Blood Thirsty by Marshall Karp

Blood Thirsty by Marshall Karp

Synopsis

It’s a bloodthirsty town, Hollywood. No matter how popular you are, there’s always someone who’d be happier if you were dead. And in some cases, you can be such a bastard, everyone would be happier if you were dead.

Barry Gerber, one of the most hated men in Hollywood, is a no-show for a red carpet event. The next morning he turns up dead, killed in such a bizarre way that neither Detectives Mike Lomax nor Terry Biggs nor anyone in Forensics has ever seen anything like it before. Two days later, the prime suspect – another despised show-business bad boy – is found murdered in the same sadistic manner.

The list of suspects then becomes as long as the credits in a summer blockbuster. Everyone hated the murdered men. Biggs jokes that this could be an elaborate public service effort to make Hollywood a better place to live and work. But he and Lomax soon find that all jokes are off as they wade through a daunting number of leads to uncover who will be the next victim. What they stumble upon is a motive far more primal than they had ever imagined.

Fast-paced, razor-sharp, and intensely funny, Bloodthirsty reunites Lomax and Biggs – the mystery genre’s new dynamic duo.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Detective duo Lomax and Briggs solve a series of peculiar murders in Los Angeles. Wisecracking detectives find out that a old couple is behind the murders when their daughter is killed in a drug deal gone bad.

What's So Funny? (John Dortmunder Series) by Donald E. Westlake

What's So Funny? by Donald E. Westlake

Synopsis

In his classic caper novels, Donald E. Westlake turns the world of crime and criminals upside down. The bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and the current object of his intentions. Now Westlake's seasoned but often scoreless crook must take on an impossible crime, one he doesn't want and doesn't believe in. But a little blackmail goes a long way in... WHAT'S SO FUNNY?
All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, he musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over.
From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Burglar is hired by an PI to steal a valuable chess set for a dying man trying to right an injustice he suffered from his friends who cheated him f his share of the stolen chess set many years ago. Funny and dry wit make it an entertaining read.

The Missing by Chris Mooney

The Missing by Chris Mooney

Synopsis

The first time Darby almost died was on the night of her sixteenth birthday. Out with her two best friends, she witnessed a horrible scene - a woman who was tortured and beaten and left for dead in the woods. After being chased by the criminal, Darby looked to her constant savior - her father, "Big Red," a local police officer, and her hero. As always, he made Darby feel safe by promising to find who did this and bring him to justice.

Years later, Darby is now also a cop, having designed her career after her late father's. She is investigating a serial killer who has already slaughtered several young women. There is something eerie about this case from the beginning, and Darby is dismayed when she learns that two of the victims are her childhood friends - the same girls she was with the night she saw the woman in the woods. Soon, it becomes clear that this is no coincidence. Darby is targeted as the next victim, and this time Big Red is not around to save her. Instead, Darby delves further into the investigation, and quickly discovers evidence linking her father to the killer. With no one to save her and not knowing who to trust, Darby struggles to preserve her father's memory as she fights to defend herself against a ruthless killer - one with an unknown motive and a clear plan for murder.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Crime scene investigator tracks down a psychotic killer who abducts and tortures women. Gripping tale and good suspense but the climax is pretty cliche when the killer's accomplice is revealed. That part is disappointing.

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey

Synopsis

Why is everyone rushing to flee Tampa on a cruise ship to hell?

Serge is back with a bullet, torn between homicide and souvenirs. So is Coleman, torn between getting hammered and getting more hammered. Then there's good ol' Jim Davenport, the E-Team, the Diaz Brothers, and Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin, cranking up the fevered action as the pot boils over on a street called Lobster Lane.

It's reunion time in the Sunshine State, and we're not just talking the family jamboree of that blood-soaked criminal clan, the McGraws, whose nastiest, meanest member is finally released from prison and heads south bent on revenge. On top of it all, the government is covering up a growing list of mysterious victims across Florida who may or may not be connected to a nefarious plot being hatched against national security.

But wait! There's more on the horizon! Who is the oddly familiar femme fatale named Rachael? Is Serge wrong that guns, drugs, and strippers don't mix? What sets the Non-Confrontationalists off on a rampage? What finally brings Coleman and Lenny together? Will they succeed in building the biggest bong ever? And can Serge surf a rogue wave to victory?

So batten the hatches, don the life jackets, and take cover as all these questions and more are answered in the latest adventure from the acclaimed author of Hurricane Punch.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Another Florida caper starring the inimitable Serge A. Storms a well read psychotic killer with principles who goes around his brand of justice accompanied by his sidekick Coleman. Good book with all around laughs and funny escapades.

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

Synopsis

The first and only story of love and looming apocalypse set in the aisles of an office supply superstore.

In Douglas Coupland’s ingenious new novel—sort of a Clerks meets Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf—we meet Roger, a divorced, middle-aged “aisles associate” at Staples, condemned to restocking reams of 20-lb. bond paper for the rest of his life. And Roger’s co-worker Bethany, in her early twenties and at the end of her Goth phase, who is looking at fifty more years of sorting the red pens from the blue in aisle 6.
One day, Bethany discovers Roger’s notebook in the staff room. When she opens it up, she discovers that this old guy she’s never considered as quite human is writing mock diary entries pretending to be her: and, spookily, he is getting her right.
These two retail workers then strike up an extraordinary epistolary relationship. Watch as their lives unfold alongside Roger’s work-in-progress, the oddly titled Glove Pond, a Cheever-era novella gone horribly, horribly wrong. Through a complex layering of narratives, The Gum Thief reveals the comedy, loneliness, and strange comforts of contemporary life.
Coupland electrifies us on every page of this witty, wise, and unforgettable novel. Love, death and eternal friendship can all transpire where we least expect them …and even after tragedy seems to have wiped your human slate clean, stories can slowly rebuild you.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Offbeat novel set in a urban office store setting starring a disaffected middle aged man - Roger - who is going through a crisis as a result of recent divorce and breakup of his family and a rebellious goth girl who finds herself in the end. Story within a story begins when the girl Bethany accidently come across Rogers dairy where he writes as Bethany which she finds too true to her feelings. Thus starts an unspoken conversation with Roger. Curiously engrossing.

Dog War by Anthony C. Winkler

Dog War by Anthony C. Winkler

Synopsis

In a new and highly original take on Jamaican life (on the island and in the United States), Anthony C. Winkler introduces the estimable Precious, a large-bottomed, meltingly juicy Christian Jamaican woman with unshakable ideas on the right and proper behavior for Christian Jamaican women, their husbands, and men and dogs in general.

⇒ Via: BN.com

AFunny book about Precious a newly widowed mother of two as shee copes with her lonely life after the death of her husband. Hilarious narrative and sharp wit witha Jamaican flavour make this book a must read. Finished this book in one day, recommemded !!

Salamander Cotton by Richard Kunzmann

Salamander Cotton by Richard Kunzmann

Synopsis

A dark, chilling mystery set in the brooding, atmospheric lands of South Africa

In his debut thriller, Bloody Harvests, Richard Kunzmann gave readers a glimpse into the turbulent South African landscape. Now Detective Inspector Jacob Tshabalala and his former colleague Harry Mason return with another beautifully spellbinding thriller combining murder, revenge, greed, and the classic struggle between good and evil.

A wealthy ex--mining boss has been found beaten and burned to death at his home in suburban Johannesburg. His estranged wife, however, does not seem particularly surprised by this cold-blooded murder, but keeps insisting that the killer will be found in the Northern Cape, where the victim owned a farm with a dark secret. It’s a remote and desolate landscape of extreme poverty, burdened with a bleak history as an asbestos-mining community.

When Tshabalala persuades Mason to investigate a link between the man’s murder and the disappearance of his daughter thirty years before, Harry has no way of knowing he will soon be plunged into a menacing world of rumored supernatural attacks, corporate cover-ups, ruthless hijackers, and bitter vengeance.

Kunzmann returns with a strong force, capturing the bitter landscape and people of Johannesburg and beyond---captivating readers with his plot twists, dramatic action, and engaging characters. Salamander Cotton is a representation of poverty and a portrait of a country whose values of freedom and justice are only just emerging.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Adark mystery set in South Africa woven in a backdrop of asbetos mines and unjust practices of mine operators exploiting the natives.

Ammunition, Vol. 7 by Ken Bruen

Ammunition, Vol. 7 by Ken Bruen

Synopsis
Over the many years that Inspector Brant has been bringing his own patented brand of policing to the streets of southeast London, the brilliant but tough cop has made a few enemies. So when a crazed gunman, hired by persons unknown, pumps a magazine full of bullets into Brant in a local pub, leaving him in grasping at life (but ornery as ever), his colleagues on the squad are left wondering how to react.

Brant's old partner Inspector Roberts, the man who may know him best, finds himself wondering why someone didn't shoot the hateful detective years ago. The answer, as they're all about to find out, is quite simple: if you come after Brant you'd damn well better kill him the first time-because if you don't, you won't want to stick around to find out what happens next.

⇒ Via: BN.com

Paying homage to Ed McBain, the author weaves a series of subplots into the storyline with other characters. The central theme being shooting of the main character Brant himself.