Review: Devil Wind: A Sammy Greene Thriller

• Authors:   Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid
• Hardcover: 377 pages
• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (April 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933515899
• ISBN-13: 978-1933515892

From Publishers Weekly

 

Set in the waning days of 1999 in Los Angeles as fierce Santa Ana winds fuel massive wildfires, Shlian and Reid's second thriller featuring feisty on-air radio host Sammy Greene (after Dead Air) suffers from a lack of credibility. Sammy's estranged father, real estate tycoon Jeffrey Greene, is involved with Neil Prescott, a crooked U.S. congressman, who's plotting with CIA operative Albert Miller to shift the political climate. In particular Neil wants to ensure "the election of a president who favored a much more aggressive approach against the enemies of America and her Saudi brothers," by causing a dirty bomb explosion and toppling buildings through the use of a device called a resonator. A confusing plot, too many coincidences, and an emphasis on Sammy's romantic problems mark this effort as "thriller lite" and of interest mostly to those who are looking for plenty of pluck in their heroines and lots of tugged heartstrings. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Product Description

 

 

Outspoken, brash New Yorker Sammy Greene needs a second chance. Fired from her job as a Washington TV producer, her midnight to 3 am show "Sammy Greene on the LA Scene" at a small progressive radio station soon has Sammy ruffling the feathers of a popular Orange County Congressman. And everyone is listening.December, 1999. 10 days before the new millennium. Already on edge with Santa Ana "devil wind" fanning fires threatening to engulf the city and Y2K looming, Sammy's callers imagine Armageddon - the perfect setting for a rogue CIA operative to manipulate fears as cover for his deadly plot.A young woman's burned body identified as the wayward daughter of old friend, Gus Pappajohn spurs the ex- campus cop to join Sammy in what may be a murder investigation, along the way exposing the seamy underbelly of Tinseltown. If Sammy's not careful this time, someone will make sure she's off the air for good.

About the Author

 

Deborah is a physician, healthcare consultant, and author of five award winning medical mystery/thrillers, three co-authored with her husband, Joel. Linda is a physician-broadcaster-author and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA. Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid are also authors of Dead Air, which won top honors in the Thriller category of the National Indie Excellence 2010 Awards.


My Review

I have not read the first novel in this series by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid, Dead Air.  Devil Wind can easily be a stand alone novel.  This book features Sammy Greene who is a radio talk show host working the midnight shift in Los Angeles.  It is the turn of the millennium, December 1999.  The Santa Ana "devil" winds are blowing and fanning fires in the hills above Los Angeles.  There is political corruption and murder in this fast paced story.  Sammy's long lost father also makes an appearance as a wealthy real estate developer.  


A good thriller but I found it almost too fast paced at times as there were many intersecting story lines.

Review: Sentenced To Death by Lorna Barrett

• Author:  Lorna Barrett
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (June 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425241866
• ISBN-13: 978-0425241868

Product Description

 

As the owner of Stoneham, New Hampshire's mystery bookstore Haven't Got a Clue, Tricia Miles can figure out whodunit in the latest bestseller long before she gets to the last page. But when her friend is killed in a freak accident, Tricia must use her sleuthing skills to solve a murder mystery that promises to be much more sinister than the books on her shelves.

The Booktown Mystery series concerns a mystery bookseller who deals in rare, out-of-print, and used books. What does "L" know about bookselling? A little. She, too, has sold used books.

Authors are split on the whether "used" bookstores are good for building their careers. From a reader's perspective, they're a great way to find new authors or find out-of-print books by their favorite authors. Sadly, authors make no money from the sales of used books--and this is a business where unless you're Stephen King, Nora Roberts, or John Grisham, you aren't going to make enough money from your writing career to cover the mortgage and groceries. So it's a catch-22.

Tricia Miles, the owner of the Haven't Got a Clue bookstore that's the heart of the Booktown Mysteries, also sells new books, thus helping current "real" authors (who are mentioned in the Booktown Mysteries) stake out some kind of living, as well as keeping "alive" the works of long-dead authors.


About The Author

Lorna Barret is the author of the Book Town Mystery series, from Berkley Prime Crime. The first book in the series, MURDER IS BINDING, was published in April 2008, followed by Bookmarked for Death (2009) and Bookplate Special. (11/2009) Bookplate Special was an Agatha Nominee for best novel, 2009.

Chapter & Hearse was released 8/3/10, and Sentenced to Death will be released in June 2011.

Check out her web site:
www.LornaBarrett.com

Her Blog:
www.LornaBarrett.blogspot.com

My Review

Wonderful to return to Stoneham, New Hampshire in Lorna Barrett's latest Booktown Mystery: Sentenced To Death.  The fast paced action packed novel starts off with a plane careening into the town's square's gazebo on Founder's Day.  Tricia Miles is stunned by the death of her good friend, Deborah Black, and the death of the pilot of the small plane.  It's an accident....or is it?  And what is with the company Nigela Racita Associates that are buying up all the property in town?

All of your favorite characters are back in this wonderful cozy mystery. Tricia's sister Angelica continues to cook up a storm in her restaurant as well as writing a new cookbook. Captain Barker is still hanging around.
And in Tricia's life, her bookshop, Haven't Got A Clue, is humming along with Miss Marple in residence.  But there is an employee change up in the works.  And what is with ex-husband Christopher and his extravagant gifts?

Getting back to Deborah Black.  Her husband David does not seem too heartbroken at the demise of his wife.  In fact, he seems to be hurrying all the arrangements along.  He's ignoring his son and being down right rude to his grief stricken mother-in-law.  And suddenly the welder seems to have a career in sculpture that was not evident before.

Another death proves to Tricia that she is on the right track.  But who could the murderer be?  Who benefits?  This delightful cozy publishes in June just in time for a great summer read!  Pre-order a copy today!

Review: Murder in Passy: An Aimee Leduc Investigation by Cara Black

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569478821
• ISBN-13: 978-1569478820

Product Description

 

The village-like neighborhood of Passy, home to many of Paris’s wealthiest residents, is the last place one would expect a murder. But when Aimée Leduc’s godfather, Morbier, a police commissaire, asks her to check on his girlfriend at her home there, that’s exactly what Aimée finds. Xavierre, a haut bourgeois matron of Basque origin, is strangled in her garden while Aimée waits inside. Circumstantial evidence makes Morbier the prime suspect, and to vindicate him, Aimée must identify the real killer. Her investigation leads her to police corruption; the radical Basque terrorist group, ETA; and a kidnapped Spanish princess.

You're invited to experience even more of Aimée Leduc's Paris with an exclusive companion by Cara Black. Download the Aimée Leduc Companion for free at www.sohopress.com/companion.pdf

 

From Publishers Weekly

Full of French political intrigue, Black's atmospheric 11th Aimée Leduc investigation (after 2010's Murder in the Palais Royal) finds the Paris PI's world turned upside down with the arrest of her godfather and longtime mentor, Commissaire Morbier, for murder. Worse yet, the victim—Morbier's inamorata, Xavierre d'Eslay—was with Aimée minutes before her death by strangulation. To clear Morbier, Aimée must dig deep as his fellow officers close rank and refuse to cooperate. Helping Aimée are her detective agency partner, René; her cousin, Sebastian; and her former policeman lover, Melac, who may or may not have an agenda of his own during the investigation. Though Xavierre lived a life of privilege in the posh suburb of Passy, Aimée discovers her past is shrouded in secrecy, linked to Basque separatists and terrorist acts. While the characters and their motivations can sometimes be hard to follow, the plot builds to a satisfying conclusion. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. 

 

About the Author

 

Cara Black is the author of ten previous books in the bestselling Aimée Leduc series, all of which are available from the Soho Crime imprint. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and son and visits Paris frequently.

Cara blogs here:  http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/ 
 

My Review

I was delighted to be transported once again to Aimee Leduc's Paris in Murder in Passy.  Each of Cara Black's books are focused upon a different area of Paris.  Aimee Leduc is a private investigator who with her partner Rene own the Leduc Detective Agency which is located on the rue du Louvre in the heart of Paris.  Aimee is tres chic running around Paris in couture and designer high heels and of course always wearing Chanel lipstick.  In this book, the eleventh Aimee Leduc adventure our heroine is still recovering from her injuries that occurred in the last adventure, Murder in the Palais Royale.

We leap right into the story in November 1997.  Aimee has decided to ask Morbier's assistance in locating her brother Julian.  And Morbier has a favour to ask of her.  Xavierre, Morbier's lady friend, who Morbier had asked Aimee to check up on is murdered and Morbier is the prime suspect.  Thus the race is on for Aimee to clear her godfather Morbier.  This fast moving, action filled novel is a pleasure to read.

This story explores the Passy section of Paris,  the 16th arrondissement, which sounds like a beautiful part of the city.  And it also focuses on the continuing fight of the Basques to gain independence from Spain and France.  The story also hints at police corruption and everything comes to a head when a Spanish Princess is kidnapped.  I was fascinated to learn about the Passy reservoir.  I always learn something new about Paris in Cara Black's books.  I enjoyed having The Aimee Leduc Companion which I downloaded from the site mentioned above to help keep track of characters and picture where all the action was taking place on the maps...I love maps!

We are given hints in this volume regarding the whereabouts of Aimee's mother.  It seems that Morbier has been keeping some secrets.  I'm looking forward to Aimee finding out more about her mother and her brother in future books.

I have read the entire series and I highly recommend this eleventh outing of the sophisticated, gutsy Aimee Leduc. 

I would like to thank Cara Black and Soho Press, Inc. for providing me with a copy of Murder in Passy for the purposes of this review.

Review: Moonlight Cove by Sherryl Woods

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778329798
• ISBN-13: 978-0778329794

Product Description

 

Jess O'Brien has overcome a lot—the challenges of attention deficit disorder, the near bankruptcy of her beloved Inn at Eagle Point and her self-perception as a screwup in a family of overachievers. Now she's ready to share the future with a man. Her friends persuade her to join a dating service—but she gets no takers! Which is fine with her childhood friend, psychologist Will Lincoln, who's already chosen the perfect man for Jess: himself.

 

Will has loved Jess practically forever. He knows her faults and her strengths. But for all Will's sincerity and charm, Jess fears he views her as some psychological case study. With her family and the town of Chesapeake Shores behind him, Will finally makes his case. But is it enough to convince Jess to take the risk of a lifetime?

About the Author

 

With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She's also especially partial to small towns, wherever they may be. A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home, with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida. 



My Review

Thanks to the wonderful galley review program at Net Galley I have been introduced to wonderful new-to-me authors who I had not read before.  I have now discovered the writings of Sherryl Woods.  Moonlight Cove is part of Ms. Wood's Chesapeake Shores series.  Although this was book six in the series it was not necessary to have read the previous books.  Now that I have read Moonlight Cove I wish I had started at the beginning of the series so that the characters would mean more to me.  Will definitely have to do that with the other series written by Sherryl Woods.

This was a beautiful love story of a woman discovering that love was right in front of her all the time.  The story of Jess O'Brien and Will Lincoln was was not the only story told here though.  The O'Brien family who are the main characters in this Chesapeake Shores series are all updated.  There is new love as well for Jess's uncle with one of her close friends.  The story does focus primarily on Jess, her business, her struggles with ADD, and her perception as flighty by her family.  It is a warm and uplifting love story filled with the love of family as well.

Highly recommend this heartwarming story and I'm looking forward to reading more of Sherryl Woods.

Review: A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber

• Author:  Debbie Macomber
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mira (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778329836
• ISBN-13: 978-0778329831

Product Description

 

In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth.

 

They're driving to Florida for Ruth's 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of her teenage life. She's heard he's alone, too…and, well, she's curious. Maybe even hopeful.

Bethanne herself needs time to reflect, to ponder a decision she has to make. Her ex-husband, Grant—her children's father—wants to reconcile now that his second marriage has failed. Bethanne's considering it….

Meanwhile, Annie's out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him!
So there they are, three women driving across America. They have their maps and their directions—but even the best-planned journey can take you to a turn in the road. Or lead you to an unexpected encounter—like the day Bethanne meets a man named Max who really is a hero on a Harley. That's when Bethanne's decision becomes a lot harder. Because Grant wants her back, but now there's Max….

From Seattle's Blossom Street to the other end of the country, this is a trip that could change three women's lives.

About the Author

 

Debbie Macomber, the author of Hannah’s List, 1022 Evergreen Place, Summer on Blossom Street, 92 Pacific Boulevard, and Twenty Wishes, is a leading voice in women’s fiction. Three of her novels have scored the #1 slot on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle was Hallmark Channel's top-watched movie for 2009. Winner of the 2005 Quill Award for Best Romance, the prolific author has more than 140 million copies of her books in print worldwide.

My Review

Who doesn't love a road trip!  Delightful new novel by Debbie Macomber.  I had not read any of her previous books and I was pleasantly surprised to discover what a great storyteller she is.  I understand that Bethanne was introduced in a previous Blossom Street novel however you do not need to read the previous books to enjoy this one. 

Three generations of women set out on a road trip from Seattle, Washington to Vero Beach, Florida.  They have lots of adventures on the way.  They discover things about themselves and each other on this great trip.  And they all come to conclusions about love in their lives.

I just loved the character of  Max.  And Debbie Macomber had a lot to say about people judging others by their outward appearance.  I loved that she utilized bikers to point this out.  Bikers are often considered the outlaws of present day.  However, if you actually do spend a lot of time on the road you will realize that a lot of bikers are actually middle aged professionals who enjoy riding the open roads of this continent as an amazing stress reliever.  I know this from experience...don't knock it until you've tried it!

Uplifting, wonderful read that I highly recommend.  I couldn't put it down because I was dying to know what decision Bethanne would make and that's all I'll say about that!

Review: Long Gone by Alafair Burke

• Author:  Alafair Burke
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper (June 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061999180
• ISBN-13: 978-0061999185

Product Description

After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. 

 

According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner. Drew assures Alice that the owner will be hands off, allowing her to run the gallery on her own. Her friends think it sounds too good to be true, but Alice sees a perfect opportunity to make a name for herself beyond the shadow of her famous father, an award-winning and controversial film maker.

Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. The phone number Drew gave her links back to a disposable phone.

The artist whose work she displayed doesn’t seem to exist. And the dead man she claims is Drew has been identified as someone else.

When police discover ties between the gallery and a missing girl, Alice knows she’s been set up. Now she has to prove it—a dangerous search for answers that will entangle her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and force her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family… secrets that could cost Alice her life.

Amazon Exclusive: Michael Connelly Reviews Long Gone

Michael Connelly’s Edgar Award-winning first novel, The Black Echo, was published in 1992 and based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles. Since then he has written more than 18 novels, the most recent of which is The Fifth Witness.
 
You know how the song goes--“If I can make it here, I’ll make it anywhere.” The anthem for a city and a state of mind, powered by the voice of its own son, Frank Sinatra, even if technically he came from across the river. New York, New York. It is truly the first song on the soundtrack of the city. And it points up the risk and reward of living in the greatest city in the world.

Well, what about the risks and rewards in writing a novel about the greatest city in the world? To me the challenge would be intimidating, even daunting, before I got the first word down on the first page. But not to Alafair Burke. With Long Gone she makes the city her own. She takes New York with a knowing and confidant hand, folding its teeming streets into character and plot in a story that is never less than gripping.

At center you have Alice Humphrey. She is the daughter of privilege in a city that doesn’t pay much mind to that privilege. She’s on her own and that is the beating heart of this book. Alice on her own. Burke constructs this book with the precision of a watchmaker. It is a contraption piece that closes tightly around Alice and then we are with her as she investigates the set up and finds her way to safety.

I am familiar with most of Burke’s work and I think Alice is her best heroine yet. She connects with us on so many levels. She is an everywoman cornered by forces she doesn’t recognize or understand in a city with too many back alleys and secrets to ever know. She is from a family that holds secrets from her as well as the world. But no matter. She is relentless in her pursuit of the truth, whichever way it is finally told. And in that we connect to her, admire her, like her. We feel for Alice Humphrey and want to be there when she sees it all through.

That is the writer’s most difficult task, building the bridge of empathy between reader and protagonist. Burke does it here with a character who is persistent in simply refusing to be a victim. Don’t we all wish we were the same.

Though any writer will flat out tell you that the easier it looks the harder it is to get on the page, Alafair Burke makes this one look like a walk in the park. Frank Sinatra would certainly be proud. Start spreading the news.

About the Author

ALAFAIR BURKE is the bestselling author of six novels, including 212, Angel’s Tip, and Dead Connection in the Ellie Hatcher series. A former prosecutor, she now teaches criminal Law and lives in Manhattan. Long Gone is her first stand-alone thriller.

My Review

Awesome book Miss Alafair!  I just loved it!  I couldn't put it down; what an well plotted suspenseful novel!  As the daughter of the greatest living mystery writer, James Lee Burke, Alafair has big shoes to fill! And she does with this stand alone novel featuring Alice Humphrey who naively takes on a position running a new gallery for a man she meets at a gallery opening.  The charming Drew Campbell draws her into this web of deceit and intrigue that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.  There is a great side story as well regarding a missing New Jersey girl.  New York City is a main character in this novel as well.  Ms. Burke obviously know it well.

I loved that Ms. Burke is very current technologically.  I loved that she demonstrates the perils of today's social networking sites like Facebook and how if people aren't careful they can expose themselves to all kinds of trouble.

And I loved the reference to just having read a novel in which the main character bribes hotel clerks in order to use rooms briefly....Lee Child...Jack Reacher...loved it!

At the end of the novel, Ms. Burke thanks all of her readers including those who follow her web site and follow her on Facebook....and my name was listed there!  Alafair often asked her followers advice about different things she was working on in her novel and it was fun to chime in!  Big Thrill!

Totally absolutely recommend this book!  It publishes in June so what a great summer read!

Review: Dead by Midnight: A Death on Demand Mystery by Carolyn Hart

• Author:  Carolyn Hart
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (March 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061914975
• ISBN-13: 978-0061914973

Product Description

 

Solving puzzles comes naturally to Annie Darling, cheerful owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore on the lovely sea island of Broward's Rock. Annie is aided and abetted by her admiring husband, Max, who runs an unusual business that offers help to people in trouble.

A recent death appears to be suicide, but Annie suspects murder. To solve the case, she unravels the mystery of a towel hidden at midnight in a gazebo, the lack of fingerprints on a crystal mug, blood on a teenager's blue shirt, and the secret of a lovers' tryst.

Annie believes she has set the perfect trap for a merciless killer until her cell phone rings and Death whispers in her ear.

About the Author

 

An accomplished master of mystery, Carolyn Hart is the author of twenty previous Death on Demand novels. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. She is also the creator of the Henrie O series, featuring a retired reporter, and the Bailey Ruth series, starring an impetuous, redheaded ghost. One of the founders of Sisters in Crime, Hart lives in Oklahoma City.

My Review

It is so wonderful to be able to escape to Broward's Rock and the Death on Demand bookstore with Annie and Max and their assortment of friends from famous authors to police detectives to restaurant owners on a new adventure.  Dead by Midnight is the twenty-first Death on Demand mystery and it is a wonderful addition to the series.

As always the writing is so smooth and enjoyable to read.  The plot is full of twists and turns and the identity of the murderer was a surprise to me as always in this series.  I've loved this entire series beginning from Max and Annie's courtship to their established marriage.  And it is wonderful that their marriage is solid and full of love.  They are a great partnership, always very supportive of one another.  I really enjoy the Death on Demand bookstore setting and I love that Ms. Hart is always dropping mystery writers names as I have found many a new author this way. And the first murder victim is a new employee of Annie's this time out.

The setting of Broward's Rock which is off the South Carolina coast is a wonderful setting.  We have another "new" old island family as the central characters in this mystery.  The Jamison family is full of victims and suspects.  And the bookstore employee murderee had been an employee of the Jamison's law firm until recently.  Annie knows her new employee had no reason to commit suicide and quickly determines it was murder and sets out to solve the case.  Another murder victim quickly follows.  Everyone looks like a suspect at some point and it takes Annie and Max's detective work to prove who the murderer is.  Great story!

Highly recommend this wonderful new addition to the Death on Demand series by Carolyn Hart.  It was just released this week so be sure to get your copy soon!