Sunday, June 25, 2006

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Slipstream by Leslie Larson
ABOUT THIS BOOK

In Slipstream, Leslie Larson traces the intertwining paths of five characters as each struggles to stay afloat in the face of major setbacks, minor failures, and a reckless pursuit of elusive second chances. When Rudy loses his job cleaning jets at the airport, his sanity and his marriage threaten to follow. While his wife, Inez, secretly saves her pennies and plots an escape, his coworker Wylie, a bartender at LAX, is about to receive the surprise of his life. Meanwhile, Wylie’s brother, Logan, freshly released from jail, tries desperately to stay out of trouble while traipsing through a minefield of temptation. And Logan’s daughter Jewell is nursing a heart broken once by an unfaithful girlfriend and again by a father who can’t seem to stick around. Though they don’t know it, these five people are headed toward an explosive event that will have consequences for them all.

Deftly weaving suspense, humor, and revelation, Slipstream is a rich human drama with the breathless pace of a thriller and the soul of classic noir.Rating: 4 Stars

Friday, June 23, 2006

Promise Me by Harlan Coben

It has been six years since entertainment agent Myron Bolitar last played superhero. In six years he hasn't thrown a punch. He hasn't held, much less fired, a gun. He hasn't threatened or been threatened. He hasn't called his friend Win, still the scariest man he knows, to back him up or get him out of trouble. In the past six years, none of his clients have been murdered--a real positive for his business.

But all that is about to change. Because of the simple urge to protect two neighborhood high-school girls from the all-too-dangerous and all-too-common mistake of getting in a car with a drunk driver, Myron has them make him a promise: If they are ever in a bind but are afraid to call their parents, they should call him rather than get in a car with someone who's been drinking. Several nights later, the call comes at 2:00 am, and true to his word, Myron picks up one of the girls in midtown Manhattan and drives her to a quiet cul-de-sac in New Jersey where she says her friend lives.

The next day, the girl's parents discover that their daughter is missing. And that Myron was the last person to see her. Now, in a desperate attempt to fulfill a well-intentioned promise gone nightmarishly wrong, Myron must become a hero again to save a young girl's life.Rating: 4 Stars

Thursday, June 22, 2006

All Shook Up by Mike Harrison

All Shook up: An Eddie Dancer Mystery
FROM THE PUBLISHER
This hard-edged, energetic mystery features Eddie Dancer—Canada's newest and toughest private eye. Two years as a city cop have convinced Eddie he is better off working for himself as a private investigator. When he is hired to track down a tough, professional bank robber, Eddie has no idea he is about to pry the lid off a very nasty can of worms. When he runs up against a pair of disgraced ex-bikers, he uncovers a macabre connection between the ex-bikers and the "fate worse than death" that has befallen many of the city's hookers—a fate that leaves them, irreversibly, in a vegetative state. Eddie learns that a man who is already in prison has carried out the bank robbery and he wonders how someone can be in two different places at once. With the help of his friend, Danny Many Guns, Eddie uncovers evidence of a major conspiracy stretching from the city's back streets and tattoo parlors to the very top of the prison system food chain. Will Danny Many Guns save his friend and partner from the "fate worse than death," or will the bad guys get their revenge on the man who has exposed them?
Rating: 4 Stars

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Eye of the Burning Man by Harry Shannon

Rating: 3 Stars
'If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.'
- Bill Lyon

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas

Rating: 4 Stars
Headcase by Peter Helton

Rating: 4 Stars

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Perfection by Walter Satterthwait

ROM THE PUBLISHER
Walter Satterthwait gives his readers a feast of different flavors. His modern-day private-eye series was followed by his historical mysteries. In real life, Lizzie Borden may actually have killed her parents, but Satterthwait turns her into a high-spirited amateur sleuth. Satterthwait's Left Bank in 1920s Paris is alive with artists like Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. And he has even dug up Hitler and his true-to-life Nazi pals (but, never fear, the good guys still win).

Now Satterthwait turns his hand to this terrific thriller, Perfection, with a pair of true-to-life police detectives for us to root for. In a small Florida city, a most baffling killer insists that his victims meet very specific criteria. Satterthwait teases the reader--and police detectives Sophia Tregaskis and Jim Fallon too; he shows us the killer in his own home, reliving the satisfaction of his latest murder. We watch him scouting his neighboring supermarket for the next person who will require "perfection."
Even childhood episodes that made him the monster he is don't help us--or the two police detectives--learn who and where he is. When the pair finally does track him through his past, chance--or the devil--stacks the odds against them with a vicious hurricane and the thrill of uncertainty until the very end.
Rating: 4 Stars
Bad Debts by Peter Temple

FROM THE PUBLISHER
A phone message from ex-client Danny McKillop doesn't ring any bells for Jack Irish. Life is hard enough without having to dredge up old problems: His beloved football team continues to lose, the odds on his latest plunge at the track seem far too long, and he's still cooking for one. When Danny turns up dead, Jack is forced to take a walk back into the dark and dangerous past.
Rating: 4 Stars

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