Four bodies, each with a single bullet wound in the back of the head, stacked like cordwood in a weed-choked vacant lot: That’s the front-page news facing Carter Ross, investigative reporter with the Newark Eagle-Examiner. Immediately dispatched to the scene, Carter learns that the four victims—an exotic dancer, a drug dealer, a hustler, and a mama’s boy—came from different parts of the city and didn’t seem to know one another. The police, eager to calm jittery residents, leak a theory that the murders are revenge for a bar stickup, and Carter’s paper, hungry for a scoop, hastily prints it. Carter doesn’t come from the streets, but he understands a thing or two about Newark’s neighborhoods. And he knows there are no quick answers when dealing with a crime like this. Determined to uncover the true story, he enlists the aide of Tina Thompson, the paper’s smoking-hot city editor, to run interference at the office; Tommy Hernandez, the paper’s gay Cuban intern, to help him with legwork on the streets; and Tynesha Dales, a local stripper, to take him to Newark’s underside. It turns out that the four victims have one connection after all, and this knowledge will put Carter on the path of one very ambitious killer.Faces of the Gone won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel and the Nero Award for Best American Mystery--it is the first book to receive both awards. The book was named to lists of the year's best mystery debuts by the Chicago Sun-Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. From Publishers WeeklyParks's entertaining debut introduces an appealing hero, 31-year-old investigative reporter Carter Ross of the Newark (N.J.) Eagle-Examiner. When the bodies of four men, each with a single bullet wound in the back of the head, turn up in a vacant lot, Ross doesn't buy the police theory that the quadruple homicide was the result of a bar robbery gone bad. Despite his white upper-class background, Ross works the streets well, if not fearlessly, in his search for a link among the victims. Parks ratchets up the tension by occasionally interjecting the viewpoint of the Director, who orchestrated the slayings. Colorful supporting characters plus Ross's grit and determination keep the story moving at a good clip. Parks, a former print journalist himself, knows his way around a newsroom as the laments for the newspaper industry and the digs at TV reporters attest. Readers are likely to figure out the shadowy Director's identity before the intrepid reporter, but this is a quibble. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistThe murder of a single drug dealer in Newark, New Jersey, barely registers as news; but four bodies, shot execution style in a weedy Newark vacant lot, even attracts the New York media. Carter Ross, investigative reporter for the Newark Eagle-Examiner, begins to pound the pavement, uncovering information that even the cops haven’t found. Then Carter’s modest bungalow in a Newark suburb is bombed, and Carter himself becomes the primary target of the Director, a megalomaniac drug kingpin. Faces of the Gone is an engaging but uneven debut novel by a former reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger. Parks’ writing is graceful and often gripping, and he creates a handful of vivid characters, both journalists and their sources. His portraits of the city and its drug trade, the newspaper, and Carter’s journalistic techniques all sound knowing, though it’s odd that he chose to invent a new federal agency, the National Drug Bureau. Plotting remains something of a problem; his red herrings, in particular, have passed their sell-by date. Still, this could develop into a solid series. --Thomas Gaughan Views: 49
More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA Views: 49
Dealing with business problems and a romantic betrayal leaves Diahann Marshall frustrated. Her sister suggests she order takeout and feast on a handsome delivery boy, but Diahann doesn’t expect the restaurant’s owner to show up at her door.Sun Li believes in a strong work ethic, it’s why he delivers Chinese food when his employees are sick. Meeting lovely customers is a plus, but when Sun realizes Diahann thinks he is a lowly delivery boy he is determined to help save her ice cream parlor, and win h Views: 49
Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who've screwed up a case in any number of ways--by leaving a secret file on a train or blowing a surveillance. River Carter, one such "slow horse," is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself. Is the victim who he first appears to be? And what's the kidnappers' connection with a disgraced journalist? As the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone has his own agenda.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 49
A collection of five erotic stories with mixed and varied themes.Associations by Astrid LAlain promised to make the evening special for her and she wasn't disappointed. It's St Valentine's Day in Paris and there's a new game in town.Charity by Elizabeth CageThey were strangers on a train. Was she really going to lift her skirt for him just because he had told her to? Rachel couldn't remember the last time she had had so much fun.Amour Noir by Landon DixonThe sign in the window said "Man Wanted" and he was just what she was looking for. But who was she? She was a different woman every night. There were three of them on the fantasy rollercoaster , who would be the first to jump off?B & E, & B by Lynn LakeWhen Melissa came home to find an intruder in her apartment she took matters into her own hands. She got way more than she bargained for but was still left wanting more. She could';t wait for her cat burglar to come back.No Surrender by J. CarronHe... Views: 49
Vienna, Austria, 1938Maestoso Petra is a world-famous Lipizzaner stallion. He has spent years in the Spanish Riding School, training to perform the complex airs above the ground that only Lipizzaner can accomplish. But when World War II breaks out in Europe, he learns to think less about performing and more about survival. Here is Maestoso Petra's story . . . in his own words.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 49
In the fourth book from the Agatha Award nominated writing team of D.E. Ireland, famous literary characters Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins find they may have brought trouble with them when they attend a country house party in With A Little Bit of Blood. Views: 49
Harry is in trouble. He's burned down the family kitchen so now has to spend a week of his summer hols with his uncle Tristram - who's heading off to stay with a new girlfriend - Morning Glory - on a tiny British island.Harry doesn't expect it to be a lot of fun - with just a wacky competition at the end of the week to look forward to.He certainly didn't expect to discover all the beards.Or the angel on the mountain.Or the helicopters circling overhead all week.And he definitely didn't think it would be so wet . . . Views: 49
Sparks fly when actor Alec Bannerman meets art historian Peter Leavesley at a London museum gala, but a series of clueless questions and vague answers leaves both men confused. Alec isn’t sure if Peter is gay, and Peter is wary of another relationship after a messy break-up.The stalemate has Alec in emotional turmoil as he is pulled between wanting Peter and fearing the humiliation of rejection, while Peter is fighting specters from the past. If between fear and family they can finally find each other, can they also find forever after? Views: 49
