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Bookreporter.com Newsletter |
August 17, 2007
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This Week on Bookreporter.com |
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Nineteen Inches of Books
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Bookreporter.com Talks to Elizabeth Joy Arnold, Author of PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE
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New Featured One to Watch Author: Markus Zusak, Author of THE BOOK THIEF
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New Featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Emily Benedek, Author of RED SEA
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Our Summer Beach Bag Contest: Wrap Up Your Summer Reading with These 16 Titles
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Joseph Finder, Author of POWER PLAY
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Raymond Khoury, Author of THE SANCTUARY
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: M.J. Rose, Author of THE REINCARNATIONIST
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Mark Gimenez, Author of THE ABDUCTION
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Featured One to Watch Author: Sarah Addison Allen, Author of GARDEN SPELLS
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Featured One to Watch Author: Robert Goddard, Author of NEVER GO BACK
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Featured One to Watch Author: Gail Tsukiyama, Author of THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS
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Featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Chelsea Cain, Author of HEARTSICK
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This Week's Reviews and Features
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Poll, Question and Word of Mouth
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Nineteen Inches of Books
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For the record, after last week when I wrote the newsletter standing up in the middle of the construction zone at the office, this week I AM sitting down. The project is about 95% completed. My office is getting a glass wall, which will go in last. I have been WALKING through the window area instead of the door for weeks now, thus the staff is taking bets on how many times I am going to gallop into the glass. I am not betting against them. I figure I will need to keep the Windex handy to destroy all telltale fingermarks!
Our staff came back to the office yesterday, and we had a great time catching back up after weeks of IMs, emails and phone calls. They never broke stride while we were out, and they were back, unpacked, plugged in and working within a half an hour of getting to the office yesterday. I thank them endlessly for their tenacity and fortitude these past weeks. I really appreciated it, and they tell me they LOVE the new office space. We added six new bookcases to the new space while they were out, and by the time they walked in yesterday we had five of them completely filled with books that arrived while they were gone!
I went out to lunch with Carolyn Schwartz, a publishing friend yesterday, and I was positively giddy to leave the office after 3 1/2 weeks. I was living on takeout pizza on the days I did remember to eat lunch. Also, Chessman cookies were often breakfast and lunch, thus I may not be able to look at those for a while. A waiter, a tablecloth, a menu, cloth napkins and silverware that was not plastic. Ah, the little things.
Since it's mid-August (and just how did that happen when I was not looking?) and summer is drawing to a close, we are running a Special Beach Bag Contest to celebrate summer. We've pulled together SIXTEEN terrific books that were published this summer, paired them with a beach bag and a towel, and they are this week's prize. Since my life this week was all about measuring, I will have you know you will need 19 inches of space on your shelf if you are one of our FIVE lucky winners. And this prize is valued at $400! We had a lot of fun pulling this special contest together. Entry information is below. Good luck to all of you!
One of the most talked about books of 2006, THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak, is coming out in paperback on September 11th. Given how this book moved so many readers, we are excited to share Zusak and his work with you as our latest One to Watch author this week. THE BOOK THIEF is a New York Times bestseller, which has won countless awards. This unforgettable story, set during World War II in Germany, is about a girl who steals to survive and discovers the power of books with the help of her accordion-playing foster father. Zusak's writing is both moving and provocative. Earlier this summer I toured the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, and there were many moments during the exhibit that I found myself thinking about this book and how it wonderfully captured this horrific period. I have had the pleasure of hearing Zusak speak on two occasions, and his passion for this work and his humility in light of how very powerful it is makes him an author who I am so pleased to get before you. We have 10 copies to give away to readers who would like to read and comment. Fill out the form here for details on how to participate by Friday, August 24th.
I love when I discover a debut author and love his or her story, and that is exactly what happened with Emily Benedek's RED SEA. Emily is a journalist and an author who spent a year following an FBI agent working counterterrorism and met with a high-level Israeli expert on the same subject who inspired this novel. Her research lends an authoritative and inside look at international terrorism. At the start of the book, four commercial airliners are blown from the sky over international airspace, which is auspicious enough. Quickly the story unfolds that this attack is something much more. We live about 30 minutes from Newark Airport, and during the day as the flight patterns of the flights change, we often have planes flying in the skies above our house. I was sitting in the hammock reading RED SEA during one of these periods, and the roar of the engines definitely had me ripping through the pages more quickly. It's a fascinating novel, which reads authentically. We have 10 to share with readers who would like to comment on it by filling out the form here by Friday, August 24th.
This week we have comments from readers about LOVING FRANK by Nancy Horan and KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY by Margaret Forster. May their comments inspire you to explore these books.
My hammock and pool chair are calling. I have NO weekend plans. I have NO blueprints to look through. Thus it's all about reading, knitting, grilling and watching one of the Netflix rentals sitting next to the television. We are going to the Outer Banks next Friday, so I am plotting how we can leave town with THREE movie rentals in hand that I really want to watch. May this be my most difficult decision of this weekend! Happy reading to all of you. Find some place to escape with a book. If you are stuck on what to read...remember we have SIXTEEN suggestions in this week's Beach Bag Special Contest.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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Bookreporter.com Talks to Elizabeth Joy Arnold, Author of PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE
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Elizabeth Joy Arnold's debut work of fiction, PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE, explores the dynamic and complex relationship between twin sisters, and the one event that could potentially shatter their bond. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Alexis Burling, Arnold discusses how her fascination with the ways in which people cope with hardship prompted her to write this novel, and reveals the inspiration behind much of her main characters' interactions with one another. She also sheds light on their evolution over time, elaborates on the book's theme of forgiveness and shares details about her upcoming novel to be published next summer.
PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE by Elizabeth Joy Arnold (Fiction)
Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s debut novel is the story of twins who were inseparable until their 17th birthday, when their lives on Block Island were shattered. Thirteen years later, one sister must put their differences aside to rally behind her twin when she really needs her. Reviewed by Alexis Burling.
-Click here to read a review of PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE.
-Click here to read an excerpt from PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE.
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Click here to read our interview with Elizabeth Joy Arnold.
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New Featured One to Watch Author: Markus Zusak, Author of THE BOOK THIEF
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Our newest featured One to Watch author is Markus Zusak, whose New York Times bestseller THE BOOK THIEF will be available in paperback on September 11th. This unforgettable story, set during World War II in Germany, is about a girl who steals to survive and discovers the power of books with the help of her accordion-playing foster father.
We have 10 copies of THE BOOK THIEF to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 24th.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE BOOK THIEF.
-Click here to see the reading group guide for THE BOOK THIEF.
-Click here to read fast facts about Markus Zusak.
-Click here to read Markus Zusak's bio.
-Click here to see Markus Zusak's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE BOOK THIEF.
-Visit the author's official website, www.MarkusZusak.com.
More about THE BOOK THIEF:
It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery....
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist --- books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.
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Click here to read more about Markus Zusak and THE BOOK THIEF.
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New Featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Emily Benedek, Author of RED SEA
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Our newest featured Debut Suspense/Thriller author is Emily Benedek, whose first novel, RED SEA, releases on September 18th. Its main character, Julian Granot, is based on a real-life elite commando leader and counter-terror expert with whom Benedek came into contact as a journalist reporting on counterterrorism for Newsweek.
We have 10 advance reading copies of RED SEA to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 24th.
-Click here to read Emily Benedek's bio.
-Visit the author's official website, www.EmilyBenedek.com.
More about RED SEA:
After four commercial airliners are blown out of the sky in international airspace, retired Israeli Special Forces commander Julian Granot is called in to investigate. With the help of an intrepid American journalist, Marie Peterssen, and Morgan Ensley, a maverick FBI agent, Granot makes the horrifying discovery that the crashes were meant to conceal a more diabolical attack. Through an investigation that leads from Jordan to Iraq, through London and Cyprus to New York, Granot and his unorthodox team uncover plans for a scenario that has frightened American security experts for years: a nuclear bomb slipped onto a container and rigged to explode in a major US seaport. Meanwhile, Marie discovers a startling personal connection to the Islamist terrorist behind the plot, a secret that jeopardizes her life and the entire mission.
Based on a real-life elite commando leader and counter-terror expert, Julian Granot is a mysterious, ruthless, but ultimately human and sympathetic spymaster extraordinaire. Marie is a fully-drawn female hero who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty --- or fall in love.
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Click here to read more about Emily Benedek and RED SEA.
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Our Summer Beach Bag Contest: Wrap Up Your Summer Reading with These 16 Titles
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It wouldn't be summer without sun, surf and sizzling reading. You supply the beach chair and the sunblock, and we'll provide the fantastic fiction in our Third Annual Beach Bag of Books feature and contests.
For the fourteenth and final week of our Beach Bag feature, we bring you our special surprise. We've gathered together an outstanding collection of 16 books --- thrillers, mysteries, women's fiction, historical fiction and nonfiction titles we love --- that were published this summer as our prize, along with a blue striped beach bag and a brightly striped beach towel. It's valued at $400, and we will be giving five away!
The selected titles are: THE BOURNE BETRAYAL by Eric Van Lustbader; DON'T MAKE A SCENE by Valerie Block; THE EVER-RUNNING MAN by Marcia Muller; HARD CALL: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them, by John McCain with Mark Salter; HELEN OF TROY by Margaret George; IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WHAT HE SAID by Eden Collinsworth; A KILLER'S KISS by William Lashner; NOT A HAPPY CAMPER by Mindy Schneider; POWER PLAY by Joseph Finder; THE REINCARNATIONIST by M.J. Rose; THE SANCTUARY by Raymond Khoury; THE SECRET SERVANT by Daniel Silva; SLIP & FALL by Nick Santora; SLIPKNOT by Linda Greenlaw; SPOOK COUNTRY by William Gibson; and THE TESTAMENT by Eric Van Lustbader.
To enter to win, answer the question below:
Which of these sixteen titles are you looking forward to reading?
See the book descriptions and excerpts here.
To enter, fill out this form by Thursday, August 23rd at 11:59PM.
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Click here to read all the details about our Summer Beach Bag contest.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Joseph Finder, Author of POWER PLAY
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In the 15 years since the publication of his first novel, THE MOSCOW CLUB, Joseph Finder has established himself as one of the world’s best and most successful thriller writers. His 2006 novel, KILLER INSTINCT, made bestseller lists around the country, as did his two previous books, COMPANY MAN and PARANOIA. His latest effort is POWER PLAY, a non-stop, pulse-pounding, high-stakes thriller that will be in stores on August 21st.
-Click here to read a third excerpt from POWER PLAY.
-Click here to read fast facts about Joseph Finder.
-Click here to read Joseph Finder's bio.
-Click here to see Joseph Finder's backlist.
-Visit the author's official website, www.JosephFinder.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about POWER PLAY:
It was the perfect retreat for a troubled company. No cell phones. No BlackBerrys. No cars. Just a luxurious, remote lodge surrounded by thousands of miles of wilderness.
All the top officers of the Hammond Aerospace Corporation are there. And one last-minute substitute --- a junior executive named Jake Landry. He’s a steady, modest and taciturn guy with a gift for keeping his head down and a turbulent past he’s trying to put behind him.
Jake’s uncomfortable with all the power players he's surrounded by, with all their swaggering and posturing. The only person there he knows is the female CEO’s assistant --- his ex-girlfriend, Ali.
When a band of backwoods hunters crash the opening-night dinner, the executives suddenly find themselves held hostage by armed men who will do anything, to anyone, to get their hands on the largest ransom in history. Now, terrified and desperate and cut off from the rest of the world, the captives are at the mercy of hard men with guns who may not be what they seem.
The corporate big shots hadn’t wanted Jake there. But now he’s the only one who can save them.
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Click here to read more about Joseph Finder and POWER PLAY.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Raymond Khoury, Author of THE SANCTUARY
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Raymond Khoury's debut novel THE LAST TEMPLAR was an international bestseller. His second work of fiction is THE SANCTUARY, and it releases on August 21st. In this powerful thriller, a geneticist and a CIA agent on a deadly quest to find the most dangerous book in the world discover a secret that has destroyed everyone in its path for centuries.
-Click here to read a third excerpt from THE SANCTUARY.
-Click here to read fast facts about Raymond Khoury.
-Click here to read Raymond Khoury's bio.
-Click here to see Raymond Khoury's backlist.
-Visit the author's official website, www.RaymondKhoury.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about THE SANCTUARY:
Naples, 1750. In the dead of night, three men with swords burst into the palazzo of a marquis. Their leader, the Prince of San Severo, accuses the marquis of being an imposter, and demands to know a secret only the marquis harbors. In the fight that ensues, the false marquis escapes over the rooftops of Naples, leaving behind a burning palazzo and a raging prince now obsessed with finding his quarry at any cost.
Baghdad, 2003. An army unit on a routine mission makes a horrifying discovery: a state-of-the-art, concealed lab where dozens --- men, women, children --- have died, the subjects of gruesome experiments. The mysterious scientist they were after, a man believed to be working on a bioweapon and known only as the hakeem --- the doctor --- escapes, taking with him the startling truth about his work. A puzzling clue is left behind: a circular symbol of a snake feeding on its own tail.
As the power of the symbol comes to light, revealing the centuries of destruction left in its wake, one unsuspecting woman stands at the center of a conspiracy that could change the world forever. In the masterful hands of international bestseller Raymond Khoury, THE SANCTUARY delivers the same rapid-fire suspense and provocative scholarship that made THE LAST TEMPLAR a coast-to-coast blockbuster.
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Click here to read more about Raymond Khoury and THE SANCTUARY.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: M.J. Rose, Author of THE REINCARNATIONIST
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M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of nine novels, including LIP SERVICE and three titles in the Butterfield Institute series: THE HALO EFFECT, THE DELILAH COMPLEX and THE VENUS FIX. Her latest, THE REINCARNATIONIST, is a spellbinding, psychologically riveting epic thriller of secrets, history and murder that will challenge the way we think about who we are and who we were. It will be available in stores on August 28th.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE REINCARNATIONIST.
-Click here to read fast facts about M.J. Rose.
-Click here to read M.J. Rose's bio.
-Click here to see M.J. Rose's backlist.
-Visit the author's official website, www.MJRose.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about THE REINCARNATIONIST:
A bomb in Rome, a flash of bluish-white light and photojournalist Josh Ryder's world exploded. From that instant nothing would ever be the same.
As Josh recovers, his mind is increasingly invaded with thoughts that have the emotion, the intensity, the intimacy of memories. But they are not his memories. They are ancient...and violent. A battery of medical and psychological tests can't explain Josh's baffling symptoms. And the memories have an urgency he can't ignore --- pulling him to save a woman named Sabina...and the treasures she is protecting.
But who is Sabina?
Desperate for answers, Josh turns to the world-renowned Phoenix Foundation --- a research facility that scientifically documents cases of past life experiences. His findings there lead him to an archaeological dig and to Professor Gabriella Chase, who has discovered an ancient tomb --- a tomb with a powerful secret that threatens to merge the past with the present. Here, the dead call out to the living, and murders of the past become murders of the present.
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Click here to read more about M.J. Rose and THE REINCARNATIONIST.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Mark Gimenez, Author of THE ABDUCTION
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Our fourth featured Suspense/Thriller author is Mark Gimenez, who wrote the bestselling THE COLOR OF LAW. His second novel, THE ABDUCTION, is an explosive thriller that revolves around the kidnapping of a young girl and the reunion of an estranged father and son who race against time to try to rescue her. The book will be available in stores beginning August 28th.
-Click here to read fast facts about Mark Gimenez.
-Click here to read Mark Gimenez's bio.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE ABDUCTION.
-Visit the author's official website, www.MarkGimenez.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about THE ABDUCTION:
Ben Brice lives alone in the New Mexico wilderness where he battles memories of Vietnam with oceans of Jim Beam. Miles away in Texas, his estranged son, John, an Internet geek-turned-billionaire, half watches his daughter Gracie's soccer game while conducting business on his cell phone. When her mother Elizabeth arrives, the coach reports that her uncle has already collected Gracie. But Gracie has no uncle --- she was kidnapped.
From international bestselling author Mark Gimenez comes a terrifying child-in-jeopardy thriller in which dark family secrets make the finding of ten-year-old Gracie Brice more uncertain with every passing minute. And so begins a furious race against time to save Gracie from unknown kidnappers. With the FBI camped out in the Brice mansion, the family offers a reward of $25 million. Somehow, Ben and John Brice must find Gracie before it is too late. As the story unfolds with riveting twists and turns, the reader discovers that behind the kidnapping is an extraordinary government plot that could change the course of American history. And time is running out…
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Click here to read more about Mark Gimenez and THE ABDUCTION.
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Featured One to Watch Author: Sarah Addison Allen, Author of GARDEN SPELLS
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Sarah Addison Allen's debut novel, GARDEN SPELLS, hits stores on August 28th. In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.
-Click here to read a second excerpt from GARDEN SPELLS.
-Click here to read Sarah Addison Allen's bio.
-Visit the author's official website, www.SarahAddisonAllen.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about GARDEN SPELLS:
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.
A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants --- from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys --- except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.
When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down --- along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy --- if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom --- or with each other.
Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own….
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Click here to read more about Sarah Addison Allen and GARDEN SPELLS.
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Featured One to Watch Author: Robert Goddard, Author of NEVER GO BACK
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Robert Goddard's latest novel, NEVER GO BACK, will be available on August 28th. In this spellbinding mystery by the master of “the clever twist,” a group of ex-RAF comrades journey to a Scottish castle for a reunion. But by the time they reach their destination, two of them are dead.
-Click here to read a second excerpt from NEVER GO BACK.
-Click here to read Robert Goddard's bio.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about NEVER GO BACK:
Harry Barnett is leading a contented life in Vancouver with his wife and daughter when he is brought back to England by the death of his mother. He intends to spend just a few days sorting out her affairs when a chance meeting he will regret for the rest of his life makes him change his plans. Two old acquaintances from his National Service days track Harry down to his mother’s house --- the last address they had for him. A lavish reunion has been organized to mark the fiftieth anniversary of their RAF days. Harry decides to go.
During the war, Harry and his fellow RAF conscripts spent three months in a Scottish castle where they acted as guinea pigs in a psychological experiment. The reunion is to take place in the same castle. It will be a chance to see friends, settle old scores and lay a few ghosts to rest.
The party begins on the train up to Aberdeen, until the apparent suicide of one of their number shatters the holiday atmosphere. Their arrival in Scotland seems under a cloud, and when another comrade dies soon after their arrival, Harry is gripped by a sense of foreboding. As well, the recollections of the old comrades of their time in the castle are frighteningly different, and unexplained events from 1955 still haunt them. As Harry tries to solve the mystery of what really happened fifty years ago, he uncovers an extraordinary secret that convinces him he will never leave the castle alive.
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Click here to read more about Robert Goddard and NEVER GO BACK.
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Featured One to Watch Author: Gail Tsukiyama, Author of THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS
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Gail Tsukiyama has written such bestsellers as WOMEN OF THE SILK and THE SAMURAI'S GARDEN. Her latest novel, THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS, takes place in Tokyo, where two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents. Life seems full of promise for these ambitious young men --- but then the attack on Pearl Harbor changes everything. This incredibly moving story that spans almost 30 years will be available in stores on September 4th.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS.
-Click here to read Gail Tsukiyama's bio.
-Click here to see Gail Tsukiyama's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS.
-Click here to visit the author's official website.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS:
It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents, who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at the national obsession of sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hand-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater.
Across town, a renowned sumo master, Sho Tanaka, lives with his wife and their two young daughters: the delicate, daydreaming Aki and her independent sister, Haru. Life seems full of promise as Kenji begins an informal apprenticeship with the most famous mask-maker in Japan and Hiroshi receives a coveted invitation to train with Tanaka. But then Pearl Harbor changes everything. As the ripples of war spread to both families’ quiet neighborhoods, all of the generations must put their dreams on hold --- and then find their way in a new Japan.
In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost thirty years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them. It is a world of tradition and change, of heartbreaking loss and surprising hope, and of the impact of events beyond their control on ordinary, decent men and women. Above all, THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS is a masterpiece about love and family from a glorious storyteller at the height of her powers.
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Click here to read more about Gail Tsukiyama and THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS.
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Featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Chelsea Cain, Author of HEARTSICK
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In Chelsea Cain's first novel, HEARTSICK, which releases on September 4th, Portland detective Archie Sheridan is finding it difficult to stay away from the beautiful serial killer who tortured him for 10 days before turning herself in. When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders.
-Click here to read a second excerpt from HEARTSICK.
-Click here to read critical praise for HEARTSICK.
-Click here to read Chelsea Cain's bio.
-Visit the author's official website, www.ChelseaCain.com
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about HEARTSICK:
Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped Archie and tortured him for ten days, but instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away for the rest of her life, while Archie is in a prison of another kind --- addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days off his mind. Archie’s a different person, his estranged wife says, and he knows she’s right. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to confess as to the whereabouts of more of her victims, but even he knows the truth --- he can’t stay away.
When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders. A hungry young newspaper reporter, Susan Ward, begins profiling Archie and the investigation, which sparks a deadly game between Archie, Susan, the new killer, and even Gretchen. They need to catch a killer, and maybe somehow then Archie can free himself from Gretchen, once and for all. Either way, HEARTSICK makes for one of the most extraordinary suspense debuts in recent memory.
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Click here to read more about Chelsea Cain and HEARTSICK.
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This Week's Reviews and Features
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HIGH NOON by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)
Love at first sight, love at high noon and love with a multimillionaire keeps HIGH NOON heroine Phoebe MacNamara busy in between her job as a hostage negotiator for the Savannah, Georgia, police department and caring for her eclectic family. The showdown is at a Savannah jewelry store, and the romance is hotter than a summer night in Georgia. Reviewed by Hillary Wagy.
THE DIANA CHRONICLES by Tina Brown (Biography)
It’s your typical modern-day fairy tale gone horribly wrong. A young, beautiful princess marries her prince in a dream wedding watched by millions. But soon the princess’s life becomes more harrowing than anything imagined by the Brothers Grimm. In THE DIANA CHRONICLES, Tina Brown sculpts an honest, posthumous portrait of the troubled Princess, whose life was tragically cut short in a tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE DIANA CHRONICLES.
FIRST AMONG SEQUELS: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde (Mystery)
In Jasper Fforde’s fifth Thursday Next novel, Sherlock Holmes is killed and his series is stopped in its tracks. Before this can be corrected, Miss Marple dies suddenly in a car accident, bringing her series to a close as well. When Thursday receives a death threat clearly intended for her written self, she realizes what’s going on --- there is a serial killer on the loose in the Bookworld. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.
DEAD EX by Harley Jane Kozak (Mystery)
Wollie Shelley is a greeting card designer, working as a "dating correspondent" for a television program on soap opera stars. Her ex, soap opera producer David Zetrakis, has been murdered, and her best friend is the suspect. Can Wollie exonerate Joey, maintain her relationship with her FBI boyfriend and live with her own Ronald McDonald hair-don't? Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.
THE WATER'S LOVELY by Ruth Rendell (Psychological Thriller)
Seventy-seven-year-old Ruth Rendell is still writing haunting, suspenseful, riveting and sharply limned novels. In her newest effort, THE WATER'S LOVELY, she tells an intriguing tale of love, murder, lies, madness and redemption. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
WAKING WITH ENEMIES by Eric Jerome Dickey (Fiction)
Eric Jerome Dickey’s latest novel picks up where SLEEPING WITH STRANGERS left off. A hit man calling himself Gideon is now in London, having run from his previous killing in Florida. There is a contract out on him now, and while he hides out, he is also spending a lot of bedroom time with two lovely ladies. Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton.
THE DOUBLE AGENTS: A Men At War Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Historical Fiction/Action & Adventure)
In this follow-up to 2006’s THE SABOTEURS, Canidy, Fulmar and colleagues in the Office of Strategic Services face an even greater task --- to convince Hitler and the Axis powers that the invasion of the European continent will take place anywhere but on the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.
THE CRIME WRITER by Gregg Hurwitz (Psychological Thriller)
Crime novelist Drew Danner awakens in a hospital bed with a scar on his head and no memory of being found convulsing over his ex-fiance’s body the previous night. He was discovered holding a knife, her blood beneath his nails, but doesn’t know for sure whether he’s guilty or innocent. To reconstruct the story, the writer must now become the protagonist, searching the corridors of his life and the city he loves. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ROSIE LITTLE'S CAUTIONARY TALES FOR GIRLS by Danielle Wood (Fiction/Short Stories)
Heading out into the deep dark woods? Heed the warnings of modern-day Riding Hood Rosie Little (and watch out for wolves) before navigating the wilds of contemporary life. Danielle Wood's second book skillfully incorporates fairy tale elements into the perils and pitfalls that beset modern-day heroines. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
FRIGHT by Cornell Woolrich (Suspense)
A man. A woman. A kiss in the dark. That is how it begins. But before his nightmare ends, Prescott Marshall will learn that kisses and darkness can both hide evil intent --- and that the worst darkness of all may be lurking inside him. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
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Read this week's reviews and features here.
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Poll, Question and Word of Mouth
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Poll:
If you are not driving, can you read in the car?
Yes, I always do.
I listen to audiobooks more than I read.
I wish I could read in the car, but I usually am the one driving.
I wish I could read in the car, but motion makes reading and riding not a great combo.
I have no interest in reading when I am in the car.
-Click here to answer our poll.
Question:
What book can you recall reading while on a road trip?
-Click here to answer our Question of the Week.
Word of Mouth:
Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't.
This week we have three great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of BONES TO ASHES by Kathy Reichs, A KILLER'S KISS by William Lashner and THE VIEW FROM MOUNT JOY by Lorna Landvik.
Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on September 7th.
-Need more details about Word of Mouth? Click here.
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As always, here are a few housekeeping notes. If you are seeing this newsletter in a text version, and would prefer to see the graphics, you can either read it online or change your preferences below.
Those of you who wish to send mail to Bookreporter.com, please see the form on the Write to Us page. If you would like to reach me, please write Carol@bookreporter.com. Writing any of the respond buttons below will not get to us.
Those who are subscribed to the Bookreporter.com newsletter by August 31, 2007 automatically are entered in our Monthly Newsletter Contest. This month one winner will be selected to win the following five books: BEYOND REACH by Karin Slaughter, BONES TO ASHES by Kathy Reichs, THE CAREFUL USE OF COMPLIMENTS: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith, PLAY DIRTY by Sandra Brown and SPOOK COUNTRY by William Gibson. Tara from Ballston Lake, NY was last month's newsletter winner. She won THE SECRET SERVANT by Daniel Silva, THE EVER-RUNNING MAN: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller, KILLER WEEKEND by Ridley Pearson, THE QUICKIE by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge and THE WATER'S LOVELY by Ruth Rendell.
Happy reading! Don't forget to forward this newsletter to a friend or to visit our other websites from TheBookReportNetwork.com: ReadingGroupGuides.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, FaithfulReader.com, AuthorYellowPages.com, Teenreads.com, and Kidsreads.com.
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