has been engineered to be the perfect agent. When Laing dies in a climbing accident, Echelon agents use the latest in technology to bring him back. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a matter of healing Laing. His body is inundated with drones, tiny machines that are constantly moving, thinking, and working inside of him. The drones can fix him when he is broken. They also keep him tied to the flow, a sort of 24/7 virtual reality that everyone is constantly tapped into (think The Matrix). This new existence has pushed Laing to the brink of insanity and is costing him his humanity. The drones can be turned off, though, by using the same information that can restore Echelon. Laing and his partner, Sarah, must find the key to setting Echelon back in motion and discover who is behind the sabotage plot before chaos overwhelms the Earth. Conviser’s action-packed debut should appeal to fans of techno thrillers such Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I will admit that while I enjoyed this book, there are some aspects that are just too intricate for me to fully grasp. I dare say anyone who is not at least a bit tech savvy will be completely lost in Conviser’s future. 11/07 Becky Lejeune

ECHO PARK by Michael Connelly: Harry Bosch is back and Connelly has proven that series fiction can get better with age; this is hard boiled fiction that would make Chandler sit up and take notice.  Working in the LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit lets Harry obsess over all his old cases, including the Marie Gesto file.  Gesto disappeared in 1993, her clothes were found in her car a week or so later, and that was the end of the trail.  Spring forward to present day Los Angeles and the arrest of Raynard Waits, who is found with body parts in his car and admits to murdering nine people.  His lawyer puts together a deal - his client will provide details on some of the open cases still on the books in return for avoiding the death penalty.  When Gesto is one of those cases, and it appears that Harry and his then-partner Jerry Edgar missed an important clue, Harry's guilt kicks in but eventually so do his suspicions.  As in The Closers, police politics rears its ugly head and nothing is quite as it seems to be in L.A., a "sunny place for shady people."  Connelly has elevated the art form by creating a plot as complex as the music his flawed hero listens to, which when combined with its evocative language, arguably makes Echo Park Connelly's finest novel yet.  10/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

EDENVILLE OWLS by Robert B. Parker: It’s hard to believe that Parker’s novel is actually meant for teens. With so many details about life in 1945, characters named after Parker and his wife, Joan, and personality traits that are Spenser’s, this book seems almost a prequel to the Spenser mysteries. If you’re a Spenser fan, you might find this book fascinating. Bobby Murphy is one of a group of five eighth grade boys who formed a basketball team, the Edenville Owls. The friends hang around so much that everyone knows them by that name, even the new English teacher. All the boys have a crush on Miss Delaney, so when Bobby sees a man threaten her, he’s curious. Along with a childhood friend, Joanie, Bobby tries to “figure things out” about the threat to his teacher. Bobby, an intelligent boy, has a great deal to “figure out” that year. Without a coach, the basketball team needs help, so Bobby studies other teams. He also has a hard time dealing with his feelings for his friend, Joanie, and his jealousy when a friend takes her to a dance. The fall of 1945 is not only a time of change for the country, but a time of great change for Bobby Murphy. Teenagers might not be too interested in this mystery. Spenser fans will find it intriguing. 09/07 Lesa Holstine

The Edge of Justice by Clinton McKinzie: Special Agent Antonio Burns, with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, is sent to Laramie to investigate what appears to be an accidental death from a fall while mountain climbing. Burns is suspicious, especially after seeing how inadequate the local investigation was.  The town is packed with reporters, there for the trial of two brothers accused of a racially biased rape & murder.  Burn's got history in this part of Wyoming, which isn't helping him any, and local politics keep getting in his way.  Bodies start turning up and the political climate worsens, but Burns plugs on, struggling with professional, personal and family issues, but also finding a bit of romance with one of the reporters.  These characters are strong and well-developed, and the story is as taut as the ropes used to scale the mountains, up through the cliff-hanger of an ending.  

EDWARD TRENCOM’S NOSE: A NOVEL OF HISTORY, DARK INTRIGUE AND CHEESE by Giles Milton: Edward Trencom has been blessed with the family’s trademark nose.  It is this nose that has allowed generations of Trencoms to run their renowned cheese shop in London.  Unfortunately, this same nose has also lead the Trencom men to their most unfortunate deaths.  As a child, Edward Trencom asks his uncle about the origin of the family nose.  His uncle promptly forbids him to ever speak of the matter again.  Years later, an odd occurrence leads Edward to discover a cache of hidden papers chronicling his ancestors.  This discovery, along with a mysterious visitor, may end up sending Edward on the same journey that killed his father, his father’s father, and so on.  Will Edward uncover the truth about the Trencoms or is he destined to the same untimely demise as his predecessors?  I truly enjoyed this quirky epicurean mystery.  I recommend a cozy chair, a nice glass of wine and a really good cheese to get the full effect of this highly original and fabulous fiction debut.  04/07 Becky Lejeune

EFFIGIES by Mary Anna Evans: The third book in Evans’ Faye Longchamp mystery series takes the archaeology student and her friend, Joe Montooth, to Mississippi to work as part of a team on a small dig before a road goes through. It’s land that has mounds, and has been owned by the Choctaw Indians in the past. However, the first day of the dig, Mr. Calhoun, a farmer across the road, decides to bulldoze his mound. As the team tries to prevent the loss of the mound, the sheriff is called in, and the residents of Neshoba County converge, with white residents and some black farmers on one side, the Choctaws on the other. There’s a realignment of citizens that same week at the county fair, when a black Congressman tells the story of his kidnapping as a teenager, the beating almost to death, and the rescue at unknown hands. Racism is still a strong element in the Mississippi county. But what is the reason for Mr. Calhoun’s violent murder? Is it connected to the archaeological team and the mound? What about the marijuana field where the man died? Is it connected to his racist past? All these elements provide plenty of work for the local sheriff, and for Faye, who doesn’t want to suspect her coworkers.
Effigies is Evans’ most complex and interesting mystery yet. 03/07 Lesa Holstine

THE EGYPTOLOGIST by Arthur Phillips: The unfortunate results of misinformation and the madness of unachievable ambitions are the prevalent subjects of this literary mystery. Harold Ferrell has been hired to find a possible descendant of a dying Englishman. His instructions are to track down one of his former lovers and determine whether or not an illegitimate child resulted from their brief union. Ferrell discovers that there was indeed a child, one Paul Caldwell. Caldwell was a precocious boy obsessed with ancient Egypt. He left home in his early teens and after a brief stint as a circus performer, Paul Caldwell manipulated his way into the military and a posting in Egypt. There, Caldwell befriended a British officer who also went missing in the war. Ferrell follows the trail from Australia to England and then to Boston and Ralph Trilipush. Ferrell believes that Trilipush may have information that will ultimately help him find Caldwell. Trilipush, however, is away in Egypt searching for the burial place of King Atum-Hadu. Not to be put off, Ferrell plans to follow Trilipush, but is waylaid when he becomes infatuated with Trilipush’s fiancé. The story is told through letters from Ferrell recounting his discoveries in the 1920’s and Trilipush’s journal detailing his discovery in the desert. I loved every minute of this intriguing tale. It’s a grand puzzle that slowly reveals itself to the reader. 03/07 Becky Lejeune

EIGHT IN THE BOX by Raffi Yessayan: Using his eleven years of experience as an assistant district attorney in Boston, and his current experience in private practice, Attorney Raffi Yessayan makes his debut with this combination police procedural/legal thriller. The title, Eight in the Box, refers to a term Yessayan and fellow prosecutors use in regards to district court jury trials - when a person is charged with a misdemeanor, they have the right to a jury trial. The jury consists of six jurors and two alternates, hence eight in the box. Eight in the Box primarily follows three individuals (two cops and a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s office) and their involvement with the case of the Blood Bath killer. The book begins with the killer’s second attack, an attack with such strange circumstances that it causes the police to consider that they may be dealing with a serial. In both instances, the killer leaves behind a bathtub full of blood but no body. The victims seem to have no connection other than the fact that they are both single women, and the cops have run out of useful leads. Then the killer strikes again. Yessayan’s expertise in the field allows for a realistic portrayal of the process involved in a case from both the legal perspective as well as the investigating officer’s perspective. At first, the book reads as dual storylines with a common link, we follow the cops on the case as well as the prosecutor in his daily routine. But, there’s much more going on than the reader is initially aware of. Yessayan’s interesting and tense debut has a great twist ending and some of the characters will be appearing again in a follow-up title. 07/08 Becky Lejeune  

EIGHT OF SWORDS by David Skibbins: When Richard Green was twenty-three, he was a leader of the Weather Underground. Thirty years later, he has spent his life with other identities, including that of Warren Ritter, tarot card reader on the streets of Berkeley. One of his workdays couldn’t get much worse, when a client is kidnapped after having a reading, and his sister recognizes him on the street. Although Ritter normally tried to avoid trouble, someone was trying to pin the kidnapping, and a subsequent murder on him. Ritter is a fascinating character, with his background, his different identities, and his manic-depressive state. Skibbins’ debut mystery introduces a reluctant hero who succeeds despite his problems. 08/06 Lesa Holstine

ELEVEN ON TOP by Janet Evanovich: I just love this series; every book makes me laugh out loud. This newest is no exception.  Stephanie has quit her bounty hunter job so it moves into somewhat fresher territory, but cars are still exploding, Grandma Mazur is feisty as always, and Stephanie is still torn between the men in her life. Don't expect more than Evanovich gives - fast paced, a little romance, a little mystery, and lots of laughs - and you'll be happy. I certainly was. Now if only I could understand what the title means or what it has to do with the book... 06/05

ELEVEN ON TOP by Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum, Trenton's favorite bondswoman, is having a career crisis. She decides she no longer wants to be threatened, beaten, shot at, burned or blown up as a bounty hunter so she resigns. Her first new job is at the button factory but she is fired before she starts as she is late on her first day. Then she is hired at Kan Klean, to the delight of everyone who wants her to take their dry cleaning in for them. That lasted two days. In the middle of her trying to get into a field with less excitement and more security, an old client is talking and scaring her, so, in essence, it's business as usual. The regular cast of characters remains in place and, as usual, Stephanie survives none the worse for her latest misadventure. Maybe she is the cat with more than nine lives. 03/07 Jack Quick

THE ELITE FORCE by Donna J. Henderson: Gritty, ugly, sci-fi crime fiction at its best. This is the story of an ancient sect of female Scottish warriors whose life span extends to hundreds of years. They are able to travel forwards and backwards through time via “portals” to apprehend those, primarily men, who would abuse animals, children, and women. Most of the adventures in this book occur in “current” time. On one level it reads like Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on steroids. But if you read the inside back cover first, the author says “As time passed I created warriors from the past to help me deal with the abuse, not only I suffered, but others. My fierce warriors would punish the tormentors and destroy them.” Thus it would seem the writing of this book has been a catharsis for the author well beyond that experienced by many writers. On a technical level, the book could have used better editing, i.e. “passed” for “past”, some reaction scenes out of proportion to the triggering force, and a few unresolved conflicts that may in fact be the basis of further adventures. On an emotional level the book is quite powerful and, for this reason one I highly recommend. The only other author I’ve read that goes this far is Andrew Vachss. 06/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn:  A charming story about a town obsessed with their namesake, famed for creating the pangram "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog".   They have a statue in his honor, with the pangram at it's base.  One day the "z" falls off and life as they know it is over. The town government decrees that the letter may no longer be used.  Then another letter falls off, and soon another, and so on, forcing the townspeople to change the way they spell and write and live. This is one of the most creative, clever novels I have ever read and a must for anyone with a love of language.

EMERALD ENIGMA by C.J. Westwick: The last time Bret Lamplighter came to St. Martin in the Caribbean, people died and he was blamed. People are already dead when he returns to try to recover stolen emeralds but his arrival precipitates a bomb blast in his hotel room followed by a shoot-out that add to the body count. Speaking of bodies, in true techno-thriller fashion Brent is soon hooked up with the curvaceous Abby DuChamps of the French Surete. Together they tackle government corruption, terrorists, and organized crime lords in a fast paced mixture of action, mystery and suspense. Evocative of some of the earlier Ludlum offerings, Westwick has crafted a winner, in my humble opinion. Hopefully, there are more “gems” in his bag. Recommended. 11/06 Jack Quick

Empire Falls by Richard Russo: I loved this book about a small town in Maine and it's oh-so-interesting inhabitants.  Russo brings his characters to life as the book meanders along as it should, taking the reader on a touching and humorous journey to it's very dramatic finish.

EMPTY EVER AFTER by Reed Farrel Coleman:  Not the author’s fault but I think I would have enjoyed this one much more, if I had read the previous four in the series.  In this, the fifth Moe Prager mystery the former New York cop and now PI has to endure the results of his previous investigation in the disappearance of Patrick Maloney, the brother is his ex-wife.  Although the events of the book bring Moe and Katy back together, you aren’t left with a truly good feeling about this development.  While this appears to be the end of the series, fans of well-written PI novels will hope to see more of Prager.  In the meantime, it’s better to start with the beginning and work up to this one. 06/08 Jack Quick 

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan:  I received this as a gift from a dear friend this holiday season, and truly a gift it was.  It is so beautifully written, with wonderful characters and description that just transports the reader.  I suppose I will have to work my way through all his weird and wonderfully written books now, as if I didn't have enough on my plate!  

THE ENEMY OF GOD by Robert Daley: Police Chief Gabe Driscoll, Father Frank Redmond and journalist Andrew Troy all swam together at Fordham Prep. Now Redmond is dead, having jumped from or been thrown off a four story Harlem building. Driscoll and Troy are left to try to understand what led their friend to his death and whether it was suicide or homicide. A fourth high-school buddy, prosecutor Earl Finley, was murdered a year or so earlier in the wake of his aggressive prosecution of a Mob-connected politician. Driscoll and Troy learn that Frank's life had changed dramatically recently, and the change hinged on Earl's death. The roots of the current situation run deep, and began back at college. Daley, a former NYPD deputy commissioner writes with authority about a city and subject he knows well. 10/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

Equivocal Death by Amy Gutman:  Fast paced legal thriller a la Grisham, Turow et al.  She's in good company for a first time novelist and holds her own.  Worth a read.  Read an excerpt.

ERRORS AND OMISSIONS by Paul Goldstein: The Hollywood blacklist of the McCarthy era, circa 1950's, rears its ugly head in this modern day tale of a Hollywood power struggle and greed.  Michael Seeley is a hotshot lawyer on his way down with a drinking problem, on the brink of divorce, threatened with disbarment, all the usual lawyerly crappola.  He's forced to give up his pro bono work with artists to wrangle the rights to a mega-movie franchise that United pictures has precariously lost.  Or maybe they didn't.  Some interesting characters, a semi-interesting plot but it was slow going.  08/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

Everglades by Randy Wayne White: Whenever a new Randy Wayne White book comes out, I push everything else on my stack to one side. Everglades proved, again, that this preferential treatment is well deserved. I find myself getting seriously annoyed these days when the blurbs on anyone else's book covers talk about the author being "the new John D. MacDonald." There is only one legitimate heir and Mr. White is it.
    Per the MacDonald method, Everglades begins with a damsel in distress. (Remember the woman dropped from the bridge in MacDonald's Darker Than Amber?) In this case, it is Doc Ford's old friend Sally Carmel (hmmm-colored names) Minister.  Sally's husband has disappeared and she is being followed and terrorized.
    In an effort to find out who is following her, Doc gets involved in a tussle which evokes a thorough discussion of amateur wrestling which would do John Irving proud. (At that point, I had to e-mail the BookBitch to rave to her.)
    The bad guys prove to be the principals in a TV cult combining elements of the Bagwan and the Church of Scientology with canny real estate development and investing.
    Strangely, however, after all the elements for the quintessential MacDonald story were in place, the book seemed to drag. Mostly because Doc Ford is feeling sorry for himself, remembering long dead friends and drinking so much that even his hippy sidekick, Tomlinson, feels compelled to intervene.
    One of my favorite subplots has Tomlinson becoming an internet idol as a result of an essay he wrote as an undergraduate entitled "One Fathom Above Sea Level." To his dismay, the essay has recently become the subject of favorable critical acclaim internationally. Sample - "Pain is an inescapable part of the human experience. Misery, however, is not. Misery is an option." Some of the lighter moments in the book arise from his trying to flee those who are seeking wisdom from him.
    I am pleased to report that Doc eventually does have a moment of clarity in which he is able to put everything back into perspective again. It is an exciting scene and I don't want to spoil it for readers. In the process, Doc Ford pretty much fully becomes Travis McGee. The finish of the book is thoroughly satisfying.
    And of course, there is intellectual sustenance in Mr. White's writing as well. Discussions of marine life, the geology of Florida and the difficulties tribes face being recognized by the U.S. Government all have places in Doc Ford's inquiring mind.
    All in all, Everglades is a wonderful read and deserving of priority on your stack of books too.  ~This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

EVERY FEAR by Rick Mofina: This is the second book in Rick Mofina's series featuring rookie crime reporter Jason Wade of the Seattle Mirror. Wade is under a lot of pressure to bring in a big story and he may have one. On an ordinary morning, Maria Colson takes her baby son Dylan to the corner store where he is abducted into a waiting van. Maria climbs onto the van, but is violently thrown to the road where she is left for dead. As she fights for her life the FBI and police across Washington State search for baby Dylan. It’s a bizarre case with pieces that just don’t add up: The Colsons are a hard-working couple, former high school sweethearts, no problems, no enemies. Then Jason and his dad, a private detective, discover the Colsons are connected somehow to the grisly murder of a young woman. Can the connections be made before time runs out for little Dylan? Is this a kidnapping for revenge and not ransom? A first rate read. 04/07 Jack Quick

Everyone Dies by Michael McGarrity: Michael McGarrity stands second only to Tony Hillerman among those writers currently setting their mystery stories in the western United States. If you are enjoying any of the lesser lights in that genre and some small part of your heart remains anywhere between Bisbee, Arizona and Billings, Montana, you owe to yourself to read McGarrity's Kevin Kerney stories.
    Kerney has settled in as the chief of police in Santa Fe, New Mexico in Everyone Dies. He and his wife, Sarah Brannon, a Lieutenant Colonel and a rising star in the U.S. Army, are expecting their first child shortly as the book begins.
    A vicious and cunning killer is on the loose. He begins his campaign of revenge by gunning down a gay attorney on the street in front of the courthouse. Other victims are killed in other ways. Soon, he leaves a message for Kerney that "Everyone Dies" and then makes it clear that his mission is to end the Kerney line, including not only Kerney, but his wife and his unborn son as well.
    The combination of good police procedure, western locale and ever-increasing suspense make this book a real treat.  ~This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

EVERYTHING BUT A BRIDE by Holly Jacobs:  The second book in Jacobs’ Everything But…series is just as charming as the first, Everything But a Groom. The curse of a Hungarian grandmother strikes again when Vancy Bashalde Salo’s grandson doesn’t even make it his wedding. She’d cursed her fiance’s descendants, saying they would never have a beautiful wedding until someone married for love, rather than the wedding, and, when she married her fiancé, it became a family curse. Noah Salo’s fiancée broke up with him at his stag party. When her younger step-sister, Noah’s friend, showed up to console him, he offered to take her on the non-honeymoon trip, so they could ski and enjoy themselves. What happens when best friends get away together? These are light romances, with likable characters. 07/08 Lesa Holstine

EVERYTHING BUT A GROOM by Holly Jacobs: When Vancy Bashalde cursed her fiancé in Hungary, she never expected to marry him and have the curse fall on her descendants. The curse followed her to the United States, and none of her children had beautiful weddings. Her granddaughter, Vancy Salo, planned everything so her wedding would be beautiful, only to have her fiancé run off with a waitress. With the media at her heels, she ends up running off to the home of Matt Wilde, a landscaper who just ended up with five-year-old twin boys on his hands. Matt’s brother has always run from his problems, and the boys were two more of his problems left for Matt to handle. As Vancy and Matt try to make two little boys comfortable, they find themselves enjoying the pretend family. Can Vancy Salo find love after a Hungarian grandmother’s curse? Everything But a Groom is a fun romance, the first in a proposed trilogy featuring Vancy Bashalde Salo’s grandchildren, and the story of that curse. 01/08 Lesa Holstine

EVOLUTION, ME & OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE by Robin Brande: This teen novel is funny and thought-provoking. It would be a terrific book for an adult book discussion. Mena Reece is having a terrible first day of high school. Her former best friend is snubbing her, she’s an outcast from her Sunday School class and her church, and her parents aren’t talking to her. So, she ends up in biology class with over a dozen of the members of the youth group that she alienated. Fortunately, the teacher is an eccentric, award-winning teacher, who won’t let students and the church push her around. When fourteen students demand that she teach intelligent design instead of evolution, Ms. Shepherd faces them down. Mena soon finds herself aligned with another student and Ms. Shepherd. Casey, Mena’s lab partner, an admirer of Ms. Shepherd’s, wants the two of them to win a place on her website. Mena’s afraid to let Casey know that her religious parents won’t even be happy knowing she’s partnered with a boy, let alone working on a project at his house. Brande’s debut novel focuses on the consequences of one action, and the changes that occur. 09/07 Lesa Holstine

EXACT REVENGE by Tim Green: Raymond White is in a maximum-security prison for a crime he didn't commit when he meets another lifer, art thief Lester Cole. White and Cole escape, with White surviving to use Cole’s stolen art to make himself a new man and to exact revenge on those who framed him. Of course, its been done before “Count of Monte Cristo”, “Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less,” etc., but it is a fast fun read and as Lester Cole says about revenge, “If you don't do it, you'll be a professional victim. You exact it and it's exact. Not just a reaction, but planned out. Precise. It needs to send a message." Root for the home team in this one. 03/06 Jack Quick

EXIT STRATEGY by Kelley Armstrong:  Nadia Stafford is a cop-turned-hit-woman in her first adventure with a killer vs. killer mission.  After being forcefully retired from a Canadian police force for shooting a suspect dead, Nadia becomes a temporary hit woman targeting smalltime career criminals for clients who are often their direct competitors.  Now, she's teaming up with her mentor, Jack, to apprehend another hit man–turned–serial killer known as the Helter Skelter killer.  Nadia soon learns that no one is to be trusted and nothing is as it seems.  Hopefully, this is the start of a long-lived series. 10/07 Jack Quick

EXPLETIVE DELETED edited by Jen Jordan:  What do Laura Lippman, Ken Bruen, Charlie Huston, Nathan Singer, Anthony Neil Smith, Jason Starr, Sarah Weinman, John Rickards, Libby Fischer Hellmann, and Reed Farrel Coleman have in common?  They all talk dirty and is that ever great.  Maybe there has been a previous book devoted to the f word, but if so, its probably out of f***ing print.  Who gives a f***, when you have this collection of really neat short stories all tied together by that one little f***ing word.  Not for the faint hearted, but if it don’t bother you, read on. 11/07 Jack Quick 

EXTREME INDIFFERENCE by Stephanie Kane: Second outing for Denver defense attorney Jackie Flowers whose client, a federal judge, is accused of the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Amy Lynch, a college student and daughter of a wealthy businessman. Complicating the task is the fact that Judge Ballard is one of Flowers’ former law professors, who once told her she would never make it as a lawyer. Flowers is dyslexic and has had to struggle her entire life to attain her goals. Her coping skills are extraordinary but now she may be in danger of losing the most important case of her career, while in the middle of trying to decide whether to continue on her own or attempt to link up with one of Denver’s larger law firms. Well written and interesting, particularly in seeing how Flowers perseveres in spite of her dyslexia. 07/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

AN EYE FOR MURDER by Libby Fischer Hellmann: Chapter One, Paragraph One, ten year old Rachel to Ellie Freeman, her single parent documentary filmmaker mother, “Have you ever had oral sex?”  You sense this one may be a little different.  This mystery begins in World War II in Europe, and results in the death in 1946 of Kurt Weiss, a GI returning home to Chicago. Decades later Ben Sinclair, a pre-WWII friend of Ellie’s father, recognizes Ellie’s name in a television documentary but is killed before he can contact her.  Next to die is Sinclair’s landlady. A drive-by shooting critically wounds a young man who has been helping Sinclair use the computer in the library.  Ellie’s home is burglarized and more threats surface.  Then Kurt Weiss’s son contacts Ellie and the plot gets even thicker.  This is the first outing for Ellie who seems equal to all the challenges thrown at her, except perhaps those presented by her somewhat precocious daughter, who, by the way, is the only girl in 4^th grade who doesn’t shave her legs. Lots of action, and its Chicago, so there has to be politics. Recommended. 06/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER by David Ellis: Ellis is one of my favorite thriller writers, and this new one didn't disappoint.  In 1989, prosecuting attorney Paul Riley had the case of a lifetime fall into his lap.  Two college students and four hookers were murdered in the space of a week, and the first suspect they looked at confessed, had overwhelming physical evidence in his home, and eventually was executed for the murders.  Except fifteen years later, a similar spree of murders is happening, and the murderer is sending undecipherable messages to Riley, who parlayed that first case into a private multi-million dollar practice.  The book bounces back and forth between the two cases, which feels repetitive in parts, and causes Riley to question what happened.  It's a great story that leads to an intricate, twisty ending that just sends the mind reeling.  08/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

EYE OPENER by Michael Lewin: Lewin, an Indianapolis native who now lives in Britain, has written a series of mysteries all set in Indianapolis, involving an ensemble cast. In Eye Opener, PI Alfred Samson finally has his license restored and is ready to prowl. He soon realizes that the funk he had been in over the loss of his license was deeper and darker than he realized. He worries about his mother and daughter, both of whom seem to have grown away from him during his period of moping and drinking and being at loose ends. He begins to make up with former best friend Captain Jerry Miller who played a major role in the loss of his license. Before it’s over all of Lewin’s characters have made at least a cameo appearance – Samson’s ex-wife Adele, her new policeman husband and even the retired Lieutenant Leroy Powder. Samson gets back into the PI game, with a new girl friend, solves his first new case, and gains renewed respect for his mother and his daughter, who just may be the central character in the next Lewin adventure. As usual Lewin captures the heart and mood of the city perfectly. A good one. 06/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

EYES OF PREY by John Sandford: I feel like I came in on the very end of an orgy here....Having not read one of the previous novels,( I picked this one up in the Hospital gift shop,) I'm at a loss to explain what it all means. 
However, as a stand-alone crime novel, and police procedural, It holds it's own.  Lucas Davenport is a burned out, near suicidal, Minneapolis detective who ends up being handed a mission, which he accepts...Like all of our reader ilk. we like our hero's complicated...The more so, the better. This guy truly fits the bill. Great villains....Doc Bekker took more drugs than any villain in History...and "Druze" became Doc's willing oaf.....and an ending that will kill 'ya. 
Got to read more of these to find what led up to this.  01/06 DOC

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: This book is a gift for anyone literary on your list.  One of the most creative and clever genre-defying books to show up on a bookshelf in a very long time, encompassing murder and mystery, time travel and other elements of sci-fi, along with enough literary references, both obscure and popular, to make any literati feel smug.  Don't miss it.

THE EZEKIAL OPTION by Joel C. Rosenberg: Also known as the book that is impossible to describe.  On one level it’s a thriller not unlike some of the later ones written by Tom Clancy.  Presidential adviser Jon Bennett and his fiancé beautiful CIA agent Erin McCoy are in the middle of the action - a coup in Russia, war in the Middle East, oil driven terrorism. All are familiar.  However, there is also Dr. Eliezer Mordechai, former head of the Mossad and now a Christian, who opines, "The Scriptures were coming alive."  He prepares a 37-page Bible-based brief known as "The Ezekiel Option," which postulates that supernatural powers will eliminate Israel's enemies.  Is it the Apocalypse?  Is scriptural prophecy being fulfilled in today’s newspapers?  To sum it up succinctly, disturbing. 02/07 Jack Quick

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THE FACE OF DEATH by Cody McFadyen:  In McFadyen’s debut thriller, Shadow Men, FBI agent Smoky Barrett was faced with a ruthless killer who fancied himself the heir to Jack the Ripper’s legacy. She’s lost her family and her best friend and she’s endured brutal torture. Everyday she must face the mental and physical scars left from her ordeal, but ultimately she has survived and she is still damn good at her job. Smoky has taken some long overdue vacation time with the intention of spending quality time with her adopted daughter and allowing herself to finally say goodbye to her murdered family. Her vacation is interrupted, however, when the only survivor of a multiple homicide has asked for her at the scene. The survivor, a teenage foster child named Sarah, thinks that Smoky is the only person who might believe her story and want to help. Sarah claims that a man she calls The Stranger killed her foster family just as he killed her own parents ten years ago. According to Sarah, The Stranger is grooming her for a very special purpose, a twisted plot of revenge that Smoky and her team must unravel before it’s too late. Smoky Barrett is a tough-as-nails investigator with some serious demons to battle. McFadyen seems to have no sympathy for his heroine, but each ordeal only proves to make her that much stronger. To top it all off, McFadyen twists some crazy original and relentlessly paced stories. If you’re a fan of Silence of the Lambs, and other such psychological thrillers, you need to add Cody McFadyen to your list. 08/08 Becky Lejeune

THE FACE OF EVIL by John McPartland: first published in 1954, this pulp tale is now available as a free download e-book from www.blackmask.com. From the opening fight in a Newport Beach, California saloon to the final moments, it is exactly what you would expect from a good pulp read. Bill Oxford was a war correspondent in the Big War, then a LA Times journalist. Now he is a fixer – for those in and around Hollywood – of problems that others might not want to touch. After all the stench of those problems has begun to settle on Oxford and he is no longer as welcome as he was once was where the beautiful people play. Now he is just hired help. But still lethal.  11/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

FACE TIME by Hank Phillippi Ryan: Charlotte “Charlie” McNally returns in the sequel to Prime Time, another fast-paced mystery set in the world of investigative reporting. Eight months after her previous adventures, Charlie is still working for Channel 3 in Boston, once again facing a ratings sweep and a deadline for a dynamite story. She’s also coping with her mother, who is hospitalized following plastic surgery, while trying to get to know her boyfriend’s eight-year-old daughter, Penny. She’s a typical working woman in her forties, trying to juggle life. When the Constitutional Justice Project approaches Charlie, they want her to investigate a wrongful conviction. The biggest hurdle is that Dorinda Keeler Sweeney confessed to her husband’s murder, although there’s evidence she might not have actually done it. Dorinda refuses to cooperate, and the state attorney general’s office is throwing up roadblocks. Charlie can look at her own life, Dorinda, and the ambitious people in the attorney general’s office with the same question. “When it comes to ambition, politics, and love, how far would you go to get what you want?” It’s another successful story for Ryan, and her character, Charlie McNally. 10/07 Lesa Holstine

FADE TO BLONDE by Max Phillips: The second offering from Hard Case Crime (September 2004) shows they can still write ‘em like they used to. Ex-boxer/failed screenwriter Ray Corson is as tough talking as any classic gumshoe. Blonde bombshell Rebecca LaFontaine is a classic damsel in distress ("I’m really a good girl who was made to do bad things.") She hires Corson to protect her from murderous rejected suitor Lance Halliday, a Hollywood porn producer. Corson's investigation of Tinsel Town's tarnished underside uncovers drug dealing, gangland activity and evidence that LaFontaine just may not be exactly who she says she is. Classic pulp at its finest, typed out two fingered on a battered Remington with sheets of carbon paper separating the pages. Don’t need no stinkin’ word processor. 08/06 Jack Quick

THE FAITHFUL SPY by Alex Berenson: CIA agent John Wells, the first Western intelligence officer to penetrate the upper levels of al-Qaeda, is assigned a mission on American soil by bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Wells, now a devout Muslim (for real), finds his years spent in deep cover have left him conflicted. Has he been turned? The scrutiny intensifies when two bombs go off in L.A., killing 300. Although a bit clunky, the mounting suspense, a believable scenario and a final twist add up to a compelling tale of frightening possibilities. It's not for the squeamish, though: the torture sequences and bombing descriptions are graphic and chillingly real. 08/06 Jack Quick

FAITHLESS by Karin Slaughter (Bantam Dell 8/1) – The publicity blurb says Faithless will be (Slaughter’s) breakthrough hardcover bestseller.  It’s the same cast as Slaughter’s previous Grant County, Georgia novels with Coroner Sara Linton, ex-husband Sheriff Jeffrey Tolliver, and Detective Lena Adams.  Sara and Frank find the body of a young woman who had been buried alive in a wooden box with a breathing tube, but then poisoned with cyanide.  The autopsy reveals she is pregnant and, it turns outs she is part of the Church of Greater Good, associated with a soybean cooperative that uses Atlanta homeless people as workers. Each character is involved with no single focus, which makes for very interesting reading. With sentences like this one -“(Lena) wasn’t used to being around religious people unless they were down at the police station.” - I agree with the publicity blurb.  This is the best one yet. 07/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

FALL OF A COSMONAUT by Stuart Kaminsky:  It’s the thirteenth outing for Moscow’s version of Ed McBain’s Steve Carella.  The three cases that occupy Rostnikov this time provide a sad picture of a country thrashing about in search of an identity.  He and his son Iosef, now a fellow policeman are searching for a missing cosmonaut who happened to mention Rostnikov’s name on a tape recorded before the cosmonaut came down from the Mir space station and then disappeared.  Iosef's lover, Elena Timofeyeva, and her partner, Sasha, are involved with a nasty and pompous film producer, whose life is in danger and Emil Karpo heads the investigation into the murder of an unpopular scientist at the Center for the Study of Technical Parapsychology.  As usual a satisfying conclusion is reached for all three, and our heroes all appear ready for further adventures. 03/08 Jack Quick 

The Fall of Light by Niall Williams:  Romantic historical Irish family saga, a little slow but worthwhile.

THE FALL OF TROY by Peter Ackroyd: In 1868, Heinrich Schliemann took over the excavation site at Hisarlik, in Turkey. The site was believed to have been the ancient city of Troy. Schliemann, his expedition, and his eccentric nature all play out in Ackroyd’s latest novel. Upon receiving his proposal, and generous dowry, Sophia Chrysanthis’s parents gladly give their daughter’s hand in marriage to German archaeologist Heinrich Obermann. It is to be a prosperous marriage, one that will secure Sophia a comfortable place in society. Soon after the wedding, Obermann carts his new bride off to Turkey where he has been laboring diligently, or more appropriately, obsessively, to uncover the once famous city of Troy. Sophia leaves her home with some trepidation but soon comes to love the excitement of discovering the remains of this lost civilization. Before long, Sophia comes to realize that any evidence that would contradict her husband’s theories – those supported by the writings of Homer – soon disappears or is coincidentally destroyed. She also discovers that her new husband has neglected to reveal certain important facts in regards to his past. Obermann’s mania reaches a dangerous peak and Sophia is forced to decide just where her loyalties lie. This slim novel is interesting if a bit anticlimactic. The real Obermann (Schleimann) and his exploits are a fascinating bit of archaeological history that makes the story much more appealing. Unfortunately, the fact that this story is partially true is only briefly mentioned on the flap of the dust-jacket, and Schleimann’s name is not mentioned at all. 11/07 Becky Lejeune

THE FALLEN by T. Jefferson Parker: Homicide Detective Robbie Greenlaw has a gift from an unfortunate accident - he was thrown out a sixth floor window.  He survived, but suffers from a rare neurological disorder called synesthesia, which causes him to visualize different colored shapes coming out of a speaker's mouth, coordinating with the emotions of the speaker; lies are red, jealousy is green and so forth.  He doesn't tell anyone but his wife about it, fearing reprisal, but it turns out to be a somewhat useful tool for a detective to have a sort of built-in lie detector.  Greenlaw is assigned to case involving a former cop who is murdered.  Things get really complicated when he uncovers a prostitution ring with political and police connections and the story just flies.  Parker has achieved the Holy Trinity of starred reviews - Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus, and those stars are well deserved.  This is an extraordinary story, told by an extraordinary writer.  Don't miss it.  03/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

FALLS THE SHADOW by William Lashner: Defense attorney Victor Carl in his fifth outing as a “Philadelphia Lawyer”, which you soon learn is somewhat different from being an attorney elsewhere. Like voting in Chicago, Philadelphia lawyers are involved early and often in various political matters. In this one, Carl takes on the task of getting a retrial for a convicted murderer. His efforts uncover some strange connections, with the usual Philadelphia political overtones. Along the way he befriends a young client assigned by Child Services and unveils a different side of Carl. Without spoiling the plot, I will say for Lashner fans that Carl does survive the various attempts on his life, so he should be back for another case. Recommended. 05/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

FALSE FACES by Seth Margolis: Ostensibly, Linda Levinson had no enemies but she is murdered one balmy summer night in yuppie Seaside Harbor, N.Y. When Police Office Joe DiGregorio begins to dig into the case he learns that Linda is quite a character. To her roommate, Linda was a good though moody friend. To her latest one-night stand, Linda was a castrating bitch. To her boss, the dead woman was "quiet...sweet...didn't go out much." Digging further, Joe finds that Linda was running a stock market scam and her partner becomes the chief suspect in her slaying – but then he becomes a homicide statistic. Even Joe almost falls victim to the killer. When its all over, you may be left with a less than satisfactory taste in your mouth because of the shallowness and crass materialism of some of the characters, but still a darn good read. 10/06 Jack Quick

FALSE PROFITS by Patricia Smiley: L.A. management consultant Tucker Sinclair has been accused of helping a client obtain $11 million using a fraudulent business plan. When Sinclair begins to defend herself she finds the original files missing out of her office. So she goes to the office of the client neurologist, Milton Polk, and discovers not her elusive doctor but a policeman with a Polaroid of the dead Polk. From this point on, its up to Sinclair to save her reputation and livelihood by finding out who and why, and staying alive during the process. Sinclair is smarter than Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum but no match for Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone in this, her first outing. It will be interesting to see how she develops in subsequent adventures. For now, not too tart, not too sweet, and an okay read. 11/06 Jack Quick

A False Sense of Well Being by Jeanne Braselton:  I loved this book about a woman having a mid-life crisis which manifests itself in fantasies of her husband dying in various ways.  Black comedy for sure, but so much more!  The characters are well defined and sympathetic, even in their neuroses.  This is a book that begs discussion.  And single-handedly, Ms. Braselton has opened my mind once again to Southern fiction.  A reading group guide, interview and preview chapter from Braselton's next book are available in the Ballantine Reader's Circle edition or online.   Click here for more info.

FALSE TESTIMONY by Rose Connors: Marty Nickerson & Harry Madigan are law partners and life partners.  In this fourth outing of the pair, they each have a client whose story doesn't hold water.  Nickerson is defending the Massachusetts senator whose aide has mysteriously disappeared, and Madigan is defending a very young parolee accused of murdering a priest - which he admits to doing, but claims it was in self defense against attempted sexual assault.  Connors brings home the stark winter of Cape Cod in this bisecting tale of truth or consequences amid great courtroom scenes with great style and great writing. 07/05

FALSE WITNESS by Randy Singer:  Bounty hunter Clarke Shealy gets an ominous phone call—a Chinese mafioso has taken Shealy's wife hostage, and if Shealy wants to see her again, he must track down a missing Chinese mathematician, who has discovered an extremely valuable algorithm that could change Internet technology forever.  That’s part one.  In part two, three students at a prestigious law school in Atlanta become involved with a couple in the witness protection program.  The students, an African-American ex-jock, a feisty liberated woman, and an endearing math nerd, are saved from being caricatures through the excellence of the writing.  At the end, all the loose ends are pulled together so nicely, one would hope to see a sequel to follow the story even further. 01/08 Jack Quick

FANGLAND by John Marks: As an associate producer for the television news program, The Hour it Is, Evangeline Harker's job to feel out a potential story and decide if it will make the cut and become an actual piece. Newly engaged, she grudgingly agrees to go to Romania to meet with someone who may have information regarding regional crime lord, Ion Torgu. Torgu has become a mythical figure whose existence is questionable. When Evangeline is late for her interview, she believes the whole story is blown. She's surprised though when Torgu himself shows up. From the set meeting place, he takes her to a remote hotel in the mountains where she discovers his grisly secret. Months pass with no word from Evangeline. Hours of almost blank footage arrive from Romania. Editors begin to suffer from a strange sort of viral depression and everyone at The Hour has reported hearing strange whispering throughout the halls. This modern adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula is cleverly modified for a post 9-11, media driven world. Marks twists the literary classic to make it his own.  02/07 Becky Lejeune

FAST LANE by Dave Zeltserman: As cold and unforgiving as an alleyway off East Colfax Avenue in January, Johnny Lane is Denver’s premier private eye. He stays that way by solving the difficult cases and then writing about them in a monthly column “Fast Lane” in the Denver Examiner. Not one to mince words in print or in public he responds as follows to a red head who questions his sad expression in a local watering hole. “I just found out that I won’t qualify for this year’s Miss America contest. I guess you must have been told the same thing years ago.” The redhead, Marge, becomes another chapter or chapters in the legend of Johnny Lane. As Zeltserman says in the forward, “Hope you like your crime fiction dark and disturbing.” Whatever happened to Mickey Spillane? Now we know. He changed his name and moved west. 08/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

Family Orchard by Nomi Eve: This is a fictionalized account of the author's family history that goes from her father's journal to what I believe to be her version of how events happened.  I found the two different voices distracting and unnecessary.  There was a snippet about each character but not enough depth about anyone until the end. The first six pages were the best. 

FAMILY SECRETS by Judith Henry Wall: Wall took a typical women’s novel, and threw a twist into it by adding a suspenseful element for the last quarter of the book, and it just didn’t work. Vanessa, Ellie and Georgianna Wentworth are women still grieving over their father’s death a year later, so it stuns them when their mother announces she’s moving to France. When she hands them a letter addressed to the aunt who raised their father, they realize they have one last chance to do something for him. They can find his birthmother and tell her what a wonderful son she gave away. Their trip to Montana could be ruined by the powerful, ambitious woman who doesn’t want her past discovered. Up until this point in the book, Wall’s premise is perfectly sound, but the outlandish twist provided by the story the Wentworth’s grandmother tells, and the resulting actions are beyond belief. Wall just went a little too far in the wrong direction in an attempt to keep Family Secrets. 07/07 Lesa Holstine

A Farewell to Legs by Jeffrey Cohen:  This is the second entry into the terrific Aaron Tucker/Hemingway series (Tucker is the protagonist, Hemingway supplies the titles.)  This time around Aaron goes to his high school reunion, and so does the girl everyone had the hots for, Stephanie Jacobs.  But while they are catching up, someone kills Stephanie's husband back in Washington D. C.  Louis "Crazy Legs" Gibson was a womanizing political right winger with lots of enemies and his wife is the number one suspect, but she has an ironclad alibi.  Using her political connections, she arranges for a magazine to hire Aaron to write a piece about the murder and hopefully solve the crime, and the fun and games begin.  It's the wonderfully written characters that really makes these books shine, but there are also lots of nice twists and a real surprise ending in this humorous whodunit.  12/03 Bookbitch

A FAREWELL TO LEGS by Jeffery Cohen: Called a combination James Bond and Bart Simpson, Aaron Tucker-is looking for the killer of a conservative politician who was once a classmate of Tucker’s, while also handling family matters and pursuing his ambition of becoming a successful screen writer.  Other words that come to mind are quirky, adorable, and downright funny.  Maybe he’s more of a Woody Allen, the master anti-sleuth. 12/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

Fat Ollie's Book by Ed McBain:  Long before Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, Ed McBain was turning out what are almost universally conceded to be the best police procedurals of our time.  His close-knit team of characters in the 87th precinct know their jobs and they perform them well.
       But what characters!  From Meyer Meyer to Burt Kling to the protagonist Steve Carella himself, each is richly developed over the series and absorbing in his own right.
       In Fat Ollie's Book, McBain has elevated a peripheral comic character from earlier books to center stage and done so in a way that humanizes him without losing his humorous aspects.
       Detective First Class Oliver Wendell Weeks, aka Fat Ollie, is an officer from the adjoining 88th Precinct who in a previous book saved Carella's life twice.  Once by shooting a lion.  In this volume, Detective Weeks has written a book which he has entitled Report to the Commissioner.  Unfortunately, his manuscript is stolen from his police car while he is at the scene of the murder of a local politician.  Both investigations proceed simultaneously and manage to entwine.
       This story is yet further evidence of McBain's complete mastery of this field.  It is interesting, convincing and funny.  If you haven't read McBain, this would not be a bad place to start.  This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin

FATAL ENCRYPTION by Debra Purdy Kong:  A non-geeky computer mystery, well, at least a minimally geeky computer mystery.  Alex Bellamy, AKA Kermit the Frog on Halloween night is only a few miles away from where Zachary Ternoway is stabbed at his front door.  Alex is hired to help catch a computer prankster at McKinleys' Department Store.  It gets serious when the cracker threatens to permanently encrypt the company’s data unless he is paid million in ransom for the means to preserve their data.  One of the suspects is the brother of Zachary Ternoway.  Is there a connection?  Alex thinks so and he has less than two weeks to solve both the murder and the threatened extortion.  He also has to deal with current about to be former girlfriend and former, wants to become current, girlfriend as well as family.  Set in Canada and nicely done. 06/08 Jack Quick 

A FATAL GRACE by Louise Penny: Penny won Dagger and Arthur Ellis awards for her first mystery, Still Life. Her second, A Fatal Grace, brings Inspector Armand Gamache back to the small Quebec town of Three Pines to investigate the murder of a dislikable woman. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, surrounded by townspeople watching a curling match. She left a husband and daughter behind, but no one, not even her photographer lover, seemed to mourn the loss of the woman who was universally cruel to people. Gamache knows that the story behind a murder usually started years ago, so he sets out on the trail of that story. Who was CC de Poitiers, and who hated her enough to kill her? Penny has written a thoughtful, beautiful traditional mystery. The setting is gorgeous. Once again, she has written a satisfying story, for any students of human nature. A Fatal Grace will be on my list for best books, not just mysteries, of 2007. 05/07 Lesa Holstine

FATAL LAWS by Jim Hansen:  Third in the Laws series (NIGHT LAWS and SHADOW LAWS), and hopefully there will be a lot more to come.  Beautiful women surround Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry.  Unfortunately, some of them are dead.  Why are women disappearing and where are they between the time they disappear and when their bodies are found?  Since one of the victims is an attorney, lawyers are involved as well.  Another well written combination police procedural and “attorney book” that keeps ratcheting up the ante.  Definitely recommended.  06/07 Jack Quick

FATAL LEGACY by Elizabeth Corley:  By all accounts, Arthur Wainwright is not a likable fellow.  But did he deserve to be killed in a manner that suggested suicide?  Then comes the classic English “reading of the will.”  Not only was the Wainwright estate far larger than thought, the bulk of the estate, to the dismay of his other kin, was bequeathed to his nephew Alex, and Alex’s wife Sally.  So was the murder Alex’s doing or that one of the disgruntled heirs?  Sally starts to look into the matter when the financial controller for the Wainwright firm is brutally murdered.  Enter Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Fenwick and what starts out kind of cozy becomes a first rate police procedural.  If you enjoy Stephen Booth, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson et.al, then add Ms. Corley to your reading list.  I have.  03/08 Jack Quick 

THE FAULT TREE by Louise Ure: Ure returns to Arizona with her second mystery, following the Shamus award-winning book, Forcing Amaryllis. This time, a blind auto mechanic, Cadence Moran, is the only witness to a murder, hearing the end of it as she walked home from work one night. She’s reluctant to get involved, because she still blames herself for the auto accident that killed her niece and blinded her eight years earlier. However, Detective Dupree thinks she might help identify the killers, with the few clues she has. Suddenly, Cadence is targeted by a killer, who doesn’t realize she’s blind, and doesn’t want to leave a witness. This powerful mystery is told from three viewpoints, that of Cadence, one of the killers, and the investigating officers. Each of these voices makes mistakes, and fumbles towards a riveting conclusion, that leaves the reader breathless. Ure has once again created a unique character, and a powerful, suspenseful mystery. 01/08 Lesa Holstine

THE FAULT TREE by Louise Ure:  While walking home from work one evening, Cadence Moran is witness to a horrible murder. Cadence has no idea what has occurred, though, because Cadence is blind. Wanda Prentice, creator of Wanda’s Story Hour, a show loved by a generation of young baby boomers, is murdered in her home when she interrupts two robbers. The two escape after killing Wanda and attempting to run down Cadence, the only witness to the event. Of course the killers have no idea that Cadence is blind and they will stop at nothing in an attempt to tie up this one loose end. Cadence is far from helpless, however. She has spent her time honing her skills as an auto mechanic. Her sightless world is full of sounds and smells that go unnoticed by many. She may not be the ideal witness for the police on the case, but her tenacity and plain stubbornness make her one witness these killers will wish they never messed with. My first introduction to Louise Ure’s writing was through her guest blog on Muderati.com. I look forward to reading her entries and was very excited to read her new release. She did not let me down. Cadence Moran is certainly one of the most original characters in modern mystery and Ure’s ability to “show” readers Cadence’s world through scent and sound is magnificent. This fantastic mystery is not to be missed. 01/08 Becky Lejeune

FEAR THE NIGHT by John Lutz: Although not one of Lutz' best, Fear The Night is still quite good. It's a cat-and-mouse game between retired NYPD Detective Vincent Repetto and the "Night Sniper", who only strikes after sunset. While the main characters are almost stereotypical, it is in the portrayal of the various victims that Lutz shines. Each victim from whatever situation is brought to life and becomes an individual that we feel we really know, when the Sniper takes them out. Maybe this is what Lutz intended, to show the true horror of such crime by making the victims real, even if the villain isn't quite in focus. Recommended. 08/06 Jack Quick

FEARLESS by Tim Lott:  Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this book is that it is marketed as being Lott’s first for younger readers.  Little Fearless is one of the inmates in City Community Faith School in a future world that is safe from terrorists, where the streets are clean, and girls labeled "juvies" or "mindcrips" have been hidden away.  Birth names have been replaced by a letter and number, and all work long hours with no prospect of future change.  Her faith and conviction spur Fearless to pursue a bold and unthinkable plan of escape that will either assure her freedom or her demise.  Think George Orwell’s 1984 for children.  I found it unremittingly bleak and not a book I would recommend for my grandchildren at all. 01/08 Jack Quick

FEARLESS FOURTEEN by Janet Evanovich: If you haven't read this series, go right out now and buy One for the Money.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  If you are all caught up and just waiting, money in hand, for the newest one, read on...and the only money I'll save you is to tell you that all the chain bookstores will discount like crazy the first week it goes on sale, so plan to shop on Tuesday for the best deal.  Every June, Evanovich releases the latest Stephanie Plum book and I have enjoyed every one.  She's taken a lot of hits the past several Junes that the books aren't as funny, as well written, as well plotted, etc. etc.  Some or all of that may be true, but the thing is, I know what to expect from these books.  A light mystery, none too taxing.  A light romantic threesome - will she go for Joe Morelli, the hot cop she's had an on-again-off-again engagement with, or Ranger, the hunky bounty hunter with commitment issues?  Explosions, be it cars or funeral homes.  Some of the craziest and most loveable characters - it wouldn't be a Stephanie Plum adventure without Grandma Mazur and Lula.  And laughs.  Lots of laugh-out-loud-so-your-family-will-wonder-what-the-heck-you-are-reading laughs.  If you expect more than that, you will be disappointed.  If that works for you, as it does for me, enjoy this latest romp where Lula gets engaged (!), a dead body turns up in Joe's basement, Stephanie's skip is a single mom who leaves her graffiti-artist teenage son in Stephanie's care, and oh yeah, he's a distant cousin of Joe's, as is his uncle who just got released from prison for armed robbery to the tune of $9,000,000 that some people think he still has hidden.  In Joe's house.  Convoluted?  Sure, but who cares with characters as warm and funny as these, a Trenton that every New Jersey-ite will love to call home, and lots of laughs.  Enjoy. 06/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

FEARLESS FOURTEEN by Janet Evanovich:  I’m afraid Stephanie is “plum worn out.”  It had to happen eventually and this appears to be the one outing too many.  All the familiar faces are there – bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, ex ‘ho Lula, Morelli, Ranger, Tank, Grandma Mazur and even a teenager (named “Zook”) who may in fact be Morelli’s son.  But all the jokes are beginning to wear thin.  Stephanie sleeps with Morelli and flirts with Ranger.  Tank and Lula are going to get married in a ceremony to rival that of Princess Diana.  For half the book Stephanie is blue, literally, after opening a booby trapped brief case that gave her, Lula and aging diva Brenda an unplanned facial.  Actually her blue face goes well with her “Zookmobile” which the teenager has tagged with fluorescent spay paint.  Anyway, while there are a few laugh out loud lines, an implausible plot and repetition of the older jokes leaves this one kind of flat.  I’ll try Fifteen Whatever, but if not better then I will confine Stephanie Plum to history. 08/08 Jack Quick

FEET OF CLAY by Ruth Birmingham:  Atlanta private investigator Sunny Childs is helping her younger sister, Lee-Lee, make a documentary about a death row prisoner.  Convicted of the brutal sex murders of two local women, Dale Weedlaw is scheduled to be executed in a few days.  When Lee-Lee arrives in Pettigrew, the small Georgia town where the killings took place, looking for an interview she's arrested on false charges and thrown into jail.  With Sunny’s help it becomes clear that there are likelier suspects for the murders still at large.  Steel magnolia Sunny has to kick some butt before they get to the bottom of this one.  May I have another one of those mint juleps, please. 07/06 Jack Quick

Feint of Art by Hailey Lind: Enter the madcap world of art collecting and art forgery in the debut mystery by two sisters writing under the pseudonym of Hailey Lind. Annie Kincaid meant to go straight after being arrested at the age of 17 as a forger. She opened a studio called True/Faux specializing in faux finishes. Suddenly “Two fakes, two forgers, and one murder were adding up to one big boatload of trouble.” When Annie evaluates a painting at San Francisco’s Brock Museum, and identifies it as a fake, everything explodes. A security guard is murdered, a curator disappears, and Annie finds herself neglecting her business and her new landlord as she runs around town looking for drawings, a forger, and a murderer. This screwball mystery has an explosive ending that might remind movie buffs of “What’s Up, Doc?” or “Foul Play.” Feint of Art is a fun caper novel for art lovers. 01/06 Lesa Holstine

The Fencing Master by Arturo Perez-Reverte: Intriguing mystery set in the late 1800's in Spain against a backdrop of political upheaval and romance.  A fascinating look at fencing as well.

FEVER by Bill Pronzini:  Bill and Runyon and Tamara are at it again in another great outing for the Nameless Detective.  The primary case involves gambling addiction.  Mitch Krochek hires Nameless to track down his wife Janice, who has disappeared for the fourth time in four years.  Meanwhile Jake Runyon is working a pro bono case involving a young computer expert who has been beaten.  Are the two cases related?  Only in that addiction can take many forms.  On the plus side, Tamara is beginning to get over her former boyfriend, and even starts to build a better relationship with her father, and Runyon may be starting to have closure from the death of his wife. .  No one does PI’s better that Bill Pronizin, and the San Francisco setting is absolute icing on the cake. 09/08 Jack Quick  

FIDDLERS by Ed McBain: You almost think that Ed McBain knew he was at the end of the 87th Precinct when he wrote this, the 55th and last one before his death. A killer is shooting his victims in the face at close range with the same 9mm Glock. Since the 87th caught the first one, they are also assigned the following ones. While the whole cast of the 87th is stretched thin trying to track down clues in geographically disparate killings McBain gets everyone involved in the chase – Fat Ollie, Steve Carella, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer. Maybe not his strongest, but certainly a fitting finale. 12/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

FIELD OF BLOOD by Denise Mina: Memo to self. After 40 years in the media business, do not pick up any books featuring perky young reporters or kooky DJ’s solving world-class crimes while effortlessly going about their daily routines. The exception is Denise Mina whose Paddy Meehan, an aspiring journalist in Glasgow, Scotland, is really a natural detective but doesn’t realize it. Her first “case” involves clearing the name of an eleven- year old boy already “convicted” in the press for the murder of a three-year old child. Her family has “shunned” her because they think she is responsible for the news story that caused everyone to believe him guilty. Mix in the story of her namesake, a safecracker who may or may not have betrayed the British to the communists years earlier and its a double handful. Well written and recommended. Grab a half-pint and packet of crisps and settle in for a great read. (Release date 7/11/05). 06/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

FIELD OF DARKNESS by Cornelia Read: Madeline Dare can trace her roots back to the founding of America, but lives with her husband Dean in Syracuse, New York and works as a journalist on the small town newspaper.  She hears about a twenty-year old double murder dubbed the "Rose Girls" because their bodies were left with a crown of roses, one white, one red, in a bizarre tableau.  Dare's interest is piqued when she finds out her cousin, Lapthorne "Lappy" Townsend, may be a suspect - his dog tags were found at the site.  She decides to investigate and prove his innocence but twenty years later, her investigation is prompting more murders. Read  weaves a tale that is both complex and sinister, and certainly deserving of all the accolades this book has won.  07/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read: Read’s debut mystery is a dark story for those who like strong characterization. Madeline Dare is a reporter in Syracuse in 1988, a very unhappy reporter. Although Madeline isn’t wealthy, her family background includes wealth and breeding. Syracuse is lower class and dirty in Madeline’s opinion. Her opinion doesn’t change when she learns about the nineteen year old murder of two girls, but she’s shaken when she finds her favorite cousin’s dog tags were discovered at the murder scene. With her beloved husband working in Canada, and a family she can’t count on, Madeline is dependant on a network of friends to help her interpret the meager clues she uncovers in her attempt to prove her cousin innocent. Read makes a strong entry into the mystery field with Madeline, a lost character searching for answers and family. 05/06 Lesa Holstine

FIELD OF FIRE by James O. Born: Can you judge a book by its cover?  Not always, but in this case you can.  The cover is a large police shield and is very reminiscent of Joseph Wambaugh, and so is this book, a police procedural and a dark departure from the terrific Bill Tasker series (Walking Money; Shock Wave; Escape Clause).  Our hero is Alex Duarte, an ATF agent (Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in south Florida.  Alex is Paraguayan (yet doesn't speak Spanish) and lives in an apartment that he shares with his lawyer/brother that's above his parents' garage.  He doesn't trust food that his ma hasn't cooked, and his hero is his father, a hard working, honorable man who expects the same from his boys.  When a car bombing kills a young boy, Alex is assigned the case because of his experience as a bomb expert in the military in Bosnia.  There is suspicion that the bombing may be linked to possible labor issues that have resulted in bombings in Seattle and California, and Department of Justice attorney Caren Larson is assigned to work with Duarte.  The intended victim of the bombing is Alberto Salez, a bad guy who thwarted the ever vigilant Duarte.  Lots of action and a high body count move the story along, but it is the enigmatic Duarte that offers the most intrigue.  Originally conceived as a stand-alone, I'm happy to say that a sequel is now in the works.  It's not a requirement that only cops write police procedurals, but as Born proves yet again, it sure does help. 02/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

FIELD OF FIRE by James O. Born: This first of a series features Alex Duarte as a laid back Hispanic former combat engineer and explosives specialist now working for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms section of the federal government. (Think Jack Reacher, but still working within the establishment.)  The plot is interesting – a Florida migrant-labor camp bombing kills a child, and ATF agent Alex Duarte is assigned the case.  The Justice Department links the incident to a series of union-related bombings across the country.  Duarte is partnered with a DOJ lawyer Caren Larson to solve the case.  Unfortunately Duarte is so laid back he tends to get lost among the other characters including Alberto Salez, the intended victim of the Florida bombing, who is himself a murderer.  Hopefully Duarte can grow in subsequent books to become a protag that brings you back for more.  07/08 Jack Quick 

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon: I loved this historical romance/fantasy series that starts out in England in the 1940's then transports us back a couple of hundred years and miles.  The chief complaint I read in the reviews of this long awaited fifth installment was that there was no time travel involved.  It didn't bother me a bit.  There were amusing references enough to be in keeping with the basic storyline.  FIERY CROSS reminded me most of OUTLANDER, the first book in the series, mostly due to the amount of violence and war involved.  It is a fascinating look at what life was like in America's infancy.  Each book in this series is excellent!  Read them in order: Outlander; Dragonfly in Amber; Voyager; Drums of Autumn; The Fiery Cross. 

THE FIFTH VIAL by Michael Palmer: The lives of three individuals converge in this pulse pounding, morally driven tale of medical suspense. Natalie Reyes trained as an Olympic hopeful until a devastating injury ended her running career. Now a med-student in her mid-thirties, she has been dealt a second potentially career ending blow when she is kicked out of her residency program and placed on academic probation for insubordination. When one of her mentors sends her to Brazil to attend a medical conference on his behalf, she is kidnapped and shot, left to die in an alley. She survives the ordeal but loses a lung in the process. Meanwhile, private detective Ben Callahan has been hired by Organ Guard International – an agency established to investigate potentially illegal activities in the organ trade. The body of a young, unidentified man was been discovered in Florida with marks that appear to be the result of a bone marrow donation. Similar markings had been previously discovered on woman in the northeast who claimed that a couple in a mobile home kidnapped her and held her prisoner. Callahan’s investigation leads to a shocking discovery. The third character, Dr. Joe Anson, has been working in Camaroon to develop a life saving drug he calls Sarah-9. Anson suffers from a life threatening debilitation that could prevent him from seeing his work through to completion. Palmer’s thrillers have always been tension driven, quick reads and The Fifth Vial is no exception. I did find, however, that the end left something to be desired since everything was wrapped up just a little too neatly and abruptly. 02/07 Becky Lejeune

Fifty Cents for Your Soul by Denise Dietz, published by Delphi Books: If you like hot sex with demons, Fifty Cents for Your Soul is your book!  If, however, you are interested in dialog, plot development, and some of the other characteristics that make a novel hang together maybe this isn't your book?  Thrill seekers will love the action and the fast pace of a horror flick filming plagued with suspicious problems.  The characters can be stereotypes but, they are the kind of stereotypes that really move the action along!  There is lots of suspense, and when our heroine reveals the mastermind murderer it is indeed a surprise.  The body count is high. The comedy is black.  The sex is varied.  PS:  Interesting note - - the author's sister played some of the demonic scenes in The Exorcist.  Many mysterious events plagued the filming of that movie. ~This review contributed by Ann Nappa

FIFTY-SEVEN HEAVEN by Lonnie Cruse: Will Ann Lloyd was a poisonous person, and everyone had been on the receiving end of her criticism, especially her family. That doesn’t mean they would have strangled her and stuffed her into the truck of Jack Bloodworth’s restored ’57 Chevy. Jack’s wife, Kitty, just knows it couldn’t have been a family member. At least she knows it, until she’s run off the road, spends the night, injured, in her car, and loses the last two weeks of memories. Now, Kitty has to start all over again, since she knows the Paducah, KY police have the wrong suspect. Cruse’s new mystery marks an enjoyable debut of a traditional series featuring Kitty and Jack Bloodworth, retirees trying to enjoy their golden years with their children, grandchildren, and their classic car. If someone lets them live long enough to enjoy them. 12/07 Lesa Holstine

A FINAL JUDGMENT by Michael A. Black: Private detective Ron Shade returns in the third book in this mystery series set in Chicago. Many other protagonists might be ex-cops turned private detective, but I don’t think any others are competing to become the International World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion. Shade reluctantly takes on two cases for friends, while also trying to workout in preparation for a match in Las Vegas. He’s a little uneasy about both cases, one involving a wrongful death, and the other involving two young people. Shade knows there’s more to the wrongful death ca