Title: Abduction
Classification: Fiction
Author: Mark Gimenez
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: This may be the best thriller I've read this year! I loved this author's debut novel, Color Of Law, and this book, about the kidnapping of the granddaughter of a former Vietnam Green Beret, is just as good. The power of coincidence is striking as Ben Brice, despite all evidence to the contrary, is convinced Gracie is alive and sets out to find her. Don't wait for paperback...a year is too long to wait to read this!

Title: Abide With Me
Classification: Fiction
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: An untidy second novel by the author of the excellent "Amy and Isabelle." Tyler Caskey, widowed minister and father of two, meanders aimlessly (and, it seems, endlessly) through the second year following his wife's death with an entire cast of unlikable characters. Everything about this book, including the ending, is tedious and uninspired. Pass.

Title: Alabama Moon
Classification: Fiction
Author: Watt Key
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A really poignant book about ten-year old Moon Blake, who has lived his entire life in a shelter in the woods with his paranoid father. When his dad dies, Moon starts out for Alaska, where his father has said there are "lots of people like us." It isn't long, however, before he realizes that being alone isn't easy, and that friendships are worth sacrificing for. A very nice little book.

Title: Alchemist
Classification: Fiction
Author: Paulo Coelho
Publisher: Harper
Copyright: 1993
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: There's good news and bad news about this book.  The good news is: if up til now you've based your life philosophy on fortune cookies and the horoscope in the morning paper, this is for you.  A bunch of hokey, "wishing will make it so" pop-psych mumbo-jumbo.  The bad news is: if you want a thoughtful, well-written book about life's challenges and mysteries, this book is a bunch of hokey, "wishing will make it so" pop-psych mumbo-jumbo. A poor shepherd boy travels from Spain to Egypt while following the quest for his "personal legend," encountering mystical (and shallow) characters on the way who give him advice like "The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness.  And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy.  To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation.  All things are one."  And on and ON in this vein.  What a waste of time.

Title: All Mortal Flesh
Classification: Mystery
Author: Julia Spencer-Fleming
Publisher: Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Spencer-Fleming proves, once again, that she is absolutely one of the best mystery writers around in this, the fifth in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. Returning from a week's retreat to come to grips with her decision not to see the married Van Alstyne again, Clare is stunned to learn that his wife Linda has been murdered...and that Russ is the primary suspect. After all, the husband is always the first the police look at--especially one rumored to be having an affair, and, more especially, one separated from his wife. This is one series that earns a "5" for every book. Don't miss them!

Title: An Arsonist's Guide To Writers' Homes In New England
Classification: Fiction
Author: Brock Clarke
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: At the age of eighteen Sam Pulsifer burns down the home of Emily Dickinson.  It's an accident, as much of Sam's life is.  After serving his time in a minimum-security prison with lawyers and bond traders, Sam marries and finds a job with the intent of putting his past behind him, but his parents, the bond traders and those persistent accidents come together to keep his life in its inevitable downward spiral.   Reading about Sam is like waiting for a train wreck: you know it'll be hard to watch but you just can't help yourself.  A quirky, deftly written book.

Title: Appeal
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although I rarely (if ever) include a book here that I couldn't finish, I felt I needed to mention this one since, after 100 pages, I was bored, bored, bored.  It's just another example of Grisham choosing a position on an issue and beating the reader over the head with it.  In this case, a mega-corporation dumps chemicals into groundwater (shades of Three-Mile Island and Erin Brockovich), leaving a a small law firm and its clients to stand up against the injustice.  In Grisham's black-or-white world the characters are all good or all bad which makes for very dull reading, which this is.  Pass.

Title: At Risk
Classification: Fiction
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: I feel as though I should wear a black armband to mourn the loss of trees that were sacrificed in the printing of this disaster of a book. Cornwell muddles along without even the Scarpetta angst in this novella, which wouldn't have had a chance at being published without her name on it. One word: Blech.

Title: Bad Guys
Classification: Mystery
Author: Linwood Barclay
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Barclay is back, and he's proved he isn't a one-book author...Bad Guys is up to the standard set in Bad Move, complete with overprotective husband/father, sassy kids and smart wife; even the move back to the city can't save the hapless dad from his obsessive worry. Fortunately for us, it's really funny.

Title: Bad Luck and Trouble
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this, the eleventh in the Jack Reacher series, Reacher shows a small chink of humanity after one of his ex-military buddies is found dead. Reacher reassembles the remaining members of his elite group to hunt down and eliminate those responsible and destroy a harrowing threat to America. As are all of the Child books, this is a fast-paced, tightly-written thriller; a real can't put it down read. Don't miss it!

Title: Bad Move
Classification: Mystery
Author: Linwood Barclay
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Okay, gang, take Carl Hiaasen, move him to the suburbs, keep all the humor and whacked characters, and you've got Barclay. This is a terrific new voice in mystery...don't miss it.

Title: Beyond Reach
Classification: Fiction
Author: Karin Slaughter
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Slaughter is at her absolute best in this, the latest in the Grant County series. Sara Linton is being sued for malpractice in the death of one of her young patients and has closed her clinic when her husband, sheriff Jeffery Tolliver gets word that Lena Adams is in trouble. Lena, a talented yet troubled detective has been found at the scene of a horrific crime and arrested. When Lena vanishes, Sara and Jeffrey find themselves in the midst of a town filled with pervasive and violent corruption. If you've been reading this series, don't wait for paperback. This is the most breathtaking, shocking book yet; don't miss it!

Title: Black Fly Season
Classification: Fiction
Author: Giles Blunt
Publisher: Berkley
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In Canada's Algonquin Bay, few brave the outdoors during black fly season. So when a beautiful redhead wanders into the local bar covered in bites and with no memory of who she is there's reason for the police to be suspicious. When a bullet is found in her brain their suspicions are confirmed. But with their only witness unable to remember who shot her, or why, will they be able to stop him before he tries again? A very good read.

Title: Blind Spot
Classification: Fiction
Author: Terri Persons
Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: FBI agent Bernadette [Cat] Saint Clare has been transferred from post to post, mostly because her bosses find it unsettling that by touching an object handled by a killer she can see through his eyes. Odd, then, that her newest supervisor not only asked for her but wants to understand her talent...especially when corpses show up with missing hands. Cat finds herself caught up in her new job, and in an affair with her landlord who most definitely is much more than he seems. As Cat narrows the search for the murderer she also confronts the possibility that she's losing her mind when her dreams start to seem real. All in all, a very good read!

Title: Blind Submission
Classification: Fiction
Author: Debra Ginsberg
Publisher: Shaye Areheart/Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Okay, so someone tell me how Ginsberg got away with this. And, moreover, how she got it published with this title when it should have been called "I'm Plagiarizing The Devil Wears Prada." Not an original thought or description in the book; badly written, badly edited. Pitiful.

Title: Bone Garden
Classification: Fiction
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In a dramatic departure from her series, Gerritsen tells the haunting story of a series of murders in the 1800's while describing the grisly details of nineteenth century medical science. Rose Connolly watches her sister die of childbed fever, then flees with her newborn niece to protect her from her abusive brother-in-law. As people from the hospital begin to die, however, it becomes apparent that the baby is being sought by someone more sinister, and more powerful, than Rose can imagine. This is, without a doubt, one of the best suspense books out this year and confirms that Gerritsen is a powerhouse. Don't miss it!

Title: Book of the Dead
Classification: Fiction
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: One of the things you'll notice right away in this book is that Cornwell now writes in the third, rather than the first, person...probably because even Kay Scarpetta can't stand to be herself any more.   The novel, of course, begins with Kay's trademark angst about Benton, Marino and Lucy and throws in a convoluted, unsatisfying series of murders with a predictable murderer.  And, please, after all these years together, can't Kay and Benton learn to relate to each other as adults rather than as insecure adolescents?  Grow up, Kay...and while you're at it: you're a doctor.  Write yourself a prescription for Zoloft; you'll feel much better. As for me, I'm done. A cereal box is a better read. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Boy's Life
Classification: Fiction
Author: Robert McCammon
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A wonderful coming-of-age story of a twelve-year old boy growing up in Zephyr, Alabama, in the early sixties. Similar in feel to "To Kill a Mockingbird" this is a departure from McCammon's horror books, and a genre he should have pursued because this one is fabulous! Not to be missed!

Title: Brother Odd
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam Dell/Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: It's no secret that I love Koontz and this, the third in the Odd Thomas series, has given me one more reason to feel this way. Odd has retreated to a monastery to heal after losing his true love Stormy and to reflect on his ability to see dead people. It soon becomes apparent that there is no refuge even here and he is caught in a race to save the handicapped children who live there. This is Koontz at his best, with the humor and humanity that are his trademark, and, of course, with a dog. If you haven't read this series, start with the first (Odd Thomas), and if you have, buy this without delay!

Title: By The Time You Read This
Classification: Mystery
Author: Giles Blunt
Publisher: Henry Holt
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Blunt, the author of Black Fly Season, is back with another great read! John and Catherine Cardinal have been married for years, so he knows when his wife's bipolar syndrome is reaching the blackness of depression. He's devastated when, on a routine photography outing, she throws herself off the tallest building in Algonquin Bay. Despite overwhelming evidence that her death is a suicide Cardinal sets out to prove that it was murder and uncovers the dark and twisted truth. Don't miss this one!

Title: Can't Wait To Get To Heaven
Classification: Fiction
Author: Fannie Flagg
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: If you liked Flagg's "Standing In the Rainbow," you'll enjoy this! The town of Elmwood Springs is stunned when their friend Elner Shimfissle is stung by wasps and killed in a fall from a ladder. While they grieve, they rediscover all the large and small ways Elner has touched their lives, and are delighted when it appears a mistake has been made at the hospital and Elner isn't dead after all. Elner has died, however, and been sent back to Elmwood Springs from heaven, a fact her niece Norma encourages her not to share. A really charming little read.

Title: Charley's Web
Classification: Fiction
Author: Joy Fielding
Publisher: Atria Books
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although the suspense here is just a notch below See Jane Run or Mad River Road, Fielding continues to keep us turning pages in this book about Charley Webb, controversial newspaper columnist and single mom whose children are being threatened. Additionally, Charley has decided to write the story of a convicted child murderer and is trying to establish relationships with her long-absent mother and resistant siblings. Although there is a lot going on here, Fielding handles her characters and plots deftly as always and hands us a surprise at the end, as well.

Title: Chasers
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lorenzo Carcaterra
Publisher: Ballantine/Random House
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: With his first foray into fiction with Apaches, Carcaterra introduced ex-cops Boomer and Deadeye in a gruesome, riveting book about illegal drug smuggling. Unfortunately, in this long-awaited sequel, he drags in so many stereotypical, boring characters that, even if the plot were interesting (which it isn't) I found myself wallowing in a sea of them. Even the dialogue ("No place to go, nobody to see, and before you can say needle and spike some lard-ass loser who looks a lot like you has her living off the pipe") is unbelievable and forced. My advice: don't waste your time or your money on this one.

Title: Christine Falls
Classification: Fiction
Author: Benjamin Black
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Set in the 1950's, this excellent crime drama explores murder and black-market adoption in Dublin's Catholic culture. Dark and wonderfully written with a convincing protagonist, this book could be the best of its genre this year. When medical examiner Quirke wanders into the morgue after a night of partying he finds his brother-in-law, respected physician Malachy Griffin, altering a file he has no right to even be reading. With his curiosity piqued, Quirke sets out to determine just what makes the death of Christine Falls worth the risk Griffin has taken and discovers a network of arrogance and deceit...a network that involves his own family. The first book written under the Black pen name of Booker Prize winner John Banville, this is a debut not to be missed.

Title: Church Folk
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michele Andrea Bowen
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Stereotypical, racist, this book might have been considered realistic before the civil-rights movement, but today is just insulting. Blech...should have been called "Church Folk in Black Face."(Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Cinderella Affidavit
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Fredrickson
Publisher: Forge
Copyright: 1999
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A fairly entertaining legal thriller about a crooked cop and a lawyer with a conscience, but for all of you (and you know who you are) who say you don't want a book with too many characters, this is not for you. And, after all the characters and all the plot twists, the ending is anticlimactic. Pretty well-written, though, so I'd give the author another try.

Title: Cold Blood
Classification: Mystery
Author: Theresa Monsour
Publisher: Berkley
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In the style of Gerritsen and Lisa Gardner. I'm looking forward to reading more of her.

Title: Cold Moon
Classification: Fiction
Author: Jeffery Deaver
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: This is the seventh in the Lincoln Rhyme series, and the best since Bone Collector, with all of Deaver's fully fleshed-out characters and convoluted plot turns. When two murders occur on the same night, Rhyme calls Amelia Sachs away from her primary investigation to hunt down the "Watchmaker" who has left clocks at his crime scenes; but all, of course, is not as it seems. Why would such a meticulous killer make huge mistakes that allow his next victims to escape? Is Sachs dealing with a serial killer, corrupt cops, or something larger and more sinister? A really gripping read!

Title: Color of Law
Classification: Fiction
Author: Mark Gimenez
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Wow! Great new author, great new read. Although legal thrillers are pretty easy to find, discovering one that's well-written is becoming difficult. I can't wait for Gimenez to write another one!

Title:Come Closer
Classification: Vampires, Horror & Creatures of the Night
Author: Sara Gran
Publisher: Berkley
Copyright: 2003
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Okay, so Amanda is slowly and insidiously being possessed by a demonic thing. She's acting really weird, but no one seems to notice...even her adoring husband. He even overlooks it when she takes up smoking and jams a cigarette into his hand. Too bad for him, because we know he's gonna be dead (and he is). But the worst, the absolute worst, is that even when Amanda gives herself over to the demon completely and is totally no longer a person, she continues to write in a sane and reasoned voice. This, quite possibly, is the weakest horror book ever written. Blech.

Title: Consigned To Death
Classification: Mystery
Author: Jane K. Cleland
Publisher: St. Martin's
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: First time novelist Cleland does a creditable job with antiques dealer Josie Prescott, who lost her job in the auction-house scandal but has gone on to create a successful business in New Hampshire. Everything is going well for Josie until she finds herself the chief suspect in the murder of an elderly potential client who, it turns out, had paintings stolen during the Nazi regime. A little heavy on the advice from Josie's deceased parents, and not quite enough detail about antiques, but a good read nevertheless. I'll look forward to Cleland's next. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Coronado
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dennis Lehane
Publisher: William Morrow/HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Since the publication of "Drink Before the War," there has been no doubt that Dennis Lehane is a terrific writer. However, like many novelists who try their hand at short stories, Lehane needs more pages than are available in short fiction to make that evident. Just when your curiosity has been piqued, the story is over, leaving you wanting him to finish what he's started. He pads this collection with the title piece: a play that didn't leave me with a desire to buy tickets. We've been waiting for years for more Lehane, but with this, we'll have to wait some more.

Title: Cowboys Are My Weakness
Classification: Fiction
Author: Pam Houston
Publisher: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: This redundant collection of short stories is a look at women giving up their identities to live through men who don't care about them. It includes such overblown lines as "...I held myself there unbreathing, like waiting for the sound of hooves on the sand, like waiting for a tornado." Huh? Despite the title, this collection concludes with the obligatory story of the woman friend dying of breast cancer to attract the Kleenex set. Pass.

Title: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Classification: Fiction
Author: Mark Haddon
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: This book hits the mark on all counts: it's well-written, it's funny, it's poignant, it's fabulous. A wonderful story, told through the eyes of a fifteen-year old autistic boy.

Title: Daddy's Girl
Classification: Mystery
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Scottoline turns in a well-paced, very nicely crafted mystery here, featuring law professor Nat Greco who gets caught up in murder when she visits a local prison to present a lecture with a teaching colleague. Prompted by the dying words of a prison guard: "Tell my wife...it's under the floor," Nat delivers the message to his widow and finds herself accused of murder. On the run, she finds a plot much bigger and more convoluted than even she can believe. Can she get anyone to listen to her before more die? This is one of Scottoline's best!

Title: Darkest Evening Of The Year
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Called in the middle of the night to a house filled with violence, Amy Redwing finds a battered family and the dog she has come to rescue. This dog, however, sparks a recognition in Amy...something beyond her love of goldens, something  "noble and solemn," something that promises changes both terrible and wonderful. Koontz has written a novel of evil, of salvation and redemption and healing, a book about dogs and children...the people they save and the people by whom they are saved.  A must-read.

Title: Dark of the Moon
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Sandford
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Son
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Sandford has finally done it!  He's written a non-Prey book that is terrific!  Granted, Davenport makes several small appearances, but the main character here is Virgil Flowers and he is great.  Called to the small town of Bluestem to investigate a double murder, Flowers is sidetracked when another killing occurs.  The question is: who is killing old people, and why?  Is it random, is it based on a decades-old business scam or is something else going on?  Virgil proves himself a tough, savvy and very funny guy; a fresh new character from Sandford, whose Davenport is just about done.  This is a great read.

Title: Dead Ex
Classification: Mystery
Author: Harley Jane Kozak
Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this, the third in the Wollie Shelley mystery series, the greeting card designer and muralist finds herself head-over-heels in lust with FBI agent Simon Alexander when she finds out an ex-boyfriend has been murdered. But who would kill a terminally ill man, and why? Wollie is caught up in the weird world of soap operas and reality TV as she tries to prove her best friend innocent of murder and as she herself becomes a target. A really fun mystery.

Title: Dead Watch
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Sandford
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright: May 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Sandford breaks out from Davenport and Kidd in this rather ordinary suspense book centering on political corruption and murder in a post-911 world when citizens are joining the Watchmen to control the actions of their neighbors. The question is: was a prominent ex-congressman killed by them? By political rivals? His widow? Or was his death something else altogether? This is not the most neatly drawn or best-thought-out plot, but Sandford still writes well and this is probably worth a read. (Check out Venus's review of the same book by clicking here)

Title: Deceit
Classification: Fiction
Author: James Siegel
Publisher: Warner Books
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Reporter Tom Valle is fired from his high-profile job for falsifying all or part of fifty-six of his stories. Now working for the small town Littleton Journal he's covering mall openings and hundred-year birthdays when he stumbles on the story of a lifetime, but with his history he knows it's futile to hope that anyone will believe him. As he digs further into the truth of the flood that destroyed a town fifty years ago he finds a conspiracy that extends to the highest level of government, a conspiracy that continues to kill everyone who gets close to the truth. A tight, creepy novel in the tradition of "Shutter Island." I highly recommend it.

Title: Deep Dish
Classification: Fiction
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Gina Foxton, star of her own local cooking show, is devastated when her sleazy producer/lover sleeps with the sponsor's wife and her show is cancelled. Not all is lost, however, when Gina finds herself on a national reality show, competing against hunky rival Tate Moody for a shot at the big time. A cute, fluffy read, but wait for paperback.

Title: Dexter In The Dark
Classification: Fiction
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Wacky forensic guy/serial killer Dexter is back (series); this time cut adrift from his "Dark Passenger," that little internal voice that tells him who to kill, and who has killed. Caught up in wedding plans, Dexter is also faced with a series of murders and with a sense that there is a force darker than he that he must face, all while mentoring his soon to be stepson who shows signs of possessing his own "Dark Passenger."  A fun, ironic read.

Title: Digging To America
Classification: Fiction
Author: Anne Tyler
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Finally! A book I've been looking forward to reading has lived up to my expectations! Anne Tyler rarely fails to deliver, and "Digging To America" is no exception in this story of an Iranian immigrant whose cautious life is changed when her Americanized son and his wife adopt a Korean baby and, in the process, become friends with a thoroughly "American" family who celebrate the arrival of their Korean infant the same day. Tyler's wonderful characters are real and idiosyncratic as they forge bonds that underscore the realization that similarities between people are more important than the differences among cultures. This is a nearly perfect read.

Title: Dirty Job
Classification: Fiction
Author: Christopher Moore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Christopher Moore ("Stupidest Angel," "Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove," "Lamb") is as whacked as ever in this rib-splitting novel about a man whose wife dies, leaving him with an infant daughter. Doesn't sound like a plot that would have you gasping in laughter, but in Moore's hands even Death Merchants are hilarious. Definitely a book to read right away...don't wait for paperback for this one!

Title: Down River
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Hart
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Adam Chase is an angry man, but who can blame him since, after his acquittal on murder charges, his entire family (and his entire home town) turned their backs on him. Five years later, during his exile in New York, he gets a call from his best friend who needs him to come home and, despite reservations, he goes...only to discover that the old hatreds are still there and the real murderer from his past is still on the loose. A worthy second novel (following King Of Lies) from an author in the style of Greg Iles and the early Stuart Woods. Definitely worth a read!

Title: Dying In Style
Classification: Mystery
Author: Elaine Viets
Publisher: Penguin
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Cute, light mystery, the first in the Secret Shopper series.

Title: Earthly Pleasures
Classification: Fiction
Author: Karen Neches
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Skye Sebring is a greeter in the Hospitality Section of Heaven with no aspirations for promotion.  After all, that would mean an assignment to earth and she has no interest in THAT, thank you very much.  However, there is that guy, Ryan...the one all the other women (even the angels) tune into on the Earthly Pleasures tv station.  The one who is married.  The one Skye can't stop thinking about.  The one she is certain she knows.  But how?  Skye is a "new soul," one who has never died, never lived on earth.  Neches' quirky heaven (all the lessons in life are contained in the words of five Beatles' songs) and irreverent characters (the newest angel wears a spiked collar with her white gown) combine to make a thoroughly enjoyable read. A very sweet debut that avoids being saccharine...a completely entertaining book.

Title: Echo Park
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Connelly
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this, the twelfth in the Harry Bosch series, Harry is still working in the Open/Unsolved Unit when he is notified that there has been a confession in one of his cases; a thirteen-year-old murder that has haunted him. The confessed murderer is leading him and other officers to the burial site when everything goes wrong and Harry has to deal with the possibility that his partner, Kiz, might die...and with the certainty that the killer is not who it seems. Connelly's Bosch series continues to be convincing and tightly-written, and this entry is one of his best.

Title: Everything Must Go
Classification: Fiction
Author: Elizabeth Flock
Publisher: MIRA Books
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: An odd and awkward book by the author of Me and Emma about the life of Henry Powell, former high school football star, who dreams of being a recording star and fantasizes about his biography. Maybe it's too much for me to ask, but if an author is writing a book that is supposed to be "moody," could we at least have characters about whom we care? Or situations that engage us? I suppose there's a need for books through which we must slog, but we shouldn't have to pay for them. Pass.

Title: Fair and Tender Ladies
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lee Smith
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: This is one of my favorite "mountain" books. Told through the letters of Ivy Rowe from her home in the Virginia mountains at the turn of the century, Smith captures the hard and lonely life of the time and place. A lyric read in the tradition of "Color Purple."

Title: Faithful Spy
Classification: Fiction
Author: Alex Berenson
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: American CIA agent John Wells has successfully infiltrated al Qaeda and has lived as a part of them for ten years. Guilty over his failure to prevent 9/11, he is committed to making sure there is never another attack on his homeland, but plans are in place that even he doesn't know about...and his superiors in Washington have stopped trusting him. As events unfold it is obvious that al Qaeda won't be satisfied with just one more attack and that this time many more thousands will die. This may be the best spy novel I've ever read; Berenson's style is riveting! (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Family Daughter
Classification: Fiction
Author: Maile Meloy
Publisher: Scribner/Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: After Abby sleeps with her uncle she tries to manufacture a way he might be her first cousin instead. Oh, please...like that would make a difference? Another book full of rationalizations for unacceptable and smarmy behavior, and peopled by a family too boring to be called dysfunctional. Yuck.

Title: Fear
Classification: Fiction
Author: Jeff Abbott
Publisher: Onyx
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Abbott has come a long way from his early mysteries and has pretty much arrived with this one. Miles Kendrick is in the federal Witness Protection program, seeing a shrink and sharing his life with the nagging ghost of his best friend (whom, he's pretty sure, he killed) when he's offered the chance to participate in an experimental test to treat victims of post-traumatic stress syndrome. All bets are off, however, when his doctor is murdered and Miles seems to be the next target. A little overly wordy, but all in all a very good read.

Title: Fidelity
Classification: Fiction
Author: Thomas Perry
Publisher: Harcourt Inc.
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Phil Kramer is a savvy, careful private investigator. So how does he let himself be shot and killed while doing something as simple as getting into his car? That's what his wife Emily is determined to find out but, unfortunately, she finds too many implausible things to make this a convincing read. She's smart, too, so why didn't she know who her husband is? And what he was doing, at least some of the time? All the money is gone? There have been lots of women? He has a son? She doesn't know any of this? The only good news is that Thomas is working on a new Jane Whitefield novel, so maybe there's hope yet. For this one, though, pass.

Title: Fifth Vial
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Palmer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Palmer explores the terrifying possibility that medical labs could establish a data base of subjects for organ transplants by drawing an extra vial of blood from unsuspecting patients, then tissue-matching them as unwilling donors. The powerful men and women who run the organization defend their actions based on Plato's philosopher kings and justify killing "producers" to protect their self-proclaimed Guardians of the Republic. A little predictable, but a good, quick suspense read.

Title: First Commandment
Classification: Fiction
Author: Brad Thor
Publisher: Atria Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Maybe it was too much to expect that Thor would be able to follow Takedown with another barn-burner, but I did and he hasn't. Scot Harvath returns as the in-your-face Homeland Security guy...this time on the heels of a group of terrorists released from Guantanamo with the blessing of the president of the United States to prevent the massacre of American school children. Sounds pretty good, right? It could have been, if Thor didn't spend so much time reminding us (and REMINDING us) how brave, stoic, loyal, revered, patriotic and on and on Harvath is. I sort of expected him to throw in the Boy Scout oath as well. This one is definitely on the low side of "liked."

Title: First Patient
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Palmer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this edge-of your-seat thriller, small town doctor Gabe Singleton is recruited by his long-time friend, president of the United States Andrew Stoddard, to replace the president's personal physician who has gone missing. To complicate matters, Stoddard himself is experiencing strange and terrifying psychotic symptoms. From his first day in Washington, Singleton is caught in a vortex of conspiracy and murder that races through a web of politics and technology. A not-to-be missed read, one of Palmer's best!

Title: Five Fortunes
Classification: Fiction
Author: Beth Gutcheon
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Unfortunately the format of this book (chapters divided by character) doesn't allow for full development of the characters. I was left with the feeling that I didn't get to know any of them. A ho-hum read.

Title: Fluke
Classification: Fiction
Author: Christopher Moore
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright: 2003
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Marine biologist Nathan Quinn has made a career of studying whale songs and, after twenty-five years, has come to believe that their meaning will forever elude him. His career takes a surprising turn when, on an ordinary day, a whale dives displaying this on his tail: the words "Bite Me." This experience, followed by a request from the same whale for a pastrami sandwich, begins this journey into the weird world of Christopher Moore's novel of whales, humans, and a strange mix of both. As always from Moore, an odd, surreal book... thoroughly enjoyable.

Title: Forever Odd
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: While not as good as the first book featuring Odd (Odd Thomas), this is still Koontz and, as far as I'm concerned, still worth a read. Even at his worst, Koontz is better than a lot of authors at their best.

Title: Forty Words For Sorrow
Classification: Mystery
Author: Giles Blunt
Publisher: Berkley
Copyright: 2001
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: One of the most surprising things about this author is that he isn't front and center on bookstore displays. In fact, I had to special order this: and it was worth the wait! This is the first in the Algonquin Bay series featuring cop John Cardinal, and is as absolutely great as the others. Cardinal's bipolar wife Catherine is hospitalized, his daughter Kelly away at school, when he's called out to view the most unusual results of a murder: the victim is frozen in a block of ice. Missing for months and almost dismissed as a runaway, young Katie Pine has been found. Set in Canada, this book will chill you as Cardinal tries to find the killer and as he hides a shameful secret. My recommendation? Read this book!

Title: Gardenias
Classification: Fiction
Author: Faith Sullivan
Publisher: Milkweed
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this worthy sequel to Sullivan's wonderful Cape Ann, Lark, her mother and her Aunt Betty are living in San Diego during World War II after leaving Lark's ne'er-do-well father in Minnesota. Lark's bitterness grows as she finds herself living in ramshackle government-built housing, alone while the mother and aunt work to support them. Slowly, though, she starts to meet her neighbors and finds that they become as important to her as her abandoned family was. Sullivan captures the feel of time and place in a perfect way; her California of the 40's is completely convincing and captivating. A must-read!

Title: Ghost War
Classification: Fiction
Author: Alex Berenson
Publisher: Putnam
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: John Wells is back in Berenson's second novel as he tries to prevent war with China.  Patriots and megalomaniacs abound as Wells goes first to Afghanistan to defeat a threat there, then travels to China to save the world.  Despite a world-class first novel in Faithful Spy, Berenson suffers sophomore slump here by making Wells the kind of super hero usually found only in comic books.  Here's hoping for better next time.

Title: The Girls
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lori Lansens
Publisher: Little, Brown
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Canadian author Lansens (Rush Home Road) has done it again in this wonderfully written story of conjoined sisters. From the opening sentence: "I have never looked into my sister's eyes", we are drawn into the rich lives of Ruby and Rose, their family and their neighbors, and follow them for thirty years of their unique but universal experiences. A must read, and one well-suited for book club discussion groups as it explores the world through a view both rare and familiar.

Title: Gone
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Bantam
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Gardner is a consistent page-turner who needs to be discovered by a larger audience. This one is no exception...

Title: Good Guy
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Stonemason Tim Carrier stops by his favorite bar after work where a stranger hands him an envelope containing ten thousand dollars and the picture of a young woman with assurance another ten thousand will be delivered "when she's gone." Knowing that it's up to him to prevent the murder, Tim finds Linda, the targeted victim, and they find themselves running from an assassin with powerful forces on his side. In a shadowy world where it's impossible to identify the bad guys Tim discovers a conspiracy that reaches to the most influential people in the world. Can he stay alive long enough to destroy it? Once again, Koontz has written a tense, riveting thriller that will leave you breathless!

Title: Got the Look
Classification: Fiction
Author: James Grippando
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Good, but probably worth waiting for in paperback. It’s on my shelf, but the second one down.

Title: Go with Me
Classification: Fiction
Author: Castle Freeman, Jr.
Publisher: Steerforth Press
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this unassuming little book, Freeman's timing is flawless, his ear for dialogue  perfect.  Divided between good ole boy conversation in an all-but-abandoned Vermont logging camp and the almost certain to fail trek into the mountains in search of a killer, the humor leavened with intensity, Freeman's minimalist prose is dead-on.  A definite top pick!

Title: Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Classification: Mystery
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Set in the mountains of Tennessee, this book weaves a haunting Appalachian story of murder, suicide, history, and prescience. Much more than a murder mystery; it's a moody, moving story of the deep rural south.

Title: Happiness Sold Separately
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lolly Winston
Publisher: Warner Books
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A mildly interesting book by the author of the wonderful first novel "Good Grief." After eight years of marriage, Elinor and Ted Mackey find themselves unable to have a child, and pushed apart by their failure. Elinor seeks solace by doing endless loads of laundry, while Ted (of course, stereotypical man that he is), has an affair. An endless round of analysis follows: does Ted want to stay with Elinor, or leave her for Gina? Does Elinor want to keep Ted with her, or does she want him to be happy with Gina? A little tedious, and not up to the promise of Winston's debut, but readable enough.

Title: The Hard Way
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Bantam Dell
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Child has done it again in this, the tenth of the Jack Reacher series! Former military guy Reacher is asked by the leader of a mercenary group to find his kidnapped wife and step-daughter. But who's the bad guy here? Tight, intense, this is another great read from the writer of just about the best suspense books around.

Title: Heartstopper
Classification: Fiction
Author: Joy Fielding
Publisher: Atria Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although certainly not in the same league as Fielding's See Jane Run and Mad River Road, this is a pretty good (but very predictable) suspense read. When pretty, popular Liana Martin goes missing everyone in this small, dysfunctional Florida town becomes a suspect. (Except, of course, for the real killer). Fairly interesting characters, but without the depth and darkness in some of the author's earlier books; this would make a good, quick beach read.

Title: Hide
Classification: Fiction
Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Bantam Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A pedestrian thriller about a woman (she's had so many names that I'm loathe to include one)whose family picked up and moved a LOT when she was a child. We're left to determine whether those moves were a result of her father's paranoia or a consequence of his job (wow--maybe an FBI agent?) or perhaps even because he was a serial killer. By the time I reached the end, I really didn't care. Ho-hum. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Hiding Place
Classification: Fiction
Author: Trezza Azzopardi
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A stark, brutal novel of an impoverished family in 1940s Wales and, ultimately, a story of redemption. Powerfully and wonderfully written.

Title: Hoe Lot of Trouble
Classification: Mystery
Author: Heather Webber
Publisher: Avon
Copyright: 2004
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A cute mystery (the first in the Nina Quinn series) featuring the owner of a landscaping firm, her police officer husband, and his teenage son. And, of course, Xena the snake. A light, fun read in the style of Elaine Viets and Sharon Short.

Title: Hold Tight
Classification: Mystery
Author: Harlan Coben
Publisher: Dutton
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Coben does it again! Following the suicide of a teenage boy, Mike and Tia Baye are worried about their son...so worried that they install spy wear on his computer to monitor his activities. Their discoveries lead them into a new culture of drugs and murder and the fear that they will be too late to save their son. Although not quite as tightly-written as Tell no One or Gone For Good, Coben paints a fairly convincing picture of the potential for terror in today's tech-driven world.

Title: Hoot
Classification: Children's
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Hiaasen's first foray into children's books is a hit! The humor and quirky characters in his adult mysteries, although obviously less irreverent here, are still completely enjoyable even for adults. And, of course, since it is Hiaasen, there's an ecological plot which involves and empowers the kids. Read it with your kids or read it for yourself, but read it! (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: The Husband
Classification: Fiction
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam Dell
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Koontz remains the master of suspense with this novel of an unassuming gardener whose life is forever altered with the abduction of his wife Holly by kidnappers who are masterfully framing him for her murder. Twist follows heart-pounding twist as Mitch finds himself face-to-face with violence and evil. This is a don't-wait-for-paperback book! If your bookstore or library is open, grab your keys and leave now. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: I Am the Cheese
Classification: Teens
Author: Robert Cormier
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Reminiscent in tone of Flowers for Algernon, this teen read is a dark look at reality versus nightmare. I highly recommend it.

Title: I'm Not Julia Roberts
Classification: Fiction
Author: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Warner Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: While this is a decent enough little "filler book," there are too many characters with too few unique personalities to keep them straight. Ruby should have concentrated on one perspective or written a longer book! A moderately interesting book about modern divorce, but this is a topic that's been done before, and better. Pass.

Title: Intruders
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Marshall
Publisher: William Morrow
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Marshall is back with another creepy thriller in the tradition of his first two: Straw Men and Upright Man. Jack Whalen has stopped being a cop and become a writer, enjoying life with his wife and trying to decide if he has another book in him, when he gets a call from a high school classmate ...someone with whom he was never close, someone he has hardly thought of in years. It's a surprise, then, when Gary Fisher asks him to look into the disappearance of a scientist and the murder of the researcher's family. Giving only vague details, Fisher leaves Jack with a nagging interest in the case; an interest that becomes an obsession as he realizes his wife is involved and that intruders can enter your life in more ways than one.

Title: Invisible Prey
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Sandford
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: After his rather disappointing breakaway novel, Dead Watch, Sandford is back with Lucas Davenport in this, the seventeenth in the Prey series. Although it lacks some of the suspense of the earlier ones (you know whodunit pretty soon), it's nice to have Lucas on the trail of the bad guys when old people (old, RICH people) are murdered in their homes. The only link seems to be antique quilts...but is that enough reason for the killings? Davenport has sort of turned the corner from driven detective to comfortable, "just doing my job" cop, but Sandford writes well enough to keep us involved. A good read.

Title: Isabella Moon
Classification: Fiction
Author: Laura Benedict
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although a moderately well-written first novel, Benedict makes the fatal mistake made by too many authors caught up in their own plots: she fails to write an ending.  The story is fairly interesting...small town, missing child, but far-fetched ghostly apparitions and somewhat stilted dialogue mar the book.  Here's wishing for better next time.

Title: Josie and Jack
Classification: Fiction
Author: Kelly Braffet
Publisher: Mariner/Houghton Mifflin
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although I read this a couple of months ago, I've had to mull over my feelings about it. Braffet writes well (as she did in Last Seen Leaving), but she has chosen a disturbing subject (think Flowers In the Attic, but brutal) and presents it in such a creepy, uncompromising way that I was tempted to avert my eyes as I read. A dark, moody book with perfectly drawn, disturbing characters, but definitely not for everyone.

Title: Judas Horse
Classification: Fiction
Author: April Smith
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: FBI agent Ana Grey (series) is back on the job and, after fellow agent Steve Crawford is killed, assigned to infiltrate a cell of domestic terrorists. Aware of just how easy it is to lose herself in her fictional character, Ana soon begins to question her identity, and to wonder just who the bad guys are. No black and white here, only shades of gray in Smith's slightly disjointed thriller.

Title: Julia's Chocolates
Classification: Fiction
Author: Cathy Lamb
Publisher: Kensington Books
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Almost-bride Julia Bennett has left her abusive boyfriend and run away, leaving her wedding dress hanging from a tree in North Dakota while fleeing to the safety of her Aunt Lydia in Oregon. Lydia, who hosts a weekly Psychic Night (Breast Power Psychic Night; Your Hormones and You) and who has large concrete pigs in her yard named after men who have made her mad, is the sane one in Julia's family which gives you an idea of the rest of them. This is a warm, wonderful book in the tradition of Billie Letts and Rebecca Wells...I highly recommend it!

Title: Killer Instinct
Classification: Fiction
Author: Joseph Finder
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: When mid-level manager Jason Steadman wrecks his car, tow-truck driver and former Special Forces guy Kurt impresses him. Jason invites him to join his softball team and arranges a job in security at his company. To repay him, Kurt starts doing "favors" for him, but when terrible things begin to happen to Jason's business competitors, Jason knows he's dealing with someone much more (and much worse) than a friend. Tightly written and compelling...a definite must-read.

Title: Killer's Wife
Classification: Fiction
Author: Bill Floyd
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Young bride Nina Mosley has no reason to be suspicious when her husband returns from a business trip covered in scratches. After all, he explains, he helped fellow passengers subdue a drunk on the plane. But when Nina realizes that Randy's injuries correspond with the timing of horrific murders, she is forced to face the possibility that she is married to a killer. This is a tight, stunning debut novel in the tradition of Harlan Coben and Joy Fielding. Don't miss it!

Title: Kindness of Strangers
Classification: Fiction
Author: Katrina Kittle
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: A somewhat predictable but well-developed story of a widow who discovers her closest friend is harboring a terrible secret. Not for those who can’t read books in which bad things happen to kids.

Title: King Of Lies
Classification: Fiction
Author: John Hart
Publisher: Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments:This is the legal-thriller debut of the year! When Ezra Pickens is found murdered, his son Work is the prime suspect despite a town full of people who loathed the victim. A terrific book filled with great characters set against a Southern-gothic backdrop. If you've been wishing for THE mystery to read this summer, this is it!

Title: Knight in Shining Armor
Classification: Romance
Author: Jude Deveraux
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments:Contemporary woman meets 14th century knight and the rest is fabulous. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll lust. I thought this was great.(Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: The Know-It-All
Classification: Humor
Author: A.J. Jacobs
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks
Copyright: 2004
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: If you can't imagine how reading the Encyclopedia Britannica could be entertaining, you haven't read this book. The author may not have succeeded in "becoming the smartest person in the world," but he is certainly among the funniest. His quotes and observations make reading the encyclopedia sound not only bearable, but fascinating. I found that I couldn't read this book in public without drawing stares from people around me as I laughed out loud. From "a-ak" (see gagaku), through "kappa...a vampirelike lecherous creature from Japan that's obsessed with cucumbers" to the anticlimactic "Zywiec...a town in south-central Poland," this is a great read!

Title: Lady Killer
Classification: Mystery
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Lawyer Mary DiNunzio is juggling her typical caseload of South Philly clients (responsible for the sign on the office door that reads "Must Wear Shirts")when former high school classmate Trish (Trash) Gambone shows up in her office, hysterical. Trish is terrified that her abusive boyfriend is about to kill her, and with his Mob connections it's a real possibility. So when Trish goes missing, Mary is sure she's dead and sets out to find her murderer. Written with Scottoline's trademark humor, this is a very good read.

Title: Last Seen Leaving
Classification: Fiction
Author: Kelly Braffet
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: When her pilot husband is killed while flying a mysterious mission for the government, Anne Cassidy is devastated and spends the next twenty years trying first to find out what happened, then trying to reconnect with him through meditation and crystals. Their daughter Miranda, shut out of her mother's life, drifts from one man to another...then vanishes. Anne, desperate not to lose her child, is forced to come to grips with what she meant to her husband, and what her daughter means to her. A well-written, though somewhat predictable story. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Lean Mean Thirteen
Classification: Mystery
Author: Janet Evanovich
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Copyright: 2007
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Stephanie Plum (series) is back and as funny as ever as she juggles Morelli and Ranger while trying to solve the disappearance of her scumbag ex. Lula is in rare form as she and Stephanie track down a no-show for the bond office in a trailer inhabited by a monster python and through a cemetery in the dark, and as they try to apprehend a taxidermist afraid to leave his house. Evanovich is dependably hysterical...it would be great if she gave up on her other series and gave us more Plum!

Title: Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Classification: Biography
Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In his funniest book since Lost Continent, Bryson recounts his early life growing up in Iowa in the fifties and recalls for all of us the innocence, the simplicity and the hope of the time. Not that his descriptions are always idyllic; he reminds us that "Only one thing came close to matching the fear of teenagers in the 1950s and that was of course Communism. Worrying about Communism was an exhaustingly demanding business in the 1950s." Whether reminiscing about the development of the hydrogen bomb ("One possibility was that it might ignite all the oxygen in the atmosphere"), or protesting the day each summer that he had to spend at the Riverview Amusement Park (of whose roller coaster he says: "People didn't even scream on it; they were much too petrified to emit any kind of noise"), Bryson is hysterically accurate. Whether you lived the fifties, or the fifties are ancient history to you, you must read this book. If you give it as a gift, make sure to buy one for yourself, too!

Title: Lincoln Lawyer
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Connelly
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Connelly breaks out of the serial killer genre to write a courtroom drama and does a fairly good job, although I hope this isn't a permanent change. It's just a little too pat with the "should a lawyer sell his soul" question.

Title: Lone Wolf
Classification: Mystery
Author: Linwood Barclay
Publisher: Bantam Dell/Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this, the third in the Zack Walker series, Zack is working as a feature writer for the Metropolitan when he gets the call informing him that his father is dead. Not just dead, but eaten-by-a-bear dead. When he arrives at his father's camp he finds, not a bear, but a group of survivalists who are armed to the teeth and whose artwork on the walls features a picture of Timothy McVeigh. At least his father isn't dead, but a lot of people might be if Zack can't find out just who is being targeted by this group and stop them before it's too late. Maybe a notch less funny than the first two, but still a must-read.

Title: Long Way From Chicago
Classification: Children's
Author: Richard Peck
Publisher: Puffin
Copyright: 1998
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: It's 1929 when Joey and his sister Mary Alice begin their annual August visits with their grandmother...a train trip away in miles from their home in Chicago, but even farther in experiences.  Peck chronicles their visits in a series of short stories covering nine years and captures the feel of small town life during the depression, although I'm not sure how interesting the details will be to a young reader.   Nicely told,but be prepared to discuss topics like prohibition, Al Capone and Hupmobiles with your kids.

Title: Mad River Road
Classification: Fiction
Author: Joy Fielding
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Without a doubt her best since See Jane Run. Don’t miss it!

Title: Magic Time
Classification: Fiction
Author: Doug Marlette
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this tedious, way-too-long book, Marlette examines the angst of newspaper reporter Carter Ransom whose teen love Sarah was killed in a civil-rights church bombing twenty-five years ago. The opening alone (a terrorist bombing in New York) is jarring in its insignificance, and is overshadowed by Ransom's return to his Southern roots for the trial of the Ku Klux Clan member suspected of ordering the murder of his girlfriend and three other civil-rights workers. This plot has been done so well before (Greg Iles' Quiet Game), that Magic Time pales in comparison. Definitely not worth the time it takes to slog through.

Title: March
Classification: Fiction
Author: E.L. Doctorow
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Lyrically written, as are all of Doctorow's books, this account follows Sherman's march through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, with convincing depictions of actual and fictitious characters and events. As the South falls, Sherman becomes more obsessed with his own importance and power and more disengaged from the war's human factor while those around him struggle with the new reality the war is creating. Moving and poignant, this book brings to life the battle of two cultures becoming one country.

Title: March
Classification: Fiction
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Publisher: Penguin
Copyright: 2005
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: In this wonderful book, Brooks brings to life the absent March father from Alcott's Little Women as she follows the itinerant preacher through the early part of the Civil War. Our knowledge of Marmee and the girls provide a context for understanding their haunted, conflicted husband and father as he confronts a reality far removed from the safety of philosophizing about the evil of slavery and war. This is a nearly-perfect period novel.

Title: Marked Man
Classification: Fiction
Author: William Lashner
Publisher: William Morrow/HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Attorney and media darling Victor Carl stops by his favorite bar for a drink and wakes up the next morning with more than a hangover; he has a tattoo of a woman's name on his chest. Who is she? And does she have any connection with the elderly Greek woman who begs him to bring her fugitive son home? Is Carl investigating one crime or two, and just how is his father involved? A pretty well-paced mystery, with a cast of interesting characters, but worth waiting for paperback.

Title: Mephisto Club
Classification: Fiction
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Publisher: Ballantine/Random House
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Although Gerritsen includes her regular cast of characters, she has written a rather mundane book trading on the popularity of Biblically-based evil-doers. This plot has been done before(and much better), so unless you need another rip off of Dan Brown et. al., skip it or wait for paperback.

Title: Mermaid Chair
Classification: Fiction
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Oh, woe, this woman has a perfectly nice life, a perfectly nice (though rather bland) husband, but when her daughter goes off to college she is drawn home to her estranged mother where she just HAS TO have an affair with a monk from the monastery next door. Oh, please, yadda, yadda, yadda. What a dismal follow-up to "Secret Life of Bees."

Title: Mermaids in the Basement
Classification: Fiction
Author: Michael Lee West
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2008
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: West is in her element here with gushing Southern belles and dissolute men, but she misses her chance to write a really good novel.  Renata DeChavannes' mother has died, her boyfriend is reported by the tabloids to be pursuing another woman and her detached father is getting married again.  Although you'd think that would be enough burden to bear, in West's world there's more...much more, since Renata is missing a chunk of memory and her grandmother is determined to bring it back through (many) stories of infidelity and betrayal.  Despite West's trademark humorous treatment of her subject the number of affairs just becomes boring; the South has so many dysfunctions from which to choose that to focus on one limits the scope of the characters and the potential of the book.  A moderately good read.

Title: Motor Mouth
Classification: Mystery
Author: Janet Evanovich
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 2006
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comments: Okay, so this isn't Stephanie Plum, but it's still laugh-out-loud funny. Barney is back (series), working for (and trying to resist) Nascar Guy Sam Hooker. When another driver races to the win, Barney is convinced that he's cheating. And when bodies start to turn up, Barney and Hooker have to race against the clock to find the murderer before they end up in jail...or dead. (Click here to check out other reviews for this title)

Title: Murder On a Girls' Night Out
Classification: Mystery
Author: Anne George
Book Rating:
Reviewer Comm