Reading Ahead: July 2015, part 1

I know I probably say this every year, but WOW, there are a lot of thrillers being published this summer! Readers, rejoice!

The English Spy, by Daniel Silva. Fifteenth in Silva's extremely popular Gabriel Allon series (new to the series? Consider starting with book one, The Kill Artist.). Gabriel Allon, art-restorer, assassin, spy, is rejoined here where 2014's The Heist left off, but now the game is revenge, and the target is royal. Allon, teaming up with British commando turned professional assassin Christopher Keller, must hunt a killer across the globe. Full of Silva's signature plot twists, this latest is sure to win Silva even more fans.

Broken Promise, by Linwood Barclay. After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent. Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch. When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg. Barclay is a favorite of mine, and I'm very much looking forward to this new novel.

Silent Creed, by Alex Kava. In this second installment of Kava's Ryder Creed/Maggie O'Dell crossover series, following Breaking Creed, the duo investigate a risky case uncovered during a devastating mudslide in North Carolina, where Creed and his sturdiest rescue dog, Bolo, search the debris for survivors. This isn't an ordinary rescue mission, though. Among the buildings consumed in the slide is a top-secret government research facility, and Creed's mission is to find what remains. Unfortunately, one of the things he finds is the facility director, who was obviously killed prior to the mudslide. Enter FBI agent Maggie O'Dell, and the two must race against the clock to uncover the truth.

After the Storm, by Linda Castillo. When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones-and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.

Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves-and their future.

Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky. No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but there are a few she’d be happy to avoid. High on that list is tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that’s precisely what she ends up doing when she responds to Frank Guzzo’s plea for help. Once they were more than friends, but She forgot about him until the day his mother was convicted of bludgeoning his kid sister, Annie, to death. Stella Guzzo was an angry, uncooperative prisoner and did a full twenty-five years for her daughter’s murder.
Newly released from prison, Stella is looking for exoneration, so Frank asks V.I. for help, and V.I. reluctantly starts to ask around. Those questions lead her straight into the vipers’ nest of Illinois politics she’s wanted to avoid. When V.I. takes a beating at a youth meeting in her old hood, her main question becomes whether she will live long enough to find answers.

Naked Greed, by Stuart Woods. Stone Barrington isn’t one to turn away in the face of danger, so when he witnesses a tricky situation underway, he jumps in to lend a hand.  He never expected, though, that this favor would lead to a mutually beneficial business deal with a prominent gentleman who requires the ever-discreet services of Woodman & Weld. But in the ruthless corporate world no good deed goes unpunished, and Stone soon finds himself the target of a ragtag group of criminal toughs who don’t appreciate his interference in their dealings.  From the isolated landscape of Maine to the white sand beaches of Key West, the trail of deception, theft, and murder will lead to a perilous confrontation.

And don't worry if chilling suspense novels are not your preferred summer reading genre--I promise I have lots of fun beach reads to share, too. Stay tuned!