MURDER-GO-ROUND: REVIEWS BY HARRIET KLAUSNER
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Harriet Klausner, was chosen the number
one reader in the entire USA by BOOK Magazine. What does that mean
to you? She reads constantly and knows what's out there and wants
to let you know, too. Read on for tips to great books from the wonder
reader Harriet Klausner. |
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December 2009
Dead and Kicking
Wendy Roberts
Obsidian, Dec 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451228628
In Seattle Sadie Novak owns Scene-2-Clean, a firm that cleans up crime scenes. She also is a medium who communicates with the dead. Her job is to help the deceased pass on by removing whatever makes then cling to the earth.
Most spirits she meets are not evil or even hostile, but Sadie and her lover-co-owner of the business Zack are cleaning out the apartment of his former girlfriend Paula’s mother when they run into a malevolent ghost who refuses to allow them to enter “his” room. Running out of the place Zack breaks a bone in his foot. A recovering addict, he is not supposed to take drugs, but he does anyway as he moves into Paula’s house to heal. Trying to forget Zack’s betrayal for the moment, Sadie throws herself into her work and soon finds a mummified baby in one of the boxes. .The remains could be part of a lot Paula’s mom bought at a yard sale or flea market or perhaps it something sinister that happened inside the house. Someone is trying to scare Sadie away; but that fails as she keeps cleaning and exploring while the threats turn increasingly violent.
This is an exciting paranormal amateur sleuth starring an audacious courageous psychic who does not fear mortal murders having met malevolent spirits. Sadie’s father recently died and though he cannot quite fully materialize she selfishly wants to spend quality time with him before he moves on. The whodunit is cleverly devised to keep the audience absorbed with several delightful solid and ephemeral subplots as Wendy Roberts provides another witty breezy Ghost Dusters Mystery (see The Remains of the Dead).
Harriet Klausner
Hidden Empire
Orson Scott Card
Tor, Dec 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765320049
It took a mini civil war and an alleged attempted coup to make former Professor Averell Torrent President of the United States as his predecessor was assassinated. As a professor Torrent had definite ideas on what the USA should become (an empire) spreading Pax America around the world. He has more power than any president in history even war time leaders, but no one knows if he intends to implement his concepts. Presidential advisors Colonel Bartholomew Coleman and Cecily Malich, whose husband died in Torrent’s service, watch him carefully, but all he displays is a good executive performing his duty to make American a better place.
When an epidemic breaks out in southern Nigeria with a fifty percent death rate, Torrent orders a quarantine of the continent. The disease spreads rapidly and Cole and his unit deploy to Africa to prevent the Muslim part of Northern Nigeria from massacring the survivors in the oil rich plague region in the south. Cecily and her thirteen year old son Mark also go there as Christians providing aid to the unfortunate victims. Cole is afraid that his crew group is planning something deadly that could impact the globe if he and Cecily fail to make the right moves to prevent this from happening.
This sequel to Empire is a cautionary tale that warns of the abuse of power by allowing too much in one person who is constructing a Hidden Empire. Torrent is not evil but instead a visionary who believes the outcome justifies any mean to achieve it. Cole is a fascinating character as he serves a person he loathes but admires. Although lacking subtly re the warning message that overflows throughout the story line, fans will enjoy Orson Scott Card’s chilling techno thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Wyatt's Revenge
H. Terrell Griffin
Oceanview, Nov 16 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9781933515533
Retired lawyer Matt Royal enjoys mellowing at his home in Longboat Key, Florida. The Vietnam vet prefers doing nothing of consequence and believes he earned it after years of trial by fire.
However, his idyllic life is interrupted when someone assassinates his friend Professor Laurence Wyatt, who like Royal was a trained killer, but became a gentle soul once he left the military. Their mutual friend Debbie the bartender and hacker does some data base mining for Royal who got a tip from the cops, but finds nothing of interest except Michael Ruperts turns out to be a one trick ghost. Soon after Royal begins his inquiry, someone fire bombs his car and shoots at him. However, the persistent beach bum learns another Floridian professor working with Wyatt on a Vichy France study was also murdered. With his friends Jock Algren and Logan Hamilton as back up, Matt goes after the assailant trying to prevent him from learning the truth now and in WW II France; unaware the answers lie in Frankfort.
Although somewhat linear with no major twists, the foruth Royal thriller (see Blood Island, Murder key and Longboat Blues) is an entertaining tale as the hero gets shot at on two continents. The story line is fast-paced from the opening moment when a stunned Royal cannot believe someone splattered the brains of Wyatt and never slows down as Matt follows clues and dodges murder attempts. Fans will enjoy the lay back retiree proving he remains a trained killer.
Harriet Klausner
First Lord's Fury
Jim Butcher
Ace, Nov 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780441017690
Having come a long way since he was a fifteen years old shepherd assistant concerned with preventing predatory "herdbanes" from stealing his sheep, Gaius “Tavi” Octavian must find a way to unite ancient enemies to fight against the evil Vord. He knows none of those who he recruits will be docile like his sheep was; which is a positive in the sense of saving the world from destruction yet also a negative because each has a previous grudge with their new ally. Making matters worse for the recently named First Lord of Alera he has learned the Vord has swamped the Canim Blood Lands. To prove he is worthy of his title, Tavi must rally the forces in a desperate final defense in the Calderon Valley where his ascendancy and his people’s dependency started.
Meanwhile all the news he receives s disheartening with desertions expected as the Vord Queen has gained control over elemental Furies; a magic that previously only those of Aleran blood could perform. Still Tavi knows he has no choice but to send people to die in battle so that others may survive; still not grasping idiots from within his side are betraying Alera.
This is an entertaining and great super finish to the Codex Alera coming of age fantasy saga. The story line is fast-paced and ties up the major overarching threads in a satisfactory way summed up by Kitai the female Marat who upon a Tavi explanation on a ceremony says “Alerans” in a frustrated mocking tone that denotes the word is a curse. Fans will relish the saga as Jim Butcher leaves Dresden in its’ respective urban fantasy setting for an exciting quest fantasy.
Harriet Klausner
Dial H for Hitchcock
Susan Kandel
Harper, Nov 2009, $13.99
ISBN 9780061826672
After completing Christie (see Christietown), in Los Angeles biographer CeCe Caruso is way behind her deadline for the definitive bio on Hitchcock having wasted time on a single person’s honeymoon after kicking police Detective Peter Gambino to the curb. A fan of the late filmmaker, she sees Vertigo. However, leaving the theater CeCe somehow has someone else’s cell phone so turns around to return it.
CeCe travels to Beechwood Canyon to return the cell phone to its owner Anita Colby. There she sees someone push the owner off a cliff reminding her of Vertigo. When the police discover a message CeCe left Anita on her answering machine, she becomes their suspect in the murder.
The latest CeCe Caruso biography mystery is a super amateur sleuth mystery that pays homage to the great director and his films throughout a taut investigation. Filled with jocularity, Susan Kandel keeps CeCe climbing into danger as she fears becoming a dead star in her own film without the accolades of one of the Hitchcock beauties. Fans of Hitchcock will relish Ms. Kandel’s terrific tale of an innocent woman in a state of frenzy sought by a killer and the law (sounds so Hitchcockian).
Harriet Klausner
U Is for Undertow
Sue Grafton
Putnam, Dec 1 2009, $27.95
ISBN 9780399155970
In 1988 private investigator Kinsey Millhone reluctantly agrees to look into the claims of Michael Sutton. He insists he has regained a suppressed childhood memory of observing several men bury a package soon after four-year-old Mary Claire Fitzhugh vanished without a trace in 1972. She agrees to work the case one day at a time with her reevaluating at the end of each day whether the request is legitimate for her to continue searching for who killed Mary Claire Fitzhugh.
Millhone learns her her newest client is unreliable as he has told fabrications often times before and was only six years old at the time of the incident he claims to have witnessed. Still she accepts he believes what he said is true so she must connect the dots of his rambling convoluted account and look at the scene where he claims the corpse is buried.
This is a terrific Millhone investigative tale that brings alive the end of the Reagan Era while also providing a historiographical look at the Nixon period. The story line deftly rotates perspectives enhancing what the readers know that the sleuth has yet to learn. With Millhone at her best and the support cast tremendous, fans will relish U is for undeniably super.
Harriet Klausner
Forty-eight X: The Lemuria Project
Barry Pollack
Medallion, Dec 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9781934755020
Israeli military intelligence is stunned with what they learn happened in a training camp in Pakistan. Somehow a super soldier using a scythe massacred dozens of terrorists. Totally confused as even the weapon of choice is from the age of Alexander the Great, the Israeli MI asks archeologists Egyptian Fala al-Shohada and her Israeli lover Joshua Krantz to invesitgate who and how.
In the United States, Princeton University Genetics PH.D candidate Maggie Wagner rejects the idea that her father, a Nobel laureate Stanford professor, committed suicide as officially reported. Instead she believes he was assassinated for his inquiry into something top secret: Project Lemuria.
While these people investigate on separate continents, on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the United States has a team of geneticists working the Lemuria Project to create a Super Soldier. The goal is to reduce dramatically the casualties of war at least on our side. Colonel Link McGraw leads the experimentation with the understanding the brass is always right. Soon the American, the Israeli, and the Egyptian converge on Link’s tropical island where primates in tuxedos serve dinner.
The premise of a super soldier has been done before, although Barry Pollack adds a genetics spin to his placing Captain America on the Island of Dr. Moreau. The story line is fast-paced but overloaded with tons of sidebar sex scenes that detracts from the thriller aspects. Still fans who enjoy an engaging DNA political military science fiction thriller will want to trek to the middle of the Indian Ocean where arrogant efforts to turn the myth of Lemuria into reality have begun with the humanzee.
Harriet Klausner
Murder Had a Little Lamb
Cynthia Baxter
Bantam, Oct 27 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780553592375
Veterinarian Dr. Jessica Popper runs a mobile clinic Reigning Cats and Dogs that does house calls; saving the animals from having to go to an office. Commitment phobic Jessica has been engaged to Nick Burby for ages when she suddenly decides on a big wedding. After months of putting up with her future mother-in-law’s demands, Nick and Jess are about to exchange vows when a scream from one of the catering servers halts the festivities.
Inside the reception hall is the body of cousin Nathanial Stibbins who is the black sheep on the groom’s side. Nick’s mom invited Nathanial as she thought that was the right thing to do. She demands that Jessica find her nephew’s killer starting at the Worth School on Long Island. Jessica obtains a summer job there teaching students how to properly care for their pets while also subtly questioning staff and faculty about Nathanial. She learns he made plenty of enemies in his climb to the top; any of them would want him dead. Ignoring letters warning her to abort her investigation, Jessica finds evidence that points towards one suspect, but she has doubts as what was complex and convoluted abruptly became too simple and linear.
Putting aside the unlikely mother-in-law scenario, readers who adore cute animals in their mysteries will appreciate Murder Had a Little Lamb. This amateur sleuth is well constructed with many suspects possessing strong motives that lead the audience to understand how vicious and backstabbing Nathanial must have been as even his betrayed friend and his lover loathed him. The romantic subplot enhances the whodunit bringing warm depth to the intrepid heroine as part of an overall fun thriller.
Harriet Klausner
The Morning Show Murders
Al Roker & Dick Lochte
Delacorte, Nov 24 2009, $26.00
ISBN: 9780385343688
Celebrity Chef Billy Blessing runs the popular Manhattan Lower East Side Blessings Bistro although he would be the first to admit he does not cook that often anymore. He also performs cooking segments with the joke of the day on the TV show Wake Up, America!
Chef Blessing has just begun torturous filming of Blessing’s in the Kitchen with Food School 101 starring apprentices who look more like exiles from a Sci fi fast food show than cooks. Although he would like to quit, his producer Lily Conover counts the ways he cannot as Di Voss Industries is sponsoring him. His former “Knock Boots” partner Gretchen Di Voss and her fiancé Rudy Gallagher watch his every move. His nodding “advice” to morning show co-anchor Gin McCauley leads to fifteen million reasons why Billy should lose his cooking shows. Soon after a public argument with Rudy, NYPD Detectives Solomon and Butker inform Billy he is the prime suspect in the murder of Gallagher who died eating poisoned coq au vin at Blessing's Bistro which is closed as a crime scene. Realizing he is being set up like a cooked goose for the holidays, Billy investigates.
THE MORNING SHOW MURDERS is a delightful amateur sleuth mystery that works due to the strong cast who bring New York City alive with their crisp sassy discourses especially the tale’s lead chef. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Billy realizes he is host of a show that will give him plenty of heartburn and that is before he is the prime stuffed turkey of NYPD. Fans will enjoy the collaboration of Al Roker & Dick Lochte as they serve to fans a gourmet murder mystery.
Harriet Klausner
Stuff to Spy For
Don Bruns
Oceanview, Nov 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9781933515229
In Carol City, Florida, Skip Moore begins work as security at Synco Systems, a firm that designs software systems to protect information technology networks. He is greeted on his first day on the job by Sarah Crumbly, who he dated back in high school a few times and she is still the STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF. They dine together and she persuades Skip to work for her by pretending to be her boyfriend. Though he fears his Em will find out the money is too good for this underachiever to pass so he agrees.
Sarah, who in high school was the most likely to succeed, has done so as the mistress of Sandy Conroy, Synco's CEO. They plan to leave the country but need a front to hide their affair from his vengeful wife Carol who would go to her father to destroy her husband. However, security takes a nasty spin when the company’s vice president Ralph Walter apparently commits suicide in his office. When Carol offers him money to uncover what is going on at Synco, Skip with the help of Em and his best friend and fellow slacker James Lesser begin an undercover operation that would make James Bond proud (not to be part of it).
STUFF TO SPY FOR is an out of control insane South Florida investigative thriller that will have readers laughing throughout with the antics of the super espionage team and their spy truck. The story line is fast-paced from the onset and never takes a breather as the two slackers and Em work the case more like “double-naught spy” Jethro Bodine of The Beverly Hillbillies than James Bond
Harriet Klausner
The Tomb of Hercules
Andy McDermott
Bantam, Oct 27 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780553592948
After THE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS proved successful, the UN named archeologist Nina Wilde as the Director of Operations of the International Heritage Agency though she is not even thirty years ago. The mission of the IHA is to safeguard artifacts from looters. Former SAS operative Eddie Chase is her live-in boyfriend and personal protector. Terrorists attack the IHA research station above Atlantis killing everyone. Led by Joe Komosa they force Dr. Bill Raynes to download data onto a flash drive; before dying Raynes sees the last two entries are Wilde and Chase. Officialdom called it a horrible accident.
Three months later, Nina and Eddie hobnob with the rich and famous in New York although Eddie feels like a fish out of water even as they are on the harbor. They meet non-executive director of IHA, affluent Shanghai businessman Richard Yuen Xuan and his wife Lady Sophia. Eddie and Nina get into a nasty public argument and go their separate ways. Nina is determined to find THE TOMB OF HERCULES that she has been researching and Eddie as resolute goes to Singapore to rescue his former wife Sophia from her boorish husband. On separate continents someone tries to kill them. Soon the pair unites on the lam with a powerful adversary in pursuit who wants the Plato manuscript that Nina allegedly has found.
This adrenalin pumped story line is on speed as the plot is filled with action from the start and never takes a breather even for a cocktail on a yacht. Although over the top of the stratosphere make that mesosphere and the characters even the villain never developed beyond fighting and the lead couple making up, fans will have a difficult time putting down Andy McDermott’s epic thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Untraceable
Laura Griffin
Pocket, Dec 2009, $7.99
ISBN 9781439149195
Using computers like a grandmaster wizard Austin private investigator Alexandra Lovell enables people to flee from their lives to begin anew in a different identity and location, but they must adhere to the rules of never making contact with their past. Alex assisted Melanie Bess escape her abusive police officer husband, Craig Coghan, but foolishly she broke the prime commandment and communicated with her past. Melanie has become Untraceable and Alex believes foul play occurred with she strongly feels Craig as the culprit.
Alex searches for any forensic evidence that will affirm her fears. She persuades skeptical police detective Nathan Devereaux and the Delphi Center “Tracer” Mia Voss to help her. The trio begins to ferret out Craig’s secrets while Alex's attraction for Nathan grows. He feels the same way about her, but each new clue adds a Thread of Fear running up and down his spine for Alex’s safety from what increasingly seems a nasty deadly cop.
This is a terrific mystery with a nice romantic subplot in the background enhancing the strong investigative Tracers thriller. The cast is solid especially the lead couple and the villain; while secondary characters add depth especially with forensics science. Fans will enjoy Laura Griffin’s super romantic mystery with the inquiry superseding the loving.
Harriet Klausner
True Blue
David Baldacci
Grand Central, Oct 27 2009, $27.99
ISBN: 9780446195515
Sisters Beth and Mace Perry have always had each other’s back as kids and adults with both becoming cops. Temperamentally opposites they love each other, but their police careers go also in different directions. Beth has become police chief of Washington DC while Mace was kicked off the force spending two years in prison after being kidnapped and framed.
Mace wants vindication affirmed only by regaining her badge. Beth at the risk of her career will do what she can to support her younger sister because she is perhaps the only person in blue who believes Mace’s story. Attorney Roy Kingman is in the middle of a gigantic case involving the murder of a US Attorney and the rape-killing of another lawyer. He is attracted to feisty Mace who sees solving the spectacular case as redemption. With her sister’s support and a need to work in the shadows as another US Attorney wants to return her to jail, Mace investigates only to find roadblocks from the affluent who prefer the case go cold.
This is an action-packed fast-paced over the top of the Washington Monument investigative thriller that grips fans throughout as long as the reader ignores credibility. The sisters make the tale with their support of one another as they seek a killer and redemption for Mace. David Baldacci provides his fans with a very entertaining whodunit with hopefully more appearances from the TRUE BLUE blood siblings.
Harriet Klausner
Bryant & May On The Loose
Christopher Fowler
Bantam, Nov 24 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 9780553807196
With the dissolution of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, the eleven living members (to include the cat) feels good about what they accomplished and assume their one deceased member looks down on them fondly. However each will miss this peculiar team as the camaraderie between the misfits assigned here was stratospheric as was their success rate. Senior Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May react differently to the end of their police careers. Whereas the depressed former hides under the covers with his books as companions the latter considers going private.
However, all changes when a half man-half stag apparently abducts women followed by the finding of a severed head corpse found in King’s Cross. May eloquently points out to the Home Office bureaucrats that if the crimes are left unsolved it could paint a nasty picture of London just before the 2012 Olympics come to the city. Reluctantly the brass authorizes the PCU to work on the severed head case for a week, but with conditions. They have no access to the “real” police, no official authorization, no computers, and no running water toilet in the rental dump provided to the PCU team. May reassembles the team, but a grateful Bryant focuses on the headed stag-man rather than the homicide.
The seventh PCU zany police procedural is the usual insane mix of humor with the criminal absurd in what is always a super read. May is his usual optimistic self while Bryan remains the pessimist. However what makes their case so much fun is Christopher Fowler slices the top off of the glass so it is full. Fans will relish the return in the aptly titled BRYANT & MAY ON THE LOOSE; as the bureaucrats and politicians have as much to fear from this duet as the felons.
Harriet Klausner
Vampire Sunrise
Carole N. Douglas
Juno (Pocket), Nov 24 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439156773
It has been years since the Millennium Revelation when all the creatures of myth and legend rose up from the shadows to reveal themselves to humanity. Delilah Street comes to Las Vegas from Wichita to work as a paranormal investigator. Deep below the Karnak Hotel lives a vast Egyptian vampire sect ruled by two Pharaohs; humans are bred and brought to them as food. Delilah rescued her lover Rick Montoya by giving him the Resurrection Kiss to restore his life.
After Rick was in a coma, Delilah finds she has the ability to kiss away from his back the scars he received while he was a slave for a master criminal.. He wakes up and remembers what happened to him and is determined to free the other humans held by the Egyptian vampires. Before they leave on their quest, the werewolf Cesar Cicerau summons Delilah to remove the ghost of the daughter he killed who haunts his hotel. A supernatural creature is stalking the hotel killing anyone who gets in the way. Delilah is clueless how to rid the hotel of this deadly fiend and the ghost while below ground the vampires are dining on humans.
The latest Street Paranormal Investigator thriller combines horror, mystery, romance, and sex into an exhilarating urban fantasy that puts the sin in Sin City. With plenty of twists, VAMPIRE SUNRISE is a roller coaster doing loops with each spin accelerating the ride. Readers will enjoy following the clues, surreal and mundane, as Carole Nelson Douglas lets Midnight Louie catch a cat nap while Delilah does the sleuthing above and under the streets of Las Vegas.
Harriet Klausner
Eggs Benedict Arnold
Laura Childs
Berkley, Dec 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425231555
Three women on the far side of forty form a bond that proves deeper than friendship. Suzanne’s husband died six months ago; Petra’s spouse has early Alzheimer’s and lives in a nursing home; and Toni’s younger mate deserted her for a younger woman. The trio formed the Cackleberry Club which is a combination a café. Bookstore and knitting and crochet club that sells merchandise to crafters (see Eggs in Purgatory).
Petra observes that funeral director Ozzie Driesden never came back for his cherry pie. Suzanne volunteers to deliver the pie to him at the Draper Funeral Home. She finds Ozzie dead on a metal embalming table wrapped in plastic tubing and with a large needle sticking out of him. Suspicion immediately falls on Ozzie’s assistant but Suzanne sees him hanging from a tree before someone chloroforms her. Authorities decide two homicides occurred. She decides to investigate, but quickly finds a horde of viable suspects from differing walks of life with diverse bur equally strong motives and opportunities. Not understanding the danger she foolishly places herself in, Suzanne keeps digging until the annoyed killer targets her.
This extremely entertaining amateur sleuth mystery is wrapped inside a sisterhood tale of three women who forge a strong bond at a time when each needs the strength of others after long term relationships ended. With the caring and nurturing the trio provides to each other, they become independent and feisty as each affirms Helen Reddy’s female anthem I Am Woman. Although Suzanne’s reason to investigate seems weak even with her being drugged, fans will relish this strong tale of BFFs having each other’s back.
Harriet Klausner
Immortal
V.K. Forrest
Kensington, Dec 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758217189
The Kahill Sept was cursed by God because they refused to give up their pagan ways, rejecting the message of Christianity given to them by St. Patrick. They said they will never give up teirpaganism and their lust for power and blood. God gave them what they deserved turning them into vampires who have a continuous life cycle. They die of old age only to return as fourteen years old three days later. When they came to the New World they were given a chance to repent and if they chose God and help guard humanity He would lift the curse.
Now they live in Clare Point, Delaware where they watch over God’s children; killing those monsters whom the authorities cannot touch. The human teen tourist Colin Meding is drained dry of blood by a female vampire after they had sex. Fin Kahill is spending the summer as a deputy and watching over his twin Regan, a recovering addict. He is trying to also solve the vampire murder while enjoying his relationship with visiting tourist Elena Ruffino who with her family is in town on a vacation. She is interested in Fin like he is with her. As more murders occur, Fin gets closer to uncovering the identity of the serial killer but also fears what he is learning about his beloved Italian soulmate.
This saga is one of the best vampire series on the market as V.K. Forrest consistently provides super tales. The UNDYING Kahill clan repents their sins and God gives them a chance for ETERNAL redemption, but they must obey his commandments including thou shall not drink human blood. Someone is obviously breaking that commandment. Still the Kahill clan has hope; something none of their species typically have. Ironically as Fin dreams of dying and moving on to heaven, he also finds love on earth. With a terrific police procedural supernatural hunt and a wonderful apparently bittersweet romance, fans will want to rush into the IMMORTAL romantic fantasy realm of this terrific author.
Harriet Klausner
A Catered Birthday Party
Isis Crawford
Kensington, Dec 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 9780758221940
Annabel and Richard Colbert are the richest couple in town thanks to the hot seller of their toy company’s Puggables based on their pet Trudy. Annabel is throwing a birthday party for Trudy and she hires the catering service of A Little Taste of Heaven run by sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons. Annabel toasts the attendees saying she knows no one there is her friend, but instead are leeches before dinking the wine. She starts choking claiming she has been poisoned; before falling into a coma she begs the siblings to find her killer and bring that rat to justice. Two days later she is dead.
As soon as the body is released for burial, her husband Richard has her cremated and demands the sisters drop the idea of investigating Annabel’s death. Everyone at the gala depended on Annabel but also loathed her as she screwed all of them at one time or another thus everyone has a motive to kill her. With help from their father, a retired police chief, Bernie and Libby uncover the identity of the culprit, but lack solid proof.
The rich and powerful cast of suspects are amusing and lampooned as unlikable amoral A-holes. Isis Crawford delightfully mocks the affluent inside of a fascinating amateur sleuth mystery. Readers will root for the sisters to bake a perfect case so the killer receives his or hers just desserts. Unlike the odious affluent characters, the siblings are nice and caring as they are always there for one another and their family. With an amusing satirical spin, A CATERED BIRTHDAY PARTY is a delightful Creative Culinary mystery.
Harriet Klausner
An Echo In The Bone
Diana Gabaldon
Delacorte, Oct 2009, $30.00
ISBN: 9780385342452
With the hostilities everywhere, it is unsafe to journey; as the rebels seem heading to certain defeat. Ironically travelers Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire Randall know the upstart colonial Americans ultimately win the war against the mother country England because she read the outcome in twentieth century history books. They travel together along with others as Clare fears for the safety of her spouse and his son fighting for the British; her schooling and history books never told her what happened to her Jamie.
In the twentieth century, their daughter Brianna, her husband Roger and their children struggle with adapting to life in the future. However, though they connect with the Mackenzie clan, another time traveler has arrived and a real threat to their well being has surfaced.
This is an exciting historical thriller that takes readers on a tour of the battlefields and Europe as people die during the American Revolution. Claire is terrific as she knows the ultimate outcome, but neither the personal outcome nor that trouble has traveled to the twentieth century. Well written with the deep characterizations, fans will relish Fraser and company’s latest tale as Diana Gabaldon overcomes the completing of all the previous major threads in A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by expanding the minor left behind subplots into a great entry.
Harriet Klausner
Body in the Sleigh
Katherine Hall Page
Morrow, Oct 27 2009, $15.99
ISBN: 9780061474255
Faith Fairchild and her family spend Christmas together at their cottage on Sanpere Island in Penobscot Bay, Maine. At a local store, Faith finds the corpse of a teen named Norah in an antique sleigh. She assumes the young girl died from an overdose as there are no visible marks on the girl, but the police suspect her boyfriend is her killer.
On Christmas Eve goat farmer Mary Bethany calls Faith asking for help. Mary explains she has found a newborn boy with an enigmatic note and $50,000 inside her barn. While her husband the Reverend recovers from gallstone removal surgery, Faith searches for the biological mother. She locates college student Miriam whose boyfriend is a dealer. The amateur sleuth and the mom are in trouble from those who want both dead.
This is an exciting Christmas mystery as Faith and her family celebrates the holiday season together by her investigating the homicide and the baby abandonment while her spouse recovers from surgery with good cheer from the brood especially the children. The story line is fast-paced with two underlying messages of the lucrative drug trafficking is everywhere as the economics supersedes the law and the ethics, and the Fairchild family wishing everyone a happy holiday season with recipes and good cheer to all.
Harriet Klausner
Necessary as Blood
Deborah Crombie
Morrow, Oct 6 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780061287534
Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid are getting married shortly. However just getting to the altar has stressed out both as peers and family list their demands that seem to grow every day
Someone murders solicitor Naz Malik, who had been a suspect in his wife textile collage artist Sandra Gilles’s disappearance. The autopsy revealed that the victim, who died from suffocation, had an animal tranquilizer in his blood, which made him an easy target for his killer. When Gemma’s mother becomes ill, she struggles to balance her homicide investigation, her wedding plans and h4er mom’s needs while she fears Malik’s daughter will end up with Sandra's insalubrious family.
The latest James-Kincaid British police procedural is an interesting entry as the romance for the first time supersedes the investigation. Both Gemma and Duncan consider running off to Gretna Green as nothing seems to go right with their wedding plans and the demands grow. The homicide is a welcome relief until her mom becomes ill. NECESSARY AS BLOOD is a fine fresh entry, but with the romance being prime, diehard investigative fans will find the smooching spin too sugary for their taste.
Harriet Klausner
Too Many Murders
Colleen McCullough
Simon & Schuster, Dec 1 2009, $26.00
ISBN: 9781439177471
Nineteen years old college student Evan Pugh blackmailed “Motor Mouth” who gave him one hundred thousand dollars. As he reaches for his stash in his college room walk-in closet, he moves into a bear trap, which makes him bleed out. When the police arrive, they are stunned by the scene especially the ingenious trap and shocked as this the twelfth death on April 3, 1967.
Police Captain Carmine Delmonico realizes that the mass murders are related somehow because Holloman, Connecticut doesn’t have that many murders in a year. As he and her cohorts investigate the homicides, they are able to separate some from the sinister genius who bolted down the bear trap. However, the puppet-master used locals to act as his or her perp murdering the victims. To further complicate an already convoluted murder mystery, one of the dead victims Desmond Skeps was a CEO and majority stockholder of Cornucopia where someone was selling secrets to the Russians that had him on FBI surveillance. Delmonico is uninterested in foreign espionage as he has a killer to catch, but each clue returns him and his unit back to Cornucopia.
This police procedural sequel to On, Off affirms how super of a novelist Colleen McCullough is as her mysteries are as good as her historical fictions (see The Thorn Birds). Each murder is solved one at a time in a way that will remind readers of Christie’s And Then There Were None although all occurs in the midst of a crowded college town. Delmonico is a multi-faceted protagonist who is a terrific police detective and a wonderful family man. Readers will enjoy working the cases with him and his sidekicks especially when his wife and daughter are threatened.
Harriet Klausner
Haunting Jordan
P.J. Alderman
Bantam, Sep 29 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780553592108
Jordan Marsh’s husband died in a car cash because someone cut the brake lines of his vehicle. LAPD Detective Drake believes she killed her spouse but has no evidence to prove his theory. Sick of Drake’s harassment, Jordan moves to Port Chatham, Washington; where she purchases a fixer upper Victorian, Longren House. To her surprise her new abode comes with two ghostly residents Hattie her teenage sister Charlotte.
When Hattie’s husband died, she took over his shipping business and inherited his enemies especially amidst his allies when she decides to clean up his dirty dealings. This includes resentful Mike Seavey who is a power on the docks, her late husband’s manager, and Police Chief Greeley who wants to marry Charlotte. As Jordan tries to solve who murdered Hattie back in 1890, she also has to deal with Drake who has new evidence and has come to the Pacific Northwest to see her arrested. Jordan’s lawyer refuses to allow her to be expedited back to California as the new proof would not hold up in court. Still someone wants Jordan in jail, but she has no idea who or why.
Readers will thoroughly enjoy this paranormal amateur sleuth because of the ghost who tells Jordan what happened to her back in 1890 as she tries to persuade the mortal to investigate the homicide in 2009. Looking into a cold case as a total amateur seems easy when compared to being a present day suspect in her husband’s death as Drake is like Inspector Girard of the Fugitive. P.J. Alderman writes a scintillating supernatural whodunit as the spirits connect the past with the present.
Harriet Klausner
The White Garden
Stephanie Barron
Bantam, Sep 29 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780553385779
American Jo Bellamy comes to England to study the famous White Garden at Sissinhurst Castle. The landscape designer has been hired by wealthy Long Island patrons to recreate the work of Vita Sackville West, lover of Virginia Woolf.
Jo conceals that her visit also contains a personal need. Her grandfather who worked at the White Garden committed suicide. The present gardener gives Jo a six decade old journal he found while rummaging in the tool shed; he believes Ms. Woolf was the author. Jo is stunned especially when the last entry occurs after Ms. Woolf died. She begins to follow the footsteps of Ms. Woolf seeking missing pages and answers to what happened in March 1941 when Virginia Woolf drowned in the Ouse with her pockets filled with stones.
Purposely loaded with hyperbolic stereotypes to accentuate the writings of Virginia Woolf, THE WHITE GARDEN is a terrific literary mystery that hooks readers from the onset and never slows down as Jo tracks her heroine’s death. The suspenseful story line is fast-paced throughout, but driven by the insight into the late writer’s life and works; these are seen through Jo’s follow her not afraid of Virginia Woolf thread. Stephanie Barron allows Jane Austen a breather as she successfully switches to another writing legend.
Harriet Klausner
Holly and Homicide
Leslie Caine
Dell, Oct 27 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780440245032
In Colorado, first they were enemies; then they became competitors. Erin and Steve joined forces to become Gilbert and Sullivan Designers, which ultimately led them to become lovers. They win the commission to remodel the Godwin Victorian mansion into the Snowcap Inn Bed and Breakfast. The previous owner Henry Godwin had a case of wanderlust so he sold his house to business mogul Wendell Barton, Domestic Bliss TV star Audrey Munroe and Pop star Chiffon Walters.
Wendell also bought other property awhile ago on the nearby mountain and he created a ski resort, which will change the complexion of Snowcap, Colorado with an influx of outsiders. The locals are outraged encouraging Angie the building inspector to find reasons to prevent the inn from operating with guests on Christmas Eve as envisioned by Wendell and associates. Erin finds Angie’s dead body out doors. She realizes her eggnog is laced with poison. When a second homicide occurs, Erin investigates, which places her in the crosshairs of a killer and of an incompetent sheriff.
The whodunit is fabulous because it is cleverly constructed with red herrings and twists to keep the reader, police and Erin guessing who the killer is. The romantic subplot blends well with the detecting especially as Erin’s former boyfriend arrives to add tension. Leslie Caine has written a charming colorful cozy starring a captivating amateur sleuth and the men in her life.
Harriet Klausner
Bound To Shadows
Keri Arthur
Dell, Oct 27 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780553591163
A serial killer is on the loose with the culprit’s modus operendi being the beheading of vampires; not an easy task to achieve yet the psychopath seems to do it quite easily. Guardian Riley Jensen investigates the homicides when a second case surfaces. Someone is snuffing out human females with not the slightest trace of violence. The locals are in a feeding frenzy of fear.
Her personal life is even more out of control since her werewolf soulmate Kye Murphy has returned. She wants no part of the amoral mercenary, but the sexual pull is devastating. Even her millennium old suave lover Quinn the vampire may not be enough to keep Kye from her. However, investigating the case might prove the answer to eluding her desire for her soulmate.
Bi-species hybrid Riley continues to be pulled in two conflicting directions externally between the vampires and the werewolves, and internally her soul. She makes the BOUND TO SHADOWS superb; as she investigates the serial killing beheadings while being pulled between two lovers, her bad ass werewolf soulmate and her urbane vampire heart’s mate. This is a great entry in a terrific police procedural romantic urban fantasy series (see Darkest Kiss).
Harriet Klausner
The Crisis
David Poyer
St. Martin’s, Nov 10 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780312544393
The western governments are very concerned with the civil war in Ashaara on the strategically important Horn of Africa. The constant fighting has sent the country into deepening destitution with shortages in sustenance life necessities in a place that was already overrun with abject poverty. If the spiral turns any worse, Ashaara could become a nation void of central authority and home to outlaws and Jihadists.
To prevent this horror from turning even more calamitous, the US Navy sends Commander Dan Lenson and his Tactical Analysis Group into the area to provide humanitarian aid to the besieged masses and to train a patrol squad in the Red Sea. With chaos the norm, Lenson and his unit realizes they cannot distribute the assistance without an infrastructure followed if successful by a force to weed out terrorists. However, what seems obvious to aid the forlorn proves complex and ugly as internal and external forces see the region as a ripe place for their specific agenda with people being damned.
The Crisis is a super thought provoking thriller that will have readers pondering ethical and logistical questions involving aid to nations desperately in need but lack the infrastructure to make proper distribution. The story line is fast-paced from the moment TAG and its leader receive the assignment, but really takes off in Africa when the team learns the boots on the ground dynamics of the situation is appallingly chaos. Alliance switch within a murmur and helping the indigent is impossible due to avarice of leaders who seek wealth or ideological and religious advantage over truly caring for the downtrodden.
Harriet Klausner
The Hidden
Tobias Hill
Harper, Oct 2009, $141.99
ISBN: 9780061768255
In Metamorphosis, Greece in 2004 former Oxford student Ben Mercer feels his life is over as his marriage is dead and he works at a dead end meat grill restaurant with no future beyond serving diners since his Ancient Sparta thesis is dead just not interred yet. He admires the courage of the visiting five archeologists who fearlessly dig for what they want while he mopes and serves food. One of his heroes who he knew in England, Oxford Professor Eberhard Saurer tells Ben he is going on an excavation in Laconia where they hope to uncover Spartan ruins; when Ben pleads to join him, Eberhard just leaves.
Unable to resist, Ben follows Eberhard to Laconia called Lacedaemonia by the ancient Spartans who left little behind except mystery as to how so few controlled so many “Helot” slaves. Eberhard and his colleagues (Jason, Natsuko, Eleshchen and Max) perform one of the ancient Spartan rituals of the death hunt while emitting a superiority cockiness that Ben admires and would like to emulate if he was not so afraid. He soon learns of the Crypteia Hidden Ones’ fanaticism killing the helots like hunters stalking game and fears he may be the modern day game of the predatory fearsome five.
This is an exciting thriller that looks deeply into the amoral behavior of terrorists using an ethical cloak to defend their murderous beliefs. By bringing Sparta into focus in terms of terrorizing their neighbors through mechanisms like the Hidden hunt of the Helot and comparing this group to modern times using the five archeologists, Tobias Hill provides a profound look at a predator’s mindset, in the past and present. Although the flashbacks into Ben’s past enhance understanding of him, that track distracts from the bigger theme of how a stalker rationalizes in secret to him or her self the kill of the innocent.
Harriet Klausner
The Gate House
Nelson DeMille
Grand Central, Nov 3 2009, $14.99
ISBN: 9780446564236
Tax attorney John Sutter left Long Island and his then wife Susan after learning of her affair with their mob connected neighbor Frank Bellarosa, whom she killed ending tragically their tryst (see The Gold Coast). After being away for a decade, John finally returns to Long Island's Gold Coast to attend a funeral though the deceased has not quite died yet.
John wants to start over with Susan and in practicing law. He learns that Frank’s brutish son Anthony lives on the property next to that of Susan’s wealthy family. He also finds out that his former wife recently bought the cottage where they once lived when he thought all was right in his world. She is euphoric with his return, but he fears Anthony stalks Susan as justice failed the mob.
This sequel is an entertaining tale but requires the reader to accept John’s need to reconcile with Susan after ten years of avoiding her and America. The story line starts slow as the key players are reset so that the reader knows who they are, what motivates them and where they have been in the last decade. Although the audience can see the violent finish from as far away as Montauk Point, fans of the author will enjoy the return of Sutter, who has changed dramatically from his first starring appearance on the Gold Coast as he is sarcastic, somewhat acrimonious, and doubting the sincerity of Susan, yet obsesses over a second chance.
Harriet Klausner
The Mirror and the Mask
Ellen Hart
Minotaur, Nov 10 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780312375270
In Minneapolis, restaurateur Jane Lawless, owner of the Lyme House restaurant and the Xanadu Club, delays her plans for opening a third establishment due to the economy. Instead she accepts a job as a professional private investor working for her friend and sleuth A.J. Nolan. She also hires bartender Annie Archer to work at her Xanadu Club.
Annie explains to her new boss that she left Steamboat Springs, Colorado in search of her stepfather who vanished soon after her mom died in 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan. She asks Jane to find him, which Jane agrees to do, but becomes a tad upset to realize her client-employee omitted key facts and she wonders why. Meanwhile, Northland Realty VP Susan Bowman is murdered at the home she shares with her spouse Jack and her two children medical school student Curt and high school senior Sunny. As Jane digs, she increasingly fears for Annie’s life and anyone in her sphere especially Curt because she connects the two points Annie and Susan.
With Cordelia Thorn on a semi hiatus re her niece Hattie, Jane goes it alone as she investigates the almost two-decade old cold case of the disappearing stepfather. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Annie meets Jane while the two prime romantic relationships, Annie with Jane and Annie with Curt complicate a relatively simple plot. Although the prime investigation is somewhat limited, fans will enjoy the interactions between a strong cast who make for a fun Minneapolis mystery.
Harriet Klausner
Trial by Fire
J. A. Jance
Touchstone, Dec 1 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9781416563808
In Sedona, Arizona, former TV reporter Ali Reynolds obtains a media-relations position with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department. Ali knows to tread carefully as her predecessor Information Officer Devon Ryan, on administrative leave pending an investigation into illegal activity, got into a physical altercation with Cononimo Courier reporter Oscar Reyes who may sue the department for the black eye he received at a news conference.
Ali handles the press as the cops investigate a suspicious fire that left a Jane Doe barely alive with third degree burns, an ability to communicate by winking only, and amnesia. Also at Saint Gregory’s Hospital is Sister Anselm, known as the "Angel of Death," for her nurturing of unidentified patients; she provides comfort to the latest injured soul. Meanwhile Ali sneaks into the burn unit to obtain more information from the victim while a killer targets the nursing nun, but soon teams up with the Sister.
In her latest case (see Cruel Intentions), readers need to ignore why a public relations specialist would investigate an attempted murder-arson, this is an engaging amateur sleuth that fans will enjoy although the action is limited as Ali mostly works her Mojo in the burn unit. Still fans will appreciate the teaming up of the nun and the former reporter as they make an intriguing pairing working together to solve the mystery.
Harriet Klausner
Tempted
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
St. Martin’s Griffin, Nov 2009, $17.95
ISBN: 9780312567484
In Tulsa, Zoey Redbird and her friends should be able to celebrate their victory with some R&R after they kicked the butt of High Priestess Neferet, the immortal Kalona and their horde of Raven Mockers. However there is no respite for the teen, as the danger remains extremely high. Her visions warn her to beware Kalona, but Zoey knows she is probably the only who can prevent the Immortal from destroying the world. Perhaps more difficult is the males in her life like Erik and Heath.
Stevie Rae has Johnny B and Dallas with her, but still works with Zoey while also hiding something from her. When Zoey finds a severely hurt Rephaim the Raven Mocker, she saves his life rather than killing him as she knows she should. Still Zoey knows she delays the inevitable as she must risk all in a confrontation with Kalona while worried about those close to her heart.
The latest House of Night tale is a transition urban fantasy that spins Zoey and Stevie Ray into new directions. Rotating viewpoint between the two best buddies (and occasionally others), fan will enjoy this fun entry as Mama and Daughter Cast sets up new deadly tests for Zoey, Stevie Rae and company.
Harriet Klausner
Dying Scream
Mary Burton
Zebra, Dec 1 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420100280
The DUI shattered Adrianna Barrington’s life as she lost the baby she was carrying and her husband Craig Thornton never came out of the coma. Although the other driver drunkenly caused the accident, Adrianna went bankrupt to pay the medical bills; finally leading to her selling her family estate.
However, the buyer demands the family graveyard be relocated, but when the extraction begins, more bodies are found than should be there. Detective Gage Hudson investigates. Soon afterward three females who knew Craig vanish while Adrianna receives calls and cards from allegedly her dead husband claiming he misses his wife and will soon come for her.
This is a tense romantic suspense that grips the audience from the moment Adrianna receives an anniversary card from the grave. The story line is fast paced throughout with the “required” romantic subplot taking a needed back seat to the thriller elements especially that of a serial killer who either is her husband whom the beleaguered heroine interred though he is not in his coffin or something or someone else playing Craig’s life, but motive remains elusive. Dying Scream is a taut serial killer investigative thriller.
Harriet Klausner
The Disciple
Stephen Coonts
St. Martin’s, Dec 8 2009, $26.99
ISBN 9780312372835
CIA Middle Eastern Operations chief Jake Grafton assigns his top operative Tommy Carmellini to work inside Iran as there is fear that maniacal fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is close to having his finger on a nuclear trigger. The Iranian leader wants a holy war to the death with the west and he believes his side will win.
As Tommy watches and gathers information, he has Iranians supporting him; many fear Ahmadinejad’s legacy will be a stone age Iran. While Israel considers bombing Iran’s nuclear sites as it did Syria, Tommy’s efforts and that of his associates and his boss fail to prevent the madman from firing missiles throughout the Middle East under the guise of martyrdom. Tommy and Jake to try to deflect his assault of missiles, including some nuclear, that Iran has fired in order to stop WW III from occurring.
This is a tense thriller that places the stars of in what feels like a potentially realistic extrapolation of headline news with recent revelations re Iranian hidden nuclear developments. The story line is fast-paced starting with the opening sequence of the Israeli destruction of the Syrian nuclear plant as told to readers by a Russian adviser killed at the site and never slows down. Though obviously biased as the American heroes are hawk patriots (not the chicken hawk couch potato variety of send someone else); the action enables the reader to know who are allies and enemies as Stephen Coonts provides a super tale of vaporization while exposing Ahmadinejad’s fanatical background that goes back to even before the fall of the Shah.
Harriet Klausner
Breathless
Dean Koontz
Bantam, Nov 24 2009, $28.00
ISBN: 9780553807158
After being a military sniper, Grady Adams lives in an isolated part of the Rockies where he works as a craftsman. One day in the forest he sees a strange light and knows musingly nothing will be the same. Grady observes two white creatures playing and knows they sense his nearness somehow. Frightened by what he has seen, he and his Irish Wolfhound Merlin race home.
At the same time on a horse farm, veterinarian Dr. Camilla Rivers is shook by what she sees. All the horses seem in some sort of trance as if they sense something big is coming.
Grady calls Cammy to come over to his house to look at something strange. The two creatures he saw in the woods make themselves at home in his cabin as Grady is entranced by them as they seem beautiful, pristine and pure. Cammy arrives and knows they are a different species. They name the pair Puzzle and Riddle. However Homeland Security learns of the existence of the due and come to confiscate them in order to test them. Conny and Grady refuse to allow the rendition of the odd pair, but remain unsure how to prevent it.
Animal lovers will especially relish Dean Koontz’s latest thriller that insists evil must be dealt with and can come in various forms; just because something new and different is found does not make them malevolent. Instead something familiar can be the wicked and those with ethics will step up to prevent the heinous from inheriting the earth. The creatures slowly reveal who they are to their adopted human pets, which makes Grady and Cammy even more resolute to keep them safe. With plenty of mysteries at the core of the exciting story line, Dean Koontz is at his best with this thought provoking thriller as the monstrosities are not always obvious.
Harriet Klausner
Under the Dome
Stephen King
Scribner, Nov 10 2009, $35.00
ISBN: 9781439148501
In Chester's Mill, Maine Big Jim Rennie runs the small town through underhanded extortionist politics and illegal drug dealing. His son is a bully throwing his father’s influential weight at others. Few overtly counter this pair of leading citizens, but army veteran Dale “Barbie” Barbara and newspaper editor Julia Shumway lead the opposition.
Already somewhat isolated due to its location, an invisible dome suddenly falls over the entire remote New England village; dropped by the Overlords who live amongst us and have chosen this place apparently for one of their experiments. Things begin to happen rather quickly starting with the plane crash and the tractor explosion. Nothing can enter or leave. Over a short period of time the infrastructure begins to collapse and survival means enemies teaming up. Some claim this is God’s punishment and wait for the Rapture; others believe that Big Jim made a bad deal with his drug overlords, but some like short order cook Barbie insist it is something else. As conditions deteriorates rapidly, the townsfolk fail to unite; instead remain splintered into two major groups led by Big Jim who invokes marital law and Barbie who searches for who and why, and several smaller factions who mostly choose inaction using diverse rationale to defend their position.
This is a strong King thriller that returns the great horror author to his Stand roots of good vs. evil. Although somewhat stereotyped characters, fans will not care as morality takes center stage with the cast’s differences of opinions negatively impacting survival. Good vs. evil on a bigger stage looks inside as on the smaller platform of Chester’s Mill good vs. evil plays out in a reality version of survival.
Harriet Klausner
Ice
Linda Howard
Ballantine, Nov 10 2009, $24.00
ISBN: 9780345517197
Gabriel McQueen drives up from North Carolina to spend the holidays with his family in Wilson Creek, Maine. The widowed soldier looks forward to time with “Gran”, his dad the sheriff and his son Sam. However, his father asks him to take a quick run up to the Helton family cabin to make sure Lolly Helton, who went up there to pick ups some items, but should have returned by now and is out of phone contact, is all right as a nasty storm is coming.
As Gabe muses back to his icy childhood rivalry with Lolly while driving to her cabin, she is in danger trapped by two irrational meth addicts. Gabe quickly assesses the situation on the ground and uses his military training and experience to extract Lolly from the house and the enemy. However, as covertness as he was, the two maniacal thugs go after them.
This is an exciting fast-paced romantic suspense with the frozen isolated location enhancing the perilous situation. Gabe is a terrific heroic protagonist although it is convenient to have his background in extraction and survivability under harsh conditions. Lolly still rips skins form him as he discovers how to melt the Ice and prevent further epidermis loss by kissing her. Although the addicts are stereotypes fans will enjoy Linda Howard’s quick by exhilarating survival of the fittest thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Divine Misdemeanors
Laurel K. Hamilton
Ballantine, Dec 8 2009, $26.00
ISBN: 9780345495969
They were crowned queen and king of the Unseelie Court by Faerie and the Goddess, but Princess Merry and her bodyguard lover Doyle choose to return to California and set up her own court. Now they live in Los Angeles where they stay together based on love and trust instead of pain and intrigue. They earn a living at sleuths at the Grey Detective Agency.
Their latest case is horrible. Twenty demi-elves (small Barbie like creatures with wings who look like angels but are anything but the sort) were killed and posed as if they were in a children’s book. The only living witness, a survivor of the massacre of the serial killing of her kind, obviously saw something but flees before the detectives can question her. A few days later, a brownie and her human husband are killed in their home once again posed from another children’s story. The two sleuths learn there are two killers, one with wings, bur many creatures have wings in Faerie. Merry and her retinue know only one way to prevent more ritual murders; she is served up as bait.
Laurell K. Hamilton shows her talent to make alternate worlds filled with mythological creatures living side by side with humans seem real. Merry is a heroine who avoids the Seelie and Unseelie Courts as she detests the intrigue that flows everywhere like light waves do on earth. The Goddess still favors her and creates a new faerie mound in aptly named Los Angeles in an apropos apartment building. The investigation is entertaining as Merry cannot help her people by offering herself as a potential sacrifice to catch serial killers. Even with that as the prime theme, Ms. Hamilton is at her provocative sensual best in Divine Misdemeanors.
Harriet Klausner
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