Former British SAS agent Nick Stone sets his sights on al-Qaida in his fifth adventure (after Last Light), a search-and-capture mission weighed down by excessive detail and a numbing lack of action. Stone, now working for a special antiterrorist U.S. strike team, is assigned to the south of France to choke off al-Qaida's money line. Stone has taken the job reluctantly. He wants to retire, but the CIA has promised him U.S. citizenship and a new life with the woman he loves if he completes the task. On arrival in Cannes, Stone hooks up with two Egyptian sidekicks, and the trio begin tracking down the so-called hawalla, the secret network of underground bankers who finance terrorist operations and compensate the families of those who die in the cause. Specifically, Stone's job is to kidnap three of the bankers and whisk them to a U.S. warship just off the French coast, where they will be interrogated and forced to reveal the origin and destination of their money. As is his custom, Stone takes the beating of his life, but perseveres in the face of overwhelming odds. McNab, a British special forces member for more than a decade, is at his best when the action gets hairy, as it finally does toward the end. Too much of his latest, however, is spent following Stone through the mundane details of mission preparation-staking out locations, following suspects, ruminating about possible scenarios. Instead of biting their nails, readers will be staring at them absently, bored by the colorless plot. Views: 17
A large collection of artifacts is left to the Calleshire museum in the will of a local man once prominent in the British colonial service. But Inspector C. D. Sloan of the local police gets involved when the 3,000 year old mummy case is found to contain a body that's been dead less than a week. Views: 17
The mission is classified… and illegal In the blistering heat of the Sudan, the CIA has gone rogue. On the trail of a notorious terrorist, Agency operatives have overstepped their sanctioned boundaries. And now the ultimate weapon has fallen into the wrong hands. As Danny Freah and his spec-ops team scramble to recover a top secret aircraft that has crashed in Africa, Whiplash Director Jonathon Reid finds himself mysteriously shut off from information about the robot drone and its mission. Maneuvering through the twisted back corridors of the CIA and Washington's power elite, Reid discovers secrets both illegal and highly dangerous ― a virtually unstoppable assassin and an out-of-control clique within the Agency. Torn between loyalty and conscience, Reid must find a way to alert the President and avert a national disaster. But with the Whiplash team caught in the chaos of a brutal African civil war and CIA officials desperate to keep Reid from telling what he knows, a monster re-emerges to target its creators… Views: 17
Life in Henryetta, Arkansas is turned upside down with the arrival of a televangelist, but it’s the death of a little old lady on Rose’s street that catches her attention. The Henryetta police deem her death natural causes, but Rose suspects foul play and so does an unlikely supporter–-the president of the Busy Body Club, her eighty-two year old neighbor Mildred. But Rose is in the middle of opening her nursery with her sister Violet, who’s separated from her husband Mike, as well as stalling her boyfriend Joe’s family, rich socialites who are determined to meet her. Along with her multiple encounters with Fenton County’s new assistant DA, Mason Deveraux III, it’s just another day in the life of Rose Gardner–-chaos. Views: 17
A cold-blooded murderer lures former newscaster Ali Reynolds into a chilling web of online romance—and doom—in this exciting thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of *Hand of Evil *Ex–television journalist Ali Reynolds just wants a break from excitement to remodel her new home. But when the savagely murdered body of stay-at-home mom Morgan Forester is found, Ali’s contractor Bryan is the prime suspect. Bryan swears he has nothing to do with his wife’s murder—but as the investigation progresses, Ali seems to be the only person who believes him. Determined to prove Bryan’s innocence, she logs onto singleatheart.com, a dating site for "married singles," and unknowingly lands herself directly in the path of a calculating killer. With her "trademark breathless pace" (Publishers Weekly), New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance ramps up the suspense as Ali races to decode the actions of a vengeful computer hacker . . . before he uses his wicked website to find her.From Publishers WeeklyAs if remodeling an old mansion near picturesque Sedona, Ariz., isn't stress enough for Ali Reynolds, the plucky former TV newscaster must also deal with cybernetic lonely hearts, frustrated lust and murder in bestseller Jance's uneven fourth Ali Reynolds thriller (after Hand of Evil). After serial killer Peter Winter claims his fifth victim, who happens to be the unfaithful wife of Ali's contractor, Bryan Forester, homicide detective Dave Holman suspects Bryan did it. At considerable personal risk, Ali has to clear Bryan in order to get her house ready for Thanksgiving dinner with her gossipy, meddling mother, Edie; her son, Chris; Chris's amputee fiancée; sometime boyfriend Holman; and the rest of her cozily predictable entourage. A too conveniently noted license plate number and some unlikely Taser-wielding by Edie undermine credibility. Still, Jance's trademark breathless pace compensates for stale situations and shallow characterizations. Author tour. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library JournalStarred Review. American Mystery Award winner Jance's (www.jajance.com) fourth entry in his Ali Reynolds series finds the ex-television journalist defending her contractor when he's accused of having murdered his wife. Ali is mercifully no longer blogging at cutlooseblog.com, a narrative element that weighed down previous books in this series. The text is well written, engaging, and humorous, and the audio production, too, is of stellar quality, with actress Karen Ziemba giving each character a distinct personality. Other factors making this the best series offering to date are the addition of new characters and a tighter plot. Recommended.—Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Views: 17
Martin Zane thought he was all finished with his routine report on the freighter Temoc for Marine Mutual, but the lush blonde suddenly changed his mind. He just couldn't say no to her delicious smile, her shapely figure, or her tiny but deadly gun aimed at the middle of his clean white shirt.Zane realized that a fraud was about to be pulled, but he didn't know how. When he tried to discover what connection the golden Amazon had with his investigation, he realized too late that he had walked into a hornet's nest buzzing with con men and killers ... Views: 17
