Search this site    Ill Wind Author: Barr, Nevada ISBN: 0-399-14015-8 Pages: 309 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Putnam Adult Published: April 6, 1995 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: Barr lands another successful entry in the solid series featuring Anna Pigeon, the down-to-earth National Park Service ranger last seen in A Superior Death (1994). The daily problems at Mesa Verde National Park are mostly straightforward, although Ted Greeley, the contractor installing a water line, tends to irritate folks (especially the park archeologist, incensed about Greeley's indifference to buried Anasazi artifacts), and Patsy Silva, a park secretary, is getting "weird" messages from her ex-husband, who has joined Greeley's crew. The summer takes on darker hues when ranger Stacy Meyers panics so badly during the evacuation of an asthmatic child that he is useless. Soon afterward, Stacy vanishes; his corpse is found tucked away in the park in a scene of death that is "pathologically neat." Anna is assigned to assist Frederick Stanton, the deceptively "vague and bumbling" FBI agent sent in on the case; as they match wits with an unknown adversary, their working relationship takes on warmer tones than at their last meeting. Despite being troubled by memories of her late husband and her increasing fondness for alcohol, Anna (usually) displays that common sense and appreciation for nature that makes her such good company. Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selections. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Instruments of Darkness Authors: Wilson, Robert / Sheil, Anthony ISBN: 0-15-601113-1 Pages: 352 Format: Paperback Publisher: Harvest Books Published: July 1, 2003 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Book Description: From the author of the national bestseller "A Small Death in Lisbon" and "The Company of Strangers" comes Wilson's compelling first novel, never before available in the United States. Bruce Medway's existence as a fixer and troubleshooter had been tough, but never life-threatening until he crossed paths with the mighty Madame Severnou. His life becomes even more complicated by his search for a missing fellow expat, Steven Kershaw. Against a backdrop of political disruption and endemic official corruption, Medway pursues the elusive phantom of Kershaw. Instruments of Darkness powerfully evokes the atmosphere, politics, and people of West Africa. With Medway's ironic voice, flashes of humor that may recall Raymond Chandler, and unforgettable characters, this compulsively readable thriller is the beginning of a remarkable series. Track of the Cat Author: Barr, Nevada ISBN: 0-399-13824-2 Pages: 238 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Putnam Adult Published: March 24, 1993 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: The texture, scents and sounds of the West Texas wilderness permeate this forceful debut, in which the murder of a National Park Service ranger illuminates the conflicts between those who want to place our country's open spaces and wildlife under government protection and those who want to profit from them. Anna Pigeon has fled New York City after the accidental death of her husband, and she now works as a law enforcement ranger at Guadaloupe Mountains National Park. There she finds the remains of fellow ranger Sheila Drury, who apparently was clawed to death by a mountain lion. Although an autopsy confirms this judgment, Anna becomes convinced that the claw marks have been faked. Her superiors discourage her from probing further, but another supposedly accidental death goads her into investigating Sheila's activities before her death--her campaign to open up the park to the public and her relationships with a young divorcee and with a powerful rancher opposed to Park Service policies. Anna is sure that clues reside in the thousands of snapshots the dead woman took--photos that show signs of having been rifled through. A park ranger herself, Barr develops a complex, credible and capable heroine who believes in truth and justice while remaining conscious of the ambiguities of human existence. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal: On a biannual trek, park rangers check for signs of mountain lions. While climbing along her assigned route, Anna sees a dozen vultures circle above a canyon. Checking on their carrion, she discovers the body of fellow ranger Sheila Drury, apparently killed by a mountain lion. Believing the animal tracks and scratches are a set-up, the young woman conducts her own investigation, putting her life in peril as she encounters ardent hunters. Anna Pigeon is a great new addition to the cadre of female detectives, especially since her job as park ranger involves hiking through the spectacular scenery of the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas. Several dollops of ecology and conservation of resources mingle with the murder clues, making this an exciting, almost "good for you," book. Pam Spencer, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VA Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Practice of Deceit Author: Benedict, Elizabeth ISBN: 0-618-56371-7 Pages: 288 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Published: June 10, 2005 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: Eric Lavender, a 40-something Manhattan therapist, transforms from hard-core bachelor to blissed-out family man then alleged felon in Benedict's new psychological thriller (after Almost). Soon after Eric falls for Colleen O'Brien Golden, strawberry blonde Scarsdale divorce lawyer and single mom, and her toddler, Zoe, an unplanned pregnancy precipitates marriage and his relocation to the suburbs, where much to his surprise, he finds contentment in domesticity. But Eric's creeping suspicions that Colleen--"with her milky breasts... and her blazing feminist ideals to help women and children suffering at the hands of so many deadbeat dads"--is not the woman she seems put an end to their idyll after a few years. The story about her first husband doesn't add up, and it turns out that her book, Your Fair Share! Women and Divorce, was ghostwritten. On top of this shaky foundation of trust, Eric and Colleen encounter a disastrous professional conflict of interest--he unwittingly takes a client whose wife has hired Colleen as her divorce lawyer. The upshot: Eric finds himself cuffed, jailed and falsely accused of molesting Zoe. This intelligently written and briskly plotted update on the femme fatale story makes an absorbing beach read. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review: USA Today : "Entertaining...clever." --Deirdre Donahue Publishers Weekly : "Intelligently written and briskly plotted update on the femme fatale story makes an absorbing beach read." Newsday : "It's smart entertainment by a very smart writer--the best kind of summer reading." --Janice P. Nimura "The story practically spills into your lap as you turn the pages...A lot of wicked fun." --Alan Cheuse, NPR's "All Things Considered" "the stunning new break-out thriller" -- New Mystery Reader Hello, Darkness Author: Brown, Sandra ISBN: 0-7434-6675-6 Pages: 496 Format: Paperback Publisher: Pocket Star Published: July 20, 2004 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: Cue another run up the charts for bestselling Brown (The Crush), who knows just the right mix to spin: a second-chance-at-love theme rocked by the rhythms of families-in-jeopardy and the hip-hop beat of an at-risk teen subplot sure to alarm the most jaded of parents. Her latest thriller, set during a steamy Austin, Tex., summer, revolves around Paris Gibson, host of a late night radio show that dispenses classic love songs along with advice for the lovelorn that turns deadly after a caller takes Paris's on-air advice to dump a possessive boyfriend who turns out to be another regular caller, "Valentino." Refusing to be dumped, "Valentino" makes the girl his captive, phones Paris that he will kill her in 72 hours ("...her death will be on your conscience") and implies Paris may die next. Paris contacts the Austin police and reunites with one-time lover, Dean Malloy, a police psychologist who was also her dead fiance's best friend. "Valentino" 's victim, Janey Kemp, is the missing 17-year-old daughter of a prominent judge and a founder of a Sex Club Web site that arranges illicit parties that Dean's son, Gavin, also frequents, connecting him to Janey's disappearance. Paris and Dean's romance is almost trivial beside Janey's dehumanizing captivity, although Brown's shallow characterizations of Janey and other Sex Club teens registers the only off note in this fast-reading thriller. The adult suspects are better developed: Lancy, an ex-con/janitor/former porn star trying to make good; Stan, a radio employee whose family connections are the only reason he has a job; John, a cop who sees nothing wrong with "hands on" undercover work; and Brad, a sex-addicted dentist. The unmasking of the killer comes with a riveting finale that will leave fans begging for an encore. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. The Alibi Author: Brown, Sandra ISBN: 0-446-51980-4 Pages: 496 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Warner Books Published: August 31, 1999 Condition: Price: USD $2.49 Sandra Brown's two previous novels, Unspeakable and Fat Tuesday, earned her a loyal band of romantic suspense fans and The Alibi is sure to increase the following. Mixing a little murder, some corruption, and a good bit of illicit romance, this novel makes the golf courses of Charleston, South Carolina, seem as seedy and fascinating as the back alleys of Chinatown. Hammond Cross wants to be the district attorney, and for years he has proven himself to be a man of high principles and irreproachable character. When his investigations turn up evidence of the corruption of local tycoon Lute Pettijohn, Hammond has no doubt about what is the right thing to do--even when his own father is under suspicion. However, this simple debate becomes complicated when Pettijohn is murdered and Hammond's alibi is a night of forbidden passion with the suspected murderess, Dr. Alex Ladd. Brown's quick dialogue, character quirks, and plot twists help give a modern bent to the classic detective tale. While some of the characters prance across the pages with a predictability that would make Dashiell Hammett proud (the drunk-makes-good assistant, the light-hair-dark-history socialite) most of the characters show refreshing individuality. As Hammond's internal conflict intensifies--and the passion and danger do, too--readers will find all criticisms vanishing as they blast their way through this suspenseful page-turner. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien From Publishers Weekly: The prolific Brown (Unspeakable) undoubtedly has another bestseller in her latest suspense novel, which catches its protagonist in a tricky ethical situation. When Charleston real estate developer Lute Pettijohn is murdered in the penthouse suite of the posh hotel he recently built, there is no shortage of likely suspects; Pettijohn is one of the most hated men in town. On the same night that the murder occurs, assistant district attorney Hammond Cross attends a county fair, where he meets a mysterious woman who refuses to tell him her name. But Cross is so smitten he cajoles her into spending the night with him in his country cabin. Later, when a witness places the woman, now identified as respected psychologist Dr. Alex Ladd, at the scene of the crime, she becomes the number one suspect. Hammond, the prosecutor on the case, finds himself furious at, suspicious of and in love with the beautiful Ladd. Her alibi, obviously, is that she was with him when the crime was committed, but it turns out that she could have shot Pettijohn and still managed to turn up at the fair. Hammond believes her innocent, however, and in spite of his ambitions for higher office, he risks his career to find the real killer. Brown's gift for taut pacing compresses the time frame of the book into one short week, and she mixes the suspense with steamy romance. A web of labyrinthine relationships becomes ever more intricate until the identity of the killer is revealed, a shock that would be implausible in a less carefully constructed tale. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Rule of Four Authors: Caldwell, Ian / Thomason, Dustin ISBN: 0-385-33711-6 Pages: 384 Format: Hardcover Publisher: The Dial Press Published: May 11, 2004 Condition: Price: USD $2.49 From Publishers Weekly: Caldwell and Thomason's intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason's book is the more cerebral-and better written-of the two: think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco. The four seniors are Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin. Tom, the narrator, is the son of a Renaissance scholar who spent his life studying the ancient book, "an encyclopedia masquerading as a novel, a dissertation on everything from architecture to zoology." The manuscript is also an endless source of fascination for Paul, who sees it as "a siren, a fetching song on a distant shore, all claws and clutches in person. You court her at your risk." This debut novel's range of topics almost rivals the Hypnerotomachia's itself, including etymology, Renaissance art and architecture, Princeton eating clubs, friendship, steganography (riddles) and self-interpreting manuscripts. It's a complicated, intricate and sometimes difficult read, but that's the point and the pleasure. There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race not only to solve the puzzle, but also to stay alive. Readers might be tempted to buy their own copy of the Hypnerotomachia and have a go at the puzzle. After all, Caldwell and Thomason have done most of the heavy deciphering-all that's left is to solve the final riddle, head for Rome and start digging. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal:  A compelling modern thriller that cleverly combines history and mystery. When four Princeton seniors begin the Easter weekend, they are more concerned with their plans for the next year and an upcoming dance than with a 500-year-old literary mystery. But by the end of the holiday, two people are dead, two of the students are injured, and one has disappeared. These events, blended with Renaissance history, code breaking, acrostics, sleuthing, and personal discovery, move the story along at a rapid pace. Tom Sullivan, the narrator, tells of his late father's and then a roommate's obsession with the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a 15th-century "novel" that has long puzzled scholars. Paul has built his senior thesis on an unpopular theory posited by Tom's father–that the author was an upper-class Roman rather than a monk–and has come close to proving it. While much of the material on the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is arcane and specialized, it is clearly explained and its puzzles are truly puzzling, while the present-day action is compelling enough to keep teens reading. There is a love interest for Tom and a lively portrayal of Princeton life. This novel will appeal to readers of Dan Brown's TheDa Vinci Code (Doubleday, 2003) but it supplies a lot more food for thought, even including some salacious woodcuts from the original book as well as coded excerpts and their solutions.–Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Twanged Author: Clark, Carol Higgins ISBN: 0-446-51763-1 Pages: 272 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Warner Books Published: March 25, 1998 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Frivolous and formulaic, Twanged features a cursed Irish fiddle, eccentrics summering at the Hamptons, and an egg-eating wacko stalking a redheaded country-music singer. In her fourth adventure in the series, detective Regan Reilly (armed with a pistol in her fanny pack) must sort out all of these mildly amusing if rarely suspenseful details in her role as protectress of fiddle owner, musician, and stalking victim Brigid O'Neill. A number of subplots and last-minute rescues keep the action moving quickly. As in her other books, whimsical detail is Clark's forte rather than high drama or careful consideration of the issues and themes she raises. In this case Irish traditions, feng shui, and the World Wide Web all provide the backdrop and serve as catalysts for the next dastardly deed or safe deliverance. Clark aficionados will find familiar names and faces: Regan's urbane and sophisticated parents (not surprisingly noted as being on the A list for exclusive invitations by one of the many social-climbing eccentrics) as well as her best friend, Kit, make their requisite reappearances and play minor roles in keeping the fiddle secure and Brigid safe. Clark novices can sleep soundly, as loyal fans already do, knowing the unpleasant evildoers will be safely caught, although not everyone receives his just reward. Securely in the category of mystery lite, Twanged is an easy and festive read--suitable fodder for a few hours' lolling at the beach or with tray table up and seat-belt sign on. From Library Journal: It's summertime, and Regan Reilly is called back home from Los Angeles to the Hamptons on New York's Long Island to protect her friend Brigid O'Neill, an up-and-coming country singer with a knack for fiddling who'll be performing at the local Melting Pot Music Festival. Brigid has been given a legendary old fiddle by Ireland's champion fiddler, Malachy Sheerin, but legend has it that to take this fiddle out of Ireland will bring bad luck to the owner. Multimillionaire Chappy Tinka wants the instrument, which bears the initials C.T., and he's prepared to do anything to claim it for himself. An array of amusing but not necessarily deep supporting characters adds to this light but well-composed mystery. Humorous rather than chiller thriller, this is a nice buy for Clark fans and for those mystery readers who have not read her but who enjoy Joan Hoss and Charlotte McLeod. -Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. My Gal Sunday Author: Clark, Mary Higgins ISBN: 0-684-83229-1 Pages: 240 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: October 22, 1996 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 The queen of suspense has a new book of short stories and a new set of sleuths. The setting is the nation's capital, and the detective team, a mere ex-president and his congresswoman wife. They find themselves immersed in a number of intrigues, rescuing the well-connected and powerful from scoundrels of all stripes. Although the setup has promise (a sort of "Thin Man Goes to Washington"), the book doesn't deliver the suspense and plot development that has made Mary Higgins Clark a bestseller. Fans of The Lottery Winner may be disappointed--and not only by the absence of the beloved team of Alvirah and Willy. From Publishers Weekly: An appealing husband-and-wife sleuthing team are the stars of the four stories in Clark's new collection. Her protagonists are Henry Parker Britland IV, the 44-year-old former president of the U.S., and his recent bride, plucky congresswoman Sandra ("Sunday") O'Brien Britland. Debonair, wealthy Henry and smart-as-a-whip Sunday enjoy their estates in New Jersey, Florida, the Bahamas and Provence, and other perks of Henry's patrician background, such as a private jet and an elegant yacht. But they keep getting embroiled in dicey situations. The best entry, "They All Ran After the President's Wife," features two genuinely eccentric and creepy evildoers and a kidnapped Sunday in peril. Although nicely set up and suspenseful, it suffers from a rushed denouement. A pleasant diversion, "Hail, Columbia," takes place aboard the Britlands' yacht, from which the prime minister of Costa Barria had disappeared 32 years earlier after having given the then 12-year-old Henry an envelope, which has also vanished, until clever Sunday finds the missing link. A kidnapper from the wrong side of the tracks who improbably speaks fluent French is the drawback to credibility in "Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noel," and the lead entry, "A Crime of Passion," is a clunky no-brainer. But Clark uses every occasion to celebrate her gorgeous newlyweds' delirious happiness and misses no opportunity to cater to those readers who favor a little romance with their mild suspense. 800,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Lottery Winner Alvirah & Willy Stories Author: Clark, Mary Higgins ISBN: 0-671-86716-4 Pages: 272 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: November 1, 1994 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly:  This collection of six mystery stories featuring Alvirah Meehan and her husband, Willy, spent 12 weeks on PW's bestseller list. From Booklist: Clark's books are always megahits, and her fans love the nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat suspense that is her trademark. So it's a little surprising that this collection of six interrelated stories featuring Willy and Alvirah Meehan lacks Clark's usual energy and pizzazz. The Meehans, who first appeared in Clark's Weep No More, My Lady, have struck it rich in the lottery. No longer do they slave away at housecleaning (Alvirah) and plumbing (Willy). Their days are spent pursuing the hedonistic pleasures of the idle rich, although, to their credit, Alvirah and Willy haven't lost touch with their roots. Alvirah seems to have a "talent" for murder, both for being in the general vicinity when one occurs and for uncloaking the villain before anyone else. For readers who enjoy the nouveau riche approach to crime solving ({ }a la Jonathan and Jennifer Hart or Nick and Nora Charles), these stories may prove mildly entertaining, but because they're so short, there's little opportunity for any real development of motive, plot, or character. And while the Meehans are basically nice, easy-to-like folks, the stories about their escapades are flat, facile, and distinctly lacking in suspense. Blow Fly Author: Cornwell, Patricia ISBN: 0-425-19873-1 Pages: 480 Format: Paperback Publisher: Berkley Published: September 7, 2004 Condition: Price: USD $2.69 From Publishers Weekly: "Please don't go there. The past is the past," sighs New York Assistant District Attorney Jaime Berger, who herself was introduced in Cornwell's last Kay Scarpetta novel, The Last Precinct (2000). Alas, many of Cornwell's fans are bound to agree. One fascinating nonfiction bestseller (Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed) later, Cornwell now returns to Scarpetta, formerly Virginia's chief medical examiner. From the start, however, the formidable author is up against the equally formidable task of getting her charismatic main character off ice and back in action. We encounter Scarpetta languishing in a crumbling little rental house in Florida. She has taken refuge there and become a private forensic consultant after she was driven from her job for her alleged involvement in the murder of a deputy police chief. The violent death of her lover, Benton Wesley, the brilliant FBI psychological profiler, has left her filled with an unappeasable grief. When the coroner in Baton Rouge asks her advice on a cold case concerning an affluent woman found dead of a drug overdose in a seedy hotel, it seems little more than a diversion. Yet it becomes clear that the overdose may be related to a fresh string of serial killings. Also disturbing Scarpetta's somber peace is a troubling letter from someone out to kill her, the sick and obsessed death-row inmate Jean-Baptiste. When Scarpetta is at last allowed to get back to business, she is a feisty, independent powerhouse whose capacity to concentrate and observe rivals Sherlock Holmes's. But too much of this book is bound up in retrospective musings about events in previous books. The great Scarpetta, her fiery crime-busting niece, Lucy, and a colorful supporting cast deserve better. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Predator Author: Cornwell, Patricia ISBN: 0-399-15283-0 Pages: 416 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Putnam Adult Published: October 25, 2005 Condition: Price: USD $2.69 Shadow of a Doubt Author: Coughlin, William Jeremiah ISBN: 0-312-05961-2 Pages: 390 Format: Hardcover Publisher: St. Martin's Press Published: August 1991 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 From Publishers Weekly: Seldom does mystery/thriller fiction ring as true as in this lucid, emotionally demanding book from federal judge Coughlin ( Her Honor ). Attorney Charley Sloan has lost his lucrative Detroit practice, three wives and a considerable fortune--all to demon rum. Narrowly escaping disbarment, he has retreated to AA and the suburbs to pull his life together. Up pops Charley's high school girlfriend, Robin, who has gone from the backseat of his jalopy to the bed of multimillionaire septuagenarian Harrison Harwell. The mogul's daughter has just been arrested for his murder, and Robin offers Charley the chance to represent Angel Harwell--the media case of the decade--and reestablish his legal reputation. But the DA sees the case as a ticket to a congressional seat and drives full-tilt to discredit Charley. Coughlin so ensnares the reader that every threat--and they are fearsome and many--to Charley's legal success and precarious sobriety sends anxiety levels skyrocketing. The courtroom action soars and plummets its way to the trickiest, most unexpected denouement since Witness for the Prosecution. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal: When Robin Harwell hires Charley Sloan to represent her stepdaughter Angel, it ' s a dream come true. Sloan, once a high-priced attorney and now a down-on-his-luck recovering alcoholic, knows things look bleak, for Angel has confessed to the stabbing death of her father, millionaire Harrison Harwell. Trying to figure out who killed Harwell and whether Sloan is capable of putting together an adequate defense for Angel keeps the book moving at a smart pace. Coughlin, a federal judge in Michigan and author of Her Father's Daughter (Putnam, 1986. o.p.), The Twelve Apostles (Putnam, 1984. o.p.), and ten other books, is a consummate sto ryteller and does not disappoint here. Even Sloan's repeated references to his problems with alcohol and his gullibility do not diminish the sharpness of the courtroom drama. - Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. A Fatal Vineyard Season A Martha's Vineyard Mystery Author: Craig, Philip R. ISBN: 0-684-85544-5 Pages: 224 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Scribner Published: June 15, 1999 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: Instead of taking it easy now that the tourist season is over, year-round Martha's Vineyard resident and handyman J.W. Jackson, who's a retired cop, comes to the aid of a starlet in distress in this tenth in a series (A Shoot on Martha's Vineyard, etc.). After his wife and two toddlers go to the mainland, J.W. gets a call from Betsy Crandel, whose house he watches during the off-season months. Her niece and a friend, both African-American actresses, will be vacationing on the island for a few weeks. The friend, Ivy HolidayAnotorious for baring her breasts at the Academy Awards in protest of "the exploitation of women as sex objects in films"Ahas been receiving threatening notes from an inmate jailed for killing Ivy's roommate. Neither Ivy's attorney nor J.W. can figure out how the notes are getting past prison officials. Meanwhile, J.W. sees a more serious threat in racist, sexist Alexandro Vegas, who breaks into the Crandel house and tries to attack Ivy with a kitchen knife. Alexandro and his cunning brother Alberto, an ex-con, are running a protection racket on the island. As Hurricane Elmer takes its time deciding whether it'll turn toward the island, J.W. works on ending the Vegas brothers' hold on the area and on discovering the import of the dire notes Ivy keeps getting. Carefully plotted, the novel has a companionable, relaxed atmosphere that's laced with J.W.'s insights on everything from coastal living and fishing to fatherhood and human relationships. This is a good bet for any beach, on the Vineyard or off. (June) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews: Summer on Marthas Vineyard is waning and J.W. Jackson, his wife Zee, and their two small children are settling in for the winter. J.W. (A Shoot on Marthas Vineyard, 1998, etc.), once a Boston cop, will do his care-taking jobs for absentee house and boat ownerslike caring for the Crandel house in Oak Bluffs, presently occupied by actresses Julia Crandel and her friend Ivy Holiday. Ivy is seeking relief from McKenzie Reed, the stalker now jailed in California for the killing of Ivys roommate Dawn Dawson. No one can explain the letters that follow Ivy from him, despite strict prison surveillance. More immediate danger threatens in the looming shadow of the Vegas brothersAlberto, who runs an ever expanding so-called protective agency, and brother Alexandro, who acts as his huge, violent, foul-mouthed enforcer. J.W. is glad Zee and the children are visiting grandparents on the mainland while he keeps an eye on Julia and Ivy, even though theyre officially guarded by Bostons Thornberry agency. Events escalate as Hurricane Homer heads for the Vineyard; young policeman Larry, who annoyed Alexandro, is found beaten nearly to death; Julia and Ivy disappear, and the Vegas boat Invictus leaves its mooring with J.W. secretly aboard and a drama-laden ordeal to come. Eventful doings suffused with a rueful air and lots of J.W.s homespun philosophy. The tension-filled finale makes it one of Craigs better outings. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Prey Author: Crichton, Michael ISBN: 0-06-621412-2 Pages: 384 Format: Hardcover Publisher: HarperCollins Published: November 25, 2002 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 In Prey, bestselling author Michael Crichton introduces bad guys that are too small to be seen with the naked eye but no less deadly or intriguing than the runaway dinosaurs that made 1990's Jurassic Park such a blockbuster success. High-tech whistle-blower Jack Forman used to specialize in programming computers to solve problems by mimicking the behavior of efficient wild animals--swarming bees or hunting hyena packs, for example. Now he's unemployed and is finally starting to enjoy his new role as stay-at-home dad. All would be domestic bliss if it were not for Jack's suspicions that his wife, who's been behaving strangely and working long hours at the top-secret research labs of Xymos Technology, is having an affair. When he's called in to help with her hush-hush project, it seems like the perfect opportunity to see what his wife's been doing, but Jack quickly finds there's a lot more going on in the lab than an illicit affair. Within hours of his arrival at the remote testing center, Jack discovers his wife's firm has created self-replicating nanotechnology--a literal swarm of microscopic machines. Originally meant to serve as a military eye in the sky, the swarm has now escaped into the environment and is seemingly intent on killing the scientists trapped in the facility. The reader realizes early, however, that Jack, his wife, and fellow scientists have more to fear from the hidden dangers within the lab than from the predators without. The monsters may be smaller in this book, but Crichton's skill for suspense has grown, making Prey a scary read that's hard to set aside, though not without its minor flaws. The science in this novel requires more explanation than did the cloning of dinosaurs, leading to lengthy and sometimes dry academic lessons. And while the coincidence of Xymos's new technology running on the same program Jack created at his previous job keeps the plot moving, it may be more than some readers can swallow. But, thanks in part to a sobering foreword in which Crichton warns of the real dangers of technology that continues to evolve more quickly than common sense, Prey succeeds in gripping readers with a tense and frightening tale of scientific suspense. --Benjamin Reese From Publishers Weekly: From the opening pages of Crichton's electrifying new thriller, his first in three years, readers will know they are in the hands of a master storyteller (Timeline, Jurassic Park, etc.). The book begins with a brief intro noting the concerns of Crichton (and others) with the nascent field of nanotechnology, "the quest to build manmade machinery of extremely small size, on the order of... a hundred billionths of a meter"-for this is a cautionary novel, one with a compelling message, as well as a first-rate entertainment.Rare for Crichton, the novel is told in the first person, by Jack Forman, a stay-at-home dad since he was fired from his job as a head programmer for a Silicon Valley firm. In the novel's first third, Crichton, shades of his Disclosure, smartly explores sexual politics as Jack struggles with self-image and his growing suspicion that his dynamic wife, Julia, a v-p for the technology firm Xymos, is having an affair. But here, via several disturbing incidents, such as Jack's infant daughter developing a mysterious and painful rash, Crichton also seeds the intense drama that follows after Julia is hospitalized for an auto accident, and Jack is hired by Xymos to deal with trouble at the company's desert plant. There, he learns that Xymos is manufacturing nanoparticles that, working together via predator/prey software developed by Jack, are intended to serve as a camera for the military. The problem, as Crichton explains in several of the myriad (and not always seamlessly integrated) science lessons that bolster the narrative, is that groups of simple agents acting on simple instructions, without a central control, will evolve unpredictable, complex behaviors (e.g., termites building a termite mound). To meet deadlines imposed by financial pressures, Xymos has taken considerable risks The Journals of Eleanor Druse My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident Authors: Druse, Eleanor / King, Stephen ISBN: 1-4013-0123-1 Pages: 244 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Hyperion Published: January 1, 2004 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Book Description: The fascinating journals that inspired Stephen King's TV series Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. The book is a narrative of the life of Eleanor Druse and the astonishing events at Kingdom Hospital. It tells the story of a free-thinking woman and her quest to contact the tormented spirit of a young girl trapped between the here and the hereafter. The journals follow Eleanor's life, beginning with her early interest in the paranormal, which took an intensely personal turn in 1999 when she suffered a head trauma accident and had a Near Death Experience.The story leads up to Eleanor's present-day obsession with Kingdom Hospital, a regional medical center in Lewiston, Maine, built on a site where a 19th century textile mill burned to the ground in 1869. Dozens of textile workers-mostly child laborers-were trapped underground and perished in the inferno. Somewhere beneath the new construction of the modern hospital, ineffable evil still lurks, and the helpless spirit of a child is trapped and unable to find rest. Eleanor feigns illnesses to finagle several readmissions to the hospital in order to investigate the strange goings-on there. She wants to make contact with the ghost girl, Mary Jensen, who is crying out to Druse from the hereafter. The book is a thrilling and terrifying exploration into the supernatural which will satisfy the legions of fans of Stephen King. Eleanor Druse is a career spiritualist who has devoted her time recently to organizing these journals for publication. Driving Force Author: Francis, Dick ISBN: 0-399-13776-9 Pages: 318 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Putnam Published: October 1, 1992 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly: Francis's first-rate thriller about the British horse-racing scene--a 10-week PW bestseller--portrays a former steeplechase jockey who learns that his horse transportation firm is implicated in a drug smuggling operation. From School Library Journal: From the first paragraph, the action grabs readers and plunges ahead like one of the thoroughbreds that is such valuable secondary characters in every Francis novel. As usual, a particular aspect of the British racing industry is carefully profiled, in this case the job of transporting horses. Former jockey Freddie Croft is the owner of just such a business, and must confront the discovery that his vans have been used for some very unusual smuggling. Freddie discovers two separate plots to victimize race horses through disease; along the way a bit of romance begins to enrich his life, a trusted employee is murdered, computer files are wiped out, and a malicious villain destroys Freddie's home with an ax. Clues abound, with those needed to solve the mystery satisfyingly mixed in with enough red herrings to keep readers happily guessing. Additional plot enrichment is provided by weaving in the latest in computer technology and epidemiology. A dependable writer will satisfy his YA fans once again. - Carolyn E. Gecan, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, Second Wind Author: Francis, Dick ISBN: 0-399-14562-1 Pages: 293 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Putnam Adult Published: October 4, 1999 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Dick Francis's legion of admirers can relax: his year off from writing since the 1998 publication of Field of Thirteen is over, and a new vigor has entered his style. Longtime readers will be happy to find the customary racetrack skullduggery, galvanized by some fascinating new elements. The very opening of Second Wind signals something new, with Francis's protagonist, meteorologist Perry Stuart, fighting for his life as he flies through the eye of storm on Trox Island, a blighted place steeped in guano and harboring a nasty secret. "But now, as near dead as dammit, I tumbled like a rag-doll piece of flotsam in towering gale-driven seas that sucked unimaginable tons of water from the deeps ...." When the reader encountered details of the racing world in Francis's earlier thrillers such as Whip Hand and Reflex, they had the satisfying ring of authenticity. The same is true in Second Wind--Stuart's character was developed with the help of BBC weatherman John Kettley. Although this is a new venue for Francis, he still has a knack for quickening the reader's pulse with a few carefully chosen words: "Despair was too strong a word for it. Perhaps despondency was better. When they came for me, they came with guns." --Barry Forshaw From Publishers Weekly: With his 40th novel in as many years, grand master Dick Francis isn't up to his usual high standards, but fans know that even a subpar Francis is in the 95th percentile. Here the typical Francis hero is a young Englishman of a vanishing breed: smart, self-effacing although very good at his job, polite and thoroughly decent. Perry Stuart is a well-known TV weatherman for the BBC who was orphaned as a child and raised by his beloved, now crippled grandmother, who remains tartly sensible ("If you can't fix it, think about something else"). Joining fellow BBC weatherman Kris Ironside on a flying jaunt into the eye of a Caribbean hurricane, Perry survives when the plane crashes and washes up on a tiny, apparently abandoned island where the houses were destroyed by the hurricane. In a hut, he stumbles across a safe containing a mysterious file folder whose contents he cannot decipher. After a crew wearing radiation-protection suits arrive by air to rescue him, Perry's troubles are only beginning, as he slowly becomes aware of a sinister scheme in which well-off people are brokering enriched uranium to foreign nogoodniks. Among the cast are mushroom mogul Robin Darcy and his flashy American wife, two old SIS spooksAthink an aging James Bond and a tottery MAand a beautiful nurse who is Perry's circumspect love interest. Perry continues to encounter danger: the sabotage of another plane he's on, threats by a muscle-bound thug in Grand Cayman. Francis's writing is smooth and intelligent, moving the reader right along, but the end of the book is more than a tad far-fetched. Still, ex-RAF pilot and champion steeplechaser Francis knows his stuff and of course race courses figure in the plot. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Brigham's Day Author: Gates, John ISBN: 0-8027-3344-1 Pages: 256 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Walker & Company Published: June 2000 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Amazon.com: Brig Bybee is a Utah lawyer with a history of challenging the powers- that-be in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That is not how a brilliant criminal attorney gets ahead in Kanab, where this well-written suspense novel is set. The background of the standard plot (personally troubled, professionally played-out lawyer boxed in by a judge who makes him take second chair to another lawyer in defending a young man charged with murder) gets a nifty historical context as it relates to a century-old massacre in a stronghold of Brigham Young and his devotees. Bybee's co-counsel is a hotheaded young lawyer who believes there's a connection between trumped-up charges against their client and the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, for which the Mormon Church hierarchy may have framed another innocent man. Granted a second chance at happiness, Bybee, who lost his first wife and daughter in the unpopular pursuit of justice last time out, is falling in love with the granddaughter of the man his client supposedly murdered. He's also trying to rein in his unpredictable colleague, who has reason to believe that the church has framed Owen Parks, just the way they framed John Lee over a century ago. This time it's through a posse known as the Daughters of Zion, who would do anything to protect the reputation of the church's founder and the powerful Mormon hierarchy that guards its secrets just as forcefully today as it did then. Brig is an interesting protagonist, and the history of Utah's settlement is a fascinating story. Author John Gates, a Utah native, tells it well enough to make the reader hope for a second chance, and a second outing, for his hero. --Jane Adams From Publishers Weekly: The Mormon settlement of Kanab, Utah, provides a colorful setting for this somewhat formulaic thriller in which bloody secrets of Mormon history may prove to explain a present-day murder. Attorney Brigham Bybee, a divorced, recovering alcoholic whose high-profile career was nearly destroyed when he filed suit against a high Mormon church official, is now reduced to traveling to Kanab to sit second chair on the defense of a poor, illiterate man accused of murder. To make matters worse, the lead attorney, reckless boor Ronnie Watters, is building his case around wild rumors that the victim was actually killed by a secret Mormon police force to prevent him from publicizing an old document that might embarrass the church. And the victim's granddaughter, beautiful Zolene Swapp, knows more than she is tellingAeven as she and Bybee stumble into an inopportune love affair. Back in 1857 in this region, 120 settlers were slaughtered in what became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Learning the truth about that eventAa truth few want to confrontAmay be the key to Bybee's case. Though stock characters and creaky plotting undermine the narrative, Gates keeps his story moving briskly and garnishes his tale with well-chosen local details and enough Mormon history and lore to awaken the reader's interest in the alternate culture that thrives in Utah. Agent, Philip Spitzer. QPB alternate. (July) FYI: Gates was featured in PW's "First Fiction" feature (Jan. 10). Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Harvest Author: Gerritsen, Tess ISBN: 0-671-55301-1 Pages: 352 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Atria Published: September 1, 1996 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 Amazon.com: When Robin Cook wrote Coma in 1977, the idea of hospital patients being incubated for their vital organs sounded like science fiction. Twenty years later, this gripping thriller about a thriving international black market in human hearts, livers and kidneys could come from tomorrow's "Nightline." Author Gerritsen was an internist before she switched her energies to writing, and her experience shows in every scene. When young surgical resident Dr. Abby DiMatteo assists at her first "harvest" (the removal of living organs from a patient declared legally brain dead) at Boston's posh Bayside Hospital, "she felt vaguely nauseated by the whine of the blade, the smell of bone dust," neither of which seem to bother the veterans. It's obviously a personal memory being mined for good fictional purposes. (Gerritsen wrote paperback romance novels before Harvest: Check out her Keeper of the Bride and Thief of Hearts.) From Publishers Weekly: If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Robin Cook is going to feel just swell after taking a look at Gerritsen's first novel. It's been 19 years since Cook published Coma as his own first novel, but that book's basic elements, as a tale of medical terror in which a feisty young female doctor in Boston foils a medical conspiracy involving the murdering of innocents to harvest their organs, are found in Gerritsen's novel as well. Along with the requisite amoral medical types goaded by greed, Gerritsen includes Russian mobsters, orphans at deadly risk, a ruthless industrialist, murders disguised as suicides, a bloody climax aboard a Russian freighter in Boston Harbor and some graphic surgical scenes. Surgical resident Abby DiMatteo is on the fast track at Boston's fictional Bayside Hospital. But after she disobeys orders so she can give a heart transplant to a failing 17-year-old instead of to a failing middle-aged, rich woman, her career options look slim. Fighting back against hospital administrators, shyster lawyers and violent thugs, Abby, spunky but angst-ridden and also rather whiny, finds major discrepancies in the records of Bayside's organ-transplant procedures. Shocked, she finally learns the truth, experiences a major betrayal and, in the climax, must herself face the final harvest. Gerritsen's crisp pacing and adept handling of the medical background, she's a retired internist, add sizzle to the tale. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Devil's Red Nickel Author: Greer, Robert O. ISBN: 0-89296-652-1 Pages: 350 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Mysterious Press Published: March 1997 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 Amazon.com: If you haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting C. J. Floyd, Robert Greer's Denver-based bail bondsman and private eye, you've now got two chances. The latest Floyd adventure, which explores the death of a black musical legend named Daddy Doo-Wop, offers a wealth of detail on everything from the record business to sex change operations. And available in paperback is Greer's heralded debut novel, The Devil's Hatband, a lively outing set amongst the environmentalist movement in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. From Booklist: Doo-Wop Polk was one of the first great black disc jockeys. From Chicago radio station WPTN, he captivated black America with his unique patter and his ear for the hippest rhythm and blues. He survived payola and Mob influence, but he didn't survive an apparent heart attack that left him on a slab at Denver General Hospital with bail bondsman C. J. Floyd's business card in his pocket. Convinced that their father was murdered, Polk's adult children hire Floyd to find the killer. As Floyd delves deeper into the case, he not only finds the ghosts of Polk's business past but also a family tree with one whole branch labeled "suspects." Floyd's second appearance portends good things for the series. He's tough, resourceful, and remarkably self-aware but also surprisingly naive in his relationships with women. He's a hard-boiled hero in the mold of Spade and Archer; the only difference is that his milieu comes from the heart of the African American experience. Outstanding mystery fare. Wes Lukowsky