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Reviews

by Tim Dorsey - Fiction, Humor, Mystery

With his best bro Colman riding shotgun, Serge A. Storms hits the highway in his ’69 gold Plymouth Satellite, putting pedal to the metal on a grand tour of the past. Beginning in Key West, the sunshine boys’ odyssey includes a forgotten mass grave in Palm Beach County holding the remains of African Americans killed by the Great Hurricane of 1928, and the resting place of one world-famous television dolphin (RIP Flipper) from the 1960s. But one deadland --- a haunted old sugar field --- holds more than just the bones of those who’ve passed. For years, local children have whispered about a boogeyman hiding among the stalks. Could it be the same maniac known as Naked Florida man who’s been raising hell all over the place?

by Michael Stanley - Fiction, Mystery

David “Kubu” Bengu's keen mind and famous persistence have seen him rise in the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. But how did he get his start? His resentful new colleagues are suspicious of a detective who has entered the CID straight from university, skipping the usual beat cop phase. Shortly after he joins the CID, the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds in transit. Police immediately suspect an inside job, but there is no evidence of who it could be. When the robbers are killed execution-style in South Africa and the diamonds are still missing, suspicion focuses on a witch doctor and his son. Does "Kubu" have the skill and the integrity to engineer an international trap and catch those responsible?

by Val McDermid - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Construction is suddenly halted on the redevelopment of an orphanage after dozens of skeletons are found buried in the grounds. Forensic examination reveals they date from between 20 and 40 years ago, when the nuns were running their repressive regime. But then a different set of skeletons are discovered in a far corner, young men from as recent as 10 years ago. When newly promoted DI Paula McIntyre learns that one of the male skeletons is that of a killer who is supposedly alive and behind bars --- and the subject of one of Carol Jordan’s miscarriage investigations --- it brings Tony Hill and Carol irresistibly into each other’s orbit once again.

by Christopher Fowler - Fiction, Mystery

When a man is found hanging upside down inside a willow tree on Hampstead Heath, surrounded by a baffling assortment of occult objects, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to investigate. Was this a botched satanic ritual pulled off by bored teenagers, a gang initiation, or the work of a mastermind with grander intentions? Bryant and May set off in search of answers. When another body is pulled from the river at dawn, it becomes clear that a killer lurks in the night. To catch him, the PCU switches to graveyard shifts, but the team still comes up short. As they explore a night city where the normal rules do not apply, they’re drawn deeper into a case that involves murder, arson, kidnapping, blackmail, loneliness and bats.

edited by Lawrence Block - Anthology, Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories

Seventeen stories by 17 brilliant writers, inspired by 17 paintings. That was the formula for Lawrence Block’s two groundbreaking anthologies, IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW and ALIVE IN SHAPE AND COLOR, and it’s on glorious display here once again in FROM SEA TO STORMY SEA. This time the paintings are exclusively the work of American artists, and the roster includes Harvey Dunn, John Steuart Curry, Reginald Marsh, Thomas Hart Benton, Helen Frankenthaler, Winslow Homer, Rockwell Kent, Grant Wood and Andy Warhol. Among the star-studded lineup of writers, you’ll find Warren Moore, Jerome Charyn, Jane Hamilton, Christa Faust, John Sandford, Sara Paretsky, Charles Ardai, Barry Malzberg and Janice Eidus.

by Charles Soule - Fiction, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Inside a barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a scientist searching for an Alzheimer’s cure throws a switch --- and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband’s body. What begins as a botched experiment will change her life --- and the world --- forever. Over two decades later, all across the planet, “flash” technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment. But beyond the reach of the law and government regulators is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate “vessels” anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked, for any purpose --- sex, drugs, crime...or worse.

by Jeff Lindsay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Riley Wolfe is a master thief who targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent and is willing to kill them when they’re in his way. In JUST WATCH ME, Riley aims for an extraordinary target in a heist that will make history. He will try to steal the Crown Jewels of Iran. Yes, these jewels are worth billions, but the true attraction for grabbing them comes down to one simple fact: it can’t be done. No one could even think of getting past the airtight security and hope to get away alive, let alone with even a single diamond from the Imperial Collection. No one but Riley Wolfe. He’s always liked a challenge. But this challenge may be more than even he can handle. Aside from the impenetrable security, Riley is also pursued by a brilliant and relentless cop who is barely a step behind him.

by James Patterson - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed "M" rests on the corpse. "You messed up big time, Dr. Cross." Was an innocent man just put to death? Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as "M" lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details --- details that conjure up decades-old cases. Details that conjure up Cross family secrets. Details that make clear that M is after a prize so dear that --- were the killer to attain it --- Alex's heart would no longer have reason to beat.

by Ace Atkins - Fiction, Mystery

Gabby Leggett left her Boston family with dreams of making it big as a model/actress in Hollywood. Two years later, she disappears from her apartment. Her family, former boyfriend, friends --- and the police --- have no idea where she is and no leads. Leggett's mother hires Spenser to find her, with help from his former apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, now an L.A. private eye. Spenser barely has time to unpack before the trail leads to a powerful movie studio boss, the Armenian mob, and a shadowy empowerment group some say might be a dangerous cult. It's soon clear that Spenser and Sixkill may be outgunned this time, and series favorites Chollo and Bobby Horse ride to the rescue to provide backup.

by Max Allan Collins - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Mystery

Quarry, star of 13 previous novels, a comic book and the acclaimed Cinemax TV series, returns in an all-new assignment that takes the hitman's hitman into uncharted territory, when he finds out that for the first time someone has taken out a hit on him. Is the mysterious killer assigned to hit the hitman someone from Quarry's past? Maybe even a past lover?