Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Click to purchase

The third book in Linwood Barclay’s series set in the town of Promise Falls, New York. All of the people described in the first two books are present and following the patterns set previously. But this novel dives right into a problem never before encountered in the small city and devastating for the people living there. It is Memorial Day weekend and suddenly hundreds of people become sick with flu like symptoms rushing to the hospital, with many dying almost at once. The water supply quickly becomes the culprit and it is found to be so. Who would poison the town’s drinking water and why? Private investigator Cal Weaver starts to look at the situation and investigating who would benefit from this catastrophe and what would be gained by it.

Meanwhile Barry Duckworth, a detective with the Promise Falls police department has another set of problems. A coed at the local college has been murdered. Duckworth sees the same pattern in the homicides of two other women in the past. Strange recent happenings in Promise Falls begin to make sense; bloody mannequins found in car 23 of an abandoned Ferris wheel, a fiery out of control bus with the number 23 on the back and the same designation on the hoodie of a man accused of assault. The number 23 seems to represent the reason for the harm brought to the townspeople with both Weaver and Duckworth looking into the situation as quickly as possible.

Barclay has succeeded in making a variety of people in the stories lifelike, with characteristics that are painstakingly followed through in the three books. All of the principal characters continue to act in accordance with the personalities and interests inherent in them from the beginning. And while the Promise Falls books seemingly were to be a trilogy, some factors coming out in the end of book three point to another novel coming up. I certainly would look forward to reading more books centered around the people and town of Promise Falls in the near future.

11/16 Paul Lane

THE TWENTY-THREE by Linwood Barclay. Berkley (November 1, 2016).  ISBN 978-0451472724. 464p.

Kindle

Click to purchase

Harry Bosch is back and I couldn’t be happier.

In a bit of random weirdness, I had started reading this and got to a bit of history on the 110 freeway when my reading was interrupted by a news alert. There had been a fatal accident  involving a tour bus and a truck – on the 110. Freaked me out a bit.

When we last saw Harry, he was suing the city of Los Angeles for forcing him into retirement. He’s won his suit but made some enemies along the way.

Harry has his private investigator license, but no office. No, he’s not emulating his brother, Mickey Haller, AKA the Lincoln Lawyer, but with his skills and reputation, no office is necessary.

He’s also working as a detective, albeit a volunteer one, for the San Fernando Police Department. The small town has been hit with major budget cuts, leaving only 2 detectives on staff, so the chief is delighted to have someone with Harry’s credentials helping out.

SFPD has a serial rapist on their hands and Harry is making some headway into the case. Nicknamed the “screen cutter” because his MO is to cut open a screen to gain access to the home, he is raping women who keep their menstrual cycles on a visible calendar and attacks when they are at their most fertile – or clean.

On the private side of things, Harry is summoned with a $10,000 check to the home of a steel billionaire. He never married and is quite old, but thinks he may have had a child. He wants Harry to find out if he has any heirs. But billions of dollars are at stake and that could be dangerous.

Connelly is a master of detail; Harry’s time in Vietnam, his relationship with his daughter, now that’s she away at college, and all the fallout from his lawsuit with the LAPD just add more depth to the character.

Harry’s half brother, Micky Haller, has an important part in the story but doesn’t steal the show.

The two plotlines keep the pages turning in this fast paced, beautifully written tale. I can’t remember the last time a Connelly book didn’t make my best books of the year list, and this one certainly will. I read this book in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Michael Connelly is the finest writer today in crime fiction, bar none.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company (November 1, 2016). ISBN 978-0316225946. 400p.

Kindle

Click to purchase

An Andy Carpenter Novel, Book 15

Andy is back along with all his friends, just in time for Christmas. While this book has a Christmassy title and an adorable Christmassy cover, the only thing Christmassy about it is that it is set in December.

That said, fans of the series will be happy with this new read. A friend of Andy nicknamed Pups, due to her fostering dozens of pups as needed, is at first in need of a lawyer when a neighbor complains about the number of animals in her home. Andy defends her and she wins, but then the neighbor is murdered and Pups is the one who finds his body.

Andy springs to her defense, only to learn that Pups is dying and will never live to serve time. Nonetheless, she wants to prove her innocence and Andy is only too happy to help her. Then the plot thickens; Pups’ husband had been killed months earlier along with a local gangster, and it turns out the same weapon was used to kill the neighbor. Now the charges include murdering all three men.

Lots of twists and turns and lots of help from Lori, Marcus, Edna and the rest of the gang make this another enjoyable addition to the series.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by David Rosenfelt. Minotaur Books (October 18, 2016).  ISBN 978-1250106766. 336p.

Kindle

Purchase the e-book

10/16 Paul Lane

THE KILLING GAME by J.S. Carol. Bookouture (October 13, 2016). ASIN: B01LXKJUNR. 359p.

10/16 Paul Lane

CARIBBEAN’S KEEPER by Brian Boland. Warriors Publishing Group (October 11, 2016).  ISBN 978-1944353117.

Kindle

10/16 Paul Lane

TREASON by Newt Gingrich & Pete Earley. Center Street (October 11, 2016).  ISBN 978-1455530441. 384p.

Kindle

Click to purchase

France is again in the headlines when a bus full of British teenagers is bombed. One of the teens on board is Sabina “Bee” Ortley, whose father has recently been suspended from the British police.

Bish Ortley is having a terrible time dealing with his divorce and his job loss, but springs out of his depression and into action, helping hunt down the lead suspect, Violette LeBrac Zidane. Zidane is another teen on the bus, but comes from two generations of bombers causing almost everyone to think she was responsible, but the police believe Violette may have been the target.

The relationships between the teens, their parents, and the police help draw the reader in and make an emotional connection, while the novel moves between different points of view and delves into themes of prejudice, dysfunctional families, and has political overtones as well.

This timely thriller is the popular young adult author Marchetta’s adult debut, and while her fans will easily make the transition with her, she should gain some new adult readers as well.

Copyright ©2016 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL by Melina Marchetta. Mulholland Books (October 11, 2016). ISBN 978-0316349291. 416p.

Kindle

Death Investigator Angela Richman, Book 1

Angela Richman is a death investigator in the upper crust neighborhood known as The Forest. While investigating two very different cases – the death of an elderly bachelor, which Angela is convinced is accidental, and the death of a local teen in a drag racing incident, Angela is virtually crippled by what she believes is a migraine. One serious misdiagnosis and almost three weeks la cocky neurosurgeon. And when the doc that sent her home the first time around is murdered, Angela’s savior is the prime suspect.

While we’ve certainly seen death investigations carried out by medical examiners and such, this new series from Elaine Viets is the first to feature an actual death investigator.

I do love the idea of a death investigator as the protagonist in this series. Frankly, I’m amazed we haven’t actually seen it before. Angela is called to the scene of any death that doesn’t occur under medical care. It’s her job to photograph, collect, and collate evidence that may be linked to the death or help the medical examiner and police in determining cause of death. And While Angela is a respected member of the community, her attention to detail and her unwillingness to let the standing of some of her neighbors affect her investigations definitely creates some tension between her and other local law enforcement. And even while hospitalized and fighting for her life, the investigator still manages to ruffle more than a few feathers.

Interestingly, this first outing is based heavily in Viets’s own experiences back in 2007, when the author (as Angela does) suffered a series of strokes after being sent home under the guise of being “too young and fit to have a stroke.”

Brain Storm certainly isn’t cozy, but I’m sure Viets’s long time fans will find much to enjoy in this darker series first.

10/16 Becky LeJeune

BRAIN STORM by Elaine Viets. Thomas & Mercer (August 2, 2016).  ISBN 978-1503936317. 320p.

Click to purchase

Body Farm Novel, Book 10

In this tenth entry into the popular Body Farm series, forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has a new case.

Bones were found in a field near a tree with a chain attached to it. It is not a complete skeleton, and identification is not going to be easy, but with forensics and some good detective work, Brockton soon realizes that a young man met a gruesome death that was probably a hate crime.

But things get worse before they get better when the serial killer he helped put away escapes from prison, motivated by revenge. On a lighter note, Brockton’s beloved assistant has finally completed her dissertation and is looking for a new job, leaving him bereft.

This is a dark, suspenseful story with enough forensics to please any fan of the genre. The science is fascinating and never slows the story, due to the skill of the forensic/writer partnership known as Jefferson Bass. Fans of Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell should enjoy Without Mercy, as well as the rest of Body Farm series.

Copyright ©2016 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WITHOUT MERCY by Jefferson Bass. William Morrow (October 4, 2016).  ISBN 978-0062363190. 352p.

Kindle

Click to purchase

A Ryder Creed Novel, Book 3

Ryder Creed has an elite K-9 business of search and rescue dogs. Hannah runs the business end and Ryder is the trainer, and that includes training new dog handlers like Jason, an amputee veteran. One of Creed’s dogs finds the body of a young girl who had gone missing, but also finds some dead birds.

There is a new strain of bird flu, and unfortunately it is affecting more than just birds. Homeland Security is after a doctor who has gone rogue and seems to have disappeared into thin air. There are several suspicious deaths, so when an infected person turns herself in, along with a mysterious flash drive, that helps tie everything together.

Creed’s dogs are trained to detect certain cancers and other illnesses, so he is asked to train them to detect the deadly virus, but the government doesn’t seem overly concerned about putting the dogs at risk. There are a lot of moving parts to this fast paced story and Kava brings them altogether by the end. This third book in the Creed series is sure to please fans.

Copyright ©2016 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

9/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

RECKLESS CREED by Alex Kava. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (September 27, 2016).  ISBN 978-0399170782. 336p.

Kindle