Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Blossom by Andrew Vachss

Blossom by Andrew Vachss
Book Description
In this savagely convincing novel, Burke finds himself in a fading Indiana mill town, trying to clear a boy charged with a series of sexually motivated shootings. He's intent on finding the real sniper--and his unlikely ally is a beautiful woman named Blossom, who has her own reasons for finding the murderer, as well as her own idea of vengeance.


New York detetective bails out his friend's nephew when he is falsely implicated in a sniper shooting. He goes on a serial killer hunt with help of his friend and a aspiring doctor waitress. From the Burke series.

Rating: 4 Stars

Monday, March 26, 2007

Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger

Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger
From the Publisher
A stunning new suspense novel in William Kent Krueger's prize-winning Corcoran O'Connor series finds the charismatic detective steeped in his most dangerous case to date.

Back on the beat as sheriff of Tamarack County, Cork O'Connor has already seen his beautiful Northwoods jurisdiction through an eventful summer. Now, as the chill of autumn sweeps through the countryside, he's about to face a season of murder, adultery, and deceit that will take him from seedy backwoods bars and humble reservation shanties to the highest and most corrupt echelons of Chicago society.

Lured to the nearby Ojibwe reservation on what appears to be a routine domestic disturbance call, Cork finds himself the target of a sniper's deadly fire. He has little time to worry about his own precarious situation, however. Soon after the shooting, he's called to investigate a mutilated body found perched above the raging waters of Mercy Falls. The victim is Eddie Jacoby, a Chicago businessman involved in negotiating an unpopular contract between his management firm and the local Indian casino.

Now Cork must deal with a high-profile murder contaminated with the blood of the rich and powerful. Sparks fly when the wealthy Jacoby family insists on hiring a beautiful private investigator named Dina Willner to consult on the case. But once Cork discovers an old and passionate tie between one of the Jacoby sons and his own wife, Jo, he begins to suspect that the events in Aurora have a darker, more personal motive than he could ever have imagined.

With his life at stake and the safety of his family in question, Cork must squelch the growing suspicion that another man desperately wants hiswife, and at the same time resist the passion heating up between himself and Dina.

Murder, greed, sex, and jealousy all play a part in the maze of danger and intrigue Cork is caught in. But somewhere, hidden beneath the turbulent depths of Mercy Falls, lie the answers, and Cork is determined to find them.


Small town sheriff is a target for assassination by a connected hood from Chicago who is himself murdered.


Rating: 4 Stars

Crossing the Line by Clinton McKinzie

Crossing the Line by Clinton McKinzie
From the Publisher
Clinton McKinzie writes powerhouse thrillers that are like nothing you've ever read-- novels that crackle with raw emotion and brilliantly explore the nature of risk: the risk that lovers take, adventurers seek, and men and women live with on both sides of the law. In an unforgettable new novel, set against the breathtaking Rocky Mountain landscape he has made his own, the acclaimed author of Trial by Ice and Fire brings back Special Agent Antonio Burns and his renegade brother, Roberto--two men who have chosen very different lives, now coming together to make a treacherous descent into a world of loss, betrayal, and terror.

Antonio Burns is a cop, not a saint. Having earned the scornful nickname "QuickDraw" for a shooting that went very wrong, the Wyoming narcotics agent is fighting for redemption and holding on to his family with all the strength he possesses. His brother, Roberto, is another story. His quicksilver heart, hair-trigger temper, and unquenchable hunger for adrenaline rushes have landed him prison--and make him the right person for an FBI agent with a plan. Agent Mary Chang--cool, collected, and always under control--wants to go after Hidalgo, a murderous drug lord who has moved his operation from Mexico to a Wyoming canyon. In Roberto, Chang has found someone who can penetrate Hildago's heavily guarded crime ranch. And she has found a man who can quickly take her to her own wild side.

Now, while Mary and his brother watch over him, Roberto goes to work for Hidalgo for the promise of a free pass from prison. But Roberto can't stay withany script for long, and soon starts making up the game as he goes along. With Antonio sure that his brother is taking theultimate death trip, and Chang guarding a secret of her own, the perfect plan starts to veer wildly off course. And no one is prepared for the dark forces that are about to engulf them--or the final betrayal that will send them to the dizzying heights and abysmal depths of love and loss. A novel that plunges like a knife, Crossing the Line is vintage McKinzie: brilliant, breathless, and utterly impossible to put down.


Two brothers find themselves in a web of intrigue involving out of favor federal agents and mexicali drug lord.


Rating: 5 Stars

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne

Book Description

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. . . .

A teenage computer prodigy is mortally strangled in Mumbai. A far-right extremist is killed in a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest. A wealthy businessman is murdered in Thailand. A pimp in Brooklyn is found stabbed to death and mysteriously covered by a brown shroud. What connects the victims is an ancient prophecy that leads to the end of the world, and it's up to Will Monroe, a fledgling reporter at the New York Times, to stop it.

But Monroe's investigation quickly makes him some shadowy enemies, who kidnap his wife and hold her hostage in Crown Heights. Desperate to find the link between the killings and to save his wife, he enlists his college sweetheart, TC, an eccentric artist and Kabbalah expert. As the death toll rises, they follow a trail of clues that seems to lead inexorably to a set of ancient texts containing a prophecy that promises to save the world—or to destroy it.

What will happen when the one secret that has kept the world safe for thousands of years is revealed to all? In The Righteous Men, a blistering thriller filled with mystery, romance, and suspense, Sam Bourne takes readers deep into the hidden worlds of fundamentalist religion, mysticism, and biblical prophecies. This is a visionary tale that is as frightening as it is entertaining. Readers won't stop turning the pages until the very end.

Link to Amazon.com: The Righteous Men: Books: Sam Bourne

New York Times reporter uncovers a diabolical plan masterminded by his own father to kill all good men who do good deeds (tzaddikim as per Jewish teachings ) to prove that their teachings are wrong. Reasonably fast paced but not too believable tale. Farfetched tale, tries too hard to be Da Vinci Code.

Rating: 4 Stars

The Devil's Bed by William Kent Krueger

The Devil's Bed by William Kent Krueger  

Book Description

The creator of the critically acclaimed, award-winning Cork O'Connor mystery series presents a haunting, atmospheric conspiracy thriller. Locked in a tight battle for reelection, President Clay Dixon knows his best chance for victory is the popularity of his wife, Kate. But the disenchanted First Lady is about to desert him. When an orchard accident seriously injures Kate's father, a retired senator and former vice president, she returns to the family farm in Minnesota to be at his side. Assigned to protect her, Secret Service agent Bo Thorsen soon falls under Kate's spell. Bo suspects that the accident is part of a trap to lure the First Lady home, a trap set by a man named David Moses, an escaped mental patient who once loved Kate. But although Bo and Moses don't realize it, they're caught in a larger web of deadly intrigue spun by a shadowy, seemingly insignificant bureaucratic department within the federal government itself. Racing to find answers before an assassin's bullet kills Kate, Bo comes to understand that when you lie down with the Devil, there's hell to pay. Both ambitious and compelling, The Devil's Bed is sure to thrill and surprise devotees of Cork O'Connor and win new fans alike.

Source: Amazon.com: The Devil's Bed: Books: William Kent Krueger

Secret service agent foils a conspiracy to kill the first lady.

Rating: 4 Stars

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