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Editorial Content for Omega Rules: An Evan Ryder Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Cindy Burnett

Fans of Eric Van Lustbader’s Evan Ryder series will enjoy OMEGA RULES, the third and latest installment. It builds significantly on the two previous adventures, THE NEMESIS MANIFESTO and THE KOBALT DOSSIER, so reading those first is advised in order to follow the current plot and understand the characters’ complex relationships and how each individual relates to the others. Read More

Teaser

Evan Ryder was once a field agent for a black-ops arm of the Department of Defense. Now she works for Parachute, a cutting-edge quantum-computing firm whose private espionage network exceeds any government spy agency. But her mission remains the same: seek out and destroy Omega, a fanatical global cult intent on destroying democracy. The fight against Omega has already cost Evan dearly, but she will not stop until she has torn out the conspiracy by its roots, no matter the risk. In OMEGA RULES, the assassination of a Parachute agent in Vienna sets Evan on a dangerous, world-wide hunt for answers and on a collision course with forces so powerful they may be beyond her abilities to annihilate.

Promo

Evan Ryder was once a field agent for a black-ops arm of the Department of Defense. Now she works for Parachute, a cutting-edge quantum-computing firm whose private espionage network exceeds any government spy agency. But her mission remains the same: seek out and destroy Omega, a fanatical global cult intent on destroying democracy. The fight against Omega has already cost Evan dearly, but she will not stop until she has torn out the conspiracy by its roots, no matter the risk. In OMEGA RULES, the assassination of a Parachute agent in Vienna sets Evan on a dangerous, world-wide hunt for answers and on a collision course with forces so powerful they may be beyond her abilities to annihilate.

About the Book

Evan Ryder returns to uncover an international conspiracy against American democracy in a white-knuckle new thriller by New York Times bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader.

Evan Ryder was once a field agent for a black-ops arm of the Department of Defense. Now she works for Parachute, a cutting-edge quantum-computing firm whose private espionage network exceeds any government spy agency. But her mission remains the same: seek out and destroy Omega, a fanatical global cult intent on destroying democracy. The fight against Omega has already cost Evan dearly, but she will not stop until she has torn out the conspiracy by its roots, no matter the risk.

In OMEGA RULES, the assassination of a Parachute agent in Vienna sets Evan on a dangerous, world-wide hunt for answers and on a collision course with forces so powerful they may be beyond her abilities to annihilate. Once again, Lustbader delivers a prescient exploration of the political and ideological forces that are wreaking havoc on the stability of the Western world and its struggling democracies.

Audiobook available, read by Jennie Litt

Editorial Content for Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Charles III

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pauline Finch

There was a time when schoolchildren all over the British Empire (later the Commonwealth) were required to learn and memorize the names --- sometimes the reigning dates as well --- of all the kings and queens of England. I recall my mother and great aunt rhyming them off to me as a child, just as easily as reciting the alphabet. One of my wedding gifts was a linen tea towel with all those names filling every corner of the fabric. After a few years, only the most important monarchs in bold print were still visible. Read More

Teaser

Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, 41 kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English. Appealing to the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Tracy Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, have more ceremonially reigned --- a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end.

Promo

Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, 41 kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English. Appealing to the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Tracy Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, have more ceremonially reigned --- a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end.

About the Book

On the eve of Queen Elizabeth II’s historic 70th anniversary on the throne, Tracy Borman’s sweeping narrative of the British monarchy illuminates one of history’s most iconic and enduring legacies.

Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, 41 kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne: “shining examples of royal power and majesty alongside a rogue’s gallery of weak, lazy, or evil monarchs,” as Tracy Borman evocatively describes them in her sparkling chronicle, CROWN & SCEPTRE. Ironically, during very few of these 955 years has the throne’s occupant been unambiguously English --- the Norman French, the Welsh-born Tudors, the Scottish Stuarts, and the Hanoverians and their German successors to the present day have dominated the throne.

Appealing to the intrinsic fascination with British royalty, Borman lifts the veil to reveal the remarkable characters and personalities who have ruled and, since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, have more ceremonially reigned --- a crucial distinction explaining the staying power of the monarchy as the royal family has evolved and adapted to the needs and opinions of its people, avoiding the storms of rebellion that brought many of Europe’s royals to an abrupt end. Richard III; Henry VIII; Elizabeth I; George III; Victoria; Elizabeth II: their names evoke eras and dramatic events, forming the sweep of British history that Borman recounts. She is equally attuned to the fabric of monarchy: the impact of royal palaces; the way monarchs have been portrayed in art, on coins, in the media; the ceremony and pageantry surrounding the crown.

In 2024, Elizabeth II would eclipse France’s Louis XIV as the longest reigning monarch in history. CROWN & SCEPTRE is a fitting tribute to her remarkable longevity and that of the magnificent institution she represents.

Audiobook available, read by Tracy Borman

Editorial Content for Backstory

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

L. Dean Murphy

Regaining consciousness after someone repeatedly bashed his head against a brick wall, a man finds himself in a bar. The patrons call him Bob, but he has total amnesia. When he asks for a drink, the bartender owner named Juke says, “I don’t think so.” Bob had come from Back East a decade ago and has been sober since. He learns that his wife, Helen, had committed suicide two weeks before, and Juke is his brother-in-law. Like a Gregorian chant, an almost-audible mantra resonates in Bob’s head: “Get out. Run. Break free.Read More

Teaser

In the aftermath of his wife’s apparent suicide, Jackson Robert Hunter wakes up outside a bar with a badly battered head and no memory. Revelations convince Jackson that his wife’s death wasn’t a suicide, but a murder, and he sets out to find the killer. While hunting the villain and struggling with his amnesia, Jackson discovers that his own backstory is a dark one, littered with broken hearts and dead bodies --- a wife he betrayed, a lover he abandoned, a squad of crooked cops he double-crossed, and a city that lives in fear of his name. Along the way he encounters a sister he didn’t know he had, a niece he failed to save, and a mentor ready to lead Jackson down the darkest of paths.

Promo

In the aftermath of his wife’s apparent suicide, Jackson Robert Hunter wakes up outside a bar with a badly battered head and no memory. Revelations convince Jackson that his wife’s death wasn’t a suicide, but a murder, and he sets out to find the killer. While hunting the villain and struggling with his amnesia, Jackson discovers that his own backstory is a dark one, littered with broken hearts and dead bodies --- a wife he betrayed, a lover he abandoned, a squad of crooked cops he double-crossed, and a city that lives in fear of his name. Along the way he encounters a sister he didn’t know he had, a niece he failed to save, and a mentor ready to lead Jackson down the darkest of paths.

About the Book

Hunting one killer --- he finds another --- in the mirror.

In the aftermath of his wife’s apparent suicide, Jackson Robert Hunter wakes up outside a bar with a badly battered head and no memory. Revelations convince Jackson that his wife’s death wasn’t a suicide, but a murder, and he sets out to find the killer.

While hunting the villain and struggling with his amnesia, Jackson discovers that his own backstory is a dark one, littered with broken hearts and dead bodies: a wife he betrayed; a lover he abandoned; a squad of crooked cops he double-crossed; and a city that lives in fear of his name.

Jackson’s odyssey takes him from a small town in Kansas to Philadelphia, then back cross-country to Las Vegas. Along the way he encounters a sister he didn’t know he had, a niece he failed to save and a mentor ready to lead Jackson down the darkest of paths.

Finally, at the end of his journey, Jackson discovers that it’s not another man he’s been running to, or from, but his own damning deeds and the paradoxical redemption they might bring.

June 10, 2022

Many of you have gotten to know Austin Ruh at our various live events. Over the past couple of years, we have filmed over 100 interviews and events together, including five Book Group Speed Dating programs. A little over a week ago, he called to tell me that he is leaving to take a job at a film production studio.

For humor, when I hired him, it was to replace Nicole as our Ad/Promo Manager, and I had zero idea about his film background. He joined us on the recommendation of a good friend. One day shortly after he started, I mentioned that Amanda, who had been doing the filming and editing for us, had left to go back to school, and I needed to find someone to work on our video/podcast series. He said he had been a film major in college and thought he could help out. Seriously, it was what Jesse Kornbluth and I call “a hand of God moment.” So he sat behind the camera when we were in the city taping interviews, and when we did the pivot to the home office, he helped coordinated our plans for Zoom. We shot many interviews and programs first beamed from my dining room studio and then from my home office studio.

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

June 2022

TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON by Chris Pavone is tough to talk about as the plot reveals will spoil it for you. I will share that these are two very action-packed nights and days.

We begin with Ariel Price waking up in Lisbon and finding out that her husband, John, is gone. Did he just run out for coffee? They had a great last evening with some spirited sex, so there is no feeling that their relationship went awry. She searches for a note, but there is none. She reaches for a phone to call him, but his phone is dead. She takes all the usual steps to locate him --- hotel security, the police, even the American embassy. He was in town on business, but they had not talked about where those meetings were. She was there to sightsee and have fun, and he was to catch up with her. The authorities question how much she does not know; her conversation feels a bit unbelievable.

Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay

June 2022

I have long thought that those cameras people have on their houses have made it really tough to be a crime writer. These days, along with cell phones, GPS and a whole host of devices that make it difficult to ramp up a plot, now we have what is in essence spyware on many doorsteps.

In Linwood Barclay’s TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY, Brie Mason has been missing for six years. She was home alone one afternoon. Her husband, Andy, was away fishing with his best friend, Greg, who also was his business partner. Brie’s only visitors that day was an exterminator who had been called in to see if there was a mouse in the house. But no one saw her after that. Andy has been a prime suspect for years and has never been completely discounted. He sold the house, which eventually was torn down by the new residents, and a new house stands in its place. Andy is now living in a new town with a new name, and he has a new woman in his life named Jayne. He also has split his business from Greg since no one wanted a would-be murderer in their home. But things are finally looking up for Andy.

June 10, 2022 - June 24, 2022

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of June 10 - June 24.

Do you look at the New York Times bestseller lists?

June 10, 2022, 498 voters

2022 Thriller Awards

On June 4th, during ThrillerFest XVII, the International Thriller Writers (ITW) announced the winners of the 2022 Thriller Awards at the Sheraton Times Square in New York City.

2022 Summer Baseball Titles: Paul O’Neill, Jackie Robinson, Rebels and Keeping Score

Variety of books is the spice of baseball life.

As usual, the new season offers a variety of literary baseball topics, from biographies to histories to statistical analysis and beyond. Here is a sampling of this year’s “crop.”