More November Titles

On we go with more titles out next month. This week is kind of a mixture of genre.

Clive Cussler has another Dirk Pitt novel coming out on November 15, Odessa Sea. Dirk has been around forever, this is the twenty fourth in the series. He has been described as the Indiana Jones of oceanography. Dirk and his crew are in the Black Sea trying to locate a lost Ottoman shipwreck when they receive a emergency call for help from a freighter. When they arrive, they find only dead bodies and then, an explosive goes off sinking the ship and almost killing Dirk and crew. The adventure picks up from there with Dirk trying to stop the next world war from happening. If you read Cussler, this one would be a must.

Keigo Higashino has Under the Midnight Sun coming out on November 8. The publisher has actually said this one is more social commentary than mystery and compares it to Crime and Punishment. A murder in 1973 Osaka is relentlessly pursued by Sasagkai, the detective, but never solved. Higashino looks about how this act affected not just Sasagkai, but also the son of the victim and the daughter of the prime suspect. Highly acclaimed.

Barry Maitland has Ash Island coming out on November 1. This is the second in a trilogy which focuses on Harry Belltree a homicide detective. Harry is returning to work after a near fatal confrontation in the first book. Because he exposed several corrupt detectives, he has become an embarrassment to the department. Harry is transferred to Newcastle but he is soon dealing with more dead bodies and they could be connected. Maitland, himself, is interesting - born in Australia, he moved with his parents to the UK and that is where he was educated. He was an architect and actually taught architecture at the University of Sheffield and moved back to Australia to teach at the University of Newcastle. Then, he started writing fiction.

Jeffrey Archer has the final volume of the Clifton Chronicles, This Was a Man, coming out on November 8. Archer's series has covered the Clifton family from the early 1900's until the time of Margaret Thatcher. There are plenty of enemies, tragedies, and interesting characters. This continues up until the end when someone dies. Who???? We must read it to find out.

Bill Rancic, who was Donald Trump's first winner on The Apprentice, has written a first novel, First Light. It arrives on November 1 and is described as a romance but most who have read it say there is some romance but it is more about normal people doing extraordinary things in extreme situations. First of all, this is the story a couple tell their son as they are driving to a reunion. The reunion is for the surviving members of a plane crash which occurred 10 years before. Daniel Albrecht and Kerry Egan were on the plane and were engaged and Kerry was pregnant. The plane crashes and Kerry along with other passengers were injured. Daniel and their boss was not and they went for help in blizzard conditions. Not everyone makes it. One reviewer says to have a box of tissues handy.

Lastly, one of my favorite historical authors, Bernard Cornwell has The Flame Bearer coming out on November 29. This is the 10th title in the Saxon Stories series. BBC America has an 8 part series based on the first two books in the series, The Last Kingdom. That television series has been renewed so expect more from the rest of the books. Here, Uhtred returns to England to fight for its future from sworn enemies and the Scots.

OK - there should be something there for most if not everyone. I hope so anyway. Enjoy!