Review of The Etruscan Chimera (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 6) (Hardcover)

I loved this book, it is exciting, well-plotted and very well written.I was surprised that this book didn't get more attention because it is as rivetting as The DaVinci Code, maybe even more.Lyn Hamilton is quite skilled at developing a sense of place, I have wanted to visit every locale she writes about. You won't be disappointed with this mystery either, it is as good as any Hitchcock had in his best days.



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Review of Bum Steer (Jenny Cain Mysteries, No. 6) (Paperback)

This was the final book by Nancy that I had to read, and I think that itwas by far the best one! As she's getting involved in yet anothersituation, our murder-prone heroin struggles with some deeply personalissues. She had me intrigued to the very surprising ending! Note: Thelanguage in this book is a lot stronger than in any of her others.



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Review of Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes: A Darryl Billups Mystery (Hardcover)

Darryl Billups is a thirty-something reporter with the Baltimore Herald. He enjoys chasing down a good story. In fact, Darryl gave up his position as an editor in order to return to his true love of reporting.

Darryl is engaged to long term girlfriend Yolanda Winslow whom he has little in common. He is a middle class educated brother and she is a struggling sister with a GED. Yolanda is into hip hop; whereas Darryl enjoys listening to jazz. However, Darryl adores her four year old son. He believes that he is ready for the ultimate commitment until he and his sister Camille visit Yolanda's family. Classes collide and a break up ensues. Yolanda leaves Darryl for her son's father.

Darryl is devastated and he decides to focus on work. He is assigned a news breaking story about a dead body found in a storage unit.

Eighteen years ago, Baltimore jazz singer Adrienne Jackson warmed the hearts of many. She then mysteriously disappeared. No one suspected that she had been murdered and her body has been stored in a unit like an old piece of furniture.

Her former fiancé is the current powerful Mayor of Baltimore. At the time of Adrienne's disappearance, the citizens of Baltimore expressed their condolences to Adrienne's fiancé.

The discovery of Adrienne's body results in a gun battle. Two people die and a team of two Baltimore cops are wounded.

Scott Donatelli is a white detective who is from the old school. He resents his partner Thelma Holmes who is African American. He feels that Thelma is merely an affirmative action promotion to fill a quota. He has no real respect for her until she literally saves his life from the midst of gun fire. Scott now understands that they have one goal; he and Thelma must find the killer before more lives are lost.

The case takes a turn for the worst. The body is stolen from the Medical Examiner's office.

Darryl then launches his own investigation. As he tracks down the killer, Darryl suffers a series of mishaps. His tires are slashed and his house catches on fire. Is his ex-fiancé Yolanda responsible? Or are the incidents linked to the murderer?

Darryl and Baltimore detectives Thelma and Darryl become allies in their quest to solve the murder.

When they discover the real killer, the game is not over. With a surprise ending, DON'T BELIEVE YOUR LYING EYES is a fast paced and engaging mystery that will keep the reader turning page after page.



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Review of Street Hungry: A Mystery (N.S. "Shep" Ladderback and Andrea Cosicki Mysteries) (Hardcover)

On the streets of South Philly, "Weight" Wisnitz sells fruits and vegetables out of a truck at cut rate prices.He's been a fixture in the neighborhoods for years so when he suddenly keels over and dies, one of his regular customers thinks enough of him to call obituary writer Shep Ladderbook of the Philadelphia Press.Shep writes a nice obituary for the colorful man who made an impact so many lives.

A few days later, Ladderback's assistant, Andy Casicki is eating lunch with her mother at the upscale restaurant Loup-Garou when a famous restaurant critic keels over in the same manner as Wisnitz. Andy and Ladderback learn that there have been similar deaths in the city, which raises the obituary writer's curiosity.He investigates the deaths and learns that they lead back to a free clinic, an ambulance company that is always late delivering the bodies, and a generic drug company ready to go public.

STREET HUNGRY is a fascinating who-done-it with so many interrelated sub-plots that is takes the full length of the novel to finally understand how they are linked.The protagonist, a man who has been on top at the paper game for four decades, is a likable character whose contacts developed over forty years allow him to track a story back to its source.Bill Kent looks at the seamier side of life and turns it into a gritty and dark expose of the human condition.

Harriet Klausner



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Review of The Wages of SIN (Paperback)

The twisting saga of greed and mayhem intermeshed with political and police corruption continues in this powerful sequel to the author's first crime novel, SIN.A well-constructed plot and a finely-honed writing style make this thoroughly mesmerizing book impossible to put down.

Product Description
D.C. Police Officer Jacob "Doc" Holloway was recruited to work as a narcotics undercover operative for the federally funded Janus Project, working in conjunction with federal law enforcement agencies' entire Special Investigations Network (SIN). Eighteen months later, he discovered that he had merely been a pawn of corrupt government and law enforcement officials seeking to eliminate their competition and ensure the continued success of their own criminal enterprises.

Now Doc Holloway has vowed to bring down these corrupt individuals and to see to it that they reap what they have sown.

The wages of sin is death.

About the Author
Quintin Peterson is the author of several plays and screenplays. He resides in Washington, DC and is a native Washingtonian. As a junior high school student, he attended the Corcoran School of Art on a scholarship. While still in high school, he was honored with the University of Wisconsin's Science Fiction Writing Award and the National Council of Teachers of English Writing Award. Upon receiving the Wisconsin Junior Academy's Writing Achievement Award, his name was included in Who's Who Among American High School Students of 1975.

As an undergraduate communications major at the University of Wisconsin, he wrote and performed in two plays for stage and videotape and received a Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation grant for his play project, Change. A National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship and a playwriting grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities followed. Subsequently, two of his radio plays were aired on WPFW-FM Pacifica Radio as productions of the Minority Arts Ensemble's Radio Drama Workshop '79.

Mr. Peterson is a 20-year-veteran police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department and is currently assigned to its Office of Public Information as a media liaison officer. He is also a liaison between the department and members of the motion picture and television industries, acting as a script consultant and technical advisor.

His debut novel, SIN, was published in October of 2000. THE WAGES OF SIN is his second novel.

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Review of Unsafe Harbor (Paperback)

Heard about this book from some friends on Long Island.
I have read all the books from the so called well known authors and I was looking for something fresh. This hit the spot. Great story and an easy read.
Well done

Product Description
At an exclusive Long Island yacht club, a police lieutenant and his investigatorare trapped in a web of disappearances and deaths that link club members toWashington, the Coast Guard, and the underworld.

An excerpt from Unsafe Harbor-

Cautious, he headed for shore and shallow water dragging the line. Themagnet and object moved without encountering rock. Having no desire to sharehis treasure, Luke searched the shore, the bluffs and tree line to assure no onewatched. This will be a secret for now. Seeing no one, he smiled from greed andscolded himself.

At 6-feet depth, he saw the magnet attached to a long, dark object. Whatwas it? The object did not look like a treasure chest. Images distortedunderwater. Was it British cannon from the Revolutionary War? A British basewas in Huntington Harbor. The cannon had to be valuable to a collector. Historymade it treasure.

Wild with curiosity, Luke stared at the catch seeking identification as itmoved towards shallow water until the depth was 3-feet.

Then Luke's eyes widened and his breath stuck.

The magnet attached to a chain wrapped around a man with his hands tiedbehind his back.

About the Author
Gus Leodas. Unsafe Harbor is his second mystery suspense to takeplace on Long Island. Author of The Forgotten Mission, he is nowworking on his third novel. He is a member of Mystery Writers ofAmerica and the Directors Guild of America. He lives on Long Island.

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Review of Semiautomatic: A Novel (Hardcover)

I picked up this short crime novel 'cause I was in a rush and it had a nice blurb on the cover from George Pelecanos (one of my favorite writers). Well, haste definitely made waste for me, and I'm sad to report that Pelecanos gave me a bum steer. This story about a murder trial in Brooklyn is an utterly tepid and uninteresting piece of work. Part of the problem is that a lot of the backstory to the protagonist Giobberti, a 40-year-old homicide prosecutor for the District Attorney's office, resides in Reuland's debut, Hollowpoint. Apparently in that book Giobberti screwed up so badly that he was exiled in disgrace to the backwater of the Appeals Bureau. He also either then or subsequently lost his daughter in a traffic accident and his wife walked out on him. Now, some 18 months later, he is unexpectedly told to take over a routine case involving a teenager who killed a bodega owner in a stickup.

Already on the case is inexperienced junior prosecutor Laurel Ashfield, who's never tried a homicide. Most of the book revolves around Giobberti and her getting a feel for each other and the case. Almost immediately, Giobberti (and the reader) realizes there's something not quite right about the case, and it takes an awfully long time for the specifics to be revealed. Once revealed, the specifics end up being woefully uninteresting, revolving around the completely unshocking reality of cops and DAs playing fast and loose with the truth in order to put away bad guys in order to score political points. The theme of corrupt a corrupt legal system and bent cops has been exhaustively explored in film and fiction for over a century, and Reuland brings nothing new to the table here.

The author was himself a lawyer for the Brooklyn DA's Homicide Bureau, so the book does benefit from a certain authenticity of detail. Reuland is particularly strong in describing places and creating vivid mental images of the courtroom, apartments, bathrooms, offices, and so on. Unfortunately, the people moving through these spaces don't talk or think the way real people do. The dialogue tends to be so clipped and elliptical that one wonders if the author is trying to parody of pulp films. At one point Giobberti actually addresses Ashfield as "sister" and another character laughably tells Giobberti to "take your meathooks off me!" Worst of all, there's no suspense and no dramatic tension to be found anywhere in this entirely skippable book.



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Review of The Adagio: A Mystery (Paperback)

Alan K. Austin has created a masterpiece. "The Adagio" is a well-written piece that takes the reader for a ride of a lifetime. A simple tale of a record containing a single misplaced note, a scream, weaves into an astonishing story of a man determined to prove his innocence.

Jack Duncan begins a casual affair with no clue of the drama that would result from it. With murder victims falling all around him, he must prove his innocence to the authorities and to his self.

This is a story that you will remember long after reading. It starts out with a bang. You may find yourself drifting off slightly in the middle, but hang in there because the ending brings everything together in a nice tidy bow, leaving you satisfied. This is an entertaining piece and I look forward to seeing more work from this talented writer.



Product Description
Jack Duncan likes women-even married ones. An amateur actor in 1960s Omaha, Nebraska, he's started a steamy affair with his married costar, Louise Thompson. But when her husband discovers them in flagrante dilecto, Robert Thompson takes a peculiar revenge on Duncan, giving him his prized recording of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

While listening to the record, Duncan is disconcerted by a scream he hears embedded in the climactic chord. And when he discovers the bodies of Louise and Robert, he knows instantly that their murders and the eerie recording must somehow be connected.

Duncan is suspected of killing the couple and becomes both the pursued and pursuer as he flees to New York City, beginning a hellish four-year mission to discover the source of the scream. He hides among derelicts near Shea Stadium, prowls Carnegie Hall where the Adagio was recorded, and learns of a strange, reclusive man who once lived in Carnegie's tower. Hunted by the law and his own past, Duncan has one chance to prove his innocence-if only he can stop the scream from echoing in his brain.

Lush with the language and attitude of the 1960s and 1970s, The Adagio is a gritty, hardboiled detective novel that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

About the Author
For thirty years, Alan K. Austin has reported for PBS, Frontline, Nova, and CBS affiliates in Topeka, Kansas, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. His documentaries have won ten national Emmys, Peabodies, Dupont-Columbia, and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Austin recently tracked down his junior-high-school flame, and they currently live in Rogers, Arkansas.

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Review of One, Two And Even (Paperback)

His office assistant Mabel is on LAPD cop turned lawyer Jimmy O'Brien's case for accepting only pro bono clients like Henry "Buck" Simpson who is obviously going back to prison.That is until the sheriff's department informs Jimmy that he hung himself in his holding cell.Jimmy rejects suicide as the career criminal was upbeat and even looking forward to playing in a prison baseball game.He asks a favor of his pal Sol Silverman of Silverman Investigations who learns that Buck was stabbed three times.

Jimmy keeps digging into Buck's death while his associate Rita works a seemingly open and shut bank robbery case.That is until Laura calls Jimmy pleading for him to put on his halo as he did nine months ago.He rushes to her home in Beverly Hills, a long way from Van Nuys, to find her husband of six months Arnie Rosenthal, the meat packing king, dead with an apparent suicide note nearby.Detectives Corshank and Barnes find discrepancies that lead them to conclude homicide occurred and that the wife and her lover Jimmy did the deed.Though he has a paying client on the one hand for a change, Jimmy also realizes he must prove his innocence.

ONE, TWO, & EVEN is an entertaining legal thriller especially when Jimmy quotes precedence in courtrooms and challenges Corshank with rights.The exciting story line is also supported by a solid investigative subplot and a terrific secondary cast, but clearly this is Jimmy's tale.Fans will enjoy this fun novel and seek the previous O'Brien story, SIX TO FIVE AGAINST.

Harriet Klausner


Product Description
It is October, 1972. In the second exciting and fast-paced Jimmy O'Brien series, One, Two & Even, Jimmy finds himself defending a beautiful ex-hooker accused of murdering her rich meat packer husband, Arnie Rosenthal, the Los Angeles hot dog king. The murder was staged to look like a suicide. Of course, it wasn't. But was it a coincidence that O'Brien's other client, a penniless mugger, whose murder, while locked up in the L.A. County jail, was also reported as a suicide? O'Brien didn't think so, and now the Mexican Mafia was out to stop his investigation, stop it dead.

From the Publisher
In the nostalgic 70s when Watergate was just a building in D.C., Nixon was in office, and the war in Viet Nam was melting down, Jimmy O'Brien passed the bar and set up a small law office in the sleepy suburb of Los Angeles, Downey. His specialty, criminal law.

One, Two & Even takes the reader on a wild ride, traveling from the luxury of Bel Air and the stunning gold coast opulence of Newport Beach to the turbulent barrio of East Los Angeles, the meat packing district of Vernon, and even to an Island paradise twenty-six miles offshore, without taking a breather or pit stop along the way. You'll enjoy the ride.

Exciting, humorous, and fast paced, One, Two & Even is a fun read that will leaving you asking for more.

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Review of Dangerous Games: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Jack Liffey Mysteries) (Hardcover)

When we last saw Jack Liffey, he had found the perpetrator of various crimes of vengeance arising from the racist history of Terminal Island, been dumped by his new girlfriend, survived a collapsed lung and renewed his relationship with his teenage daughter, Maeve.Liffey also fell for a police officer named Gloria Ramirez, a Native American who was raised by Latino parents who taught her to hate her own heritage."Dangerous Games" begins with Liffey living in East L.A. with Ramirez; his moody daughter is delighted with Ramirez and hopes her father won't mess this one up.But Liffey's relationship leads inexorably to a new search for a lost child: Ramirez's beautiful 18-year-old niece has disappeared from her tiny reservation in the Owens Valley leaving enough clues to make everyone suspect that she's been swallowed up by L.A.'s porn scene.Liffey feels up to the task.

If it were left at that, our hero would have more than enough to occupy him.But during one clear day while Liffey waters his girlfriend's lawn and Maeve lounges alongside chatting with her father, a gangbanger loses control and shoots indiscriminately in Liffey's direction leaving Maeve severely wounded.As Maeve recuperates, Liffey adds a new mission to his list: revenge.His subsequent confrontation of the perpetrator and eventual solution is one of the most surprising and fulfilling aspects of the narrative.

But there is still a lost child to find.And this is where things get ugly as we're thrown into the world of phone sex, porn films, dangerous reality videos, AIDS and very violent men who truly believe that women are meant to be controlled and used in any way imaginable.Throughout, we're treated to Shannon's smart dialogue, complex characters and a thrill ride of action.The denouement takes place in the Malibu Hills, set ablaze by reality "filmmakers" as their ultimate get-rich-quick venture.As Liffey and others try to outrun the flames, Liffey muses on all the failures in his life and wonders about the meaning of it all.There are wonderful things in life to be certain: the love of both his girlfriend and his resilient, brilliant daughter.But all the mistakes are there too: failed relationships, a battle with alcohol, physical scars too many to count.In Shannon's sure hands, we see the world through the eyes of a man who struggles to reconcile life's joy and pain shaped in large part by Los Angeles itself.Shannon offers more questions than answers.But that's okay.Finely-crafted novels do that.And this is certainly one of Shannon's best.

[The full version of this review first appeared in The Elegant Variation.]



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Review of Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (Hardcover)

This book was interesting from beginning to end- and brought New Orleans, mystery, alzheimer's and history to life. I highly recommend it. I plan on buying copies for friends who have relatives suffering from this disease.

Product Description
In Dr. Nicolas Bazan s brilliant first novel, neuroscientist Alvaro Cruz finds himself haunted by a recurring dream of a banjo player in an elusive cornfield that leads him on a personal quest to uncover the mysterious past of a New Orleans street singer known as Una Vida. Stricken with Alzheimer s, Una Vida can only offer tantalizing clues about her past through her mesmerizing vocals, incredible recollection of jazz lyrics, and the occasional verbal revisiting of a fascinating life that s fading quickly and forever into the recess of her mind. As Cruz searches for Una Vida s true identity, he learns profound lessons about the human psyche, the nature of memory and himself.

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Review of Two-Dollar Bill (Stone Barrington Novels) (Hardcover)

This book should be called 38 dinners at Elaine's instead of `2 Dollar Bill.' It seems like Stone, Dino, and a slew of other characters are spending every other page entering the restaurant. I feel a little bad trashing this book. The author photo of Stewart Woods shows the face of a man who appears humble and defenseless. But it was so bad, that even a defenseless chap like Woods deserves no sympathy. I am trying to remember earlier Barrington books. I know that I have not enjoyed the last couple of titles in the series. They are getting so outlandish and inconceivable that its like spending some time in the mind of a five year old playing with action figures rather than being led on a taught story under the capable hands of a true suspense writer.

`Two Dollar Bill' is probably the worst Barrington novel yet. It is very shoddily pieced together. There is no other way to put it than that Woods has lost his grasp as to what it is to be a genre writer. To start with the ins and outs of the plot are sheer lunacy. The amorphous character that is the namesake for the title is such a mass of conflicting personalities that it is difficult to accredit him with being little more than a device. `Two Dollar Bill' is used at the whim of the author to fit any need at any time in order to further along the story. Its as if he were an idea at the back of Woods mind that never seems to have been fleshed out.

Barrington himself has turned into a comic stereotype of his old self and his antics along with his friend's correlates with the old Keystone Cops movies of the silent era. A bunch of bumbling buffoons that belies the very notion of whether or not to take them seriously with out liberal uses of salt.

I would entirely pass this book by. Try one of Harlan Coben's earlier books that dose not employ the character of Myron Bolitar. Open up a Denis Lehane book or a Jim Harrison suspense novel. Any of these authors have easily distanced themselves from the dregs of Woods imagination. Save yourself the suffering of having to plow through one page of poorly written prose after another.




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Review of Murder Down the Shore: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

I love the Anne Hardaway mystery series. I'm not exactly sure why -- it's not really one of those 'cozy' small town mysteries, nor is it one that's filled with wacky, quirky characters whose antics amuse one no end. Indeed, some of the books in this series have been angst filled and rather stark and dour in tone. So why am I such a fan? As far as I can tell, I like this series mainly because of it's detecting heroine, Anne Hardaway. A struggling ghostwriter (in her late 30s, and a bit of a loner), trying hard to make ends meet and who still lives in the same house she grew up in, Anne is an entirely appealing character, that most readers are bound to find completely engaging. And the mysteries in this series have (so far) been rather compelling and interesting ones as well.

Things are finally beginning to look up for Anne. She's currently working on book of advice for pet owners, and the authour she's currently working with has (so far) turned out to be an absolute joy. And best of all, her relationship with Detective Mark Trasker is going rather well too. So why would Anne want to borrow trouble by deciding to host a family reunion? The death of her grandmother, Betty Hardaway, four months ago has left Anne with the need to reconnect with family. And so, Anne has decided to invite her wealthy Great-aunt Hannah (from her mother's side of the family), along with the cousins she grew up with -- Henry (Great-aunt Hannah's son), Cece, Nora (Anne's favourite cousin), Alex and Millie. In her mind, it seems like a good idea: the family would be reunited again, there'd be lots of fun and laughter, with the sun and beach of Ocean Heights as the backdrop to the whole event. The reality however includes Great-aunt Hannah's new 'boyfriend' whose supercilious behaviour manages to make everyone's teeth grate, and the unpleasant fact that Hannah and her son are not speaking to one another. Things take an especially nasty turn however when Hannah is found stabbed to death on the beach, and the murder weapon turns out to be one of Anne's knives! Because of Trasker's relationship with Anne, he recuses himself from the case, which turns out to be a really bad thing for Anne. Because the detective in charge of the case happens to be small minded bully who is only all too willing to believe that Anne killed Hannah for the money she was to have inherited from her. With her freedom on the line, Anne has no choice but to start looking into Hannah's life as well as those of her cousins'as she tries to figure who set up to take the blame for Hannah's murder. What Anne discovers will both sadden and chill as she tries to figure out which one of her relatives murdered Hannah.

The mystery unfolded at a brisk, swift and smooth pace, and there were enough false trails and red herring suspects to keep most mystery addicts happily glued to the pages. My only compliant was that I wished the novel had been a longer one, so that there could have been even more plot exposition and so that certain characters could have been even more developed. Other than that "Murder Down the Shore" was a really fun read.

Product Description
It seemed like a good idea at the time to Anne Hardaway: a jolly family reunion in the sun and sand of Oceanside Heights on the Jersey Shore. But it turns out to be the last gathering of any kind for wealthy Great-aunt Hannah, who is discovered on the beach viciously stabbed to death...by a knife taken from Anne's own kitchen!

With a $50 million inheritance at stake, any one of her kin could be the culprit, but it's Anne whom the evidence accuses. A killer isn't satisfied yet, however. As the professional ghostwriter/amateur sleuth intensifies her hunt for the blood relative with a taste for blood, Anne realizes her options are growing frighteningly limited. She can spend the rest of her life in prison...or lose it right now!

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Review of One Dead Diva: A Novel (Paperback)

Marc is an accident-prone, middle-aged opera fan living a life of leisure, until his young, frisky friend Paul drags him into solving the supposed murder of an upcoming opera star. Having no experience sleuthing, the duo stumble through the clues, lose evidence along the way, and generally make a nuisance of themselves as they get closer to solving this riddle. Marc encounters a man called Reg and the sparks fly, but is Reg one of the suspects, working undercover, or has Marc finally found the man of his dreams? "One Dead Diva" is a lively mystery set in Australia with secret identities, bumbling would-be detectives, and a whirlwind of outrageous characters.

Product Description

Marc, a 50-ish opera queen with a habit of breaking everything he touches and Paul, a young, ditzy dancer and circuit boy, are an odd pairing as friends. As detectives, however, they are one small step from disaster. Why these two feel the need to investigate the death of Jennifer Burke, a rising opera star is almost a bigger mystery than whether the diva actually was pushed off a cliff. Hot on the trail of clues that lead to all the wrong answers, our energetically inefficient sleuths investigate a sharp-tongued music critic, a way over-the-hill prima donna, and a formidable drag artiste before accidentally stumbling over the truth.

Phillip Scott, a lifelong resident of Sydney, Australia, is the author of two other Marc and Paul mysteries, Gay Resort Murder Shock and Get Over It!

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Review of Mary, Mary (Hardcover)

Well I must admit I did wonder if Patterson had another great Alex Cross adventure in him after recent efforts where he seems to have got confused between his star character being Alex Cross or James Bond.I am happy to say though that this is another excellent traditional style Cross adventure with one of the best serial killers yet, that will have readers guessing their identity until it is revealed near the end.Speaking of the ending though I thought it was a little but unrealistically convenient so Alex could be around for the next sequel.That's all I'll say on that though so as not to give it away to anyone who actually reads these reviews before making a decision to purchase books.

Overall I was very pleased with Mary, Mary and recommend it to any fan of quality Alex Cross adventures.I also recommend Patterson's previous novel (not an Alex Cross Adventure) Lifeguard which shows he can still write great stand alone novels as well, again some in this line have been rather average of late.Anyway its great to see Patterson back and hopefully he has learnt from the extensive criticism he got from his mediocre novels and will continue to put the time into producing the great work that we know he can and we all want to read.


Product Description
FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation with his family at Disneyland when he gets a call from the Director. A well-known actress was shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Shortly afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail describing the murder in vivid detail. Alex quickly learns that this is not an isolated incident. The killer, known as Mary Smith, has done this before and plans to kill again. Right from the beginning, this case is like nothing Alex has ever confronted. Is this the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more frightening? And particularly baffling, how could a woman be capable of these vicious crimes? Members of Hollywood+s A-list fear they+re next on Mary+s list, and the case grows by blockbuster proportions as the LAPD and FBI scramble to find a pattern before Mary can send one more chilling update.Filled with the ruthless and shocking twists that make his fans hunger for more, MARY, MARY is James Patterson+s most sophisticated thriller yet.

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Review of The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club (Debutante Dropout Mysteries, No. 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

A big cheer for Susan McBride and The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club!The third installment in the Debutante Dropout books is a great addition to this series.I love the author's witty writing style and her true to life, yet, quirky characters she has created.The great dialog between Andy and Cissy, and humorous observations, provide plenty of laughs as they go through a slight role reversal of mother and daughter in this book.

Cissy has a much larger role in this book than the previous two, which I was delighted to see with this character.Cissy is convinced her dearest friends were murdered because of the evidence she discovered, a nightgown and smudged lipstick.Andy, however, is not convinced of anything, except that her mother may have just flipped out under the stress of finding her friends dead.Andy does her best to humor her mother until the tests prove her friends deaths were from natural causes, while Cissy pushes forward to investigate with help from a reluctant Andy.When things aren't adding up like they should, Andy begins to realize Cissy might be closer to a truth no one wanted to believe, which could place Cissy right in the cross hairs of the killer.

Susan McBride takes us on a great ride into her world, giving fans and new readers of the Deb Dropout Series a fun, often hysterical, and exciting journey for us to enjoy.




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Review of Crater County: A Legal Thriller of New Mexico (Paperback)

This is a very interesting, clever, impressive thriller, a murder mystery that takes place in New Mexico. The heroine, Luna Cruz, is a lady attorney, which makes it all the more delicious. Miller is a very amusing writer with a somewhat cynical take, with a taste of hardboiled Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler thrown in. It is not your usual mystery fare but unusually gripping. Miller is a star that grows brighter with this, his second novel.I'm now addicted to his stuff.

Product Description
Mix the genres of mystery, thriller, and suspense set in a modern-day New Mexico outback, and you have the essence of Crater County. Prosecutor Luna Cruz hates being a lawyer. She's stuck back home in the slightly supernatural realm of Crater County, where senior proms are held at the local truckstop and nothing is what it seems. She falls hard for the only eligible man in town, mysterious defense attorney Sam Marlow. Unfortunately, he's the opposing counsel in a triple murder case. As more people around her start dying, Luna fears that Marlow might be imitating his client and that she might become the final victim.



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Review of Death Takes a Honeymoon (Carnegie Kincaid, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Carnegie Kincaid is not going to Idaho for the wedding of old friend, now famous TV actress Tracy Kane, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact she had once had a close encounter with the soon to be groom - smoke jumper, Jack "The Knack" Packard.

But her close friend, B.J. insists she needs her help, she has been unfaithful to her husband Matt, with Carnegie's cousin (who she was never close too), smoke jumper, Brian Theale.Brian won't give her back the specially designed necklace her husband had made for her and she has to have it by the wedding.

And then Brian is killed doing a smoke jump.

Was it an accident or murder?

Did it have anything to do with the necklace

Did it have anything to do with a supposed stolen treasure that the bride's late uncle, Roy was supposed to have stolen and who was thought to have committed suicide 30 years ago.

And on top of that Cissy Kane - mother of the bride insists Carneige take over as on-site wedding planner.

As more murders follow, Carneige begins to wonder if there are going to be enough guests left for the wedding.

And then there's that pesky fire.

Highlights:

Great mystery.Wonderful new characters.I love the detail about smoke jumpers and the work they do.

Aaron Gold - Carnegie's (We're just dating, nothing special as he tells the wedding guests) sort of boyfriend. Determined that he is not going to settle down and wants to keep things casual, but it doesn't stop him from getting into a knock down drag out fight when someone makes a comment about Carnegie.

Boris the florist, has to be flown in when the wedding's original florist is hospitalized with a bee sting. He is always funny and one of my favorite reoccuring characters.

Beau Paliere - Wedding Planner to the stars who shows up at the wedding after Cissy has substituted Carnegie for his manager. Beau is still upset about the toupee incident, but doesn't mind dumping all the work on Carnegie while getting all the praise.

Lowlights:

The reason this is a 3 star and not higher is the ending.Cliff Hanger's belong in weekly magazine's and old movie serials, not in books where the next one may not come out for another year.Since I read dozens of different series I don't instantly remember everything about characters or situations as soon as I start reading the book and may not remember a lot of details when I finally get this one, which looks like it's going to come out in January 2006.

A lot of the mystery wasn't really clearly explained, I don't know if that's because of the cliff hanger and it's going to be better explained in the next book, but I had a lot questions still unanswered.

Overall these books have really improved.I hated the first one. Thought the 2nd was ok and really like the 3rd one.Ilikeed this one until the end.So if you don't mind a cliff hanger at the end of a book, this has great mystery with lots of interesting and different characters.




Click Here to see more reviews about: Death Takes a Honeymoon (Carnegie Kincaid, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Review of Terminal Island: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Hardcover)

Thank goodness it's not Jack Liffey that's terminal!Here's a wonderful new book that takes us back to Jack's hometown.We even get to meet a family member of his that he's hidden up to now.It's almost impossible to put this book down once you start it.Be warned!



Click Here to see more reviews about: Terminal Island: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Hardcover)

Review of Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Paperback)

I was a little tentative about reading this book only because Hart had begun highlighting Jane's weaknesses and depression so much in the last two books that the series itself was becoming depressing to read.Although Jane's character isn't a ray of sunshine in this book, the suspense is tighter than it has been for a while.There is also greater attention paid to Jane's father, brother, and sister-in-law so that the family relationship and dysfunctions (and yes, Jane's family has them) are fleshed out.Cordelia is returned to her larger-than-life dramatic self and Jane does manage some self-relevations such that some progress for personal improvement is made.All-in-all, a solid effort to a very good series.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Paperback)