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MBR Bookwatch

Volume 7, Number 7 July 2008 Home | MBW Index

Table of Contents

Cowper's Bookshelf Dunford's Bookshelf Greenspan's Bookshelf

Klausner's Bookshelf Laurel's Bookshelf Shelley's Bookshelf

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

Cowper's Bookshelf
Who's There
Sandra Jones Cropsey
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd – 515, Parker, CO 80134
C Works, LLC
PO Box 1006, Griffin, GA 30224
9781432701970, $16.95, www.outskirtspress.com

What can go wrong when you keep a loved one's lost leg in the freezer? "Who's There?" is the charming story of a family in the agricultural south. Bunk loses his leg, and starts to grow more and more irrational as time grows on; eventually he is forced to live in the shed. "Who's There?" finds its biggest appeal in its characters, whose ups and downs will resonate with many readers. "Who's There?" is a ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Finalist, and Sandra Jones Cropsey is a 44th Annual Gaya Author of the Year, and both are rightfully deserved. A top pick for community library literary fiction collections.

Thank God I'm Dead Already
Diana deVault
Xlibris
International Plaza 2, Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19113-1513
9781425795016, $19.99, www.xlibris.com

Dying is unavoidable, something that medical science is never going to cure. "Thank God I'm Dead Already: Or It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings" looks at death in a positive light – the end to the contract with God for those who have lived their lives for Him. Stating that death is simply something that must be accepted and embraced to do this necessary task peacefully, "Thank God I'm Dead Already" is a top pick for any Christian pondering their own mortality. Highly recommended for community library Christian collections.

Marriage
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
PO Box 4431, Wilmington, DE 19807-0431
Chicago Distribution Center
11030 S. Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628
1933859628, $25.00, www.isibooks.org

The rise of feminism, equal rights, and sexual liberation has had side effects that many do not view as wholly positive. "Marriage: The Dream that Refuses to Die" looks at the decomposition of one of the world's oldest institutions. Arguing that there is a possibility that the concept of marriage may eventually become a thing of the past, author Elizabeth Fox-Genovese's examination of the topic is thorough and knowledgeable, sure to grant readers all her wisdom on the subject. "Marriage: The Dream that Refuses to Die" is highly recommended for any collection dedicated to relationships.

Flying with Big Birds
D.D. Lewis
Authorhouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403
9781434352477, $21.99, www.authorhouse.com

More than three fifths of baby eagles die on their first flight with their parents. "Flying with Big Birds" uses the parallels of a young eagle's life to the difficult starts of a young human child trying to move in the world of the big people – adults. Filled with gorgeous full color photos of eagles and packed with wisdom, "Flying with the Big Birds" is deftly recommended for community library pet and wildlife collections, with a nod to children's collections.

Mary Cowper
Reviewer

Dunford's Bookshelf
Beyond the Finish Line
Steve Warren
Lulu
860 Aviation Parkway, Suite 300, Morrisville, NC 27560
No ISBN, $12.75, www.lulu.com

"Beyond the Finish Line" is the story of Blake Tremont, who marathons for their simplicity. When one of his co-workers joins him, trouble starts to brew for Blake; suddenly his love of marathons isn't so simple anymore. Faced with dilemmas that thrust him into fame and put his livelihood in danger, Blake must solve his problems or lose his job, his friendships, and his hobby. A thrilling read all the way through; community library collections would do well to add "Beyond the Finish Line" to their fiction collections.

The Sassamon Circle
Louis Garafalo
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd – 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432720667, $14.95, www.outskirtspress.com

The first encounters of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims was a strange time for all involved. "The Sassamon Circle" follows a Native American called John Sassamon, a skilled linguist who was able to operate in both cultures. He watches as tensions rise and war begins to brew, a war that will consume his life. A riveting piece of historical fiction from a unique perspective, "The Sassamon Circle" is a top pick for community library historical fiction collections.

The Ohioans
Richard Puz
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd – 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432720209, $18.95, www.richardpuz.com

Giving everything up in an effort to seek a better life out west was the gamble many took back in the 1830s. "The Ohioans: Six Bulls" is the story of four families, focusing on one Captain Vogel, whose internal and external conflicts drive this tale. Captain Vogel must confront his inner racism against the natives that are currently being forcefully driven from their homelands, unlike the white families on his ship. A riveting story set against a tragic time in America's history, "The Ohioans: Six Bulls" is highly recommended for community library historical fiction collections.

Six-Gun Two-Step
William C. Duncan
PublishAmerica
PO Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705-0151
Spotlight Publicity
1424186099, $24.95 www.publishamerica.com www.williamduncanonline.com

Six-Gun Two-Step is a dark, brutal novel of suspense following the decidedly anti-heroic Timmy Thomas, a mid-20's man who supplements the meager income from his dead-end job by dealing cocaine, when he's not using the drug on himself. After a local dealer is rumored to be dead, Timmy Thomas decides to claim his former competitor's stash of drugs for himself before the police close off the crime scene. His greed brings him into direct conflict with the local MS-13 gangsters; though he leaves town to escape their ire at first, he later returns to settle matters once and for all. Packed with martial arts and scenes of all-out action, Six-Gun Two-Step is a gritty, enthralling drama from first page to last.

Michael Dunford
Reviewer

Greenspan's Bookshelf
Lord Above
Charles Keech
Infinity Publishing
1094 New DeHaven Street, Suite 100, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713
0741445824, $11.95, www.infinitypublishing.com

God is always there, even when people ignore His existence. "Lord Above: A Guide to the Only God, The God of Moses, The God of David, His Simple Message for the Gentile" states its message loud and clear - to reunite those who have lost their faith with the one true God of Abraham. Stating that knowing God and following His word is an ideal path to happiness through life, "Lord Above" quotes directly from the Holy Bible, and is a must for community library Christian collections.

Crucifying Jesus and Secularizing America
Paul Peter Jesep
Xlibris
International Plaza 2, Suite 410, Philadelphia, PA 19113-1513
9781436303606, $19.99, www.xlibris.com

Could supposed God fearing conservatives be the worst offenders in the secularization of America? "Crucifying Jesus and Secularizing America: The Republic of Faith Without Wisdom" is Bishop Paul Peter Jesep's critical look at modern American politics, calling out the "religious right" conservatives of the country, and accusing them of doing more damage than help. A critical analysis of the United States and its status as a nation of faith, "Crucifying Jesus and the Secularizing America" is highly recommended for community library Christian Studies collections.

Gringos in Real Estate
G. Robert Baglio
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd – 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432719272, $15.95, www.outskirtspress.com

The real estate business can be very treacherous. "Gringos in Real Estate: A Housing Crash Survivor Tells All" is the memoir of a real estate agent just starting out. In this context, "gringo" means a person new to the culture and customs of real estate. The author suffered over two million dollars' worth of debt from the housing crash; his advice on how not to make the same mistakes he did is sound and should be read by every real estate agent. "Gringos in Real Estate: A Housing Crash Survivor Tells All" is highly recommended for community library collections.

Rainbows End
Peter Webb
Outskirts Press
10940 S. Parker Rd – 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432724832, $16.95, www.outskirtspress.com

During a long life, evading interesting times is near impossible. "Rainbows End" is author Peter Webb's story of his life. Starting from his earliest memories at the age of two, "Rainbow's End" draws the lines through his childhood in England, his time in the military, and his emigration to Canada with his family where he adopted the country as his own. His story is filled with the wisdom and anecdotes that only life experience can bring, in this deftly written memoir. A top pick for community library biography collections.

Able Greenspan
Reviewer

Klausner's Bookshelf
The Night Bird
Catherine Asaro
Luna
9780373802685, $14.95

Student mage Allegra was on her way to receive training when she was abducted by desert raiders who plan on selling her as a sex slave; her golden hair they assume will make them quite of bit of money. In Jazid, ruthless General Yargazon and outlawed Prince Regent Markus Onyx bid on Allegra; the latter wins the slave.

However, Allegra is not a docile native female willing to sit idly by while men do whatever they want to her. She intends on escaping but understands the difficulty in a society in which women are by law cattle. As she plots her freedom, Alegra is attracted to her owner and him to her. However, her hope for escape relies on her untrained mage skills while the General sets in motion a scheme that will gain him power by plunging the region into a large scale war.

What makes this romantic fantasy spellbinding for fans of Catherine Asaro's Lost Continent saga (see THE FIRE OPAL AND THE MISTED CLIFFS) is the incredibly deep look at the male dominated Jazid culture. Thus being a female makes it that much more difficult for Alegra to escape as being a woman means legally you just don't wander around. Although the general is a stereotypical Macbeth-like antagonist with ambitions to be the ruling despot and no scruples, readers will enjoy the delightful taboo romance in a fantasy realm in which allies are apt to back stab you rather than watch your back.

Medium of Murder
Edited by Susan Budavari and Suzanne Flaig
Red Coyote Press
P.O. Box 60582, Phoenix, AZ 85082
9780976673347, $14.95

These eighteen murder paranormal mysteries turn McLuhan upside down as "The Medium is the Message" (by S.M Harding) with a wide connotation from the authors. The tales range from a connection to the sprit world with some fraudulent ("Dead Reckoning" by Gary Earl Ross) and some genuine ("Dead Even" by Frank Zafiro); while some tales focus on the hocus pocus of the mass media (iRomance by Gary Tolti Kinsman). Each tale is well written and entertaining with no clinkers in the anthology. By having some diversity in definition, the compilation becomes more fun to read as the audience does not know which track the writer takes. Personally I enjoyed all the entries, but my favorites are John Randall Williams' avenging "Rose" by any other name is a killer, Kris Neri's "Hocus-Pocus on Friday the 13th", "Neither Rare nor Well Done" by Judy Starbuck. However, the best of this strong compilation in my opinion is the terrific twisting "Medium Risk" by Susan Budavari. All are solid tales as this collection runs the gamut of MEDIUM OF MURDER.

Bella
Lisa Samson
Thomas Nelson Publishers
PO Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214
9781595546081 , $14.99, www.thomasnelson.com 1-800-251-4000

In New York, Jose was once a famous Mexican soccer player, but since the tragic accident four years ago he is not the same person. His career and his social life died along with another person, whom he visits at the cemetery all the time. That is when he is not cooking at older brother Robert's restaurant El Callejon.

Nina is a waitress at the restaurant. She and the boy next door law school student Ryan exchanged emails that led to drinks and action; now one week after a lonely twenty-fifth birthday, she spends time throwing up. Her life besides being pregnant is cheap videos and cheaper take-out.

Nina plans to get rid of the baby; Jose wants to help her anyway he can except support an abortion. Can these two lost souls help each other; Jose is determined that this is God's test of him while Nina remains in denial except for morning sickness.

This is a well written novelization of the 2007 film. The story line is an entertaining contemporary drama starring two wounded warriors struggling with life. The support cast is powerful as the audience obtains a close look at a Mexican-American family. Fans of inspirational tales will appreciate BELLA as each of the lead couple sees the unborn in a different light; redemption or damnation.

Too Little, Too Late
Victoria Christopher Murray
Touchstone Books
c/o Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
9781416552529, $15.00, www.simonandschuster.com 1-800-223-2336

Although she has done plenty of wicked things in her life, Jasmine plans to remain faithful to her husband Reverend Hosea Bush. Cementing her vows to God and her spouse, she loves her husband and their child Jacqueline. Hosea not only loves his wife and accepted her child from another man as his; he proudly admires her transformation from sinner to strong believer in the Lord's way.

The Bush trio has temporarily left New York for California where Jasmine finds her sinful shameful past testing her new Christian devotion. Not only is Jacqueline's biological father Brian Lewis there with marital woes as his wife believes he is cheating probably with Jasmine; Hosea's former fiancee, Natasia Redding is also there. She wants her man back and will do what it takes to steal his soul; Hosea struggles with the TEMPTATION of the flesh that Natasia offers. Not one to sit back, Jasmine muses that it is A SIN AND A SHAME, but God takes care of those who take care of themselves so she fights as only she can to keep her man.

Too Little Too Late is an excellent entry in the Jasmine Larson Bush Christian Lit saga; perhaps the best so far. The key is Hosea who proves humanly fallible as he finds himself filled with lust and willing to omit some truths from his wife. Fans will appreciate this fine tale as everyone seems to have gone full circle in a well written intense drama. That could lead to the unthinkable, two destroyed marriages.

Fool on the Hill
Morgan Hunt
Alyson Books
245 West 17th Street, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10011
9781593500276, $14.95, http://www.alyson.com

Between being a breast cancer survivor and the serpentine murder attempt on her life (see STICKY FINGERS), Tess Camillo knows she has come a long way baby. The San Diego resident vows to live her life to the fullest and not let her fears get in her way.

Tess and her roommate Lana Maki attend the Gabrielle Leatheross concert; though they are more interested in hearing the opening act, 1980s fold rock star Cody Crowne perform. The next day Tess decides to relax in Torrey Pines States Preserve. When she hears ravens squawking she goes to investigate only to find a crucified Cody. After calling the police, Tess goes home and tells Lana what she saw, horrifying her roommate and her confidante Raj her Welsh Terrier owner. Unable to let the cops do their job, Tess and Lana feel a need to sleuth.

Putting aside the logic of two amateurs investigating a homicide of a celebrity stranger (let alone anyone), fans will appreciate this enjoyable whodunit. The story line is character driven by the unsinkable Tess who comes out of nasty incidents so much stronger. This time she meets a woman she likes, but fears her reaction when she tells her about her mastectomy; the old Tess would have brooded and done nothing while the new Tess tells all to her potential lover. The mystery is fun especially a late twist as Tess and her Finnish friend compete with the cops and a killer willing to add two nosy females to the death list.

The Brimstone Murders
Jeff Sherratt
Echelon
9781590805527, $12.99

In Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Jimmy O'Brien understands the overwhelming evidence against his current client Robbie Farris, who confessed in the name of Jesus to stabbing Golden Valley College Professor Carmichael twenty-seven times. Still the consummate professional Jimmy plans to insure Robbie gets the best defense he can provide him even as the seemingly deranged lad mentions his friend the Lord told him to kill the Catholic professor.

However, at Robbie's arraignment, the accused pulls out a gun that he somehow obtained; he escapes. Soon after Jimmy visits Robbie's mother Hazel Farris, she is found murdered in her dumpy house trailer. The cops suspect Jimmy killed her as he admits he was at the crime scene just before she died. Jimmy uses his associate twenty-six year old Rita to defend him from a murder in the first degree charge of killing Hazel. Following clues mostly by tracking his runaway client, Jimmy lands in the middle of brimstone evangelists; one of whom wants to send Jimmy to hell before his time.

This entertaining legal thriller hooks the audience the moment Jimmy's client mentions the Lord told him to kill the professor and never slows down until the final confrontation. The story line in many ways is more of an investigative thriller filled with twists and red herrings as makes inquires into the evangelistic world, but also has strong legal subplots. Fans will appreciate THE BRIMSTONE MURDERS as the odds are SIX TO FIVE AGAINST the hero (see ONE, TWO, & EVEN for a previous O'Brien case).

What She Wants
Cathy Kelly
Downtown Press
c/o Pocket Books
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 13th floor, New York, NY 10020
9781416564607, $15.95, www.simonsays.com 1-800-223-2336

In Bath, England, Hope Parker struggles between her roles as mother to two toddlers Toby and Millie, wife to writer Matt and her job at Witherspoons. However, she believes Matt is too distracted as he nears his fortieth birthday; she fears he is having an affair. Before she can figure out what next, Matt announces he wants the family to spend a year in rural Redlion, Ireland, home of his late Uncle Gearoid, so he can focus on his novel and alleviate the guilt of not visiting his beloved relative in four years until it became too late. Though she has doubts, Hope agrees as she figures that should take him away from his mysterious woman; if there is one that is.

In Redlion, Hope makes friends with Mary-Kate the pharmacist, her niece Delphine and recently widowed grandma Virginia. Connell However as Matt ignores her and seems to spend more time in England than Ireland, she wonders if he moved her and the kids out of the way. Still she has a hunk of her own to perhaps tryst with.

This is a strong character study starring several protagonists with future issues caused by mistakes in the past or present. The relationships between everyone make for a strong realistic drama as fans and Hope wonder WHAT SHE WANTS. All the players from the four females, to the local hunk to Matt and others (even the deceased) make for a deep entertaining tale that looks at people keeping PAST SECRETS from loved ones and pondering ALWAYS AND FOREVER or nevermore.

Abbeville
Jack Fuller
Unbridled Books
2000 Wadsworth Boulevard, #195, Lakewood, CO 80214
9781932961478, $24.95, www.unbridledbooks.com 1-888-732-3822

George Bailey felt he lived "A Wonderful Life" until the dot.com collapse wiped out his wealth; worried about the impact on his family, he thinks back to his youth when his grandfather seemed contented whether he was wealthy or broke. Needing inspiration to get past his gloom and doom, George goes to the place of his nineteenth century roots, Abbeville, Illinois.

This is where his grandfather Karl Schumpeter began working at as a clerk at his uncle's logging company before going to Chicago during the 1893 Exposition to trade in grain futures. After getting married, Karl returns to Abbeville where he thrives as a banker. In his late thirties Karl goes to France as part of the ambulance corps as WWI ignites Europe. However after the Great Depression's Black Tuesday, Karl makes illegal loans to friends and family; he goes to prison for his actions. Always upbeat, he feels he disgraced his family; he was never quite the same, but once back with the love of his family never stopped trying. Now his grandson, George fears he will fail his family too.

Using the cycles of the twentieth century as a backdrop of rise and fall at a family level, Jack Fuller provides a great saga of an individual's spirit embraced by his values to survive war, economic disaster, personal loss of loved ones and pride; yet through it all Karl kept rising like a phoenix. Fans will want to join George on his odyssey to discover how his ancestor remained optimistic even as he felt humiliated when he was caught in the American nightmare; staying upbeat is easy when you live the American dream. This is an excellent look at the impact of momentous events on people through a deep look at a caring person who would not make a footnote outside of his family.

Hallam's War
Elisabeth Payne Rosen
Unbridled
9781932961492, $25.95

Mexican war veteran Hugh Hallam relocates to Tennessee with his wife Serena, their children and their slaves. The former Virginian establishes Palmyra Farm. His neighbors think Hugh is an idiot as he cares about the well being of his slaves; trying to keep families together and providing them with cabins; in five of these well kept abodes live eight men, five women and six children; in a sixth cabin resides his top hand French, a black slave he bought in New Orleans three years ago. He also works the field another taboo by the owners. Serena misses her upper crust life back in Charleston, but loves her husband so she goes with him.

When the Civil War breaks out, Hugh a seasoned soldier and graduate of West Point joins the Confederacy although he has doubts about slavery and the future of the southern economy. He commands the 8th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, which fights at Shiloh where he is wounded and taken prisoner. Meanwhile Serena runs their farm and raises the children.

HALLAM'S WAR is a powerful Civil War tale that vividly describes life in the south just prior to the conflict and during the war. Especially descriptive is the slave market where preadolescent girls are sold into bondage that separates them from their parents and includes acceptable sexual molestation by their owners and the battle hospitals where what seems barbaric practices today were the norm. Fans of Civil War dramas will appreciate Elisabeth Payne Rosen's insightful look at the antebellum south.

Getting Even
Mitzi Szereto (Editor)
Serpent's Tail
3A Exmouth House, Pine Street, London, England, EC1R 0JH
c/o Meryl Zegarek Public Relations
255 West 108th Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10025
9781852429614, $14.95, http://www.serpentstail.com

These seventeen tales share the title theme as women avenge affronts and insults perpetrated mostly by men although in a few cases a couple is the cause and target. The short story collection is fun as the audience compares the means and opportunities used by each of the scorned female; motives are provided throughout and make important segments of all the stories, but it is how the woman gets even that makes this an engaging compilation; although I wonder why my husband chose a business trip at this time as he kept mumbling "Be Very Afraid" as "Hell Is Where the Heart Is". He took some solace in that he is an Aquarius and not an Aries. This is a fun compilation as "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned".

Tall Tales and Wedding Veils
Jane Graves
Forever
0446617873, $6.99

In Las Vegas, Heather Montgomery and Tony McCaffrey marry after too much champagne. However when they return to their hometown, the prim and proper accountant realizes they are incompatible as she is a workaholic and he is a player. She informs her spouse she will annul their marriage; he offers no resistance.

When she learns it will take a month, he suggests they live together for the thirty days; then they file saying they made a mistake; this way she will not suffer local humiliation for her drunken I do. She agrees, but soon their attraction has both seeking compromise. He teaches her to relax and have fun and she shows him how to make his sports bar dream a reality.

This is a fresh throwback contemporary romance between two likable characters. The story line is fast paced from the onset as Tony looks forward to returning to being the playboy of the western world, but his conscience demands he protect from scandal and ridicule the vulnerable Heather. Readers will enjoy their antics of living together for one month as he never cleans his toothbrush while she sterilizes everything. The life planner and the chaotic free faller make for an engaging Texas romance.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
David Wrobleweski
Ecco
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022-5299
9780061374227, $25.95, www.harpercollins.com 1-800-242-7737

In a remote part of Wisconsin, Gar Sawtelle, his wife Trudy and their young son, mute
Edgar makes a living breeding and training dogs. Edgar has developed a unique special relationship with Almondine, one of the family dogs; the pair communicate in a way that his parents are unable to do with their son.

The family is contented although the work with the canines is hard. When Gar's brother charming brother Claude comes home the family dynamics change but not in a positive manner. Soon after his arrival Gar dies and the silent Edgar is unable to call for help. He is filled with remorse and guilt making his grief even more difficult. However, he soon believes his father was murdered by his uncle who has spent an exorbitant amount of time with his mom. Fearing he may be next, Edgar flees accompanied by his best friends Almondine and two other dogs.

Hamlet is brought into modern day Wisconsin as readers feel the destiny of tragedy will occur from the moment Claude arrives and after that happens, a sense of a second calamity once Edgar concludes his uncle killed his father to eliminate the sole barrier to his mother. Readers will be spellbound by David Wrobleweski's retelling of the classic as the key cast comes alive especially the mute Edgar who readers get to know by his thoughts and his communication with Almondine (sort of in some ways like the Ghost). This is a fascinating winner, but at 566 pages set aside some time.

The Deceived
Brett Battles
Delacorte Books
c/o Bantam Dell Publishing Group
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell
9780385341578, $24.00, 1-800-726-0600

As a CIA Cleaner, Jonathan Quinn has only one restriction as he rids corpses that must vanish without a trace; his one personal decree is to insure nothing can ever trace in even a remote way to him; he must "disappear" once the job is done.

His current assignment is to clean up the violation of his basic rule of survival. At a Los Angeles port, a shipping container arrives holding a special cargo; inside is CIA agent Steven Markoff, who once saved his life. Quinn knows that besides cleaning the mess, he must inform Steve's girlfriend, Jenny Fuentes that he is dead and find who sent him this corpse as a special cryptic message. To Quinn's shock, Jenny is missing and many people want her to stay vanished, which means killing Quinn and his two cronies.

Quinn and his buddies globetrot to Europe following clues that ultimately leads to what appears to be an international conspiracy focused out of Singapore. However, he needs to turn to additional underworld help to close in on his main adversary. At an incredible pace faster than the speed light in spite of stunning plausible twists, fans will relish this electrifying thriller that in many ways is more political than espionage (though some might say all espionage is political).

Dead in Red
L.L. Bartlett
Five Star Books
295 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Waterville, ME 04901
http://gale.cengage.com/fivestar
9781594146404, $25.95, 1-800-223-1244

Jeff Resnick was mugged with his culprit swinging a baseball bat at his head. When he recovered from his injuries, he found he had the ability to psychically see things. He tries to prevent his so called gift from ruining his life.

Jeff takes a job as a bartender at The Whole Nine yards, his favorite drinking spot in Buffalo. However, he learns that his predecessor Walt Kaplan vacated the job due to being murdered. He begins seeing flashes of what happened and with the help of his reluctant older half-brother physician Richard, still recovering from a bullet wound he received helping Jeff ten weeks ago (see MURDER ON THE MIND), he begins to investigate starting with a receipt for custom designed red shoes that lead the siblings to the underground drag queen community.

DEAD IN RED is an engaging paranormal amateur sleuth starring a likable protagonist and his brother and brother's girlfriend who want him safe. The story line is fast-paced as Jeff seeks the dazzling red shoe that he believes will lead them to the culprit. Although the whodunit is well written and fun as is Jeff's talent that seems to place them in trouble not keep them out of trouble, it is the relationship between the siblings that make this a special whodunit.

Every Secret Crime
Doug M. Cummings
Five Star Books
9781594146657, $25.95

In Wihega County, Illinois an intruder breaks into the home of renowned TV show hosts attorneys Croix and Margo Hayden; he expected no one home at the time. However, the teenage son Trey is there so the assailant shoots him in the chest before fleeing. The victim's sister finds him.

The county cops hone in on Trey's pal Lucas Bremer as they had a fight at a party earlier that night over the former's girlfriend Lindsey and he was seen later at the crime scene. However, TV reporter Reno McCarthy thinks the cops are looking for an easy solution to make this media frenzied case vanish even as officials control the news better than the Pentagon does. He begins his own inquiry while the police refuse to cooperate and warn him to back off or spend time in jail; someone else uses a firebomb at the station to try to get Reno off the case. All these attacks, other related murders, watching corrupt powerbrokers scurrying like roaches for cover and personal problems intensify Reno's investigation

This is an entertaining journalistic investigative tale as Reno finds the cops and the county government acting peculiar as if they must conceal something that he plans to reveal once he learns what is going on. The story line is fast-paced and never slows down as Reno takes a licking but keeps on ticking.

Saving Paulo
David J. Walker
Five Star Books
9781594146558, $25.95

In Chicago, after losing his job for calling his boss a sexist a-hole, Charlie Long meets his cousin lawyer Eugene "Sal" Pacewlli at the Billy Goat Tavern to tell him he was fired. Frustrated with his Sir Galahad relative, Sal leaves in disgust. Soon after Sal leaves Charlie heads to the bathroom when he sees a well dressed black guy pulling a mixed race looking little kid when two white thugs fire and kill the adult. Without warning Charlie grabs the little kid and takes off.

The profession al hitmen pursue Charlie and the kid who ducks into a porn shop before entering a fortune teller store owned by elderly Zorina. She keeps the man and child safe while insisting Charlie must keep the kid, who does not talk, out of harm's way; he says no.

At the same time heiress Maria "Mary" McGrady has come home after working at Porto de Dues Orphanage in Rio. She searches for a boy Paulo who was abducted from her in Rio. As the local police, FBI, Russian hitmen and Paulo's uncle seek the child, Charlie hides the lad with the help of Zorina and eventually Mary.

Although there is a touch of the extrasensory via Zorina's skills and her insistence that this is Charlie's destiny, SAVING PAULO is an entertaining thriller in which a Good Samaritan is unable to prevent himself from interfering. The story line is fast-paced from the onset, but loses some of its steam once the Feds takes the lead players to South America as the truth of uncle affection becomes known to Charlie and Mary and a child is a sacrificial pawn to the agents. Fans will enjoy this fine tale of a man who in spite his misgivings feels a need to protect a helpless preadolescent stranger.

In For a Penny
Maggie Toussaint
Five Star Books
9781594146466, $25.95

In Maryland at the Hogan's Glen Golf Course, Cleopatra Jones and her best friend Jonette are playing around. Jonette is killing Cleo at their game because the latter "sees" the figurative face of her ex-husband Charlie on her ball so she slams it for the seats. On the sixth hole, her ball lands in the inseam of deceased local banker Donny "Dudly" Davis who lies in a sand trap.

Detective Britt Radcliffe leads the investigation into the homicide in which Jonette is acting strange. Soon Jonette becomes the prime suspect with Cleo, dodging her mom and battling daughters Charla and Lexy, investigating in order to prove her best friend is innocent even as she is attracted to club pro Rafe Gordon and ignores her cheating ex spouse who wants a second chance.

Though Cleo's mom can be a distracting hook as she overwhelms her scenes, fans will enjoy this amateur sleuth as the heroine displays her moxie and loyalty by investigating the homicide expecting to prove her best friend is innocent. However every clue Cleo finds adds a nail to the case against Jonette. Fans will enjoy this fun mystery wondering whether the golf pro, the ex husband or no one will score with the heroine.

One Small Victory
Maryann Miller
Five Star Books
9781594146992, $25.95

In Texas teenager Brad Brennan was driving too fast high on drugs when he crashed; he killed his passenger Mike Jasik and he was nearly dead in the hospital. Mike's single mom flower shop owner Jenny is stunned to learn Brad was deriving high on dope though Mike was clean but dead.

When her fifteen years old other son Scot informs her that drugs are easy to obtain, she decides to take action. She informs Police Lieutenant Steve Morrity she needs to join the undercover drug task force. His superior Chief Gonzales agrees if she passes the physical test. Steve commiserates with the grieving mom and lies to his superior that she did pass the test. The rules are simple: no one is to know what she is doing including her two surviving children, her best friend or her canine. Her son and her daughter Alicia notice her acting strange and they inform their dad, who threatens a custody suit although he never showed an interest in their kids. Still she needs to bring down the Main Man if she is to sleep at night even though that places her in danger.

ONE SMALL VICTORY is an engrossing suspense thriller with a hint of romance that is intelligently kept very minimal and mostly off page futuristically possible. Obsessed Jenny makes the story line work as she must do what she does in order to stop drug trafficking at least in her small town. Fans will appreciate her courage and fixation while also wanting to scream at her that she has two other kids. Maryann Miller showcases how difficult it is to win the over three decade war on drugs on a macro scale, but individuals can help secure small local victories; albeit not necessarily by going undercover.

Pearl's Redemption
C.H. Admirand
Five Star Books
97815941467005, $25.95

In Emerson, Colorado, Pearl Lloyd 's life and that of her daughter Amy dramatically improved when her odious abusive spouse died. She inherited the Ranch that her ogre husband had turned into a brothel, but managed to keep him from selling her or her Amy to men.

However, the infamous Committee for the betterment of Emerson place an ad in a Denver paper offering Pearl's ranch for sale without her approval. Bostonian Davidson Myth buys the spread sight unseen because he is fleeing Massachusetts and the belief that he killed his brother. After the tall female points a gun at him and the sheriff puts him in jail, he and the woman compare notes. They agree to team up for now until they can resolve their differences. As they fall in love, she remains wary of men while he tries to show her that not all males are a beast like her late husband was. Meanwhile someone is willing to kill and has murdered to gain land cheaply; eliminating Pearl and David is acceptable.

The third C.H. Admirand's Irish Western romance (see THE RANCHER'S HEART) is an entertaining historical that stars two likable heroes conflicted over ownership of the ranch due to that outrageous committee committing fraud. The story line is fast-paced but the audience will feel they are in the Rockies; a trademark of a Ms. Admirand tale. Fans will relish this fine entry as a somewhat beleaguered depressed and bone weary heroine is quite a pearl of a woman desspite of all she has been through. She has hope for a better future for her and Amy.

Gypsy Blood
Steve Vernon
Five Star Books
9781594147067, $25.95

Many people live interesting lives, but no one lives a life quite like Carnival does. He tells fortunes out of a storefront and has a permanent ghost residing inside his chest near his heart. Carnival knows his late poppa killed his mother and when he refused to tell him where he buried her, he murdered his dad and placed him in his chest. The only problem with their arrangement is poppa never shuts up even as he refuses to free himself by telling his son where his mom is.

One day he meets the vampire Maya and falls in love with her. He promises to take care of her, which includes insuring she has her blood sustenance every night. The only problem with their arraignment is that Carnival does not like killing people even those who deserve death. He makes a deal with a demon who tells him how to change Maya so she no longer is a vamp. What he fails to grasp is someone is manipulating him and his friends and family to fulfill a master plan. If Carnival wants to live he must learn the full truth, but so far has no inkling that an adversary is playing puppeteer with him.

GYPSY BLOOD is an interesting original supernatural thriller as the protagonist works the paranormal to his advantage and desires, (and to the audience's delight). The life he placed inside him is a touch of irony while he accepts the undead as his soulmate. His father buried in his chest is a strange symbiotic relationship that will have the Freudians in a feeding frenzy while readers will laugh at their "discussions". The first Carnival tale is an entertaining unique story that leaves fans anxiously waiting for the next entry in what looks like will be a fun saga.

Vita Nuova
Magdalen Nabb
Soho Press
853 Broadway , New York, NY 10003
1569474931, $24.00, www.sohopress.com

Just above Florence in her bedroom someone shoots and kills twenty-five years Daniela Paoletti. The victim is connected as the oldest daughter of an affluent Florentine nightclub owner. Marshal Guarnaccia puts aside his personal concern of life after the military to investigate the shooting homicide of the single mom PH.D candidate.

Guarnaccia quickly realizes there is no apparent motive for someone to shoot the woman six times in her tower bedroom and not target anyone else, but also concludes that Daniela's family has issues. Her father remains in the hospital recovering from a stroke and his wife appears in a state of perpetual intoxication. However, most unsettling to Marshal is talk of female trafficking from Eastern Europe into Italy.

This is a strong Italian police procedural that plays out on two levels. First there is the homicide investigation that leads the hero to an even bigger case haunting the world; the abduction and sale of females into sexual slavery. Additionally a second subplot has Guarnaccia concerned with personal difficult decisions as he ponders if life is passing him by starting with his deep thinking about early retirement. The late Magdalen Nabb affirms why she has been consistently one of the best mystery writers of the past decade.

The Salisbury Manuscript
Philip Gooden
Soho
9781569475126, $24.95

In 1873, London attorney Thomas Ansell travels to Salisbury to pick up Canon Felix Slater's manuscript of his father's explicit memoir. George Slater was a compatriot of the great romance authors like Lord Byron, but his reputation was earned for his hedonistic ways especially womanizing.

After Thomas and Slater meet, someone murders the latter in his study; the murder weapon is a flint spearhead. The local police find Ansell near the corpse with his hands wet with blood. He knows he is prime suspect though the motive the cops assign to him is greed re stealing the manuscript. Not trusting the police to look elsewhere and needing to clear his name of scandal let alone murder suspicion, Ansell investigates.

This interesting Victorian amateur sleuth hooks the audience with an engaging whodunit and an unusual writing style that initially stuns the reader, but once adjusted seems apropos as it adds to the sense of time and place. Ansell is a fascinating protagonist who knows he is in over his head when he applies his legal skills to a murder mystery, but feels he has no choice. Although the ending seems too obvious, THE SALISBURY MANUSCRIPT is a fun late nineteenth century English mystery.

The Price Of Silence
Camilla Trinchieri
Soho
9781569474976, $13.00

In Manhattan Emma Perotti teaches English as a second language. Five years ago, Chinese immigrant An-ling Huang signed up to attend Emma's ESL class. Emma felt the frightened young girl's loneliness and overall defenselessness. Emma suffers from guilt from an incident involving the death of her other child as an infant. She has hidden her culpability from her husband Tom for years. she brings An-ling into her family.

Whereas An-ling thrives on her teacher's motherly attention; Tom is irate and resents the intruder; An-ling perceives his loathing Emma while Tom's teenage son Josh forges his own special relationship with her. However, when An-Ling is found suffocated to death, Emma is arrested. During her trial secrets the Perotti conceal from one another and that of the deceased Chinese woman surface.

This is an exciting family drama as guilty secrets lead to an implosion. The story line is fast paced from the moment Emma feels that helping the vulnerable An-ling will give her some solace from what she accidentally did years earlier to her little girl. Although the climax feels too easy, readers will appreciate this look at relationships when lies are key elements of the foundation.

Pitch Black
Susan Crandall
Forever
044617856X, $6.99

In Mississippi, when Mr. McPherson, the stepfather of one of her son's friends Jordon Gray, dies on a camping trip, Buckeye Daily Herald reporter Maddy Wade is worried about the effect on her adopted teenage son Ethan. Attracted to former Philadelphian Maddy, Sheriff Gabe Wyatt wants to help the mother and son become part of the community, but he steps back when he realizes the victim was murdered during the campout.

The four boys who went with McPherson are the suspects. When one the foursome dies in what appears at first to be a tragic coincidental accident, some evidence surfaces that makes Ethan the prime person of interest. Maddy believes her son is innocent and determined to prove it while she wonders if Gabe will help or hang Ethan.

The key to this deep regional romantic mystery is that the homicide investigation (mostly amateur sleuth, but some police procedural) takes front and center over the romance. Thus Gabe and Maddy may be in love, but the murders intrude on their relationship as he finds increasingly growing proof that the wild northern teenage transplant is a dangerous hood while she believes her Ethan is innocent. Susan Crandall provides a strong suspense tale as bias pays a key role on how everyone including his adopted mom decides Ethan's guilt or innocence.

The Ten Best Days of My Life
Adena Halpern
Plume
c/o Penguin Group, USA
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
0452289408, $14.00, www.us.penguingroup.com 1-800-847-5515

Four AM in Los Angeles, twenty-nine years old Alex Dorenfield was walking Peaches her Miniature Beagle whose bowel obstruction became unobstructed when a Mini Cooper ran them over. Doritos and Ambien aside, Alex finds herself in perfect Seventh Heaven with her beloved poop dog Peaches at her side. Her grandparents lovingly greet her and she can eat all the delightfully fatty carbos she wants with no weight gain or bad cholesterol issues. She has her choice of a designer wardrobe and a wonderful home. Finally Alex also feels she has met her soul mate after a decade plus of wondering where the hell (make that heaven) is he.

Of course like the way she died in which Peaches need to crap had a hidden celestial agenda inside it; she learns for her to remain in Seventh Heaven, she must defend her life in essay form; sheesh she feels she graduated years ago and never though she would ever write an essay again. However failure means demotion to the fourth floor where she would have a condo not a house, wear last year's off the wrack clothing, no loving grandparents to spoil her, no soulmate hunk next door, and most critical having her beloved Peaches with her; as dogs by their unrequited loving nature always go to Seventh Heaven. Alex must defend her life as being worthy of seventh heaven.

Any moment one would expect Albert Brooks to appear to mentor Alex on Defending your Life, as the heroine struggles to make a case that she is worthy and not clueless. Readers will enjoy Alex's whimsical chick lit asides as she ponders why she deserves seventh heaven and writes the essay on THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. While working on it she realizes she must not just prove to the angels her worthiness, she must prove to herself she earned "Heaven On The Seventh Floor" (without Paul Nichols' help). Amusing and poignant, Adena Halpern provides a fascinating look at a young woman defending her former existence to herself.

The Streets of Babylon
Carina Burman
Marion Boyars Publishers
24 Lacy Road, London, England, SW15 1NL
Meryl Zegarek Public Relations (publicity)
255 West 108th Street,Suite 9D1,New York, NY 10025
9780714531380, $16.95, www.marionboyars.com.uk

In 1851, fortyish Swedish authoress Euthanasia Bondeson accompanied by her young niece Agnes Bjork completes her research in Paris for her next writing. The two females cross the Channel to London where they plan to attend the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. The English police gentlemen help the two ladies make it to the Golden Cross Hotel

The next morning after settling for insipid tea instead of coffee for breakfast, the Swedish pair goes to the exhibit. Outside is mobbed and they separate with Euthanasia telling Agnes to wait for her inside. When Euthanasia enters, her niece is not there. She searches everywhere, but cannot find her niece. She tells the police and cop Owain Evans investigates with Euthanasia at his side.

The vivid picturesque Victorian London will have readers believe they are there exploring the Great Exhibition and much more as THE STREETS OF BABYLON is an excellent historical mystery that makes the time and place seem so alive. The story line is brisk with a fabulous superstar as Euthanasia takes charge of the plot in skirts and pants (undercover as a male going where no respectable female has gone before except incognito). Carina Burman provides an exhilarating mid nineteenth century kidnapped thriller with Sarah Death's translation from Swedish to English remarkable.

Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon
Debbie Fuller Thomas
Moody Press
820 North Lasalle Drive, Chicago, IL 60610
9780802487339, $13.99, www.moody.edu 1-800-621-5111

The last two years have been very rough for Marty Winslow and her family. Her daughter Ginger died from Niemann-Pick disease, which makes no sense since neither of her parents are carriers. Ginger could not have been their biological daughter; affirmed by a blood and DNA test that proved conclusively she belonged to another family as a second mother gave birth at the hospital that same night as Marty did. That child Andie is given into the custody of Marty because her parents died and she was prohibited from moving into her grandparents' senior citizen trailer home community.

It is not easy for Andie to move in with her biological mother and her two biological sisters, who are all strangers to her. The oldest sister Deja resents her and the younger sibling Winnie tries too hard to welcome her. Each misbehaves in their own way and Marty tries to cope with bringing her three daughters into a family unit.

All of the major characters are feeling a lot of anguish and pain inside their hearts; how each copes lifts this memorable work from being an ordinary soap opera and overcomes the stigma of insuring no rivals for the parenting of Andie. She especially struggles with going to a stranger even if she shares DNA with that woman as she refuses to accept her grandparents are realistic as they know they are to old to care for her although they love her; this adds to her feeling of being alone even with two sisters and a mom who insists she is not a replacement for Ginger. This is a deep five tissue box tearjerker.

Mindhealer
Lilith Saintcrow
ImaJinn Books
PO Box 545, Canon City, CO 81215-0545
9781933417363, $14.00, www.imajinnbooks.com

The Circle Lightfall is stunned by the brutal assaults as they are clueless who is behind these horrific attacks that leave the victims body and soul broken. The Watcher/Tracker patrol the perimeter and more expanding their protective role from individual witches to the city, but have failed to prevent the vicious muggings.

The Circle Lightfall chooses Mindhealer Caro Robbins to investigate though they are concerned as she refuses to have a Watcher at her side; she has suffered survivor guilt ever since a Watcher sacrificed himself to save her life. When the Dark minion attacks her, Merrick the patrol Watcher rescues Caro. He realizes she is his Witch, which means he is to personally protect his beloved, but the Mindhealer rejects his protection. Frustrated as Caro enters dangerous scenarios, Merrick proves as obstinate as she is; going where she goes even though she objects. Love is a dangerous thing when two stubborn people insist on keeping the other safe while facing deadly encounters.

The latest Dark and Light war is a fascinating tale with the added twist of a Watcher who finally finds his redemption only to have his one decline. The story line is action-packed from the onset and never slows down, a trademark of Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine tales as well as this terrific saga. The lead couple is a wonderful pairing as each needs to keep the other safe for differing motives; her because of watching a Watcher die for her and him because it is part of his "DNA". Fans will enjoy MINDHEALER, a delightful "Watcher" romantic fantasy.

Hungry Ghosts
Susan Dunlap
Counterpoint Press
2117 Fourth Street, Suite D, Berkeley, CA 94710
9781582434179, $25.00, 1-800-788-3123 www.counterpointpress.com

When she was sixteen and living with her family in San Francisco, her older brother Mike walked out of the house never to be seen again. She returns to the City by the Bay years later to work as a stunt double and as an assistant to Zen teacher Leo Garson. Just as she is about to take a dive off a building, Darcy Lott notices on the rooftop of the Victorian opposite where she is a red haired man who from this distance looks like Mike.

A stunned Darcy describes the man to Leo; he informs her the man is her new landlord Eamon Lafferty who gave them rent free apartments for six months and decorated the place for a gala for high end clients. On the night of the reception celebrating the zen center's opening, Darcy sees her long time friend Tia Dru, who is Eamon's escort. The two pals find and old concealed tunnel and enter it though for Tia the journey is painful. Darcy goes to see Tia for lunch only to find her buddy vanished. In Leo's room she finds Tia's corpse. Obviously Leo is a person of interest to the police, but Darcy believes her employer is innocent. Not long afterward, Tia's friend is found murdered in the tunnel. Darcy begins to put the puzzle pieces together going after a perpetrator about to escape with a deadly cargo.

The Darcy Lott mystery series is an exciting tale filled with complex characters some of whom wear masks to hide their deadly agendas. The heroine is an interesting lead character who courts danger like Winnie courts honey. Her need to identify the killer is obsessive yet readers will admire her courage and loyalty. Enhanced by the streets of San Francisco, HUNGRY GHOSTS is an enjoyable amateur sleuth high octane action thriller with plenty of Karma.

A Curious Affair
Melanie Jackson
Love Spell
c/o Dorchester Publishing Company
200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
0505527383, $6.99, www.dorchesterpub.com 1-800-481-9191

Three years have passed since her spouse died, but Jillian Marsh has not moved on; she still grieves her loss and questions whether life is worth living. However, last Halloween, lightning hit Jillian. The only after effect is she can communicate with cats like a Dr. Doolittle.

Finally, on a rainy March night in the Sierras (that is an oxymoron for that season and locale) Jillian considers suicide as she never got the chance to apologize to her husband for doing him wrong and she suffers from TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder); the third Seconal and fourth Drambuie add to her melancholy. However before she takes her life, Atherton the cat, whom she never met, arrives to inform her that a murder just occurred. Jillian informs new sheriff Tyler Murphy. As he tries to keep her out of his inquiry, she refuses to stay on the sidelines. Meanwhile the townsfolk refuse to assist the sheriff on his investigation; so Jillian turns to the feline population as they are determined to see the killer pay and expect the woman who can understand them to take care of justice for them.

This whimsical whodunit second chance at love is stolen by the feline crowd especially Atherton, who fits TS Eliot's quote (at the beginning of the tale of the tail): "When a Cat adopts you there is nothing to be done about it except to put up with it until the wind changes." Although a bit padded with too much cat litter at times, fans will enjoy this lighthearted frolic in which cats serves as witnesses to the crime and as matchmakers.

Phantom
Lyndsay Randall
Love Spell
0505527650, $6.99

Every midnight Dax knows the assault will occur. The demonic soul stealer Phantom attacks Dax's body and mind in an attempt to gain control. So far Dax has thwarted the beatings, but he also knows he is tiring of the daily war for his soul; he can only kill so many of Phantom's horde of evil riders as every night more arrive. Dax realizes he must never show his love of anyone for they will become the target to force him to acquiesce.

Healer Robyn has loved Dax forever though he avoids her. She believes he feels the same way about her though they have not seen each other until recently in ages. Dax is frightened because he knows the demon will read his love for Robyn and go after her soul in order to claim his soul. Dax vows never even if he must enter hell; Robyn vows to be at his side when he attacks the Phantom.

From the opening frightening sequence to the climax, PHANTOM has a deep feel of doom as if it is just a matter time before the evil one and his minions abduct Dax's soul and most likely that of the pure good Robyn. The lead couple is a superb pairing as he wants her as far away from the malevolence that hunts him as possible and she needs to be at his side battling evil for his soul that her heart claims is hers. With nasty villains and fully developed good guys, Lyndsay Randall's gripping horror romance belongs to the constant sense that evil has eternity to win.

Weddings Can Be Murder
Christie Craig
Love Spell
0505527316, $6.99

With two weeks to go before they exchange I do, Katie and Joe have doubts. Katie is not sure she wants to walk down the aisle while Joe wonders why he felt attracted and connected to a woman he met in a bar.

While the pair separately wonders about marriage to each other, private investigator Carl Hades after battling a man wearing a pink thong is meeting with wedding planner Tabitha Jones of Tabitha Weddings on a case he is working as her brides are suddenly dying which is murdering her business. However, Tabitha is murdered. Meanwhile, Katie wants Carl and her best friend Leslie desires Joe. Besides which a serial bride killer aims to make Katie the next victim as WEDDINGS CAN BE MURDER.

Romantic suspense fans will appreciate this fine fast-paced tale in which two couples struggle with their pairings while Carl works a homicide case in which his client is no longer around to pay him. The story line focuses more on the romantic quadrangular relationships with lighthearted sexual bantering. The murder mystery subplot is entertaining although the wedding killer is a bit over the aisle; but clearly this tale is predominately about the zaniness of marrying the wrong person when Mr. Right is locked with you in a closet.

Cry of the Wolf
Elaine Barbieri
Leisure Books
c/o Dorchester Publishing Company
200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
0843960132, $7.99, www.dorchesterpub.com 1-800-481-9191

Embracing her Kiowa heritage, Letty Wolf needs to protect her three estranged daughters. She has found two of them (see NIGHT OF THE WOLF and SING OF THE WOLF), but has one to go Justine Fitzsimmons.

Out of work and money in Oklahoma Justine obtains work as a cook although she cannot boil water. Her boss hires Ryder Knowles to teach Justine how to cook. Ryder acts nasty and contemptible towards his student even as he seeks a missing heiress. However, he also sees inside to the vulnerable women hiding behind a veneer. When danger threatens Justine, he is there to protect her even while they fall in love. Also rallying around the unskilled cook is her mom, sisters and their family.

This is a terrific ending to a contemporary paranormal romance in which the third sister, like her siblings before her, is the star. Stranded in dingy nowhere, Justine meets two strangers who demand she go with them. One wants her dead while the other wants her safely with her mom and sisters. Elaine Barbieri provides her fans with a fabulous finish to an engaging trilogy.

Tumbleweed
Jane Candia Coleman
Leisure Books
9780843961041, $6.99

Now elderly and still as tiny as a "skeeter" but with a bite ten times worse, Allie Earp thinks back to her days with her beloved Virgil, one of the famous Earp brothers. Allie now knows how wonderful her Virgil was to her as he never shut her up when she cursed or used a gun; in fact he encouraged her to be a strong person in her own right and not just a tough woman. She reminisces of the days of riding at his side along with Wyatt and the rest of the now legendary brood. She was there at dangerous Deadwood for the most famous gunfight in history, the O.K. Corral. She was always there for Virgil and he was there for her. Now in her old age, Allie provides a fresh perspective to what most believe was a testosterone lifestyle.

This is an excellent historical autobiographical fiction starring a woman who literally stood by her man just like her man stood by her. Well written, readers see a wider deeper scope into the Earp legends from a woman who was with them through many of their adventures. Jane Candia Coleman will enthrall her audience with this fine tale as Allie looks back on what she considers a rewarding life with her beloved supportive Virgil.

Wanted: The Half-Breed
Bobbi Smith
Leisure Books
0843958502, $7.99

Years ago in Two Guns, Texas, half Comanche Wind Walker Stevenson and Veronica "Roni" Reynolds loved each other, but they were too young especially to overcome the objections of her parents and his stepmother who loathed the half-breed illegitimate son of her spouse. Roni eventually left town to follow in her dad's footsteps, but ultimately she returns as the latest generation Dr. Reynolds.

When Roni and Walker see each other for the first time in years, they both confess their love for the other. However, soon afterward, the half-Comanche is arrested and convicted of killing a rancher. As he is sent to prison he swears to his beloved he is innocent. Ronnie wants to believe him, but the evidence leaves her with doubts. When Walker escapes, Ronnie joins him to uncover the identity of the real killer.

This entertaining nineteenth century western romantic amateur sleuth stars two strong ethical people who loved one another when they were young and as adults still do; though many townsfolk loathe their relationship as an abomination. The investigation serves more as a vehicle to bring Roni and Wind Walker together yet also refreshes the overused basic theme of a taboo romance while cleverly designed with a neat twist. Bobbi Smith entertains sub-genre fans with the forbidden love between a hybrid and a purebred in which a homicide brings them together but may end up separating them forever.

We All Fall Down
Simon Wood
Leisure Books
9780843960532, $7.99

Design engineering contractor Hayden Duke is pleased to have been hired by Marin Design Engineering for a short term project. He hopes that his work will impress the firm's bosses so they would hire him for a full time position. Before he was selected, another contractor walked into the ocean and drowned. The witnesses who called 911 heard the man mumble he did a horrible thing and must pay the price.

The person who hired Hayden is his friend Shane Fallon who is glad to have his pal on board. A couple of days after Hayden starts working Shane sends him an email with an attachment that he cannot open. Hayden calls Shane, who warns him to delete it. Hayden goes to Shane's house only to find a hallucinating man who is locked inside his apartment seeking electronic bugs. He kills himself and the autopsy reveals a bruise on his hand like the man who committed suicide in the ocean. Shane's sister Rebecca and Hayden believe there is more to his apparent suicide and it is linked in some manner to the project. When the project is completed, everyone associated with it except Hayden and Rebecca die in an arson fire. Trying to stay alive and elude police and fire officials' suspicions, the pair seek the truth, which may prove deadly for them.

WE ALL FALL DOWN is an exciting enthralling thriller that focuses on two characters, Hayden and Rebecca, who obstinately and perhaps foolishly are determined to learn what is going on. They refuse to quit their amateur sleuthing although each step especially false leads they take opens up additional cans of worms and exponentially increases the danger to them. Simon Wood provides a dynamite suspense story as the audience is beguiled into anticipating what next.

Release Me
Farrah Rochon
Leisure Books
0843960582, $7.99

The car accident ended NBA basketball player Toby Holmes' career, but he did not mope over what could have been; instead since his forced sports retirement he became an entertainment manager concentrating on music talent. He becomes euphoric when Marshall Kellerman of Over the Edge Productions offers his client Aria Jordon a fabulous deal that will make her famous. To help, Toby hires a management company to help promote his star.

His childhood friend Sienna Culpepper is put in charge of the publicity. She assumes Aria and Toby are seeing each other and becomes jealous because she is attracted to him like always. Meanwhile Aria also wants Toby, but turns to his long time rival hoping to generate jealousy. On the other hand Toby heeding his older brother's warning is careful with his relationship with Aria and begins to fall in love with Sienna. Chaos becomes the norm for this foursome.

RELEASE ME is an enjoyable contemporary romance starring likable lead characters who forge a triangle of sorts that converts into a rectangle. Although resolution could have occurred faster, fans will relish this fine tale as Toby falls in love with Sienna, who has loved him since they were children, but assumes he will never reciprocate and besides he has Aria. Farrah Rochon entertains with an entertainment romance.

The Beach House
Jane Green
Viking Books
c/o Penguin Putnam Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
9780670018857, $24.95, www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515

Sixty-five years old eccentric widow Nan owns THE BEACH HOUSE on Nantucket Island. Although she knows her neighbors would disapprove, needing money and not caring what anyone else thinks as she is a sexagenarian who buried her husband, the feisty Nan decides to rent rooms during the summer.

Her summer renters come to the island to think and escape. Separated from her husband Richard following his affair, Daff must decide what she wants beyond her two roles of mother to teen Jess and wife or perhaps ex wife. Therapist Dr. Posner helps, some might say hinders, Bee and Daniel to face the inconvenient truth that is destroying their relationship. As he faces middle age, Michael wonders if he will ever find the right woman for him as every female he meets turns out wrong.

THE BEACH HOUSE is a well written character study in which each of the visitors and Nan has issues to confront over the summer. Each of the cast members is fully developed and seems like a real person as they struggle with their respective issues. Although the resolution is too simplistic in such a short time, fans will enjoy the most wonderful summer.

Havana Gold
Leonardo Padura
Bitter Lemon Press
37 Arundel Gardens, London, W11 2LW, United Kingdom
www.bitterlemonpress.com
9781904738282, $14.95

In 1989 Cuban police detective Mario Conde hates being a cop as he would have preferred to be a writer. However, no matter how he tries to romanticize his existence, he must eat and so cop he is. Drinking helps him when state sponsored corruption interferes with his investigation.

His current case makes him want to quit in order to turn into a 24/7 alcoholic. Someone murdered pretty Pre-University High School schoolteacher, Lissette Nunez Delgado. This particular inquiry hits home as Conde went to school here when he dreamed of becoming a Cuban Hemingway. As he interviews the headmaster, staff and pupils, Conde wonders what happened to his dreams and those of his countrymen.

The fourth Havana police procedural is a great tale (likes its colorful predecessors) that follows one year in the life of a dedicated cynical Cuban cop. The story line is fast-paced as Conde investigates the murder of a young popular teacher, but runs into bureaucracy from the school and his superiors. However, the key to this saga remains the disenchanted hero who struggles to do his job properly, which to him means solving the case, but to others connotes satisfying the state and the Party.

Swan Peak
James Lee Burke
Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th fl., New York, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com
9781416548522, $25.95, 1-800-223-2336

New Orleans PI Clete Purcel is fishing on what he thought was a Montana state park. Two men arrive stating he is on private property, the Wellstone Ranch, owned by Texas gazillionaire oilman Ridley Wellstone. He recognizes one of them as Lyle Hobbs, former driver for the late mob boss Sally Dee, who died in a plane crash years ago. Before leaving, the Wellstone security drive over Clete's fishing gear and warn him the state pond is five miles away.

Clete, his former police partner New Iberia, Louisiana sheriff's deputy Dave Robicheaux and the latter's wife Molly are in Big Sky Country at the invitation of novelist Albert Hollister. Dave and Clete hope Montana would help them come to grips with Katrina. However, soon after the fishing incident, someone murders a University of Montana coed and her boyfriend near the cabins Albert gave to his southern visitors to use. That is followed by a violent chase out of the Fugitive TV show/movie when a Texas prison guard chases an escaped convict. Dave and Clete know they should mind their business, but neither ever could.

Changing location from Katrina wracked Louisiana to pristine Montana does not lessen the violence as nasty predators reside in both states. Clete and Dave seek R&R; in this case respite and redemption as each wonders if they could have done more during the Hurricane and its immediate aftermath. However, catching mean SOBs and rescuing innocents do not relieve the soul; friendship and love do. James Lee Burke provides a strong tale in one of the best continuing series on the market.

Chasing Darkness
Robert Crais
Simon & Schuster
9780743281645, $25.95

The forest fire remains out of control so police are evacuating homes in the blaze's path in Laurel Canyon. In one of the houses the cops find the corpse of Lionel Byrd; he apparently committed suicide.

When Los Angeles private investigator Elvis Cole learns of the death, he is stunned and filled with remorse. Three years earlier, Byrd was accused of a homicide; working for the defense, Cole found proof that his client was innocent; the charges were dropped. However, recently new evidence has been found that strongly implies Byrd committed that murder, four known others before being caught and at least two more since Cole found the prof that freed him. Wracked by guilt for those who died perhaps by his actions, Cole investigates determined to learn whether he was duped, erred, or was right three years ago.

Returning to Cole after his partner Joe Pike starred in THE WATCHMAN, fans of the series will see a different hero as he is obstinately determined to learn the truth; thus there are less amusing asides than usual and few scenes with friends; the plot fits the tone of his demeanor, as Cole suffers from crippling guilt. The story line is fast-paced from the onset, filled with plenty of action, and plausible but powerful twists and red herrings. CHASING DARKNESS is a strong tale as a more introspective Cole than ever before battles personal demons.

Occupational Hazards
Jonathan Segura
Simon & Schuster
9781416562917, $14.00

Reporter Bernard Cockburn works the crime beat for the Omaha Weekly News-Telegraph; though in his late twenties, Bernard is already burned out with only alcohol and some questionable drugs enabling him to walk the mean streets of Omaha. His lover pregnant Allison demands he grow up by giving up the booze and drugs for the sake of their unborn, but so far that haze is the only thing that keeps him obstinately working; he detests her nagging and prefers she rid them of the fetus especially in light of all the sh*t they have used.

His current interest beyond the latest foolishness of Police Detective Dick, an apropos name if their ever was one, is a strange downtown land deal that smells of city kickbacks. His efforts to learn why LLC is buying decaying property meet roadblocks and official bureaucratic stalling; he struggles to even identify the group members. However everything turns dark when LLC board members die after he interrogates them; soon Bernard links their homicides to a vigilante neighborhood watch cleansing the streets brutally and lethally of drug and sex traffickers.

Bernard is not likeable; in fact he is reprehensible with his irresponsible and uncaring nature. However, in spite of his only desire being the next hazy high, readers will appreciate this antihero whose asides are poignant from a negative outlook. His dissertation on motive is on target as befitting a depraved cynic who feels there is nothing a person will not do. The inquiry is fun to follow as Bernard stays in character with his dirty purple haze outlooks throughout while walking the streets of Omaha and while fighting with Alison over the rug rat growing inside her. Not for everyone, purebred urban noir fans will welcome this unwelcome protagonist.

The Narcissist's Daughter
Craig Holden
Simon & Schuster
9781416572787, $14.00

In 1970s in Cleveland, pre-medical student Daniel "Syd" Redding hates his narcissistic boss, Dr. Ted Kessler. He dreams of killing the egomaniac, who makes his life at the hospital miserable. Working the grave yard shift, Syd meets Kessler's sexy wife, Joyce. She outrageously flirts with the young student and soon has him controlled under her siren's S&M spell.

However, their affair falls apart leaving Syd angrier than his heroes the Ramones and bitter. His need to obtain revenge against these affluent snobs is stratospheric eating at his gut. He knows he cannot attack directly as he would lose. He chooses their seventeen years old daughter, Jessi. He planned to make her the avenue of his vengeance starting with dating her, but falls in love.

Two decades later, happily married Syd and Jessi raise a family together. All is well until a construction crew digs up human remains.

This reprint of an engaging family drama is fun to read as Jessi changes Syd's attitude from hate to love, but twists it into a suspense thriller as that fateful year 1978 comes back to haunt them decades later. The story line is fast-paced once the players are introduced especially after Syd meets THE NARCISSIST'S DAUGHTER as he fears his relationship with her mom will surface like a Mrs. Robinson and destroy his happiness; instead a corpse threatens it. Although the homicide suspense comes across somewhat secondary in a supportive role, fans of character driven tales will appreciate Craig Holden's fine look at family relations.

Letters to a Secret Lover
Toni Blake
Avon Books
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
9780061429880, $6.99, www.avonbooks.com

Relationship advice columnist Lindsey Brooks feels she is on top of the world with a hunk of a fiance Garrett, a great job, and excellent shopping choices in Chicago. However when Garrett dumps her, a hurt and embarrassed Lindsey decides to retreat. She heads to Moose Falls, Montana with a plan to purchase the canoe livery once owned by her late great-aunt Millie. Thus she and her family can go rural when they need an urban retreat whenever they want.

The owner grumpy Rob Colter refuses to sell. He is attracted to the city slicker, but wants her to leave him to his snippy existence. She thinks he is perfect for her sexually as she is attracted to the grouch. As they fall in love, she finds his passionate love letters and discovers the tattoo on his chest; she concludes he met and lost his soulmate and second helpings is not her style.

Though many readers will guess the twist to this fine romance, the eccentric small-town residents enhance a fun contemporary as the advice columnist and the grump fall in love. The amusing story line embellishes the differences between the lead pair yet shows how compatible they are in and out of bed. Fans will appreciate Toni Blake's fine romance as Lindsey knows she found love, but her beloved had found his soulmate before her based on reading the LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER from Rob to Gina; the truth will set them free.

Not Another Bad Date
Rachel Gibson
Avon
9780061178047, $7.99

Science fiction and fantasy author Adele Harris leaves Boise to go home to Cedar Creek, Texas to help her pregnant older sister Sherrilyn who is in the hospital while her husband William moved in with his college age assistant Stormy. Adele is caring for her thirteen years old niece Kendra. She thinks of Zach Zemaitis who broke her heart fourteen years ago.

A former professional football player and U of Texas legend, the widower Zach is trying to raise his ten year old daughter in Tiffany in his late wife's hometown. This forces him to pretend he cared about Devon who was a malicious person and the cause of his break up with his beloved Adele. Zach is stunned to see Adele, who he never stopped loving, but knows she will never forgive him for the big hurt. Meanwhile in the afterlife Devon Hamilton-Zemaitis must pay for her bad karma on earth as dying by crashing into a garbage truck is fitting but not enough; her job is to bring Adele and Zach together, the way it should have been.

This is a whimsical second chance at love romance in which the paranormal is kept to a minimal, but brings karma and humor to the mix. Readers will relish Zach's efforts to regain what he lost years ago while Adele wants to avoid him like the plague. Devon brings humor to the mix starting with her former late schoolteacher lecturing her, a trip to Wal-Mart and the need for her as pompous mother to back off from interfering in her mission. Rachel Gibson provides a warm Texas contemporary with a conniving matchmaker from beyond.

Your Scandalous Ways
Loretta Chase
Avon
9780061231247, $6.99

In 1820 Venice Francesca Bonnard enjoys the fruits with no entanglements of being a scandalous fallen woman. Because of her attitude, men constantly seek her company. Although she knows polite society holds her in contempt, she gives their men her body but never her heart and soul.

Undercover espionage agent James Cordier is on his last assignment in Venice. He is to steal letters that are reported to be in Francesca's home left their by her former spouse. To get into her home he must seduce the scandalous woman. However, as he gets to know her, he falls in love and changes his mission to keep her safe from an unknown adversary who will kill to obtain her letters.

This exciting espionage Regency romantic suspense stars two interesting lead characters. James as an apropos name as he is an early nineteenth century debonair Bond type while Francesca is a courageous woman who holds her head up high while knowing her contemporaries scorn her except in her boudoir. Fans will appreciate their pairing as James realizes he loves Francesca's scandalous ways as long as he is the recipient.

Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes
Dixie Cash
Avon
9780060829742, $13.95

Although they were second choice, Salt Lick, Texas private investigators Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins are thrilled to be invited to speak a at the National Association of P.I.s convention in New York City. Besides a free trip, they plans to investigate all the latest sleuthing gadgetry and designer shoes; not that they can afford any with their beauty parlor being their moneymaker.

The dynamic detecting Domestic Equalizer duo makes friends with natives such as some ladies like Cher who work the street for a living and visitors from Texas like mugging victim Celina. Although they swore no cases while enjoying a bite of the Big Apple, Debbie Sue and Edwina end up in the middle of an NYPD serial killer inquiry in which the murderer considers targeting two dizzy detective dames from Texas.

The latest Domestic Equalizer mystery (see MY HEART MAY BE BROKEN, BUT MY HAIR STILL LOOKS GOOD and SINCE YOU'RE LEAVING ANYWAY, TAKE OUT THE TRASH) is more a culture war between rural Texas and urban Manhattan. The bets are on the two zany Salt Lick hair stylists. As always in this series, the lead duet try to do the right thing as they perceive that to be, but most often cause more problems for those they want to save and leads to plenty of humor. Readers will appreciate the Texas-Manhattan encounter as Debbie Sue and Edwina bring their hearts and humor to Times Square.

No One Lives Forever
Jordan Dane
Avon
9780061253768, $5.99

In Chicago, bodyguard and paid killer Jasmine Lee visits Christian Delacorte to call in the favor he owes her. She needs his help to rescue her boss and lover crime lord Nicholas Charboneau; kidnapped in Brazil. Although he wants nothing to do with this woman or her caper as he just wants to be with his beloved Detective Raven Mackenzie, he reluctantly agrees. He knows he owes her and pays his debt.

Jasmine also knows that Christian is Nicholas' son and informs her shocked new partner who never knew who his dad was. With Raven joining them as she refuses to be left behind, the trio goes to Brazil to rescue his father, but Christian does not trust the hit woman and wonders what Jasmine's true agenda is.

The third "No One" thriller (see NO ONE LEFT TO TELL and NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM) is an exhilarating romantic suspense tale filled with plausible twists especially as Raven and Jasmine wonder who their ally is and who their enemy is; no one is quite like they seem. Fans will feel the danger on every page as this strong action-packed tale lives up to its title. Jordan Dane is three for three.

The Safety of Secrets
Michael DeLaune
Avon
9780060817367, $13.95

They met a quarter of a century ago as first graders in Lake Charles, Louisiana over a pair of socks. Fiona Marshall and Patricia Woods became friends with both eluding odious mothers. Whereas Fiona's mother was abusive, Patricia's was negligent. They left Bayou country soon after high school to make it in Hollywood.

Each was married and divorced; they survived the Hollywood night culture that has destroyed so many young. Both share a secret that no one else knows until now. Twenty-five years of best friend sisterhood may end with that secret revealed. Fiona and Patricia reexamine their friendship, other relationships over the years, and the difficult realities that have surfaced for them.

The story line moves back and forth between the present and past in Southern California and their childhood in Louisiana as events today have the lead females looking back in time. Fiona and Patricia are fully developed characters, but it is their deep friendship forged back in elementary school that Michael DeLaune focuses on. Though loving best friends who would do anything for the other, with warmth and caring comes hurts and anger. Healthy relationships have a down side to them even when they are mostly loving, upbeat, and supportive. THE SAFETY OF SECRETS is a deep character study that will leave readers examining their strongest relationships.

Crave: The Seduction of Snow White
Cathy Yardley
Avon
9780061376078, $13.95

Investigative reporter Stephen Trent decides to breach the impenetrable Penitent compound in order to do a story on the primeval cult. He expects to see horrific conditions as the group has allegedly repelled modern living. However, he is stunned when he meets Goodmaid Beth inside the complex because he recognizes Beth Cordova.

Ten years ago Princess Bianca vanished without a trace fleeing from a wicked stepmother to hide inside a strict cult. Now Stephen has found her using the name Goodmaid Beth. Attracted to one another the pair breaks the strictly enforced sex rules. Soon they are in love, but Stephen realizes getting inside proved easy; getting out with his beloved Beth impossible; an if miraculously they escape the wicked stepmother maintains her vigilance just in case the missing princess should return.

Modernizing the epic Snow White fairy tale with a secretive cult instead of a sleep disorder, Cathy Yardley writes an engaging timely contemporary romance. The story line is fast-paced, from the moment that Stephen meets Goodmaid Beth as each is instantly attracted to one another even as he knows who she is. Fans will appreciate their taboo relationship and wonder what they will do as breaking the strict rules is dangerous and leaving is dangerous. Fans will crave more such tales from Ms Yardley as the Seduction of Snow White is a winner.

At the Bride Hunt Ball
Olivia Parker
Avon
9780061355448, $5.99

The Duke of Wolverset Gabriel Devine believes marriage means shackles; he vows to never become incarcerated. However, he also knows the family needs the heir and the spare. His game plan is to find a wife for his brother Tristan. To achieve this, Wolverset invites twenty contenders that he pares down to seven eligible ladies and their escorts to his country estate to compete for the privilege of becoming his sister-in-law.

Although her mother forced her to join the contest, Madelyn Haywood rejects both siblings as heartless cads. However her outspoken manner and ability to rip his skin catches Gabriel's attention; her clumsiness unlike the other six adds to her allure. Finally her tone when she says not interested in marriage makes him reconsider his wants. As the pair falls into a passionate scandal, Gabriel thinks a life sentence with Madelyn is perfect.

This amusing Regency romance hooks the audience from the moment that Madelyn and her friend Charlotte arrive as "forced" by their respective families to be unwilling contestants for the not so Devine prize. Fans will relish this humorous wink at the Ton as Gabriel finds he enjoys the banter with Madelyn. Olivia Parker provides an entertaining tale and hopefully more groom and bride hunts will follow.

Under Your Spell
Lois Greiman
Avon
9780061191367, $6.99

Like all the students at Lavender House, Elegance "Ella" St. James possesses special talents; as that is a prerequisite to get into the exclusive school. However, unlike her peers, she has no interest in spellbinding a man into marrying her. Instead she wants to act "normal" but first she is interested in uncovering the person who murdered her friend.

However her efforts at undercover sleuthing fail because wherever she goes regardless of the time, Thomas "Sir Drake" Donovan is always there. Thomas knows she is in over her head and worried about her even as he knows she is dangerous to his heart. Ella wants desperately to trust Thomas, but fears he may not be what her heart hopes he is; so she tells him nothing and continues to dig bringing her to the attention of someone who has killed before.

Readers will be under Lois Greiman's spell as her first Witches of Mayfair historical paranormal romance is an enchanting tale. Ella is a terrific, some might say foolish, heroine who knows what she wants and does not want until the interfering Thomas enters her life. He is heroic as he knows from their first encounter she is the one although she seems to reject him. Combining a delightful romance with a solid murder mystery, a bewitching paranormal element, and plenty of action, UNDER YOUR SPELL is a terrific one sitting read.

His Dark and Dangerous Ways
Edith Layton
Avon
9780061253638, $5.99

Undercover agent Lord Simon Atwood spent a year in a dank French prison. Now free and home, Simon wants to put the past to rest although he knows he will be haunted by his stay in France forever.

His friend, agent Viscount Delancy asks Simon to undergo one last mission; he agrees for Delancy's sake to find out what is going on between Delancy's brother and Lady Harwood. He knows the best person to assist him is the dance teacher employed by Lady Harwood, Jane Chatham. As he seductively tries to gets her to team up with him to uncover the truth. Jane does not trust him although she is attracted to her melancholy partner while he finds her vigor for life intoxicating. As they fall in love, Simon realizes something is not right in Lady Harwood's parlor, but the evidence points to the last person Simon believes would act dishonorably; his error in judgment may cost his beloved and him their lives.

HIS DARK AND DANGEROUS WAY is a superb historical romantic intrigue as the heroine distrusts any man but especially the suddenly interested Simon who she realizes is a very complex angst individual who knows first hand the horrors of war. The story line is character driven by the lead pair as they work together on his investigation. Fans will appreciate this fine ninetieth century romantic mystery as Edith Layton entertains her myriad of fans.

Wild Hunt
Lori Devoti
Silhouette Nocturne
9780373617883, $5.95

Hellhound Venge Leidolf knows the right time to start the wild hunt is now. He or his brethren cannot stop its call. Geysa the Valkyrie knows her gift of allure makes her different from her warrior sisters. She and Venge have in common a need to avenge a wrong.

When Venge and Geysa meet, they, in spite of being natural enemies, are attracted to one another. They know their species' instinct is to kill the other, but they desire one another. Each puts aside the thirst to kill to team up in search of the horn that proclaims the ErlKing's wild hunt to prevent it from calling the death, mayhem and destruction that automatically comes when it sounds.

The latest WILD HUNT saga (see UNBOUND and GUARDIAN'S KEEP) is a superb romantic fantasy in which star-crossed lovers either must kill the other as it's in their DNA imprint or let love lead them elsewhere. Venge and Geysa know they have quests to fulfill and that desire, attraction and that cursed L word are not convenient at this time and between their respective heritages at any time. Fans will relish this entry while newcomers will quickly become devotees of this excellent fantasist.

The Daddy Plan
Karen Rose Smith
Silhouette Special Edition
9780373249084, $4.99

Corrie Edwards wants to have a baby although she has a slight problem to overcome; she has no spouse, boyfriend or significant other to speak of. She asks her boss, veterinarian Dr. Sam Barclay to be the child's sperm donor. He is shocked by her request, but reluctantly agrees.

As Sam and Corrie work out the logistics, each finds an attraction to the other that neither felt before her request. Still he is concerned she will change her mind as he recently ended a relationship when the woman had an abortion without informing him of her intent. As he falls in love, Sam has some doubts while Corrie begins to question her decision for having a child.

On the surface the second Dads in Progress (see THE DADDY DILEMMA) plot is a typical overused theme, but superb author Karen Rose Smith keeps her story line fresh by not overwhelming the tale with excess baggage. Instead she allows the best friends to struggle with their changing relationship as the unborn nukes their previous easy going pairing. Fans will enjoy the well written entertaining THE DADDY PLAN as Sam and Corrie wonder what they truly want from the other now that love has entered the equation.

Dark Deceiver
Pamela Palmer
Silhouette Nocturne
9780373617890, $5.25

Half Esri, Kaderil the Dark begins a quest to steal the magical stones needed to fully open the portal between his plane and the earth. Besides the theft of the stones, he must also kill the few humans who are immune to the Esri enchantment. Once he obtains the stones, completes the massacre, and opens the door, his full blooded Esri allies will invade and bind humanity in slavery.

However, on the earth side of the portal, Kaderil meets Autumn McGinn. She stirs his human half, which has been dormant for much of his life. He finds himself falling in love with this kind soul even as he knows she is the key to the Esri victory. Will he betray his heart or the Esri; even the confused Kaderil is unsure.

The sequel to the DARK GATE, DARK DECEIVER is a superb romantic fantasy mostly due to the suddenly conflicting nature of Kade. His human side never developed until he meets Autumn who is like spring to him. Readers will enjoy this passionate spellbinding thriller as love brings Kaderil the dark into the light, but will he choose to remain there with his Autumn or will he instead open the portal for the Esri to slaughter his beloved's species.

Untouchable
Stephanie Doyle
Silhouette Athena Force
9780373389827, $5.50

She never met her parents and knows nothing about them. Her skin is poison to touch so she has no first hand knowledge of passion let alone hugs. Lilith has lived amidst nuns in isolated Arunachal Pradesh, India near the Chinese border where many revered Buddhist monks reside. She saves the life of a warrior who was dying from fever caused by a bullet to his leg.

The Sisters tell her she has a package from recently deceased pilot Jackie Webb. She learns Jackie was her biological mother ignominiously known as criminal Arachne and that she is and a half sister she never knew existed are genetic experiments. Apparently her sibling is coming for her. Former MI-6 operative Tarak Hammer-Smith, whose life she just saved, is nearby healing and vows to keep his angel safe from her family as Echo is coming. However, they are attracted to one another, but her touch is poison.

With an obvious spin from very civilized Jackie to very barbaric Echo, the Athena Force saga continues its strong romantic thrillers. The current entry is superb as Lilith and Tarak fall in love, but have a slight problem with touching as her power-curse will remind readers somewhat of Rogue of the X-Men. Fans will enjoy this excellent action-packed tale as love may not be enough to keep Lilith safe from her half-sister or Tarak from their desire.

With Every Breath
Lynn Kurland
Jove
c/o New American Library
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3658
9780515144703, $7.99, www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515

In 2005, American Sunshine Phillips is exhilarated to be staying in sexy Scotland in the cool late March rain; she loves her stay and reconsiders returning to Seattle as that would mean leaving the Highlands she cherishes. As she lives in the witches' cottage on the MacLeod estate, she wonders how to extend her stay beyond the summer.

In 1375 concerned Robert Cameron rushes into the Macleod witches' cottage to demand one of the occupants help his dying brother Breac. He reaches across time grabbing Sunny to assist his sibling critically wounded due to Robert's open fight with the backstabbing Fergussons. As he and Sunny fall in love, treachery sends the pair fleeing through the time portal, but they alight separately with her grieving her loss and he not remembering his fourteenth century life or his love. When they meet again, Sunny despairs because her Cameron fails to know her.

This is an entertaining time travel romance starring two stubborn likable protagonists who if they fail to open up will lose a chance for a loving relationship between them. The story line is fast-paced with the paradoxes of time adding to the fun of the tale. Sunny is terrific as she struggles to persuade Robert that the impossible is possible when love makes it happen.

Lover Enshrined
JR Ward
Signet
c/o New American Library
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3658
9780451222725, $7.99, www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515

Brotherhood member Phury knows he has no choice but to be the Primale to the chosen females, but he detests his destiny as he has met his soul First Mate, Cormia the first of the chosen. At the same time he hides from women to search his passionate heart and anguished soul, his beloved Cormia hides from Phury whom she loves but feels unworthy of the Primale.

At the same time these mates hide form one another, the Omega grows stronger and plots the final phase in the destruction of the Black Dagger Brotherhood vampires. Twenty years have past since they first began this diabolically insidious ploy of placing one of them inside The Brotherhood; an individual who has shown loyalty and courage to the Brotherhood. Revelations are coming and rookies are coming of age as confrontations from within and from without seem inevitable.

Though it seems impossible this great series has what may be its strongest tale to date and one of the top five fantasies of the year. Several subplots ignite together in an incredible climax that not only makes LOVERS ENSHRINED complete, but sets the tone for the next entry. More a fantasy than a romantic fantasy with the love subplot being only one of a few storylines, JR Ward provides her audience. This is a one sitting stunner.

The Aztec Heresy
Paul Christopher
Signet
9780451224521, $7.99

In 1521 the Nuestra Senora was carrying treasure meant for the Spanish Royals, but it was lost at sea during a storm. Also gone is the Codex, the guide to where Cortez stole the gold and jewels from the Mayans he conquered. He did this because he knew that if he went back with all the booty he would be excommunicated and declared a heretic. In 1962 two hydrogen bombs were dropped from planes over the Yucatan.

In the present, in the general archives of the Indies in Seville Spain, treasure hunters Finn Ryan and Lord Billy Pilgrim are looking for clues to the lost treasure ship. Their efforts lead them to an Israeli spy who tells them to go to a Frenchman who owns a bookstore. He informs them of the chronicles of the Codex and where the ship is located. It is held by psychotic drug dealer Guzman who makes a deal with pharmaceuticals businessman James Noble and his son Harrison. Guzman has the two bombs dropped over forty years ago and hopes to deal with his Cuban allies who want them. There is going to be a showdown on the Yucatan as different groups want the bombs, the treasure ship and the Codex; all tied to the man who would be King of Mexico Guzman.

THE AZTEC HERESY is an action-packed thriller with a persistent heroine mindful of Lara Croft. The scenarios are set up so that the escapades could easily be seen as a Caribbean movie (starring a female Indiana Jones). However, readers do not get to know the characters very well because the emphasis is on the adventures that keep on coming one after another. Readers who appreciate a fast-paced 200 proof action adventure thriller will want to read Paul Christopher's engrossing epic.

Red-Hot and Royal
Susanna Carr
Signet
9780451223999, $14.00

Following the forced wedding of compatriot Prince Hugo to Princess Agnes, three other princes, Zain of Mataar, Santos of Isla de la Perla, and Rafael of Tiazza heed the warning of watching their steps in public. The threesome agrees that even though Agnes meets the bridal princess job description perfectly, they do not want to follow Hugo into an arranged boring marriage.

Zain is turning thirty shortly; his people believe deeply in the "Prince Curse" that the female who kisses him at midnight on his birthday is his bride; failure to comply means forfeiting his claim to the throne. To avoid ambitious females, Zain hides in an Illinois cornfield. Lauren is on a quest to achieve her life goals including kissing a prince; she does at the wrong time, but rejects Zain's offer of marriage though accepts his offer of bed time.

Santos is exiled to a class in Los Angeles hosted by an image consultant so that he can perform some of the duchy's diplomatic functions. Kaylee sees her project as converting a surfer-boy into a royal adult; Santos sees the project as converting his instructor from a born again workaholic into a frolicking beach bunny.

Rafael visits his brother Luca, who loves unacceptable Cathy the American commoner. He asks his friend Shayla to pretend to be a gold-digger chasing Luca so their family will accept Cathy as the lesser of two evils. However, Rafael turns jealous when Shayla performs in his mind too perfectly and Cathy dumps Rafael for concealing her from his family.

These four contemporary romances are amusing chick lit tales as the European royals are Americanized. Susanna Carr juggles are ensemble cast with dexterity so that none are the same and all are full blooded; albeit the guys in blue and the gals in red. Although there are a couple of key moments that are brushed aside but seem too significant to ignore, sub-genre fans will appreciate these middle class women who fit the anti-princess job description and their royal hunks falling in taboo love.

Nightkeepers
Jessica Anderson
Signet
9780451224378, $7.99

Almost a quarter of a century ago Nightkeeper King Scarred-Jaguar and his warrior priests fought a suicide mission to seal the barrier from the demon Banol Kax. Most of the brave people died, but they accomplished the objective. A few children and their Winikin servants survived the terror.

Twenty four years later the Striking Jaguar, son of the courageous late king, who died in the last war with Banal Kax, knows the time for the deadly solace is approaching. He begins to get his force prepared for the upcoming war.

Meanwhile Miami narcotics detective Leah Daniels is tied to a Mayan altar as the priests prepare her for sacrifice. Strike knows who she is, what she means to him and is determined to keep her safe from the upcoming war to re-seal the barrier. However, Leah ends up at his side, both ready to die to keep Banol Kax interred on the other side.

This terrific romantic fantasy builds the Andersonian world around the Mayan doomsday prophecy that on December 21, 2012 global cataclysm will occur. The story line is fast-paced action but centers on Striking Jaguar who must choose between love and the sacrifice. The fascination in this excellent thriller is that the warrior priests including the hero are unsure what to do to save the world; they fear being active might cause the beginning of the end and being passive likewise. Jessica Anderson provides a strong story that sub-genre fans will cherish.

Highland Knight
Cindy Mills
Signet
9780451224392, $6.99

Charleston, South Carolina writer Amelia Landry suffers for the first time in her successful career from writer's block. Desperate as her manuscript is due to her editor shortly, Amelia's personal assistant Zulia Tinkerly rents a remote Scottish house to help motivate her. Thinking inspiration by the historical tower like facility, Amelia loves the place.

However, Amelia is stunned to find Laird Ethan Munro and his brothers living in some form of in between realm. Every day at twilight, they enter the mortal realm in solid bodies for one hour. She introduces her hosts to all sorts of modern gizmos like TV, computers and iPods. However, Ethan becomes her inspiration for her next novel as she is falling in love with him. She hopes to uncover the truth about how he and his siblings were cursed, how to end it, and hopefully stay with her Ethan forever.

The extra fun in this wonderful paranormal romance is the reactions of the fourteenth century Highlanders to modern gizmos. Amelia and Ethan is a charming couple while the support cast enhances the well written story line. Readers will enjoy the antics between the twenty-first century Southern belle and the early fourteenth century HIGHLAND KNIGHT.

Wild & Hexy
Vicki Lewis Thompson
Onyx
c/o New American Library
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3658
9780451412584, $7.99, www.penguin.com 1-800-847-5515

Although they prefer not to go to the backwoods of Indiana, witch Dorcas Lowell and her wizard husband Ambrose know they have no choice as the wizard council sent them to Big Knob. Their assignment is to force George the dragon to finally accept his responsibility as a guardian of the woods. George prefers play to work even though his poker playing stinks as he consistently loses to cheating card shark raccoons.

They cannot leave until George moves on so to ease the boredom and to not cheat their target out of his money by playing poker with the moron, Dorcas and Ambrose open up a matchmaking firm. They decide who their clients will be and choose reticent Internet cafe owner Jeremy Dunstan and Chicago reporter Annie Winston as a perfect pairing even if she is here for a short time to attend her sister's wedding. Jeremy has always loved Annie while she has just gotten a divorce. They also agree to find DeeDee the lake monster a loving albeit water loving mate and teach those dishonest raccoons a lesson on integrity. With all that to pass time they must remain focused on George, their only priority.

This time the geek who knew his soulmate when he was fourteen was too shy then and now to act on his love; thus he needs hex help in this charming romantic fantasy as Vicky Lewis Thompson returns to OVER-HEXED nig Nob, the capital of eerie happenings. The lighthearted story line is fun to follow as Dorcas works her loving magic with amusing side consequences. Fans will enjoy her efforts as a WILD & HEXY matchmaker with Ambrose trying to keep her from going too far.

Mrs. Perfect
Jane Porter
5 Spot/Hachette Publishing Group
c/o Grand Central Publishing
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
9780446699242, $13.99, www.hbgusa.com 1-800-759-0190

In Bellevue, Washington everyone envies thirty-six year old Taylor Young who seems to live the perfect life. Her husband adores her and they have three wonderful children as they share an affluent lifestyle. Taylor looks forward to being super Head Room Mom for her daughter Tori's fifth grade class.

However to her shock, MRS. PERFECT is bypassed as class supermom as her enemy and complete opposite hippie mom Marta Zinsser is selected. As the two women fight over everything, Taylor learns her affluence is gone and her trust devastated; her spouse has been unemployed for six months but hid it; he no longer can. As everyone seems to cut her off only her enemy combatant Marta still talks with her.

ODD MOM OUT was a deep character study of Marta that focused on personal and professional relationships; this time Marta plays a secondary role as Jane Porter places her spotlight on a supermom MRS. PERFECT in another deep character study. Taylor evolves from her image is the message lifestyle to the realization that true friends are there when things turn nasty. Fans will appreciate Ms. Porter's strong look at what happens to relationships when the walls come tumbling down.

Victory of Eagles
Naomi Novik
Del Rey
c/o The Random House Publishing Group
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
9780345496881, $25.00, www.randomhouse.com 1-800-726-0600

The war rages on between England and France, but Napoleon's forces have landed on English soil. At the same Will Laurence knows he did the right moral thing when he betrayed his country but also feels anguish for doing so (see EMPIRE OF IVORY) as he realizes Napoleon is bringing the atrocities of war to his people thanks in part to his seditious act. Already convicted of treason, he believes he deserves to die even if he still feels he acted ethically as slavery is an abomination.

Meanwhile his dragon Temeraire is bored and grieving as he assumes Will is dead and cannot stand the haggling hags who he shares the Pen Y Fan breeding pen with in Wales as a guest of the state. However, having enough with their jealousies and constant bickering, Temeraire quickly turns them into a dragon force led by him.

When the ship bringing prisoner Laurence to England for his execution goes down in the Channel, he survives. He is given a stay if he reunites with Temeraire to bring the Divine Wind against Bonaparte, who controls London.

The fifth tale in this alternate historical fantasy is a superb entry even as Will and Temeraire stay home unlike the world traveling of the previous novels (see THRONE OF JADE, HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON, and BLACK POWDER WAR). The story line is fast-paced from the onset while once gain insuring dragons at war seem genuine. However it is Laurence's conflicting anguish between knowing he did right vs. betraying his country and Temeraire's doubts as to how to help him move past his angst make this a strong military fantasy. Fans of the Naomi Novik saga will appreciate this excellent entry even if Temeraire's miraculous conversion of the cackling dragons into a precise aerial military unit in Guinness Book of Records time seems implausible as the heroes debate my country right or wrong.

Cosmos Incorporated
Maurice G. Dantec
Del Rey
9780345499936, $15.00

The war to end all wars seems an accurate description as sometime in the near future, the hostilities devastated the planet leaving one and half billion survivors to scurry for sustenance on a planet none recognize. Cities are dead and continents radically altered as rising oceans pushed the coastline inland. Multiple nations vanished and there is one world-wide ruling government through a humongous computer network that tracks the movement of everyone.

The Russian-American Mafia assigns Red Star Order assassin Sergei Diego Plotkin to travel from Russia to Grand Junction, but to do so he must cross security checkpoints where his memories would betray his mission to kill the town mayor Orville Blackburn. Thus much of his recall is erased as the mob needs to make an example of the mayor for breaking his pledge to them. He arrives in Grand Junction, site of one of the last operating cosmodromes where one can purchase a Golden Track (ticket) on a space ship to the Orbital Rim, Mars or Luna colonies. Plotkin and his AI Melatron plan the scheme including who will take the fall for the assassination. Then he meets dying Vivian McNellis; he revises his mission to get her to the rim though his employers will come after him.

This post apocalypse tale plays two themes. First there is the paid hitman who will remind readers of the Schwarzenegger character in the movie Total Recall; Vivian makes him a better person, but she also is much more and much less than she seems. Besides the lead characters with a support cast that showcases the pair and their environment, there is also an overarching somewhat in the background theme of a dying earth. Readers will relish this deep look at a grim future yet there remains a glimmer of hope that a Divine Plan is at work.

Time Spike
Eric Flint and Marilyn Kosmatka
Baen Books
PO Box 1403, Riverdale, NY 10471
9781416555384, $24.00, www.baen.com 1-800-223-2336

Supervisor Captain Mark Stephens was observing the guard mount shift changing at Illinois' maximum security prison when the ground rumbled. He and others assumed an earthquake occurred. However, looking outside, the geography has changed radically; The Mississippi river vanished and all evidence of human activity outside the prison like roads are gone. Instead they see strange looking flora and shockingly a dinosaur that uses the prison wall to scratch its skin.

Mark quickly concludes somehow they have been transported back in time to a pre-human era when dinosaurs ruled the planet. They are not alone as other people from various millennia have also gone back perhaps a million years. Some of those locked up are cold blooded killers and some from the other groups like conquistadores quickly prove human life is expendable. Mark and his staff know they have their backs against the wall as they deal with human killers and dinosaurs, but enforcing the law of thou shall not kill is critical for their survival.

The Assiti who relocated Grantville, West Virginia into seventeenth century Europe have stirred earth chronology again this time moving several periods into the dinosaur era although the displaced Illinois crowd is the prime focus. The story line will remind the audience of the first Ring of Fire tale as the story line is fast-paced and filled with action, but has not quite become overly complex with time paradoxes as later tales begin to have. Fans will appreciate this strong opening act of a new Assiti time experiment as humans continue to be their guinea pigs, but for Mark and his staff survival of the fittest means containing the violent prisoners and some as vicious other era travelers.

Blind Rage
Terri Persons
Doubleday & Company
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
9780385518758, $24.95, www.randomhouse.com 1-800-726-0600

As a white Halloween hits Minnesota, the lone FBI Agent in St. Paul, Bernadette Saint Clare ponders the deaths of six female college students in the past few months. There were four watery deaths either in the Mississippi or in bath tubs at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus while two perished in water at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. Though there is no evidence linking the six deaths or of foul play, she wonders if these so called troubled coeds were murdered by a clever serial killer.

Deciding to follow up on her intuition especially in light of the bathtub drownings, Bernadette visits the University of Minnesota to question the students, faculty and staff to learn whet they know about victims Kyra Klein and Shelby Hammond. She with the help of her superior find two connections between the six dead; a strong one involving uncooperative psychiatrist Dr. Luke Von-Hader who fears family law suits and less likely that of an uncooperative professor who had several in his classes, but no evidence either or both is a killer. Playing her hunch that at least one is, Bernadette turns to her "mentor", dead FBI Agent Creed for help.

The second FBI Agent Saint Clare thriller (see BLIND SPOT) is an engaging serial killer investigative tale starring an interesting lead character. The inquiry is fun to follow as the star struggles with simply connecting the dots beyond age, gender, and water to make a case that a serial killer is loose. Entertaining as the storyline is, the paranormal subplot comes from out of jarringly nowhere with no explanation why or how she has a "wireless" ghostly contact to assist her. Still fans of FBI serial killer investigations will enjoy Terri Persons' solid police procedural.

Mercy Street
Mariah Stewart
Ballantine Books
c/o The Random House Publishing Group
1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019
9780345492265, $22.00, www.randomhouse.com 1-800-726-0600

In Conroy, Pennsylvania, two male high school seniors are executed with a bullet to the back of each of their heads; two other students who were with them, Courtney Bauer and Ryan Corcoran vanished. The local police led by Chief Drabyack assume Ryan robbed and killed the other two before fleeing with Courtney.

Ryan's grandmother Mary believes the teen she raised is innocent and either is in trouble or dead; so does Courtney's mom Linda. Mary plans to mortgage her house to pay for a sleuth to investigate. Her boss Father Kevin Burch asks his friend gadzillionaire Robert Magellan to fund a private investigator. Robert remains desperate to find his missing wife Beth and their son Ian; however, he distrusts all private investigators as those he hired provided nothing but padded bills over the past year. Reluctantly he agrees to pay the fees of true crime writer Mallory Russo, a former Conroy cop. Ex-Philadelphia police detective Charlie Wanamaker, who just came home to Conroy to help his family, assists in spite of being part of the local force after seeing Grand Canyon holes in the official inquiry.

This engaging romantic private investigative thriller is an enjoyable read made fun by a sold mystery and the attraction between Mallory and Charlie. The story line is fast-paced as the bets keep on coming as to the teens' innocence, padded bills, and a romantic relationship between the unoffical partners. Readers will enjoy the MERCY STREET sleuthing.

The Brass Bed
Jennifer Stevenson
Ballantine
9780345486684, $6.99

Chicago is being overwhelmed by magic seemingly being blown everywhere. The mayor orders his subordinates to conceal what is going on insisting he fears a panic. Chicago Department of Consumer Services investigator Jewel Heiss is unhappy with her boss; with all the goings-one he assigns her to perform surveillance of his wife, who happens to be her best friend.

Her surveillance introduces Jewel to Clay Dawes, who claims his magical brass bed will cure all female sexual problems by simply taking a nap in it. Jewel is upset with the scoundrel who charges an exorbitant fee, but takes him up on his challenge of testing the bed free of charge as long as he is in it with her. However, his brass bed also contains an incubus cursed in the nineteenth century for being a crappy lover while a genie is turning the city into a magical mystery mayhem tour.

The speed is hectic from the onset, but fans of urban investigative romantic fantasies will hop onto THE BRASS BED for the wild ride. Though at times wordy, the lighthearted story line has a lot going on so it bewilders the audience as it does the investigative heroine; who must decide between sexual curse and sexual fraud; either way she wants to test first her hand (and a few other body parts).

Close
Martina Cole
Grand Central Publishing
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
9780446179966, $24.99, www.hbgusa.com 1-800-759-0190

In 1960s swinging mod London bodacious Patrick Brodie takes control of the East End in-clubs where he peddles high class hookers and sells illegal alcohol. He quickly becomes a man to respect or else regret. Patrick marries factory worker, Lily Diamond. They have several children together over four decades, but it is she who runs the home through tough love while he runs his criminal empire through violence. Their motto is only trust family warily.

The Sopranos and Godfather connections are obvious though Anglicized. This is a deep look into an English crime family over a span of decades and the area of their control. The story line engages the audience from the moment that Patrick establishes his BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) to take over the East End scene and never slows down over the next forty years as he and his family fight to maintain their lofty position. Filled with violence that add realism, fans of the Sopranos will appreciate the equivalent across the big pond.

Vicious Circle
Mike Carey
Grand Central Publishing
9780446580311, $24.99

Following his efforts applauded by the Bonnington Archive ghost who encouraged him, Felix "Fix" Castor reopens his exorcist shingle though he remains impoverished and is concerned for his friend the possessed Rafi. His only income is some consulting sleuthing for the cops, but they are reluctant to give him anything that might lead to more jobs as the constabulary does not want to advertise they employ an exorcist as a part-time contractor.

Fix thinks he has found a fix for his fiscal deficit. He seeks a kidnapped ghost of a little girl, but Asmodeus the evil fire and brimstone malevolent, other nasty demons, Satanists and Ms. Julia the succubus stand in the way of his success. As he battles in and out of churches all sorts of otherworldly species want to recruit him onto their side, he struggles with the underlying concept of why a young female spirit is critical to the universe. Still he works the case while dreaming of a high paying low risk job instead of everything seemingly under the sun trying to kill him.

Readers will enjoy their latest Fix (see THE DEVIL YOU KNOW) as Mike Carey provides an enjoyable urban Noir fantasy in which London once again steals the show with all the supernatural residents that greet Castor. The story line is similar in some aspects to the Dresden Files, but is more humorous as Mr. Carey somewhat lampoons the "rules" of the sub-genre. Readers will appreciate Fix's London as he seeks paranormal work to pay off a deficit that he insists would be acceptable in America.

The Things We Do For Love
Xavier Knight
Grand Central Publishing
9780446582384, $14.95

Jesse Law grew up lonely as the youngest sibling in the first family of music. He became the most famous member of the Law brood with many hits by the time he turned twenty-year-old.

A decade later, his rise to the top is in his past. Yet he feels the happiest he ever has been due to his beloved wife Minister Dionne Favor and performing as lead singer of a gospel group. The both want a child, but she has not been able to conceive so they decide to adopt, but by doing so a skeleton hidden in his closet threatens their relationship as do secrets the media reveals about his friend and teammate Coleman Hill, the perfect husband and father. The media threatens to destroy everyone he cherishes.

This is a profound Christian drama in which devoted pious people face personal and family crisis. The key characters are fully developed so that fans will wonder whether Dionne can live up to the first half of the mantra to forgive is human; because she is human , to forget is divine seems out of reach once she knows Jesse's secret, but also realizes the child should not be the victim. A secondary subplot involving homosexuality and Christianity needs to be required reading for those who demonize sexual preference. Throughout the well written character driven story line is the underlying message that people make mistakes, but God is forgiving so why can't we forgive ourselves, our loved ones, and even strangers.

Volk's Shadow
Brent Ghelfi
Holt
c/o Henry Holt & Company
175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400, New York, NY 10010-7725
9780805082555, $25.00, www.henryholt.com 1-888-330-8477

In Moscow, terrorists apparently bombed the headquarters of AMERCO, an American oil company. The attackers take over the oil company's bombed out offices holding hostages. His superiors order Russian army Colonel "Volk" Volkovoy to breach the offices and do what it takes to bring down the Chechen terrorists.

However, nothing goes according to Volk's plan as they seem to be waiting calmly for his arrival. Volk knows betrayal is the norm in Putin's Russia, but wonders if he is to be sacrificed for someone's promotion. He follows clues of criminal activity as he begins to doubt the Chechens had anything to do with the Moscow bombing. From the brothels of Moscow to Chechnya he runs into betrayal after betrayal as he finds his investigation constantly expanding to include the surfacing of a valuable Faberge egg; the kidnapping of a preadolescent girl and a video of Russian massacre of Chechens. Yet as he misses his beloved Valya, he wonders if the murky Russian atmosphere will ever be clean as money seems to buy anything including crimes and culpability cover-ups.

There is so much going on that fans will wonder where suspicious, dedicated, yet ethical Volk gets the mental energy to keep up the incredible pace especially since he is a major cynic re Putin's Russia. The story line is fast-paced and filled with twists and betrayals, a way of life at least in Volk's Russia. Timely as the world watches the transition of power, Brent Ghelfi provides a deep dark thriller in which the real star is an alarming gloomy Russia fueled by oil economics and superpower return ambitions.

Castle Lake
Thomas A. Ryerson
Grey Swan Press
http://greyswanpress.com
9780980037708, $16.95

On Oct 13, 1821 near Castle Lake, James Murdoch goes duck hunting when a thick fog reduces visibility to near zero. His first shot hits a duck, but his second bullet goes wild and he thinks he may have hit a person. William Fick's daughter Lorrie Anne and her beau enjoy a pre-birthday celebration on the lake when a bullet goes through her knocking her unconscious.

Sixteen days later she dies on her sixteenth birthday; her mother is in raging pain and strips before walking into the lake and drowning. Determined to get even, William visits the local witch doctor to sell his soul to the devil. The first female Murdoch to reach her sixteenth birthday will die. Sixty one years later Alicia Murdoch is about to turn sweet sixteen when William's spirit returns from the grave to possess a human host for Alice must die.

CASTLE LAKE is a good old fashion ghost story that will remind readers of Stephen King's early works. Thomas A. Ryerson writes a stirring story of revenge at any cost even one's soul with the only acceptable reparation being the life of an innocent female to pay for the life of his innocent females. The characters are developed enough to matter while the gothic atmosphere enhances the effect of a creepy feeling that bad things are going to happen to a good person.

The Last Embrace
Denise Hamilton
Scribner
c/o Simon and Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 14th fl., New York, NY 10020
9781416584933, $25.00, www.simonsays.com 1-800-223-2336

In 1949 Hollywood, former OSS agent Lily Kessler searches for actress Kitty Hayden, the sister of her late fiance, US Army Major Joseph Croggan. As she travels by train to California Lily thinks of Joseph, whom she met and fell in love in London during the war as they battled spies together until he died eight months ago in a Budapest car accident. Lily is worried about Kitty who vanished while seeking either rich sugar daddies or men with influence who give her parts.

After taking a room in Kitty's dumpy boarding house, Lily learns Kitty has been murdered; conjuring up the notorious Black Dahlia homicide. Unable to resist as she feels she owes her late fiance for failing his sister, Kitty investigate the homicide. The case and police corruption lead her to Police Detective Stephen Pico, who pleads with her to let it go. In spite of her attraction to the cop, Lily continues

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