Stacy Alesi

SAVING JASON by Michael Sears Giveaway!

January 20, 2016

Click to purchase

A Jason Stafford Novel (Book 4)

I am delighted to offer three advance reader copies of SAVING JASON by Michael Sears!

The latest Jason Stafford novel from Michael Sears, author of the highly acclaimed Long Way Down and Black Fridays.

Jason Stafford used to be a hot Wall Street trader, went too far, and paid for it in prison. Now a financial investigator, he’s been asked to look into rumors of a hostile takeover of his firm, but he has no idea it will turn his whole life upside down. Suddenly embroiled in a grand jury investigation of Mob-related activities on Wall Street, and threatened by some very serious men, he is thrust into witness protection with his young autistic son. And then his son disappears. Has he been kidnapped, or worse? With no choice but to act, Stafford has no choice but to come out of hiding and risk everything to save his son, his firm, his pregnant girlfriend—and himself.

AUTHOR BIO:

Michael Sears’ first novel, the best-seller BLACK FRIDAYS, a thriller with a financial twist, took the Shamus award and was short-listed for the Edgar and three other major awards. MORTAL BONDS, the critically-acclaimed second novel in the Jason Stafford series, won the Silver Falchion at Killer Nashville. Continuing the series, LONG WAY DOWN, was described as “one of the best thrillers of 2015.” SAVING JASON is the fourth in the series (Putnam, February 2, 2016).

Until 2005, Mr. Sears was a Managing Director for two different Wall Street firms, where he worked in the bond market for twenty years and, earlier, in foreign exchange and derivatives. Prior to returning to Columbia University for his MBA, he was, for eight years, a professional actor appearing at the Shakespeare Theatre of Washington (Folger Theatre), Playwright’s Theater of Washington, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, The Comedy Stage Co., and, in the course of a single year, every soap opera shot in New York City.

He is married to the artist, Barbara Segal and is the father of two handsome sons. Born in New York City, he lived for more than twenty years on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and still misses it every day.

To win an advance reader copy of SAVING JASON by Michael Sears, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “SAVING JASON” as the subject. You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by January 31, 2016. Three (3) names will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your prize will be sent by the author’s publicist.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

SAVING JASON by Michael Sears. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (February 2, 2016). ISBN 978-0399166723. 368p. $27.00

Comments Off on SAVING JASON by Michael Sears Giveaway! | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE WINTER GIRL by Matt Marinovich

January 19, 2016

Click to purchase

Scott and Elise have left their apartment in New York to stay at Elise’s childhood home for her father’s final days. The old man’s been sick for some time and Elise’s relationship with him isn’t great but he’s not expected to last long in hospice and so she spends her days there with him seeing to his needs. Meanwhile, Scott isn’t working and spends his own time watching the house next door. It’s empty, abandoned for the season, but the lights go on nonetheless. Every night at the same time on the dot. Boredom and obsession take over and Scott eventually breaks into the house, making a discovery that sets the couple on a crash course of bad mistakes and worse decisions.

The Winter Girl is truly twisted psychological suspense sure to please fans of the darkest of dark thrillers.

Scott and Elise have only been married for a few years but already the shine has worn off of the relationship. There’s a sense of unease between the two of them, sitting just beneath the surface. Part of it is the fact that Scott isn’t working. Part of it is the obvious resentment between Scott and Elise’s father. It takes some time for Marinovich to reveal exactly what’s gone on in the couple’s past. They’re otherwise a very normal couple.

When Scott opens up to Elise about what he’s been doing, at first she’s reproachful about his actions. But then she joins in. And then her father comes home.

The book is full of “and then” moments, each of which leads to more revelations about Scott and Elise and the house next door. There was a point when I honestly wondered if it was all some fever dream born out of Scott’s time alone. A tale he’d woven to keep himself amused as time passes by while they wait for Elise’s dad to pass. That’s definitely not the case, though.

This is a book that will draw some very obvious and appropriate comparisons. I’m hesitant to mention them, however, because I think they border on spoilery. It is a very twisted story, one that begins almost innocently and spirals into very dark territory. Readers who would normally shy away from that type of read should probably go into this one prepared. It went places even I didn’t expect.

1/16 Becky LeJeune

THE WINTER GIRL by Matt Marinovich. Doubleday (January 19, 2016). ISBN 978-0385539975. 224p.

Comments Off on THE WINTER GIRL by Matt Marinovich | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE FOOD LAB by J. Kenji López-Alt

January 18, 2016

Click to purchase

Better Home Cooking Through Science

The trend of food blogs begetting cookbooks is firmly established, and this is one of the better ones. I’m not sure why the blog name, Serious Eats, isn’t more apparent, but nonetheless that is where López-Alt (among others) posts his recipes and revelations, and where this cookbook was born.

There are those who believe cooking is an art, and others, a science. I would think most people think it is both; there is definitely science involved in cooking, but also there is an art to it. This book looks more at the science, and in doing so, creates art.

Every recipe and technique is explained thoroughly, with lots of pictures, thus creating a rather large, heavy book – it clocks in at 960 pages, so you definitely get your money’s worth.

One of the first cookbooks I ever cooked from was my mom’s Good Housekeeping Cookbook, circa 1960-something, and it had all kinds of charts on measurements and conversions. That practice has fallen by the wayside but is revived here, right inside the front cover. There is something to be said for Googling how many tablespoons in 2/3 of a cup, but it is often easier to just look at a book, so this simple thing gets a gold star from me. As does the meat chart, with pictures of different cuts of steaks and all the information you could want about them; where they are cut from, other names for the same steaks, what it tastes like (really!) and of course, the best way to cook it. (My suggestion – go to Bern’s Steak House in Tampa to learn about steaks and what they should taste like.)

The pictures are worthy of special mention, not for the art necessarily, although there are beautiful foodie pics galore. But other pictures, like the eggs boiled at 30-second intervals from 0 to 12 minutes is worth the proverbial thousand words. Pictures showing what happens when you add your onions too soon – burnt onions -are a powerful learning tool. Actual photographs of chicken roughly chopped, finely chopped and pulverized make it easy to see what your results should be – same for the picture of a gelled stock.

The book is divided a bit differently than most cookbooks. The table of contents:

Eggs, Dairy, and the Science of Breakfast
Soups, Stews, and the Science of Stock
Steaks, Chops, Chicken, Fish and the Science of Fast-Cooking Foods
Blanching, Searing, Braising, Glazing, Roasting, and the Science of Vegetables
Balls, Loaves, Links, Burgers, and the Science of Ground Meat
Chickens, Turkeys, Prime Rib, and the Science of Roasts
Tomato Sauce, Macaroni, and the Science of Pasta
Greens, Emulsions, and the Science of Salads
Batter, Breadings, and the Science of Frying

In addition, there explanations of what cooking really is, what kitchen gear you need and what belongs in the basic pantry – all ultimately useful information.

The 20 step-by-step pictures that accompany The World’s Most Awesome Sticky Buns is simply inspiring. The Easy Skillet-Braised Chicken with mushrooms and bacon is a delicious dinner that I don’t mind making after working all day. The Creamy Italian Salad Dressing will have you swearing off bottled dressing forever. The reverse sear method of roasting meat is just genius. But I think my favorite part of this cookbook is Kenji’s voice – he is funny. How can you not love a cookbook that includes, “My wife hates the fact that our apartment always smells like food,” and on cooking fish, “Perfect Fish Tip 7: Just a Kiss on the Backside,” and “I’m a cook by trade but a grinder by nature.”

I love this cookbook.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE FOOD LAB by J. Kenji López-Alt. W. W. Norton & Company (September 21, 2015). ISBN 978-0393081084. 960p.

Comments Off on THE FOOD LAB by J. Kenji López-Alt | Book Reviews, Cookbook, Nonfiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates

January 17, 2016

Click to purchase

This book has been one of the most talked about books of 2015, won the National Book Award and tops many of the best books of the year lists. I’ve put off reading it because I knew it was going to upset me, and it did. But it is, in my humble opinion, one of the most important books of my lifetime. That is a big statement – and it’s true. And it seemed an excellent way to start the new year.

The book is a collection of letters that Coates writes to his 15-year-old son about racism in America. I grew up at the tail end of the 1960’s and into the 70’s with forced busing, free love, and what I sincerely hoped was (and marched for) a significant shift away from the conservative, narrow minded views of middle class America to a brighter, more inclusive future. For a while there, it seemed to be going that way but the past few years America has fallen back – or, maybe, as Coates explains it, it never really went away. Coates insists that racism in America is a permanent fixture, and he is not trying to make it go away, but rather teach his son how to live with it.

American history is explored and explained in a way that is truly eye opening. But it is the use of the body, specifically black bodies, that Coates expounds on that is both terrifying and tremulous, and hopefully continues to provoke much needed conversations.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. The language is lyrical and powerful, the subject matter moving and emotional and important, and the themes all encompassing and worthy of deep discussion.

Buy this book.

For further reading, The Atlantic (where Coates is a regular contributor) has an online book discussion that may be perused. It has ended, but the comments are worth reading.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Spiegel & Grau; 1 edition (July 14, 2015). ISBN 978-0812993547. 176p.

Kindle

Audiobook

Comments Off on BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates | Book Reviews, Memoir, Nonfiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

I AM YOUR JUDGE by Nele Neuhaus

January 16, 2016

A Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein Novel

_{Translated by Steven T. Murray}

This fourth entry in the German police procedurals featuring Detective Pia Kirchhoff and her partner, Oliver von Bodenstein, is a tightly written novel of suspense.

Kirchhoff is recently married and packing for her honeymoon when she gets a call about a murder. Bodenstein can’t get there right away so Kirchhoff fills in. An elderly woman out walking her dog was gunned down in cold blood.

Kirchhoff can’t help but become intrigued when she cannot find any reason for this woman to be killed. The victim is well liked in the community, as is the next victim, another elderly woman who is shot through her kitchen window while cooking with her granddaughter.

The police force is severely shorthanded and it’s easy to see that Kirschhoff married the right man; he completely understands when she cancels their honeymoon to stay and work on the case. A high level profiler is brought in but he rubs everyone the wrong way, offering an occasional break in the tension.

All the characters are well developed and refreshingly imperfect, adding real depth to what could have been just another serial killer story in a lesser writer’s hands. Scandinavian thrillers may be all the rage, but Newhaus is putting Germany on the radar as well.

01/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

I AM YOUR JUDGE by Nele Neuhaus. Minotaur Books (January 12, 2016). ISBN 978-1250071682. 416p.

Kindle

Audiobook

Comments Off on I AM YOUR JUDGE by Nele Neuhaus | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: International, Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi

January 15, 2016

Click to purchase

A riveting story moving over two generations with all the twists and turns needed to make it a completely mesmerizing read.

A night flight from Istanbul bound for Paris with 169 passengers aboard crashes in the Swiss Alps. There is only one survivor. Miraculously, a three month old girl is tossed out of the plane, before flames engulf it and is picked up and cared for by the first responders to the crash scene. But wait, there were two little girls on the plane and since the action begins before the science of DNA testing comes into use, there is no certain way that the girl can be identified. The two families whose girls were aboard claim the child. One is very well off and the other poor.

A judge must decide who the child belongs to, and after much deliberation awards the girl to one of the families. The family that is awarded custody also has two other children, a boy and another girl. Both families continue trying to ascertain who the girl belongs to, the wealthier one engages a private detective and places him on a yearly retainer set up to last eighteen years. Over time complications arise when the girl, and her now brother, discover that they are in love. They dream of marriage in the face of the possibility that they are brother and sister, although their feelings are strong, in truth they are not blood relatives.

The detective continues his search for the answer about whose child it really is, and when it comes into practice gets DNA samples in for testing. Twists and turns are replete in the novel including criminal activity including murder. The answer involves a logical situation not telegraphed in the book. It is a great read and a worthy introduction to a major European writer.

1/16 Paul Lane

AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi. Hachette Books; 1 edition (January 5, 2016). ISBN 978-0316309677. 384p.

Kindle

Comments Off on AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE GOOD GOODBYE by Carla Buckley

January 14, 2016

Click to purchase

Rory and Arden are best friends and almost identical cousins (remember the Patty Duke Show?!) who end up rooming together their freshman year of college. Soon after school starts, there is a fire in their dorm room and the girls end up jumping, both sustaining life threatening injuries and burns.

Arden’s mother Natalie tells her story in alternating chapters with Rory and Arden, so there are three points of view and the truth seems very far away. The families are incredibly close; in fact, Natalie had dated Rory’s father Vinnie before marrying his brother.

Natalie and Vinnie are partners in a restaurant that is having severe financial problems that just intensify when the girls end up in the hospital. Arson is suspected but both girls are unconscious and on life support, so it’s their families that have to deal with the serious repercussions when the cops decide that it may have been Arden who set the fire.

This is a journey through two marriages and a lifelong competitive friendship between the girls, but the mystery of the fire runs through it all. This is for readers who enjoy Jodi Picoult’s family dramas.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE GOOD GOODBYE by Carla Buckley. Bantam (January 12, 2016). ISBN 978-0553390582. 368p.

Kindle

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE SHUT EYE by Belinda Bauer

January 13, 2016

Click to purchase

Bauer writes intense psychological thrillers that move on the backs of her fascinating characters, and her latest is no exception.

Latham is the “shut eye,” a psychic, who is called in desperation to aid in the case of a missing twelve year old girl. Detective Chief Inspector Marvel is a cold, single minded investigator who never gives up, and keeps the case open. Marvel also has a murder to work on, except his superior orders him off the murder investigation to find a missing dog, and Marvel is infuriated.

Meanwhile another child is missing; four-year-old Daniel wandered off after his father accidentally left the front door open. The only evidence is a set of Daniel’s footprints through wet cement which disappear into nothingness, and his mother, Anna, turns those footprints into a shrine. Anna becomes understandably depressed, then agoraphobic and starts sinking deeper and deeper into madness, until she turns to the shut eye herself. Latham won’t help her, but Anna starts getting visions, and it seems all these cases may hinge on those visions.

Bauer is a unique voice in crime fiction who has won awards in the UK; hopefully she will find a wider audience in the US.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE SHUT EYE by Belinda Bauer. Grove Press (January 12, 2016). ISBN 978-0802124852. 304p.

Kindle

3 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE BITTER SEASON by Tami Hoag

January 12, 2016

Click to purchase

The Kovac-Liska Series

This is the latest entry in the popular Kovac-Liksa series, but they are no longer working together for the Minneapolis police homicide unit. Detective Nikki Liska is now working the new cold case squad in hopes of spending more time with her teenage sons.

Detective Kovac is lost without her but learning to deal with a young, green partner on a new case; a brutal home invasion. An Asian studies professor and his wife were killed by a Samurai sword from the professor’s collection.

Liska is assigned a twenty-five year old murder of a highly honored sex crimes detective, and for some reason, his family does not want the case reopened and Liska doesn’t even want it. There is no DNA, which is the primary resource to help solve cold cases, but she is determined to do the best she can anyway, even while envying her old partner his new case.

This is a dark, gritty thriller but Hoag manages to lighten it up now and then with some black humor. A real page turner that is sure to please her legion of fans.

1/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE BITTER SEASON by Tami Hoag. Dutton (January 12, 2016). ISBN 978-0525954552. 416p.

Kindle

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE FIRST ORDER by Jeff Abbott

January 11, 2016

Click to purchase

The Sam Capra Series, Book 5

Sam Capra has been granted ownership by his employers of a chain of bars situated around the world, to be utilized both for expenses and income, as well as an excuse to travel to different areas. He works for a government agency and is a chief operative for them. Capra had previously seen a video of his brother, Danny, shot dead. At that time, he was picked up by the agency employing him and molded into the talented operative that he has become.

Capra has been looking on and off for his brother, not wanting to believe that he is dead. His search now takes him into the inner circle of Russia’s hierarchy, meeting with a group of men that support the corrupt Russian president Morozov. One of these men now wants Morozov killed and on American soil during a meeting there. Circumstances allow Capra to believe that it is his brother Danny that has been hired to assassinate Morozov.

The chase to find Danny, and stop him from killing the Russian leader, results in a worldwide, world wind search going from Pakistan to Brooklyn, New York and into the Caribbean, where the super rich enjoy themselves.

Like all books I’ve read by Jeff Abbott, action is continuous, writing crisp with a believable plot that draws the reader in and keeps him or her glued to the book.

1/16 Paul Lane

THE FIRST ORDER by Jeff Abbott. Grand Central Publishing (January 5, 2016). ISBN 978-1455558414. 400p.

Kindle

Comments Off on THE FIRST ORDER by Jeff Abbott | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: Thriller | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi