[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Thrillers and Suspense May 2009

  • From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 22:13:07 -0400

New and Recently Released!

Devil's Garden - by Ace Atkins
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/02/2009
ISBN-13: 9780399155369
ISBN-10: 0399155368
Historical Noir. In 1921, silent-film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle is at the 
height of his career when an actress dies, apparently from injuries sustained
during one of his wild, booze-fueled parties. An enormous scandal erupts, and 
Arbuckle is accused of murder. Young Pinkerton detective Sam Dashiell Hammett
becomes responsible for sorting out fact from fiction, but in addition to an 
array of conflicting witness testimonies and accusations of perjury, powerfully
influential William Randolph Hearst is using his paper to demand a guilty 
verdict. It goes without saying that if you've enjoyed Hammett's books (like
The Maltese Falcon), you'll likely enjoy Ace Atkins' take on him.

The Dakota Cipher: An Ethan Gage Adventure - by William Dietrich
Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061568008
ISBN-10: 0061568007
Historical Thriller. In his 3rd appearance, adventurer Ethan Gage slips out of 
France (after seducing one of Napoleon's sisters) and heads back home to
the U.S., accompanied by a Norwegian freedom fighter named Magnus Bloodhammer. 
Magnus is looking for an ancient and powerful Norse artifact, but the two
are traveling across the unmapped Northwest (it's 1801, after all) on behalf of 
newly elected president Thomas Jefferson, who wants them to look for woolly
mammoths and a tribe of blue-eyed Indians. Unfortunately, there are several 
less-than-friendly types on their trail. Booklist likens Ethan Gage to Indiana
Jones; fans of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman books might also see 
similarities in terms of action and rich historic detail, despite the latter's 
utter
cravenness.

In the Dark - by Brian Freeman
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/31/2009
ISBN-13: 9780312363291
ISBN-10: 031236329X
Police Thriller. Thirty years ago, Jonathan Stride was a teenager in love with 
his soon-to-be wife, Cindy Starr, when her sister Laura was murdered. Though
the police determined that a transient was responsible, both Jonathan and Cindy 
thought it unlikely. Now himself a detective in the Duluth police force--and
a widower--Jonathan's past is brought home to him when a former friend of 
Cindy's returns with the intent to write a book about Laura's murder. As 
Jonathan
investigates the long-ago crime, he's forced to re-evaluate what he knows--not 
only about the murder, but about his relationships with his wife and his
current lover, PI Serena Dial. In the Dark is the 4th book to feature Jonathan 
Stride.

Until It's Over - by Nicci French
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/17/2009
ISBN-13: 9780312375393
ISBN-10: 0312375395
Psychological Suspense. As a London bike messenger, Astrid Bell is used to sore 
muscles, but when a neighbor opens a car door at precisely the wrong moment,
she gets pretty banged up. Hours later, the neighbor is beaten to death, and as 
other murders follow--all of which are somehow linked to Astrid--the atmosphere
in her formerly friendly six-person shared London house gets increasingly 
tense. Narrated in the first half by Astrid and in the second by the killer,
Until It's Over features suspense that "never falters" (Publishers Weekly).
If You Like: Lisa Scottoline
Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline's latest book, Look Again, came out in late 
April. It's a departure from her popular series starring the female lawyers
of Rosato & Associates, so if you're looking for something to tide you over 
until the next entry in that series, try one of the books below. Each of them
contains characteristics that would be at home a Rosato & Associates book.

False Testimony - by Rose Connors
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/27/2006
ISBN-13: 9780743492706
ISBN-10: 0743492706
Legal Thriller. If you enjoy Lisa Scottoline's Rosato & Associates series for 
its staff of female lawyers, you may want to check out Rose Connors and her
series starring Marty Nickerson, a female attorney who, like Scottoline's 
lawyers, tackles seemingly impossible cases with a sense of humor. In False 
Testimony,
the 4th in the series, Marty struggles with questions of ethics during a case 
involving a U.S. senator suspected in the disappearance of a female staffer
and with a second client who is on trial for the murder of a priest--and who 
insists on defending himself. Check this one out for courtroom drama and a
"plucky, energetic heroine" (Publishers Weekly).
First Chapter

Trophy Widow - by Michael A. Kahn
Publisher: Tor Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780765341402
ISBN-10: 0765341409
Legal Thriller. Michael Kahn's books featuring St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold 
may be a bit raunchier than most of Scottoline's, but readers who don't mind
that should give them a try. In this, the 7th in the series but a good place to 
start, Rachel takes on the case of Angela Green, a former housewife serving
time for killing her husband. Though she's been hired to represent Angela in a 
lawsuit over proceeds from a book she's writing, the closer Rachel looks
the more she begins to wonder if her client, ten years behind bars, is even 
guilty. With a multitude of cases on her plate and a busy personal life, Rachel
Gold is sure to appeal to fans of Scottoline's female characters.
First Chapter

The Arraignment - by Steve Martini
Publisher: Jove Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780515135954
ISBN-10: 051513595X
Legal Thriller. While Steve Martini's novels may feature a male attorney, they 
still offer the investigative details, sense of place, and desire for justice
that Scottoline's fans might be looking for. In The Arraignment, the 7th of a 
series that now numbers nine, attorney Paul Madriani takes a case that he
hopes will let him learn why a friend and colleague was gunned down in front of 
the courthouse. Though Madriani is based in San Diego, his search for answers
takes him from California to Mexico and on to the Guatemalan border. If you 
want to see just how far Madriani's character has come, start at the beginning
of the series, with Compelling Evidence.

Case of Lies - by Perri O'Shaughnessy
Publisher: Bantam Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/27/2006
ISBN-13: 9780440241829
ISBN-10: 0440241820
Legal Thriller. If you like Lisa Scottoline's focus on female lawyers seeking 
justice, look no further than Perri O'Shaughnessy's series starring attorney
Nina O'Reilly. Like Scottoline's novels, this series features suspenseful 
stories with a touch of humor and a strong sense of place. In Case of Lies, Nina
O'Reilly's 11th appearance, she's returned to her South Lake Tahoe law office 
after a stint in Monterey and becomes caught up in a complicated two-year-old
homicide case involving the murder of the wife of a new client. Publishers 
Weekly calls Case of Lies "the most intriguing yet"; a 12th entry, which treats
readers to Nina's backstory, was published in December.
First Chapter
Fugitives on the Lam

The Sleeping Doll - by Jeffery Deaver
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/05/2007
ISBN-13: 9780743260947
ISBN-10: 0743260945
Thriller. Daniel Pell is a psychopathic killer who's just escaped from prison; 
Kathryn Dance is the California Bureau of Investigation interrogator and
body language expert assigned to help recapture him. But Pell doesn't just want 
to escape--he wants to rebuild his cult, and in order to protect himself,
he's going to have to kill the people who threaten his future...including the 
nine-year-old girl who survived the mass killing that landed Pell in jail
in the first place. If you follow the Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs series, you 
might recognize Kathryn from an appearance in The Cold Moon, but she comes
into her own here. Look out for her 2nd star turn this summer in Roadside 
Crosses.
First Chapter

Forests of the Night - by James W. Hall
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/29/2005
ISBN-13: 9780312937010
ISBN-10: 0312937016
Thriller. Anyone who doubts that the past indeed comes back to haunt us should 
read this layered thriller, in which both recent and long-ago events have
repercussions. When Miami cop Charlotte Monroe realizes that the young Cherokee 
man visiting her husband is on the FBI's most wanted list, she calls the
authorities, only to have her schizophrenic teenage daughter, Gracey, disappear 
soon after he takes off. As she fights to reclaim Gracey she also must
face other secrets bubbling up in both her husband's past and, in the mountains 
of North Carolina, among the Cherokee and their neighbors.
First Chapter

Dirty White Boys - by Stephen Hunter
Publisher: Island Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 12/01/1995
ISBN-13: 9780440221791
ISBN-10: 044022179X
Thriller. After killing an inmate, sadistic Lamar Pye flees Oklahoma's 
McAlester State Penitentiary and embarks on a bloody flight across the 
Southwest.
He's accompanied by his retarded giant of a cousin Odell (who would do anything 
for Lamar) and artist-turned-felon Richard Peed (whom Lamar allowed to
live because he likes Peed's crude artwork), and is pursued by Trooper Bud 
Pewtie (who blames himself for the death of his partner at the hands of this
murderous group). Their next face-off can have only one survivor. "Powerful and 
gripping," says Publishers Weekly.

Cold - by John Smolens
Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9781400050871
ISBN-10: 1400050871
Suspense Fiction. It's winter on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and under cover of 
a snowstorm, Norman Haas simply walks away from his prison's work detail.
Two frozen days later he arrives at the farmhouse of a middle-aged woman who 
helps him but feels bound to turn him in. After she falls in the snow and
can't rise, Norman leaves her for dead and heads home, back to the people who 
betrayed him and into a web of family intrigue and deception. As he escapes
once more with the woman he loves, dedicated Sheriff Del Maki is on his trail; 
things eventually come to an explosive head at an isolated cabin. Read Cold
if you're looking for a "well-plotted and well-written tale fueled by a sense 
of impending disaster" (Booklist).
First Chapter

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  • » [bksvol-discuss] Fw: Thrillers and Suspense May 2009 - Amber Wallenstein