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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May 2008
The Price of Blood
Declan Hughes
Morrow, Mar 2008, $24.95
ISBN 9780060825515
In Dublin, Father Vincent Tyrrell hires private investigator Ed Loy to find missing jockey Patrick Hutton. The case is made complex by the fact that his client offers only a name and that Hutton disappeared about a decade ago. Loy wants to say forget it as he figures he has little chance of finding the man, but the fee is too good to ignore.
Loy knows he must tread the streets very carefully as the Halligan family plan to rough him and more because they hold him culpable for one of them residing behind bars. As he makes inquiries on another case involving a homicide that leads back to Father Vincent’s brother affluent business mogul F.X. Tyrell, Loy soon finds himself investigating two other related homicides connected to the Tyrell family. Beaten severely and told to back off or else, Loy keeps digging until the trail takes him to the four-day Leopardstown Race-course Christmas Festival.
In his third appearance (see THE COLOR OF BLOOD and THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD) Loy does what he does best: gets tattered and threatened but keeps on ticking. The story line is fast-paced from the opening request and though filled with neat twists never slows down until the final altercation. Bruised, battered and beaten, Loy still conducts intelligent inquires whose link is F.X. Private investigative fans will enjoy Declan Hughes’ strong Irish mystery.
Harriet Klausner
Dying Breath
Wendy Corsi Staub
Zebra, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420101317
Her mother vanished when Camden Hastings was a child; soon afterward her sister committed suicide. Haunted by the losses, as a teen, Cam began seeing horrific visions of frightened children in danger.
Cam loves her husband Mike, but her demons have led to her having alcohol problem and other issues; they are separated. She hopes to save her relationship with Mike but plans to start over for the sake of their teenage daughter, Tess. However, on Long Beach Island off the Jersey shore, Cam sees the poster of a child who has haunted her recent dreams. She tries to be the Good Samaritan assisting the police only to have Tess abducted; she and Mike desperately try to find their child before it is too late.
This complex paranormal suspense thriller seems initially overwhelming as the myriad of subplots keep changing as does the prime player. Once the table is set by talented Wendy Corsi Staub (about a fourth of the way in) readers will appreciate the increasingly tense tale as the audience can feel the horror eating at Cam’s gut. She is a fabulous protagonist as she learns no good deed goes unpunished yet cannot ignore her visions partially because she was helpless when her sister died and her mother disappeared; fans will root for her as she and Mike struggle to save Tess.
Harriet Klausner
What Burns Within
Sandra Ruttan
Leisure, May 2008, $7.99
ISBN 9780843960747
In Vancouver, British Columbia the three constables had worked a difficult case together last year that turned nasty; each tacitly agreed to not see one another as a means of forgetting how dysfunctionally they performed. Now Craig Nolan looks into a serial killer case; Ashlyn Hart seeks a serial arsonist; and Tain works on a serial child abduction investigation.
However, each soon realizes that the seemingly three different investigations connect. If they are to prevent the next rape, inferno and kidnapping from happening, they must work as a team, but emotions run deep as the memories of last years fiasco still burns in the professional souls of Nolan, Hart and Tain.
This is a terrific Canadian police procedural that starts off with three distinct cases and the cops having a shared history that each wants to forget; avoidance of the others is the psychological mechanism used, but out of sight out of mind fails them. When the cases intertwine none want to work with one another, but as professionals they know they must to prevent the horrros that have ouccured. Besides three lead police detectives, Sandra Ruffen merges her investigative subplots into an excellent police procedural.
Harriet Klausner
Free Fall
Laura Anne Gilman
Luna, May 2008, $14.95
ISBN: 9780373802678
In the twenty-first century, magic is not used by reciting spells, but by being able to channel current through their bodies. These adepts are called Talents and the non-human members of the Cosa Nostradamus are named Fatae. The Silence is a top secret private organization that protects the innocent from t abuses, but has become corrupted and believes the Talent and the Fatae must be eradicated.
Retriever Wren Valerie obtains objects for clients. She is separated from her lover Sergei the Null who can not channel current, but is addicted to it. If they make love and her current goes out of control, Sergei will die. He forgives her for their separation and hopes they can find a way back together. Meanwhile he uses his contacts inside the Silence to gather information for the upcoming confrontation with the magic users. Wren is in underground place for a meeting but it is really a trap and she is almost raped and killed by vigilante Nulls who label her as “it”. However she kills them instead and is determined to breach the fortress of the Silence in order to retrieve kidnapped children with Talent being brainwashed for use in some Silence operations. Sergei and Wren’s live-in cuddly demon P.J. plan to keep her safe as the three know something is not right with Wren.
This latest Retriever novel is one of the best tales in an exhilarating series due in part to the separation between Wren and Sergei. Readers see both sides prepare for the upcoming final battle with the current channel practitioners coming together to protect Magical Manhattan. Fans of fantasy and romantic fantasy will appreciate Laura Anne Gilman’s superb FREE FALL.
Harriet Klausner
Dawn’s Light
Terri Blackstock
Zondervan, May 2008, $14.99
ISBN: 9780310257707
It has been a year since the Pulses from the dying supernova knocked out all the fiber optics sending civilization back into a pre-electrical age (see TRUE LIGHT, LAST LIGHT and NIGHT LIGHT). Beth Branning has seen her father shot; her sister Deni in the hands of a serial killer; and Deni’s boyfriend Mark beaten severely by vigilantes. She is waiting for the “Next Terrible Thing” to happen; which of course occurs.
She witnesses a man kill a person and comes after her next; however a homeless man intercedes and Beth escapes even as her good Samaritan rescuer is murdered. The killer warns Beth not to tell anyone or he will go after her family. He knows her name because it is on the back of the shirt she is wearing. Mark plans to propose to Deni, but on the night he intends to give her an engagement ring, her former boyfriend Craig visits her. Since the Pulses occurred, he has been working diligently trying to get the electricity running. Beth sees a notice of a missing man on a bulleting board; he was the first victim she saw killed leaving behind a wife and their toddler. She worries about the killer coming for her loved ones until he arrives and almost kills her. Her parents find Beth hurt and rush her to the hospital where she undergoes brain surgery. Mark and a deputy search for her attacker while Craig uses his connections to get Beth medicine. The Branning clan knows that Beth’s fate is in the hands of God, but a few prayers by them might influence the outcome.
The final Restoration thriller will lift the spirits of readers while simultaneously leave readers weeping. Fans care about the Branning family and friends so feel deeply they feel their trials and tribulations. Mark is heroic as his love for Deni is so unselfish he is willing to give up what he most wants in life, her, if she loves Craig instead of him. Craig likewise is a good person but he tries to put strings on Deni while helping Beth. Terri Blackstock reaches the hearts of her audience with her belief that God remains in charge especially when things are darkest.
Harriet Klausner
Twisted
Andrea Kane
Morrow, Mar 2008, $23.95
ISBN: 9780061578892
FBI Agent Sloane Burbank is on extended medical leave having come close to bleeding to death and suffering a severe hand injury. When the Feds offer her an office job the field agent declines. Instead decides to become a private consultant providing self defense seminars using the Krav Maga methodology to universities. She finds teaching quite enjoyable.
Hope Truman arranges for Sloane to visit her at her expensive Manhattan apartment to discuss the disappearance of her daughter Penny almost a year ago as the NYPD and FBI put their investigation on simmering, which means they will get back to it if workload allows; in other words cold case. Hope begs Sloane to find her daughter hopefully alive; Penny has been Sloane’s best friend since elementary school so she drops everything to investigate. Sloane uses her FBI background to learn what the agency knows. That takes her to her former lover, Derek Parker, who remains the agent in charge on paper. Currently he works on deadly gang warfare in Chinatown as part of an Asian Criminal Enterprise Task Force. Derek is outraged to be forced back on a cold case especially with Sloane, but they soon learn other females, all with connections to Sloan, have vanished without a trace over the last year, but neither sleuth can understand why.
This engaging romantic suspense thriller stars two likable protagonists and a TWISTED killer who worships Athena “the true warrior”. The story line is at its best when the lead pair follows clues that continually link back to Sloane. Derek is an interesting male lead as he slowly turns from resentment and outrage to protectiveness and love. Although the romantic subplot between him and Sloane seems out of place even with their history and readers will know why Sloane, mystery fans will enjoy this tense thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Flight to Freedom
D.J. Wilson
Medallion, May 2008, $15.95
ISBN: 9781933836379
He is a wealthy attorney and philanthopist who has given millions to charities in his hometown. He lives in a beautiful home with a sweet wife and is looked upon as a hero by the adulating townsfolk. Of course all those who worship this paragon have no idea what really happens inside his home; a torture chamber of abuse Harland Jeffers pours on his spouse Montana. For a decade he beat her to the point she had broken bones yet never went to the hospital as he refused because such treatment might dim his image.
He taunted her with the fact that she killed her newborn baby girl when she took her out of the hospital on a cold night leading to pneumonia. He threatened to kill her if she ever left him and the one time she went to the police they just took her back to him, as she should be grateful to be married to the town’s leading citizen. One day he caught her going through a drawer that he has forbidden her to open; he went berserk. She took a gun out of that drawer and fired point blank range; she killed him. Even though she now resides in jail, Montana feels free for the first time in her life. Montana plans to plead guilty, but a kindhearted lawyer persuades her to stand trial and let the world see the real monster she killed in self-defense.
This is a poignant heart wrenching legal thriller starring a life long victim whose brother, father and husband abused her physically and mentally. Her naivety make her easy prey for these predators. Readers will empathize with Montana while hoping a jury will accept her self defense plea especially if justice is to occur. Although difficult at times to see until it is too late as the sociopath is often devious enough to hide their ugliness with public good deeds, D.J. Wilson makes a plea of her own that everyone must stay alert as abuse is an ugly crippler to family and society.
Harriet Klausner
By Reason Of Insanity
Randy Singer
Tyndale, May 2008, $22.95
ISBN: 9781414316338
In Virginia Beach, The Tidewater Times reporter Catherine O'Rourke covers the homicide trial of Annie Newburg Hofstetter, accused of murdering her husband Richard in premeditated cold blood. Her renowned attorney Quinn Newberg uses the insanity defense of a woman pushed over the edge by physical and mental abuse. Thanks to weeping Juror 5, the case ends for now in a mistrial.
Over the next few months The Avenger of God has been kidnapping and murdering Tidewater residents whom the serial killer believes violated the Lord. Cat has some insider information, but when the court demands shereveal her insider anonymous law enforcement source to Detective Jamarcus Webb, she refuses and goes to jail making her part of the story. While behind bars, Cat begins to have distressing visions of these horrific crimes as if she was an eye-witness to the Avenger’s vigilante justice. She tells Jamarcus what she “sees” and he thinks she knows too much not to be the Avenger. The police arrest Cat who hires Quinn to defend her even though his approach means he assumes his client is guilty.
Filled with twists, this is a terrific legal thriller that grips the reader from the moment that Juror 5 ends the O’Rourke trial and never slows down as Cat prays that the Vegas legal magician can get her off the hook even if BY REASON OF INSANITY. The story line is fast-paced as Cat continues to get visions of the Avenger’s serial killings. Although a romantic subplot between lawyer and client is somewhat muted, it still feels forced yet Randy Singer as he did with THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF OLIVER FINNEY brings up timely jurisprudence issues as he provides a fascinating look at the insanity plea.
Harriet Klausner
The Wolfman
Nicholas Pekearo
Tor, May 2008, $23.95
ISBN 9780765320261
Discharged by the Army after serving as a grunt in Nam, Marlowe Higgins lives in Evelyn near the Ivy River just a spider’s web outside of Tennessee. He earns a poor man’s living making hamburgers at Frank’s greasy spoon make that restaurant as he needs the below poverty level position. Once a month Marloew feels schizoid because he relishes yet fears the full moon when he, like his antecedents before him, turns into a werewolf. He also investigates malicious crimes as a form of sublimation to abate his guilt over killing innocent people during his blood disorder frenzy although Marlowe tries to target killers when he turns wolf albeit not always successfully.
A particularly vicious serial killer has begin horrifically murdering people; the media calls this psychopath the Rose Killer for potting flowers in eye sockets of victims. Higgins begins investigating this predator with plans to rip his throat out when he finally hunts him down.
This engaging paranomral serial killer thriller is an entertaining tale that werewolf fans and investigative vigilante readers will appreciate as the hero seems genuine especially when he agonizes over killing an innocent. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action, but it is Higgins who makes the horror crime thriller work as fans will empathize with his plight while wondering whether we sympathize with the devil. Sadly, Mr. Nicholas Pekearo was killed in 2007 while on duty as a NYPD auxiliary police officer.
Harriet Klausner
Streets of Fire
Troy Soos
Kensington, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780758206251
In 1895 the third biggest city in America, Brooklyn is about to join New York and become one metropolis. Harper Weekly reporter Marshall Webb weakened the Tammany hall organization with his exposé articles, but he feels stale and wants to quit. His boss convinces Marshall to work one freelance while taking time to write novels. He needs Marshall to cover the pending strike between the Brooklyn Railroad and its workers who demand safer working conditions and more money.
A strike is called with most people sympathizing with the employees until someone kills a cop. Most people assume a srriker murdered the polcie officer, but the victim’s superior Buck Morehouse thinks otherwise. The mayor, who owns stock in the railroad, calls in the militia to kill anyoe acting sucpious and does not care about collateral damage like the murder of a cop.
Marcus’ girlfriend Rebecca Davies, who runs a women’s shelter, is helping ex prostitute Vivian O’Connor set up a shelter targeting women wanting to get out of her former line of work. She calls it Sayre House after a girl she considered a friend was beaten to death. Several weeks later, O’Connor is killed; Rebecca, Marshall and Buck believe the homicides are linked, but they need to discover how.
Troy Soos provides a great atmospheric historical novel that gives readers a picture of the corruption in the police department and by local politicans during the Gay Nineties. The common person takes for granted that the powerful will abuse their positions as that is the accepted cost of being “protected” (sounds like politicans have not changed in over a century). The three prime protaognists of STREETS OF FIRE are fully developed and believable as they walk on the wild side of the streets of Manhatten and Brooklyn.
Harriet Klausner
The Cold Spot
Tom Piccirilli
Bantam, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780553590845
When he was ten years old someone killed his eight months pregnant mother with a bullet to her head. His father cannot cope with his loss and leaves Chase in the car while vanishing on his boat. Chase is in foster care until he grandfather Jonah comes for him. Jonah is a career criminal who brings Chase into his life of crime; eventually the grandson drove the getaway cars. Chase walks out on his grandfather when he sees Jonah cold bloodedly kill a friend.
Chase drifts around the country stealing cars for robberies and leaving once the loot is distributed. In a small town in Mississippi, he and his cohorts botch a robbery. Lila wants to arrest them, but Chase escapes. He hangs around town and soon the thug and the deputy sheriff marry. They move to Long Island where she obtains a police officer job and he becomes a teacher. They are happy together until Lila dies in the line of duty; Chase seeks revenge but needs the help of the last man he would ever ask for assistance if he is to succeed.
This novel starts at a rapid pace and just keeps getting faster as the action continually comes even after Chase leaves behind his life of crime for marriage in the burbs. When his beloved is killed by a getaway car driver, the homicide hits his soul as that is what he used to do and his heart as the victim is his Lila. He swears to cross a line he never crossed before; even for his grandfather. Readers will admire his courage and need to avenge his beloved although his criminal activity past is another story; it is the audience’s reaction to Chase that affirms Tom Piccirilli’s writing skills.
Harriet Klausner
Cruel Zinc Melodies
Glen Cook
Roc, May 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451461926
TunFaire is a magical city where humans and other species like dwarfs, and trolls live and prosper. Magic is taken for granted and while not everyone possesses the skill, those that do think of it as just another one of their senses. Private investigator Garrett wishes he could stay in his warm cozy home with his non-human bookkeeper/servant the ratgirl. Also part of his household is The Dead Man, a Loghyr that sticks around after he died while telepathically communicating with those in Garrett’s house and the horde of hyperventilating pixies.
However, his client, wealthy brewmeister Max Weider needs his help concerning the World, a dinner theater he is trying to build. People are scared off by the gigantic bugs; ghosts that come and go and protection racketeers who are getting ready to name a price Max doesn’t want to pay. Garrett takes care of the racketeers, hires the rat people to exterminate the bugs and locates the teenagers who created the insects. That leaves him with the ghosts while the Dead Man, who obtained information he culled from the minds of visitors, believes something nasty was awakened by the bug infiltration. Garrett hopes a lullaby will put this unknown malevolence back to sleep.
The latest Garrett PI thriller is an excellent fantasy noir. The hero is smart, clever, and especially devious, but each mystery he tries to solve seems multilayered with complications. There is plenty of action, sly humor, and of course magical intrigue that ricochets with the audience from laughter to fear and back as this is one author who knows how to cook a reader’s gourmet repast. Glen Cook is a fantastic worldbuilder who makes his realm feel real to the readers.
Harriet Klausner
In a Dark Season
Vicki Lane
Dell, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780440243601
Driving past the spooky house Elizabeth Goodweather, owner of the Full Circle Far, sees a woman about to commit suicide. She is horrified when she realizes this is her new friend Nola Barrett, who seemed perfectly stable just a few days ago. She tries to reason with Nola while waiting for authorities to arrive, but the woman leaps anyway. Fortunately Nola is not seriously injured although she is taken to the hospital. Her niece Tracy arrives to sell Nola’s home so the money can be used to place her in a nursing facility.
Elizabeth is a bit suspicious because she never heard Nola saying she had any living relatives. Whenever she visits Nola at the home, her friend does not seem lucid until she starts babbling in rhyme and her words have meaning. While Elizabeth tries to figure out what is going on, Nola’s pastor commits suicide for a long ago sin. These events tie back to a gang rape of an innocent young woman who wrote to the interested sheriff; but her letter was stolen so he has no way to contact her. In a silo, the bones of a man is found. Elizabeth knows these seemingly unlinked events are tied together, but not how while a cold killer prepares to add her to the list.
Vickie Lane writes a fabulous whodunit that contains various crimes in the past like when a young man is hanged for a murder he did not commit. The story line is vivid with the past imparting clues Elizabeth finds in her present activities. This technique cleverly works absorbing the audience into wondering what the heroine will find next. Although the amateur sleuth paradox is evident, fans will appreciate IN A DARK SEASON as this juicy mystery has several subplots that provide the motive to the present crimes.
Harriet Klausner
The Edge of Reason
Melinda Snodgrass
Tor, May 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780765315168
Former concert pianist but now Albuquerque police officer Richard Oort may be stunned by what he sees, but he reacts. Naked strange beings, obviously not human though what they are Robert is not sure of, chase after a young girl. His efforts to rescue a sorceress are noticed by affluent Kenntnis, who thinks he may have finally found the perfect warrior in his eternal war with the Old Ones.
Richard learns just who recruited him as Kenntnis has been called the Serpent and Lucifer amongst other derogatory names. The cop also finds out that the Old Ones encourage human religions as they feed on the emotional frenzy and suffering of diehard believers. Kenntnis and his Lumina supporters insist they want free will for mankind while their opponents need human dependency. As his mother commits suicide, Richard with no time to grieve, has doubts that he is fighting for the good guys as he has been indoctrinated throughout his life that Lucifer is the tricky devil while his new commander in chief insists the opponents won the propaganda war.
This is a terrific action-packed apocalypse thriller that will have the audience pondering the roles in society of organized religion, formal education, Lovecraftian mythos, and the Albuquerque Police Department. The story line is fast-paced yet readers will empathize with the beleaguered human hero as he struggles with comprehending a supernatural war that has gone on from the moment Eve seduced Adam into taking a bite and has spilled onto the streets of his hometown. His dealings with the stick man and associates, a homeless bum who happens to be a God (the RFK theory of the deity comes to mind) and a new Dark Age driven by the Old Ones but supported by human fundamentalists who see power in the golden rule of those with the gold make the rule are fascinating to watch. Melinda Snodgrass provides a strong thriller that will send her readers over THE EDGE OF REASON.
Harriet Klausner
Sister Pellagia and the Black Monk
Boris Akunin
Random House, May 2008, $14.00
ISBN: 9780812975147
In the late nineteenth century in Zavolzhsk, Russia late at night a terrorized monk arrives at the abode of Bishop Mitrofanii shouting and weeping simultaneously as he struggles to explain that something has gone terribly wrong at the Hermitage. The Bishop seeing his distraught and unkempt monk becomes concerned as New Ararat Monastery is on the isolated Spartan island as well as an asylum built by a wealthy exile.
The Bishop sends aids to Hermitage to investigate, but those who step forth on the island go insane. With several homicides already, Bishop Mitrofanii is unsure what to do beyond praying. Sister Pelagia wants to go investigate, but females are banned from setting foot on the island. However, when others fail, Sister Pellagia decides to break custom to by going undercover to learn the truth especially about the so called Black Monk who apparently is behind the terror at the hermitage.
The second Sister Pelagia historical amateur sleuth (see SISTER PELLAGIA AND THE WHITE BULLDOG) is an engaging mystery once the heroine takes over the investigation, which comes after the essential background is established as to the players and the locale. Sister Pellagia is a wonderful protagonist who risks everything by violating the Hermitage taboo re females to uncover the truth as she quickly learns nothing or no body including people she has known for a long time are quite like she thought. This is radically different than Boris Akunin’s Erast Petrovich Fandorin series but readers will appreciate the Sister’s inquiries into the mundane and spiritual shortcomings of her late nineteenth century church.
Harriet Klausner
Where Are You Now?
Mary Higgins Clark
Simon & Schuster, Apr 2008, $25.95
ISBN 9781416566380
Over a decade ago Charles “Mack” Mackenzie Jr. disappeared while attending Columbia University with plans of going to Duke University law School after he graduated. However, since he vanished Mack has called his mother annually to wish her a Happy Mother’s day and to let her know he is okay. Although he knows she became a widow on 9/11, he has not changed his annual routine as he tells her nothing else about where he is, what he is doing, and why he left.
Mack’s younger sister, Carolyn, a recent graduate of Duke Law School, informs him when he calls that she will find him to bring him home. However Mack leaves a note for his uncle, Father Devon Mackenzie of St. Francis church, to tell Carolyn to leave well enough alone and not seek him out. Carolyn becomes even more resolute to at least confront her older brother face to face to ask why.
The queen of suspense is at her best with this riveting tale that has the audience enthralled with wondering why Mack vanished. Readers are hooked from the onset as we learn of the “vigil” that his mother and sister do starting midnight on Mother’s Day; Like Carolyn, fans want to know. The heroine’s investigation is terrific as she begins to learn the truth why her brother vanished. Mary Higgins Clark provides her fans with an excellent family thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Careless in Red
Elizabeth George
Harper, May 2008, $27.95
ISBN 9780061160875
Following the homicide of his beloved pregnant wife Helen (see WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS and the companion piece without Lynley in it: WHAT CAME BEFORE HE SHOT HER), a grieving Thomas Lynley quit Scotland Yard. Time has not proved a healer as the former detective spends his days aimlessly wandering around his hometown of Cornwall.
While on one of his senseless treks to numb the pain especially when he returns home at night, Lynley finds the battered body of teenager Santo Kerne, who it appears fell of a cliff while mountain climbing. When evidence affirms that someone sabotaged the victim’s equipment, Detective Inspector Bea Hannaford looks in the direction of the person who found the corpse. However, the cantankerous consummate professional also knows Lynley had no motive so looks to see who might. Lynley provides some limited assistance, as he is unable to do much more even understanding that he is the prime suspect.
The key to this police procedural that follows up on the tragic events of WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS is that in spite of the situation he finds himself in, Lynley still mourns deeply and the case does not stop that nor turn him into super-cop. Instead he plays second fiddle (some might say audience) as Hannaford conducts the investigation. The whodunit is cleverly devised and would stand out on its own as a strong English police procedural, but it is the realism of the two cop-characters who make Elizabeth George’s latest thriller a terrific tale.
Harriet Klausner
Island of Lost Girls
Jennifer McMahon
Harper, May 2008, $13.95
ISBN: 9780061445880
While on her way to a job interview in Pike Crossing, Vermont, Rhonda Farr stops at a gas station. While waiting for service, she sees a mother enter a convenience store while her daughter Ernestine talks to a white rabbit who came up to the car. Mesmerized Rhonda freezes while the rabbit takes the little girl with him into another vehicle and drives away. Rhonda snaps out of her paralysis and tells the cops what she witnessed.
Pat of Pat’s Mini market where the abduction took place sets up in the store a center to coordinate people who want to find the girl. They get residents to look for her and hang up missing posters; volunteers man tip hotline phones. Rhonda tells her friend Peter what happened; he informs her that he was incommunicado when the rabbit did his deed. The evidence points to Peter as the kidnapper; no matter how hard she tries to reach him, Peter refuses to confide in Rhonda until she gives up on him and goes to the cops. That proves the catalyst for all hell to break loose with Rhonda’s life in jeopardy.
As with PROMISE NOT TO TELL, Jennifer McMahon provides a strong suspense thriller with realistic characters whom readers will feel they know. Running parallel with the present investigation are flashbacks to the disappearance of the father of Rhonda’s best friend Lizzie in 1993 after wearing a rabbit’s costume and three yeas after that Lizzie. The present crime brings back the as filtered through Rhonda’s memories. ISLAND OF LOST GIRL is a tense mystery that grips audience from the initial appearance of the rabbit and never lets go until the readers feels they entered the rabbit’s hole.
Harriet Klausner
If You Ever Tell
Carlene Thompson
St. Martin's, Apr 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780312372859
Eight years ago someone broke into the Farr home in Point Pleasant, West Virginia killing the parents and stabbing preadolescent Celeste. Since teenager Teresa Farr was untouched, the police and the media assume she killed her father, stepmother and failed at murdering her stepsister. However, serial killer Roscoe Lee Byrnes confesses to the murders after he is caught. He is convicted and placed on death row awaiting state execution while Celeste has remained silent since the assault.
However, just before Byrnes is to be executed, he renounces his confession in the Farr homicides. Meanwhile Teresa begins receiving notes insisting she will soon face "justice" while mute Celeste recognizes a unique smell and begins to talk for the first time in eight years; insisting her stepsister is not only innocent, she saved her life. However others do not believe the traumatized child including the note writer as someone wants to divert attention to Teresa for the killings; if necessary even set up a murder suicide scenario that will eliminate the survivors while casting culpability on the older soon dead stepsibling
This is a tense suspense thriller that grips readers the moment that Teresa enters her home to find a nightmare that awaits her. Everyone except for Celeste believes she is the cold blooded killer even after Byrnes confessed. The story line is fast-paced as the killer raises the ante to insure no one alive knows the truth. However, fans will be irritated with the heroine’s denial that danger is mounting although her reaction seems psychologically realistic since Teri cannot emotionally deal with a second deadly encounter until she has no choice. Still Carlene Thompson provides an engaging romantic suspense thriller.
Harriet Klausner
A River To Die For
Radine Trees Nehring
St. Kitts, Apr 2008, $16.00
ISBN: 9781931206020
Carrie’s son Professor Robert McCrite and retired police officer Henry King’s half sister Catherine plan to go camping near the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Rob invites his stunned mother to join them even after she sarcastically points out that he quit the Boy Scouts in less than four months because he hated sleeping outdoors even with a tent. She realizes her spouse Henry planned the vacation with Rob as an anniversary surprise, but her son from her first marriage stinks at hiding secrets.
Carrie says no as she cannot understand why anyone would give up a perfectly comfortable soft bed to sleep on the ground. However, Catherine vanishes and soon afterward so did Rob when he searched for her. Henry, Carrie and her friend Shirley go Ozark camping to find their missing loved ones. They soon find guilt wracked Rob, who confesses he biked away from Catherine, who remains missing.
The latest To Die For Arkansas mystery is a terrific tale with a fantasy element that seems to blend into the solid story line. Rob and Catherine play much greater roles than usual in this strong thriller. Radine Trees Nehring provides a deep cautionary tale that warns readers that poachers are stealing archeological treasures from the National Parks at a time that the law enforcement diligence is lacking and more development is the norm.
Harriet Klausner
The Darkest Kiss
Keri Arthur
Dell, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780553591149
In Melbourne, Dhampire Riley Jensen takes her work as a Directorate of Other Races guardian seriously for if she did not she would be dead as her cases are dangerous since she is judge, jury, and executioner when a non-human breaks the law. Her boss Jack Parnell orders her to investigate the death of hawk shifter Gerald James, head of the Non Human Rights league that was pushing for political representation. Her partner is horse shifter Kade with wolf shifter Cole working the crime scene. Both Riley and Kade sense something is not right; Cole tells them the victim had quite a sex marathon. While scratches on the deceased’s neck look like they came from a cat. Gerald’s assistant says he was seeing Alana Burns, one of the Torrack Trollops who sell themselves to millionaires in order to live the good life.
Wolf Ben Wilson, manager of the Nonpareil striptease, calls Riley to ask her to look into the death of one of his strippers, Denny, who was into the BDSM scene and died during erotic asphyxiation. She agrees and meets Ben at Denny’s place where she senses a creature similar to a vampire, but different.
Riley investigates both cases following a trail of death. In each the clues point towards the culprits being different than the normal other races that she knows of. However, understanding the danger to herself, her beloved brother, and his soulmate, Riley continues her pursuit of two dangerously deranged unique killers.
The key to the Arthurian universe (see KISSING SIN and DANGEROUS GAMES) is that the prime supernatural species seem genuine especially dhampires, psychic vampires (the ultimate dominant), and shapeshifters. The two serial killer investigations are interesting as the opponents are super paranormals with nasty grudges that has turned deadly. Although the two killers being two different distinct species that almost no one ever heard of loses some plausibility, police procedural fantasy fans will enjoy this strong investigative tale starring a fascinating individual.
Harriet Klausner
The Hollow
Nora Roberts
Jove, May 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780515144598
Twenty-one years ago three boys (Caleb, Fox and Gage) camped at the Pagan Stone, a place of great power in the woods of Hawkins Hollow, Illinois. They shared a blood rite that made them blood brothers, but when that serum hit the ground a black evil mass appeared followed by a blinding light that sent the demon back to its dimension. Three centuries ago, the guardian Trent after hundreds of years of battle with the demon Lazarus took an unprecedented step to stop the malevolent one.
In the present, the three blood brothers descendents of Trent have faced the demon who has influence over the townsfolk especially on the seventh day of the seventh month every seven years. Now they have three female allies (Layla, Cybil and Quinn) who are descended from the demon’s rape of Hestern three centuries ago. They must fight as one the evil; this time hoping to dispatch him to hell forever. While the sextet research what to do, Layla and Fox are attracted to one another; feelings that frighten both of them especially her as she fears she will lose her beloved in the next battle.
The demonic powers are stronger than they were in the first Sign of the Seven tale (see BLOOD BROTHERS) as he is able to influence many more people; however, his opponents have also grown. Though it has the Hollow feel of the middle book of an urban romantic fantasy trilogy, Nora Roberts affirms her talent as she has written an exciting and entertaining thriller starring the magnificent six who will earn reader admiration and respect for their courage. Well written, fans of Ms. Roberts will look forward to the final war THE PAGAN STONE.
Harriet Klausner
A Dog Among Diplomats
J. F. Englert
Dell, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780440243649
Randolph the Labrador is considering a post dinner nap once the Chinese spareribs settles in his abundant stomach as staying awake proves difficult because his master Harry is dozing while some narcoleptic butchers the narration of the life of van Gogh. However, NYPD Detective Peter Davis calls bringing both Harry and Randolph out of their TV induced comas when he mentions “her”. Peter is the lead detective on the disappearance of Imogen, who rescued Randolph from the pet ship morons and introduced him to her beloved Harry.
Harry and Randolph quickly rush from their Upper West Side apartment to the East Village. Trusting but naive artist Harry and doubter Randolph are informed that their mutual significant other is tied to a homicide that links to the U.N. Randolph somewhat because he reads the Post knows cops are either heroic, on the take, or idiots. Whereas Harry turns to a medium for guidance from the spirit realm, Randolph figures his buddy is acting too human. He goes undercover as a “therapy” dog to anxiety ridden U.N. diplomat Leopold Maranovsky of Near Upper Pilasia, a nation that is currently not annexed by its neighbors though Randolph knows that region keeps mapmakers employed. The canine must keep Harry safe as someone has to humiliatingly escort him when he does 1 and 2 and pick up the poop after him, and prove Imogen is innocent (hopefully alive too) by identifying the real killer; now he has a chance as he has broken through the sanctimonious U.N. dog run barrier.
Randolph continues to be A DOG ABOUT TOWN as he investigates the East Village homicide by infiltrating the U.N. Once again Harry assumes some spirit is guiding his canine as Randolph follows the clues. Readers who appreciate a different type of whodunit will want to read the tale of a genius dog living in a human world especially inside the U.N. where prejudicial diplomats from Near Upper Pilasia and Near Lower Pilasia interact with scorn.
Harriet Klausner
Poisoned Tarts
G.A. McKevett
Kensington, May 2008, $22.00
ISBN: 9780758215529
The Skeleton Key Three are a paparazzi’s dream as the ultra wealthy and super thin wild party-goers are always good for a salacious headline. Tiffy and her pals Bunny and Kiki always create the scene. Recently seen hanging around the trio is non-affluent teenager Daisy O’Neil who her new “buddies” treat her lower than dirt. Tiffy and Daisy try out for a movie role, but the latter gets the part. A raging Tiffy plans to retaliate; just prior to rehearsals Daisy vanishes. Her concerned mother pressures the police to start with the Skeleton Key Three in their missing person’s search.
San Carmelita Detective Dirk Coulter catches the case, but he “cons” his friend private investigator Savannah Reid into helping him. After talking to the Skeleton Key Three, both believe that the trio is involved in Daisy’s vanishing. However every lead they follow leads only to a dead end. However during the Daisy investigation while at Tiffy’s Mcmansion, they find her father lying dead with a stake in his heart in a coffin that is part of a Halloween party decoration. They discover a bullet in his chest. Both the private sleuth and city cop are more determined to solve the two cases hopefully with a live Daisy.
The inquiries are well written so the audience will enjoy tagging along with the two detectives. However the fresh fun in POISONED TARTS come with the appearance of Granny Reid, a colorful character who has been lovingly mentioned by her granddaughter for years, but now has shown up in California in the first person for the first time. THE SKELTON KEY THREE are ultra spoiled with their only interest being self hedonism; readers will find no redeeming qualities amidst these rich bi*ches. It is obvious they are involved in Daisy’s disappearance and Tiffy has a motive, but is she the one who remains the mystery.
Harriet Klausner
Phantom Prey
John Sandford
Putnam, May 2008, $26.95
ISBN: 978039915000
There is one case that Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Chief Lucas Davenport likes very much; watching the home of Heather Toms whose husband Sigites “Siggy” is on the run from the police for drug dealing. Siggy fled after making bail, but Lucas believes he will return for his wife and their child, as he loves both of them very much. Heather keeps her shades open giving the surveillance cops a peep show when she strips and breastfeeds.
Davenport leaves this scene when his wife Weather is asked by her friend Alyssa Austin to have him look into the case of her missing and presumed dead daughter Frances. Alyssa came home one day, found the alarm off, Frances gone, and blood splattered all over the house. Frances was into the Goth scene; her friend Fairy egged on by Loren kills three people who the pair believes are connected to Frances’ death. As Lucas investigates, he finds this is one of the most bizarre cases of his career as people are not quite as they first seem and those he thinks might have a grudge with Frances prove innocent.
Putting aside the obvious issue that Lucas is not earning chief pay as the boss needs to take care of resources (funding, people, equipment and supplies, etc) while strategically planning instead of field work, fans will enjoy his latest police procedural. The protagonist is shot at and overworked with a load of paper waiting at the office, but none of that prevents him from working both cases. Neither inquiry intersects as each is separate as they run parallel subplots. PHANTOM PREY is a riveting work in which readers will need to know who the killer is and if Siggy will come home.
Harriet Klausner
Murder Can Crash Your Party
Selma Eichler
Obsidian, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451223845
Private Investigator Desiree Shapiro is invited to be the guest speaker at the Arresting Women’s Mystery Convention in Connecticut. Since she needs to get out of Manhattan, she accepts. While having brunch the day after her speech, Belle Simone and her secretary Gary Donleavy join her with a business proposition. Belle has written a book and if Desiree can solve the case by identifying the killer based on the three clues she is given, the author will give her $29,940.
Since business is extremely slow, Desiree accepts the challenge. She starts reading the manuscript about a man named Rob who came home to a surprise birthday party given by his wife Tess. She pours him champagne for a toast, but he puts it down on a nearby table without drinking it; he swears he will drink it after he changes clothing. Later that night he keels over and dies. The police consider he may have been poisoned either with champagne he had later or with his dinner. Desiree uses her imagination, but even with the help of her friends, she struggles to figure out who the killer is.
With a story inside a story, this is a fascinating intellectual whodunit that has the heroine at the end of her wits trying to solve the case. The chapters from Belle’s book are smoothly sprinkled throughout the tale so that the audience can join Desiree by trying to identify the culprit. Fans will also see how far Desiree and Nick have come while his son still hates her. However, it remains the enjoyable challenge of matching wits with Desiree that makes MURDER CAN CRASH YOUR PARTY refreshing and fun.
Harriet Klausner
Blood Trail
C.J. Box
Putnam, May 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780399154881
Joe Pickett loved being the game warden of the Saddlestring District, but he was fired by Randy Pope, the Wyoming State Director. Now he is a troubleshooter for the governor and a substitute for game wardens throughout the state who are ill or on vacation. Currently it is elk hunting season; one of the hunters has been killed, skinned, and found tied upside down to a tree branch missing his head.
The governor wants Joe to find the perpetrator before he is forced to close state lands from hunters and ask the Feds to do likewise. Unlike his usual on the job distant professionalism, Pope is hands on leading the investigation. When they go into the woods tracking the killer, he is missing though his friend is there as back-up. The tracker is killed. At about the same time shots are fired and Randy’s friend dies. Activist Klamath Moore, some feds feels terrorist is more descriptive, and his wife Shannon arrive in town stirring up those people against hunting because he believes killing animals for sports is ethically apprehensible. Joe begins to figure out what is going on when he gets his friend Nate released from federal custody but he doesn’t want to believe where the evidence points. .
The Joe Pickett police procedurals are unique action-packed thrillers starring a hero who thinks outside of the box, which is why he lost his job. The villain is multifaceted as he is leaving a message behind for hunters who will NRA the killer with disdain and readers who will feel sorry for that person. However, this is Joe’s series and he is determined to bring justice to the killer knowing that this time it will hurt badly as he sympathizes with the culprit and believes he may know the person. Using a secondary character, C .J. Box also warns the audience that the natural beauty of the parks are in jeopardy by those whose strategic planning is less than fifteen minutes as instant satisfaction is all that matters.
Harriet Klausner
The Ghost and the Femme Fatale
Alice Kimberly
Berkley, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218389
Penelope Thornton-McClure (and her Aunt Sadie) owns Buy the Book bookstore in Quindicott, Rhode Island in which the ghost of murdered in 1949 detective Jack Shepard resides. Penelope is the only person who can hear Jack, who is confined to the bookstore; except when Penelope carries his buffalo nickel on her, which enables him to go where she goes.
The local theatre has been closed for years, but recently was renovated with the grand re-opening this weekend. The owners are putting on a Film Noir Festival with guests from a decades-old crime. The biggest draws are Hedda Geist and her former boyfriend actor Pierce Armstrong. Jack was at the restaurant in 1948 following a cheating husband when he saw Pierce get into a fight with Hedda’s married lover studio owner Irvin Vreen. Pierce shoved Irvin onto a knife Hedda was holding killing Vreen. He received five years for manslaughter.
In the present several people connected to the crime are killed; while the police assume they are accidents, Penelope and Jack think it is murder. They investigate and find several suspects, but none seemingly with a motive.
The hard boiled detective who is a ghost meets the bookstore owner in her dreams for a bit of romancing, which adds an esoteric whimsical spice to this wonderful cozy. Whereas the heroine would like to hide inside a good book, Jack shows her life needs to be lived; he proves to good a teacher as she makes him nervous when she takes chances while sleuthing. The mystery is cleverly designed so that most readers will need to stay till the last reel to figure out who the culprit is and why. Alice Kimberly’s latest “The Ghost and the Femme Fatale” is a charming whodunit for fans that prefer no explicit violence in their mysteries.
Harriet Klausner
Clubbed to Death
Elaine Viets
Obsidian, May 2008, $24.00
ISBN: 9780451223944
Helen Hawthorne is moving up in the world. She has a new job making over twelve dollars and hour, a credit card, and a cell phone. The only downside is she hates working at Florida’s Superior Club where only the ultra wealthy can get in. As a service rep, she feels not much more than a drone listening to the complaints of the members who expect her to satisfy their demands instantly. To make matters more unbearable, Helen’s ex husband Rob has sailed into the docking area with his billionaire wife, Marcella known as the Black Widow.
When they meet Helen gets angry with him and pushes him. The next day the Black Widow reports her husband and jewelry are missing. Since there are witnesses to the shoving incident, the police arrest Helen. Marcella has her attorney get the charges dropped but in return the Black Widow wants Helen to find what frightened Rob into running away. While investigating, Helen stumbles across two murdered bodies. The amateur sleuth decides the Superior Club and its members have some dark secrets that make her uncomfortable working there, but first she feels she must find Rob who fled after stealing jewelry; unaware that her snooping makes her a likely next victim.
Elaine Viets Dead End Job mysteries are always fun and this one like its predecessors is too as the clues are always out there for the reader to identify the killer, if they can recognize these are clues. CLUBBED TO DEATH is one of the best in this delightful long running series due to a fascinating colorful support cast who range from eccentric to deranged. Fans will empathize with the heroine who is caught between her ethics and her sustenance economics even as she makes inquires that place her in danger.
Harriet Klausner
The Vampire’s Betrayal
Raven Hart
Ballantine, May 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345498571
Connie Jones with the help of voodoo priest Melaphia went to the Underworld to see her daughter to insure her offspring is happy and to enact revenge on her former husband who killed their child before committing suicide. Vampire Jack follows her, but because he is damned he cannot go to her; he is permitted by Heaven to see her accept her destiny as a Slayer and receive a sword. When she finds the twin blade on earth, her transformation will be complete.
Jack’s sire William has returned from Europe with Melaphia’s daughter who was kidnapped by his wife Diane and his lover Eleanor who wanted her for her magical blood. Melaphia is waiting for Jack to get out of the Underworld, but she wants Connie to remain behind; if Connie comes topside she will kill the vampires she calls friends as she transforms into a Slayer. Jack gets out and brings Connie with him. After brainstorming with the group of vampires in the New World re this conundrum, they agree that Jack will have to kill Connie, the woman he loves before she eradicates him and his family.
Raven Hart writes horror thrillers with plenty of heart so that her audience will feel the issue facing the New World vampires who are pacifists differing from their human blood thirsty sires who want to rule the planet as befitting in their mind the top rung of the food chain. The children who escaped them want to live happy lives and are willing to deal with their creators to achieve their goal. William does his best to be a benevolent dictator but something ugly is coming to force him into making difficult choices as the undead lifestyle is about to be jeopardized with this new fanatical Slayer who was once a friend.
Harriet Klausner
Perfect Poison
Joyce and Jim Lavene
Berkley, May 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425221273
Widow Peggy Lee and her son Paul are in Badin attending the funeral of a dearly beloved friend, Mayor Jim Garrison. During the memorial dinner honoring the late mayor, two men wearing rescue uniforms enter and announce a diver inspecting the dam is not responding to their calls. Professor Ruth Sargent, an expert in underwater forensics, volunteers to dive into the dam to see if the men are alive. She asks Peggy to accompany her as her friend is a forensics botanist who works as a contractor for the Charlotte Police Department. Ruth finds the man dead wedged into the intake bulkhead gauge. The victim’s wife arrives insisting this was not an accident because Gerry was a careful experienced diver. Later Peggy learns that Ruth had an affair with the deceased.
Back in Charlotte, Peggy is brought on a case in which Marsha Haltry apparently drowned in her swimming pool. When she sees the same water plant that was on victim who died by the dam, Peggy believes Marsha was murdered. An autopsy reveals phytoplankton in her lungs just like that found in Gerry’s lungs. Both also shared a trace of a deadly toxin just not enough to kill them. The police of both counties believe Ruth is the only viable suspect for a variety of reasons. Peggy believes Ruth could not kill anyone so she investigates even after the police close the case.
Joyce and Jim Lavene provide a fascinating whodunit with unusual but plausible twists and plenty of red herrings (fungus might be more accurate) in their latest Peggy Lee poison case (see PRETTY POISON). PERFECT POISON is a charmer due to the quirky Tarheel support cast who have offbeat senses of humor but are there for the heroine when she needs them. Although at times she would like to throttle her “assistants” like her lover and her son whose attraction to a student adds to the fun. Still it is the forensic botanist and her investigation that makes this a perfect cozy.
Harriet Klausner
From Dead to Worse
Charlaine Harris
Ace, May 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780441015894
The bomb explosion at the vampire summit in Rhodes, Louisiana scared, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic extraordinaire and waitress at a diner owned by a shapeshifter., She prays she will have a respite from problems in the supernatural world. She does not expect any because so many vampires and other species died or are missing including her were-tiger boyfriend Quinn.
Unfortunately the last thing Sookie knows is that a crisis begets a worse crisis. During the were contest for Packmaster, Alcide’s father was killed and Furnan consolidated his reign. Now people loyal to Alcide are dying and he thinks Furnan is responsible. When Furnan’s wife is kidnapped, he blames Alcide. Sookie tries to arbitrate a peace.
The New Orleans vampire queen Sophie is in desperate straits as Katrina destroyed much of her power base in New Orleans, the bomb destroyed the vestige of her support and she is helpless while she is regenerating new legs. The city is ripe for a takeover from the king of Las Vegas but not everyone is happy with the new power structure. It is up to Sookie and her blood bonded vampire Eric Northman the vampire to prevent more deaths including the new ruler.
The heroine prefers to keep to herself but tries to help the supernatural community while the humans reject her due to her telepathy prowess. She will do anything to save those she cares about while her animosity towards Bill the vampire who betrayed her remains strong. Action-packed yet character driven, FROM DEAD TO WORSE is Charlaine Harris at her world-building best with this entertaining original story.
Harriet Klausner
Lost Prince
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Borderlands Press, Mar 2008, $16.95
ISBN: 9781880325797
In 1564 Spain is under the terror grip of the Grand Inquisition that sees no distinction between classes when it comes to destroying those marked by the devil. Even King Alonzo understands the reach of the Grand Inquisition as he himself indirectly fed its fervor with his anti-reformation. However, his son Don Alteza Rolon is cursed from birth with the lycanthropy disease. Though he detest his offspring as a monster, to keep his Infante Real heir safe, the monarch “exiles” him to El Morro in the mountains accompanied by court jester Lugantes.
When horrific deaths occur on the full moon over El Morro, a frightened Rolon assumes he is the culprit and begins seeking a cure for his ailment. Before he finds a remedy to his blood lust infliction, Alonzo calls him home as he is to wed the niece of the Doge of Venice in a political marriage to pampered hedonistic Zaretta Patrecipazio. To his shock, Rolon falls in love with his wife and has an even stronger reason to find the cure as he wants to avoid the heretic label and the pyre while also fearing for his playful spouse and their future offspring.
Although there is no St Germain in this thrilling werewolf historical tale, fans of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro will appreciate this timely extremely dark look at The Spanish Inquisition; especially the use of torture to obtain confessions under the guise of religious security. The victims almost always “validate” what the torturer demand they say making the story line feel apropos today (wonder if reincarnation exists?). The novel follows the adventures of Infante Real Don Rolon who might be the heir to the throne, but being a werewolf at this time in Spain marks him as heretic and if found out needing to be cleaned in the pyre; he and his loyal retinue like heroic dwarf Lugantes try to hide his illness. With a terrific final spin to accentuate the period, the audience will feel they are visiting mid sixteenth century Spain where the Grand Inquisition serves as judge, jury and executioner.
Harriet Klausner
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