More April Titles

Here is your next list. There are some pretty good titles by mid level authors. See if one of these sounds appealing.

Allison Brennan writes thrillers and romantic suspense kind of like Tami Hoag or Lisa Jackson - maybe even a little like Catherine Coulter. She has Poisonous coming out on April 12th. This is the third in her Max Revere series. Max is an investigative journalist and here she responds to a request by the mentally challenged stepbrother of a recently deceased town cyberbully. Brennan's fans have loved this one but reviewers have been less kind. Suspense galore and no one saw the end coming.

Susan Crawford has her second novel, The Other Widow, coming out on April 26. Her first novel, The Pocket Wife was very popular. Her novels are psychological suspense - kind of Gone Girl like - in the fact that the main characters are not heartwarming people or unreliable narrators as the saying goes. Here, Dorrie, walks away from a fatal accident after the driver, her boss and lover, ends their affair. She is desperate to keep her husband and child from finding out. Afterwards, she feels like she is being followed. Strangely, her lover - also married - bought a big life insurance policy on himself right before his death. Hmmmmm.

Leila Meacham is an author whose style is reminiscent of  Belva Plain or Barbara Taylor Bradford in that she writes sweeping family sagas. One of her prior title, Roses, received strong reviews. Titans will be published on April 12. Meacham changes to early 1900's Texas before the dramatic growth of the oil industry and gives us two characters to following during this time of change - Samantha Gordon, the heiress to a cattle ranch and Nathan Holloway - a farm boy from north Texas.

Katherine Hall Page writes cozy mysteries like Diane Mott Davidson or Joanne Fluke. Her main character is Faith Fairchild, a caterer and minister's wife. Here, she is helping a newlywed friend, Sophie, who has moved to Savannah. When Sophie's husband disappears, Faith comes to the rescue. Along with, of course, lots of recipes.

Michael Robotham is the Australian Jonathan Kellerman or James Patterson. On April 12, the eighth in his Joseph O'Loughlin series, Close Your Eyes arrives. O'Loughlin is a clinical psychologist with Parkinson's. Here, he is brought into a double murder case when a prior student blows it by releasing details. O'Loughlin finds that this case is most likely related to a series of escalating attacks. There are multiple suspects and unending suspense. Reviews have been very strong. Also, although this is the eighth in the series, there appears to be no problem reading it as a stand alone.

Lastly, Andrew Vachss has Drawing Dead - A Cross Novel coming on April 12. Vachss writes hard boiled, gritty mysteries kind of like Dennis Lehane or Robert Crais. Cross runs a team of urban mercenaries and even the worst gangs are afraid of his group. However, someone is threatening the group and even their loved ones. There will be hell to pay for whoever it is. For those who don't mind the violence, this series is dramatic.

OK - there you go. I am off on vacation. I will be reading - I've got my books already for the trip. Hope you find something to look forward to with one of these.

April's Big Names

Sorry I missed last week. I was sick. We are coming up on my vacation also so I am going to do a blog today and try to do another before I leave next week. I know what I want to talk about, it is only a matter of finding the time to do it. OK - here we go with the big names in April.

We will start with David Baldacci who has The Last Mile coming on April 19. This is the second in the Amos Decker series starting with Memory Man. Melvin Mars is preparing for execution. He was accused of killing his parents 20 years ago. Right before he is to die, someone else confesses to the crime. Amos Decker is on a special FBI task force that investigates. His own back story is very similar to Mars. Who actually killed Mars' parents and why were they killed? Someone wants that to remain hidden. A real page turner according to reviewers.

Next comes Steve Berry who has become increasingly popular with each title. April 5 will bring us his eleventh Cotton Malone title, The 14th Colony. According to reviewers, he is back on the mark. Anyone who was disappointed in his last one, should definitely try this one. Malone is sent after a former KGB agent and a former KGB archivist. The two are involved in a plot to disrupt the inauguration. This plot involved Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul and the Society of Cincinnati. Berry at his best.

Iris Johansen brings us the twentieth Eve Duncan title with Hide Away on April 26. Johansen again does her thing with this tale. Eve and Joe are trying to protect an eleven year old girl - 2 women have already died trying to do it. Eve takes her to Scotland but I think we all know - that won't be far enough. As usual, reviewers love it.

Lucas Davenport is back as John Sandford continues with the twenty sixth in the series. Extreme Prey is also being published on April 26. Davenport is no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA but his friend the governor asks him to join his campaign staff as he runs for president. Unfortunately, the governor has some enemies. One is intent on killing him and anyone who get in his way. Sandford;s last title was the genre bending Saturn Run. Here he is back on track and his readers are loving it.

Lisa Scottoline has Most Wanted coming out on April 12. This title has a very interesting premise. A couple who are having fertility issues (Christine and Marcus Nilsson) go to a sperm bank for an IVF procedure. Several months later, they see on the news that someone who looks like the person from their chosen donor picture has been arrested as a serial murderer. This becomes a marital issue between the pair and Christine goes into investigative mode. Is the person the donor and if he is, is he really guilty of all those murders? Christine has to know.

OK - five big names for you. I'll be back in a few more days with more. Happy reading.

The Last Of March Titles

It is the end of the month already. February is a short month even if it is longer than usual. I will try to squeeze as many titles in as I can.

Cold Barrel Zero is Matthew Quirk's third novel and his first military thriller which comes out on March 8. Tom Byrne's is a doctor and a former marine corpsman who is caught in the middle. He is apprehended while on vacation and recruited to help the government find Thomas Hayes. Hayes is a special ops squad leader that Byrne's had fought along side is accused of terrorist acts. Hayes tells Byrne's that he is being blamed to cover up for a senior officer.What should Byrne's believe? Fast paced suspense and a hard to put down adventure. If you like Brad Meltzer or Christopher Reich, give Quirk a try.

Wilbur Smith has Predator: A Novel of Adventure coming out on March 22. This is the third in the Hector Cross or Crossbow series. Here, Cross, a former Special Air Service member and now head of a security firm, is battling an old enemy who murdered his wife and has now escaped prison and is determined to rule the world. This time, Cross isn't going to let him off easy. Very fast paced suspense.

Stephanie Evanovich, very popular since her first novel Big Girl Panties, has The Total Package coming out on March 15. This is sports romance with a little less humor that her other works. Tyson Palmer is a star quarterback who had lost it all with pills and booze. He was given a second chance and taking full advantage of it. Dani Carr had been Tyson's tutor in college - under a different name and with darker hair - and Tyson had broken her heart. When she becomes the contracted sport's reporter for Tyson's team - will he be able to win her back? He doesn't even recognize her and Dani is having trouble forgiving.

Lucinda Riley has the second of her Seven Sister series, The Storm Sister , coming on March 22. The premise of this series is that 6 sister gather at a chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva when they are informed of their father's sudden death. Each of the sisters receives a letter with a clue to their special origins. This title focuses on Ally Dipoles and her clue takes her to Norway and the story of a gifted singer. These stories are intricately plotted and historically based. I can't think of who to compare her too but maybe Susanna Kearsley.

Another one in the historical arena is Mrs. Houdini by Victoria Kelly coming out on March 8. This is a debut for Kelly and a very well researched one at that. This novel deals with the life of Bess and Harry Houdini. When Houdini dies, Bess is left reeling with grief. Harry had promised to send her a message from beyond the grave and she continually looks for that message. She reviews their life together from the first time they met until their deaths. Very well reviewed from an author who has had her poems and short stories published.

One of my favorite authors, Donna Leon has Waters of Eternal Youth coming out on March 8. This is Commissario Guido Brunetti's 25th case. All this series happens in Venice, Italy with an exquisite sense of place. In this title, a teenager is pulled out of a Venice canal by a drunk and becomes brain damaged. The drunk says she was pushed in but remembers no details. 15 years later Brunetti is asked to investigate by the girl's grandmother. What could he possibly find?

Now I am just going to mention two nonfiction titles which sound interesting.

Putin Country by Anne Garrels comes out on March 8. She describes the things that happened with the fall of communism and why so many Russians love Vladimir Putin.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's annotated autobiography was so popular last year, I can't see why William Anderson's The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder which comes out March 8 shouldn't be just as big.

OK - hopefully I have given you something to tempt you. I can't believe we will be on to April's titles next week.

More March Titles

On with March and there are quite a few good titles to talk to you about. Starting with the Canadian author Linwood Barclay. I don't know how many of you have read him but he can be compared to Harlan Coben or Lisa Gardner. His titles are fast moving and very suspenseful. This title is Far From True and is the second in his Promise Falls series and comes out on March 8th. This is one series which you should read from the first one. There is a cliffhanger at the end of the first that is resolved in this one and a cliff hanger than ends this one. Many things are going on in this series and some reviewers have had trouble keeping people straight. In this title, one story follows the screen of a drive inn movie theater exploding which kills four people. The daughter of one of the victims asks a PI to look into a recent break-in at her father's house which occurred at approximately the same time. The PI finds a hidden basement room which was clearly used for 'adult' entertainment which was recorded and some of the DVDs are missing. AND a Detective is trying to solve two murders which he believes are connected. There are evil deeds a plenty in Promise Falls.

Next is the 16th title in the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen, Time of Fog and Fire. This comes out on March 1. Molly's husband, Daniel, accepts a secret assignment from the head of the Secret Service in 1906 and ends up in San Francisco. Molly sees him in a news reel and after receiving a cryptic note from him takes their child on a cross country train trip to San Francisco. Bowen writes cozy mysteries that are fast paced and have a strong sense of place. In this one, Molly and son arrive in San Francisco days before the great earthquake and can not find her husband. All is not right in San Francisco and Molly will get to the bottom of it.

Judith Flanders has the 2nd book in the Sam Clair series , A Bed of Scorpions, coming on March 1.. Sam is a book editor in London and while having lunch with an old friend, Aidan Merriam, she discovers Aidan's partner in an art gallery has been found dead. This is being investigated by Sam's current boy friend, Detective Inspector Jake Field. Questions arise which place Sam in a very awkward place but then someone tries to run her off the road when she was on her bike. Sam and Jake begin to wonder if she is a threat. These mysteries are just a touch more profane than a cozy but there is humor here and those that read cozies and are willing to go a little beyond that category should give this a try.

Then an author who could have been added to last weeks list as she is pretty popular, J.A. Jance. Jance has Clawback: An Ali Reynolds Novel coming out on March 8. She has another best selling series with Joanna Brady but this series is kind of like Hank Phillippi Ryan titles. When Ali's father is suspected of the murder of a man whose Ponzi scheme bankrupted him and hundreds of others, she and her husband struggle to clear her father's name.

If you miss the books or Chandler and Hammett, pick up Philip Kerr. I would suggest starting at the beginning of his Bernie Gunther series (March Violets) because Bernie's back story is very interesting. The Other Side of Silence, which comes out on March 29, is the eleventh in the series. This series is noir private detective and it is good noir. Bernie is German and went from being a Berlin policeman to being forced into the SS. Now he is on the French Riviera, working as a hotel concierge under the name Walter Wolf. He is approached by W. Somerset Maugham to help defend against a blackmailer who knows his secrets. Bernie is hard-drinking and sardonic with his own moral code. I am going to do something I never do and insert a brief passage from the book to give you an idea of how good this series is. "Once I’d been a good detective in Kripo, but that was a while ago, before the criminals wore smart gray uniforms and nearly everyone locked up was innocent.”  I hope you will learn to like Kerr too.

One last one to tempt you, The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen comes out on March 15. I am thinking it may be time for Laukkanen to move up to the A List of authors. He can be compared to Baldacci, Morrell and DeMille. His suspense is plot driven and fast paced. This title is the 5th in the Stevens and Windermere series. Laukkanen by the way is a Canadian author, don't let his last name put you off. Stevens is with the FBI and Windermere is with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Together they work a joint violent crime task force. Here, the investigate the suicide of a classmate of Kirk's daughter and discover a very disturbing occurrence. There appears to be an online suicide club of teens that are being pushed by an unknown ringleader. Give him and chance and Laukkanen might make fans of you.

OK - hope there is something there that tempts you. I have a few on my list.

March LibraryReads

The LibraryReads list for the month of March came out on Wednesday. There are some pretty good titles on there and some I personally am not excited about but maybe you will be. The lead vote getter for the month is......

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. This is Simonson's second book after the popular Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. She writes with a strong sense of place and time and in this case that is the small town of Rye in Sussex right before World War I. Beatrice Nash's father dies, leaving her alone in the world and penniless. She takes the position as a Latin teacher in Rye and is the first woman to do so. Her sponsor, the strong willed Agatha is aunt to Hugh (a doctor in training) and Daniel (a poet). You follow these 4 characters and see how the war changes their lives.

And the rest:

Lyndsay Faye's Jane Steele made the list. Faye writes kind of like Charles Todd or for those that remember her Mistress of the Art of Death series, Ariana Franklin. She specializes in historical mysteries that have a strong sense of place and are richly detailed. This one is a mixture of a Jane Eyre remake and a serial killer story. Jane Steele receives cruel treatment from her aunt and schoolmaster so she kills them. Then she ends up on the run. Eventually she applies for a position as governess and falls in love with the head of the house.

Lisa Lutz is one of my favorite authors. She has always made me laugh out loud although this is a stand alone that definitely doesn't have a funny premise. The Passenger, a standalone made the list.
Leaving her husband's body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois takes off leaving everything behind. She meets a female bartender and the both of them take off on the run. This is not the first time Tanya has been on the run. Can she outrun her past? Really very fast paced with a lot of action but a fun trip.

Next comes Anne Bishop's Marked in Flesh. Bishop writes sensual, urban fantasy kind of like Laurell K. Hamilton. This title is the fourth in the Courtyards of the Others series. This series features Meg Corbyn who is a blood prophet (she sees prophecies when she cuts herself) and chronicle the conflict between the human world and the Others. Here, a group of radical humans seek to take control with a series of attacks on the Others. Some are willing to do anything to protect what is theirs.

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney has The Nest on the list. This is a debut novel for Sweeney and is the story of a dysfunctional family. The Plumb family consists of 2 sisters and 2 brothers who will share in their deceased fathers trust fund if one of the brothers drunk driving accident doesn't destroy it. They have to grow up fast and learn about the value of family.

Ahhhh - another favorite author. One I spoke of last week as a matter of fact. Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once made the list. Joe Burkett has been murdered in front of his wife, Maya. Then, after Maya returns to work, she sees on the nanny cam a scene of Joe playing with their daughter. What the heck is happening???!!!! Get ready to find out.

Then, The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell, another debut novel. Samantha Whipple is the sole remaining descendant of the Bronte family. Her recently deceased father sends her on a literary scavenger hunt to find the family's secret literary estate. She is helped in her quest by a young, handsome professor.

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn is next. This is the first in a prequel series to Quinn's Bridgerton series. Quinn specializes in Regency romance written with humor and also slightly more explicit that you might expect. Billie Bridgerton has always played with the neighboring Rokesbys and it was always assumed that she would marry one of them. There was one though that she despised and he seemed to despise her too. Wouldn't you know that that is the one who see finds herself attracted too. If you like the Regency romances with snappy dialogue, this is for you.

Lee Smith is a true Southern author. Many of her titles have been extremely popular. Dimestore: A Writer's Life has made the list. Lee Smith life in the mountains of Virginia was not always easy, that is for sure. This book is about her life and also about how writing has saved her. Reviewers have praised this highly.

Lastly, Elizabeth Brundage has All Things Cease to Appear on the list. Brundage writes psychological suspense novels and this is one of them. The Clares buy a farmhouse at a foreclosure auction and move into it in a small tight knit town. George Clare takes the position as an Art History Professor at a small private college. One winter afternoon, George comes home to find his wife murdered and their 3 year old daughter alone. The town and police immediately suspect him but can't prove it. It is more than 20 years before justice is finally served.

OK - there you go. Some sound pretty good. Hope there is something here for all of you.

March Big Names and Names That Deserve To Be Big

 There are some big names publishing this month - or at least I think they are big names. Maybe not everyone will agree with me but I'm going to list them anyway.

First, because she is dead, is the beloved author Maeve Binchy.  On March 1, A Few of the Girls is being published. This is a collection of stories that have not been published in the US. Anyone who misses her since her 2012 death will for sure want to check this title out.

On to the living authors.

C.J. Box has Off the Grid coming out on March 8. This is the 16th title in the Joe Pickett series. The thing that is interesting is that Robert Redford is developing a Joe Pickett television series so this might pick up speed for Box. This one emphasises Joe's old fried Nate Romanowski who is living off the grid because of some past crimes. Nate is approached by some unspecified government agents about infiltrating a domestic terror cell in exchange for them wiping out any record of his crimes. Joe and he discover that nothing is as it seems and everyone is in danger.

My most favorite author, Harlan Coben, has Fool Me Once coming out on March 22.  Former special ops pilot Maya comes home from the war to her husband and child but shortly afterwards, her husband is murdered. So...when going back to work, she quickly checks the nanny cam - imagine her shock when she sees her husband playing with her daughter. How could this be???? You have to read the book and follow Maya as she turns into an investigator, as she finds out.

Next comes Clive Cussler and the ninth of his Isaac Bell series. Actually this is Clive Cussler with Justin Scott who has written books on his own but not since 2008. Like James Patterson, Cussler has started taking on partners. The Gangster arrives on March 1. This series are historical thrillers from the early twentieth century. In 1906 New York City, Bell faces the Italian crime group - the Black Hand. Cussler's work is always action packed and fast paced. I would put him more toward adventure than suspense but that is really an individual thing.

Jeffery Deaver, who may have lost some of his popularity, is coming back strong with The Steel Kiss which arrives on March 8. This is the twelfth in the Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme series. Here they are chasing a killer who hates the new electronic age and hacks into things and turns them against their owners (i.e. microwaves explode; circuit boxes electrocute). Sachs was chasing him when an escalator fails and traps a man (I could have nightmares about this one).

James Grippando is one of those authors who deserve a bigger name than he currently has. Don't misunderstand me, he certainly has his following, but you can compare his work to David Baldacci whose popularity is on a higher level. Grippando has Gone Again coming out on March 1. This is the also the twelfth in the Jack Swyteck series. Swyteck is a Miami criminal defense lawyer and in this one he is defending a man about to be executed for abducting and killing a teenager when the teens mother calls him and tells him she got a call from her daughter. The police don't want to investigate and the governor won't stop the execution so Swyteck must find the girl before an innocent man is killed. But what he finds, may not be what he expects.

Lastly, Randy Wayne White has Deep Blue coming out on March 15. He has been compared to John D. MacDonald and Stuart Woods but I kind of think he is perhaps more like Carl Hiaasen. If you haven't read him, his style is fast paced and gritty with a strong sense of place. His books mostly take place in Florida on the Gulf. this is the twenty third of the Doc Ford series. Mutilated dolphins are washing ashore on Sanibel Island and tourists are staying away by droves. Ford thinks a predator is causing it but that the predator walks on land with two legs. Who is it and what is the evil plan?

OK - hopefully there is something here for everyone. February is a short month so....I will try harder to get more into it.

On With February and Out With February

Because of the holidays at the beginning of the  month, this has been a short month. I have quite a few titles to share with you and only this post to do it in so......beware - here I go.

Alexander Chee has The Queen of the Night will be published on February 2. This is Chee's second novel but both are historical fiction. This one takes place in Second Empire Paris and follows the life story of Lilliet Berne, an opera singer. Berne was born in the American frontier but when her whole family dies of fever, she works her way to Europe. After working hard to conceal who she is and where she came from, she is offered the starring role in a drama which is basically the story of her life. Through flashbacks we find what she is trying to conceal while she desperately tries to find out who betrayed her.

Paul Goldberg, a Moscow born reporter and nonfiction author, has his first novel, The Yid, coming out on February 2. It is a darkly funny historical novel. Just in advance of Stalin's "Doctors' War", three friends work on a plot to assassinate Stalin. When three of Stalin's police show up to arrest an old comedian, the game is on.

Into Oblivion by Arnaldur Indridason is the second prequel to his Icelandic series featuring Inspector Erlendur. Here he is an Inspector working with his partner on two cases. One is an unofficial working of the unsolved disappearance of a young girl twenty years earlier and the other is an investigation of a body found in a geothermal spa which leads back to the Army base. This series has won many awards so all police procedural lovers should at least give it a try.

From Iceland, we move to Holland. Marion Pauw has her American debut being published on February 16th, Girl in the Dark. It sounds really good. Iris is a successful lawyer and a single mother with a difficult son. She discovers that she has a brother that her mother has kept hidden. He is autistic and in prison for the murder of a neighbor and her daughter. Could this gentle soul that Iris found and who reminds her so much of her own son really have committed that crime? She, of course, has to find out.

Michael Sears has the fourth Jason Stafford series title arriving, Saving Jason, on February 2nd. After serving prison time, financial investigator Jason Stafford is asked to check out rumors that a hostile takeover of his firm is in the works. He finds himself involved in a grand jury investigation of Mob activities on Wall Street and is placed in witness protection with his autistic son. And then.....his son disappears. Action packed suspense kind of Elmore Leonard like.

Joe R. Lansdale writes horror but he also has a darkly funny mystery series starring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. This is soon to become a SundanceTV series in the spring. On February 2, Honky Tonk Samurai, the eleventh in the series, is coming out. Hap is a former 60s activist and Leonard is a tough black gay Vietnam vet and a Republican. While working a surveillance job, Leonard beats up a dog abuser who wants to press charges. A woman arrives at their PI office with a proposition...find her missing granddaughter or she will turn in a video of the beating. Soon they trace her granddaughter to a used car dealership which is actually a front for a prostitution ring. Things go downhill quickly from there. These are quirky but also quite bloody. There may be a rush on Lansdale's title when the series comes out.

Two more before the end and they will be quick.

Robert Knott continues Robert B. Parker's Virgil Cole-Everett Hitch western series with Black Jack which comes out on February 2. Cole and Hitch contend with a new troublemaker in the town of Appaloosa - Boston Bill Black, the owner of the new casino, who's wanted for murder. Do they ever lose?

And lastly, Rosamund Lupton. I have loved her first two works. Lupton writes fast paced, atmospheric suspense like S.J. Bolton or Tana French. The Quality of Silence comes out on February 16. Here a mother and daughter are traveling to Alaska to meet up with the husband when they learn he has been killed in an accident. They want to find out what really happened and continue driving through a terrible storm. This is told from the mother's and the daughter's (who,by the way,is deaf) point of view and Alaska really comes alive.

OK - there you go. There are more of course, but these are the ones that I am looking forward to reading. Hope there is something there for you too.