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Six friends at Pitt started a game their freshman year. By the time the year came to an end, only five of them remained. But the game didn’t end there. Over a decade later it’s time for the next round to begin and this time they’ll have to play to the finish.

Christopher J. Yates’s debut is full of suspense and charged atmosphere.

First there is the game: one of dares and humiliation – what could go wrong there, right? Of course the stakes have to get higher to ensure the game doesn’t lose momentum and the “friends” begin to wonder if they were ever friends at all.

But Yates also tells the tale in a dual storyline – one from the characters’ freshman year and one fourteen years later. The identity of narrator in the present day thread is quite cleverly hidden from the reader initially. And when that person is revealed the reader begins to realize just how unreliable he or she may be.

Both the elements of the game and the way Yates’s characters play out make Black Chalk a deliciously wicked read, one that leaves the reader on edge right until the very last page.

5/14 Becky Lejeune

BLACK CHALK by Christopher J. Yates. Random House UK (April 1, 2014). ISBN 978-1846557286. 352p.

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After a five year hiatus due to a horrific auto accident, Greg Iles returns with what is undoubtedly his masterpiece, a book that is announced as the first of a trilogy.

Iles uses the Cage family, featured in many of his novels, as the vehicle to tell a monumental story of the old south from the 1970s until about the Katrina hurricane. Penn Cage’s father, Tom has been a doctor ministering to both whites and blacks for many years. He had, in the past, a short lived affair with his Afro American nurse, Viola Turner, who rather than compromising Tom’s marriage left the area to move to Chicago. Viola was raped by men belonging to a secret group within the Ku Klux Klan before leaving Mississippi for Chicago. Many years later she was dying of cancer. She returned to tell Tom and others that she had had a child in Chicago.

The question later arises if the child is Tom’s or as a result of the group rape. Viola dies and examination indicates that she did not pass away as a result of the cancer. Enemies of Tom Cage accuse him of murder citing the possibility of a mercy killing to ease Viola’s pain.

Penn Cage, the mayor of Natchez, takes on the task of proving that his father is not guilty of any crime, and in undertaking the investigation opens up a long history of criminal activity, including murder by the “Double Eagles,” the group within the KKK led by one of the richest and most powerful men in Mississippi. Iles takes us into an era when blacks were second class citizens and crimes against them were not considered in the same vein as against whites. Complete segregation was enforced by hate groups openly pursuing the practice and it appears that Penn’s task will involve opening the past in order to prove his father innocent of murder.

Natchez Burning is over 800 pages in length but proves to be completely engrossing, forcing the reader to continue reading far into the night. The book solves several problems, first of which is to prove Tom Cage innocent of murder but leaves many other details for the second and third book. This novel can be read as a stand alone, and is very satisfying as is, but does leave room for the other areas to be detailed in the following novels. Great book, extremely well done and certainly a return to normal for Iles.

4/14 Paul Lane

NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles. William Morrow (April 29, 2014). ISBN 978-0062311078. 800p.

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Hilary Blum, a divorced mother of a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, has just lost her job. Unable to force her ex-husband to pay her many expenses, she is at her wit’s end when she witnesses a freak accident in which a deer darts in front of the car in front of her, forcing the vehicle off the road. She runs down to the scene of the crash, finding the driver dead and next to him on the front seat, a satchel filled with money.

Suddenly caught between her inherent honesty and the need for money she throws the satchel out of the car into a dense group of trees to possibly come back for it. The amount of money in the bag could probably solve her financial problems immediately and also allow her to help her parents, who coincidentally have run into financial woes. Her decision to keep it plunges her into a maze of unforeseen consequences starting with a 20 year old murder, problems with the Russian Mafia, and into the company of a New York City detective that by coincidence has ties to the funds.

Gross ponders the subject of callous and unemotional kids which weighs heavily in the details of the novel. While he does not suggest that actions be taken to find these children and treat them, he does describe their abnormal reactions to people and situations in telling the story. The book is typical of Gross, well thought out, fleshed out characters and a plot that grabs and holds the reader. Well done, and awaiting his next novel with interest.

4/14 Paul Lane

EVERYTHING TO LOSE by Andrew Gross. William Morrow (April 22, 2014). ISBN 978-0061656002. 336p.

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Economic collapse led folks to place blame at the feet of the elderly and infirm. They’ve been deemed to be a burden on society, not contributing enough to benefit and—in the eyes of some—draining limited resources. And so the Island came to be. Life on the Island means almost certain death. With the satellites constantly watching there is no hope for escape and the factions that inhabit the Village and the Camp fight daily for scarce food and supplies. But the real danger comes when the fog rolls in, leaving the satellites temporarily out of order. On those nights, the people in the Village hide in fear, hoping beyond all hope that they can escape the inevitable attack coming from the Camp.

“Big Guy” Clancy was a heavy for the mob once upon a time but having outlived his usefulness he, along with many others, was sent to The Island to live out the rest of his days. He’s accepted his fate, essentially giving up all hope, but when Big Guy meets Lena all of that changes.

Peter Liney’s debut is an incredibly scary premise and one that’s honestly (or sadly) a bit too believable for comfort. The advances in technology are certainly possible—eyes in the sky on constant watch and responsible for law and order—and even the awful degeneration of society has been a common theme in futuristic storylines for decades. In fact, in some ways The Detainee reminded me of Escape From New York.

I quite enjoyed The Detainee, as disturbing as it was. Clancy is a unique hero and all of his cohorts have interesting backstories. This is the first in a projected trilogy, too. I don’t want to give anything away but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what will come next in this world.

4/14 Becky Lejeune

THE DETAINEE by Peter Liney. Jo Fletcher Books (March 11, 2014). ISBN 978-1623651084. 352p.

Italian carabinieri Captain Valentina Morassi is back along with her romantic interest, ex-priest Tom Shaman (The Venice Conspiracy) as they try and solve a mysterious case that starts with a severed hand found in the famous carving of Bocca della Verita, the “Mouth of Truth,” in Rome.

A woman is found nearby, covered in blood and carrying an ancient sword, but she cannot help; she suffers from multiple personality disorder and the blood on her clothes does not match the bloody hand.

As Valentina and Tom try to find answers, they discover a secret cult of women held prisoner in catacombs underneath the Eternal City, eunuchs, ancient symbols, and dismembered bodies. Tom is able to shed some light on the religious aspects of the case, and Valentina has to deal with all this horror without support from her boss.

Brutality is rampant in this historical religious thriller, but the characters are not fully developed and the pacing is erratic, slow through the first half, faster towards the end. Recommended for readers who enjoy James Rollins, Steve Berry, and Dan Brown. Originally published in the UK under the pseudonym Jon Trace.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE ROME PROPHECY by Sam Christer. Overlook Hardcover (January 9, 2014). ISBN 978-1468301090. 368p.

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When a suburban wife and mother is murdered in her home, DCI Karlsson and his team are sure it must have been a burglary gone bad. They even have a suspect in hand. But when they discover their perp has a solid alibi for the time of death they’re essentially back to square one. That is until they begin to discover the murdered woman’s secrets. Ignoring orders, Karlsson once again brings Frieda Klein in to consult, but this time Frieda is working on a mystery of her own.

Hal Bradshaw, the official consultant for the police, has been none too pleased with Frieda showing him up. In what seems to be a growing vendetta against her, Bradshaw helms an investigation into therapists’ practices, sending fake patients out to Frieda and a number of other therapists throughout London. Rather than get angry, Frieda becomes curious about one of the pieces of the fake patients’ stories. Sure it could be a holdover from nearly dying, and it could be a needed—but created—distraction on her part, but as she traces the story further to its source Frieda becomes more certain there’s something to her inquiry.

This series really does keep getting better and better with each new installment.
Waiting for Wednesday picks up in the wake of Tuesday’s Gone with Frieda having returned home to continue recuperating from her wounds. Karlsson and his team have been sworn off consulting with Frieda, an order they soon ignore especially when they find out their murder victim’s son is friends with Frieda’s niece. The fact that Bradshaw has proven that he’s not only fairly useless but that he’s more focused on revenge against some interpreted wrong Frieda has done against him further convinces Karlsson to avoid all dealings with him.

What makes this series stand out is the continued progression in the characters’ stories. Each new installment features a new mystery but also continued growth of each individual character.

4/14 Becky Lejeune

WAITING FOR WEDNESDAY by Nicci French. Pamela Dorman Books (April 3, 2014). ISBN 978-0670015771. 384p.

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Evan Stoess graduated from one of the best prep schools in the country, courtesy of an absent father who left him with an abusive alcoholic mother and stepfather, and a full scholarship. But despite a stellar education, Evan always felt like an outsider, and lived with the nickname “Kmart” for years.

When he lands the job of his dreams as a stock analyst and picks a winner, he is riding on top of the world – until the CEO of the company dies, plunging the stock price into the cellar and costing Evan his job. A few months later, he finds a new job, this time with a company that shorts stocks, betting they will falter. Once again Evan is riding high until he’s not – and he realizes that if this CEO dies, that will work in his favor.

Murder is now an option, and if he gets away with it, there will be no stopping him. Stoess is a sympathetic character despite his murderous ways, making this financial thriller an emotional rollercoaster of a read. Fans of Christopher Reich and Joseph Finder will love this debut.

Copyright ©2014 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

EAT WHAT YOU KILL by Ted Scofield. St. Martin’s Press (March 25, 2014). ISBN 978-1250021823. 304p.