All I Have In This World by Michael Parker

They come together in Texas.  Both are searching, lost in their lives and hoping to find a way to a better place.  Maria has been fleeing a personal tragedy for years, drifting from town to town, job to job.  She has returned home to see if she can find out why she left and if there is anything left for her here.  Marcus has fled from North Carolina, where bad business decisions have left him penniless and desperate to find a new life.

They meet on a used car lot in West Texas.  Each is drawn to the same car, a sky-blue twenty-year old Buick Electra.  Impulsively, to prevent bidding each other up, they agree to buy the car together and share it.  Neither is sure if this arrangement will work but somehow it feels right.  Over the next few days, they form an alliance that helps each of them work through their personal issues and start to see the way forward to a new chapter in their lives.

Michael Parker writes novels that draw the reader in.  Usually they don't have big dramatic events but rather an accumulation of many small details that build a picture.  The writing seems easy and effortless, but each word is carefully chosen to take the reader further along on the journey.  Maria and Marcus's stories lead one to consider how we react to tragedies and the nature of forgiveness and moving on.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera

This novel opens with a scene between a young Brazilian man and his father, days before his father's death.  After his father dies, the man is adrift and at loose ends.  He has quarreled with his only brother.  His father told him a strange story about his grandfather.  He said the grandfather was an irritable man who people were afraid of.  He had gone to the seaside town of Garopaba to live but was feared and despised by the townspeople.  HIs father said his grandfather was killed one night at a dance, but no body was ever found.

The man decides to move to Garopaba himself to try to find out what really happened to his grandfather.  He is the exact image of his grandfather except for a beard, so he lets his grow out.  He is an athlete who has trained and participated in marathons.  He likes training people in running and swimming so living by the sea is perfect for him.  He takes his father's dog, Beta, and settles in, finding work as a swimming instructor.  The man has a neurological disease that prevents him from recognizing faces.  This issue makes his task even more difficult.

As the months pass, he makes friends in the town and falls in love.  He tries to determine what has happened to his grandfather, but no one is willing to talk about it or even acknowledge that the man ever lived there.  Will he be successful in his quest to determine the truth about his grandfather's life?

Daniel Galera is considered one of the best young Brazilian writers and was chosen by Granta as such in 2013.  The book was awarded the 2013 San Paulo Literature Prize.  The tone is unusual; it is languid but then incredible events occur.  It explores the themes of memory, of family ties and of forgiveness.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Booksie's Shelves, May 29, 2015

Memorial Day weekend is past and summer is officially started!  I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing time.  I spent mine in Raleigh shepherding two teenagers to an anime con.  There was perfect weather and I got three books finished!  Summer is starting out wonderfully for me.  I just found out this morning that my favorite author, Salman Rushdie, is releasing a new novel in September.  I can't wait!  In the meantime, here's what's come through the door:

1.  Midnight, Kevin Egan, mystery, purchased
2.  The Devil In The Marshalsea, Antonia Hodgson, historical mystery, purchased
3.  Tales Of A Hampton Sailor, NickCatalano, anthology, sent by publisher
4.  Paris Time Capsule, Ella Carey, literary fiction, sent by author
5.  The Angel In My Pocket, Sukey Forbes, memoir, sent by publisher
6.  The Library At Mount Char, Scott Hawkins, suspense, sent by publisher
7.  Tales Of The Zodiac: The Goat's Tale, P.J. Hetherhouse, fantasy, sent by author
8.  Center Of Gravity, Laura McNeill, literary fiction, sent by publisher
9.  Little Woman In Blue, Jeannine Atkins, historical fiction, sent by publisher
10.  Manhattan Mayhem, edited by Mary Higgins Clark, anthology, sent by publisher
11.  Let Me Die In His Footsteps, Lori Roy, suspense, sent by publisher
12.  Thank You, Goodnight, Andy Abramowitz, literary fiction, sent by publisher
13.  The Missing And The Dead, Stuart MacBride, mystery, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Innovators, Walter Issacson, Kindle
2.  A Dance For Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardback
4.  Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas, hardback
5.  Blood Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff,  paperback
6.  The Orchid Affair, Lauren Willig, hardback
7. Michael Jordan, A Life, Roland Lazenby, hardback
8.  Mystery Walk, Robert McCammon, Kindle Fire
9.  Enchantress, James Maxwell, audio
10.  Blood-Drenched Beard, Daniel Galera, paperback
11.  Meet Me In Atlantis, Mark Adams, paperback

  Happy Reading!

The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter

The year is 1937.  William Avery has found himself in India in the Army, sent there by a poor relationship with his father and his fascination with the novels of Xavier Mountstaurt who writes of the romance of the continent.  But India is not what he expected.  It is hot and dirty and crowded and it seems that not much is the same as the stories he read predicted. 

Then the rumors start to mount.  Xavier has gone missing; he hasn't been seen or heard from in months.  He was working on his epic; a book about the Thuggee cult, that murderous group who delighted in killing travelers and dedicating their bloody deeds to Kali.  Has Mountstaurt been captured or killed by the Thuggees?  Is he lost, wandering through the endless jungle terrain with its strangler vines? 

Through a series of events, Avery is chosen to accompany the Company's man, Jeremiah Blake, in a small group formed to try to find Mountstuart.  Avery is appalled the more he is around Blake, who is the antithesis of everything he expects a Company man to be.  Blake seldom speaks, at least to Avery, although he holds long conversations with their Indian guides.  He dresses in native costume and seems to prefer speaking the local dialects.  What little conversation they have shows Avery that Blake is not impressed with him considers Avery to be little more than a catspaw of the military and Company.

Along their journey, the pair see much of India.  There are strange foods and customs.  They visit a compound in the heart of Thuggee territory and hear what the commander there is doing to crush the cult.  They visit the court of a Rajah and go on a tiger hunt.  As they travel, they hear many rumors about their quarry, but can't seem to find him.  Have they been sent on an impossible mission?

M.J. Carter has written a superb book, full of adventure and meticulously researched.  The reader is transported to India and discovers its magic and mystery along with Lt. Avery.  The truth of the mission and country are slowly revealed as the quest unfolds.  This book was longlisted for the 2014 Bailey's Women's Prize For Fiction and was a finalist for the CWA John Creasy Dagger Award.  It is recommended for readers of historical fiction. 

LA Rotten by Jeff Klima

Few would envy Tom Tanner.  Fresh from prison where he served time for killing someone in a car accident when drunk, he has been harried from low-level job to low-level job by the victim's survivors.  He has picked up a heroin habit in prison.  Now he spends his days in one of the worst jobs imaginable.  Tanner works for a company that cleans up after death and spends his days and nights sanitizing rooms after murders, suicides and other deaths.

He probably sees more of the deaths in LA than anyone else, even the police or the coroner's office.  The police have specific territories but Tanner works all over the city.  This being true, he is the first to notice a pattern.  An inordinate number of deaths are happening in a low-rent motel chain with businesses all over the city; deaths that always occur in room 236.  Tom doesn't tell the police once he notices; the police are the last people he wants in his life.  He does tell a dancer from a strip club he has been seeing and together they start to investigate the crimes.

Soon, their investigation is successful, and they almost catch the killer at his next site.  However, the killer gets away, and even worse, identifies Tom.  He starts to play a cat-and-mouse scheme with Tanner, calling and writing him to let Tanner know the killer is watching him and biding his time.  Who will win, the killer or Tom and Ivy?

Jeff Klima has created an interesting character in Tanner and the book is fast-paced and compelling.  The reader can't help but be drawn to Tanner even as they are repulsed by him.  Warning for readers:  this book contains graphic violence and sex scenes.  It is a prime example of modern day noir.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Love Is Red by Sophie Jaff

New York City is panicked.  A serial killer is stalking the city's women, killing them so horribly that he's been given the nickname The Sickle Man.  His killings appear random but in reality he is just practicing for the time he will capture and kill the one that drives him, the one he desires above all else.

Katherine Emerson is that one.  Of course, she doesn't know that and continues living her life, free-lancing and doing temp work.  She is also searching for someone; the person she'll love and end up with for life.  She thinks she has found him in David, a new man who seems perfect for her.  Or at least he seems perfect until she meets his best friend, Sael,  Which man will win her heart?

Katherine is torn between the two men, and is also starting to panic about the killer.  She is starting to have visions, and the four-year-old son of her roommate is also having them.  What do they mean?  Is something supernatural impacting the child, giving her warnings through him? 

Sophie Jaff has written a compelling mystery that keeps the reader on the edge of the chair.  There are lots of twists and turns the reader doesn't see coming, but nothing is as surprising as the true nature of the killer.  This is a debut novel and Jaff will attract lots of readers who will wait for her next novel as well.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Book Of Life by Deborah Harkness

In this concluding book of the trilogy, Diana Bishop and Matthew De Claremont have returned to the present from the past. Diana is pregnant with twins although that shouldn't be possible. For Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire and such an unlikely pairing should not be able to reproduce.

But there are bigger issues. Matthew decides to break away from the De Claremont family and start a branch of his own. He is fighting to control his own illness, the blood rage that afflicts some vampires. Worst of all, his son Benjamin has declared war on the family and is killing anyone Matthew holds dear.  Matthew knows Benjamin's goal is to capture and kill Diana.

But Matthew and Diana are not without weapons. Diana has one of the lost pages from the legendary Book Of Life. If they can locate the book, they might have the key to defeat their enemies and overcome the stigma of two different species mating. With a support team made of scientists, witches and vampires they set out on their quest to find the book.

Harmless has written a satisfactory conclusion to her series. Fans will enjoy returning to Matthew and Diana's world and will cheer them on. Then author treads the fine line that separates fantasy from farce and makes her world and the fantastical events believable. This book is recommended for readers of fantasy and paranormal books.

BIG NEWS!  The Book Of Life has just been released in paperback.  To celebrate, the publisher has some great giveaway items!  You can enter to win a boxed set of the trilogy, a mirror or the six buttons shown below.  Just comment on this post with your email and which of the prizes you'd like (you can enter for one or all).  I'll choose the three winners on May 29th by random draw.   I'll notify the winner for addresses and great stuff will come in the mail!  Winners have three days to respond.  Good luck!

Huntress Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on the street in San Francisco walking to a meeting with an undercover agent when he sees her.  The woman is striking; blonde, muscular, dressed to impress in black with a high-necked turtleneck top.  She notices him also and their eyes lock.  A minute later, she is gone and his agent is lying dead in the street.  Did she kill him?

Roarke can't forget her and starts an investigation into his undercover agent's death.  Soon he has found other cases of male murders where a woman in a turtleneck was nearby, sometimes listed as a witness, sometimes a suspect.  He begins to believe that the woman is a killer who has been operating for many years.  What drives her?  Roarke spent years in the FBI profiling section and knows that female killers just don't exist.  Has he found the first?

Meantime, she is on the run.  She knows how to disappear as she has lived off the radar for years.  As she searches for cover, she finds refuge with a family.  A family like she will never have.  A family like she has yearned for.  Will they bring her peace or are they in deadly danger?

Alexander Sokoloff has written a suspense novel that will have readers on the edge of their chairs.  The menacing atmosphere is done extremely well, and the pacing is fast, pacing the reader quickly through the story.  This book is the first of a series, of which three novels have been released.  It was a Suspense Magazine Pick for Best Thriller of 2012 and an ITW Thriller Award Nominee for Best ebook Original Novel.  The reader will turn the last page eager to read the next in the series.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Disclaimer by Renee Knight

Catherine Ravenscroft has a secret.  She has kept it hidden for decades and by now she can tell herself it never mattered anyhow.  She has a great job at which she excels, a successful marriage and a family.  She and her husband have just downsized after their son is out on his own.  Of course, it's not the job Catherine would have chosen for him and they had worried about whether he was doing as well as some of his peers, but all in all, everything is great.

But Catherine has an enemy she didn't know existed.  She discovers this when a novel is sent to her house and she picks it up and starts to read it.  There is the usual disclaimer at the beginning that no one in the book is based on real characters, but the disclaimer is a lie.  The book is the story of Catherine's secret, the one she thought no one else knew.  Now it is in print for anyone to read and put the pieces together to identify her.  Catherine is made ill by the situation, and must now hide not only her secret but her reaction to it.

But her enemy is not done.  He is determined to destroy Catherine and soon the secret is affecting every aspect of her life.  Her marriage, her relationship with her son, her work are all affected.  Is there anything she can do, or must she sit quietly and watch her life being destroyed?

This suspense novel works.  The structure is perfect for the gradual revealing of the mystery.  It moves back and forth between the past when the secret occurred, the recent past and the present when the secret starts to unravel.  As the time periods move closer, the suspense is ratcheted up a notch, over and over and over.  The twists and turns and gradual revealings are full of surprises for the reader and they question if what they know is the truth, or if like a kaleidoscope, a shake reveals a totally different picture.  The author works for the BBC writing scripts for various projects and her expertise is evident throughout.  This book is recommended for mystery and suspense readers.

Killer, Come Hither by Louis Begley

Jack Dana is a war hero, a Marine infantry officer who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  He is severely wounded and spends months in the hospital in recuperation.  While there, he writes a novel based on his experiences.  Out of the hospital, he rejoins his uncle Harry, who raised him.  Harry, who is a partner in an influential Manhattan law firm, uses his connections to get Jack in contact with publishers and his novel is published.  It becomes a huge hit and Jack quickly starts work on a second.  When it is also published and successful, Dana decides it is time for a vacation and heads to the remote areas of South America for several months.

He returns to a shock.  His uncle, Harry, is dead, a suicide.  Jack can't believe it.  Harry had shown no signs of anything wrong when Jack left.  He starts to look into the death and soon comes to believe that it is not suicide.  With the help of two of the firm's other lawyers, his best friend who works for the CIA, and several of Harry's oldest friends, Jack uncovers a plot that reaches across the country and will have major implications when revealed.  By doing so, he brings attention and danger to himself.  Can Jack find justice for Harry without being killed himself?

Louis Begley has written a mystery that shows life among the moneyed and influential.  Dana is a sympathetic character, a hero who is willing to continue to fight for justice.  The reader will be transported to the Cape, Manhattan and South America while the story unfolds.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Booksie's Shelves, May 15, 2015

Things are winding down on my hectic schedule with my daughter.  Dance is over for the year this weekend, and school is done for the year next week. Only two more days to get up early!  One of my favorite times to read is when I wake up in the morning and don't have to get up immediately, but can take my time and read for an hour or so.  On to summer and relaxed days with lots of reading!  Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  High Country Nocturne, Jon Talton, mystery, sent by publisher
2.  The Handless Maiden, Dorothy Black Crow, mystery, sent by author
3.  The Kindness, Polly Sampson, literary fiction, sent by publisher
4.  Pilgrim Wheels, Neil Hanson, travel, sent by publisher
5.  Church Of Marvels, Leslie Parry, literary fiction, sent by publisher
6.  The Harvest Man, Alex Grecian, mystery, sent by publisher
7.  Love Is Red, Sophie Jaff, mystery, sent for book tour
8.  Disclaimer, Renee Knight, mystery, sent for book tour
9.  Seveneves, Neal Stephenson, fantasy, sent by publisher
10.  The Jesus Cow, Michael Perry, literary fiction, sent for book tour
11.  A Deadly Wandering, Matt Richtel, nonfiction, sent for book tour

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Innovators, Walter Issacson, Kindle
2.  Disclaimer, Renee Knight, hardback
3.  A Dance For Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardback
4.  Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas, hardback
5.  Huntress Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff,  paperback
6.  Killer, Come Hither, Louis Begley, paperback
7.  LA Rotten, Jeff Klima, Kindle
8.  All I Have In This World, Michael Parker, paperback
9. The Strangler Vine, MJ Carter, Kindle Fire
10.  The Orchid Affair, Lauren Willig, hardback
11. Michael Jordan, A Life, Roland Lazenby, hardback
12.  Rescue, Anita Shreve, hardback

 Happy Reading!

Blood Ties by Nicholas Guild

A vicious serial killer is stalking the women of San Francisco.  His main motivation seems to be inflicting the maximum amount of pain and suffering before their death.  The SFPD has tied together four murders, with different methods and victim types but enough community in their type to be identified as the work of the same killer.  He doesn't leave clues and he isn't the typical sloppy killer.

Ellen Ridley, a young homicide detective, is put in charge of the case along with her mentor and partner, Sam.  After lots of investigative legwork, they have a suspect.  Stephen Tregear is a brilliant computer coder who works in security for the U.S. Naval Intelligence agency.  He is considered a high security asset and, although a civilian under contract, is monitored and protected by the military.  Can such a man be their killer?

After meeting with the suspect and some DNA evidence, Tregear's fantastic story seems to be true.  The killer is not Tregear but his father, Walter.  Stephen hasn't seen Walter since he was twelve.  That was the night Stephen discovered a woman's body in their garage after his father had gone to bed.  Stephen ran away that night and never looked back.  His intelligence and mathematical ability had rescued him and given him a life, but his purpose has always been the same: to find Walter and bring him to justice.  Walter wants to find Stephen also, but to kill the only person who got the best of him.

Stephen, Ellen and Sam team up to discover Walter's location and hopefully bring him in.  Stephen has investigated Walter over the years and suspects that Walter's death toll may exceed a hundred victims.  Can the team find their target before he finds and kills them?

Nicolas Guild has written one of the freshest, most suspenseful mysteries I've read in quite some time.  The tension between Stephen and Walter, each intent on finding and destroying the other, mounts steadily.  The tie between the two is also explored as Guild digs into the levels of familial connection and love.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Abduction Of Smith And Smith

The United States is in chaos as the Civil War ends.  State has fought against state and an entire generation of men have either died or returned home, changed forever.  Jupiter Smith is a former slave who fights for the North.  He returns to the plantation where he grew up, only to find his wife gone.  The rumor is she has gone to San Francisco to wait for him.  Archer Smith is the plantation owner's son and heir and fought for the South.  He returns home, gravely injured, to find his father dead, murdered it's said, by Jupiter.  He also heads for San Francisco to find the man who killed his father and to kill him in turn.

San Francisco is full of men and immigrants all striving for a successful life and most are ready to do anything to carve out that life.  Jupiter takes a job shanghai'ing men to become crew on sailing ships; forcing them into coerced labor that is not much different than the life he endured as a slave.  He spends his time searching for Sonya, his wife.  Just when he gets a lead on her, he is in turn captured and forced into labor on a ship.  Captured along with him is Archer, and the two men must now work out their issues in a life full of labor and dependence on each other.  Complicating the issues is the fact that Jupiter and Archer are brothers, born from the same father but different mothers.  They have a familial bond that has turned to hatred, but they must stick together in order to survive this new life.

Rashad Harrison has written one of the most original, stirring stories I've read in months.  It is full of opium, gun running, piracy, the politics of the Chinese empire, slavery, forced servitude of women, mutiny and many other issues.  The reader is taken through an ever-changing landscape of twists and turns that has their loyalty switching as often as the plot changes.  He explores the issues of the brotherhood bond, and the thorny issue of how one can be honest in an environment where honesty is seen as a weakness and where cunning and the willingness to do anything to survive is paramount.  This book is recommended for readers of both literary and historical fiction.

Flesh And Blood by Patricia Cornwell

It's Doctor Kay Scarpetta's birthday and her new husband, FBI Agent Benton Wesley, has rented a place in Florida for them to have a much-needed vacation.  As Kay drinks her coffee outside, she finds something strange on the wall.  Seven copper pennies are lined up, polished to be as bright as the day they were minted even though the date on them is 1981.  Within minutes, Kay gets a call that puts her vacation on hold.  Someone has shot a local music teacher in his driveway and he is dead.  As head of the Medical Examiner's office, Scarpetta is in charge of overseeing the autopsy.

Things soon get more complicated.  The music teacher is the third victim of a serial sniper, who has killed two other people in the prior weeks.  Each person is shot with what looks like an impossible shot that causes death instanteously.  Scarpetta has personal problems also.  A thug-like insurance investigator is following her and her family, hoping for dirt that will harm her reputation and allow his company to avoid paying claims.  Her niece, Lucy, is acting strange, and rumors are starting to fly about her.  This could be another attack on Kay as Lucy is like a daughter to her.  A local teenage girl is found dead in the pool of a house belonging to a big-money Senator.  Can Kay get to the bottom of these crimes before something horrific occurs in her personal life?

This is the 22nd Kay Scarpetta mystery.  The doctor has changed over the years.  Her main co-worker, Marino, has left her office and is working with the local police.  She is now married to a man she met on the job.  There are throwbacks to events happening years before, and faithful readers will pick up on the clues scattered about.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Golden Age Of Murder by Martin Edwards

The golden age of detective fiction was in the twenty years between the two World Wars.  Although detective fiction had existed earlier, as in the work of Edgar Allen Poe, something about this time frame made the detective novel one of the most successful genres in English literature.  Those who were the early lights of the genre came together in a gathering they called The Detection Club.  It's purpose was to insure the integrity of the genre.  "Thriller" authors were not welcome.  Instead, the novels selected for praise invoked crime solving, with mechanisms such as the locked room mystery.

Some of the founding members are still known today, while others have faded into obscurity.  This book follows in depth several of the founding members.  Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkeley and G.K, Chesterton were original organizers of the club.  Their books were successful and their sales raised the genre to new heights.  They paved the way for later innovations such as the psychological focus of many mysteries today. 

Yet these members often led troubled lives.  Agatha Christie was involved in a famous disappearance where she was incognito for over a week, while police forces busily attempted to find her.  Sayers spent her life hiding a personal scandal, while others in the club were tainted by rumors of infidelity.  Edwards delves into these scandals, while showing how they influenced specific books by different authors.  He shows the influence that various notorious true crime cases had on these authors' writing.  He also spends time exploring how the country's economy, politics, and the coming World War II influenced books. 

As time went on and the founders grew older, newer blood was brought into the club.  The second wave of authors included John Dickenson Carr, Margery Allingham, A.A. Milne of Winnie The Pooh fame, and Gladys Mitchell.  The club still exists today, and Edwards is its archivist.  Newer members include names familiar to mystery readers such as Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, Ruth Rendell and Ian Rankin.  Readers interested in the environment that led to the rise of the mystery novel will be delighted with this book.

Booksie's Shelves, May 2, 2015

It's hard to believe April is over and May is here.  The azeleas are about through blooming and the trees are all full of new foliage.  School is about over the year with my daughter finishing her junior year of high school.  Next year will be taken up with college applications and hopefully acceptances!

I attended a book sale this past week with a friend.  I was pretty restrained and only bought five books.  Of course, that is probably less due to my restraint and more to the fact that with over seven thousand books in the house, I had a pretty high percentage of the books offered already!

Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  Bridge Of Sighs, Richard Russo, literary fiction, bought at book sale
2.  Paris, Edward Rutherfurd, historical fiction, bought at book sale
3.  Dead End Gene Pool, Wendy Burden, memoir, bought at book sale
4.  The Babes In The Wood, Ruth Rendell, mystery, bought at book sale
5.  My Losing Season, Pat Conroy, memoir, bought at book sale
6.  Dry Bones, Craig Johnson, mystery, sent by publisher
7.  Grace Keepers, Kirsty Logan, literary fiction, sent by publisher
8.  The Abduction Of Smith And Smith, Rashad Harrison, historical fiction, sent for book tour
9.  Huntress Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff, mystery, sent by author
10.  Blood Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff, mystery, sent by author
11.  The Silver Linings, Matthew Quick, literary fiction, purchased
12.  The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls, Anton Disclafani, literary fiction, purchased
13.  Freedom's Child, Jax Miller, mystery, sent by publisher
14.  Bourbon Empire, Reid Mitenbuler, nonfiction, sent by publisher
15.  You Will Never Find Me, Robert Wilson, mystery, sent by publisher
16.  Blood Ties, Nicholas Guild, mystery, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm currently reading:

1.  The Innovators, Walter Issacson, Kindle
2.  Flesh And Blood, Patricia Cornwell, paperback
3.  A Dance For Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardback
4.  Barracuda, Christos Tsiolkas, hardback
5.  Huntress Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff,  paperback
6.  Killer, Come Hither, Louis Begley, paperback
7.  The Golden Age Of Murder, Martin Edwards, paperback
8.  All I Have In This World, Michael Parker, paperback
9. The Strangler Vine, MJ Carter, Kindle Fire
10.  The Orchid Affair, Lauren Willig, hardback
11. Michael Jordan, A Life, Roland Lazenby, hardback
12.  Rescue, Anita Shreve, hardback

 Happy Reading!