MURDER-GO-ROUND: REVIEWS BY HARRIET KLAUSNER

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.


Check her new column in FMAM's hardcopy magazine, titled, Murder-Go-Round by Harriet Klausner.

I was born in the Bronx where I obtained a Masters in Library Science. My thesis topic was the Impact of Science Fiction Reading by High School Seniors on Standardized Reading Scores. I met my spouse Stan when he read my palm in a Bronx outdoor cafe.

After being married for seven months, we moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where I worked in the local bookstore. Our only child was born just outside the city on the same day as the Three Mile Island "meltdown" began. A few months later, we moved to Massachusetts where I worked in a small used book store that catered to fans of horror and science fiction. Ultimately we moved to Georgia where we currently live.

There I have worked with the library and found an acquisition job in a bookstore. I also started my book reviewing career here. I have always been a big fan of fiction. My favorite books span most genres. I enjoy a heated romance, especially written by the Sandras - Chastain and Brown. I love science fiction and fantasy when the realm feels real. Horror is entertaining to me when the vampires seem as if they are another living (dead?) species. Koontz remains my king.

However, I particularly take pleasure from almost all the sub-genres of mystery to include comic books starring Batman and Ms. Tree. I do not enjoy non-fiction, especially biographies (Boring) or most westerns. Being a hyper-speed-reader (as my husband calls me), I sometimes read two-three novels in a day. I enjoy writing a short synopsis of what I read and evaluate the tale. I take immense pleasure telling other readers about newcomers or unknown authors who have written superb novels. Finally, my husband has told me that my epitaph will read "Give me literature or give me death."

December 2006

The Assassins of Isis by P.C. Doherty
Bake Sale Murder by Leslie Meier
The Becoming by Jeanne A Stein
The Black Sun by James Twining
The Boss by Stan Pottinger
Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong
A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt
Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
Death Calls by Caridad Pineiro
Erased from Memory by Diana O'Hehir
Haunted by Lisa Childs
Jane and the Barque of Frailty by Stephanie Barron
Let There Be Suspects by Emilie Richards
Luscious Craving by Cameron Dean
Night Falls on Damascus by Frederick Highland
The Night Lawyer by Michelle Spring
The Nightwalkers: Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank
Nip, Tuck, Dead by Lori Avocato
Passionate Thirst by Cameron Dean
Perish by Pedicure by Nancy J. Cohen
Rapid Fire by Donna Ball
Requiem for a Dealer by Jo Bannister
Surrogate Evil by David and Aimee Thurlo
The Wildfire Season by Andrew Pyper

November 2006

Act of Treason by Vince Flynn
Bestiary by Robert Masello
The Body in the Ivy by Katherine Hall Page
Born In Death by J.D. Robb
Bubbles All the Way by Sarah Strohmeyer
Chill of Night by John Lutz
A Christmas Secret by Anne Perry
Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart
The Collectors by David Baldacci
Death in the Orchid Garden by Ann Ripley
Death Waits For You by Donna Anders
Eternally by Maureen Child
From Black Rooms by Stephen Woodworth
From the Dark by Michele Hauf
Germ by Robert Liparulo
G'Day to Die by Maddy Hunter
Glass Tiger by Joe Gores
The Hidden Assassins by Robert Wilson
High Heels are Murder by Elaine Viets
Keeper of the Keys by Perri O'Shaughnessy
The Last Secret by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore
The Lizard's Bite by David Hewson
Master of Souls by Peter Tremayne
Nine Lives by Sharon Sala
Reason to Believe by Jessica Inclan
Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas
The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman
Sugarplums and Scandal by Assorted Authors
Three Strikes and Your Dead by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Tolteca by K. Michael Wright
Until Death Do Us Part by Karen Wiesner
Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts
When Gods Die by C. S. Harris
The Wrong Man by John Katzenbach
You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled by Parnell Hall

October 2006

The Bancroft Strategy by Robert Ludlum
Before I Wake by Dee Henderson
Calculated Loss by Linda L. Richards
The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett
Cold as Death by T.J. MacGregor
Cutline by Bonnie Hearn Hill
The Devil's Backbone by Kim Wozencraft
Dolled Up For Murder by Deb Baker
Electric Blue by Nancy Bush
Fear of the Dark by Walter Mosley
Gaits of Heaven by Susan Conant
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
The Hounds and the Fury by Rita Mae Brown
Hundred Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker
Kidnapped by Jan Burke
Lone Wolf by Linwood Barclay
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Offspring by Liam Jackson
A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn
Played by Barbara Freethy
Shattered Dance by Caitlin Brennan
Shooting Gallery by Hailey Lind
Short Straw by Stuart Woods
Sign of the Cross by Chris Kuzneski
Spy by Ted Bell
What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George
The Widow by Carla Neggers

September 2006

The Alibi Club by Francine Mathews
Blood Kin by Judith E. French
The Boy with Perfect Hands by Sheldon Rusch
The Case of the Roasted Onion by Claudia Bishop
Chow Down by Laurien Berenson
Don't Be Afraid by Rebecca Drake
The Drowning Man by Margaret Coel
Every Fear by Rick Mofina
The First Cut by Dianne Emley
The Grief Shop by Vicks Stiefel
Kill All the Lawyers by Paul Levine
Killer Insight by Victoria Laurie
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
Missing Member by Jo-Ann Power
Morrigan's Cross by Nora Roberts
Puccini's Ghosts by Morag Joss
Saint by Ted Dekker
Sleight of Hand by Kate Wilhelm
Slim to None by Taylor Smith
The Testament by Eric van Lustbader
The Thief Taker by Janet Gleeson
Too Far Gone by John Ramsey Miller
Under Orders by Dick Francis
Where the Truth Lies by Christiane Heggan

August 2006

The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth
Antiques Roadkill by Barbara Allan
Ashes and Bones by Dana Cameron
The Begotten: A Novel of the Gifted by Lisa T. Bergren
Copper River by William Kent Krueger
Counter Play by Robert K. Tanenbaum
Cover of Night by Linda Howard
The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters
Dragon Fire by William S. Cohen
The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
Familiar Friend by Cristina Sumners
Fear by Jeff Abbott
Ghost Dancer by John case
Home Before Midnight by Virginia Kantra
The Knights of the Black and White: Book I of the Templar Trilogy, Vol. 1 by Jack Whyte
Lost Angel by Mike Doogan
Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
The Next by Dan Vining
Night Gardener by George Pelecanos
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
Resurrection by Tucker Malarkey
Ricochet by Sandra Brown
Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath
Saks and Violins by Mary Daheim
Snow Blind by P.J. Tracy
The Second Horseman by Kyle Mills
TripTych by Karin Slaughter
Trouble In High Heels by Christina Dodd

July 2006

Angel Falls by Nora Roberts
At Risk by Patricia Cornwell
Bones to Pick by Carolyn Haines
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs
Bring It On by Laura Anne Gilman
Cat in a Quicksilver Caper by Carole Nelson Douglas
Close Enough to Kill by Beverly Barton
Crisis by Robin Cook
Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton
Dead Wrong by J.A. Jance
Death on the Diagonal by Nero Blanc
I See You by Holly Lisle
The Inquisitor by Gayle Wilson
Lights Out Tonight by Mary Jane Clark
Married to a Stranger by Patricia MacDonald
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii by Lee Goldberg
Murder Over Easy by Jimmie Ruth Evans
Never Fear by Scott Frost
One Mississippi by Mark Childress
Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke
The Prisoner of Guantomino by Dan Fesperman
Rogue Angel: Destiny by Alex Archer
Rogue Warrior: Holy Terror by Richard Marcinko and Jim DeFelice
Silence the Whisperers by Cait London
Sleeping With Fear by Kay Hooper
Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
Too Darn Hot by Sandra Scoppettone
Traitor by Stephen Coonts
Vanishing Point by Marcia Muller
The Vision by Heather Graham

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