The Green Trap by Ben Bova

The Green Trap by Ben Bova

From the Publisher
Microbiologist Michael Cochrane has been murdered. His brother Paul wants to find out who did it…and why.

Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along the way, a lot of people seem to be interested in getting in their way, or discovering what they know. It’s clear that Michael was working with cyanobacteria, the bacteria that crack water molecules and release free oxygen. It’s less clear why this would get anybody killed. Or why oil billionaire Lionel Gould wants to pay Paul and Elena big money for the details of Michael’s work.

Then the truth emerges: Michael had found a way to get cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules. A process that could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world. Practically free fuel, out of one of the planet’s most abundant resources: water.

No wonder everyone, from Middle Eastern heavies to hired domestic muscle, suddenly seems to be trying to get in Paul and Elena’s way.

As the world’s secrets—and their own—teeter in the balance, both Paul and Elena must decide what to do before it’s too late.

Seeking to find his brother's killer, a physicist stumbles into a conspiracy and mortal danger by elements interested in his brother's invention which is claimed to be a radicl solution to world's energy problem. Readable, has a good pace.

Shadow of the Raven by David Sundstrand

Shadow of the Raven by David Sundstrand
From the Publisher
Francisco Flynn is an officer in Land Management in the Mojave Desert, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The son of an Irish immigrant railroad man and a half-Mexican, half-Paiute mother, he lives in the caboose that his father brought up to a hilltop when the railroad stopped running there. Frank loves the desert and the animals that live there. He loathes the wealthy hunters who hire Indians to lead them to where they can shoot Bighorn rams and take their heads to hang as trophies on the walls of their fancy studies.
Over the years, Frank has come upon dead bodiesthe remains of people who got lost and ran out of water, their corpses drying into mummies in the desert heat. But now he finds a dead man who has only recently lost his life, and it looks very much like he’s been murdered. His shoes are gone, he’s shirtless, and there is no canteen anywhere in sight. A day or so later, Frank hears word of a trio of bikers who have blown into town looking for a missing comrade. They pick fights in the local bar and don’t hesitate to kill when it suits them. Frank is certain that the dead man he found is connected to them, and that many people could be endangered, including the woman reporter he has learned to love. Frank will do anything to rid "his" desert of the bikers who are spreading danger and hate, including putting his own life on the line.
With Shadow of the Raven, David Sundstrand adds a shining new voice to Southwestern crime fiction.

Bureau of Land Management ranger plays detective and breaks up the crime spree of biker brothers out to get revenge on death of one of their brothers. Starts slow but then picks up the pace. Good yarn.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday

Publishers Weekly
In Torday's winningly absurdist debut, Dr. Alfred Jones feels at odds with his orderly life as a London fisheries scientist and husband to the career-driven Mary, with whom he shares a coldly dispassionate relationship. Just as Mary departs for a protracted assignment in Geneva, Alfred gets consulted on a visionary sheik's scheme to introduce salmon, and salmon-angling, to the country of Yemen. Alfred is deeply skeptical (salmon are cold-water fish that spawn in fresh water; Yemen is hot and largely desert), but the project gains traction when Peter Maxwell, the prime minister's director of communications, seizes on it as a PR antidote to negative press related to the Iraq war. Alfred is pressed by his superiors to meet with the sheik's real estate rep, the glamorous young Harriet, and embarks on a yearlong journey to realize the sheik's vision of spiritual peace through fly-fishing for the people of Yemen. British businessman and angler Torday captures Alfred's emerging humanity, Maxwell's antic solipsism, Mary's calculating neediness and Harriet's vulnerability, presenting their voices through diaries, e-mails, letters and official interviews conducted after the doomed venture's surprisingly tragic outcome. (Apr.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Via - Barnes & Noble

Brilliant debut by Paul Torday. A fisheries sceintist is commissioned to bring into reality a fantastic project to bring salmon fishing to Yemen. Political pressure commits the reluctant scientist to take on the project which is brainchild of a Yemeni sheik and his real estate agents. Tongue-in-cheek humour and dry insights make this book a good read. Recommended.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
From the Publisher
A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction

In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town's Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. King Henry I is no friend of the Jews-or anyone, really-but he is invested in their fate. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews, Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death.

Adelia and her companions-Simon, a Jew, and Mansur, a Moor-travel to England to unravel the mystery of the Cambridge murders, which turn out to be the work of a serial killer, most likely one who has been on Crusade with the king. In a backward and superstitious country like England, Adelia must conceal her true identity as a doctor in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she is assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, one of the king's tax collectors, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. Rowley may be a needed friend, or the fiend for whom they are searching. As Adelia's investigation takes her into Cambridge's shadowy river paths and behind the closed doors of its churches and nunneries, the hunt intensifies and the killer prepares to strike again...

Aperiod piece, historical epic set in 12th century England in Cambridgeshire where a slew of children being killed prompts the King to enlist the services of a medieval forensic doctor from Salerno who is a woman to boot. Gripping and quite authentic tale. Believable. Recommended

Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Echo Park by Michael Connelly
From the Publisher
Detective Harry Bosch reopens one of his own unsolved cases and comes face to face with a psychotic killer he has been seeking for years. A thrilling new novel by the author of the #1 bestseller The Lincoln Lawyer.
In 1995 Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a supermarket. Harry Bosch worked the case but couldn't crack it, and the 22-year-old woman was never found. Now Bosch is in the Open-Unsolved Unit, where he still keeps the Gesto file on his desk, when the DA calls. A man accused of two heinous killings is willing to come clean about several others, including the murder of Marie Gesto.

Bosch must now take the confession of the man he has sought--and hated--for eleven years. But when Bosch learns that he and his partner missed a clue back in 1995 that could have led them to Gesto's killer--and stopped nine murders that followed--his whole being as a cop begins to crack.

Michael Connelly's enthralling new novel pits the detective People magazine calls "one of the most complex crime fighters around" against one of the most sadistic killers he has ever confronted.

About the Author: Michael Connelly is the author of the acclaimed Harry Bosch series as well as recent bestsellers such as The Lincoln Lawyer and Chasing the Dime. He is a former journalist and has won every major prize for crime fiction. He lives in Florida.

Harry Bosch finds himself embroiled in a cold case that comes back after 13 years, faces a conspiracy trying to undermine his efforts to solve the case.

Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard

Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard
From the Publisher
Hard-ass Palm Beach County judge Bob Isom Gibbs enjoys sending even petty offenders away to do hard time -- which has made the list of miscreants who want him dead longer than a fully grown Florida gator's tail. And a good number of his illwishers are probation officer Kathy Baker's clients, including young Dale Crowe and his psycho uncle Elvin. Now, Kathy's got an even more daunting task than keeping BIG's horny hands off her: keeping "Maximum Bob" alive. Because Gibbs's many enemies seem to be willing to go to any lengths -- be it death by amphibian or some more tried-and-true method -- to permanently end the career of an oversexed, racist jurist who's more interested in scoring than in saving his own red neck.

Another Florida tale involving circuit court judge with a roving eye who wants to get rid of his conflicted wife, psychotic convict, a do-good probabtion officer who has excellent investigative skills.

Bermuda Schwartz by Bob Morris

Bermuda Schwartz by Bob Morris

From the Publisher
From the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series that gets better with each book, and an author who constantly surprises, comes Bermuda Schwartz - a tale of hidden treasure, murder, romance, and rum.
A young scuba guide, scouting new dive sites in the shipwreck-laden reefs that rim Bermuda, makes a fatal discovery = a treasure more valuable than gold or jewels. And some people are willing to kill for it.
Enter Zack Chasteen, knockabout palm tree farmer, and his inscrutable Taino associate, Boggy, who have been dragged to Bermuda by Zack's ladylove, Barbara Pickering. She needs their help throwing a gala seventy-fifth birthday party for her wealthy and eccentric Aunt Trula. While there, Zack drops by the bank to visit his money, a couple of million dollars earned in recent exploits that he has stashed away in one of the country's notorious tax-free offshore accounts. Big problem: Zack's money is gone and his bankers can't seem to explain where it is or who might have it.

Private eye busts a treasure hunter who is after a long lost relic believed to be sunk off Bermuda coast. Witty and light narrative by the author. Recommended.