Reviews Archive Reviews presented by Martha Wilson Book reveiws are listed by book title "The" and "A" beginning a book title are ignored. Reviews are not alphabetized within each page. Use CTL-F to find a particular title or author within each page.   HOTHOUSE ORCHID BY STUART WOODS After years on the trail of an internationally wanted terrorist, the CIA thinks Special Agent Holly Barker might need a long vacation. Holly returns to her hometown of Orchid Beach, Florida where she had been police chief for many years. A very unpleasant surprised awaits Holly. The police department now is entirely different from the one she commanded. An old danger Holly knows only too well has resurfaced, and her beloved hometown might not be the sanctuary she’d thought. With his usual crackling action and irresistible sense of place, Stuart woods is at his best GOING ROGUE BY SARA PALIN One year ago, Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage like a comet. She wasn’t a packaged and overproduced candidate. She was Main street American woman:  a working mom, the wife of a blue-collar union man, and the mother of five children, the eldest of whom was serving his county in a yearlong deployment in Iraq and the youngest, and infant with special needs. In this eagerly anticipated memoir, Palin paints an intimate portrait of growing up in the wilds of Alaska; meeting her lifelong love; her decision to enter politics; the importance of faith and family; and the unique joys and trails of life as a high-profile working mother. It imparts Palin’s vision of a way forward for America and her unfailing hope in the greatest nation on earth.  DAYS OF GOLD BY JUDE DEVERAUX This is a dazzling saga that unfolds in 1776 Scotland. There we meet Angus McTern, the only man in town, it seems, not besotted by the recently arrived niece of Neville Lawler, the despised Englishman who stole his family estate. That’s not to say the ruggedly handsome laird doesn’t find Edilean Talbot extremely desirable when Angus learns of a plot by her devious uncle to steal her inheritance, he comes to her rescue, only to discover that in helping her escape, he has become a wanted man. Angus and Edilean flee to America in a journey brought with insurmountable obstacles. Once there, they will discover a love as wild and free as the land itself.   DEEPER THAN DEAD BY TAMI HOAG Tami Hoag’s new master piece for suspense is set in 1984, in an idyllic California community stunned after three children stumble upon the body of a woman, her eyes and mouth glued shut. Concern for the traumatized 10-year-olds leads teacher Anne Navarre to get involved with the investigation that grows more intense once the sheriff reveals they’re lying for a serial killer. FBI agent Vince Leone, a criminal profiler has more bad news. He believes the murderer the seek is most likely a pillar of their community. Knowing that the See-No-Evil killer could be among them has Anne suspicious of everyone, but a monster wearing a mask is impossible to spot until that is, he taps you on the shoulder. HOUSE RULES BY JODI PICOULT A family is torn apart by murder. Emma Hunt never complains, and not when her son Jacob had Asperger’s syndrome, a high functioning form of autism. Now her husband left her while pregnant with Theo, her youngest. Her advice column puts food on the table and allows her flexibility should Jacob, now a high school senior, have one of his meltdowns. Thankfully, Jacob’s interest in forensics keeps him focused, maybe too much. When Jacob’s life-skills coach is murdered, his knowledge of the crime scene earns Jacob an indictment for murder and sets in motion a series of events that Jodi Picoult uses to illuminate what it means to be different in a judgmental world. FANTASY IN DEATH J.D. ROBB A powerful CEO loses his head in his secret playroom. NYPD’S Lieutenant Eve Dallas is pretty sure computer-gaming mogul Bart Minnock, whose head is lying halfway across the room from his body, didn’t know what hit him. Nor does she, Minnock’s stunned partners tell Eve he’d been eager to get home to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior against a virtual opponent in his company’s new top-secret project. They explain, in an industry that is fiercely competitive, Minnock’s game room is impenetrable. They’re not suggesting he decapitated himself, are they? Eve realizes that before she can find who beat Minnock at his own game, she first has to figure out how. Which means she must enter a fantasy world where nothing is as it seems. EVIDENCE Jonathan Kellerman A night watchman gets the shock of his life when, within an opulent mansion in one of L.A.’s most exclusive neighborhoods, he comes upon the corpses of two lovers.  That they were murdered “in the act” is obvious to LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, who rules it a brutal crime of passion.  For the psychological implications, he turns to longtime friend Dr. Alex Delaware.  The tow pros find one baffling obstacle after another.  That’s when they decide to follow the money, and it pays off big time as Delaware and Sturgis find themselves on the trail of a monstrous scheme rooted in deception and depravity. DRAGONS Michael Connelly A call from a short-handed bureau takes police detective Harry Bosch to South L.A., where the Chinese owner of a liquor store has been shot to death in an apparent robbery.  Joined by members of the department’s Asian Crimes Unit, Bosch delves into the shooting and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong Triad.  Before Harry can close in, he gets word that his teenage daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong with her mother, has been kidnapped.  Bosch drops everything to journey across the pacific to find his daughter.  Could her disappearance and the case be connected?  With the stakes of the investigation so high and so personal, Boesch is up against the clod in a new city, where nothing is as it seems. HELL’S GATE    Stephen Frey When thirty-five-year-old lawyer Hunter Lee decides to turn his back on the New York City rat race that has made him rich, but cost him his marriage, he takes his brother’s advice and sets out to build a new life in Fort Mason, Montana.  However, escape is hardly what he finds there.  Hunter befriends Paul Brule, a fire jumper, who parachutes into remote wilderness areas to put out blazes before they become infernos.  Hunter comes to suspect that this particular rash of summer fires is anything but accidental, in fact, be serving a sinister purpose.  As Hunter follows his instincts, he takes on the burden of exposing the guilty while saving himself and those he cares about from the greatest danger they have ever faced. HEART AND SOUL Maeve Binchy Maeve Binchy tells a story of family, patients, and staff who are part of a heart clinic in a community caught between the old and the new Ireland.  Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing theunder funded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year.  She has plenty on her platge already, two difficult adult daughyters and the unwanted attentions of her ex-husband.  She assembles a wonderfully diverse staff devoted to helping their demanding, often difficult patients.  Beforfe long the clinic is established as an essential part of the community.  This book brings toghetehr the secret hopes and dreams of a desparate group of characters. HOME SAFE Elizabeth Berg  A novel about a widow who discovers to her shock that her husband had withdrawn all their savings shortly before he died.  Why?  Was he living a double life, and what is she to do now?  Adrift and alone, Helen takes on a new job, spending her days teaching writing to a diverse group of students while worrying about her daughter’s love life.  Then, out of the blue, she receives a phone call from a stranger with information about her late husband.  What he turns out to have done with the money is provocative and revelatory, and leads Helen and her daughter on an unforgettable new journey through adventures and change.  This is a story about mothers and daughters finding new richness in the stages of life, in one’s family, and in oneself. HEARTLESS Diana Palmer When it comes to romance and suspense, nobody delivers like Diana Palmer.  Teenager Gracie has developed a crush on her stepbrothers, Jason, a rugged cowboy who soon leaves home to make his fourtune.  When he returns year later, he can’t believe how the little girl he knew grew up. Now can he deny the ubridled passion he’s sure she feels, too, even though she rejects him flat out.  Gracie is devastated when, stung by her denial, Jason leaves.  How can she tell him the real reason for her distance, a shameful se3cret that makes her afraid to love?  Only when danger threatens does Gracie’s long, tall Texas come blazing home.  Now all she can do is hope that his heart is big enough to love and forgive. Fearless                   Diana Palmer  Rodrigo Ramirez is sent undercover as an itinerant laborer on Gloryanne Barnes’s stepbrother’s farm in Jacobsville, Texas, where he’s looking to bust a new and vicious cartel operating south of the border. Gloryanne is smart, savvy, and fiercely independent, but her job has put her in danger from the same criminal Rodrigo is investigating. Secrets are about to shatter all their lives for better, for worse, and maybe forever. As Gloryanne’s bittersweet miracle and Rodrigo’s double life collide, two people learning just what it means to trust must face the truth about each other, and decide if there’s a chance for the future they both desire. Eclipse Richard North Patterson Damon Pierce’s life has hit a turning point:  Though he’s a successful litigator in a California mega firm, his wife is divorcing him and his work has become soulless.  He decides to risk every thing to respond to a plea for help from Marissa Brand Okari, a woman he loved years ago.  Marissa’s husband, Bobby Okari, opposes the environmental devastation of his West African homeland, Luandia, caused by the partnership between Petro Global, a giant American oil company, and the brutal regime of General Savior Karama.  Bobby dares to speak out in peaceful rallies, enraging the country’s autocratic ruler.  When Bobby leads a protest during a full eclipse of the sun, everyone in his home village is massacred by Karama’s troops.  Bobby has been arrested and charged with the murder of three Petro Global workers.  Pierce agrees to defend her husband, hoping to save Bobby and Marissa from almost certain death.  Luandia’s lethal politics may cost Pierce life instead Fractured By Karin Slaughter When she surprises a man standing over her daughter’s brutalized body, rage propels Abigail Campanos to strangle him with her bare hands.  Only later when it’s revealed she was mistaken.  The dead girl is her teenage daughter’s friend.  Judging from the number of stab wounds on the victim, and the notable absence of a ransom request, Special Agent Will Trent cautions the wealthy Campanos that whoever kidnapped Emma may not be motivated by money.  Trent has enemies all around him and a gnawing feeling that this case is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open and where human demons emerge with a vengeance. Hot Mahogany  By Stuart Woods Stone Barrington returns to take on an underworld of crime that gives a new meaning to “old money”. Stone Barrington is lured from Elaine’s to New England, and the genteel but cut-throat world of priceless antiques, historic homes, and lavish country estates. Stone finds himself navigating a dangerous course, one where even the most expensive and sought-after status symbols are sometimes stolen and sometimes clever fakes, though no less priceless. With its swift action, bold characters, and wit, this is another must read book. The Gate House By Nelson DeMille   The long-awaited sequel to the blockbuster best seller “The Gold Coast”.  The action picks up 10 years after John Sutter’s aristocratic wife Susan kills her mafia don lover.  Now, living alone in London, John is drawn back to Long Island to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant.  Susan has also returned, but it turns out she’s not his only problem.  The son of the  Mafioso she killed is there as well, and he’s intent on two things: drawing John back into his crime family, and exacting revenge on Susan.  Divine Justice By David Baldacci In this fourth installment of the Camel Club adventures, Baldacci hits the ground running and never lets up.  With two pulls of the trigger, John Carr (a.k.a. Oliver Stone) has finally silenced the ghosts of his past, but those bullets come with a steep price.  Now considered public enemy number one, he’s gone underground, the target of a massive manhunt authorized by the highest levels up, the government.  Meanwhile, the other Camel Club members have their own problems, fighting their own battles even as they try to help Stone evade his new enemies.  As the manhunt tightens around him, Stone finds himself drawn to the town of Devine, Virginia-a small, coal-mining hamlet that will be the  scene of  a confrontation every bit as lethal as the one he’s trying to escape.  Extreme Measures By Vince Flynn Rapp and his agency colleague Mike Nash may have met their match.  The CIA has detected and intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third is feared to be on the loose and about to descend on America.  The political winds have changed in America, and certain leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing to have men like Rapp and Nash put back on a short leash.  Then one spring afternoon in Washington, D.C. everything changes.   This is an all too real portrayal of a war that is waged everyday by a handful of brave, devoted souls.  A political thriller of our time. Heat Lightning By John Sandford  Virgil Flowers returns to discover why war vets are turning up dead. Virgil thinks he’s seen it all, but he’s wrong. One hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A body has been found near a veteran’s memorial in Stillwater-two shots to the head and a lemon wedged in the mouth. Exactly like the body they found last week. The lemon, a flag to attract attention, points back to the Vietnam War. Someone’s trying to send a message, and Virgil’s convinced that the list of victims may have a lot more names on it. Then, with the execution of an ex-cop, the game shifts into high gear. Virgil is led on a wild chase from the Twin Cities to the Red Lake Indian reservation to a heavy-equipment lot in Wyoming before he finds the connection. When he does, he’s almost sorry he did. Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down many more trails than he thought, and every one of them is booby trapped. Grace  Richard Paul Evans This is the story of a young runaway girl, and the boy who hides her from a frightening world too large and unfathomable for him to comprehend. It is also about two brothers and the love that binds them together through difficult times. In some ways this is the most autobiographical of all his novels When Evans was eight years old, his father lost his job, and they sold their home in Arcadia, California to move to a poor neighborhood in Utah, and to a rundown home like he describes in the story. A must read book.  Dark Summer  Iris Johansen On the run from her brutal ex-husband, veterinarian Devon Brady receives all the love she needs from her animals. While working at a search-and-rescue site, she’s drawn to Jude Marrok, a mysterious man seeking help for his dog, Ned. Devon has never seen such self-control in a wounded animal, nor an owner as devoted as Marrok. She still doesn’t trust him. The last thing Devon needs is to be drawn into his dangerous game, As bullets start to fly; Marrok explains that Ned is leader of a pack of canines with healing powers that a ruthless enemy wants to control. When Marrok ask Devon to be a guardian of one of the dogs, she can’t refuse this man who could be her salvation or her damnation. Death Angel By Linda Howard A striking beauty with a taste for diamonds and dangerous men, Drea Rousseau is more than content to the arm candy for Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord. Eager to break with Rafael, Drea makes a fateful decision and a desperate move, stealing a mountain of cash from Rafael Salinas. When Dreas runs Salinas dispatches a cold-blooded assassin in hot pursuit, resulting in a tragic turn of events. Or does it? Left for dead, Drea miraculously returns to the realm of the living a changed woman. In order to feel safe and sound, she will need to take down those who marked her for death. She finds herself working with the most dangerous man she’s ever known. The closer they get to to danger, the more intense their feelings for each other become. Damage Control By J.A. Jance In the Coronado National Monument, an elderly couple’s car goes off the side of a mountain and into oblivion. The terrain is so rocky that a helicopter must be flown in to retrieve the bodies, and to make matters worse, a thunderstorm is looming on the horizon. Hours later and miles away, the subsiding rain reveals two trash hags containing human remains. Back at home, Sheriff Joanna Brady has a newborn baby, a teenage daughter, a writer husband, and a difficult mother to deal with. In the fields, it turns out that she has more on hers hands. The remains are that of a handicapped woman who has wandered away from a care facility with a suspicious track record. Another woman has been reported missing. A note is found in the glove compartment of the car that went off the side of the mountain stating that the occupants intended to take their lives. When a contradictory autopsy report surfaces, Joanna knows there is more to this case than just suicidal pact. Fast Track By Fern Michaels The Sisterhood is about to get a new boss! It’s been years since the sisterhood first banded together to exact their own form of justice on those who escaped punishment by the legal system. Now, often and unforced exile, Myra, Kathryn, Annie, Alexis, Isabella, Yoko, and Nike are breathing easy until one night, under cover of a vicious storm, a helicopter land on their mountain in North Carolina. The sisters aren’t about to wait to be ambushed. They set out to greet their guest, only to learn the mysterious visitors are the Sisterhood’s new employers, and they got a dangerous new assignment. If they succeed, the sisterhood will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams, but if they fail, they’ll forfeit more than a paycheck. The Dark of Day By Barbara Parker A young model named Alana Martin has vanished from a glitzy party on South Beach, and cops want to question Rick Slater, the last person seen with her. C.J. Dunn, a defense attorney, is asked to take this case. When Rick Slater tells her that a friend of Alan’s could be his alibi C.J. realizes the girl is someone she knows: Kylie Willis, a seventeen year old runaway from the same north Florida town where C.J. was born. The problem is, Kylie won’t talk, and Slater isn’t coming clean, either. The disappearance turns to a homicide and C.J. wonders if she can trust Rick Slater. As the media close in, C.J. weights her desire for fame against the risk of losing everything she values most. The Front Patricia Cornwell It never fails to irk Massachusetts state investigator Win Garano that invariably Monique Lamont’s agenda is as long as her always-on-display legs. This time, to garner the attention she craves, the hard charging district attorney has Win thawing out an ice-cold case she believes will resurrect the Boston Strangler. The problem for Win is that the murder took place over 40 years ago in Watertown, the current home of the Front, a group of cops known for doing things their way. When Win locks horns with their leader, an embittered beauty who has nothing good to say about Monique, he suspects this long –buried murder could unearth other shocking revelations, and it has Win wondering: exactly what is going on behind the Front? Death Angel By Linda Howard A striking beauty with a taste for diamonds and dangerous men, Drea Rousseau is more than content to the arm candy for Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord. Eager to break with Rafael, Drea makes a fateful decision and a desperate move, stealing a mountain of cash from Rafael Salinas. When Dreas runs Salinas dispatches a cold-blooded assassin in hot pursuit, resulting in a tragic turn of events. Or does it? Left for dead, Drea miraculously returns to the realm of the living a changed woman. In order to feel safe and sound, she will need to take down those who marked her for death. She finds herself working with the most dangerous man she’s ever known. The closer they get to to danger, the more intense their feelings for each other become. Fearless Fourteen Janet Evan Dom Rizzi robbed a bank, stashed the money, and did the time. Less than a week after Dom’s release from prison, Joe Morelli has a shadowy figure breaking into his house and dying in his basement. He’s getting threatening messages, Loretta is kidnapped, and Dom is missing. Morelli hires Walter “ Mooner” Dunphy, stoner and “inventor” Turned crime fighter to protect his house. Stephanie Plum is involved in this bank robbery- gone bad disaster from day one. The Crisis: security expert Carlos Manoso, street named Ranger, has a job for Stephanie that will involve night work. Morelli has his own ideas regarding Stephanie’s evening activities. The conclusion: only the fearless should read fourteen. Executive Privilege Phillip Margolin When private detective Dana Cutler is hired by an attorney with powerful political connections, the assignment seems simple enough: follow a pretty college student named Charlotte Walsh and report on where she goes and whom she sees. One night Cutler follows Walsh to a secret meeting with Christopher Farrington, the president of the United States. The following morning, Walsh’s dead body shows up and Cutler has to run for her life. In Oregon, Brad Miller, a junior associate in a huge law firm is working on the appeal of a convicted serial killer. Clarence Little, now on death row, claims he was framed for the murder of a teenager who, at the time of her death, worked for the then governor, Christopher Farrington. Suddenly, a small-time private eye and a fledgling lawyer find themselves in possession of evidence that suggests that someone in the White House is a murderer. Their only problem? Staying alive long enough to prove it. Death and Honor W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth 1V The year is 1943, and Argentina is officially neutral but crawling with every kind of spy, sympathizer, and military official imaginable. OSS chief “Wild Bill” Donovan has asked Cletus Frade to check out two highly secret German operations. The first is a Nazi scheme for German Jews outside the Fatherland to purchase the freedom of their relatives in concentration camps. The second has to do with where all the dirty money is going; a plan Operation Phoenix, which will establish safe havens in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay for Nazi officials who fear they’ve all but lost the war. The OSS is interested in both and Frade must somehow find out a little more without getting killed. The Dark Tide Andrew Gross A bombing in New York's Grand Central Station blasts, Karen Friedman's life to smithereens when she realizes her husband Charlie, a financial hotshot, took the train to work that morning. Curiously, on the same day Det. Ty Hauck finds a paper with Friedman's name on it in the pocket of a man who, it appears, was the victim of a deliberate hit-and-run. Karen isn't able to shed any light on Hauck's queries, but a visit from two threatening men makes it clear that the dearly departed love of her life left her holding a dangerous bag filled with secrets and lies for which she may have to pay. A tense and chilling thriller with a whole lot of heart. Hold Tight Harlan Coben A gut-wrenching cautionary tale of what can go wrong when the lives of communication between parents and children shut down. How far would you go to protect your child? Tia and Mike Baye never worried that their son, a hockey superstar and a solid student, would become one of those sullen teens with "issues", but after 16-year-old Adam's best friend Spencer Hill commits suicide, he becomes rebellious and secretive, giving them reason to install a spy program on his computer. When a message orders their son to "just stay quiet" it sends ripples of fear down their spines. What has Adam gotten himself into? Then Adam suddenly goes missing. All his parents know is that something deep and sinister has infected their community and they're quite correct in fearing that what they've experienced so far is only the darkness before the storm. Dakota Martha Grimes Dakota signals the return of one of Martha Grimes’s most intrepid heroines, a young woman who invents her life step-by-step as she moves through a land-scape that throws up one danger after another. A stunning sequel to Grime’s, Biting the Moon, Andi Oliver, amnesiac and drifter, is still running from the memory. Andi moves from one small-town job to another across Idaho, across Montana, and into North Dakota. She gets hired at Klavan’s, a massive pig farming facility that specializes in the dark art of modern livestock management. As Andi begins to uncover the truth about Klavan’s and its sister facility, Big Sun, a stranger out of her past, who has been stalking her for more than a year, appears demanding information of which she has no memory. Honor Thyself Danielle Steel Still stunningly beautiful at 50, movie star Carole Barber has played many roles not only on screen, but in real life as well. A mother, divorcee and sadly, widow, she’s now added novelist to the list. The only problem, the more Carole works on her book, the more she realizes it is her own life playing out on the page and suddenly, she wants to go back. It was in Paris that Carole forswore her one true love, and it is to Paris she returns, never suspecting she would end up hospitalized, a victim in a terrorist attack. With her worried family gathered round, Carole awakens from a coma with no memory of her identity. Her ex husband, her children too, are strangers. Matthieu De Brilloncort lost Carole once, years ago. This time he want leave her side until this woman who owns his heart remembers their love of a lifetime. Duma Key Stephen King King explores new ground, taking us to an eerie stretch of the Florida coast where Edgar Freemantle has come to build a new life. After an accident costs him his arm, gives him head injuries and leaves him prone to uncontrollable rages and memory lapses, Edgar is told by his doctor to go someplace new. He decides to relocate to the Florida Keys and take up painting. He soon discovers, his artistic talent doesn’t end on the canvas. What he paints eerily changes the world around him. They become real or they disappear. Is it Edward or this haunted island’s past that is making people vanish? As he grapples with his newfound abilities, he realizes that they’re somehow tied to Elizabeth, his elderly landlady, and when the ghosts of her past begin to appear, the truth about his talent becomes terrifyingly clear. The Darkest Evening Of the Year Dean Koontz Amy Redwing is a legend among California dog lovers for her creating an organization dedicated to rescuing golden retrievers from abusive or uncaring homes. The huge risk she takes to save animals is of great concern to widower Brian McCarthy. That Amy refuses to return his love worries Brian as well since he’s convinced that the only thing holding her back is pure, unmitigated fear, and he’s right. For soon after Amy goes to particularly dangerous lengths to rescue Nickie, a remarkable female golden retriever, her shameful past casts its dark shadow. First, Amy can’t shake the feeling she’s being watched, and her animals, including the devoted Nickie, are eerily restless. It isn’t until an intruder leaves behind chilling hints of horrors to come that Amy begins to feel as desperate as the creatures she so valiantly saves. Now, all she can do is pray that when the time comes, someone will be there to save her. The climax of this thriller is every bit as stunning as the breathtaking beginning. Double Cross James Patterson Between therapy sessions with his patients and spending time with his kids, retired detective Alex Cross is as contented as he’s ever been. Even so, his growing relationship with homicide detective Brianna Stone means he’s never far from the action. When a depraved killer throws a woman off the balcony of her D.C. apartment in front of a stunned crowd, and a videotape from the psychopath reveals his “performance” was for Alex, he suddenly finds himself back on the job. As the murders continue, each time before horrified onlookers, Alex and Bree are stymied by the “audience killer’s” ability to stay one step ahead of them. Adding to their frustration is the news that Kyle Craig, the insane mastermind whose hatred for Alex runs deep, has escaped from prison. As the rising body count feeds a frenzied media spreading terror throughout the city, is Alex being played in the ultimate double cross? Home to Holly Springs Jan Karon This is the first book in a new series starring Mitford's much loved pastor. The arrival of an unsigned note asking him to "come home" launches newly retired Father Tim on a spur-of-the-moment trip back to his birthplace, of Holly Springs, Mississippi. Tim hasn't been back to the small Southern town in more years than he can remember, and he's anxious to get to the bottom of the mysterious missive. What could it mean? Father Tim learns that not only can you go home again… it can change your life in ways you never imagined. Dark of the Moon John Sandford You're about to escape to southwestern Minnesota, where local politics, religion and murder have the whole town of Bluestem on edge. Bill Judd Sr. is a wealthy, aging figure in town until he is savagely murdered by a man known only as "Moonie". Before long, more well-to-do families become a target, each having some tie to an event that occurred more than 30 years ago. Detective Virgil Flowers is called in from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to identify this killer before the body count rises. There hadn't been a murder in Bluestem in years and now suddenly three. Flowers knows two things: this wasn't coincidence, and this had to be personal. How personal is something even he doesn't realize, and may not find out until too late. The next victim may be himself. The Gift Richard Paul Evans This book is about healing. In this book protagonist Nathan Hurst, has Tourett's syndrome and chronic tic disorder. Tourett's is an inherited neurological disorder characterized by physical and vocal tics. Nathan Hurst meets a young mother with her young daughter and son, Collin. Collin has just been through Chemo and his immune system isn't strong. Collin just touches people and heals the, after that though he is very sick. He heals Nathan Hurst and more people. Each story brings a joy to your heart this holiday season, Dead Heat Dick Francis and Felix Francis Max Moreton is a rising culinary star, and his Newmarket restaurant, the Hay Net, has brought him great acclaim and a widening circle of admirers. When nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation is hit, Scrambling to meet his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for forty in the glass-fronted private boxes at the 2,000 Guineas, Max must overcome the previous evening's disaster and provide the new American sponsors of the year's first Classic race with a day to remember. Then a bomb blast rips through the private boxes. Two close calls are too close for comfort, and Max vows to protect his name, and himself, before it's too late. The Double Agents W.E.B. Griffin And William E. Butterworth 1V A men at war novel. Now, Dick Canidy and his colleagues in the office of Strategic Services face an even greater task- to convince Hitler and the Axis power that the invasion of the European continent will take place anywhere but on the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. “Wild Bill” Donovan’s men have several tactics in mind but some of the people they must use are not the most reliable. All it will take is one slip to send the whole thing tumbling down like a house of cards. Are the OSS agents up to it? They certainly think so. High Noon Nora Roberts When she was just a little girl, Phoebe MacNamara and her family were imprisoned within their home by a violent intruder. The experience whets Phoebe's appetite for justice and led her to a career as a fed-turned police lieutenant and Savannah's top hostage negotiator. Though her work is rewarding, Phoebe's skill often come in handy at home, where she cares for her agoraphobic mother who, after all these years, hasn't recovered from the break-in and her 7-year-old daughter, Carly. The combination of hardened cop and super mom is what draws Duncan Swift to Phoebe. Her days of working solo are numbered when she learns that no amount of negotiation can keep the handsome business man away. Phoebe is grateful for the warmth and solace of his embrace after being attacked in her own precinct. A nightmarish event that precedes the delivery of terrifying threats. Double Take Catherine Coulter The police are convinced that Julia Ransom is guilty of the brutal murder of her husband, renowned psychic August Ransom. After six months of investigation and media frenzy, she is free of their scrutiny because of the lack of evidence. One afternoon she walks from her Pacific Heights home to Fisherman's Wharf. Standing at the railing on Pier 39, she savors the sound around her. It suddenly comes to an end when a respectable-looking man distracts her with conversation before striking her unconscious and heaving her over the rail into San Francisco Bay. If it weren't for Special Agent Cheney Stone, Julia would drown. Meanwhile, in Maestro, Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble learns about a woman who has resemblance to his vanished wife. In San Francisco, Dix's and Cheney's paths cross, brought together by FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacy Sherlock. All four begin to unlock the mystery behind Charlotte Pallack's identity, as well as the forces behind Ransom's attempted murder. The Good Guy Dean Koontz His latest novel weaves the timeless themes for which he is acclaimed into a breathtaking tale of an ordinary man pushed to the limit, in the battle against an adversary whose malice knows no bounds. Timothy Carrier is at his friends tavern enjoys drawing eccentric customers into amusing conversations, but the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different and passes to him a manila envelope fill of cash. The stranger walks out, leaving a photo of the pretty woman marked for death and her address. In minutes another stranger sits next to Tim. This one is a cold-blooded killer who believes Tim is the man who hired him. Suddenly Tim Carrier is at the center of a mystery of extraordinary proportions. Fresh Disasters Stuart Woods Ex-NYPD detective - turned-corporate lawyer Stone Barrington is enjoying a night out when Herbie Fisher, a small-time crook, crashes the party. Herbie has convinced Bill Eggers, the managing partner of Woodman& Weld (and Stones' boss), to sign him on as a client- with the goal of taking down mafia boss Carmine Datilla. Stone doesn't want anything to do with Herbie or the mafia, but he's forced into being Herbie's lawyer. With the help of his ex-partner, Dino, Stone investigates "Datilla the Hun", encountering intrigue, a little romance, and a whole lot of danger. Can Stone get out of this mess, or will he end up, as Dino puts it, at the bottom of Sheepshead Bay? Dry Ice Stephen White Michael McClelland, the murderer introduced in the first Alan Gregory novel, has left the Colorado State Mental Hospital, and he's coming after Alan's family. McClelland holds the most powerful weapons of all: secrets from Alan's past. Secrets Alan thought he had successfully buried years ago. Secrets not even his wife knows. Time is running out as Alan scrambles to outwit his nemesis while confronting each of his worst nightmares. His becomes a captivating psychological journey into the events that forever change us, and the relentless drumbeat of the past. How far will someone go to protect all that they know and love? Daddy's Girl Lisa Scottoline Life is running smoothly for Philadelphia law professor Natalie Greco, who has a well-connected boyfriend and tenure status, just a review board away. That is, until she gets caught in a terrifying prison riot while assisting at a lecture at a Chester County prison. Rushing to the aid of a fatally wounded prison guard, Nat hears his last words," It's under the floor." Suddenly, Nat finds herself in the midst of a heinous conspiracy as she puts her life on the line, her career in the balance, and her boyfriend on hold, all in order to unravel the hidden secrets behind one man's deathbed confession. The Edge of Winter Luanne Rice Neve Halloran and her daughter have shared a fierce love for the beauty of Rhode Island's South Country ever since Neve guided Mickey's first baby steps along the sandy shore. Now, with Mickey a teenager and Neve's last hope for happiness with her daughter's loving but unstable father gone, both will struggle to make a new life together. Captivated by a fragile wildlife sanctuary, Mickey will move toward womanhood in the company of a lovely boy who shares her instinctive way with the creatures of the coast. Neve will find herself drawn to a man who has devoted his life to the sanctuary, but is unable to share the pain of a recent loss. As winter gives way to spring, and spring to summer, a secret will emerge that has lain buried in the depths just offshore for decades. A secret that will galvanize the small seaside community. H.R.H. Danielle Steel As the daughter of Hans Josef, reigning prince of Liechtenstein, Christianna is expected to assume the role her mother played when she was alive, and to eventually marry a man of royal blood. Christianna simply wants to make a difference in the world. She's thrilled when her father agrees to let her volunteer with the Red Cross in Africa, with the condition she return to their country after six months to resume her royal duties. Concealing her identity, she works with a dedication that impresses her colleagues, especially Parker Williams, a young doctor from America. Parker has no idea she's a princess or anyone else for that matter. Then they fall in love. As the dangers of war put the princess in danger, she's forced to return to the palace. Without Parker, can Christianna live happily ever after? Will duty override love when tragedy strikes? High Profile Robert B. Parker When the body of controversial talk show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone find himself at the center of a highly public case, forcing him to deal with small-minded local officials and national media scrutiny. When another dead body, that of a young woman, is discovered just a few days later, the pressure to solve the crimes becomes almost unbearable. When the medical examiner reveals a link between the two departed souls, the mystery only deepens. Forced to delve into a world of stormy relationships, Jesse soon comes to realize that knowing whom to trust is indeed a matter of life and death. Deep Storm Lincoln Child Former naval doctor Peter Crane is urgently summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition spreading through the rig. When he arrives, he learns the real trouble lies far below on "Deep Storm", an advanced science research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The top-secret structure for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to a mystery steeped in centuries of myth and speculation. As Crane is indoctrinated into the strange world of Deep Storm and commences his investigation, he begins to suspect that the covert facility conceals something more complicated than a medical mystery. It could be a cover for something far more sinister and deadly. The Hunters W.E.B. Griffin The Hunters picks up where The Hostage left off. Two brutal murders and millions of missing dollars in the growing UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal have led Delta Force Major Charley Castillo and his team to Uraguay, where the man they seek is murdered right before their eyes. Who is responsible? Most likely, the people higher up in the dirty-money chain. They've left just enough of a trail, though, for Castillo to pick up the scent, and with carte blanche from the President of the United States to follow it wherever it takes him. He ends up…well, not exactly where he expected. The Hunters is brimming with rich characters, strong action and cutting-edge drama. Exile Richard North Patterson David Wolfe's life is approaching an exhilarating peak: he's a successful San Francisco lawyer, he's about to get married, and he's being primed for a run for Congress. When the phone rings and he hears the noise of Hana Arif-the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school, he begins a completely unexpected journey. The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Hana is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice will he, a Jew, represent Hana-who may be guilty- or will he turn away the one woman he can never forget? An intricate tale of betrayal and deception. A fascinating journey into the lethal politics of the Middle East. Dear John Nicholas Sparks John has lived his whole life with his dad in Wilmington, North Carolina. Needing a change, John joins the army. While home on leave, he meets Savannah Curtis. Their attraction grows into a deep powerful love. John longs to settle down with her, and she's willing to wait for him while he finishes his tour of duty, but September 11, 2001, everything changes. John reenlists, and the long, forced separation finds Savannah in love with someone else. "Dear John" she writes and two lives are changed forever. Eventually, John returns to the states, hoping to find Savannah. He now faces a heartrending decision of his life, and to find out what it means to truly love another Finding Noel Richard Paul Evans The author lost his mother on Valentine's Day of 2006. He decided to write a story for her. As she loved Christmas, he decided to write a Christmas novel. Finding Noel is about how people come into our lives for a reason. It is a love story about Macy and Mark, two young people from different worlds. I hope you enjoy this book and feel the powerful emotions it brings to you. The Garden of Eden And other Criminal Delights Faye Kellerman Among the first-rate short mysteries in this collection, the brand-new "Garden of Eden" and "Open House" feature the famous sleuthing duo Peter Dicker and Rina Lazarus. "Bulls-Eye" introduced Cindy Decker to the crime-fiction world, and "Mr. Barton's Head Case" appears here for the first time in English. In addition, two rare personal essays allow readers glimpses into Kellerman's private life. Here the backdrop of contemporary California becomes fertile ground for tales of murder, mystery, and family ties most sinister and deadly. Echo Park Michael Connelly In 1993, Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket in Hollywood. LAPD detective Harry Bosch caught the case, but the young woman never turned up, dead or alive. It was an investigation Bosch couldn't close. Now Bosch works in the Open-Unsolved Unit, where he still keeps the Gesto file on his desk, when he gets a call from the DA. Aman accused of two heinous killings is willing to come clean about several others in a deal to avoid the death penalty. One of these is the murder of Marie Gesto. Bosch is now tasked with taking the alleged killer's confession to make sure he is not scamming the authorities to avoid a date with death. Michael Connelly pits the detective against the most brilliant and sadistic killer he has ever confronted. For One More Day Mitch Albom Albom's hear-wrenching new book beautifully explores the bond between mother and child, and ask a question that cuts to the core: what if you had one more day with a lost loved one? For One More Day will make you smile. It will make you blink back tears of nostalgia, but most of all, it will make you believe in the eternal power of a mother's love. Charley, a child of divorce, spends years chasing his disinterested father. Over time his work and his family collapse, and in a drunken depression, he returns to his hometown to take his life. Instead, he finds his mother who died years earlier still living in their old house, and they begin the "one day" we all wish we had back. Dirty Blonde Lisa Scottoline Cate Fante is strong and smart, but when she becomes a federal judge, even she wonders if she can do the job justice. She worries inwardly that she only looks the part, in a designer suit donned like overpriced armor. Cate keeps her doubts a secret, and a lot more. She leads a dark double life that she hides from everyone, even her best friend. Then a high-profile case in her courtroom explodes into a shocking murder-suicide, and it blasts her cover wide open. Overnight the tabloids tell her secrets, her boyfriend dumps her, and her new career hangs in tatters. Cate’s troubles are only beginning. An enemy no one anticipated sends her running for her life- embarking on a journey that begins in the mystery of her own childhood, where she first learned to lie. She’ll have to fight her way back to the truth, or die trying. Dead Watch John Sandford Madison Bowe is rattled to the core. Her husband, former U.S.Senator Lincoln Bowe, has been missing for days following his vicious speech against the man who defeated him in the last election. Madison thinks she knows who’s involved in his disappearance. Two weeks later, Bowie’s blackened body is found, barbed wire to a tree, and Madison is terrified she could be next. The president suspects Lincoln’s killing was politically motivated, so he sends Jacob Winter, his most trusted consultant to figure out who is behind this horrific murder. What Jake uncovers is a plot to unseat the president with links to some of the most powerful players in the White House, and a neighborhood watch group that’s doing more than just watching. Final Truth Mariah Stewart In her thrill- packed trilogy, Cold Truth, Hard Truth, and Dark Truth, Mariah Stewart proved she could suspensefully handle the truth. Can you? Then prepare yourself for the shocking, eye-opening Final Truth, in which a woman who specializes in exposing lies finds herself trapped in a real-life nightmare. Lester Ray Barnes is sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a young woman, his conviction hinging on two pieces of evidence: DNA testing and an eyewitness who placed him at the scene. In the absence of credible evidence to sustain the conviction, the court is forced to set Lester Ray free. Intrigued by the story, true crime writer Regan Landry is drawn into Lester Ray’s camp. Regan and FBI special agent Mitch Peyton face the possibility that they have helped to free a cunning monster with an appetite for death, and a ruthless determination never to be caged again. Gone Jonathan Kellerman It’s a story made for the evening news: Dylan Meserve and Michaela Brand, fellow drama students, vanish from their West Los Angeles neighborhood on their way home from rehearsal. Three days later, the two are found in Malibu, battered and terrified after what they claim was a carjacking, kidnapping, and sadistic attack. At first, there’s an outpouring of sympathy. Soon, the police have their doubts about what really happened: the evidence doesn’t add up. Before long, the pair admits that the whole thing is a hoax, and the case is closed. Then weeks later, Michaela is found murdered, and Dylan is missing. Is he the killer or a victim himself? Alex Delaware is determined to find out. Casting their nets into the dark depths of L.A., Alex and Detective Milo Sturgis discover a host of eerily identical cases and realize they may be looking for a killer who has struck before. Dirty Blonde Lisa Scottoline Cate Fante is strong and smart, but when she becomes a federal judge, even she wonders if she can do the job justice. She worries inwardly that she only looks the part, in a designer suit donned like overpriced armor. Cate keeps her doubts a secret, and a lot more. She leads a dark double life that she hides from everyone, even her best friend. Then a high-profile case in her courtroom explodes into a shocking murder-suicide, and it blasts her cover wide open. Overnight the tabloids tell her secrets, her boyfriend dumps her, and her new career hangs in tatters. Cate’s troubles are only beginning. An enemy no one anticipated sends her running for her life- embarking on a journey that begins in the mystery of her own childhood, where she first learned to lie. She’ll have to fight her way back to the truth, or die trying. Dead Watch John Sandford Madison Bowe is rattled to the core. Her husband, former U.S.Senator Lincoln Bowe, has been missing for days following his vicious speech against the man who defeated him in the last election. Madison thinks she knows who’s involved in his disappearance. Two weeks later, Bowie’s blackened body is found, barbed wire to a tree, and Madison is terrified she could be next. The president suspects Lincoln’s killing was politically motivated, so he sends Jacob Winter, his most trusted consultant to figure out who is behind this horrific murder. What Jake uncovers is a plot to unseat the president with links to some of the most powerful players in the White House, and a neighborhood watch group that’s doing more than just watching. Final Truth Mariah Stewart In her thrill- packed trilogy, Cold Truth, Hard Truth, and Dark Truth, Mariah Stewart proved she could suspensefully handle the truth. Can you? Then prepare yourself for the shocking, eye-opening Final Truth, in which a woman who specializes in exposing lies finds herself trapped in a real-life nightmare. Lester Ray Barnes is sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a young woman, his conviction hinging on two pieces of evidence: DNA testing and an eyewitness who placed him at the scene. In the absence of credible evidence to sustain the conviction, the court is forced to set Lester Ray free. Intrigued by the story, true crime writer Regan Landry is drawn into Lester Ray’s camp. Regan and FBI special agent Mitch Peyton face the possibility that they have helped to free a cunning monster with an appetite for death, and a ruthless determination never to be caged again. Gone Jonathan Kellerman It’s a story made for the evening news: Dylan Meserve and Michaela Brand, fellow drama students, vanish from their West Los Angeles neighborhood on their way home from rehearsal. Three days later, the two are found in Malibu, battered and terrified after what they claim was a carjacking, kidnapping, and sadistic attack. At first, there’s an outpouring of sympathy. Soon, the police have their doubts about what really happened: the evidence doesn’t add up. Before long, the pair admits that the whole thing is a hoax, and the case is closed. Then weeks later, Michaela is found murdered, and Dylan is missing. Is he the killer or a victim himself? Alex Delaware is determined to find out. Casting their nets into the dark depths of L.A., Alex and Detective Milo Sturgis discover a host of eerily identical cases and realize they may be looking for a killer who has struck before. Gone Lisa Gardner For ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, it’s the beginning of his worst nightmare: an abandoned car on a desolate stretch of Oregon highway, engine running, handbag on the driver’s seat, and his estranged wife Rainie Conner gone without a trace. While the local police are thinking suicide, a ransom note arrives demanding $10,000 for Rainie’s safe return. Pierce is convinced it’s not about the money. The note is signed “The Fox”- the moniker of a brutal kidnapper and killer from eighty years ago. All Pierce has to go on are the cases he and Rainie had been working on before she vanished: a vicious double homicide and the possible abuse of a deeply disturbed foster kid whom Rainie had taken dangerously to heart. Together with his daughter, FBI agent Kimberly Quincy, Pierce is battling the local authorities, racing against time, and searching for answers to all the questions he’s been afraid to ask, and for the love of his life, who may forever be … gone. 5TH Horseman James Patterson And Maxine Paetro Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer has her hands full when she takes on the first big case since her promotion. Attractive blond women are being smothered to death, dressed in designer clothes, and left in public places for all to see. The first victim is found dead in a parked Cadillac, and without witnesses or evidence, these murderers won’t be easy to catch. Meanwhile Yuki Castellano, the newest member of the Women’s Murder Club, is devastated when her mother dies after being admitted to San Francisco Municipal Hospital for what should have been a simple procedure. When she learns that several patients with minor ailments have been given lethal doses of the wrong medicine, Yuki is convinced that the hospital is covering up multiple homicides. Is there a maniac playing God with people’s lives? Lindsay’s determined to find out. False Impression Jeffrey Archer Why was an elegant lady brutally murdered the night before 9/11? Why was a successful New York banker not surprised to receive a woman’s left ear in the morning mail? Why did a top Manhattan lawyer work only for one client, but never charge a fee? Why did a young woman with a bright career steal a priceless Van Gogh painting? Why was an Olympic gymnast paid a million dollars an assignment when she didn’t have a bank account? All these questions and others are answered in False Impression, but not before a breathtaking journey of twists and turns that will take readers from New York to London to Bucharest and on to Tokyo, and finally to a sleepy English village, where the mystery of Van Gogh’s last painting will finally be resolved. Hitched Carol Higgins Clark Regan Reilly and her fiancé, Jack “no relation” Reilly- head of the NYPD Major Case Squad- are getting married. Reagan had the perfect dress made by two young designers on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Arriving at the bridal salon to pick up her gown, Reagan discovers the shop has been broken into, the designers bound and gagged, and wedding dresses for four of the April brides (her dress included) are missing. A fifth dress is in shreds on the floor. Even though it’s a week before her wedding, Regan gets on the case, and in the process she meets an unusual mix of brides and grooms-to-be, or perhaps “not-to-be.” The House Danielle Steel The story of a young woman’s dream, an old man’s gift, and the surprises that await us behind every closed door. Sarah Anderson, a perfectly sensible estate lawyer is about to do something utterly out of character. An elderly client has died and left her two gifts. One is a generous inheritance, and the other, a priceless message: to use his money for something wonderful, something daring. She buys a crumbling San Francisco mansion and decides to restore it to its former beauty. Sarah enlists the help of architect Jeff Parker. He shares Sarah’s passion to renovate the once grand home, but will he be able to build a relationship with her? Death Dance Linda Fairstein Teaming up with longtime friends- NYPD’s Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace- Assistant DA Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of world-famous dancer Natalya Galinova, who has suddenly vanished backstage at Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House, during a performance. Within the glamorous but sordid inner sanctums of the Broadway elite, the team confronts the ruthless power brokers who control both the stars and the stages where they appear. Meanwhile Alex is working on a very different case, using a creative technique to nab a physician who has been drugging women in order to assault them. Can Alex convince a judge to let her prosecute a man for a violent crime using DNA that was collected for a prior case in which he was never charged? The Hunt Club John Lescroart A federal judge is murdered, found shot to death in his home, together with the body of his mistress. The crime grips San Francisco. To homicide inspector Devin Juhle, it first looks like a simple case of a wife’s jealousy and rage, but Juhle’s investigation reveals that the judge has powerful enemies… some of whom may have been willing to kill to prevent him from meddling in their affairs. Meanwhile, private investigator Wyatt Hunt, Juhle’s best friend, finds himself smitten with the beautiful and enigmatic Andrea Parisi, a lawyer who recently has become a celebrity as a commentator on Trial TV. Hunt discovers that Andrea has a connection to the judge, along with a client that had everything to gain from the judge’s death, and then she disappears. As the search for Andrea intensifies, Hunt gathers a band of friends and associates to help him, and leading them all to a chilling confrontation from which none of them might escape. The Hostage W.E.B. Griffin Charley Castillo works with the Department of Homeland Security, but more and more is the man to whom the President turns when he needs an investigation done discreetly. An American diplomat’s wife is kidnapped in Argentina, and her husband murdered before her eyes. Her children will be next, she is told, and if she doesn’t tell them where her brother is. Her brother, as it turns out, who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning UN/ Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, and an awful lot of hands are reaching up to grab it. Some of those hands don’t mind shedding as much blood as it takes. Before the investigation is over… it might even be Castillo’s blood. Every Breath You Take Judith McNaught This year marks the eightieth birthday of wealthy philanthropist Cecil Wyatt. All the money in the world cannot bring a smile to his lips. His grandson, William Wyatt is missing. The family, the police, the media all have tried in vain to discover William’s fate. Now suspicion has turned toward William’s half brother, the distant enigmatic Mitchell Wyatt. Kate Donovan never dreamed that a chance encounter on a tropical island paradise would involve her in a high-society murder case. Kate finds herself a player in a lethal game of guilt and deception. As she navigates a world of high stakes and buried secrets, Kate struggles to keep herself and her loved ones alive, and to trust a fascinating man who may or may not be her most formidable foe. Got the Look James Grippando FBI agent Andie Henning is tracking a ruthless kidnapper plaguing south Florida, one who’s out to prove that all human life can be valued in dollars and cents. At every turn, he has slipped through her net. Jack Swyteck is a defense lawyer who thinks he’s finally met the woman of his dream, gorgeous Mia Salazar. When he discovers that Mia is married to one of the wealthiest and most ruthless man in town, real estate magnate, Ernesto Salazar, Jack ends their relationship. When Mia’s kidnapped, Ernesto decides saving his wife just isn’t worth it. Jack at first resists getting involved, but as secrets unfold about Mia’s strange marriage and mysterious past, Jack is in for a twisty ride that may bring him face-to-face with a madman. The Europa Conspiracy Babylon Rising-Book 3 Tim LaHaye and Bob Phillips It begins when Michael Murphy heads to the ancient city of Babylon in pursuit of one of the most famous and mystifying of Biblical prophecies: The Handwriting on the Wall. The closer he gets to deciphering the true meaning of Daniel’s ancient message for our troubled times, the closer Murphy comes to a shattering confrontation with the forces of darkness that will cause the earth itself to tremble. Dancing In The Dark Mary Jane Clark Key News correspondent Diane Mayfield has brought her children and her sister to the New Jersey Shore town of Ocean Grove to investigate a story. Girl, who, it appears, cried wolf and faked her own abduction. Already in the midst of a thermometer- bursting heat wave, tensions rise in this tiny beach community when a second victim disappears. No one knows who could be next. With only the first victim as eyewitness, Diane and the police turn to her for clues. It may be too late to save Diane and her loved ones from the mortal danger that lurks in Ocean Grove. The Divide Nicholas Evans The bestselling author of The Horse Whisperer returns with an epic thriller of the human heart. Two backcountry skiers find the body of a young woman embedded in the ice of a frozen creek in the Rocky Mountains. The police soon learn that her name is Abbie Cooper, and that she's a fugitive wanted by the FBI for murder. How did she die? Was it an accident or was she killed? What was the trail of events that led this golden child of a loving family so tragically astray? It all started at The Divide, a Montana Resort where a once happy family starts to fragment and break apart. Their struggle to solve a mystery that threatens to destroy their already damaged lives. It explores the pain we inflict on those we love the most, and charts the passions and needs, the dashed hopes and disillusionments that connect and divide all men and women. Fire Sale Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski may have left her old South Chicago neighborhood, but as she learns, she cannot escape it. When she takes over coaching duties of the girls’ basketball team of her former high school, the detective faces an ill-equipped, ragtag group of gang-bangers, and teenage moms who draw her into their family woes. Through Josie, one of the basketball players, V.I. meets her mother, Ms. Dorrado, who voices her worries about sabotage in the little flag-manufacturing plant where she works. The largest employer on the South Side, discount store By-Smart, pays even less than the flag plant. Her fears are realized when the plant explodes. V.I. is injured and the owner is killed. V.I. begins to investigate. Eleven On Top Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum is thinking her career as New Jersey’s bounty hunter has run its course. As it turns out, jobs that are safe and normal for most people aren’t necessarily safe and normal for Stephanie Plum. Trouble follows her, and the kind of trouble she had at the bail bond office can’t compare to the kind of trouble she finds herself facing now. A maniac has returned from the grave with the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. She takes an office job, and it gives her the technical access she needs to find her stalker. Tempers rise as competition ratchets up between the two men in her life: her on=again, off-again boy friend, tough Trenton cop Joe Morelli and her new boss- Ranger. Can Stephanie handle the heat? The Divide Nicholas Evans The bestselling author of The Horse Whisperer returns with an epic thriller of the human heart. Two backcountry skiers find the body of a young woman embedded in the ice of a frozen creek in the Rocky Mountains. The police soon learn that her name is Abbie Cooper, and that she’s a fugitive wanted by the FBI for murder. How did she die? Was it an accident or was she killed? What was the trail of events that led this golden child of a loving family so tragically astray? It all started at The Divide, a Montana Resort where a once happy family starts to fragment and break apart. Their struggle to solve a mystery that threatens to destroy their already damaged lives. It explores the pain we inflict on those we love the most, and charts the passions and needs, the dashed hopes and disillusionments that connect and divide all men and women. 4th of July James Patterson And Maxine Paetro Lindsay’s fights to save her career and her sanity after being charged with police brutality for the accidental killing of a girl during what should have been a routine arrest. While awaiting her San Francisco trial, she escapes to the beautiful town of Half Moon Bay for a much needed vacation. After her arrival, a string of unspeakable murders ravages the community. Working with her friends in the Women’s Murder Club, Lindsay finds a link between these killings and an unsolved murder case that has haunted her for years. Sparks will soon fly as Lindsay begins battling for her life both before the annual 4th of July celebration on the water front at Half Moon Bay, and in front of a judge and jury as her trial gets underway. Devil’s Corner Lisa Scottoline When prosecutor Vicki Allegretti arrives at a rowhouse to meet a confidential informant, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is almost shot to death. She barely escapes with her life, but cannot save the two others gunned down before disbelieving eyes. Stunned and heartbroken, Vicki sets out to see justice done. She can identify the killers-now all she has to do is find them. Her suspicions take her to Devil’s Corner, a city neighborhood teetering on the brink of ruin-thick with broken souls, innocent youths, and a scourge that preys on both. The deeper Vicki probes, the more she becomes convinced that the murders weren’t random and the killers were more ruthless than she thought. When another murder thrusts Vicki together with an unlikely ally, she buckles up for a wild ride down a dangerous street. Hard Truth Nevada Barr Anna Pigeon comes face to face with the dark side of humanity. Just three days after her wedding to Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon moves from Mississippi to Colorado to assume her new post as district ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, where three girls have disappeared during a religious retreat. Two of the children reappear a month later, clad only in filthy underwear and claiming to remember nothing of the intervening weeks. The girls are frightened and traumatized. As Anna investigates, she finds herself caught up in the machinations of a paranoid religious sect bent on protecting its secrets and keeping the girls sequestered from law enforcement and psychiatric help. Honeymoon James Patterson & Howard Roughan Beautiful top interior designer Nora Sinclair is a devious romantic living two lives. Secretly married to a best-selling author in Boston and engaged to a wealthy Greenwich, Conn., investment banker, Nora travels to an from her New York City home base where she is known as the widow of a top New York Cardiologist. When her fiancé dies a mysterious death- similar to that of her first husband-FBI agent John O’Hara is on to her. Working for the Joint Terrorism Task Force, O’Hara has been monitoring Nora’s bank transactions to the Cayman Islands and suspects she’s a spy, a terrorist, or a pathological killer. Disguising himself as an insurance agent, John pursues Nora. Will he be able to solve the mysterious deaths before he’s ensnarled in her seductive web?. The Forgotten Man Robert Crais Elvis Cole receives the phone call he’s been waiting for since childhood. The LAPD has found an injured man in an alleyway. He has told the officer on the scene that he is looking for his son, Elvis Cole. Minutes later, the man is dead. Haunted throughout his life by a lack of knowledge about his father, Elvis turns to his longtime partner, Joe Pike, to help him navigate the minefield of his past. Together with LAPD detective Carol Starkey, they launch a search for the dead man’s identity. With each long-buried clue they unearth, a frightening picture begins to emerge about whom the dead man might have been, and the terrible secret he’s been guarding. The further he goes in his investigation, the closer he draws to a merciless killer who is connected to the unidentified man’s past. Entombed Linda Fairstein Workers demolishing a nineteenth a nineteenth-century brownstone where Poe once lived discover a human skeleton standing- entombed-behind a brick wall. It strikes Alexandra Cooper as a classic scene from Poe's fiction… except that forensic evidence shows this young woman died within the last twenty-five years. Meanwhile Alex is furious at the news that an old nemesis may be preying on women once again on Manhattan's exclusive Upper East Side. The Silk Stocking Rapist first struck four years ago, leaving a string of victims in his wake, then abruptly disappeared before Alex and the NYPD can identify him. When a woman dies as a result of her injuries, Alex's search for justice for the rapist's prior victims becomes a hunt for a killer as well. She will cross paths with a cunning killer and face some of he greatest challenges of her career. Echoes Danielle Steel Against a vivid backdrop of history, Danielle Steel tells a compelling story of love and war, acts of faith and acts of betrayal… and of three generations of women as they journey through years of loss and survival, linked by an indomitable devotion that echoes across time. For the Wittgenstein family, the summer of 1915 was a time of prosperity and uneasiness as the guns of war sound in the distance. For the eldest daughter Beata, it was also a summer of awakening. By the shores of Lake Geneva, the quite Jewish beauty met a young French officer and fell in love. Knowing her parents would never accept her marriage to a Catholic, Beata followed her heart anyway. As the years pass, and Europe is once again engulfed in war, Beata must watch in horror as Hitler's terror threatens her family- even her eighteen-year-old daughter Amadea, who has taken on the vows of a Carmelite nun. For Amadea, the convent is no refuge, and she is forced into hiding. Thus begins a harrowing journey of survival as she escapes into the heart of the French Resistance. In her darkest moments, Amadea will feel her mother's loving strength as the voices of lost loved ones echo powerfully in her life Nights of Rain and Stars Maeve Binchy In a small Greek island village, a group of traveler's from around the world and the local residents they encounter are brought together in unexpected ways when sudden tragedy strikes. In her inimitable style, Maeve Binchy shares with readers the lives of these strangers, learning their hopes, dreams, and fears as they move forward, forever changed by their experience. This is a story of sudden endings and new beginnings, of friendships forged in the face of tragedy, and of the nights of rain and stars over a beautiful island in a sparkling sea. Hour Game David Baldacci Ex-Secret Service Agents Sean Maxwell and Michelle King are hot on the trail of a copycat serial killer whose dead set on improving vicious crimes of the past. Initially hired to investigate a seemingly unrelated burglary at the palatial estate of the incredibly wealthy Bobby Battle and his wife Remmy, the worst is yet to come. Clues begin to lead to a string of grisly murders in which the killer leaves watches on his victims, the hour corresponding with their position on his hit list. As the seconds tick by and suspense builds to a fever pitch, something even more horrifying than one copycat killer is revealed. Nearing the truth, they will find that their own lives are in danger, and time may not be on Sean and Michelle's side. Northern Lights Nora Roberts Hoping for a fresh start following the murder of his partner, Baltimore Cop Nate Burke signs on as chief of police in Lunacy, Alaska- population 506. When Nate wonders whether the move was a big mistake, a New Year's kiss from pilot Meg Galloway convinces him to stay. Meg is happy to have Nate warm her chilled heart. When word comes one day that three young boys are stuck in an ice cave, Meg and Nate fly up into the mountains. Now things in Lunacy are heating up. Because years ago, on one of the majestic mountains that shadow the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day, and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy street, a killer who will go to great lengths to keep the truth frozen in time. Double Homicide/Santa Fe & Double Homicide / Boston Jonathan & Faye Kellerman Double Homicide/Santa Fe: It's Christmastime, and police officers Darrel Two Moons and Steve Katz are expecting the usual gang assaults, feuding spouses, and alcohol- related misdemeanors. Then the call comes in from the Historic District: the reported death of an art gallery owner. They follow a trail of motives that lies buried like layers of paint. Two Moons and Katz enter a dangerous world where murder has been perfected to an art form. Double Homicide / Boston: Basketball is an obsession in Beantown, producing emotions that run hot even in the coldest winter. This time, a flagrant foul during a college match leads to a fatal shooting. The entire city is putting pressure on Detectives Dorothy Breton and Michael McCain to find the perpetrator. Together, they're looking to make an open and shut case until startling evidence comes to light. Now two experienced cops can either keep it simple…or do what's right. The Dark Tower VII The Dark Tower Stephen King Roland's Ka-Tet remains intact, though scattered over everywhere. Susannah Mia has been carried from the Pixie Pig (in the summer of 1999) to a birthing room- really a chamber of horrors- in thunder clap's Fedic, Jake and Father Callahan, with Oy between them, have entered the restaurant on Lex and Sixty-first with weapons drawn, little knowing how numerous are their foes. Roland and Eddie are with John Cullum in Maine, in 1977, looking for the site on Turtleback Lane where " walks-ins" has been often seen. They want desperately to get back to the others, to Susannah especially, and yet they have come to realize that the world they need to escape is the only one that matters. Welcome to The Dark Tower. Hear No Evil James Grippando Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explosive criminal trial of his career- a case that starts with a murder on a military base and concludes with a shocking surprise that will change Jack’s life forever. A beautiful woman comes to see Jack and begs him to represent her. She says she’s about to be arrested for the murder of her husband, an officer stationed at Guantanamo Bay. Jack agrees, with great foreboding. He has an unreliable client and he has to travel to Gitmo and on to Havana to tussle with people who clearly have a lot to hide. This is a case with many twists and turns as it has unanswered questions. An intricate, fast- paced, and captivating thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. Dark Justice Jack Higgins It is night in Manhattan. The President of the United States is scheduled to have dinner with an old friend, but in the building across the street, a man has disabled the security and stands at a window, a rifle in his hand. Fortunately, he is not successful- but this is only the beginning. Someone is recruiting a shadowy network of agents with the intention of creating terror. Their range is broad, their identities masked, their methods subtle. White House operative Blake Johnson and his opposite number in British intelligence, Sean Dillon, set out to trace the source of the havoc, but behind the first man lies another, and behind him another still. That man is not pleased by the interference. Soon he will target them all. Johnson, Dillon, Dillon’s colleagues, and one of them will fall. Hide Yourself Away Mary Jane Clark Just hours before the Key News crew arrives for their broadcasts from Newport, Rhode Island, the skeleton of a socialite who disappeared fourteen years ago is found in a tunnel beneath a famous mansion. It doesn’t end there. Next, the socialite’s daughter is found at the bottom of the Forty Steps that lead from the legendary Cliff Walk to the ocean. When one of the Key News interns is killed in a suspicious car accident and another disappears, this year’s crop of fledgling journalists are targets, including Grace Callahan, not so young at thirty-two, who came to the City-by-the-Sea determined to launch a future in television news. As their number dwindles one by one, can Grace uncover a murderer who does not want the secrets buried beneath the city’s fabled mansions to come to light? Hidden Prey John Sandford On the shores of Lake Superior, a Russian man named Rodion Oleshev is found shot dead. His body riddled with 50-year-old bullets. Nobody knows why he was killed, but everybody-the local cops, the FBI, and the Russians themselves- has a theory. When Lucas Davenport flies in from Minneapolis to investigate, he finds out Oleshev had high government connections and was a former member of the KGB. He, also, finds out beautiful Russian cop Nadya Kalin has arrived to oversee the investigation. Before any questions can be answered, there is another violent murder, and Davenport will have to follow a trail back to another place, another time, and battle the shadows of the past that are both very real- and very deadly. Day of the Dead J.A. Jance For more than thirty years, the case has remained stone cold- the brutal murder of a local Papago girl. No one ever paid for the horrific crime… except, that is, the victim’s loved ones, who suffer to this day. Brandon Walker, once the sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, no longer feels he has a purpose. Salvation comes with an invitation to join the ranks of The Last Chance, an exclusive nationwide fraternity of former cops and forensic experts who look into unsolved murders that have baffled local law enforcement agencies. One such case, a murder investigation that may have been mishandled by his department when he was a young lawman. A forgotten homicide is only the beginning of the nightmare that is about to ensnare a diligent ex-cop and his family. Brandon Walker is the only one still alive who can unravel a blood knot of terror and obsession that will free a dark truth more frightening than he ever imagined. Kill The Messenger Tami Hoag A grueling day in LA is about to get worse for bike messenger Jace Damon when a delivery for a shady lawyer, Lenny Lowell, turns into a fight for his life. After being dispatched from Speed Messenger, Jace picks up a package from Lenny as planned. En route to delivering the package, Jace is nearly run down by a car, chased through back alleys, and shot at. Narrowly escaping, Jace returns to the attorney's office, only to find the cops there, the lawyer dead and Jace himself considered the prime suspect in the savage murder. Suddenly he's on the run from both the cops, a killer, and the key to saving himself and his ten-year-old brother is the envelope he still has-which holds a message no one wants delivered: the truth. Now, he will have to call on skills he never knew he had to keep himself and his brother alive. A Faint Cold Fear Karin Slaughter When Sara's called to investigate an apparent college suicide, the severely mutilated body of a young boy provides few clues. Then Sara's pregnant sister, Tessa is brutally stabbed at the crime scene- leaving Sara devastated. As other college students turn up dead, Sara and her ex-husband, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver, start piecing together the puzzle. Is this small Georgia town harboring a serial killer? College security guard Lena Adams, a troubled ex-cop, may have the answer… but she's not telling. A Gathering Place Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer Thomas Kinkade takes us back to Cape Light- the quaint town that has captured our hearts. Now that the Cape Light election is over, Mayor Emily Warwick can finally focus on her relationship with Sara- the daughter she gave up for adoption twenty- years ago. Then there's the fact that Emily is slowly falling for newspaper publisher, Dan Forbes. With two grown children of his own, would Dan ever want to start another family? Emily hopes so- because she's eager for a second chance at life. Back to the Book Reviews Archive Please email us at we'd love to hear from you. RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE