Reading Ahead: April 2015, part 2

You remember last week when I promised that April had lots of suspense and thriller novels scheduled to be released? I wasn't kidding! Check it out!

Gathering Prey, by John Sandford. They call them Travelers. They move from city to city, panhandling, committing no crimes—they just like to stay on the move. And now somebody is killing them. Lucas Davenport’s adopted daughter, Letty, is home from college when she gets a phone call from a woman Traveler she’d befriended in San Francisco. The woman thinks somebody’s killing her friends, she’s afraid she knows who it is, and now her male companion has gone missing. She’s hiding out in North Dakota, and she doesn’t know what to do. Letty tells Lucas she’s going to get her, and, though he suspects Letty’s getting played, he volunteers to go with her. When he hears the woman’s story, though, he begins to think there’s something in it. Little does he know...

The Promise, by Robert Crais. If you want to know what your fellow suspense readers are going to be talking about this spring, I'd bet this is going to be it. Scott James and K-9 partner Maggie, heroes of Crais's Suspect, join forces with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike when the two teams find their cases intertwining. From inner-city drug traffickers to a shadowy group of Afghan war veterans with ties to a terrorist cell, the people they encounter on that trail add up to ever-increasing odds, and soon the four of them are fighting to find a missing woman not only before she is killed . . . but before the same fate happens to one of them.

Blood on Snow, by Jo Nesbo. Many readers are familiar with Nesbo's Harry Hole series, but what you may be missing are the great stand-alone novels, like The Son, that he has also published. Here again he gives readers a stand-alone, and this is one I really can't wait to get a copy of. This is the story of Olav: an extremely talented “fixer” for one of Oslo’s most powerful crime bosses. But Olav is also an unusually complicated fixer. He has a capacity for love that is as far-reaching as is his gift for murder. He is our straightforward, calm-in-the-face-of-crisis narrator with a storyteller’s hypnotic knack for fantasy. He has an “innate talent for subordination” but running through his veins is a “virus” born of the power over life and death. And while his latest job puts him at the pinnacle of his trade, it may be mutating into his greatest mistake... The perfect antihero, dark psychological fiction? Yes, please!

Every Fifteen Minutes, by Lisa Scottoline. Dr. Eric Parrish is the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife Alice, he is doing his best as a single Dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient, Eric's entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can't turn off the mental rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a "person of interest" himself. Are these unfortunate events truly random, or is someone working to systematically bring Eric's life crashing down?

I have to say, I had one more title that I'd hoped to share with you, but the publication date has been pushed back by a couple of months. Frustrating! Ah well, more for us to look forward to when the weather's nicer!

Reading Ahead: April 2015, part 1

I know it's much to early to start talking about the summer, what with there still being several feet of snow on the ground here in Connecticut and all. But it might not be too early to start making up your summer reading list, if only to get you through to the warmer weather. Even better if you have the chance to travel somewhere warmer this spring! And if that's the case, and you're a suspense/thriller reader, here are some titles that just might interest you.

Memory Man, by David Baldacci. Baldacci is one of the biggest names in fiction these days, and the hits just keep coming. Amos Decker's life changed forever with his first play as a pro football player and the side effect of the career-ending collision: the inability to forget anything. His life changed again two decades later when, now a police detective, Decker returns home one night to find his family murdered, and his life collapses around him. Unable to forget a single gruesome detail of that night, Decker loses everything, only to be brought back to help investigate when a year later, a man confesses to the murders. He must face the pain one last time, sacrifice everything again, in hopes that he can finally find justice for his family. If you're new to Baldacci, this will be just as good a place to start as any, because the buzz about it is very high.

One Mile Under, by Andrew Gross. Fourth in Gross's Ty Hauck series (the last installment was 2010's Reckless) finds Hauck investigating a string of murders after being notified by an old friend that his daughter, Dani, is in trouble with the law. What he uncovers in this small, sleepy Colorado town is that the ranchers and farmers have made a deal with the devil, and that the giant corporations are willing to kill for something more precious than oil or gold. Gross is a rising star, so thriller fans, take note.

Your Next Breath, by Iris Johansen. Catherine Ling is one of the CIA's most prized operatives. Raised on the streets of Hong Kong, she was pulled into the agency at the age of fourteen. If life has taught her anything, it is not to get attached, but there are two exceptions to that rule: her son Luke and her mentor Hu Chang. Luke was kidnapped at age two, and now, nine years later, he has astonishingly been returned to her. Catherine vows never to fail him again. Now, just as she is building a relationship with Luke, it seems that someone from Catherine's past is playing a deadly game with her, and using those she cares about as pawns. Catherine's only hope now is to weed through her past to determine the killer and go after him herself. Johansen has built quite a following over the years, and I think fans will be pleased with this new suspense novel, her third to feature Catherine Ling. New to this series? The first two titles are What Doesn't Kill You and Live to See Tomorrow.

The Bone Tree, by Greg Iles. Following 2014's Natchez Burning, The Bone Tree is the second installment of this trilogy featuring former prosecutor Penn Cage, who is now besieged on all sides as he battles to protect those he loves. Iles has certainly done his homework, exploring some of the darkest truths in America's history as he tells Cage's story, that of a man who has always worked for justice, only to finally be pushed beyond his limits.

Hot Pursuit, by Stuart Woods. Woods's Stone Barrington novels keep bringing fans back for more, so this newest installment (number 33, with 34 and 35 scheduled for publication later this year) is sure to please. It’s not often that Stone Barrington finds a woman as accustomed to the jet-set lifestyle as he, so he’s pleasantly surprised when he meets a gorgeous pilot who’s soon moving to New York, and available for closer acquaintance. Their travels together lead them from Wichita to Europe, but trailing them is some unwanted baggage: his new lady love’s unstable, criminal ex-boyfriend. And while Stone is fending off his newest adversary, trouble is brewing on the international stage. Several enemy operatives are at large, and only a coordinated intelligence effort will have any chance of stopping their deadly plot.

I'll be back next week with even more thrillers to look forward to. In the meantime, happy reading!

What I've Been Reading: February 2015

I'll admit that I hit a little bit of a lull in my usual reading pace during the February doldrums. Sometimes even the most voracious reader takes a bit of a break--mine was filled with catching up on a couple of TV series (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Broadchurch) and some hand-sewing. Even a librarian cannot live on books alone! That said, I did finish a few titles...

Fear the Darkness, by Becky Masterman. Second in Masterman's Brigid Quinn series (after Rage Against the Dying, which I loved and reviewed here), this new thriller finds retired FBI undercover agent Quinn under siege. After years in the field, Quinn is working hard to try and settle down and be "normal". She's married, has two dogs, and in the wake of her siser-in-law's death after a long illness, she's now taking care of her teenage niece. She even has a best friend. What she can't do, however, is stop being an investigator, and when a grieving mother asks for Quinn's help in determining whether a young boy killed himself or was murdered, Quinn can't say no. It seems that someone may be out to stop her from discovering the truth, though, as Quinn shortly finds herself under attack, and it may be someone very close to her who is trying to do her harm. While not quite as masterful as Masterman's debut, this sophomore effort is still a great thriller, with lots to keep readers guessing. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Descent, by Tim Johnston. A word of caution to readers--if you choose to pick this up (and you should, it's amazing), do yourself a favor. Put aside a couple of hours when you start it, and read the first 100 pages in one shot. I wish I'd done that, because reading it 10-15 pages at a time was very confusing. In any case... Told in four parts by four family members, this literary thriller covers the abduction of eighteen-year-old Caitlin while she's out for a training run in Colorado one morning, accompanied by her younger brother Sean, who was cycling along with her. Sean is badly hurt, Caitlin is abducted, and then the story jumps ahead. Sean recovers physically, then hits the road. Their mother, Angela, tries to go home only to wind up being hospitalized after a nervous breakdown. Their father, Grant, stays close to where Caitlin was abducted and works with local authorities to try and find his daughter. And I haven't given anything away. Truly beautiful and heartbreaking and heart-pounding, all at the same time.

I'd Know You Anywhere, by Laura Lippman. I chanced upon this, having never read Lippman's work before, when browsing for an audiobook for my commute (it's quite nicely done, if you're looking for an audiobook, by the way). Eliza Benedict reinvented herself in high school and has tried not to look back. Now in her thirties, married with two children, she finds her world turned upside down when the reason for the reinvention, a man named Walter Bowman, contacts her from his cell on death row. Twenty years earlier, Bowman kidnapped Eliza during a summer-long spree of serial killings. Eliza, the only girl who survived, is Bowman's only hope of a stay of execution. And Walter may be Eliza's only hope of finally putting her past to rest. Very suspenseful, riveting. Recommended.

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, by Jenny Colgan. And after three suspense/thriller novels in a row, I needed something completely different! Anna Trent was a supervisor in an English chocolate factory. After an accident leaves her jobless and depressed, a dose of serendipity leads her to working for an artisan chocolatier in an elite Paris shop, only to find that her previous experience has left her woefully unprepared for her new position. Anna's learning curve in Paris is steep, from the intricacies of her new job to the language barrier, from making new friends to dealing with the aftermath of her accident. Interwoven is a love story involving Anna's secondary school French teacher and her new boss, which takes place forty years prior. It's sweet and silly, but the bits about the chocolate shop and the beauty of Paris are worth the price of admission--those read like a love letter.

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.  This is my book club's selection for our March meeting, and I can't help but be impressed by their willingness to try something outside of our "usual" genres. This is a re-read for me, although I first read it in high school, so it's been awhile. If you're more familiar with the movies, I do recommend going back and reading the book--it is so very different! Bilbo Baggins, humble hobbit, finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime, accompanying a band of dwarves as they make their way across Middle Earth to retake their home under the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug who has occupied it for many decades. Along the way they are helped by elves, the wizard Gandalf, the skin-changer Bjorn, and encounter enchanted forests, goblins, spiders, giants, and others, both foe and friend. And, of course, the hobbit has a secret that allows him to make the perfect burglar during their escapades. One of the greatest adventure stories for all ages, and the grandfather of the modern fantasy and science fiction genres today. Without Tolkein, we would not today be enjoying things like Game of Thrones or Doctor Who. Things to think about.

Obsession in Death, by J.D. Robb. The fortieth entry in the pseudonymous Robb's long-running light science fiction(ish) series finds NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas in a tricky spot: Someone is murdering people she knows, and claiming to be doing it for her as her one true friend. Now she and her partner, Detective Peabody, must not only solve the string of very personal, pointed murders (each one comes with a long, Sharpie-written missive from the killer, on a crime-scene wall) but Dallas must also examine everyone in her life with suspicion to determine who among them has been killing in her name. This is, as other series titles, a delightfully quick and fun read.


I know, to a lot of people, six books looks like a lot. But I actually took about a week after Fear the Darkness (which I devoured in about a day and a half) and read nothing, other than the book on CD I listen to during my commute. It felt a little strange, but then I got right back into it! And that makes 13 titles for 2015 thus far.

Meg's Picks: March 2015, part 2

I'll be back next week to catch up on what I've been reading (hint: it's not much!), but in the meantime, here's the last of my picks for titles you may want to put on your to-read list next month.

The Precious One, by Maria de los Santos. Seventeen years ago, Wilson ditched his first family (including daughter Taisy) for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy’s family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter, Willow, only once. Why then, is Wilson calling Taisy now, inviting her for an extended visit, encouraging her to meet her pretty sister—a teenager who views her with jealousy, mistrust, and grudging admiration? Why, now, does Wilson want Taisy to help him write his memoir? For fans of fiction that deals with family secrets, this should be a sure thing.

The Lost Boys Symphony, by Mark Ferguson. After Henry's girlfriend Val leaves him and transfers to another school, his grief begins to manifest itself in bizarre and horrifying ways. Either he's hallucinating, or the strength of his heartbreak over Val has unhinged reality itself. After weeks of sleepless nights and sick delusions, Henry decides to run away. If he can only find Val, he thinks, everything will make sense again. So he leaves his mother's home in the suburbs and marches toward the city and the woman who he thinks will save him. Once on the George Washington Bridge, however, a powerful hallucination knocks him out cold. When he awakens, he finds himself kidnapped by two strangers--one old, one middle-aged--who claim to be future versions of Henry himself. Val is the love of your life, they tell him. We've lost her, but you don't have to. This is generating a lot of buzz among critics, who are calling it genre-bending and beautiful. I'm recommending this to readers who loved The Time Traveler's Wife.

Heartbreak Hotel, by Deborah Moggach. In possession of a run-down bed and breakfast that leans more toward the shabby than the chic and is, quite literally, miles from nowhere, retired actor Buffy realizes that he needs to fill the beds—and fast. Otherwise, his vision of the pastoral countryside will go up in smoke.
Enter a motley collection of guests: Harold, whose wife has run off with a younger woman; Amy, who’s been unexpectedly dumped by her (not-so) nebbishy boyfriend and Andy, the hypochondriac postman whose girlfriend is much too much for him to handle. But under Buffy’s watchful eye, this disparate group of strangers finds that they have more in common than perhaps they first thought. A charming romantic comedy, a bit off the beaten path.

At the Water’s Edge, by Sara Gruen. Gruen should be a familiar name to readers, as she has made a lasting impression with Water for Elephants. Here, she returns to gift readers with another historical period piece, this time following a young wife, Maddie Hyde, who tags along with her disgraced husband Ellis and Ellis's best friend Hank as they travel from New York to Scotland, leaving behind her sheltered world for the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Yet even as the men leave Maddie behind in the drafty inn with the contemptuous locals (the men seeking fame by hunting down the Loch Ness monster), Maddie finds herself warming both the to the landscape and to the villagers. A novel of the beauty of new possibilities, At Water's Edge is getting lots of praise, both from critics and other authors, like Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper), Katherine Stockett (The Help), and Kristin Hannah (The Nightingale).