"A tremendous talent." —Lee Child The disappearance of a teenage girl in upstate New York sets off a powder keg of accusations, bigotry, and fear—with deadly results—in Suzanne Chazin's stunning new mystery featuring Hispanic police detective Jimmy Vega . . . On a frigid, January night, a blond, blue-eyed high school girl walks out of an English class she tutors for immigrants—and vanishes. Suspicion quickly falls on the men she was teaching, many of whom are undocumented. As disturbing evidence trickles in, news of the incident spreads beyond the scenic town of Lake Holly, New York, unearthing deep-seated fears and enflaming cultural tensions. For county police detective Jimmy Vega, the situation is personal. His girlfriend, Harvard-educated attorney Adele Figueroa, heads the immigrant center where the teen volunteer disappeared. If Vega can't find the girl soon and clear Adele's clients, the place... Views: 17
Baltimore police officer Fia McKee is put on leave for excessive use of force after interfering in a crime that turns deadly. Given a second chance, she is sent to work undercover for the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB) at the Gulfstream Park in Florida, where she works as an exercise rider. Her assignment is to watch and report back on two racetrack workers who have been suspected of illegal activities and whose horses continue to outperform all expectations, winning their owners unseemly amounts of money in the races. To complete her cover story, Fia moves in with her semi-estranged brother, Patrick, who lives near the racetrack. Her investigations are complicated when her niece, Jilly, disappears after a shadow gang takes Jilly's beloved horse. Now Fia must work two angles—first to find out what's really going on with the men who might or might not be gaming the system, and second to bring the men who prey on horses to justice. Along the way, Fia... Views: 17
In this second installment in the acclaimed BLACK series, Artemus Black, Hollywood PI to the stars, dives into the rap music scene to stop a killer - with often disastrous and humorous results. Fans of hard-boiled detective fiction from Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly and Lawrence Block will enjoy Black's trials and tribulations, all delivered with a tongue-in-cheek cynicism that's uniquely Russell Blake. +++ Q&A with Russell Blake Q: Another BLACK novel. How is this different than the first in the series, BLACK? RB: Part of my goal in penning these tomes is to poke fun at the entertainment industry. In the first one, the film industry, in this, the rap music industry. In the forthcoming installment, I'll skewer the modeling biz, and then reality TV. It's probably just the people I know and my sense of humor, but I find the self-importance and hypocrisy in show biz worthy of mockery, and delight in doing my part to rib it. So different set of circumstances, different mystery, and more character development of Black and his entourage. Q: Aren't you worried about offending anyone with these books? RB: Offending? Not in the least. After 30 novels, I've found that there will always be someone who is offended by whatever you put out, someone who will always hate it and rate it terribly or who has an axe to grind, so you can't worry about it. These novels are actually easier because I'm pretty sure who they'll offend, so at least there's some precision to it. Q: How much more BLACK to do you see in your future? RB: I could keep writing these forever. I'll probably slow production to one a year after the first three or four, because I have to be in a very specific mood to write 'em - completely different than, say, when I write an adventure thriller or one of my Assassin or JET novels. I have to be smirking and feeling snarky and amused by the folly of my fellow man, and that requires that I have some time to follow the news and popular culture. Which I have little of, mostly due to my production schedule. So I'll write 'em as they come to me, and God help us all.**Review**USA Today Bestselling Author As Seen in The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and The Times!* "A sadistically good writer." *- The Kindle Book Review "Russell Blake writes with a brisk intensity and pulse-pounding power. Jump in and hang on for a nonstop thrill ride." - Scott Nicholson, Liquid Fear "Blake at his best!" - Steven Konkoly, Black Flagged Redux, Black Flagged, The Jakarta PandemicAbout the AuthorFeatured in The Wall Street Journal, The Times, and The Chicago Tribune, Russell Blake is The NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of over forty novels, including Fatal Exchange, The Geronimo Breach, Zero Sum, King of Swords, Night of the Assassin, Revenge of the Assassin, Return of the Assassin, Blood of the Assassin, Requiem for the Assassin, Rage of the Assassin, The Delphi Chronicle trilogy, The Voynich Cypher, Silver Justice, JET, JET - Ops Files, JET - Ops Files: Terror Alert, JET II - Betrayal, JET III - Vengeance, JET IV - Reckoning, JET V - Legacy, JET VI - Justice, JET VII - Sanctuary, JET VIII - Survival, JET IX - Escape, JET X - Incarceration, Upon A Pale Horse, BLACK, BLACK Is Back, BLACK Is The New Black, BLACK To Reality, BLACK In The Box, Deadly Calm, Ramsey's Gold,and Emerald Buddha. Non-fiction includes the international bestseller An Angel With Fur (animal biography) and How To Sell A Gazillion eBooks In No Time (even if drunk, high or incarcerated), a parody of all things writing-related. Blake is co-author of The Eye of Heaven and The Solomon Curse, with legendary author Clive Cussler. Blake's novels have been translated into German, Spanish, Bulgarian, and Czech. Blake writes under the moniker R.E. Blake in the NA/YA/Contemporary Romance genres. Novels include Less Than Nothing, More Than Anything, and Best Of Everything.
Having resided in Mexico for a dozen years, Blake enjoys his dogs, fishing, boating, tequila and writing, while battling world domination by clowns. His thoughts, such as they are, can be found at his blog: RussellBlake.com Views: 17
A mammoth twister tears through the sleepy town of Promise, Oklahoma, and leaves behind three mutilated bodies in a ravaged farmhouse. Police Chief Charlie Grover believes the victims were impaled by flying debris...until gruesome evidence comes to light, proving that they were brutally murdered. How could the killer predict exactly when and where a tornado would strike and use it to cover his tracks? With the aid of a tornado-chasing scientist, Charlie delves into a high-tech, high-risk search for a cunning criminal-one who may be stalking Charlie and his own daughter. For this is a predator unlike any other: one who conspires with the ferocious power of nature to commit and conceal unspeakable crimes.From Publishers WeeklyBlanchard's gripping second thriller follows a smalltown police chief's pursuit of a serial killer who strikes only during tornadoes, but the "Debris Killer" is only one of the highlights of this fast-moving shocker, which also features the keen characterizations and fine atmospherics of the author's first thriller, Darkness Peering. Charlie Grover, Blanchard's sympathetic hero, lives in Promise, Okla., deep in "Tornado Alley." Recently widowed, Charlie is the physically and emotionally scarred survivor of a childhood fire that killed his mother and sister, and the father of a sweet 16-year-old daughter enchanted by a teenage storm-chaser ("the kind of troubled youth who gave troubled youths a bad name"). After Promise is hit by a severe tornado, Charlie discovers three bodies in a house with only minor damage. Their deaths are particularly gruesome-mother, father and daughter have all been impaled by flying debris; the father is "stuck like a pin cushion"-and Charlie quickly realizes that this is not the work of a storm. The bodies display defensive wounds and, worse, the killer's "signature": each has had a tooth extracted and replaced with another tooth. Charlie seeks the help of spunky scientist Willa Bellman, who introduces him to the art of storm-chasing ("heroin for the heartland") and slowly reawakens his heart. As tornado season comes on, more victims are discovered, and Charlie begins to suspect someone very close to him, before the murderer leads him on a final terrifying chase that will have readers gasping. Blanchard makes a bold move by linking her villain to tornadoes-each such powerful forces of destruction and chaos-and while it's a little far-fetched, it pays off in this dark depiction of environmental and human turmoil.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistPromise, Oklahoma, may not be much, but it is ground zero for storm chasers, an eccentric mix of meteorologists, amateur scientists, and plain-old crazies who stalk tornadoes like kids stalk ice-cream trucks. Police chief Charlie Grover is assessing the damage from a recent storm when he discovers the Pepper family. Husband, wife, and teenage daughter all killed--presumably storm victims, but Grover suspects a serial killer among the storm chasers. In the background is widower Grover's struggle with single parenthood and his new romance with a scientist fascinated by violent storms. The first two-thirds of the novel are excellent as Grover sifts through forensic evidence and desperately tries to profile a killer who hides among the chaos of tornados or may even have his killing rage released by the storms. The extended conclusion screams "big-budget movie" (rights have already been sold to a major studio) and runs counter to the moody thoughtfulness of the rest of the book. On balance, it's a well-crafted thriller, but it could have been better. Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 17
Ann Ripley's horticultural heroine, Louise Eldridge, enchanted mystery lovers of all varieties in Death of a Garden Pest and Mulch. Now she returns in a witty new tale of muckraking, murder, and deeply buried--and very dangerous--secrets. Louise's TV show, Gardening with Nature, has made her a celebrity, sweeping her from lawn-mower commercials all the way to the president's National Environmental Commission. Not that Louise is about to get her hands dirty in the mudslinging campaigns of an election year. As usual, her main concerns are right in her own backyard.Here, in Washington's suburban Sylvan Valley, she is subject to an unwelcome infestation of houseguests that threatens to crowd out her houseplants. Least welcome of all are three bossy busybodies in town for the Perennial Plant Society convention, who fete Louise as official "Plant Person of the Year" but press her to slash back the sweetgums and swamp oaks that give her beloved garden its pristine air.Her grin-and-bear-it mood is lightened, however, by the arrival of an old flame. Twenty years ago, in the first bloom of youth, Louise fell heavily for Jay McCormick's crooked smile and crusading charm. Now, he's an investigative journalist looking worriedly over his shoulder. Jay confides that he's come on two distinct undercover missions. One is to ensure that his ex-wife, a high-powered political lawyer, doesn't cheat on the rules for custody of their young daughter. Around the other, he raises an impenetrable thicket of secrecy.But Jay's cover is blown when he surfaces, a nibbled corpse, in a neighbor's ornamental fishpond. Who put him there? And what was the mysterious story he was investigating? Only Louise can unearth the trail that leads from a missing computer to a pistol-packing intruder trampling her purple-spotted toad lilies to evidence hidden where only a hardcore gardener could find it. Soon she's digging up enough dirt--social, marital, and political--to uproot some of Washington's top players...if she doesn't get herself nipped in the bud first.Ripening suspense, a thorny plot, and plenty of gardening tips make Death of a Political Plant a perfect bouquet of murder, mystery, and mayhem. Views: 17
For Detective Jake Daggers, ‘formal attire’ means spritzing
his leather jacket with cologne, so when a prospective vice case calls for a
tuxedo, he’s understandably hesitant. But the thrill of high stakes poker and
an all-expenses-paid trip on a luxury cruise liner beckon—as does the
possibility of spending time alone with his beautiful and brilliant half-elf
partner, Shay Steele.
Unfortunately, things are never what they seem… No sooner
have Daggers and Steele set sail than the supposedly simple vice case takes a
decidedly deadly turn.
Now they must battle on two fronts, trying to uncover a
poker cheat while unraveling a tangled web of murder and lies. With suspects
cropping up at every turn, a straightforward conclusion may not be in the
cards. For Daggers and Steele to have any hope of building a winning hand,
they’ll have to swallow their fears and remain STEELE-FACED.
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"You are not wanted here. Go away from Hallstead Island or you will be very sorry you stayed." Macy Stoddard had hoped to ease the grief of losing her parents in a fiery car crash by accepting a job as a private nurse to the wealthy and widowed Alexandria Hallstead. But her first sight of Hallstead House is of a dark and forbidding home. She quickly finds its winding halls and shadowy rooms filled with secrets and suspicions. Alex seems happy to have Macy's help, but others on the island, including Alex's sinister servants and hostile relatives, are far less welcoming. Watching eyes, veiled threats. . .slowly, surely, the menacing spirit of Hallstead Island closes in around Macy. And she can only wonder if her story will become just one of the many secrets of Hallstead House. . .** Views: 17
