Friday, August 31, 2012

Labor Day Hours



Have a safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Tired of Reality? Enter One of These Exciting Worlds

Tracker's Sin by Sarah McCarty
Hell's Eight Series #4

WED BY NECESSITY…JOINED BY DESIRE
Before his trade became his name, “Tracker” Ochoa was a scrawny Mestizo runaway. Now as fearsome as he once was frightened, he’s joined the notorious Hell’s Eight...and they have a job for him.

He must rescue kidnapped heiress Ari Blake and deliver her safely to the Hell’s Eight compound—by any means necessary. Turns out that includes marrying her, if he means to escort her and her infant son across the Texas Territory. Tracker hadn’t bargained on a wife—especially such a fair, blue-eyed beauty. But the erotic pleasures of the marriage bed more than make up for the surprise.

Tracker’s well-muscled bronze skin and dark, dangerous eyes are far more exciting than any of Ari’s former debutante dreams. In the light of day, though, his deep scars and brooding intensity terrify her. But he’s her husband and she’s at his mercy. With the frontier against them and mercenary bandits at their heels, Ari fears she’ll never feel safe again.

Tracker, too, remembers what fear feels like. Though he burns to protect Ari, to keep her for himself always, he knows that money, history—and especially the truth—can tear them apart.


Born of Ashes by Caris Roane
World of Ascension Series # 4

Enter a hidden world of winged vampire warriors—and the women they are sworn protect...
For years, she was kept as a human slave—one of seven unwilling “blood donors” for the death vampires who thirst for absolute power. Now, Fiona is a free woman, haunted by her memories of being strapped to a gurney, drained of blood, then revived at the last moment. She lives to avenge her captors—but only one warrior can help her...


Jean-Pierre has lived and fought for over two-hundred years. He knows the triumph of slaying a death vampire, but has never known anything like the feelings that arise when he becomes Fiona’s guardian. Her beauty, her pain, her passion—and her growing power—consume his senses. 


Now the warrior must draw his sword once more…and fight the gates of hell itself—for love.

Bring on the Night by Jeri Smith-Ready
WVMP Radio Series # 3

WHAT’S BLOOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin seems to finally have it all. A steady job at WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll. A loving relationship with the idiosyncratic but eternally hot DJ Shane McAllister. A vampire dog who never needs shots or a pooper-scooper. And after nine years, it looks as if she might actually finish her bachelor’s degree!

But fate has other plans for Ciara. First she must fulfill her Faustian bargain with the Control, the paranormal paramilitary agency that does its best to keep vampires in line. Turns out the Control wants her for something other than her (nonexistent) ability to kick undead ass. Her anti-holy blood, perhaps? Ciara’s suspicions are confirmed when she’s assigned to a special-ops division known as the Immanence Corps, run by the Control’s oldest vampire and filled with humans who claim to have special powers. To a confirmed skeptic like Ciara, it sounds like a freak fest. 


But when a mysterious fatal virus spreads through Sherwood—and corpses begin to rise from their graves—Ciara will not only get a crash course in zombie-killing, but will be forced to put her faith, and her life itself, in the hands of magic.

Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold

Art teacher Mira Fenn's life was curiously lacking in color until the day she learned of a mysterious inheritance from her birthmother--a long-abandoned house in New Mexico. Dim childhood memories begin to brighten in Mira's mind--her colorfully exotic mother, the curiously silent women who were her mother's servants.

Returning to New Mexico, Mira discovers that the house is a faded thing, looked after by the charismatic Domingo Navidad. But when Mira dreams of her childhood home, it is a riot of color--and she and Domingo soon set to work to bring her dreams to life.

Color brings more than just an old house back to life. The bright paint Mira applies to wood and plaster seems to reach into her soul, to awaken powers trapped in a decades-long slumber. The silent women reappear, carrying with them a great secret. Convinced her mother is still alive, Mira searches for her, journeying through a sea of light and color to a time and place far from her own.

Who and what she finds there will alter her world forever.


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Book Trailer: The Inn at Rose Harbor


New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber's latest release The Inn at Rose Harbor, the first installment in her newest series. It’s based in the Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove, with characters that are sure to find love and much more.

 

Beat the Heat With A Good Book

Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain 
Gretchen Lowell Series #5

Nothing makes Portland detective Archie Sheridan happier than knowing that Gretchen Lowell—the serial killer whose stunning beauty is belied by the gruesome murders she’s committed—is locked away in a psych ward. Archie can finally heal from the near-fatal physical and emotional wounds she’s inflicted on him and start moving on with his life.

To this end, Archie throws himself into the latest case to come across his desk: A cyclist has discovered a corpse in Mount Tabor Park on the eastern side of Portland. The man was gagged, skinned, and found hanging by his wrists from a tree. It’s the work of a killer bold and clever enough to torture his victim for hours on a sunny summer morning in a big public park and yet leave no trace.

And then Archie gets a message he can’t ignore—Gretchen claims to have inside knowledge about this grisly murder. Archie finally agrees to visit Gretchen, because he can’t risk losing his only lead in the case. At least, that’s what he tells himself . . . but the ties between Archie and Gretchen have always been stronger, deeper, and more complex than he’s willing to admit, even to himself. What game is she playing this time? And even more frightening, what long-hidden secrets from Gretchen’s past have been dredged up that someone would kill to protect?
 


The Innocent by David Baldacci

America has enemies--ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target. 

But Will Robie may have just made the first--and last--mistake of his career . . . THE INNOCENT


It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.


Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway-her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.


Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power. 


Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life . . . and perhaps his own.


When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison

As far as Gemma is concerned, her days of dating are over. In fact, it’s her job to cater other peoples’ dates, and that’s just fine by her. At thirty-seven, she has her own business, working as a private chef, and her life feels full and secure. She’s got six steady clients that keep her hands full.

There’s Lex, the fussy but fabulous department store owner who loves Oysters Rockefeller and 1950s comfort food; Willa, who needs to lose weight under doctor’s orders but still believes butter makes everything better; a colorful family who may or may not be part of the Russian mob; an überwealthy Georgetown family; the picture-perfect Van Houghtens, whose matriarch is “allergic to everything”; and finally, a man she calls “Mr. Tuesday,” whom she has never met but who she is strangely drawn to.

For Gemma, cooking is predictable. Recipes are certain. Use good ingredients, follow the directions, and you are assured success. Life, on the other hand, is full of variables. So when Gemma’s takes an unexpected turn on a road she always thought was straight and narrow, she must face her past and move on in ways she never would have imagined. Because sometimes in life, all you need is a little hope, a lot of courage, and---oh yes---butter.


No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie
Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Series #14

When a K9 search-and-rescue team discovers a woman's body tangled up with debris in the river, Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid finds himself heading an investigation fraught with complications. The victim, Rebecca Meredith, was a talented but difficult woman with many admirers—and just as many enemies. An Olympic contender on the verge of a controversial comeback, she was also a high-ranking detective with the Met—a fact that raises a host of political and ethical issues in an already sensitive case.

To further complicate the situation, a separate investigation, led by Detective Inspector Gemma James, Kincaid's wife, soon reveals a disturbing—and possibly related—series of crimes, widening the field of suspects. But when someone tries to kill the search-and-rescue team member who found Rebecca's body, the case becomes even more complex and dangerous, involving powerful interests with tentacles that reach deep into the heart of the Met itself.

Surrounded by enemies with friendly faces, pressured to find answers quickly while protecting the Yard at all costs, his career and reputation on the line, Kincaid must race to catch the killer before more innocent lives are lost—including his own.


Trickster's Point by William Kent Krueger 
Cor O'Connor Series #12
 
The dying don’t easily become the dead. The next novel in William Kent Krueger’s New York Times bestselling series finds Cork O’Connor sitting in the shadow of a towering monolith known as Trickster’s Point, deep in the Minnesota wilderness. With him is Jubal Little, who is favored to become the first Native American elected governor of Minnesota, and who is slowly dying with an arrow through his heart. 

Although the men have been bowhunting, a long-standing tradition among these two friends, this is no hunting accident. The arrow turns out to be one of Cork’s, and he becomes the primary suspect in the murder. He understands full well that he’s been set up. As he works to clear his name and track the real killer, he remembers his long, complex relationship with the tough kid who would grow up to become a professional football player, a populist politician, and the lover of the first woman to whom Cork ever gave his heart. Jubal was known by many for his passion, his loyalty, and his ambition. 

Only Cork knows that he was capable of murder.

11th Hour by James Patterson
Women's Murder Club Series #11

Your best friend
Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last But her work doesn't slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down, she discovers that the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco's most untouchable criminals. And it was taken from her own department's evidence locker. Anyone could be the killer--even her closest friends. 


Or a vicious killer? 


Lindsay is called next to the most bizarre crime scene she's ever seen: two bodiless heads elaborately displayed in the garden of a world-famous actor. Another head is unearthed in the garden, and Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims. 


You won't know until the 11th hour 


A reporter launches a series of vicious articles about the cases and Lindsay's personal life is laid bare. But this time she has no one to turn to--especially not Joe. 


The Seamstress by Frances De Pontes Peebles


As seamstresses, the young sisters Emilia and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, how to mend, and how to conceal. These are useful skills in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons called "colonels" feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros, trapping innocent residents in the cross fire. 

Emilia, whose knowledge of the world comes from fashion magazines and romance novels, dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to a big city. 

Luzia also longs to escape their little town, where residents view her with suspicion and pity. Scarred by a childhood accident that left her with a deformed arm, the quick-tempered Luzia finds her escape in sewing and in secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life.
But when Luzia is abducted by a group of cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk, the sisters' quiet lives diverge in ways they never imagined. Emilia stumbles into marriage with Degas Coelho, the son of a doctor whose wealth is rivaled only by his political power. 

She moves to the sprawling seaside city of Recife, where the glamour of her new life is soon overshadowed by heartache and loneliness. Luzia, forced to trek through scrubland and endure a nomadic existence, proves her determination to survive and begins to see the cangaceiros as comrades, not criminals. 

In Recife, Emilia must hide any connection to her increasingly notorious sister. As she learns to navigate the treacherous waters of Brazilian high society, Emilia sees the country split apart after a bitter presidential election. Political feuds extend to the countryside, where Luzia and the Hawk are forced to make unexpected alliances and endure betrayals that threaten to break the cangaceiros apart. But Luzia will overcome time and distance to entrust her sister with a great secret--one Emilia vows to keep. And when Luzia's life is threatened, EmIlia will risk everything to save her.


Judgment Call by J.A. Jance 
Joanna Brady Series #15

When Joanna Brady's daughter, Jenny, stumbles across the body of her high school principal, Debra Highsmith, in the desert, the Cochise County sheriff's personal and professional worlds collide, forcing her to tread the difficult middle ground between being an officer of the law and a mother. While investigating murders has always meant discovering unpleasant facts and disquieting truths, the experienced Joanna isn't prepared for the knowledge she's about to uncover. Though she's tried to protect her children from the dangers of the grown-up world, the search for justice leads straight to her own door and forces her to face the possibility that her beloved daughter may be less perfect than she seems--especially when a photo from the crime scene ends up on Facebook. A photo only one person close to the crime scene could have taken.

The gruesome picture is just the tip of the iceberg. Even a small, close-knit town like Bisbee has its secrets. Navigating her way through the unfamiliar world of social media, Joanna discovers shocking--and incriminating--information. The details build, from a hushed-up suspension, to a group of teenagers with a grudge against the late Ms. Highsmith, to a hateful video calling for the principal's death. The video evidence points to one particular privileged boy, who's already lawyered up thanks to his father, a well-to-do doctor determined to protect his son's reputation. Yet the deeper Joanna digs, the more complications she uncovers. It seems the quiet, upstanding principal had a hidden past, full of mysterious secrets she'd successfully kept buried for years.

As the seasoned sheriff juggles professional constraints and personal demands--budget cuts, new team members, an arrogant coroner, a confused teenager, a precocious toddler, and a high-maintenance mother--she finds herself walking a fine line between justice and family that has never been so blurred.


Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz 
Odd Thomas Series #5

The stallion reared over me, silently slashing the air with the hooves of its forelegs, a creature of such immense power that I stumbled backward even though I knew that it was as immaterial as a dream. . . 

The woman astride the ghostly mount reaches out desperately, the latest spirit to enlist the aid of Odd Thomas, the unassuming young fry cook whose gift—or curse—it is to see the shades of the restless dead, and to help them when he can. This mission of mercy will lead Odd through realms of darkness he has never before encountered, as he probes the long-held secrets of a sinister estate and those who inhabit it.

ODD APOCALYPSE

Once presided over by a flamboyant Hollywood mogul during the Roaring ’20s, the magnificent West Coast property known as Roseland is now home to a reclusive billionaire financier and his faithful servants. And, at least for the moment, it’s also a port in the storm for Odd Thomas and his traveling companion, the inscrutably charming Annamaria, the Lady of the Bell. In the wake of Odd’s most recent clash with lethal adversaries, the opulent manor’s comforts should be welcome. But there’s far more to Roseland than meets even the extraordinary eye of Odd, who soon suspects it may be more hell than haven.

A harrowing taste of Roseland’s terrors convinces Odd that it’s time to hit the road again. Still, the prescient Annamaria insists that they’ve been led there for a reason, and he’s promised to do his best for the ghost on horseback. Just how deep and dreadful are the mysteries Roseland and her masters have kept for nearly a century? And what consequences await whoever is brave, or mad, enough to confront the most profound breed of evil? Odd only knows. Like his acclaimed creator, the irresistible Odd Thomas is in top-notch form—as he takes on what may well be the most terrifying challenge yet in his curious career.
 


Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
All Souls Trilogy #2

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

 
Time Untime by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Darh-Hunter Series #17; Hellchaser #5

The Mayans aren’t the only ones with a 2012 prophecy…

Long before recorded history, there was a Keetoowah warrior so feared that everyone trembled before his wrath. Only a brutal betrayal by the one closest to him could defeat him. But not even death was the end of a man so strong.

The Time Untime approaches…

Kateri Avani has been plagued her entire life with dreams she doesn’t understand. Images of places she’s never been and of a man she’s never seen. Her quest for answers has driven her to Las Vegas where she hopes to finally silence the demons in her mind.

What she never anticipates is coming face to face with the warrior who has haunted her her entire life. One who belongs to a world the scientist in her refuses to believe is real.

Ren Waya came back from the dead to keep the prophecy he began from coming true and ending the world. For thousands of years, he has fought the same evil that once possessed him. But now that evil has found the one person he can’t fight. The one person who, against his will, holds the most sacred part of him.

His heart.

But if he doesn’t kill Kateri, the deadliest of evils will reemerge and destroy everyone else on the planet. It was a sacrifice he made once.

Will he be able to make it again?



Over the Edge by Mary Connealy 
Kincaid Brides Series #3

Seth Kincaid survived a fire in a cave, but he's never been the same. He was always a reckless youth, but now he's gone over the edge. He ran off to the Civil War and came back crazier than ever. 

After the war, nearly dead from his injuries, it appears Seth got married. Oh, he's got a lot of excuses, but his wife isn't happy to find out Seth doesn't remember her. Callie has searched, prayed, and worried. Now she's come to the Kincaid family's ranch in Colorado to find her lost husband. 


Callie isn't a long-suffering woman. Once she knows her husband is alive, she wants to kill him. She's not even close to forgiving him for abandoning her. 


Then more trouble shows up in the form of a secret Seth's pa kept for years. The Kincaid brothers might lose their ranch if they can't sort things out. It's enough to drive a man insane--but somehow it's all making Seth see things more clearly. And now that he knows what he wants, no one better stand in his way.


A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children. But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon. After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will. 


Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters' journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy. It seems as though the echoes of their parents' deaths will never stop reverberating--until another shocking accident changes everything once again.


Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong 
Otherworld Series #13

War is coming to the Otherworld. A sinister cult known as The Supernatural Liberation Movement is hell-bent on exposing the truth about supernaturals to the rest of the world. Their violent, ruthless plan has put everyone at risk: from werewolves to vampires, from witches to half-demons.

Savannah Levine - fiery and unpredictable - stands at the heart of the maelstrom. There is a new, dark magic inside her, granting her the power to summon spells of terrifying strength. But whether this magic is a gift or a curse, no one knows.

On the eve of battle, all the major players must come together in a last, desperate fight for survival - Elena and Clay; Adam and Savannah; Paige and Lucas; Jeremy and Jaime; Hope, Eve and more...They are fighting for lives.

They are fighting for their loved ones.

They are fighting for the Otherworld.



Some Like it Hawk by Donna Andrews 
Meg Langslow Mystery Series #14

Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at “Caerphilly Days,” a festival inspired by her town’s sudden notoriety as "The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail." The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and all employees have evacuated —except one.  Phineas Throckmorton, the town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year.

Mr. Throckmorton's long siege has only been possible because of a pre-Civil War tunnel leading from the courthouse basement to a crawl space beneath the bandstand. The real reason for Caerphilly Days is to conceal the existence of the tunnel:  the tourist crowds camouflage supply deliveries, and the ghastly screeching of the tunnel's rusty trap door is drowned out by as many noisy activities as the locals can arrange. But the lender seems increasingly determined to evict Mr. Throckmorton—and may succeed after one of its executives is found shot, apparently from inside the basement.  Meg and her fellow townspeople suspect that someone hopes to end the siege by framing Mr. Throckmorton. 


Unless the real killer can be found quickly, the town will have to reveal the secret of the tunnel—and the fact that they've been aiding and abetting the basement’s inhabitant. Meg soon deduces that the killer isn't just trying to end the siege but to conceal information that would help the town reclaim its buildings--if the townspeople can find it before the lender destroys it in a gut-busting caper that will have giggles and guffaws coming as fast as a four-alarm fire.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Teens and Tweens: Back to School Reads You Shouldn't Pass Up

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Howl's Moving Castle Series #1

In which a witch bewitched the hatter's daughter - and then some....

Sophie lived in the town of Market Chipping, which was in Ingary, a land in which anything could happen, and often did - especially when the Witch of the Waste got her dander up. Which was often.

As her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes, Sophie stayed in her father's hat shop. Which proved most unadventurous, until the Witch of the Waste came in to buy a bonnet, but was not pleased. Which is why she turned Sophie into an old lady. Which was spiteful witchery.

Now Sophie must seek her own fortune. Which means striking a bargain with the lecherous Wizard Howl. Which means entering his ever-moving castle, taming a blue fire-demon, and meeting the Witch of the Waste head-on. Which was more than Sophie bargained for.



 
Vordak the Incomprehensible: Double Trouble by Scott Seegert

The most aspirational supervillain ever continues his attempt at world domination by creating a clone of his younger self. Many misfires and a group of scientists named Fred convince Vordak the younger he might be better at villainy than the not-so-good-looking original.



The Land of Stories: the Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer 
The Land of Stories Series #1

Alex and Conner Bailey’s world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairytales.

The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.


Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz
Alex Rider Series #5

Scorpia has dogged Alex Rider for most of his life. They killed his parents, they did their best to con Alex into turning traitor, and they just keep coming back with more power. Now the world's most dangerous terrorist organization is playing with fire in the world's most combustible land: the Middle East. No one knows Scorpia like Alex. And no one knows how best to get to Alex like Scorpia. Until now.

The chases have never been more intense, the fights more treacherous, or the risks so perilous to mankind. And this time, Alex won't get away.


Cinder by Marissa Meyer 
Lunar Chronicles Series #1

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.


Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz
Alex Rider Series #4

Sir Damian Cray is a philanthropist, peace activist, and the world's most famous pop star. But still it's not enough. He needs more if he is to save the world. Trouble is, only Alex Rider recognizes that it's the world that needs saving from Sir Damian Cray. Underneath the luster of glamour and fame lies a twisted mind, ready to sacrifice the world for his beliefs. But in the past, Alex has always had the backing of the government. 

This time, he's on his own. Can one teenager convince the world that the most popular man on earth is a madman bent on destruction-before time runs out?

Rift by Andrea Cremer 
Nightshade Prequel Series #1

Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer's internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy!

Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.


Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
Alex Rider Series #3

Alex Rider has been through a lot for his fourteen years. He's been shot at by international terrorists, chased down a mountainside on a makeshift snowboard, and has stood face-to-face with pure evil. Twice, young Alex has managed to save the world. And twice, he has almost been killed doing it. 

But now Alex faces something even more dangerous. The desperation of a man who has lost everything he cared for: his country and his only son. A man who just happens to have a nuclear weapon and a serious grudge against the free world. To see his beloved Russia once again be a dominant power, he will stop at nothing. Unless Alex can stop him first. Uniting forces with America's own CIA for the first time, teen spy Alex Rider battles terror from the sun-baked beaches of Miami all the way to the barren ice fields of northernmost Russia. Come along for the thrilling ride of a lifetime

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Divergent Trilogy #2

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Beautiful Creatures Books and a Movie too!


In 2009, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl introduced readers to Beautiful Creatures and haven't looked back. The Caster Chronicles series has picked up quite a large following over the years so it's no surprise that readers are eager to see how their favorite book is adapted to the big screen. It's exciting enough knowing the movie is becoming a reality but seeing the cast unveiled is even better. Who's playing your favorite Caster Chronicles character(s)? Find out here. The Beautiful Creatures movie should release in February 2013.

Beautiful Redemption is the fourth and final installment, set to be released this October, so if you haven't had a chance to read this thrilling supernatural series then now is as good a time as any. Even better, the final book in the series is set to be released this October so you won't have to wait to find out what happens next.

Series Reading Order:

1 Beautiful Creatures
2 Beautiful Darkness
3 Beautiful Chaos
4 Beautiful Redemption - will be available October 23, 2012. Watch the Beautiful Creatures book trailer

Sunday, August 26, 2012

New York Times Best Seller List (8/26/2012)

Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout.
Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.


FICTION BEST SELLERS


1 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

2 Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood


3 Where We Belong by Emily Griffin

4 Charon's Claw by R.A. Salvatore


5
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
 
6 The Spymasters by W.E.B. Griffin


7 The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman


8 Time Untime by Sherrilyn Kenyon


9 Black List by Brad Thor

10 The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva

11 Friends Forever by Danielle Steel


12 A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

 
13 I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson


14 Backfire by Catherine Coulter 

 
15 Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness


16 You Don't Want to Know by Lisa Jackson

Friday, August 24, 2012

Gripping Large Print Reads

Burgade's Crossing by Bill Pronzini

John Frederick Quincannon, former United States Secret Service agent, and Sabrina Carpenter, widow of a Pinkerton detective, joined forces to form the firm of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services. Quincannon would like for them to join forces in other, more physical ways, but his partner valiantly resists.

True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman

Bound by blood but divided by troubles as old as Cain and Abel, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were first introduced in Kellerman’s bestselling Bones. They are sons of the same strong-willed mother, and their respective fathers were cops, partners, and friends. Their turbulent family history has set them at odds, despite their shared calling. Moses—part Boy Scout, part bulldog, man of few words—is a no-frills LAPD detective. Aaron, sharp dresser and smooth operator, is an ex-cop turned high-end private eye. Usually they go their separate ways. But the disappearance of Caitlin Frostig isn’t usual. For Moses, it’s an ice-cold mystery he just can’t outrun, even with the help of psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis. For Aaron, it’s a billable-hours bonanza from his most lucrative client. Like it or not, Moses and Aaron are in this one together–and the rivalry that rules them won’t let either man quit till the case is cracked.

A straight-arrow, straight-A student from Malibu, Caitlin has only two men in her life: her sullen single father and her wholesome college sweetheart, who even the battling brothers agree seems too downright upright to be true. Reluctantly tag-teaming in a desperate search for fresh leads, Moses and Aaron zero in on Caitlin’s white knight as their primary “person of interest,” hoping that, like most people in L.A., he has a secret side.

But they uncover more than just a secret as they descend into the sinister, seamy side of the City of Angels after dark, populated by a Hollywood Babylon cast of the glamorous and the damned: a millionaire movie director turned hatemongering eccentric; a desperate Beverly Hills housewife looking for an exit from the fast lane; a heartthrob actor being eaten alive by personal demons; a hooker who’s probably seen it all . . . and might just know too much. And at the center, a dead young woman whose downward spiral and brutal end loom over Moses and Aaron like an omen of what may come to be if the dark end of the street claims another lost soul.


The Litigators by John Grisham

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.
And it is.


Chumley's Gold: a Western Duo by Wayne D. Overholser

An exciting collection features two novels including "High Valley," in which Joe Talbot, who works on the Wagon Wheel ranch, finds life getting very tough and brutal when the ranch owner mysteriously dies, his widow becomes determined to sell out, and outlaws from the valley prepare to wage war on the ranch.

Calico Joe by John Grisham

Whatever happened to Calico Joe?

It began quietly enough with a pulled hamstring. The first baseman for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita went down as he rounded third and headed for home. The next day, Jim Hickman, the first baseman for the Cubs, injured his back. The team suddenly needed someone to play first, so they reached down to their AA club in Midland, Texas, and called up a twenty-one-year-old named Joe Castle. He was the hottest player in AA and creating a buzz.

In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen.  The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his Dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever…

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Like Graphic Novels? Try Manga

Crescent Moon by Haruko Iida
Crescent Moon #1

Mahiru Shiraishi is haunted by images of the Descendent of the Princess in a disturbing recurring dream. There, she meets members of the Lunar Race, a group of vampires, werewolves and vixens who need Mahiru's help to recover their power source that was stolen a thousand years ago in an incident involving the princess. In this howling sci-fi adventure, Mahiru will forge a camaraderie that will determine the fate and of the Lunar Race for all of the dream world!

Alichino by Kouyu Shurei
Alichino #1 

Beautiful creatures called "Alichino" grant any wish to those who find them--but at a price! A young lady searching for an Alichino wants to bring her brother back to life. She meets Tsugiri, a handsome young man who she thinks is an Alichino. While Tsugiri turns out to be a mere mortal, he does have a mysterious connection with these rare creatures--a connection that brings him and those around him grave danger!

Broken Blade by Yunosuke Yoshinaga
Broken Blade #1

Rygart Arrow is the only one in his world who lacks the inherent ability to power up quartz, the energy source that makes all of the machines run. Good thing the King and Queen of his country of Krisna happen to be old college friends! But so is Zess, the leader of the army of mechs invading Krisna. As usual, Arrow feels useless in the face of battle, until he comes across a powerful, ancient battle suit that no one else can run. His natural affinity for the suit's operating mechanism may just turn Arrow into the most important player of all.

Fushigi Yugi, the Mysterious Play: Priestess

Miaka Yuki is suddenly spirited into the world of a book, The Universe of the Four Gods. There she becomes the preistess of the god Suzaku, and is charged with finding all seven of her Celestial Warrior protectors.

Higurashi When They Cry: Curse Killing Arc by Ryukishi07
Higurashi When They Cry #1

The dark mysteries of Hinamizawa village unfold anew in the Curse Killing Arc! After a short trip to the city, Keiichi Maebara returns to the small mountain hamlet where he is welcomed with a fresh batch of pranks from Satoko and the rest of his school friends. Satoko may be the youngest of the group, but she always puts on the biggest smile. Who knew her upbeat attitude masked a terrible tragedy - a year ago her older brother, her only family, vanished without a trace. Keiichi's glad to step in and act as her big brother figure, but he can't shake the nagging questions about her real brother's disappearance. Transfer student? Teenage runaway? Or could it be...Oyashiro-sama's curse?

Monday, August 20, 2012

New DVDs: Movie Madness Monday

Clarissa (Volume One and Two)
Clarissa Harlowe is a young 18th-century Englishwoman. Her family have aspirations to move into the aristocracy and want her to marry the repellent Mr Soames as part of their plan. Clarissa manages to escape from them with the help of the handsome Lovelace, whose intentions towards her prove to be less than entirely honourable. 

After Dark Horrorfest III  
It includes eight of the most scream worthy films such as Autopsy, Slaughter, The Broken, The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations, Perkins, Voices, Dying Breed and From Within.

Collateral Damage
After his family is killed by a terrorist act, a firefighter goes in search of the one responsible. 

Eraser
A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons. 

Over the Top
Lincoln Hawk is a struggling trucker who's trying to rebuild his life. After the death of his wife, he tries to make amends with his son who he left behind years earlier. Upon their first meeting, his son doesn't think too highly of him until he enters the nation-wide arm wrestling competition in Las Vegas.

Homegrown
Life is good for Jack, Carter and Harlan, three inept ne'r-do-wells who help run master dope-grower Malcoms flourishing marijuana plantation somewhere in northern California. But then Malcom is suddenly bumped off by a mysterious assailant, after a moment of panic, the naive trio decide to take over the business themselves. However, their lazy days on the dope farm have ill prepared them for the high-stakes game of finding buyers for millions of dollars of contraband. As they plunge into a shadowy new world of duplicity, double-dealing and danger, they soon find that they have gotten in way, way over their heads. But driven on by increasing greed and paranoia, it's too late to back out. 

I'm All Right Jack  A naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labour union. 

Druids
In 60 B. C., Vercingetorix is a strong, peaceful Gallic chieftain with a legacy to protect his fellow Druids on the Celtic Isles. But when Julius Caesar and his Roman army declare war, Vercingetorix has no choice but to fight. Reunited with his childhood love and armed with little more than raw courage, Vercingetorix unites his people and prepares them for the battle of their lives.

Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King  Dark Kingdom: the Dragon King tells the tale of the orphaned prince, Siegfried, who learns his true identity and must regain his lost kingdom and battle a terrible dragon protecting an ancient and evil ring. A huge hit on German television, Dark Kingdom uses lavish effects and fine acting to conjure a fantastical Nordic world of warriors, dragons, Valkyries, princesses, heroism, and danger

Once Upon a Texas Train (Western)
Captain Hayes of the mighty law enforcement squad named the Texas Rangers reached the pinnacle of his career when he captured the notorious John Henry, an outlaw cowboy, and put him behind bars. Twenty years later, upon his release, Henry is older but unrepentant. Within six hours after leaving his jail cell, he evens the score with Hayes by holding up the Bank of Texas for $20,000 in gold. Hayes, in his fury, gets himself out of retirement to take up the chase once more.

Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire 
Operation Delta Force II: Mayday director Yossi Wein makes his return to the franchise with this fifth installment of the action series. This time around, the elite task force is assigned to handle a Middle-Eastern terrorist mastermind who is using mind-control techniques to create an army of willing suicide bombers. It's a race against time to prevent any more death and destruction, but when the bad guy gets his malevolent paws on soldiers from the Delta Force, the stakes get even higher.   

The Cheyenne Social Club & Firecreek (Western)
In Firecreek, Henry Fonda plays an outlaw preying on small towns, and James Stewart is the jittery, $2-a-month part-time lawman who must find the courage to stop him. This will be some showdown!

The Cheyenne Social Club casts them as saddle-weary Texans who, surprised to find they've inherited a Wyoming bawdy house, feel honor-bound to defend it against a gun-wielding gang. Gene Kelly produces and directs this mix of fun and Western action.
 
Hombre & Broken Arrow 
Martin Ritt's HOMBRE is based on a novel by Hollywood favorite Elmore Leonard. Paul Newman stars as John Russell, a white man raised by Apaches. When his last living relative dies, Russell inherits property that he decides to sell to a man in a neighboring town. So, Russell gets a ride on a stagecoach, along with seven other white passengers, to make the sale. However, when Russell's Apache heritage is discovered, the other passengers force him to ride on top of the coach. Along the way, the coach is raided by thieves who steal its horses and a substantial amount of money from one of the passengers, named Favor. Russell is able to get the money back from the thieves, but Favor's wife has been taken hostage and, robbed of their horses, the passengers are stranded. Russell is indifferent to the fate of Favor's wife, but the group cannot argue because he is the only one among them who knows the way home. Chased by the thieves for the money they still have, the group has to make a stand at an abandoned mine where they call on Russell to save Favor's wife.

Broken Arrow: An interesting depiction of relations with the Indians in the frontier West that focuses on the relationship between cavalry scout Stewart and Apache chief Cochise (Chandler). The scout's attempts to head off an Indian war are complicated by his love affair with an Indian woman.   

Teen Witch & the Heavenly Kid
Teen Witch -- Louise is not very popular at her highschool. Then she learns that she's descended from the witches of Salem and has inherited their powers.

Heavenly Kid --  When Bobby dies in a car accident he is not allowed to enter heaven but has to stay in one of the lower levels until he has worked enough as an guardian angel in order to deserve paradise.

Agatha Christie: Marple Collection
Return to post-war England for mystery and a cup of tea with Agatha Christie's most popular creation. The consummate prim and proper crime-fighting spinster, Miss Jane Marple sets down her knitting needles to unwind the most ingenious crimes. As she travels from city to countryside and even the Bahamas, murders, missing bodies and haunted dreams have a habit of falling across Miss Marple's path - which is precisely when, "tail up and head down," the beloved aunt and godmother goes into action.

Note: Our movie collection is available due to patron donations. If you would like to donate to the collection, we would greatly appreciate it.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

New York Times Best Seller List (8/19/2012)

Note: Titles highlighted in BLUE are currently available for checkout.
Titles highlighted in RED have been ordered and will be available for checkout soon.


FICTION BEST SELLERS


1 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

2
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

3 Where We Belong by Emily Griffin

4 Friends Forever by Danielle Steel


5
Black List by Brad Thor
 
6 The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva


7 The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman


8 I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson

 
9 Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

 
10 A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

11 Broken Harbor by Tana French


12 Creole Belle by James Lee Burke

 
13 Haven by Kay Hooper


14 Backfire by Catherine Coulter 

 
15 The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian


16 Judgment Call by J.A. Jance

Friday, August 17, 2012

Too Busy to Read? Try an Audiobook

11th Hour by James Patterson

Your best friend
Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last But her work doesn't slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down, she discovers that the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco's most untouchable criminals. And it was taken from her own department's evidence locker. 


Anyone could be the killer--even her closest friends.
Or a vicious killer? 


Lindsay is called next to the most bizarre crime scene she's ever seen: two bodiless heads elaborately displayed in the garden of a world-famous actor. Another head is unearthed in the garden, and Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims. 


You won't know until the 11th hour.
A reporter launches a series of vicious articles about the cases and Lindsay's personal life is laid bare. But this time she has no one to turn to--especially not Joe.


Dangerous Ground by Larry Bond

The US submarine Memphis should have been mothballed decades ago. Instead, she is charged with one last, secret mission: to locate leaking containers of Russian nuclear fuel on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major cities. 

Lead by the Bligh-like commander Lowell Hardy, the Memphis' crew deals with flaring tempers, faulty machinery, raging Arctic Seas, and their newest crewmate, Jerry Mitchell. Mitchell was a naval pilot whose career ended with an unfortunate accident. Politics got him assigned to the Memphis as a weapons' officer. Now his novice skills may very well be the ship's greatest liability.


Making matters worse, the President has appointed two civilian scientists to lead the mission. Dr. Joanna Patterson and Dr. Emily Davis soon find out that no matter how much power the president has granted them, this is still Hardy's ship.


Nor is this mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine---a secret so menacing the Russian fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.


Deep Black: Payback by Stephen Coonts

RECRUITED:
A crack team of cover agents.
Word is out to ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean and his team of the National Security Agency: Infiltrate the highest stratum of Peruvian political power and derail a renegade general from acing an election. All Dean has to do is find a way inside an impenetrable bank vault protected by armed guards round the clock–it’s all in a day’s work for the men and women of Deep Black.

ENGAGED:
A violent political coup
But things get complicated when Dean and company discover the renegade general’s second plot. The military madman’s ruse—a nuclear weapon he claims is in the hands of Marxist guerillas, a bomb that only he can rescue…and control.

IGNITED:
A devastating terrorist plot.
When the general and his plot are exposed, the NSA concludes the greatest threat is over. But in fact, it’s only just beginning…


The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection

Universally acclaimed as the maestro of horror and the morbid, Edgar Allan Poe's dark gift has for more than a century and a half set the standard for the genre.

Now, Caedmon Audio presents a classic collection of Poe's most terrifying tales performed by two of the most brilliant interpreters of his work ever to be recorded: Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone.

Between them, they perform 20 of Poe's chilling stories and poems, creating an unforgettably intense listening experience.

Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn

The latest pulse-pounding thriller by #1 "New York Times" bestselling phenomenon Vince Flynn explodes onto the scene with a deadly and charismatic hero fans will cheer for all the way to the last riveting page.
Vince Flynn's thrillers, featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, have dominated the imagination of readers everywhere. Time and again, Flynn has captured the secretive world of the fearless men and women, who, bound by duty, risk their lives in a covert war they must hide from even their own political leaders.

Now, with Rapp away on assignment in Pakistan, CIA Director Irene Kennedy turns to his protegee Mike Nash. Nash has served his government honorably for sixteen years -- first as an officer in the Marine Corps and then as an operative in an elite counterterrorism team run by none other than Mitch Rapp. He has met violence with extreme violence and has never wavered in his fight against the jihads and their culture of death.

Nash has fought the war on terrorism in secret without accolades or acknowledgement of his personal sacrifice. He has been forced to lie to virtually every single person he cares about, including his wife and children, but he has soldiered on with the knowledge that his hard work and lethal tactics has saved thousands of lives. But the one thing he never saw coming was that his own government was about to turn on him.


The First Rule by Robert Crais

The Watchman put Joe Pike, Elvis Cole's strong, taciturn partner, front and center, and not only won Robert Crais new audiences but remarkable reviews. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said "Robert Crais elevates crime fiction" and now with The First Rule he does it again.

The organized criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are bound by what they call the thieves' code. The first rule is this: A thief must forsake his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He must have no family-no wife, no children. We are his family. If any of the rules are broken, it is punishable by death.

Frank Meyer had the American dream-until the day a professional crew invaded his home and murdered everyone inside. The only thing out of the ordinary about Meyer was that- before the family and the business and the normal life-a younger Frank Meyer had worked as a professional mercenary, with a man named Joe Pike. The police think Meyer was hiding something very bad, but Pike does not. With the help of Cole, he sets out on a hunt of his own-an investigation that quickly entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cutthroat criminal­ity, and at the heart of it, an act so terrible even Pike and Cole have no way to measure it. Sometimes, the past is never dead. It's not even past.
 

Hard Truth by Nevada Barr

Just three days after her wedding to Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon moves from Mississippi to Colorado to assume her new post as district ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, where three young girls have disappeared during a religious retreat. Two of the children emerge a month later, clad only in filthy underwear and claiming to remember nothing of the intervening weeks. The girls are traumatized but forge a bond with the pair of campers who discovered them - a wheelchair-bound paraplegic and her elderly aunt.

With the reappearance of the children comes an odd and unsettling presence in the park, a sense of disembodied evil and unspeakable terror: small animals are mercilessly slaughtered and a sinister force seems to still control the girls. As Anna investigates, she finds herself caught up in the machinations of a paranoid religious sect determined to keep their secrets and the girls sequestered from law enforcement and psychiatric help.

Following the trails of the many suspects, especially that of the cult's intense youth group leader, Anna discovers the force which has destroyed the children's minds. Here in the park, evil has the eyes of a visionary and the soul of the devil. Anna will discover the truth-even if it kills her.


The Hard Way by Lee Child

In Lee Child’s astonishing new thriller, ex–military cop Reacher sees more than most people would...and because of that, he’s thrust into an explosive situation that’s about to blow up in his face. For the only way to find the truth—and save two innocent lives—is to do it the way Jack Reacher does it best: the hard way….

Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money. And Edward Lane, the man who paid it, will pay even more to get his family back. Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any amount of money and any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. And then he’ll turn Jack Reacher loose with a vengeance—because Reacher is the best man hunter in the world.

On the trail of a vicious kidnapper, Reacher is learning the chilling secrets of his employer’s past…and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He’s beginning to realize that Edward Lane is hiding something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: he’s already in way too deep to stop now.



Murder List by Julie Garwood

There are few authors who can weave nail-biting thrills, edge-of-your-seat drama, and romantic suspense as masterfully as Julie Garwood. Now she ratchets up the tension with Murder List, in which evil is on the hunt– and proves to be methodically organized and chillingly successful.

When Chicago detective Alec Buchanan is offered a prime position with the FBI, it is the perfect opportunity to leave the Windy City and follow in his brothers’ footsteps to the top echelons of law enforcement. But first he must complete one last assignment (and one that he is not too happy about): acting as a glorified bodyguard to hotel heiress Regan Hamilton Madison. The gorgeous exec has become entangled in some potentially deadly business. Someone has e-mailed her a graphic crime-scene photo–and the victim is no stranger.

Regan suspects that the trouble started when she agreed to help a journalist friend expose a shady self-help guru who preys on lonely, vulnerable women. In fact, the smooth-as-an-oil-slick Dr. Lawrence Shields may be responsible for the death of one of his devotees, which was ruled a suicide. Hoping to find some damning evidence, Regan attends a Shields seminar.

At the gathering, the doctor persuades his guests to partake in an innocent little “cleansing” exercise. He asks them to make a list of the people who have hurt or deceived them over the years, posing the question: Would your world be a better place if these people ceased to exist? Treating the exercise as a game, Regan plays along. After ten minutes, Shields instructs the participants to bring their sheets of paper to the fireplace and throw them into the flames. But Regan misses this part of the program when she exits the room to take a call–and barely escapes a menacing individual in the parking lot.

The experience is all but forgotten–until the first person on Regan’s list turns up dead. Shock turns to horror when other bodies from the list start to surface, as a harrowing tango of desire and death is set into motion. Now brutal murders seem to stalk her every move–and a growing attraction to Alec may compromise her safety, while stirring up tender emotions she thought she could no longer feel. Yet as the danger intensifies and a serial killer circles ever closer, Regan must discover who has turned her private revenge fantasies into grisly reality.


You've Been Warned by James Patterson

Kristin Burns is making her way in New York City. Her photos are being considered at a major Manhattan gallery, she works by day with two wonderful children, and the man of her dreams is almost hers for keeps. But just as everything she's ever wanted is finally within reach, her life changes forever--with one murderous nightmare.

Kristin wakes up every morning from the same chilling, unforgettable dream. And suddenly, it's visiting her during the day too. As her life turns stranger by the minute, Kristin is haunted and terrified. Is it all in her head? Or is the nightmare becoming her life?

Kristin searches desperately for what's real through the lens of her camera, only knowing two things for sure: that no place is safe and the fate of everyone she loves lies in her hands.


Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen

Rachel Kirby is a computer genius whose personal life is hell. While she continues to climb the corporate ranks, her beloved twin sister is plagued by a chronic illness that will eventually kill her, leaving Rachel all alone.

Serendipity in the form of a mysterious email lands in Rachel’s lap one day, but not without a price. Thousands of miles away, archeologist John Tanek sits trapped inside a collapsed Egyptian tomb with a functioning laptop. He knows that Rachel is the only person who can help him, but time is quickly running out. It turns out the collapse was no accident. John has discovered something very valuable in that tomb, something that humankind has been searching for throughout history, something that Rachel could use as it may hold the key to her sister’s cure. While Rachel orchestrates his rescue, she soon finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of deceit and murder. Can she put her trust in John Tanek? She’d do anything to save her sister. Will they both live long enough to unravel the ancient mystery they’ve found inside the tomb?


The Sky-Crasher by L. Ron Hubbard

Riviting historical account of daredevils, pilots and brutal madmen. Caution Jones is a second-generation ace pilot desperately trying to bury his past and the memories of his father— a daredevil barnstormer who perished trying to wow crowds and killed Caution's mother from the shock.Now Caution has worked his way up the ladder as an ultra-efficient, ultra-conservative general manager of a small airline struggling to make ends meet. 

When the US Post Office puts its international delivery service up for grabs to the first airline that can successfully circumnavigate the globe and outperform every other airline, Caution's boss presses him into competing for the contract.

High Country by Nevada Barr

It's fall in the Sierra Mountains, and Anna Pigeon is slinging hash in Yosemite National Park's historic Ahwahnee Hotel. Four young people, all seasonal park employees, have disappeared, and two weeks of work by crack search-and-rescue teams have failed to turn up a single clue; investigators are unsure as to whether the four went AWOL for reasons of their own-or died in the park. Needing an out-of-park ranger to work undercover, Anna is detailed to dining-room duty; but after a week of waiting tables, she knows the missing employees are only the first indications of a sickness threatening the park.

Her twenty-something roommates give up their party-girl ways and panic; her new restaurant colleagues regard her with suspicion and fear. But when Anna's life is threatened and her temporary supervisor turns a deaf ear, she follows the scent of evil, taking a solo hike up a snowy trial to the high country, seeking answers. What waits for her is a nightmare of death and greed-and perhaps her final adventure.


The Messenger by Daniel Silva

Gabriel Allon, art restorer and spy, has been widely acclaimed as one of the most fascinating characters in the genre and now he is about to face the greatest challenge of his life.

Allon is recovering from a grueling showdown with a Palestinian master terrorist, when a figure from his past arrives in Jerusalem. Monsignor Luigi Donati is the private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII, and a man as ruthless as he is intelligent. Now, however, he has come to seek Allon's help. A young Swiss guard has been found dead in St. Peter's Basilica, and although Donati has allowed the official inquiry to determine that it is suicide, his instinct tells him that it is murder-and that his master is in grave danger. He has trusted Allon in the past, and he is the only man he trusts now.

Allon reluctantly agrees to get involved, but once he begins to investigate he concludes that Donati has every right to be concerned, as, following the trail from the heart of the Vatican to the valleys of Switzerland and beyond, he slowly unravels a conspiracy of lies and deception. An extraordinary enemy walks among them, with but one goal: the most spectacular assassination ever attempted.