The Labrador Pact by Matt Haig

The Labrador Pact by Matt Haig

The Barnes & Noble Review

All roads lead to Shakespeare for Matt Haig, which turns out to be a good thing. There’s no one quite like the Bard for barging head-first into a tale of death, desperation, and betrayal, and wringing out some laughs along the way. No flinching, no sentimental sap, no turning back.

That’s how Haig played it in his weird and wonderful debut novel, The Dead Father’s Club, a modern re-working of Hamlet, and that’s how he hands us The Labrador Pact, an offbeat look at domestic life through the eyes -- and voice -- of the family dog.

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Offbeat story of trials and tribulations endured by a family as seen from the eyes of a dog. Cute and whimsical narration make this a an endearing read.

Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton

Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton

Synopsis

You’re born. You live. They die.

Moving to remote Shetland has been unsettling enough for consultant surgeon Tora Hamilton; even before the gruesome discovery she makes one rain-drenched afternoon…Deep in the peat soil of her field she is shocked to find the perfectly preserved body of a young woman, a gaping hole where her heart has been brutally removed and three rune marks etched into her skin.

The marks bear an eerie resemblance to carvings Tora has seen all over the islands, and she quickly uncovers disturbing links to an ancient legend. But as Tora investigates she is warned by the local police, her boss, and even her husband, to leave well alone.

And even though it chills her to the bone to admit it…something tells her their concern isn’t genuine.

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Obstetrician
moves to remote Scottish islands to live in relative peace and quiet until it is shattered by discovery of a mutilated body of a woman on her property. Gripping debut by the author who weaves a tale of deception and intrigue around a long lost legend in Scottish islands.

Crosshairs (Lee Henry Oswald Mysteries Series) by Harry Hunsicker

Crosshairs by Harry Hunsicker

Synopsis

Hard-nosed Dallas detective Lee Henry Oswald is back...and he’s better than ever.

All he wants is to be left alone, a normal existence away from the assorted creeps and lowlifes inherent to his former profession as a private investigator. Unfortunately, peace and solitude are hard to find for Lee Oswald, a battle-hardened veteran of the first Gulf War, now weary after a decade as the fix-it man of last resort on the back streets of Dallas.

But when internationally-renowned medical researcher Anita Nazari begs him to help find the person threatening her daughter’s life, Oswald reluctantly returns to the shadowy world he’s tried so hard to leave behind. Once there, he finds himself engaged in a high stakes battle against a man known only as the Professor, a former intelligence operative intent on destroying the results of the doctor’s latest research, a seemingly innocuous discovery about the mystery illness dubbed the Gulf War Syndrome.

The retired agent leads Oswald on a deadly search for the one man who can identify him and thus unravel a conspiracy of shady former government officials with an unhealthy interest in Dr. Nazari and her work. When Oswald locates the missing witness and learns the startling information the man possesses, Oswald places his allegiance with the truth, as he fights back against an enemy more insidious and deadly than he’s ever faced.

Gritty, tough, and smart, Hunsicker’s tightly-wrapped thriller will leave you breathless long after the final page.

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Dallas detective is called upon by a researcher to help her when she is threatened by an unknown attacker. Corporate and government intrigue involving drugs and veterans stars as a backdrop to this whodunit.

A Hard Ticket Home by David Housewright

A Hard Ticket Home by David Housewright

Synopsis

Ex-St. Paul cop Rushmore McKenzie has more time, and more money, than he knows what to do with. In fact, when he's willing to admit it to himself (and he usually isn't), Mac is downright bored. Until he decides to do a favor for a friend facing a family tragedy: Nine-year-old Stacy Carlson has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the only one with the matching bone marrow that can save her is her older sister, Jamie. Trouble is, Jamie ran away from home years ago.

Mac begins combing the backstreets of the Twin Cities, tracking down Jamie's last known associates. He starts with the expected pimps and drug dealers, but the path leads surprisingly to some of the Cities' most respected businessmen, as well as a few characters far more unsavory than the street hustlers he anticipated. As bullets fly and bodies drop, Mac persists, only to find that what he's looking for, and why, are not exactly what he'd imagined.

David Housewright's uncanny ability to turn the Twin Cities into an exotic, brooding backdrop for noir fiction, and his winning, witty hero Rushmore McKenzie, serve as a wicked one-two punch in A Hard Ticket Home, a series debut that reinforces Housewright's well-earned reputation as one of crime fiction's rising stars.

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Ex-cop turned PI gets an assignment to track down a runaway but finds himself embroiled in murder and double cross.

Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman

Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman

Synopsis

"Unputdownable. Classic noir, dark, funny, shocking and absolutely no compromise. Pure magic of the blackest kind."-Ken Bruen

"A superbly crafted tale. Like the very best of modern noir, this is a story told in shades of grey. This deserves to be massive."-Allan Guthrie

"Zeltserman delves deeply into his specialty, an unorthodox look at the criminal mind. It kept me turning pages and glancing over my shoulder."-Vicki Hendricks

Crooked cop Joe Denton gets out of prison early after disfiguring the local district attorney, which doesn't help his popularity. Nobody wants Joe to hang around-not his ex-wife, his parents, or his former colleagues. Meanwhile, local mafia don Manny Vassey is dying of cancer and keen to cut a deal with God. He's thinking of singing to the DA if this will set him up for a better after life. And he knows stuff that will send Joe down again for a very long time-along with half the local law enforcement.

Set in the pressure cooker of a very small town and following the promise of Dave Zeltersman's earlier novels (Fast Lane and Bad Thoughts), Small Crimes is an explosive noir that brings the claustrophobic hell of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain right up to date.

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Crime noir debut by the author in this gripping story about a fallen cop in a small town who is ostracised by the community, family and friends upon his release from prison.

Red Knife (Cork O'Connor Series #8) by William Kent Krueger

Red Knife by William Kent Krueger

Synopsis

The newest book in William Kent Krueger's award-winning Corcoran O'Connor series finds the charismatic private investigator caught in the middle of a racial gang war that's turning picturesque Tamarack County, Minnesota, into a bloody battlefield.

When the daughter of a powerful businessman dies as a result of her meth addiction, her father, strong-willed and brutal Buck Reinhardt, vows revenge. His target is the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe youths accused of supplying the girl's fatal drug dose. When the head of the Red Boyz and his wife are murdered in a way that suggests execution, the Ojibwe gang mobilizes, and the citizens of Tamarack County brace themselves for war, white against red.

Both sides look to Cork O'Connor, a man of mixed heritage, to uncover the truth behind the murders. A former sheriff, Cork has lived, fought, and nearly died to keep the small-town streets and his family safe from harm. He knows that violence is never a virtue, but he believes that it's sometimes a necessary response to the evil that men do. Racing to find answers before the bloodshed spreads, Cork himself becomes involved in the darkest of deeds. As the unspeakable unfolds in the remote and beautiful place he calls home, Cork is forced to confront the horrific truth: Violence is a beast that cannot be contained.

In Red Knife, Krueger gives his readers a vivid picture of racial conflict in small-town America, as well as a sensitive look at the secrets we keep from even those closest to us and the destructive nature of all that is left unsaid between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, friends and lovers.

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An insipid story of small town clashes between whites and indians. Preachy and bland , trying to run with many sub plots.

The Assassin by Stephen Coonts

The Assassin by Stephen Coonts

Synopsis

A tale of deadly international conspiracy and nonstop action from perennial bestselling author Stephen Coonts

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Group of well heeled do gooders finance a global hunt for an Islamic terrorist, find themselves on the run when this is leaked to the terrorist. Lack lustre, insipid.

Quiver by Peter Leonard

Quiver by Peter Leonard

Synopsis

QUIVER is the razor sharp debut from one of the most riveting new voices in crime fiction today--a superbly crafted thriller from the son of the grandmaster of mysteries
Publishers Weekly

Leonard begins his short debut novel with several disparate sequences that, being exposition, don't give reader Scott Sowers much to work with. A new widow recalls telling her husband of her violent escape from eastern Guatemala. A convict gets an early release from an Arizona prison. The widow's memory shifts to her son accidentally killing his father with a bow and arrow. Three sociopaths engage in various criminal activities. Not only are these story shards confusing, the characters are not very engaging, the one exception being a jive-talking, ultra-cool villain named Dejuan, whom Sowers smartly mines for all his much-needed sinister dark humor. Eventually the elements coalesce into a tense kidnap thriller that Sowers delivers with effective energy and pacing. The package includes a conversation between the author and his father, Elmore Leonard, who discusses his famous "10 Rules of Good Writing." Peter should have paid more attention to the one about leaving out the parts that readers tend to skip. A St. Martin's Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 10). (May)
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Debut novel by Peter Leonard (son of Elmore Leonard) about a widow who is targetted for a con by her ex.