"Nothing makes me happier than finding that little-known or first-time author who really deserves to make it, and selling a boatload of their books -well, that and putting just the right books into each customer's hands.." jill
Downing has written this novel as if it’s a diary of a Russian agent in Nazi Germany before the beginning of World War II.
Sent back into his German homeland, Josef Hofman was to ascertain whether men thought to be true to the Communist cause had been turned by the Nazis or if they could be counted upon to form a cell to subvert the plans of expansionist Germany.
To do this Josef has taken lodging in a rooming house and a job at the railway. What he hasn’t planned for, however, was becoming emotionally involved with the family with which he lodged - or questioning the validity of Mother Russia’s methods in a rapidly changing world.
Both the peek into the pre-war Germany and the sometimes eerie parallels to current events make this book a compelling read.
I can’t help but hear my friend Wade Rouse’s voice behind every line in his Viola Shipman novels.
In this novel, Addie Lou’s beloved parents have died, her marriage has fallen apart, and her soon to be ex-husband is pushing for her to hurry up and sell the cottage that has been in her family for generations. She finds that she can’t let go of the past that easily and it might just be a new life in her old cottage in Saugatuck that can save her.
This is a novel about hope and following your heart, and once again Wade, aka Viola, tugs the heartstrings with a story and setting familiar to us all.
It's difficult to believe that this gritty, complex crime novel is Joseph Knox's first.
Sirens is the story of Aiden Waits. Waits is given the choice to go undercover or be prosecuted for lifting some drugs taken from evidence. Waits, disgraced, and emotional wreck, and a big partier elects the mission to infiltrate the command center of drug lord Zain Carver.
Carver has a certain mystique and a reputation as more of a plotter and a thinker than as a violent man, and yet the women in his circle have a way of turning up dead.
As Aiden befriends the women in Carver's circle to gain entry into their world, he finds that setting a sting against the drug lord and keeping the girls - and himself - safe is next to impossible.
I liked the sure-footed way that Knox was able to portray both the good and the bad guys and make everyone seem a little bit of both. He's a born storyteller and his first novel tells a very good one.
I always enjoy Sophie Hannah's British mysteries!
I like the way the relationship between Simon and Charlie has played out, and how the policemen of Culver Valley always feature prominently in the storyline, yet each mystery is distinct from the others.
In Next To Die, a killer dubbed ”Billy Dead Mates” is targeting pairs of best friends and before they die they are each given a little white book.
Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has just realized she's received a white book and goes to the police.
Told partly in the form of the book Kim is writing, the novel progresses to an almost absurd conclusion. The whodunit and why of this book makes me think Hannah had this one in a drawer for a decade or so. But, despite the premise, I enjoyed it every bit as much as I have her previous mysteries.
This one just made me laugh.
Intrigued? Support your local bookstore and come in for your copy now.
In the fourth Orphan X novel, Evan is pitted against the sitting US president who formerly called the shots of the clandestine orphan program through the D.O.D.
Now president Bennett is trying to cover his tracks and that means eliminating any orphans who knew anything at all. At the top of that list is our man, Evan Smoak-Orphan X. In his new role as the Nowhere Man, Evan is also busy dealing out vengeance for a special young man whose family was targeted by a ruthless drug dealer.
Out of the Dark is full of the trademark thrills and action that we've come to expect from the Orphan X series and it seems that we here in Gaylord aren't alone in our fandom. The series has become an international bestseller and is soon to be a major TV series.
This Australian author debuts a great, twisty read for psychological suspense fans.
Evie and her Uncle Jim have just moved into an isolated cabin in New Zealand. But her real name isn't Evie, and Jim is not her uncle.
Jim tells Evie he's protecting her from the police who are searching for her because she's committed a terrible crime. But Evie has no memory of wrongdoing and she isn't sure if Jim is trying to protect her or trying to keep her captive.
Call me Evie explores the psychology of memory and our minds ability to protect us from both the knowing and the not knowing.
Even fifty pages from the end I wasn't positive what the truth of the story was, making this novel one worth racing home to finish.
Alison is a young lawyer with her first murder case. She's also a young mother with a husband who works part-time and takes care of their daughter most of the time. Allison has a drinking problem. And she has a lover.
Harriet Tyce's racy debut crime novel is a disturbing story of betrayal, fear, desire, and retribution both unlike any you've read and yet somehow familiar enough that, as a reader, you instinctively know that some people lead their lives like her characters do. You might want to follow this one with a light beach read, but, if you love psychological thrillers, you'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.
Like many of the most important novels, the girls at 17 Swann Street rings with a voice so true that it's difficult to remember the book is a work of fiction.
Anna was a ballerina in Paris. She is married to the love of her life. She has anorexia. She is checked into a treatment center where every day is a personal hell. While all of us might not suffer from Anna's disease, we all have our own demons to fight and The Girls at 17 Swann Street resonates with the difficulty of just getting through some days, and the restorative power of hope and willpower. Everyone should read this book. It feels powerful enough that I think many readers will.
Peter Ash is back in one of Saturn's best-selling series. This time our drifter is sent by June to Memphis to help her friend Wanda, a war photographer who seems to be targeted herself now that she's home.
Ever restless, Peter leaps at the chance to be helpful by possibly putting himself In harms way. But he gets more than he bargained for when he arrives to find a dump truck driven right into Wanda's house, gets carjacked, and runs afoul of Memphis’ reigning drug lord - all on his very first day. Mayhem ensues.
We all love Nick Petrie. Get in here and grab Tear it Down!
This diminutive novel is a slow slide into insanity with the reader as the witness.
She can't have kids. Nathan has left her. She's obsessed with the actress who lives down the street. She has an encounter with one of her students. She cracks.
Author Laura Sims has captured a woman's unraveling through the (almost) sane and convincing voice of the woman herself.
Chilling.