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Volume 5, Number 8 August 2006 Home | MBW Index

Table of Contents

Kaveny's Bookshelf Klausner's Bookshelf Laurel's Bookshelf

Lorraine's Bookshelf Mary's Bookshelf Shelley's Bookshelf

Shirley's Bookshelf Taylor's Bookshelf Vogel's Bookshelf

Kaveny's Bookshelf
In defense of The Enlightenment

I was going to take off another month off from Kaveny's Bookshelf and blame it on the general exhaustion that I suffered from our sixteen day whirlwind summer United Kingdom, and Continental European trip. However if I did that I would not able to write about our trip which really was a mixture of exhilaration, and death march as I and my wife and foot slogged on public transport( during a record heat wave) from Gatwick International Airport to Oxford, then London, and then by high speed train via Chunnel to Brussels Belgium, and finally to meet our friends in Michelin Belgium to send nearly week in that beautiful Medieval city (with several side trips) , before returning to London Via the Chunnel, and then finally to Eau Claire Wisconsin.

Those of you who know me know that I like to associate dates with places and try to weave them into the grand historical scheme of events. For example the house we bought here in Eau Claire Wisconsin during the 911 crisis in 2001 was built in 1876. This was the year that General George Armstrong Custer met his destiny at The Battle of Little Big Horn. Well the three-story house that we stayed in Michelin Belgium was built one year before the 30-year ended. That war which was the great conflict between Protestant and Catholic Europe came to an end in 1648 with the treaty Westphalia in which Europeans agree quite reasonably and rationally to stop killing each other over religion, and fight over more rationally about things like imperialism, international trade and, in very gentlemanly ways about dynastic successions. I also think that it became clear to the folks in charge that is all the peasants where killed off in combat then there would be nobody left to do the actual work but the gentry.

Not that there were not conflicts during the next one hundred and forty years but Europeans sort of agreed not to commit cultural suicide by allowing conflicts to be fueled by religious hatred. It was a period where the common folks were willing to fight for money rather than ideology, or religion, as a matter of fact a number of my Irish ancestors were mercenaries during this period, or wild geese as they came to be called later. Though this is not written down anyplace I have it from a very good source my Irish grandfather Raymond W. Dunn (1882-1976), that our families mottos were twofold. Get paid first, before the battle, and live to fight another day. Which I think is a quite reasonably attitude if one wishes to continue to experience wonderful things which are a part of this world.

My previous remarks are in a way a prelude to a defense of a world view which was dominant in most of Western Europe from the treaty Westphalia in 1648, until the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. Though my periodization differs slightly that of the editors of this wonderful and beautifully illustrated four volume set of books, and the sticker price makes it perhaps more suitable for library reference collections than the individual user it is my opinion as a public sphere scholar that and writer that belongs in not just academic library reference collections, but also in small medium and large school and public library collections.

The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195104307, $495.00, 1920 pages

I can say as a holder of a number of professional degrees (a MLS and a certificate of advanced studies) within the field of library and information studies that this encyclopedia is a joy to test drive. It is a wonderful supplement to my own scholarly enterprises, particularly because of its larger print and appropriately spaced columns, which is particularly important since I just turned sixty two and am on first set of bifocals

The 700 or so alphabetically arranged entries are about equally slip between topical and biographical items. And for myself who tends to look at all items like this from the perspective of critical theory this work is not simply a celebration of Eurocentric cultural, political and cultural hegemony. It includes material on a number of key 20th Century critics of The Enlightenment like Walter Benjamin) Jurgen Habermas. Who argue that in light of the Horrific events of the 20th Century particularly World War one, World war Two, The Holocaust, and later ethnic cleaning, that at best it was a chimera, and it was a mechanism of oppression. This is particularly true if when argues from a radical postmodern perspective that argues that all history is local, and no generalization can be made. That is except the last above mentioned. So where do I wade in all this and what is my opinion at a time when it is not fashionable to hold an opinion with the force of ones being. Well I find myself championing The Enlightenment and going back to the words of British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray at the onset of World War I:

"Lights are going out all over Europe. They will not come on again in Our lifetime"

Yet in some sense our they did come back on.

Yet after having said it seems to me that the most radical idea of The Enlightenment did not deal so much with the scientific or the material but with the spiritual. What I mean by this of course is toleration, and I suppose entitlement. Of course these words has come into a great deal of disfavor as of late as we seem to live in a world of zero tolerance, human rights are view as not being inalienable, but subject to caprice. Yet as I remember as week looked out the window of our non air-conditioned condition hotel room in 100 degree heats 98 percent humidity on a city of six million souls. I told my wife that just three hundred and thirty-year before London was first swept by the great fire and then the Black Plague, as The Thames was being blockaded by a Dutch fleet, that they made it. I mean the British made it, otherwise I guess we would all be speaking Dutch.

By the way did I mention that our Hotel room was less than two blocks from the British Museum and just about everything I saw on the history channel I was able to see real time. I also forgot to mention that there was an Internet center within a half block of our hotel where I could play in about twenty different international ongoing chess tournaments. Did I mention that I won several of them? Life is not so bad in the 21st Century

Philip Kaveny
Senior Reviewer

Klausner's Bookshelf
The Cobra Trilogy
Timothy Zahn
Baen
ISBN: 1416520678, $14.00

"Cobra". Early in the twenty-fifth century, the Troft militia easily conquers Earth's colonial worlds Adirondack and Silvern leading to Earth's leaders concluding that the Troft has space superiority. To keep from succumbing to the enemy's superior force, guerilla ground force Cobra with special technological implants is created to battle the adversary using whatever it takes. Jonny Moreau is Cobra to his core, but he will learn that even a dedicated hand picked band has traitors ready to sell out. "Cobra Strike". The Cobras ultimately won the war with the Trofts, but to Jonny's chagrin, the enemy is now a trading ally though he is not as forgiving having seen many gallant friends die in combat. However, his son Justin, a chip off the old block as a Cobra, joins a Troft led expedition against an unknown species launching an attack against the Troft with the human sector to follow. "Cobra Bargain". Aventine Governor Corwin Moreau knows his family rule has led to ill will towards them from the Cobra Worlds Council that negatively impacts his niece Jasmine desire to become the first female Cobra. To achieve her goal she must overcome the jealousy and antipathy towards her surname in order to be the first woman to attend the academy. A dangerous mission in whom she is the perfect operative might prove the avenue that is if she lives so long. Obviously the three 1980s Cobra novels have been put into one big volume. The tales are fun as they follow three generations of the First Family of Cobra into combat. Though this reviewer doubts the Trofts loss to Cobra (bigger upset than Douglas over Tyson), fans of military science fiction thrillers will enjoy this trio especially since the technology seems plausible and the lead protagonists in each entry a likable champion.

Second Perimeter
Mike Lawson
Doubleday
ISBN: 0385515324, $24.95

Though he has doubts as the allegation from his nephew Dave Whitfield is vague, Secretary of the Navy Frank Hathaway decides a quiet inquiry without official connections is worth doing. He arranges with The Speaker of the House John Mahoney to send his troubleshooting "fixer" Joe DeMarco to the navy base in Bremerton, Washington to ascertain whether fraud has occurred and perhaps worse espionage. Joe and his colleague retired DIA Agent Emma head to the Bremerton Naval Station to determine what is going on there. They soon find themselves stepping over dead bodies of apparent spies and tangling with lethal Chinese national, Li Mei, who seems to discard her agents once they complete their mission. Emma knows Li first hand from a Cold war fiasco, but that fails to help DeMarco and team as the enemy agent obtains top secret nuclear submarine technology and abducts one of Joe's agents in order to obtain more information and annihilate the person she blames for destroying her career, Emma. This action-packed fast paced espionage thriller is top rate because of the flawed hero. DeMarco is not sure of his next move as he has never dealt with spies before and worries that one mistake could cause someone's death even as he amusingly ridicules himself for not being James Bond light. Thus as he did in THE INSIDE RING, DeMarco takes the tale to lofty quality heights.

The Dressmaker
Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck
Holt
ISBN: 0805080333, $23.00

In Senlis, France old school middle-aged tailor Claude Reynaud lives a double life. For his Paris clients he fashions fancy gowns while for his hometown clients he mends tears, sews buttons, and adjusts hemlines of mundane off the shelf items. Captivating Parisian Valentine de Verlay hires Claude to make her a wedding dress, but to his shock for the first time in his life the tailor falls in love. Claude realizes that he never truly loved his wife, who abandoned him eight years ago though they remain married. Meanwhile Valentine holds her dressmaker in high regard too as she falls in love with Claude. However, she refuses to break off her engagement to Victor Couturier though he pales next to kindhearted Claude. To remain near his beloved, Claude throws away his essence symbolized by his shop in the suburbs to join a major Paris designer label though he has no idea how survive in this attention shark infested world let alone get his beloved Valentine. This is an interesting character study starring an artisan who throws away his values for love that though shared emotionally with his soulmate, a relationship seems impossible. The lead duet is a fine pairing as the audience can feel for Claude who is willing do almost anything for his beloved and for Valentine feeling she must do the honorable thing by her fiance. Though Victor is a caricature abusive brute, which takes way from the possibilities of this triangle, fans will enjoy Elizabeth Birkelund Overbeck's fine relationship drama.

The Prophet
Francine Rivers
Tyndale
ISBN: 0842382682, $14.99

The sacrifice demanded by the Priests required using only the best most perfect sheep; yet though a child he is confused and somewhat appalled to observe his family insures that a flawed animal is given to the Priest. He wonders why as his father and older brothers tell him to keep quiet; they state why give away a perfect animal for sacrifice when damaged goods will do the trick. Amos does not understand as during this period of plenty his family has prospered. He concludes his family and the priests have cheated God; soon he believes a day of reckoning will come for those who prosper from their ill gains. As he grows into adulthood, Amos sees more practices that disturb him. He detests the necessary trips to Jerusalem where he notices that even the Priests break the holiest of laws and only finds comfort tending his flock. God sends him to Bethel, a place he loathes more than Jerusalem. His mission to spread the message that these may be the good times thanks to the Lord, but they will end if the people continue to break the Torah. Amos does his Lord's bidding though he knows before he begins that the message will make him a pariah. The fourth Sons of Encouragement biblical biographical fiction (see THE PRINCE, THE WARRIOR and THE PRIEST) is a delightful look at the fascinating Amos, whose message is rejected by those he tries to reach. Labeled a "minor prophet", he talks of gloom and doom judgment day coming (an early democrat) to the Northern Kingdom of Samaria during a time when the ecomony was expanding by selling the torah's values under the label of growth (an early republican). Readers will appreciate his message that still holds true today.

The Copper Scroll
Joel C. Rosenberg
Tyndale
ISBN: 1414303467, $24.95, 404 pp.

When Russia attacked Israel, a supernatural firestorm destroyed the invaders most of Russia, the fundamentalist Arab nations and Germany and Austria. The world is still trying to bury the dead and clear the debris away while the only Arab nation to remain unscathed is Iraq led by Mustafa al-Hassani. Iran and Israel are the only two oil producing nations in the Mideast since the governments of all the other nations and the pipelines were destroyed. Al-Hassani intends to rebuild the Babylonian empire with him as the ultimate authority and he intends to destroy Israel but first he has to stop the Land of Zion from building the third temple on the Temple Mount now that the Dome Of The Rock and the al Aksa Mosque has been destroyed. The Jews have in their possession THE COPPER SCROLL listing where the treasure from the second temple is hidden. The people who are looking for the Key Scroll, a list of the treasure and where the Ark of the Covenant can be found are systemically being killed. Jon and Erin Bennet try to find the Key Scroll but terrorists are trying to stop them for if the treasure is found there is no doubt that Israeli Prime Minister Doron will build the third temple and fill it with the treasure from the second temple. Every book about international events that Joel C. Rosenberg has written has come true in the not so distant future. If his record holds up, Russia will attack Israel but will be destroyed; the treasure from the second temple will be found; and the new Iranian leader is making plans to absorb other nations into a new Arab empire. THE COPPER SCROLL is filled with action, political intrigue and great characterizations as Mr. Rosenberg has written a thriller that is so exciting and fast-paced that readers will feel they are along on the ride of a lifetime

Journey to Love
Charlotte Hubbard
Leisure
ISBN: 084395566X, $6.99

In 1869 St. Louis sixteen year old Christine Bristol dreams of her mother returning to her and her brother Billy, but feels she must do something to make it happen. However, Christine has no idea where her mother went since she abandoned them. However, she feels she found the starting point when she finds a bundle of letters hidden away by her mother. To her ire, the love letters are signed by Tucker Trudeau, whom Christine has loved since she first met him three years ago. Still Christine now has a name to begin her quest. She pleads with Tucker to help her find her mother. Tucker and his mother agree to accompany Christine on a trek to follow the clues to the whereabouts of her missing mother. Neither understood how difficult it is to locate someone who might not want to be found as they trek across the country. This is an interesting historical romance that showcases how different society was just under a hundred fifty years ago as the sixteen years old heroine hopes to marry the man she loves. The story line though labeled an Angels of Mercy Inspirational seems to realistic in terms of profanity and sexual innuendos and comments for that intended audience. In spite of a lack of real motivation by Tucker and his mom and several leaps of faith spins Charlotte Hubbard provides readers with an interesting mid nineteenth century journey to womanhood.

Rumble on the Bayou
Jana DeLeon
Leisure
ISBN: 0843957379, $6.99

Gator Bait, Louisiana is a small quiet town where neighbors help one another and the biggest crimes are drunk and disorderly conducts and domestics. When a resident calls Deputy Dorie Berrenger out to her home to get an alligator out of her pool, she sees he has a backpack in his mouth. When she gets the pack away from the alligator, she finds inside a finger, heroin and plenty of cash in it. Not long after she files her report, DEA Agent Richard Starke arrives in town. The fingerprint belongs to Shawn Roland, a deal maker for the Herbert family when it comes to hard drugs. Richard has been chasing him for eight years and this time he intends to arrest Roland. However he first has to learn the realities of small town bayou life where outsiders are considered alligator bait as someone local is working with the felon and trying to kill the Agent and the Deputy. The principal protagonists bristle like stray cats when they first meet, but it is not long after that they hit the sheets and soon fall in love. This romantic police procedural is fantastic due to the eccentric residents of Gator Bait who add depth to the tale of the local and the stressed out visitor struggling with a killer and worse a killer love.

Max Unlocks the Universe
Mark Bouton
Five Star
ISBN: 1594144885, $25.95

In a snow storm in the Midwest, Carl and Bones wait for the target to emerge from a house. When "Blue Jacket" does, Bones fires a dart that hits the victim in the neck. The young man collapses instantly as the two hit men drive away. Local Detective Bagley asks friend former FBI Agent turned private sleuth Max Austin to investigate the homicide of Kyle Mossler as his son David is the prime suspect having been the last person with the deceased. Max learns that David, Kyle and four other people work at Securegard, a computer security firm, and the coroner reported that the cause of death was curare poisoning. When two Securegard people die, one in Denver and the other in San Francisco, Max knows he needs help especially with the computer aspects of the case. He asks his former girlfriend Marisol Vegas to help him uncover the underlying reason why someone is killing the Securegard team. This is an entertaining private investigative tale in which the hero cannot find a lucid motive to what appears to be three killings though the one in San Francisco is officially considered a car accident. The story line is filled with unusual twists starting with the audience knowing the identities of the two hitmen. Max is the center of the universe as struggles to unlock the mystery. Readers will appreciate his efforts to solve the case and keep the remaining trio alive even as every clue complicates his inquiry and confuses Max.

The Flock
James Robert Smith
Five Star
ISBN: 1594143773, $25.95

Berg brothers Studio of Florida is responsible for making quality family films and amusement parks. They built Salutations, "the perfect American township", abutting over four hundred thousand acres of underdeveloped wilderness. The only neighbors are the ranch of retired Colonel Winston Grisham who uses the land to train militia, and the research center of billionaire Vance Holcomb. When Fish and Wildlife employee Ron Riggs is called to Salutations to see what is causing residents dogs and cats to vanish, he is clueless that he will soon be caught in a life and death struggle involving three adversarial groups pondering what to do about THE FLOCK. These creatures are saurian in form and thought long extinct.. They are intelligent and know how to hide from humans, but now are endangered because they have been discovered. Anyone who has read Jurassic Park will enjoy the FLOCK, an action-adventure thriller with pulp fiction elements. Although the main players are stereotyped as the poster children representing a specific group (mega business, tree huggers, and paramilitary), the fun is observing these "faces" interact or perhaps better put fight one another as each has an agenda when it comes to dealing with the flock. James Robert Smith provides a fine tale of survival of the fittest.

A Night in Hollywood Forever
Andrew J. Fenady
Five Star
ISBN: 159414379X, $25.95

Tired of being shot and heeding his mom's advice, Alex Night quits as a real private investigator to write a great novel. He even takes an office at the Writers and Artists Building in Beverly Hills. However, his former clients keep hiring him to sleuth so that the great American mystery has not progressed beyond the title, The Big Changeover. He vows no more sleuthing but cannot resist the lure of finding a missing Faberge Egg once given by Hearst to his lover Mandies, However, the prime reason is gumshoeing is his fiancee, prolific author Goldie Rose, has vanished with her office broken into and ransacked. Though Goldie keeps putting off their wedding date, Alex fears for her life so like Sam Spade begins investigating her disappearance; however, he will soon find himself over the edge of night as half of Hollywood and the former KGB crowd amongst others want him out of the way whether it is over an Egg or the writer. Fans of urban noirs will want to spend a night or three following the escapades of "retired" sleuth turned wannabe writer Alex. As with A NIGHT IN BEVERLY HILLS, the story line centers on Alex who once again uses asides to pay homage to classic pictures and actors. The investigation begins late in the tale, but the plot before, during, and after contains plenty of action. Andrew J. Fenady makes A NIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD worth reading.

A Killing on Church Grounds
Barbara Cummings
Five Star
ISBN: 1594145229, $25.95

At St. Catherine's in Providence, Rhode Island, Reverend Mother Mary Frances has doubts that Sister Mary Agnes has the deportment to make it as a nun. Sister Mary lives in trouble though her intentions are good and she promises God she will make up for all her sins. This morning she has cooking duty in spite of the fact she cannot boil water, but childhood friend Richard DelVecchio, driver to an alleged crime king, arrives with the food. Not long afterward, Sister Mary enters the cellar only to find the corpse of a girl wearing an old St. Catherine's blouse; one of Richard's knives is protruding from her chest. The police especially Sister Mary's cousin Josiah assume Richard killed the girl and so they arrest him. Richard's boss Vincent Gaetano Ricci tells her they are innocent. Encouraged by the crime boss and by Monsignor Robert Grace Sister Mary and her best friend Sister Winnie make inquires not realizing the danger they place themselves in from a killer willing to murder again. Mindful of the Rosalind Russell's "Angel" movies, but in an amateur sleuth setting, A KILLING ON CHURCH GROUNDS is a solid mystery that fans of Father Dowling will enjoy. Sister Mary lives in trouble even before she works a murder investigation that she knows upsets her Mother Superior, her cousin the cop, and her jailed friend. Readers will appreciate her efforts in this fun but light murder mystery.

The Murder Hole
Lillian Stewart Carl
Five Star
ISBN: 159414480X, $25.95

Her partner at great Scot magazine Miranda Capaldi sends American Jean Fairborn to the Loch Ness area to cover the latest effort to prove whether the monster exists or not. The head of the Water Horse expedition is controversial American scientist Roger Dempsey, who insists his modern technology will answer the question and someone the legends reporter knows from back in the states. Many locals oppose the intrusion. Some our of fear that Dr. Dempsey will prove no monster exists and hurt tourism, but environmental activist Iris Mackintosh has other concerns. Northern Constabulary Detective inspector Alasdair Cameron becomes involved when someone sends threatening letters warning Dempsey to stay away. He and Jean have a recent history (see THE SECRET PORTRAIT) so both have mixed feelings about their latest encounter. However, when a homicide tied to the ancient Pitclachic Stone disrupts the expedition, Alasdair makes sure Jean remains safe even as she dives into cold murky danger trying to solve several mysteries including a murder. The sequel to the delightful THE SECRET PORTRAIT is a fun contemporary police procedural investigative tale with the emphasis on the reporter's inquiries. The story line cleverly combines Nellie, an ancient historical stone with a twentieth century history, a bit of romance and murderous mayhem into a fine tale starring a likable heroine. Readers will appreciate THE MURDER HOLE as Nellie is under investigation until a homicide interrupts the scientific study.

A Race Against Death
Timothy Sheard
Five Star
ISBN: 159414463X, $25.95

At James Madison University Hospital, the air conditioning is not working so some departments are brutally hot. Union steward widower Lenny Moss has received plenty of complaints over the unhealthy working conditions and has pressured the administration to fix the mechanical problem to include some of the support staff not being in rooms like laundry in the heat of the day. He hopes to spend his nights in heat with housekeeping's Betty, a single mother, who he really likes. Meanwhile ICU Dr. Samir Singh and his team fail to save the life of Charyse Desic, who had just undergone a recent abortion. The staff's OBGYN Dr. Leslie Odom could not care less that some street loser patient of his died. However her boyfriend Tyrell Hardy does and he plans to kill the doctor who butchered his beloved. Lenny and fourth year medical student Kate Palmer are stunned by Odom's attitude and do some quiet investigating into the physician's past only to find a hellish track record and are unsure what to do especially since the hospital administration has obviously covered for this dangerous physician. It has been several years since Lenny starred in a novel (see SOME CUTS NEVER HEAL and THIS WON'T HURT A BIT), but the wait was worth it. A RACE AGAINST DEATH is an interesting amateur sleuth medical thriller starring a caring hero (perfect personality for a shop steward) who knows he is in over his head with his inquiries, but feels he must act before more tragedies occur. The support cast is top rate as they make the hospital seem genuine and Lenny's romance with Betty adds depth to the character. Timothy Sheard provides a delightful hospital investigative tale that grips readers from the moment that Dr. Singh and his team apply CPR, but fail.

Fire Island Summer
Julie Ellis
Five Star
ISBN: 1594144745, $25.95

Still grieving the deaths of her parents who died a few months ago in a car accident, Bronx Junior High School psychiatrist Anne Evans plans to use her summer vacation time to close up their home on Fire Island. However, before leaving she remains concerned with twelve years old Joey Devlin, a child she believes can be saved from a life of crime if he can be weaned away from his psychopath friends Luis Perez and Frank Smith. Former law student Mark Cameron is freed after spending six years in prison for rape, a crime he swears he did not commit. He and his former cellmate Chuck Ryan plan to make money and avenge his incarceration starting with moving into his mother's home on Fire Island with her living in Florida to escape his disgrace. When Mark and Anne meet they are attracted to one another. She mentions Joey who he believes is the perfect final pawn in his scheme. That is until he realizes Anne is his conscience and good luck charm as he finds proof to prove his innocence, but must risk his life to prevent the murder as Chuck is a sociopath who refuses to abort the plan. Mark makes the tale a fascinating character whose life has been ruined so he sets in motion a plan of revenge until he meets Anne, who gives him a reason to live again (along with the new evidence - though he originally saw her as an avenue to further his scheme. Chuck is too crazy making him more than just a stereotype, but ironically that also works well when he refuses to allow his partner to pull the plug on their caper. Readers will enjoy this fine romantic crime drama wondering whether love or revenge will win out.

Autumn Desire
Sharon Noble
Five Star
ISBN: 1594144869, $25.95

Paula met Sam Wincott when she was an eighteen years old college student at the University of Colorado and he was her chemistry professor. They married; she became pregnant and dropped out of school. They raised two children over the three decades they were together, but at sixty-eight Sam died. Fifty years old Paula decides to go back to school. However, she is unhappy to find her chemistry class taught by Boyd Mackenzie who her late spouse hated and accused of stealing his work. She holds him in contempt, but the Department Chair Dr. King forces them to work together to complete Sam's last project. As they fall in love, her daughter Emma objects while her son Morgan encourages her to fly free. This deep character study pays homage to Ibsen as Paula begins to come out of a cocoon starting with her return to college. She is clearly the star, but the support cast including her late spouse enable the audience to follow her progress from a secure caged bird to a fledgling (even though a grandma) learning to fly. The romance serves as a further catalyst that encourages Paula to leave Ghosts behind in A Doll's House. Sharon Noble provides her audience with a strong look at a woman seeking self-actualization.

Silver Butterfly
Janet Logan
Five Star
ISBN: 1594144915, $26.95

In junior high school in Brooklyn, Steve and Serena are sweethearts until his family moves to South Jersey. Though they vowed otherwise, the fourteen year olds lost contact. Steve opens up a five star restaurant with his wife Anne Marie and their two children. However, Anne Marie ultimately suffers from Alzheimer's before she succumbs to pneumonia. Serena marries Burt Epstein, but when their son dies in a DUI, he blames her; she divorces him and opens up a restaurant in Brooklyn eventually marrying her kindhearted widowed lawyer, Edward Franklin, whose angry daughter Phyllis wants her dead. When Edward dies she closes her restaurant and moves away o avoid the ire of Phyllis. Years have passed when Steve hires Serena to work at his restaurant; neither recognize the other as their last names have changed, but are attracted to one another. However, his daughter Lisa objects and the restaurant's hostess Juliette interferes. Serena decides not to break up another family so she vanishes even as Steve knows who she is, his soulmate. Though Serena does not do well with the other women in the lives of her beaus (overkill), fans will enjoy this middle age second chance at love. The story line contains two subplots that follow the overall lives of Steve and Serena respectively until they meet for the second time. Readers will root for this deserving widowed couple, who have had a kind loving mate each, to complete the circle of happiness together.

Paragaea
Chris Roberson
PYR
ISBN: 1591024447, $15.00

In the 1960s Soviet cosmonaut Akilena "Leena" Chirikova orbits the Earth in her Vostok 7 rocket ship when a hole suddenly opens up in her path. Her ship goes through the portal and when she exits on the other side she crashes on an orb she later learns is called Paragaea. Leena leaves the vessel, but rather quickly jaguar men attack and capture her. Before she can figure out how to escape, another jaguar man Balam and his human companion Heironymous "Hero" Bonaventure rescue her. Hero explains to Leena that he was a British naval lieutenant during the Napoleonic Wars before falling through an opening and ending up on Paragaea. He further explains that the planet includes several sentient species including humans and "metamankind" such as the jaguar-men called Sinaa. Balam is a royal who hopes to reclaim the Sinaa throne from his traitorous cousins Finally Hero explains no one knows how to return to earth because almost everyone believes earth is a myth. Still Leena wants to go home so Hero and Balam escort her on a quest to find the portal back to earth. Combining an old fashion series of cliffhangers within modern astrophysical theories, Chris Roberson fashions a terrific science fiction thriller that hooks readers from the moment Leena realizes this isn't earth anymore. The action-packed story line never slows down as the displaced heroine gets in and out of one predicament after another with the help of her two comrades and several additional members of a variety of sentient species that join her quest. With humor and a strong cast that make Paragaea and its residences seem real, thriller fans who appreciate the offbeat will want to join Leena's trek to find a way back home.

Crossover
Joel Shepherd
PYR
ISBN: 1591024439, $15.00

Mankind has spread across the galaxies and is divided into two different groups. The League is where the visionaries, who are constantly on the cutting edge of science, live. The Federation which is more conservative went to war against the League over biotech laboratory work. The less populated League created GI androids to augment their human soldiers. Cassandra "Sandy" Kresnov is a new prototype android GI. Over time she becomes sentient in a world that refuses to recognize her rights after the hostilities end. She leaves the League to reside on the Federation world of Calley where Sandy tries to act human, but is caught and jailed for her actions. However, when she saves the president's life that act insures she becomes a citizen and a soldier in the planet's war against adversaries who wants her back as a deadly machine. CROSSOVER is an amazing tale that focuses on what is sentient intelligence and how does that make one human. Readers will ponder whether an essence that can create, think and feel but was manufactured not born can be classified as having a spirit. Readers will adore Sandy who seems more human than many purebreds as she takes nothing for granted. Joel Shepherd following in the footsteps of Phillip K. Dick provides a penetrating science fiction tale in which Johnny Five is alive in space.

Rusty Nail
J.A. Konrath
Hyperion
ISBN: 140130088X, $23.95

Chicago police lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels receives an anonymous snuff video that appears to be the classic work of serial killer the Gingerbread Man, Charles Kork. The only problem with holding the Gingerbread Man culpable is that he is already a guest of the state. Jack assumes it is copy cat with insider information. Since her partner Herb Benedict is hospitalized, she decides to go it alone looking closely at Kork's relatives and friends. However, though she finds perversion, insanity, criminality and worse as the norm, Jack fails to get any closer to identifying and catching the killer. Instead the unknown murderer seems to target those related to the beleaguered cop who leaves taunting clues like toes in the cookie jar for Jack insisting he is back. Jack knows she must stop this brilliant but psychopath copy cat killer before he toasts the deaths of her loved ones because he seems to be fixated on her. The killer ironically is obvious to the reader early on while Jack remains clueless as the culprit outplays her at every turn in their cat and mouse encounter. As always with a Jack Daniels police procedural (see WHISKEY SOUR and BLOODY MARY) gore and humor are mixed together often in the same scene. Fans will laugh and groan as Jack battles against a diabolical lethal lunatic, who seems always one step, make that multiple steps, ahead of her.

Something That Lasts
James David Jordan
Integrity
ISBN: 159145428X, $13.99

The Post-Dispatch named Reverend David Parst one of the fifty most influential leaders in the St. Louis area. David has a loving wife Sarah and a delightful twelve year old son Jack. His flock at the O'Fallon Bible Church thinks the world of him. He has everything going perfectly. At church on Sunday David asks his congregation whether there is anything anyone had to say; a minor gesture that always resulted in accolades or silence. Not this time. Ted Balik rises and claims that David is having an affair with his wife Erika before walking out of the edifice to shoot himself. David is stunned as his wife demands he leave, his son is devastated, and the congregation fires him. Seeking redemption, David becomes pastor to a small church in Elsa, Texas. A decade later David still needs forgiveness from his family and the Lord, but has no hopes as he keeps track of them albeit from a distance like serendipitously watching Jack play college baseball. Jack has become a corporate lawyer who abuses his wife Katie; she flees with their daughter Lynn to live with Sarah. Though a deep Christian character study that looks closely at the impact of a major sin, the protagonist could have starred any person, regardless of religion, abusing their position of power that includes trust in the individual. Thus James David Jordan makes a strong case that a transgression involving trust can prove to be SOMETHING THAT LASTS for a lifetime (and more) as the sins of the father reappear in the offspring. Repenting and even redemption does not always erase the sin as life is not an etch a sketch; this is superior morality fiction as the key players involved with the scandal seem genuine at the time of the adultery and years later.

The Enemy of God
Robert Daley
Harvest (Harcourt)
ISBN: 0156032287, $14.00

Gabe Driscoll, Andrew Troy, Frank Redmond, and Earl Finley met as fourteen year olds in the 1950s trying out for the Fordham Prep swim team in the Bronx. Over the next three decades as they each went into different professions their friendship remained strong. Gabe became a cop; Andrew a reporter; Frank a priest, and Earl an assistant district attorney. All are successful at their chosen vocation. Earl is the first of the quartet to die having been murdered. However, now fifty-three years old, Father Frank apparently leaps to his death from approximately four floors in Harem. The coroner Dr. Levin rules suicide as the evidence points to Frank jumping. The Catholic Church refuse to bury him as a Catholic since suicide is a sin to the chagrin of Gabe and Andy. They cannot believe their activist pal filled with enthusiasm to help the downtrodden would suddenly be so despondent that he would become a jumper. Though Gabe knows better as the chief of NYPD Internal Affairs, he and Andy begin investigating what happened to their friend. The deep look at changing group dynamics and the glimpse into church and police politics add depth to a fine investigative tale that is at its best when the surviving pair struggle to understand what happened and why. When the story line takes a dramatic spin (no giveaways) it loses some of the insightfulness as it turns more into a thriller; which in turn bleeds away what made the foursome especially Gabe and Andy full blooded characters as the two survivors morph into two dimensional superheroes. Still overall this is a solid relationship investigation that falls short of Robert Daley's YEAR OF THE DRAGON.

Tomorrow They Kiss
Eduardo Santiago
Back Bay
ISBN: 0316014125, $13.99

The three women grew up in Palamagria, Cuba, but by 1967 they live in New Jersey. Everyday they ride the bus together to work at a Union City toy factory. Graciela is a single mother of two separated from her spouse; she dreams of true love just like she sees at night on telenovelas. Her mates egotistical Caridad and acerbic Imperio tell Graciela that telenovelas are fantasies and what she once had in Cuba with the town hunk is long gone; even as they hide the fact that they share her dream of the telenovelas coming true for them. However, to everyone's amazement, the factory foreman, Mr. Barry O'Reilly seems to desire Graciela as he always looks at her and makes excuses to see her. Her bitter bus mates cannot believe the worst nightmare since Castro is about to happen to them. Graciela apparently will become Mrs. O'Reilly, which in capitalist America and communist Cuba denotes she is their boss. This is a terrific timely tale with the immigration issue historical look at three Cuban expatriates struggling to survive in an alien land. Much of the tale is related by Graciela though the audience also obtains some first person accounts from her two amigas and other doll factory workers. The working conditions will stun readers while the additional insight into new Cuban-American community that located in the northeast provides a humorous at times poignant but also somewhat slow paced character study.

Bloodstone
Barbara Campbell
Daw
ISBN: 0756403553, $7.99, 320 pp.

Keirith is an apprentice shaman to the Tree-Father and he takes joy in joining his spirit with the eagles, seeing through their eyes and feeling the power of flight. He knows that this is forbidden ever since Morgath tried to cast out the spirit of a person. When the Tree Father catches Keirith performing the forbidden act he tells him he can no longer be his apprentice. When his father Darak finds out the two men get into an argument and the son uses his power to push his father away from him. Not long after that Keirith sees raiders and warns the tribe but he is kidnapped and transported to the Zherosi city way to the south. There he is singled out by the Pajhit (High Priest) Malaq who believes he might be the son of their long prophesized god. He is taken under the Pajhit's wing and treated like a son but he has an enemy the Zeherosi priest Xevhan who wants to learn to use Keirith's powers and become the new Pajhit. Darak is heading to the city where his son is held but getting both of them out of there will prove impossible unless the Trickster God that Darak's wife Griane made a bargain with keeps his word. Imagine The Crucible Trilogy by Sara Douglass crossed with the fantasy saga of Kate Elliott and the reader will have some idea what BLOODSTONE is all about. The main protagonist suffers and matures after being taken from his tribe and yet readers will feel he has done nothing wrong because his actions weren't evil but the law didn't recognize the different shades of gray concerning Keirith's power. Barbara Campbell proves she is no one shot wonder with the Second Trickster's novel which is ever better than HEARTWOOD.

Hags, Sirens, & Other Bad Girls of Fantasy
Edited by Denise Little
Daw
ISBN: 0756403693, $7.99

This twenty story anthology focuses on just what the title states: the bad females of fantasy and fairy tales. Normally stories containing Pandora or Isis, etc. they play the villainess secondary character; in this collection these notorious bad girls play the lead role so the audience sees how they perceive their persona, public image, and the encounters that make characters like Cinderella's stepmother become the connotation of parental abuse. Though for the most part well written, much of the bite of being the malevolent one is taken away as several of the ladies insist they are misunderstood. Still fantasy fans who enjoy their villains to be hardened women will find this compilation of all new stories fun and will follow the frolics of these fatal fatale females mostly of Greek mythos.

Not By Chance
Kathy Herman
Multnomah
ISBN: 159052490X, $12.99, 382 pp.

When Brandon Jones quits his job as regional vice president of Mavis and Stein, a manufacturer of women's clothing, he also loses his fiancee Kelsey who breaks their engagement. He leaves Raleigh and goes to his parents' home in Seaport off the Florida Coast but he doesn't get much sympathy from his father, a very successful lawyer who thinks his son is crazy to have left a job because he didn't find it significant. Brandon's inner turmoil is reflected in the torment Seaport is experiencing due to an escalating series of racial incidents that leads to seven deaths and rioting. As the police try to find the killers, Brandon takes a job as a camp counselor where he befriends the lonely biracial Caedman Nash. When a hurricane threatens the town most people evacuate but Caedman has gone missing and Brandon is determined to find him. NOT BY CHANCE is the fourth and last book in the fabulous Seaport saga. The next book talented Kathy Herman writes well be one of the Phantom Hollow series which focuses on Brandon and Kelsey. This book is filled with suspense and the racially motivated crimes with Brandon trying to find himself. Ms. Herman is a brilliant storyteller who readers can always count on for a good yarn.

Emerald Enigma
C.J. Westwick
Krell Press
ISBN: 0977600904, $26.95

Bernie Lustfield is very happy with the eighteen emeralds he bought in the Bombay shop on the French side of the island of St. Martin in the West Indies. He is relaxing on Antigua by the boat when the bartender serves him a drink and he immediately keels over and dies. The man goes to Bernie's room to retrieve the emeralds before disappearing. Multistate Insurance offers private detective Bret Lamplighter $250,000 to recover the gems. The local police are unhappy to see DEA Agent Lamplighter return to the island since his last visit resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and cops. Upon his arrival his hotel room is blown up as well as much of the remainder of the two floors above and beneath his room. Bret is in his villa at the beach with men on a boat firing machine guns at him. Life is normal for him, but no one else as he uses his contacts to discover that the emeralds are part of a smuggling operation based in Columbia. Bret travels to Columbia, dodging a myriad of people wanting him dead, in search of the emeralds knowing each step closer to his objective is one step closer to death. Action and adventure in an Indian Jones type of way is the essence of the first Lamplighter caper. Bret enters a world where it is impossible to tell friend from foe so he assumes everyone is his enemy except French operative Abby Duchamps, sent to spy on his activities; is attracted to him as he is attracted to and she is determined to keep him alive. They are cute together which enhances the well developed lead character, making him more approachable, in C.J. Westwick's wild thriller.

Stones of Abraxas
K. Osborn Sullivan
Medallion
ISBN: 1932815767, $13.95, 367 pp.

When humans started hunting and killing the magic races and those humans who had magical powers, a spell of separation was performed using five magical gems held together by a golden shield. The spell split one world into two: Terra where non magicals lived and Abraxas where centaurs, gargoyles, elves, frogs (yes frogs) and humans born with magic reside. The Stanhope family is transported from Terra to Abraxas using the magic ruby found in the attic of their home. Adrian the Deceiver, a magician who practices the black arts, has in his possession four of the five gems and would kill anyone who gets in his way while he gains control of the last one from the Stanhopes. With all five jewels, he would be able to conquer Abraxas and Terra and it is up the Stanhope children Amanda and David to stop him if they can. Young adults as well as older readers who appreciate a good fantasy will thoroughly enjoy the spellbinding tale of the STONES OF ABRAXAS. Although young and playful with a tendency to get into mischief, Amanda and David have a purity about them that allows them to fight the forces of evil. These characters are so easy to like that readers will root for them to defeat the villain, no matter how hopeless it seems. K. Osborn Sullivan has the magical touch when it comes to writing great young adult fantasy.

The Witch of Agnesi
Robert Spiller
Medallion
ISBN: 1932815724, $9.99

In Colorado, East Plains middle school teacher Bonnie Pinkwater works with the intelligentsia, but for the first time in a decade, they failed to finish in the top three at the Knowledge Bowl competition. Just after their crushing loss, the team's thirteen years old star Peyton Newlin vanishes. Everyone presumes that the teen ran away than have to face his abusive martinet of a father Colonel Ralph. Peyton's parents blame the defeat and their son's cowardly reaction squarely on Bonnie. The next morning someone murders brilliant student Stephanie Templeton. Feeling already a bit culpable but not sure why, Bonnie with the help of science teacher Armen Callahan, who is falling in love with her, begin investigating the disappearance and the homicide, which they believe is linked by a scholarship competition, but how is unclear. Other students die including Peyton while Bonnie and Armen seek the truth leaning towards violent student bully Jesse Poole though a coven of witches remain a prime suspect. THE WITCH OF AGNESI is a terrific teenage amateur sleuth starring a likable pairing trying to uncover who is eliminating the geniuses one at a time. The story line is fast-paced yet contains a strong cast though clearly Bonnie is the star. The mystery is cleverly devised and filled with twists and red herrings as Robert Spiller keeps his audience alert at all times as he shrewdly spills clues with multiple possibilities. Young adult readers will enjoy this wonderful middle school mystery.

Guns
Phil Bowie
Medallion
ISBN: 1932815597, $6.99

Off the North Carolina coast, Coast Guard Mate Ruben Dixon calls Sam Bass to ask him to search for the Osprey caught at sea by a storm. Though the weather is horrendous Sam flies into the storm and spots the ship giving the Coast Guard the coordinates. Ralph and Adele Stilley are rescued just before their vessel sinks. Raleigh Sentinel reporter Ira Cohn and TV news anchor Samantha Blackstone were sharing a tryst on the barrier island when they heard the story. They interview Sam, who becomes a national hero. However, instead of enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame, Sam finds his past has returned with a vengeance. Thugs arrive to kill "The Cowboy", but instead murder his beloved Valerie, a Cherokee widow and mother of a young boy. Vowing revenge, Sam travels to see Valerie's Cherokee grandfather to tell him what happened, but soon becomes a willing student to his mentor learning the old fashion Indian way of meting out justice. GUNS comes out of the gate on all cylinders as the mysterious Bass saves the lives of the Stilleys and keeps the fast pace going until the final avenging confrontation occurs even with sidebars involving aircraft, gun running and the Cherokee Nation. The cast is solid especially Sam, but when Phil Bowie dwells on his past, the story line loses some momentum though it also explains why he is a target. Still this is an interesting thriller starring a fascinating laconic protagonist who's obsessed with a bloodthirsty mission.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Kim Edwards
Penguin
ISBN: 0143037145, $14.00

In 1964 Lexington, Kentucky the snowstorm made traveling impossible so orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry delivers his fraternal twins in his home when his beloved wife Norah goes into labor. The boy is healthy but his sister has Down syndrome. Unable to cope with her imperfection as a result of a poor West Virginia childhood in which his sister died from a heart condition as a preadolescent, David orders his nurse, Caroline Gill to take the infant to a home. He tells Norah who recovers from the anesthesia that Paul's twin died at birth. Caroline refuses to dump little Phoebe at the horribly looking shelter so she takes her to Pittsburgh. Over the next two decades plus, David wallows in guilt while Norah never recovered from her loss. They still mourn the deceased child. Paul struggles with growing up in a dysfunctional family and misses his sister in some deep rooted way that only twins can share. The three prime players realistically feel the loss of Phoebe even twenty-fives after David did his ignoble deed; that is the essence of a solid story line as the tale focuses on the broken relationships between the three Henrys, who all carry emotional baggage. This is an interesting family drama in which a pivotal decision to avoid pain leads to so much more heartache. Though the final confrontation seems shallow compared to the one just prior between David and a pregnant teen, and with the quarter of a century lie, readers will be fascinated by the Henry's struggle to find some harmony.

The Dark Backward
Julia Buckley
Midnight Ink
ISBN: 0738708267, $13.95

While investigating the homicide of Emily Martin, police officer Emily Martin and her partner Danny Donovan are killed in the line of duty. While Danny stayed dead, Lily's death lasted seven and a half minutes before she returns to the living. While dead, she visualizes their killer, state Governor Robert ("Nob") Stevens. No one including her superior Tony Paluzzi believes her assertion as they cannot imagine the most powerful person in their state resorting to murder. Counseling fails the help her as her obsession remains that Nob killed Danny and almost her. Finally at thirty she is fired as incompetent. Lily's only hope for redemption lies with her husband Gray, but he too does not accept her contention; thus the mother of a small child feels all alone and is filing for divorce. Refusing to back down, Lily begins an inquiry into the motive and finding the evidence that proves the governor killed Danny. With a touch of the paranormal to enhance an intriguing psychological investigative tale, THE DARK BACKWARD is a fascinating well written novel that grips the audience from start to finish. The story line is fast-paced but clearly driven by the beleaguered heroine who is as alone as a person can be as she seeks the truth while everyone who knows her assumes she is crazy. Julia Buckley provides a riveting suspense thriller.

Yellow
Janni Visman
Plume
ISBN: 0452287391, $13.00

Though having a decent client list of rich despondent middle-aged women, aromatherapist Stella never leaves her home as she is agoraphobic. She has established a routine out of her house so that she can live comfortably albeit restrained as she knows one step outside has her panicking. Since she has made herself a virtual prisoner with her being her own warden, she also now fears gas leaks, her latest phobia. She hires someone to remove anything that uses it and replaces it with safe electricity. While the repairman Ivan completes the job, Stella seduces the hunk. He moves in with the phobic woman that night though she establishes the rules of their arrangement. Stella finds her lifestyle immensely improved as he provides her easier access to the outsiders. However, when he returns to her home one day wearing a gold-plated ID bracelet given to him from his former girlfriend, Stella gets a bit further unhinged. She begins to seek other evidence that Ivan is stepping out on her and finds plenty of evidence in his belongings. She persuades Skye to trail Ivan when he leaves the house even as her routines unravel because she tries to emulate the photo she found amongst his possessions. YELLOW is a wonderful psychological thriller that takes place over five days in the same locale as the heroine's perfect routines that never deviates (think six sigma but to an infinite level) begin to unravel leading to doubts, accidents, and much more. The key to this finely plotted tale is whether Stella has lost her groove and her grip on reality or is Ivan perhaps abetted by Skye is driving her insane. Fans will read Janni Visman's powerful character driven novel in one stark sitting.

Salaam, Paris
Kavita Daswani
Plume
ISBN: 0452287464, $14.00

After seeing Audrey Hepburn star in the original Sabrina, Tanaya Shah yearns to visit Paris, which looked so enticing and exciting in the movie, but knows her Muslim family would never allow her to go especially unescorted to the decadent west. When her family arranges for her to marry Tariq Khan, who already lives in Paris, Tanaya agrees with one stipulation; they meet in Paris before they wed to see if they are reasonably compatible. He is her ticket to seeing Sabrina's world. However, Tanaya proves devious as she has no plans to marry her chosen mate. Instead she ditches him and the wedding plans to become part of the city. Shockingly, Tanaya becomes a highly regarded supermodel, but her behavior as she hobnobs with the decadent music and modeling industries lead to her family disowning it her. When she meets Tariq again, she has second thoughts about her blithe decision to dump him as she now wants to marry him and through him reconcile with her family, but fears he will not forgive her. SALAAM, PARIS is a well written character study that plays out on two levels; on the one hand it is a coming of age tale while on the other it is a clash between traditional values and outside values in a shrinking world. Though Tanaya seems a bit selfish with how she initially treats Tariq, readers will forgive her as they realize that she did not mean to hurt him or disobey her family,; all she wanted was to see Paris through the eyes of her heroine. Tanaya is right that if you have not seen the original Sabrina you are missing a great romance.

The Bullet Trick
Louise Welsh
Canongate
841 Broadway, New York, N.Y.10003
ISBN: 1841957941, $23.00

Though he has never made it past being the opening act to strippers, fans who see William Wilson perform magic believe he is one of the best even if he seems outdated with his trite stunts like hacking the woman into pieces. He takes work where he can so his agent Rich Banks gets him a gig to conjure up a trick or two in a dumpy Soho club. It turns out that the bartender Sam Rosensweet is an old friend who asks the Conjurer to hold onto some documents for him. He later learns that Sam and an associate are dead. Wilson imagines a double homicide over the documents he possesses so is elated when Rich gets him work in Berlin, There he meets Sylvie the dancer who he finds quite attractive though she seems somewhat aloof on a personal level while helping him put together his new act. However, as he hides in Berlin, he knows London and Glasgow where he ditched the papers await his second act. Though there are too many minor subplots, overall this is a superb noir in which the not tough hero represents a deep cynicism about life as he overuses cheap tricks enhanced by pick-pocketing people to conjure up his seedy act. Clearly this is Wilson's tale as he is in over his head, but knows he has no choice but to play with the cards dealt him though they are marked and the game rigged with double crosses. Fans who appreciate an antiheroic whoosh mindful of Rollie Tyler of F/X will enjoy the amateur sleuth investigation by a two bit magician.

21 Steps to Happiness
E. G. Gerson
Red Dress
ISBN: 0373895836, $13.95

Though she knows she earned the position in Paris on her own, Lynn realizes being the offspring of fashion world all time greats helped as she is now the public relations specialist for fashion designer Muriel B. However, Lynn quickly realizes that her client is fortunate to have talent because her antics would normally leave someone like her undergoing treatment at an asylum. Lynn adjusts to working for the mad woman of Paris, but detests that no one sees her skills as she remains Jodie's daughter. She also struggles with her out of control personal life in which she desires Nicholas the "Angel" and likes the "Hub" who thinks she is the one. To cope with her DNA, her boss, and her two potential lovers, Lynn turns to the self help reference book 21 STEPS TO HAPPINESS. Lynn saves the tale from being an ultra lighthearted chick lit story (has the sub-genre trimmings, lists and all) as she brings freshness to the mix with her need to be more than just "Jodie's daughter" but soon takes to heart step 1: "never be ashamed of who you are". Readers will root for her to find herself, the right man, and kick some fashionable butt on her quest of 21 STEPS TO HAPPINESS.

Me vs. Me
Sarah Mlynowski
Red Dress
ISBN: 0373895887, $13.95

In Phoenix, Gabby Wolf has an opportunity of a lifetime as a TV news producer at TRSN in New York City. Just prior to her departure her boyfriend attorney Cam suddenly proposes with the assumption that she will accept and not have to move to the Big Apple. As they make love in the desert Gabby feels like is unfair making her choose between two things she wants with all her heart. The next day Gabby wakes up in her house unable to figure out she got home last night. She begins her last preparations before the move. Later she awakens again, but this time she is in the back of Cam's truck in the desert. As she finds herself living two lives, one in New York and the other in Arizona, neither life feels fulfilling as each lacks a key ingredient that her other self has. Confused she knows she must choose one life over the other, but which one as both has flaws. ME VS. ME is a fascinating thought provoking yet humorous chick lit science fiction tale in which the heroine rotates between two lifelines learning that neither is quite complete without the other. The story line is terrific as a bewildered Gabby gets her cake and eats it too, but learns that sometimes you better watch what you wish for as she finds the parts fail to equal the whole. Mindful of Piers Anthony' Apprentice Adept first trilogy, readers will enjoy this creative entertaining tale.

Letter Perfect
Cathy Marie Hake
Bethany House
ISBN: 0764201654, $13.99

In 1859 Ruth Caldwell has tried to live up to her mother's expectations that she become a refined lady, but all the klutzy woman has to show for her efforts is being thrown out of several finishing schools as a helpless cause. However, the return home to St. Louis is not filled with embarrassment over her latest failure; instead she finds her beloved mother dying of consumption. Being a lady no longer matters as she becomes a caretaker and companion until her mom passes away six months later. Her mom's last dying wish was for Ruth to see her biological father in California. Though she would rather not, Ruth adheres to her deathbed pledge only to find her dad dead too and she a part owner of the Broken P Ranch, along with her father's partner, the patriarch of the McCain brood. Josh McCain helped Ruth's father kick alcohol and to find the Lord. He wants Ruth to claim what is rightfully her, but someone thinks otherwise as she is the source of questionable accidents that he believes are deliberate; Josh plans to keep her safe. Cathy Marie Hake smoothly combines a fine whodunit with a warm romance inside an inspirational Americana tale. Ruth is a delightful protagonist trying to please others, but failing because she does not please herself; that changes when she meets Josh, who "introduces" her to the Lord, love, and her late father. The support cast is solid while the villain is in plain sight but easily overlooked. Readers will enjoy this fine historical cozy that paints a picture of faith on several levels in God, in one's self and in one's soulmate.

The Man She Thought She Knew
Shari Shattuck
Downtown
ISBN: 1416516689, $13.00

Callaway "Cally" Wilde looks forward to exchanging I do with LAPD undercover Detective Evan Paley. However, she becomes upset when he hides a phone call from her. Still naked having come out of her shower, she hears gunshots downstairs. She investigates carrying Evan's gun only to find the corpse of a stranger in her kitchen and Evan missing. She notifies Evan's partner Curtis, who tells her nothing as to why her hunk has been abducted and $3 million seems quite a ransom price for a cop albeit even one she loves. When she begins receiving clues by email and phone to Evan's whereabouts, Cally decides she must rescue her boyfriend. She follows the clues even as Curtis tells her to stay out of it and let him handle it. Unable to abide by his advice, Cally becomes befuddled when Evan's former girlfriend seems the center of the maelstrom. As always the latest Cally escapade is LOADED with LETHAL fun as she personally tries to rescue her beloved partly out of guilt because of her thoughts about his secrecy just before he was kidnapped and partly because she cannot help herself. Getting actively involved is the norm for incautious courageous Cally. Shari Shattuck provides a lighthearted amateur sleuth frolic, as Cally takes on her lover, his police peers, thugs, corpses, and the city of Los Angeles in an effort to save THE MAN SHE THOUGHT SHE KNEW.

Emperor's Children
Claire Messud
Knopf
ISBN: 030726419X, $25.00

They became friends at brown University and remain close almost a decade later. At college, each thought they would make it to the big time in the chosen endeavor before they turned thirty. However, they remain struggling and much of their youthful enthusiasm and confidence is replaced by despondency and fears of failure as thirty is just around the corner. Danielle Minkoff struggles to make it as a TV documentary maker; Julius Clarke is failing as a freelance critic; wannabe author Marina Thwaite resides with her parents while her work "The Emperor's Children Have No Clothes" remains somewhat bare. Still they have each other, which keep them from going to far over to the dark side. That is until the Australian Ludovic courts Marina as a means to destroy her father who he hates and Marina's cousin pseudo-intellect Frederick "Bootie" Tubb enters the group. Claire Messud brings Richard Sheridan's satirical play on manners The School for Scandal from late eighteenth century London to post 9-11 New York as the author skews the pretentiousness of locals that insist Manhattan is the center of the universe. The cast is a delightful ensemble, who live up to the title of Marina's non-book as each is literally stripped bare (think Carlisle's clothing theory of man). This is an intelligent amusing stripping away of the affectations used by society to hide flaws and blemishes.

The Devil's Feather
Minette Walters
Knopf
ISBN: 0307264629, $24.00

In Baghdad in 2004, thirty six years old Reuters' war correspondent Connie Burns is stunned when she spots British mercenary Keith Mackenzie training Iraqi police. She recognizes the instructor from an assignment in Sierra Leone two years before where she thinks he raped and killed local women. Irate that she plans to expose him, out of control Mackenzie abducts, tortures, and rapes the journalist before freeing her with a warning that he will always be near to provide her a second lesson. Connie goes into shock unable to tell anyone what Mackenzie did to her. Needing to mentally heal, she returns to her home in rustic Dorset. She makes friends though it is really that her neighbors Dr. Peter Coleman and fellow recluse Jess Derbyshire refuse to allow her to wallow by herself. With their help she begins to regain her self-esteem and equilibrium, hoping to prepare for when Mackenzie using some other name as he has in the past will come to reeducate her. As always Minette Walters provides an intense psychological suspense thriller that grips readers from the opening moments as the villain takes away a sense of purpose and freedom from the reporter. The tale never slows down as Connie tries to recover mentally from his assault while knowing deep in her soul he is coming for her which keeps readers in a state of anticipation awaiting their showdown. THE DEVIL'S FEATHER is Ms. Walters at her tense writing best.

Another Green World
Richard Grant
Knopf
ISBN: 0307263592, $24.95

In 1944, bureaucrat Martina Panich uncovers a document that affirms that the Nazis are methodically killing Jews as the Final Solution. Millions have died apparently and many more will follow if the Allies continue to do nothing. However, the Allied leadership rationalizing insists there is no undeniable proof that the Germans are mass murdering the Jews so they ignore the issue. Martina learns the hard proof is held by former Brooklynite turn Polish resistance fighter, Isaac "the Fox" Tadziewski. Coincidentally Martina and her friend DC restaurateur Ingo Miller met Isaac at a youth rally fifteen years ago in the Weimer Republic. Martina and Ingo enlist the help of everyday people dubbed the Varian Fry Brigade to find Isaac in enemy held territory in order to steal the document to bring to the attention of the reluctant allies, who like the Nazis wants this group of commandoes to fail. The fourth member of the 1929 youth meeting, embedded with the Red Army reporter Sammy Butler also seeks the document. When the tale follows the exploits of the fearsome foursome as they comer closer and closer to converging, ANOTHER GREEN WORLD is a superb WWII thriller. When the story line digresses with lengthy soliloquies on a variety of period piece subjects not directly related to the plot, it loses much of its bounce though the topics are fascinating sidebars. Still this is a deep thriller that is at its best when it stays on topic of making a moral plea through a historical perspective to not bury heads in the sand when Rwanda, Darfur or other genocides occur.

The Keep
Jennifer Egan
Knopf
ISBN: 1400043921, $24.00

Wealthy retired bond trader thirty four years old Howie buys a castle in Austria, Germany or the Czech Republic, as he is not sure which country hosts his new (make that old) abode. He sends a plane ticket to his thirty-six years old party hardy cousin Danny to come over from New York to help renovate the dump into a luxurious hotel. Needing to leave town as he has alienated some mean dudes, Danny flies to Europe though he fears that Howie might still have lingering resentment from a prank he pulled over two decades ago when he deserted him in a cave where he almost died. At least that is what Ray insists happened while attending a prison writing workshop. Is Ray writing fiction or providing a real account of something that happened to him that led to his drug addiction? His prison writing teacher Holly needs to know. THE KEEP is a strange tale that has the audience wondering what is real as the narrative rotates between Danny's central European adventures and Ray's prison time. Real or not, the cast seems genuine whether they are a figment of Ray's imagination or his recall of true people perhaps himself; either way the audience believes that Ray, Danny, Howie, and Holly are three dimensional characters; ironically some of their escapades seem over the top. Readers who appreciate something entirely different will want to peruse Jennifer Egan's fine thriller that questions reality in a digital age.

Summer at Willow Lake
Susan Wiggs
Mira
ISBN: 0778323250, $7.99

Needing to get away from her mom and her third failed fiance Randall the user, designer Olivia Bellamy agrees to renovate the closed family owned Camp Kioga in Avalon, New York up in the Catskills to celebrate her grandparents' fiftieth anniversary. She hires successful local contractor Davis Contracting and Construction owned by Connor Davis to do much of the labor, but is hurt when "Easy Rider" fails to recognize that Olivia is "Lolly", the girl whose heart he broke a decade ago. He desires his employer until he realizes who she is. She would not listen to him when he needed her and concludes that is because she is socially above his level, as the local son of a drunk. Olivia knows he failed to show up at their tryst breaking her heart and making her fear commitment though she is no longer the fat girl he rejected. As they share a love-hate summer, neither is willing to open up to the other about how they feel and what they think went down over a decade ago, which means dej� vu as this relationship is doomed to fail again. The prime reason this is an excellent contemporary romance is that author Susan Wiggs keeps to her prime focus, a second chance at love, throughout the tale, avoiding the trapping of adding phony suspense for instance. The story line effortlessly switches between the present and 1977 so that the audience understands the "hate" side of the relationship between the lead characters as Olivia and Connor are a fine pairing as each interpret what happened their first time as budding teen lovers differently. Readers who appreciate a strong relationship drama will want to spend leisure time at Willow Lake.

Dead Silence
Brenda Novak
Mira
ISBN: 0778323285, $6.99

In Stillwater, being the daughter of white trash, Grace Montgomery knows she has no future here by the way everyone either scorns her or leers at her. She has decided the first chance she gets she will leave her hometown to forge a future somewhere else where no one knows about her DNA; thus she began her rise in a greasy spoon in Jackson, but soon won scholarships to Iowa and Georgetown law school. Grace succeeds, but now thirteen years later has returned home to resolve the event in her past that left her shrouded in mystery when the Reverend vanished eighteen years ago, humiliation and the tag that the acorn does not fall far from the tree occurred. However, she quickly learns that here unlike the outside she remains what she was when she left, white trash. Rising politician widower Kennedy Archer thinks otherwise as he is attracted to Grace and admires her spunk and ethics. However, he also knows by seeing her, his political career could die before it blossoms. Worse she knows that too. DEAD SILENCE is a fascinating family drama in which events that are almost two decades old still haunt those left behind by what happened. The story line creates the atmosphere of a laid back town while introducing the key players especially the lead couple. Though that enables the reader to get deep inside everyone's head, however, that twisting pace also leaves little room for action until the latter segment of the novel. Thus not for everyone, fans who enjoy an insightful character study will want to know what happened in Stillwater that some residents prefer to remain concealed.

Coldwater Revival
Nancy Jo Jenkins
River Oak
ISBN: 1589190610, $12.99

In 1933, three weeks before Emma Grace Falin is to marry Gavin O'Donnell, she heads home to Two Toe Creek to confront her past. She knows if she fails to reconcile with the death of her younger brother she cannot offer her full heart to the deserving Gavin. Five years may have passed since the incident that shaped her, but Emma still mourns the loss and feels guilty for causing it. She has even shunned God. Five years ago her family also devastated by the death, cannot cope with Emma, who wants to die. They send her to Galveston praying her grandmother will help her heal. There she meets Tate, who has suffered the loss of loved ones, but still believes snugly in the Lord and lives life to the fullest. Tate knows he loves Grace, but hides his feelings from her as he knows she is not ready for a relationship. Now she is engaged to someone else, but he trusts that God will show both of them the way. Besides a strong look at the healing process, this deep inspirational tale provides a powerful sense of time and locale as the audience obtains a taste of Texas during the Depression. Emma is a wonderful protagonist as she holds the historical drama together with her first person account of the past and present. The support cast, predominantly seen through their respective relationships with Emma, augments the audience's understanding that the lead character lacks confidence in her self, her family, and the Lord as she struggles to understand why bad things happen to good people.

Settling the Accounts: The Grapple
Harry Turtledove
Del Rey
ISBN: 0345457250, $26.95

When the Confederacy won the War Between the States, the country broke into the USA and the CSA. During the Great War, the USA defeated the CSA and occupied the land until it was disarmed. Over time and in secrecy, the Confederacy rebuilt its militia and humiliated by its defeat enabled Jake Featherston and his Freedom party to come into power by promising that the CSA would never suffer the debasement of defeat ever again to their enemy to the north. In 1941 President Featherston declares war on the USA; for two years his forces win victory after victory pushing deep into Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, by 1943, the USA armies begin to repel the invaders from occupied land and soon head into Kentucky and Tennessee. Negroes, who were ruthlessly placed in concentration camps hope the USA will free them. Fearing for the CSA, Featherston places his funding on a new weapon of mass destruction, a bomb like none ever seen before. SETTLING ACCOUNTS: THE GRAPPLE is Harry Turtledove at his best. Jake is a Hitleresque dictator with his Freedom party a Nazi replica and the Negroes treated like the Jews in Germany. The novel is loaded with action especially battle scenes shown from differing perspectives, which makes the cast seem purposely insignificant as individuals are part of a cast of zillions while death is a statistic of war. Thus the war is the main character in Mr. Turtledove's excellent alternative historical thriller.

The Blood Knight
Greg Keyes
Del Rey
ISBN: 0345440684, $25.95

King William Dare of Crotheny is dead, murdered by his kin Robert, who holds the monarch's widow Muriele prisoner. The late ruler's daughter Princess Anne flees from her undead Uncle Robert. The kingdom is now ruled by insanity and death as the darkest of magic spreads its lethal web across the beleaguered landscape. The demonic race is back to re-enslave the descendents of Virginia Dare and her lost colony of Roanoke followers. Princess Anne's attempts to remain free fail when monks catch her in her quest to start the counter revolt against her uncle. Her hope resides with her allies, but they too struggle with life and death confrontations. Sir Neil knows he leads his knights into certain death in battle, but that might be a boon compared to Leoffrey, Stephen and Aspar who separately face horrors never seen before like Robert's maniacal wrath, his even crazier allies, and the Waurm. This may be the bleakest moment for The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone in over two millennia, perhaps since Genia Dare led the successful revolt against the god-like Stasloi slavers. THE BLOOD KNIGHT is an excellent epic fantasy that will be on the short lists of sub-genre fans as one of the best novels of the year. The story line is action-packed (perhaps too much so as scenes shift quickly between the heroes and villains) from the first rejected rose through incredible intermediate subplots of magical and mundane duels and battles until the final confrontation between good and evil. There are many shockers in this high fantasy, including the deaths of a hero. This will keep the audience on alert status as Greg Keyes is in top form. Though somewhat a stand alone, newcomers would be better suited reading the first two tales (see THE BRIAR KING and THE CHARNEL PRINCE) to add to the tasty mix of a superb tale.

Honored Enemy
Raymond E. Feist & William R. Forstchen
Eos
ISBN: 0060792833, $13.95, 336 pp.

When the magical rift gate opened onto the world of Midkemia, the Tsurani army poured through the portal intent on conquest. They viewed the inhabitants as barbaric and sent healthy prisoners back to the homeworld as slaves. Their homeworld is metal poor so the rulers and their clan leaders need to possess and mine the land. On the day they passed through the gate, they destroyed the Keep of Vahinar killing the father, grandfather and wife of Dennis Hartraft. Nine years into the war, Hartraft hates all the invaders with a passion and his goal is to kill all who were involved in the deaths of his family. He and his patrol the Marauders are behind enemy lines, set to strike until they realize the Dark Brothers (elves) are stalking them and the Tsurani. The leader of the enemy force leader Asayaga reluctantly join forces to evade the large horde even though they are mortal enemies and warfare between the two groups threatens to breakout at any time. Only if the two camps can lay aside their differences is there a chance to come out of their situation alive. When enemies work together against a more dangerous foe, a bond develops in spite of themselves. Both Hartraft and Asayaga are truly heroic figures because they are able to put aside nine years of prejudice and war to defend themselves against the enemy from without and within. Readers learn how Asayaga really feels about the war and why he believes he is a puppet on a string dancing to the tune of his superiors who are snug and safe back home. There is a lot of action in this terrific and entertaining fantasy but it is the characters that make this book a winner.

Second Wave
Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Eos
ISBN: 0060525401, $24.95, 309 pp.

Khorii is a member of the Linyaari race created from the DNA material of a unicorn sentient species rescued from Old Terra by the Ancestral Friends, a shapeshifting, time traveling space voyaging race. She, like all Linyaari, has a horn that heals her people and humans. Khorii follows in the footsteps of her famous Mother Acorna by discovering a new way to heal an entire planet from a plague that killed billions (see FIRST WARNING). Now the Linyaari are mopping up as the plague seems to have finally burned itself out; Khorii is in the thick of the operation as she is only one who can see the plague. On planets where the plague has been reported, strange phenomena occur. The ghosts of dead plague victims appear and inorganic objects abruptly implode. Khorii and her newfound twin, who traveled from far back in time to be reunited with her family who never knew she existed, must figure out what is going on before civilization comes to a halt in a very large inhabited sector of the galaxy. What makes this series special is the reader is thoroughly immersed in the Linyaari culture. SECOND WAVE picks up where FIRST WAVE left off and proves exciting and past-paced though newcomers should start with the previous tale first as references are frequent to the events in that thriller. The heroine, though young, is a feisty fighter willing to do what it takes to save worlds and those who live on them though this time a sense of foreboding that Khorii and readers feel climaxes into a shocking final revelation.

TripTych
Karin Slaughter
Delacorte
ISBN: 0385339461, $25.00

Atlanta homicide detective Michael Ormewood knows he is bone weary and probably suffering from battle fatigue syndrome from working with the city's underclass in the city's poorest neighborhoods like Grady. His wife Gina, a nurse, and Michael raise a mentally impaired son Tim so though he loves both his relief from work is limited at home. Michael is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute in Grady. However, before he can get very far into his inquiries, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation claims control because the culprit sliced off the victim's tongue, linking it to a serial killer. GBI Investigator Will Trent believes the prime suspect is sex offender John Shelley, who just was paroled after a conviction for a violent crime when the tongue murders began. Moving away from Grant County for this stand alone inner city police procedural, Karin Slaughter provides her audience with an exciting tale that contains a major twist as well as a switch from the first person narration of Michael to that of John once the case changes lead. The story line is fast-paced and fun to follow especially the latter half as John follows clues. Though the ending seems obvious Ms. Slaughter's fans will appreciate her suspenseful trek into Atlanta.

Puccini's Ghosts
Morag Joss
Delacorte
ISBN: 038533978X, $22.00

When her father dies, retired opera chorister, Lila DuCann, returns to her hometown Burnhead, Scotland to attend his funeral. She has been away from the town for years and has not seen her dad in a long time. Thus when she grieves her loss she is taken aback as memories of 1960, the fateful "Turandot Summer" when she was fifteen years old, flow freely. Her lunatic thirtyish Uncle George Pettifer, a London music teacher, obstinately decides to direct a local production of Puccini's opera Turandot starring Lila's mom Florence "Fleur" Duncan as the title character and Lila in the support female role as slave girl Liu. Local amateur musicians and singers round out the cast. Thus only Fleur had any real experience and she never moved far up the singer's food chain. However Fleur felt she was just one song from being discovered and being treated like a pampered adored Prima Donna. To provide some quality, George brings his London friend Joe Foscari to serve as the male lead. Lila falls in love her first crush, but the failed presentation only highlighted the flop of her family leading to a tragedy and a teen in exile from her home. PUCCINI'S GHOSTS is a terrific drama that grips readers as they wonder what happened in the summer of 1960 that destroyed a family. As Lila tells the tale from her perspective looking back to when she was a teen, fans will soon wonder whether she can delineate reality from a fantasy created perhaps out of FEARFUL SYMMETRY of what is truth. Morag Joss provides a virtuoso performance (sans Sara Selkirk) with the attendees listening to FUNERAL MUSIC and knowing first hand about dreams of HALF BROKEN THINGS.

Simply Love
Mary Balogh
Delacorte
ISBN: 038533883X, $22.00

Twenty-nine-year-old Anne Jewell may be a pariah in some circles as an unwed mother to nine year old David, but she enjoys her independence and teaching at Miss Martin's School for Girls, a place with a well earned reputation of providing a fine academic education to girls from all social classes. Her only friend from a decade ago when she fled Wales, Marquess Joshua Moore and his wife wants to acknowledge David as their cousin. They invite Anne and David to spend the summer at the Bewcastle estate in Wales where she once was governess and home to David's father. Aristocrat Sydnam Butler wears a patch to cover the eye he lost in the Peninsula Wars, but has nothing to hide his missing right limb. He has become a recluse, but earns his bread as steward to the Duke of Bewcastle. Neither Sydnam or Anne are in the market for a spouse; however neither anticipated the kindhearted Bewcastle clan having enlisted David as one of them deciding that this mentally wounded pair make a perfect match. However, in spite of their efforts, it remains a question of whether Anne or Sydnam trust love nurtured in a style unlike what either once dreamed of. This is a terrific Regency romance starring two delightful protagonists who have suffered in life, but with the help of others may have found happiness if they can step outside the barriers that traumas have placed around their hearts. The delightful plot is a simple love story made complex by the insecurities and loneliness of Sydnam and Anne. Mary Balogh is at her Regency best with this strong SIMPLY LOVE tale.

Secret Society Girl
Diana Peterfreund
Delacorte
ISBN: 0385340021, $23.00

Literary magazine editor Amy Haskel is a junior attending the prestigious Ivy League school Eli University. Eli's literary society, Quill & Ink ask her to join, which the ambitious student knows is the perfect addition to her resume. However, instead of the Quill & Ink members showing up to escort Amy to an inductee ceremony cloaked men "kidnap" her. She does not panic and soon is given the opportunity to join the most exclusive "club" on campus, the Rose & Grave better known by its memberships as Diggers. She accepts though Quill & Ink would be better for her resume and future. However, some alumni and current Diggers object to females in their once exclusive male ranks. They will do anything to drive the new females out, but had not counted on the seemingly timid and shy Amy obstinately remaining a member. Though more of a teen coming of age tale rather than a thriller involving secret societies whose alumni run the country and much of the world, Diana Peterfreund's opening Ivy League tale is a fun lighthearted look at college. Amy initially seems to have her roadmap to success set up perfect until the abduction displays her anxiety and timidity, which seems real, but also takes away from the strength of the plot: being inducted into the secret society as she just does not appear ready for that step. Still this is a fine look at the goings on at school and hopefully by the next tale, the heroine wears rubber underwear and acts with poise and strength as she takes readers inside the secret society.

Crazy Love
Tara Janzen
Dell
ISBN: 0440242789, $6.99

Back in Denver at the Special Defense Forces (SDF) top secret facility, Dylan Hart wonders if he should have stayed overseas though he still is recovering from the captivity and drugging by Hamzah Negara. That assignment now seems like a church social because Dylan finds home has a bigger problem for him to evade; his desire for new member 5'8' sexy pink Skeeter Bang. Still he has no choice but to be home as his cohorts are tied up with dangerous missions though he wonders if his is more lethal as he has to cop with Skeeter who makes him hot just with one look. However, he needs her as his only available backup with Negara reportedly coming to the States to cause trouble and his assignment to steal and bury a top secret file; this fits into her plan to seduce the man she loves Dylan. He, in turn will not admit he needs her in his bed too except when he argues with himself over his desire for her. When all hell breaks loose placing both in danger, which it does at a DC reception, Dylan will be forced to face the truth about his inner passion. The latest Crazy tale is just that a crazy romantic suspense that never slows down from the first encounter until the final escapade (that is between Dylan and Skeeter). The action-packed story line moves forward rather quickly as Dylan tries to ignore his desire while Skeeter tries to embellish on his desire at the same time they deal with terrorist. Filled with action, adventure, and sex inside a well written thriller; what more can a reader ask for besides another Crazy tale.

The Side Effect
Bob Reiss
Dell
ISBN: 0440243084, $6.99, 480 pp.

When Chairman Dwyer of Lenox Pharmaceuticals apparently commits suicide leaving a note behind saying "I'm lonely", his security chief Mike Acela doesn't believe it. From the moment he sees the body, he senses that his mentor was murdered or forced to commit suicide. He finds a list and on it there is a note to give Mike a disk which Mikee never received. He turns the list over to the police and FBI agent Eisner believes he and Dwyer were traitors to the U.S. and intends to prove it. Meanwhile, Mike's private investigation team finds information on a drug HR 190 that the company is trying to synthesize. The new CEO of the company fired much on the old guard including Mike but he and a loyal cadre of friends keep digging to find a link between a series of resignations in Washington culminating in the president leaving office and the new drug. Their replacements are all ultra right wing. These are fundamentalist heavy hitters in office now who could change the face of world politics unless Mike can figure out what the drug does, how to destroy it and expose the conspirators without getting killed in the process. Conspiracy buffs will thoroughly enjoy, THE SIDE EFFECT, a thriller that shows just how ruthless some politicians and armed forces commanders can be to achieve their goals. The hero is caught in a whirlwind, traveling blindly down a road hoping to get answers that make sense. Mike is a patriot in the truest sense of the world who wants to destroy a cabal that threatens the very ideals America was founded on by its forefathers.

Ladies' Man
Suzanne Brockmann
Dell
ISBN: 0440243653, $6.99

Yale Professor Ellen Layne and her TV host Uncle Bob Osborne wait for her Great Aunt Alma to land in New York. Ellen goes to a bookstore where a handsome stranger suggests she read anything by T.S. Harrison before he asks for her number; realizing he is ten years younger than her and that she had two teenage children, Jamie and Lydia, she refuses. Not long afterward, the man meets Bob, who thinks he is Harrison. Unable to get a word in otherwise, NYPD Detective Sam Schaeffer is introduced to Alma as her favorite author. Ellen gives him a ride in her uncle's Limo where Sam explains that T.S. is his best friend who could not make it, but neither Bob nor Alma would let him speak. Unable to resist, they make love in the back seat of the limo, but afterward she refuses to give him her number as she feels he is too young for her. T.S. explains to Bob what happened at the airport; Bob still wants the writer to do his biography. Ellen mentions a security breach, death threat letters and obscene calls. T.S. asks Sam to assess the danger. Sam believes the threat is towards Ellen, whose commercial just aired on TV. Later Sam is stunned when he meets her two kids, but handles it gracefully as he becomes their escort while someone dangerous stalks her and her kids. The relationship between the lead characters is passionate and adding to the freshness is she is a decade older than he. The support cast is solid as the teens are adjusted and Bob and T.S. are caring souls. The climax though containing a delightful twist and a five degrees spin seems abrupt, but readers will still appreciate this fine romantic suspense.

The Faithful Spy
Alex Berenson
Random House
ISBN: 0345478991, $24.95

Former American college football player, CIA operative John Wells infiltrates al-Qaeda. He proves invaluable to the organization in Afghanistan and works his way through the concentric circles until he attains the most inner most circle enabling him to meet with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri. However, a side effect on the undercover intelligence officer is that he has become a devoted Muslim. Now al-Qaeda leader Khadri sends him home to bring the war to the west by setting in motion the steps needed to explode a dirty bomb in New York. The CIA has doubts about the loyalty of their rogue agent; that is everyone except his prime handler Jennifer Exley. However, suspicion grows when two bombs kill three hundred in Los Angeles leaving the CIA leadership to wonder if he turned, seduced Exley to join him, and what is his real objective? This is one of the best post 9-11 espionage thrillers on the market today as Alex Berenson makes the "bad guys" understandable and intelligent instead of some boorish cartoon caricature; Muslim fundamentalists know the west and how to play their enemy. Wells is a fabulous central figure as everyone including the audience wonders whose side is he on. Readers will want to know so set aside some time for a superb the spy comes home from the cold.

The Limehouse Text
Will Thomas
Touchstone
ISBN: 0743273354, $24.00

In 1885 Inspector Nevil Bainbridge visits enquiry agent Cyrus Barker holding a pawn ticket found sewed in a robe owned by the late Quong, who was Barker's assistant before Thomas Llewelyn. Confused as Quong had no secrets, but assuming his former assistant was just learning about western ways with trips to out of the way shops, Cyrus, Nevil and Thomas visit the pawn shop in the Chinatown Limehouse section of London. They learn the pawn store owner recently fell down a set of stairs and died, and someone broke into the shop. They retrieve a Chinese book so they next go to see Chinese cuisine Chef Ho for an interpretation of what they possess. He cautions them that the book is a sacred "hidden text of a boxing school" that should never have found its way to Europe. They soon learn first hand why Ho gave a "death touch" warning when several people, some willing to kill as Cyrus believes happened to the pawn shop owner and Quong, want to possess the book. THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT is a terrific Victorian mystery that pays homage to Holmes and Watson as did the two previous enquiry thrillers (see SOME DANGER INVOLVED and TO KINGDOM COME). The whodunit is fun though the killer seems obvious early on while readers will appreciate Cyrus's tour of 1880s Limehouse section where many Chinese expatriates lived. Sort of like a cross between Derek Flint (see movies IN LIKE FLINT and OUR MAN FLINT) and Holmes, readers especially the Baker Street Irregulars will enjoy Cyrus' latest escapades.

A Garden of Vapers
Jack Kerley
Dutton
ISBN: 0525949526, $24.95

In Mobile, Alabama, two homicide detective teams hear the report from dispatch, each claims the case as theirs. Pace Logan and Tyree Shuttles drag race Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus to the scene as first come investigates. At the crime sight, a slight scuffle occurs, but in the end partners Ryder and Nautilus take the lead on investigating the slashing murder of journalist, Taneesha Franklin. The next morning Carson learns that his girlfriend, TV reporter Dani Danbury was mentoring Taneesha at the station and the two women becaame close friends. The few clues the two sleuths uncover lead them to the wealthy scions of great society the philanthropic Kincannon family run by a steel magnolia matriarch whose unhinged sons have no regard for anyone else. The case takes weird spins as others involved with Taneesha died and someone else seems resolved to solve the homicide at any price leading Ryder and Nautilus to wonder if the dinosaur Logan is setting a pace to disrupt theirs even as the veteran team finds they too are targets of a seeming psychopath. The third Ryder-Nautilus police procedural is a solid whodunit that fans of the sub-genre will enjoy though it doesn't achieve the level of its predecessors (see THE HUNDREDTH MAN and THE DEATH COLLECTORS). The teammates still work well together, which becomes obvious when they are forced into a temporary separation. However, this time around all roads lead to the same center, A GARDEN OF VAPERS filled with the Kincannon brood. Thus fans of the series will be slightly disappointed as the anticipated chilling spin never comes; Jack Kerley has spoiled his fans as this novel is still a strong investigative tale.

Fear
Jeff Abbott
Dutton
ISBN: 0525949720, $24.95

In Miami Miles Kendrick worked for the Barrada mob, but turned against them leading to his best friend's death and the FBI hiding him inside the federal witness protection program. He lives, a loose euphemism for it because many things are denied him. For instance he no longer drives a car out of a fear of a bombing, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Miles sees psychiatrist Dr. Allison Vance, who is trying to help him cope with what she has diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which developed after he inadvertently killed his best friend while assisting the FBI. Surprising Kendrick, Dr. Vance asks for his help, but soon after she is killed by an explosion in her office. He assumes the Barrada mob killed her, but learns she was involved with a new miracle drug Frost touted as curing PTSD; he craves trying the drug. However former FBI Agent Dennis Groote turned hitman has other plans for Kendrick, other Vance patients and Frost. If Kendrick fails to control his fears, he will be dead when he and Groote confront one another. Though fans will need to accept some of the escapades, this is a superb action thriller that grips the audience from the onset and never slows down until the final altercation as the readers do not know how the antihero will react in the crisis due to the crippling fear he feels. Kendrick's desperation to try a potentially dangerous drug to control his fears serves as a metaphor for those with severe illnesses willing to try anything immediately and not wait for FDA approval (besides which their recent record is not to healthy). The story line is action, more action, and super more action as Jeff Abbott provides his fans with a one sitting on the edge of your seat thriller.

Resurrection
Tucker Malarkey
Riverhead
ISBN: 159448919X, $24.95

In 1947 London, Bernard Westerly visits nurse Gemma Bastian asking her if her internationally famous archeologist father Charles sent her any packages for "safekeeping". She says no. Two mornings later the telex arrives from Cairo informing her that her dad died and that money has been sent for her to come to Cairo to bury his ashes. In Cairo, she heads to the house of Professor David Lezar, a colleague of her father. However, though he and others try to divert her from her father's last work, Gemma needs to see what he was dong. Soon she begins to suspect he was murdered perhaps by his friends. Finally trusting no one even the sons of David whom she is attracted to, Gemma learns that Charles' last project was finding the lost Gnostic Gospel written by Mary Magdalene with an emphasis on her relationship with Jesus; something the Church wants interred at any cost. Giving credit to Elaine Pagels (see THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS) and embellishing on a real discovery just after WWII, Tucker Malarkey writes a terrific Christian thriller that will hook the Brownian crowd and others from start to finish. The action-packed story line focuses on the discovery of ancient texts that could shake the foundation of organized western religions especially Christianity as Gemma begins to believe that Mary Magdalene was the first gospel. Her need to know what happened to her father and what he found on his final project make for a thrilling read as fans will consider what if in the first century AD.

The Begotten: A Novel of the Gifted
Lisa T. Bergren
Berkley
ISBN: 0425210162, $23.95

Satan thinks the time is ripe for his dominion on earth. Thus in 1339, he sends one of his most powerful followers the Sorcerer to reap havoc leading to global control. Dominican Father Piero realizes that the devil has begun what could be the first phase towards Armageddon. Though the Vatican would officially considers this heresy worth burning at the stake, the holy man searches for the rumored Gifted, named in a letter hidden for centuries allegedly written by Saint Paul, but never became part of the canon, in hope that they can prevent the Sorcerer and his minion from succeeding. He finds the Gifted Lady Daria D'Angelo when she saves the life of dying Church Knight Gianni de Capezzana who has brought many a sinner to their fiery death, but wonders how many of those he brought to godly justice were less saintly than he. In turn the Knight pleads his loyalty to Daria. Soon near Siena, Italy the latest war between heaven and hell on earth will begin. This is an exhilarating religious historical thriller that is a delightful fantasy rather than a Brownian clone. The story line is action-packed from the beginning as the forces of good and evil prepare for a confrontation that leaves the Vatican caught between a rock and a hard place since the Church hierarchy do not recognize the Gifted (or Saint Paul's letter) yet have no chance to stop the Sorcerer without them. Readers who appreciate a different spin will appreciate Lisa T. Bergren's superb religious medieval fantasy THE BEGOTTEN.

The Drowning Man
Margaret Coel
Berkley
ISBN: 0425211711, $23.95

On the Wind River Reservation, every Arapaho is stunned by the theft of THE DROWNING MAN. The ancient petroglyph is considered a sacred tribal heirloom of immense value as the spirits etched the image of the hunter drowning in water. The thieves send their ransom demand of a quarter of a million dollars to have the artifact returned or else watch it vanish on the black market. Father John O'Malley is outraged by this desecration and vows to investigate until he uncovers the identity of the thieves and returns the icon back to the tribe. Realizing the parallels to another stolen petroglyph seven years ago in which the item was never recovered and allegedly one of the felons Travis Birdsong killed his partner Raymond Trueblood, attorney Vicky Holden joins Father John on his inquiries because she believes that Travis was innocent of the robbery and the homicide. Neither is prepared to encounter a killer who will murder anyone who threatens him or his lucrative business. This is a terrific mystery as Margaret Coel showcases a major international issue involving illegal selling of stolen contraband in this case a priceless religious artifact from Native Americans. The investigation is excellent as the lead pair does a fabulous job following the clues while the culprit waits for the right moment to eliminate them. However, what makes this one of the best entries of a strong series is the tribal reaction to the horror of the theft as fans can feel their anguish. Ms. Coel is at her best with this sensitive whodunit.

Wreath of Deception
Mary Ellen Hughes
Berkley
ISBN: 0425212246, $6.99

When the acetylene torch that Mike used in making his metal sculptures exploded killing him and destroying his loft, his wife Jo was totally bereft. Her best friend Carrie convinced her to leave New York and move to Abbotsville, Maryland. Jo leaped at the chance to start over and after months of planning opens up Jo's Craft Corner in the small town of Abbottsville. Her opening is a success except for the constant whining and complaints of Cuddles the Clown aka Kyle Sandborn who was hired by Jo to entertain the customers. After the store closes, Jo goes into the back room only to find Kyle on the floor covered with blood. The police inform her that he was murdered with her knitting needles as the weapon and that someone slipped a sedative into his drink. The officer in charges zeroes in on Jo as the only suspect as she had the means and opportunity though the motive remains elusive. Her customers in her craft classes convince her to investigate because the police will continue to ignore anyone but her. She acquiesces and almost becomes the killer's victim. This first Craft Corner mystery is a charming and colorful cozy due to the eccentric fully developed ensemble, the craft ladies, who encourage the spunky heroine to not only get on with her life, but to solve the murder mystery. Readers will admire and like Jo, who believes her new endeavors will bring her some happiness that has been lacking since the accident. Mary Ellen Hughes provides a refreshing writing style that produces a refreshingly original who-done-it that readers will enjoy.

Home Before Midnight
Virginia Kantra
Berkley
ISBN: 0425211088, $7.99

Bailey Wells left her small hometown of Stokesville, North Carolina hoping to become a success in the literary world, but for the past two years she has served as the research and editorial assistant to renowned mystery author Paul Ellis. Now her boss is leaving New York City to relocate in the hometown of his wife Helen, also Stokesville. Half in love with her employer, Bailey agrees to accompany them when they move to the south. However, instead of a welcome homecoming, Bailey finds the murdered body of Helen floating in the pool of their new home. Local police detective, widower and single father of a preadolescent daughter Gabrielle, Steve Burke heads the investigation, but he immediately notices that Bailey is attracted to her employer as she tries to protect him. Though he wants Bailey, Steven remains professional as she is one of the two prime suspects, the spouse being the other, in what looks increasingly like a crime of passion. Unbeknownst to either of the pair someone wants the truth involving a 1987 homicide to remain buried and if more must die so be it. HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT is an entertaining small town police procedural amateur sleuth tale though some might quiver that Bailey is a pro with her research into criminology. The story line is filled with action, but is driven by the triangular relationship between the author, the cop, and the researcher. The whodunit is cleverly developed to insure that Bailey and Paul are the prime suspects, which leads to Steve struggling to control his desire for the woman. Fans will enjoy Virginia Kantra's fine regional romantic mystery.

Seducing Sir Oliver
Nicole Byrd
Berkley
ISBN: 0425210839, $6.99

The stranger informed Applegate that he failed at his responsibility towards him and another before he Lord Gabriel Sinclair leaves the small country house for London. Applegate tells his two oldest daughters that he had an indiscretion with a married woman that led to the birth of Gabriel and another tryst with her that led to another child. Gabriel grew up in a household where his "father" hated him and his mother was a prisoner. Applegate never acknowledged either Gabriel or his full sister Gemma. Now Gabriel demands taking one of his half-sisters Juliana, Madeline or the twins to London for a season. Though Maddie is the oldest, Juliana is sent ostensibly so that the influential Sinclair family can make her a suitable societal match as her sibling insists she will remain a spinster caring for their dad and the twins are inseparable. In London, instead of staying at the Sinclair home, Juliana is sent to Lady Margery Sealey's house as illness has quarantined Gabriel's house. At Lady Sealey's mansion, Juliana meets Gabriel's beloved Psyche and Margary's clumsy biologist Godson Sir Oliver Ramsey. Juliana sees past the brusque klutz into Oliver's gentle soul. As they fall in love in spite of his pratfalls, they become concerned that their hostess is receiving anonymous nasty letters claiming revenge is coming. They vow to keep Lady Seeley safe at all cost. This is a fun regency romance starring two likable fish out of water lead characters. The storyline is superb when Oliver trips over himself while Juliana's heart chooses him for her. When the intrigue takes center stage, the duo turn into courageous bumbling amateur sleuths. The returns of characters from previous tales like DEAR IMPOSTOR (the romance between Gabriel and Psyche) augment an amusing historical romantic suspense.

Somebody's Lover
Jasmine Haynes
Berkley
ISBN: 0425209962, $14.00

"Somebody's Lover". Just outside of Willoughby, California, Jace Jackson is shocked to find his sister-in-law Taylor in a dive. A widow mother of two, Taylor wants the touch of a good man, something she misses since her beloved spouse Lou died. Though he has some doubts about the ethics Jace begins seeing Taylor. As they fall in love, they fear the reactions of her children and his family. "Somebody's Ex". Jace's brother David is upset with his sibling for stomping on the memory of Lou. However while driving his pickup he stops to help divorcee Randi Anderson and her "family" dog Royal. They begin seeing each other as he wants an affair, but she thinks she has found her soulmate this time around. "Somebody's Wife". Connie is worried that the third Jackson brother Mitch is having an affair so she decides to seduce him. However, her efforts fail to bring Mitch out of his funk as she does not realize he is obsessed with money and caring for her and their two children if he should die since she gave birth to their second child. The Jackson Brothers, their women, their children, and their parents provide the audience with three delightfully torrid romances within a nurturing family drama as each of the couples has different critical issues to confront.

Bound
Sasha White
Berkley
ISBN: 0425212742, $14.00

In Chadwick everyone who knows Katie Long wants the good girl to find a happily ever after Prince Charming. The likable young woman agrees that she needs to find Mr. Right, but also romanticizes that her fantasy lover will bring much more than being a nice guy to the bedroom. She has dreams that would shock those who consider her the pure "Golden Girl"; dreams that BOUND her to her dark desires. Town newcomer casino security guard Joe Carson wants to be that man as he sees something passionate in Katie's eyes. They are BOUND to one another as they play sexual bondage games of master and slave lovemaking as he knows what she loves in the dark. However, both knows what they do in the bedroom heats up the sheets in answer to their most desirable fantasy, but outside the boudoir there must be more if they are the right pairing as their family, friends, and neighbors insist they are. BOUND starts off equatorial hot and then turns up the heat as fans of erotic romances will appreciate the torrid encounters between the Golden Girl and the security guard in the dark. The lead couple is compatible in bed as their S&M tastes blend quite well together. However, both are also wise to know that accompanied by love is not enough as they must prove companionable in the light. Not for everyone, sub-genre fans will appreciate this sheet burner.

Class Mothers
Katherine Stewart
Berkley
ISBN: 0425207927, $14.00

In Manhattan Laura's daughter Anna attends the prestigious Metropolitan private school on a scholarship. However, Laura does not know the other class mothers until they are to work together on an auction. Most are so pampered they offer nothing to the endeavor, but three want to be the commander in chief giving orders to everyone else especially the scholarship mothers. On her second spouse Bronwyn seems happy with her wealthy husband and their perfect kids. Dominique knows her spouse adores her with a passion. Finally Kim is a successful financial advisor. The three women fight for supremacy until a disgusted Laura uncovers a threat to the school that the mothers better become a band of sisters if they want to thwart the attempt to shut the place. The mothers with their common relationship woes involving spouses, children and other relatives in spite of economic and social differences makes CLASS MOTHERS a fine look at Manhattan's elitist schooling. The tale is intelligent and amusing when it concentrates on the mothers of the students especially the comparisons between Laura, Bronwyn, and Kim. When the story line spins into a save the school against a conspiracy it loses a bit of its bite. Still as she did with THE YOGA MAMAS, Katherine Stewart provides a smart look at upper crust education.

Strip Search
Shelley Bradley
Berkley
ISBN: 0425211096, $7.99

FBI Agent Norton asks his civilian friend Rafe Dawson for help requiring a CPA outsider. Norton believes an agent has gone rogue involving a Mafia money laundering scheme at the Las Vegas male strip joint Girls' Night Out. Rafe owes Norton for keeping his brother-in-law Mark Sullivan out of jail so he enlists Mark, who knows he really owes the debt though he detests that the tip came from his ex-wife Tiffany, who set him up in the first place that led to his legal troubles. Owner Nicola DeStefano hires Mark Gabriel as an exotic dancer. From the start (in his case even before they met from her picture), Mark and Nicki are attracted to one another. However, Mark wants to destroy Tiffany's former ally Blade Bocelli, sent by her Uncle Pietro to watch over Nicola and his 30 percent; however Mark will fail if he cannot keep his brain from having only one thought. He is disgusted with himself as he has fallen for another female whom he assumes is the current partner of Blade, the man who almost sent him to Leavenworth for a couple decades. The return of Mark, whose legal troubles led to the marriage between his sister Kerry and Rafe (see BOUND AND DETERMINED), will please readers of erotic romance suspense. The story line is fun to follow as the lead couple cannot keep their hands and some gadgetry off one another. The irony of the tale is Mark is sure his new love is in cahoots with his foe, but his other head does all his thinking. Thus his self reprobation after sleeping with the enemy make for a fine tale though some readers will question his libido leading to a one icon brain.

The Perfect Stranger
Anne Gracie
Berkley
ISBN: 0425210529, $7.99

In 1818 romantic Faith Merridew still dreams of a love marriage just like that of her late parents, her older sister Pru (see THE PERFECT RAKE), and her twin Hope (see THE PERFECT WALTZ). She believes her fantasy has finally come true when she meets Hungarian violinist Felix Remavska. They seem like a love match and elope to Calais, France. However, she soon learns his image in public is radically different from the abusive man he is in private. Felix deserts her and now with no protection on a beach still in France, three hooligans chase her until a stranger Nicholas Blacklock comes to her aid. A war hero, Nicholas accompanied by two companions and Wulf the dog is running from his past as a nomad. Upon hearing her story of woe, as a gentleman he proposes a marriage of convenience in which Faith can return alone to live with his widow mother England while Nicholas continues his mission, which will take him to the battle site of Vittoria where his best friend died. However, Faith is half way in love with this honorable man, accepts his proposal, but refuses in name only or returning home alone. THE PERFECT STRANGER is a terrific Regency romance especially when the lead couple is front and center as both are wonderful well drawn protagonists who display moral strength without overly arrogance. The story line is top rate especially when Nicholas and Faith debate what is best for her. Although some secondary plots including a romance slow down the pace while actually forwarding the prime plot readers will agree that Anne Gracie proves that the sub-genre remains alive and hearty.

Here with Me
Holly Jacobs
Silhouette
ISBN: 0373198256, $4.25

Lee Singer loves living in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania when her worrisome mom calls at the same time a hunk enters her store, Singer's Treasures. She hangs up quickly; the customer offers to pay rent for a month to live in a cottage she owns. The next day, New York businessman Adam Benton and his toddler cousin that he is guardian of, move into the cottage. Adam reflects how his parents died when he was young; he went into fostering until Uncle Paul rescued him. Now Paul and his wife Cathie just died and though mourning his loss, he needs to decide what to do with their daughter Jessie. Adam remembers Lee as Mary Eileen Singer when they played together as children in Presque Isle. Lee recognizes that Adam Benton is her childhood pal Matty Benton. As the duo works together to raise a faster than a locomotive (not Amtrak) infant, they fall in love, but she is small town while he is urban. Even with her parents moving into the backyard and playing matchmaker, this pair seems destined to separate just as they did when they were children. HERE WITH ME is an amusing contemporary romance starring a likable cast. Lee and Adam are an amiable pair with flaws and desires that may prove love is not strong enough to survive their needs. The secondary characters add humorous trouble to the mix as her parents arrive in town to find her a husband and the baby acts like a one year old (thankfully avoiding the common error of a precocious wise matchmaker belying her age). Fans of warm romances will want to read HERE WITH ME hoping to see a family of three.

More Than a Mission
Caridad Pineiro
Silhouette
ISBN: 037327498X, $4.99

In Leonia, Aidan Spaulding seeks the assassin Sparrow who poisoned Prince Reginald, heir to the throne of Silvershire. Aidan knows he owes Sparrow for killing his Lazlo Group partner Mitchell Lama in Rome two years ago so bringing her in for justice will prove difficult as he wants to personally kill her. The Lazlo Group insists that restaurateur Elizabeth "Lizzy Bee" Moore is Sparrow. Though cook, chief and bottle washer and desperately in need of a bartender, she reluctantly hires Aidan. He realizes from her first blush that she is a lousy poker player and that her life is the restaurant. Aidan cannot believe Lizzie Bee is the assassin he seeks. Yet the evidence leads to Lizzy Bee. Her garden contains the right plants to make a poison and she uses a knife like no one he has ever seen before. He wonders how the person he is half way in love with could be a cold blooded assassin even as he thinks perhaps that is her way to charm the victim. Caridad Pinero is a sure shot when it comes to keeping a reader fully engaged for several hours of pleasure (see TEMPTATION CALLS and DARKNESS CALLS) and her latest tale MORE THAN A MISSION does so too as the audience will fully enjoy this one sitting thriller. The story line reads like a cat and mouse caper with the audience wondering just who the feline is and who the rodent is as Lizzy Bee and Aidan constantly skirmish. Fans need to know if she is the assassin as Ms. Pinero keeps the audience and the hero guessing. This reviewer has not read the four previous Capturing the Crown tales by different authors (impossible as that seems), but that does not take away from a terrific romantic suspense.

Dead Reckoning
Sandra R. Moore
Silhouette Bombshell
ISBN: 037351414X, $4.99

Though she detested her late grandfather, Chris Hampton appreciates that he left her his luxurious yacht Obsession though that needed repair. She diligently works on the vessel, but is short cash until the DEA offers her a deal she cannot refuse. They will provide her with the capital needed to fix the boat, if she helps them catch her nasty brother-in-law, drug kingpin Jerome. Chris has a greater incentive to agree; this might be the opportunity to save her sister Natalie, who has just informed her that she is scared of her abusive husband. DEA Agent Connor McClellan is assigned to protect Chris. However, his being there does not prevent attacks on her by most likely the thugs of either Jerome or a business associate. She concludes that someone inside the DEA is working for the enemy and though she is half way in love with Connor, he is the most likely culprit as few besides him has the insider information that was handed over to the enemy. Courageous Chris, needing to rescue her sibling, has reached a point of DEAD RECKONING as she must choose whether to trust in love or no one when she confronts Jerome; she makes the fast-paced thriller work as she wonders if the man who has stolen her heart is just another Jerome clone, a hunk seducing a dumb broad. Romantic suspense fans will join Chris and Connor on the aptly named Obsession as they speed to a final confrontation of the heart and with a dangerous felon willing to kill his wife, his sister-in-law, and a DEA agent.

What Stella Wants
Nancy Bartholomew
Silhouette Bombshell
ISBN: 0373514131, $4.99

Elizabeth "Bitsy" Margolies nee Blankenship, a high maintenance airhead from high school calls private investigator Stella Valocchi and her beloved business and bedroom partner Jake Carpenter, pleading for their help. Realizing nothing has changed with Bitsy since she last saw her years ago as the woman is near hysteria, Stella agrees, but before she and Jake can do anything; their newest client apparently dies in a car explosion. However, to their shock, Bitsy still lives and their case turns screwier. The CIA suspects that Bitsy is involved with chemical weapons and Eastern European spies believe that Stella and Jake know more than they say so plan to use deadly tactics to obtain the information. Stella believes she is the center of all espionage activity in the world as spies from everywhere converge on her in their quest to find Bitsy and from her the chemical weapons. When Stella gets in the groove almost at the onset, the reader requires wearing a seatbelt as the story line turns ultra fast-paced. Stella and Jake are terrific as the effort to help Bitsy starts out of control and then chaos ensues. Aunt Lucy adds some humor with her seemingly psychic abilities (at least according to an amazed Jake). Nancy Bartholomew has another winner in her Stella What readers want Ms. Bartholomew provides with this fine private investigator thriller.

Pawn
Carla Cassidy
Silhouette Bombshell
ISBN: 0373514123, $4.99

Athena Academy alumni Lynette White relocates to start over in Phoenix as a web page designer. However, the former thief is accosted by the Feds with an ultimatum. She either uses her genetically enhanced skills to locate a bomb placed inside a shipping container or face jail as they have proof of her criminal work for her "Uncle" Jonas. She knows what they want is like finding a needle in a haystack as there are so many containers, but she has a better chance of success than most people. Her only counter-demand is that FBI Agent Nick Barnes, her former lover, help her on the investigation. As Nick and Lynette work together to stop the terrorist plot before countless number of innocents are killed, their feelings for one another remain heated. When the danger mounts with both threatened with death, Nick and Lynette realize what they knew deep in their heart that they love one another. However is love enough for a thief and a Fed to form a lasting relationship if they survive the mission? This is an interesting romantic suspense in which the heroine is a sacrificial PAWN in the global war on terrorism until the Fed reassesses his values and knows he will forfeit his life if need be to keep her safe. The story line showcases a weakness in American antiterrorism security efforts with cargo shipments, but that key underlying base to the thriller is tied up relatively too easily. Still readers will enjoy Carla Cassidy's fast-paced thriller of the Feds blackmailing a pawn (as the administration insists anything is legal and ethical if it keeps America safe against terrorism) to assist them on a dangerous mission.

Lost Calling
Evelyn Vaughn
Silhouette Bombshell
ISBN: 0373514115, $4.99

In Paris, the earthquake opened up a buried catacomb below the Musee Cluny. Curator Catrina Dauvergne explores only to find the remains of females probably guillotined during the French Revolution. She also finds some weird looking tiles and odd relics. However, her discovery also brings to light an apparent maniac who claims all items as his under some religious right. This obsessed person is willing to kill Catrina to obtain her finding. She turns to archeology student Rhys Pritchard to help her solve what the religious etching s on the tiles and

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