July & August 2008

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"The Assassin" by Stephen Coonts

Suspense.  A follow-up to "The Traitor" follows the poisoning murder of a prominent Russian dissident whose demise reveals the work of a traitor, forcing special agent Tommy Carmellini to track down a seductive Frenchwoman with possible ties to escaped terrorist leader Abu Qasim.

"Being Elizabeth" by Barbara Taylor Bradford

General Fiction.  As she rises to the heights of the corporate world, Elizabeth Deravenel becomes the most powerful Managing Director in the history of the Deravenel business empire, only to find herself surrounded by corporate intrigue, takeover threats, betrayal, and scandal as she must make a choice between love and duty.

“Damage Control:  A Novel of Suspense" by J. A. Jance

Suspense.  Feeling overwhelmed by paperwork and the responsibilities of caring for a newborn, Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady struggles with a case involving a woman who shot the wrong man while defending herself from a stalker and a fatal car accident that may have been staged.

Science Fiction & Fantasy.  Possessing supernatural abilities that enable him to change animals, objects, and himself into any shape of his choosing, Daniel protects the earth from alien predators while seeking the entities responsible for the murders of his parents.

“Devil Bones" by Kathy Reichs

Suspense.  When a plumber discovers the remains of a murdered girl and various dark religious objects in the cellar of a client's house, Temperance Brennan is called in to investigate the case and finds her efforts challenged by vigilante upheavals against Wiccans and occultists.

"Faces of Fear" by John Saul

Horror.  Scarred in a burn accident, plain Alison McKenzie is given the chance to become beautiful when her mother takes her to a plastic surgeon, who becomes her stepfather, but Alison finds that there may be a terrible cost for beauty when she discovers the surgeon is sculpting her into his dead first wife and that there may be links to a series of killings in the area.

“Fade Away" by Harlan Coben

Suspense.  The disappearance of basketball player Greg Downing, his onetime athletic rival both on and off the court, from his upscale suburban New Jersey home throws sports agent Myron Bolitar back into his own past as he tries to unravel the strange, violent rise and fall of a sports hero.

“Forced Out" by Stephen Frey

Suspense.  Spotting a remarkable minor-league ballplayer, unhappily retired Yankees scout Jack Barrett hopes to re-enter his former life by bringing the young athlete into the big leagues, an effort that is challenged by the boy's bad attitude and a dangerous secret.

Suspense.  Shocked by her beloved grandmother's untimely death a day after she travels to New Delhi to have affordable hip-replacement surgery, fourth-year UCLA medical student Jennifer Hernandez heads to India for answers and uncovers a series of unexplained deaths, a finding that forces her to turn for assistance to her medical examiner mentor, Dr. Montgomery.

Suspense.  Accustomed to betrayal and violence after years of a brutal marriage, Gailyn Campano reaches her breaking point when she returns home to find an intruder holding her daughter hostage and somehow finds the strength to eliminate the threat, permanently, leaving Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent to unravel the case.

"Into the Fire" by Suzanne Brockmann

Romance.  Battling depression, unemployment, and booze in the wake of the fatal shooting of his wife Angelina, Vinh Murphy finds solace in his friendship with Hannah Whitfield, only to discover that the FBI is hunting for a man named Murphy in connection with the murder of a neo-Nazi leader whose group may be linked to Angelina's death.

Suspense.  Tackling treacherous elements to rescue a missing skier on Sun Valley's Galena Summit, sheriff Walt Fleming and his crack team are shocked by a sniper attack that leaves one of their number dead and results in Walt's best friend's disappearance, a deadly situation that is further complicated by a mysterious illness at a local water-bottling plant.

“The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry

Suspense.  Having left her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, fifteen years ago under troubling circumstances, psychic Towner Whitney reluctantly returns after her eighty-five-year-old great-aunt Eva suddenly disappears and joins local cop John Rafferty in his investigation into the mystery.

“Last Kiss" by Luanne Rice

General Fiction.  Devastated by the senseless murder of her only son, eighteen-year-old Charlie, singer-songwriter Sheridan Rosslare has been unable to cope with her grief, until Charlie's heartbroken girlfriend, Nell Kilvert, enlists the assistance of Sheridan's long-ago soul mate, Gavin Dawson, to uncover the truth.

"The Last Oracle" by James Rollins

Suspense.  Having discovered a way to manipulate and enhance autistic savants as part of a plan to bio-engineer the world's next great prophet, a rogue group of Cold War scientists triggers an unexpectedly dangerous side effect in its young patients.

"The Mercedes Coffin" by Faye Kellerman

Suspense.  When a billionaire heiress connects a recent high-profile murder to an unsolved killing from fifteen years earlier, LAPD lieutenant Peter Decker schedules an interview with a detective from the first case, only to learn of the man's suspicious suicide, which prompts his collaboration with his wife and daughter to solve the case.

"Moscow Rules" by Daniel Silva

Suspense.  Investigating the suspicious death of a journalist in technologically sophisticated modern Moscow, Gabriel Allon learns of the machinations of a former KGB colonel whose covert arms dealing business is part of a larger plot to reclaim the Russian empire and challenge the global dominance of the United States.

General Fiction.  Living within New York City's most elite apartment building, five women pursue relationships and personal dreams amid the social and sexual politics of New York's privileged, including comeback-seeking actress Schiffer Diamond, rich-husband-hunting Lola, and high-powered career woman Winnie.

General Fiction.  A third installment in a series that includes "Queen of Babble in the Big City" finds lovable blabbermouth Lizzie juggling a whirlwind of bridal preparations in the course of her engagement to Jean-Luc, which is frowned upon by her friends.

Suspense.  Sent to Kosovo on a mission to report on the status in the troubled region, agent Blake Johnson joins forces with British operative Harry Miller to stop a Russian officer in the act of torching a mosque, a lethal action that will have profound repercussions for both agents, but also for Sean Dillon, the intelligence community, and the governments of the U.S., Britain, and Russia.

Suspense.  Following the death of his wife in a mountaineering accident, Dr. Jonathan Ransom, a surgeon for Doctors Without Borders, receives a mysterious message that makes him the subject of an international manhunt and the target of an assassin as he struggles to unravel the truth behind his wife's secrets and a terrifying global conspiracy.

General Fiction.  In August 1952, seven-year-old Nickel, her mother, aunt, and cousin Leroy head off to enjoy a day at the seashore, but Nickel's cruel teasing of her frightened, recently motherless cousin and growing tensions between her mother and aunt provide a life-changing lesson in the joys and sorrows of family relationships, in a novel that brings back the Hunsenmeir sister from "Six of One".

Suspense.  Pregnant eighteen-year-old Delilah Rose enlists the assistance of FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy, who is also five months pregnant, to investigate the mysterious disappearances of a number of young women whom no one else will notice are gone, including runaways, high-risk teens, and prostitutes.

General Fiction.  Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.  Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Suspense.  Assigned the task of creating a schematic of a recently purchased Russian nuclear submarine that is slated for museum exhibition, architect Hannah Bryson enlists the help of her brother, Connor, who discovers a mysterious message behind a panel before he is brutally murdered.

General Fiction.  Hoping to prove to her sister, Kendra, that she deserves absolution for her past mistakes, Jamie Dunkirk agrees to be a surrogate for Kendra and her husband, and when she moves to their riverside property, a new relationship with Cash Rosslyn and his grandmother has a profound impact as she struggles with her pregnancy and a cancer diagnosis.
 

Suspense.  A latest work by the author of "Play Dirty" follows a theme of role reversal and the abuse of power, in a tale in which corruption and betrayals turn friends against one another and force criminals to become heroes.

."Swan Peak:  A Dave Robicheaux Novel" by James Lee Burke

Suspense.  The latest tale featuring the popular and flawed detective Dave Robicheaux takes him from the bayous of Louisiana's New Iberia Parish to the wild mountains of Montana.

Romance.  Working to restore a family farmhouse, former child actress Cilla McGowan remembers her actress grandmother's fatal overdose years earlier before meeting a handsome neighbor and discovering a cache of letters that suggests her grandmother had been pregnant at the time of her death.