July Titles

I am back from New York City and BookExpo. It was so much fun. I saw so many authors and heard about their new titles that my head is full. Most of them won't be out until the fall so as they come available, I will let you know my impressions of the author. Right now I can tell you that Neil Patrick Harris is coming out with a 'choose your own autobiography' in the fall. He is just as funny in person as on TV and Lisa Scottoline could be a comedian. One of the things I did is take a tour of the Recorded Books recording studio. They have the studio in NYC because that is where most of their narrator's live and work. If you use our audio books at all, most are from Recorded Books because their product is a very high quality. The tour was nteresting. So, on with the titles for July - at least the big name authors who are coming out with work in July.

James Lee Burke has Wayfaring Stranger coming out on July 15. This one is not - repeat NOT - in the Robicheaux series. This is a very different book that follows Weldon Avery Holland as a teen, through his experience in World War II, his return to Texas with a new wife and his battle against the forces of evil that threaten his new family. Burke is a renowned storyteller and this one should be no different.

Marcia Clark has become very popular here. She has The Competition coming out on July 8. This is the fourth in her Rachel Knight series and TNT has optioned Guilt by Association for a one hour drama. So, the plot here has LA District Attorney Knight leading the case involving a massacre at a high school. On her investigation, it appears that the two students identified as the killers, might actually be victims and the killer or killers are still at large.

Catherine Coulter's Power Play is coming out on July 8 also. This is the 18th in Coulter's very popular FBI series. Coulter has really gained a wide audience since she moved from romance to suspense. This series feature Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock is the reason. Someone is trying to kill Natalie Black, the U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James. The only one who believes her is FBI Special Agent Davis Sullivan. Meanwhile, Blessed Backman has escaped the mental hospital and is after revenge and Sherlock. Sounds like the usual excitement for this crew.

Iris and Roy Johansen, the mother and son writing team, has Sight Unseen arriving on July 15. Kendra Michaels is brought back into the plot. She is a 'consultant' for the CIA and FBI as after being blind for 20 years, her other senses have become especially en tuned to crime. When she has a regenerative process which allowed her to see again, she has become an extremely valuable resource. A multi car, lethal incident on the San Diego Cabrillo bridge has Michaels believing that this was no accident but murder. The hunt is on.

Dean Koontz's The City comes out on July 1. Koontz may be an acquired taste but this one is slightly different and is suppose to lead up to his December 2014 book which will be the last in the 'Odd Thomas' series. Odd is not in this work, it follows Jonah Kirk, a musical prodigy beginning to explore his gifts, and is a coming of age tale in his battle of good against evil. The reviewers have called this 'a joy to read'; 'a solid, riveting, enthralling, and suspenseful read from a master story teller; and that Koontz 'has the ability to make the reader visualize the exact circumstance he is highlighting on the page.'

Lastly, Stuart Woods has his next Stone Barrington novel, Cut and Thrust, coming on July 15. Barrington is joined in this plot by another Woods' character, Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle. Stone travels to Los Angeles for the Democratic Convention with Kate Rule Lee - the First Lady/CIA director who wants the nomination. Eagle is there supporting a senator from New Mexico. Someone is sending threatening emails to Kate so things are getting dicey. There is more than enough suspense and action to keep the pages turning in the one.

Enjoy these - see if there are any that interest you. Next week we will look at some names you might not know as well as these.