November | 2014 | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Bouchercon!

November 12, 2014

I am off to Bouchercon, AKA “Murder at the Beach” in Long Beach, California, the world’s largest mystery convention. This is my first time attending so I’m very excited!

Guests of Honor include Simon Wood, J.A. Jance (love her!) Edward Marston & Eoin Colfer. The fabulous Jeffery Deaver is getting the very well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other authors in attendance include lots of my favorties – Michael Connelly (I’m not stalking him, I swear!) Charlaine Harris, Ivy Pochoda (one of my favorite debuts ever) Linwood Barclay, Gregg Hurwitz, Cara Black, Hank Phillippi Ryan (her latest is one of Library Journal’s best thrillers of 2014,) Laurie R. King, Michael Sears, Barry Lancet, Steph Cha, Sheldon Siegel, Marcia Clark, Duane Swierczynski, and Lee Child (and yes, I am stalking you!)

There are lots more, I’m not kidding – see everyone who is signed up here: http://www.bouchercon2014.com/attendees.php

I will be Tweeting, Facebooking and posting about my experience so stay tuned!

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A DREIDEL by Caryn Yacowitz

November 10, 2014

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Illustrated by David Slonim

Let’s be honest here; as holidays go, Christmas has December covered. Sure, there’s New Years, and we may celebrate it on the eve of December 31st, but the legal holiday falls on the day, January 1.

Then there’s Kwanza and Chanukah. I don’t know a whole lot about Kwanza other than it is a fairly recent holiday. On the other hand, I grew up with Chanukah and still celebrate, so I’m much more familiar with that holiday. So I feel confident when I tell you that books on the holiday, children’s books in particular, are few and far between.

So when I heard about this Dreidel book, I was intrigued. Yes, my kids are beyond the age for picture books, but I’m not and I was delighted to get my hands on this one.

I don’t review many children’s books, but I make a few exceptions. Probably the last children’s book I reviewed was also a Chanukah book, Chanukah Lights, a beautiful pop up art book by Michael Rosen and incomparable Robert Sabuda. Frankly, the Dreidel book is not in that league, but nonetheless it is a fun read and sure to be enjoyed by any family celebrating Chanukah.

The book is based on the children’s classic, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and there are probably dozens of variations and illustrations of that book. But an old lady who swallows a dreidell, well, that is something special!

If you are looking for a Chanukah gift for your favorite child, please consider adding this lovely and fun book to your shopping list. Your recipient will be sure to thank you, in between peals of laughter.

By the way, this year we light the first candle on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at sunset.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A DREIDEL by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by David Slonim. Arthur A. Levine Books (August 26, 2014). ISBN 978-0439915304. 32p.

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COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter

November 6, 2014

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This book is set in Atlanta in 1974. I lived in Atlanta 1964-1968, and as much as I love the city I think Karin Slaughter has fairly accurately portrayed the city as it was at this time.

It was no longer “permissible” to hate Negros , so gays became the new hate target. Changes in the power structure were cataclysmic as black voters gained the majority after the exodus of many whites from the inner city, and so were the reactions of the remaining not less-powerful forces, like the Atlanta Police Department.

Primarily a story of two families – the Lawson’s with three family members on the force, and widow Kate Murphy, whose Jewish heritage is masked by the Irish last name of her late husband.

The story: As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city’s police department, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last. She’s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way—wearing a badge and carrying a gun. But for a beautiful young woman, life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD, where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies. It’s also the worst day possible to start given that a beloved cop has been gunned down, his brothers in blue are out for blood, and the city is on the edge of war.

11/14 Jack Quick

COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter. Delacorte Press; First edition, signed by author. edition (June 24, 2014). ISBN 978-0345547491. 416p.

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BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker

November 5, 2014

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Everyone in Sticks knows to stay away from the swamp. It’s not just the ‘gators and snakes you have to worry about, in this swamp people disappear. Sterling and her brother Phin have been raised to fear it and avoid it at all cost. It was their grandfather after all who helped build the fence that protects the town. But when Phin storms off one morning, heading over the fence and straight into the one place they’ve been told never to go, Sterling fears the worst.

And then someone comes back. Someone – not Phin – climbs back over that fence. That someone is Lenora May, a girl everyone believes is Sterling’s sister. And Sterling is the only one who still recalls Phin was ever part of their lives.

I liked Natalie Parker’s debut, bordering on loved – but not quite. Beware the Wild is a fun premise, but I felt like there should have been more development. The characters were thin and both the small town feel and the overbearing creepiness prevalent in a swamp like this one (can you tell this Louisiana girl is not a fan of swamps?.) were missing.

The Shine, however, was a completely unique aspect to this story and the plot was kind of dark, as a southern gothic should be. In the end, Beware the Wild was entertaining and almost – almost – lived up to its promise.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

BEWARE THE WILD by Natalie C. Parker. HarperTeen (October 21, 2014). ISBN 978-0062241528. 336p.

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THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly

November 4, 2014

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This is the latest Harry Bosch novel, and it is another excellent addition to the series and frankly, I’m running out of superlatives to describe Connelly’s work.

Harry is still working with cold cases, but has a new partner, Lucy, a young Latina woman who has distinguished herself early in her career. Being Harry, he has his doubts about her but is willing to give her a chance.

They are assigned a rather unusual case; a mariachi player had been shot ten years earlier and incapacitated, and the shooter was never found. The man has just died and with the bullet finally extracted, the case has new information available.

Harry and Lucy make a good team. He’s got the investigative skills, and she’s got the techie skills and both are zealous about their work. But when it appears local politicians may be involved, things get “hinky,” as Harry would say.

Harry is getting older and is in his last year of the DROP, a forced retirement program that is costing the Los Angeles Police Department a ton of money. He knows that administration is looking at any excuse to cut people from the DROP and save a few bucks, which just adds to the stress of the job. And for me, seeing Harry so close to the end of his career is bittersweet; I can’t imagine the series ending, so I’m hoping it takes a turn in some way. Harry’s always been so scornful of private investigators, but it is always an option I guess, or maybe more of a merge with the Lincoln Lawyer series? Just speculating…

Michael Connelly is the undisputed king of the police procedural, and The Burning Room is a superlative example.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company (November 3, 2014). ISBN 978-0316225939. 400p.

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BED OF NAILS by Antonin Varenne

November 3, 2014

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Translated by Siân Reynolds

Police lieutenant Richard Guérin works suicides in Paris, a thankless job that has led his predecessors down a rocky road, but he thrives on it. Guérin is a cop with scruples, working in a very dirty division. He has to determine whether it was suicide or murder when an oncoming truck kills a smiling young man running naked down a major thoroughfare.

Another strange suicide case lands on his desk when Alan Musgrave, a junkie, supposedly killed himself on stage in a private S&M club. Musgrave’s friend, American John Nichols, is living off the grid in southern France, but is forced to return to Paris to identify the body. Nichols finds the suicide call suspicious, and ends up working with Guérin on the investigation.

As more bizarre suicide cases land on his desk, Guérin puts his extraordinary puzzle solving skills to the test, finding the common thread that confirms his philosophy that “everything is connected.”

There are lots of interesting characters here, including Guérin’s dim-witted assistant, a Parisian park keeper who also happens to be an ex-con, and a beautiful German artist who covers her naked body in paint and flings herself at canvas. Guérin’s foul-mouthed parrot, inherited from his deceased mother, a former prostitute, adds an occasional lighter moment to this dark police procedural, winner of the Prix Quai du Polar crime fiction award in France.

For readers who enjoy Fred Vargas, the same translator does fine work here.

11/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BED OF NAILS by Antonin Varenne. MacLehose Press (November 4, 2014). ISBN 978-1623651251. 256p.

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THE UNDYING by Ethan Reid

November 2, 2014

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Best friends Jeanie and Ben have chosen the wrong time to visit the City of Lights.

They arrive in Paris on New Year’s Eve jet lagged but looking forward to experiencing everything the city has to offer. The following morning, hung over and not quite rested, Jeanie awakens to witness the building across from her window explode in a hailstorm of fire. Another American in their hotel believes they are experiencing a catastrophic world event in the making: fallout from some sort of asteroid or comet impact. He warns the two that this is only the beginning – that they should gather supplies and find a safe place to ride out what will come next.

As they make their way through the city, the friends quickly realize there’s another aspect to this disaster that their acquaintance didn’t mention. Whatever the impact was, it seems to have had an odd effect on the citizens of Paris. The survivors now find that they’re being hunted by creatures that very much resemble the walking dead.

Ethan Reid’s debut is one of the first releases from the new Simon451 imprint. It’s a nice blend of science fiction and horror that pits a heroine still reeling from the loss of her father against an army of zombies and the end of the world. In other words, it’s pretty darn fun.

The Undying does leave a lot of things in the air. What caused the actual event, what happened in South America, what’s next for Jeanie… fortunately the author’s blog does mention additional titles in the works.

Available as an ebook or audiobook only.

11/14 Becky LeJeune

THE UNDYING by Ethan Reid. Simon & Schuster/Simon451 (October 7, 2014). ASIN: B00K3NEEC4. File Size: 1870 KB.

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Win the November bookshelf of signed thrillers!

November 1, 2014

Can you believe it’s November already? I updated the Win Books page with one of the largest collections of thrillers ever – 15 stellar titles! This month there are NY Times bestsellers, several follow ups, a children’s book and some debut authors.

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg teamed up to create the Fox & O’Hare series, which I really love. The Job is the third entry into this terrific series. The latest Rosato Associates legal thriller, Betrayed, from the fabulous Lisa Scottoline is also available and I loved it. Former CIA agent Valerie Plame is signing her latest, written with Sarah Lovett, Burned.

I am really proud to be offering two of the very prestigous Library Journal’s best thrillers of 2014 – Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan, and My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni. Jon Land brings back the ass kicking, fifth-generation Texas Ranger, Caitlin Strong in Strong Darkness.

Forensic fans will love Close to the Bone by Lisa Black. And paranormal fans will be thrilled with F. Paul Wilson’s Fear City. Diane Fanning is back with Scandal in the Secret City, as is Karen Harper with Forbidden Ground. Peg Kehret offers up the first children’s mystery I’ve ever offered, Dangerous Deception.

Finally, there are four debut authors: Night of the Jaguar by Joe Gannon, the dual debut, Turnabout & Shallow Secrets by Rick Ollerman, Color Blind by Colby Marshall and Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer.

If you are new to the site, each month I run a contest in conjunction with the International Thriller Writers group. We put together a list of books including bestsellers and debut authors, so you can win some of your favorites and find some new favorites.

What makes this contest really special is that all of the books (except eBooks) are signed by the author!

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow this blog, you get an extra entry into every contest you enter.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

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Posted by Stacy Alesi