FullReviews Index
The Scarecrow
In 'The Scarecrow' Michael Connelly has woven a thriller that grabs the reader and does not let go until the end. Jack McEvoy, ace newspaper reporter, and Rachel Walling, FBI Special Agent and some time consort of Harry Bosch, are the driving forces on the side of good in this sterling read.
Road Dogs
Jack Foley returns as the hero of Elmore Leonard's latest thriller 'Road Dogs,' a full-throttle page-turner peopled with bank robbers, gangsters and con men. The author's fans will not be disappointed in Leonard's heart-pounding tale of trust and betrayal in the California sun.
The Messenger
'The Messenger' is a suspenseful tale of spirits and souls. From page one, we know we're in for something otherworldly. A salvage diver hears a disembodied voice coming from a nineteenth-century shipwreck: "serve me," the voice says, "find Tyler Hawthorne, and I will give you wealth and power." As the diver agrees, we're left with the sense that this can't possibly end well for him.
The Gate House
'The Gate House,' a sequel to Nelson DeMille's successful 'The Gold Coast,' has all the elements of a 2009 beach read. There is a lot of sex; he does wait until the second page for the first episode. There are mafia dons, murder, divorce, reconciliation, alcohol, in-law troubles, and rich families down on their luck, or not.
Divine Justice
'Divine Justice' is the fourth in David Baldacci's Camel Club series of novels that have enjoyed immense popularity. Each novel has asked what secrets the federal government is keeping from citizens? It is not paranoia if there really are secrets, and any one of us who has served in certain governmental agencies is very well aware that secrets do exist, some benign, some malignant.
Hold Tight
If there was ever a novel that called for a sociological flow chart, 'Hold Tight,' a community murder mystery, is it. Harlan Coben has constructed a yarn with multiple points of view - a patchwork of tragically affected people connected to an incident of callousness and bad taste that festers into murder and suicide. And no one participant has any way of knowing how it all connects.
When Will There Be Good News?
In 'When Will There Be Good News,' Kate Atkinson has intertwined what first seem to be many separate stories, giving an added sense of mystery: you know all the characters will connect, but the how and why aren’t always obvious; and the twists to get them there can make your head spin.
'What Was Lost'
Catherine O’Flynn’s 'What Was Lost' is a compelling and multifaceted novel. Following the central mystery of a girl’s disappearance, it invokes the spirit of Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, and Prime Suspect all in one – an intrepid young investigator, a "cozy" mystery feel, and a Jane Tennison-worthy case in a contemporary setting.
Angel’s Tip
Alafair Burke continues to expand the power and scope of her writing. In 'Angel's Tip,' her fifth novel, she has soundly placed herself into the top level of those who write murder mysteries. She debuted in 2005 with the first of three Samantha Kincaid mysteries. These were set in the Northwest where Burke worked as a deputy district attorney. 'Angel's Tip' is the second in her new Ellie Hatcher series.
The Broken Window
Fastidious author Jeffery Deaver has his ace forensic specialist and consultant for the NYPD, Lincoln Rhymes, come up against a mastermind killer who has unlimited access to the world's most detailed bank of data on the people of the world. That's you and me, and the implication is clear: the possibility of our most personal information falling into the hands of a serial killer fills us with dread.
The Fourth Watcher
The Fourth Watcher is the second novel featuring Poke Rafferty. Set in Bangkok, it follows "A Nail Through the Heart," which came out in 2007. This followed a previous series of six novels set in Los Angeles, which had received some critical acclaim but less popular approbation. Hallinan seems on more solid footing here. The characters are strong, the setting exotic and interesting. The story seems to propel itself along.
Shadow of Power: A Paul Madriani Novel
'Shadow of Power,' Steve Martini's ninth Paul Madriani legal thriller, takes the defense attorney from a California courtroom to the pursuit of a missing Supreme court justice in a smart and sophisticated story packed with "twists, historical mysteries, clever legal strategies, and good old-fashioned sleuthing."
The Body in the Gallery
'The Body in the Gallery' is the latest in Katherine Hall Page's Fair Fairchild mystery series that over the course of its seven books has maintained the quality of its writing and the interest of its readers. Each mystery can stand alone, but reading them in sequence enhances the pleasure. Like Miss Marple and Poirot, Faith solves murders with her brain rather than with CSI-style gadgetry.
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection
In The Final Solution, Michael Chabon has condensed his vision to create a short, suspenseful tale of compassion and wit that re-imagines the classic detective story. In retirement in the English countryside, an 89-year old man, vaguely recollected by the locals as a once-famous detective, is more concerned with his beekeeping than his fellow man. Into his life wanders Linus Steinman, nine years old and mute, who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his sole companion: an African grey parrot.
Now You See Him
Nick Framingham is an average, small-town guy and best friends with the infamous Rob Castor. Rob achieved celebrity status in his twenties, "for writing a book of darkly pitch-perfect stories set in a stupid sleepy upstate New York town." Now he's made headlines again - this time for committing a murder-suicide. Nick tries to make sense of the events, uncovering many secrets, while grieving for and reminiscing about Rob as well as facing his own troubled family life.
The Devil's Bones
Drawing on research at the Body Farm—three acres of land in the backwoods of Tennessee, where bodies are left to the elements to illuminate human decomposition — Jefferson Bass has moved fiction to a fascinating new realm, with forensics expertise drawn from his five decades of work as the world's leading forensic anthropologist.
An Incomplete Revenge: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
Set in 1931 England, An Incomplete Revenge begins with a deceptively simple quest for psychologist and investigator Maisie to explore a rural town in Kent for a prospective land buyer, who is concerned about a series of thefts, fires, and vandalism in the area. Though the countryside is lovely and the village looks inviting, Maisie soon realizes that the secrets at stake are far more sinister than petty crime.
Robert Ludlum's The Arctic Event
On an island in the Canadian Arctic, researchers discover the wreckage of a Soviet bomber that disappeared with its crew more than fifty years ago while carrying two tons of weaponized anthrax. Desperate to prevent a political firestorm, the U.S. dispatches a Covert-One team led by Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith to the crash site. As for the Russians, they are lying: a second, even deadlier secret rests within the hulk of the lost bomber, a secret the Russians are willing to kill to protect.
The Blue Door
Fulmer's taste for murder mystery set in vibrant and unique times and places now sets him off onto the dope and drink-ridden streets of 1962 South Philly, where boxing, murder, alleyway assaults, music, beautiful women and the spectrum of criminality comprise the culture. His latest work is a nicely linear investigative thriller with a whole new central character whose vocational trajectory isn't anyone's idea of the norm.
Try Dying
Ty Buchanan is a rising star in his L.A. law firm, until the suspicious death of his fiancee forces him into the underbelly of the city to discover the truth behind her death. He soon has more than his career on the line, as he finds himself tangled up with a mysterious group of former gang members, and becomes the target of a killer.
Blonde Faith: An Easy Rawlins Novel
Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Chrismas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems. The love of his life is marrying another man and his friend Mouse is wanted for the murder of a father of 12.
Family Secrets
After their father's death, sisters Vanessa, Ellie, and Georgiana are stunned to learn a well-kept family secret. A yellowed letter tucked away in a family Bible reveals that the woman who gave birth to their late father had not died when he was born, as they had always believed. Their paternal grandmother gave up her son shortly after his birth, leaving this note with instructions to never reveal her name or background to him. The letter is signed, simply, Hattie.
Love Kills
Bringing together intrepid journalist Britt Montero and the Cold Case Squad - the lead characters from Edna Buchanan's two successful mystery series - Love Kills is a satisfying, two-for-one deal of a thriller.
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Donna Andrews' ability to create colorful characters is the greatest success of "The Penguin Who Knew Too Much." Meg Lanslow, a blacksmith by trade, doles out death-grip handshakes and Googles her suspects for background information. Lanslow is smart and likable and super-funny; she catches details like a spiderweb snagging flies. This heroine is quick to jump on the trail of her suspects, and just as quick to drive her beat-up blue Toyota out to the investigation site.
The Tin Roof Blowdown
As James Lee Burke's new novel, "The Tin Roof Blowdown," begins, Hurricane Katrina has left the commercial district and residential neighborhoods awash with looters and predators of every stripe. The power grid of the city has been destroyed, New Orleans reduced to the level of a lawless medieval society. In the midst of all this, Detective Dave Robicheaux must find two serial rapists, a morphine-addicted priest, and a vigilante who may be more dangerous than the criminals looting the city.