SNIPER’S HONOR by Stephen Hunter

August 3, 2014

Click to purchase

Bob Lee Swagger’s war was Vietnam and now the former sniper has been out of the game a long time, and, sadly, nothing has ever replaced what he’s appalled to call the killing fever.

Then his friend Kathy Reilly, Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post, sends Bob an e-mail asking for his help in researching a story about legendary WWII Russian sniper Ludmilla Milli Petrova, whose name mysteriously disappeared from the historical record around 1945. Why was she expunged from both German and Russian records? Will Swagger help Reilly track the story?

As Swagger and Reilly slowly unravel Milli’s past they discover that, even 70 years after the fact, there are still people who don’t want the story told.

Perhaps most memorable of all, though, is Hunter’s vivid re-creation of the carnage on the Eastern Front, where, as Milli notes, the Russians’ only advantage over the Germans was numbers: If they kill us five to one, we bring six to one . . . we shall prevail because, all things being equal, we can outbleed them. May be Hunter’s best ever.

8/14 Jack Quick

SNIPER’S HONOR by Stephen Hunter. Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (May 20, 2014). ISBN 978-1451640212. 432p.

Comments Off on SNIPER’S HONOR by Stephen Hunter | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

BLISS HOUSE by Laura Benedict

August 2, 2014

Click to purchase

Almost everyone in Old Gate can agree that there’s something very wrong with Bliss House. It has a history that’s marred by tragedy, but Rainey Adams doesn’t set any stock in such matters. It’s just a house. The recent incident didn’t even occur in the house itself, but outside on the grounds. And it’s exactly that incident that put Bliss House in Rainey’s budget.

The move to Old Gate is a much-needed fresh start for Rainey and her teenage daughter and Bliss House is the kind of project any interior designer can lose themselves in. It’s exactly what Rainey needs to distract herself from the tragic loss of her husband. But it’s Ariel Rainey hopes will really benefit from the move. The accident that claimed her father’s life also left the girl physically scarred and disfigured. As a result she’s become more sullen with each passing day, even going so far as to refuse to leave the house.

At first, Ariel has mixed feelings about the move: sure it’s an escape from her past but she resents her mother’s efforts. It doesn’t take long for Ariel to warm to their new home, though. She feels a connection to the house and is certain that since moving in her scars have begun to fade and her limbs have begun to strengthen. But Bliss House is changing Ariel in other ways as well. As the house begins to reveal its secrets to the teen, Rainey realizes that Bliss House may not be the salvation she’d once hoped it would be.

Laura Benedict’s latest is just the first of what I hope will be many Bliss House stories to come.

Bliss House features a bit of a dual storyline. Benedict kicks it off with Allison, a young girl newly involved with a young man named Michael. Their budding relationship is anything but rosy, though, and Allison soon finds herself Michael’s prisoner. Decades later Rainey – a Bliss by blood – arrives to once again lay claim to the historic family home. It comes as no surprise then when Benedict quickly reveals to the reader that Rainey had a cousin named Michael who’s been missing for quite some time.

As the story unravels Benedict spins a web of sex and seduction, madness and murder, and love and loss. It’s a haunted house story with many layers, all of which come together to make Bliss House a chilling and atmospheric read.

8/14 Becky Lejeune

BLISS HOUSE by Laura Benedict. Pegasus (June 15, 2014). ISBN 978-1605985725. 400p.

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction, Horror | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

August bookshelf

August 1, 2014

157499169

UPDATE: 2 more books to win! See breaking news below.

I updated the Win Books page for August with some terrific new thrillers! As usual, there are NY Times bestsellers, solid storytellers and some newbies.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s new Cainsville series continues with Visions. You won’t want to miss Don’t Look Back by Greg Hurwitz – David Baldacci said “Once you read the first page, you will keep ripping through pages until there are none left.”

I love John Florio’s incredibly damaged mixed-race albino character, Jersey Leo, and he’s back in another hard-boiled thriller in Blind Moon Alley. Kelli Stanley will once again mesmerize readers with the most thrilling novel yet in her award-winning series, City of Ghosts.

Nancy J. Cohen adds another terrific paranormal romance to her Drift Lords series with Warrior Lord, where a fantasy wedding in Las Vegas turns into a nightmare when contest winner Erika Sherwood realizes she’s married an alien.

I’m proud to offer up a couple of debut thrillers –  Ice Shear by M.P. Cooley and BLOCK 10 by Stacy Childs & David Niall Wilson.

Breaking news: USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub is offering her twenty-first thriller, The Perfect Stranger. And finally, one more debut novel is available, Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti by newcomer Ted Oswald.

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!

3 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

Deep Down, a Jack Reacher Story by Lee Child

July 31, 2014

Click to purchase

I admit it, I’m a “Reacher Creature,” one of the millions of Lee Child fans. He is now writing faster than ever, but 2 books a year isn’t enough. So he’s also turning out occasional Jack Reacher short stories. These are available as downloadable ebooks or audiobooks for very little money – $1.99 for the Kindle version.

This one is set in the 1980’s and has Reacher called into Washington D.C. to find out who is selling information about new sniper rifles. He is asked to go undercover as an Army sniper and sit in on a Congressional hearing.

Being Reacher, he outsmarts everyone and outfights everyone. What’s not to like?

A new story, Not a Drill: A Jack Reacher Short Story (Kindle Single) is now available as well.

 

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

Deep Down, a Jack Reacher Story by Lee Child. Delacorte Press (July 16, 2012). ASIN: B008ED5G9A. File Size: 1148 KB. Print Length: 44p.

Comments Off on Deep Down, a Jack Reacher Story by Lee Child | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

DEAR DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Little

July 31, 2014

Click to purchase

Former celebrity Janie Jenkins gets out of jail on a technicality after serving ten years for killing her society mother. She doesn’t remember doing it, and she didn’t like her mother very much, but once out, she’s determined to find out what really happened.

Janie’s smart but she also has a smart mouth, which tends to put people off. She has her attorney Noah on her side, but she has a hard time telling him – or anyone else – the truth. Meanwhile tabloid reporter Trace is after her, convinced she’s guilty and willing to put his money where his mouth is, offering a large reward for her whereabouts.

Jenkins starts digging into her mother’s past, which leads her to Ardelle, South Dakota, a small town filled with small town secrets and a cast of quirky, sketchy characters, including a suspicious police chief, but Janie keeps them all guessing. It seems that the more she finds out, the more she needs to find out as the mystery deepens with every passing page.

Janie is an unusual protagonist but readers who favor strong, smart women will be intrigued.

 

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

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DEAR DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Little. Viking Adult (July 31, 2014). ISBN 978-0670016389. 384p.

Comments Off on DEAR DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Little | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

Guest Blogger: Mike Bond

July 30, 2014

Click to purchase

Please welcome my guest blogger today, Mike Bond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOLY WAR by Mike Bond

The Battle of Beirut is worse than hell, a maelstrom of implacable hatred and frantic love affairs, of explosions, sniper battles and deadly ambushes. Neill, a journalist on a secret mission for Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, is trying to find Mohammed, a Hezbollah terrorist who could stop the slaughter.

André, a French commando, is also hunting Mohammed, to kill him for the death of his brother, blown up with more than 400 US Marines and French paratroopers by Hezbollah. For Rosa, a remorseless and passionate Palestinian guerrilla, Mohammed is one of few hopes for her people and she will die to protect him. And for lovely Anne-Marie, André is the only one who can save her from hell.

Based on the author’s experiences in Lebanon, Syria and the Middle East, HOLY WAR has been praised for its portrayal of civil war, and for its evocation of men and women caught in a deadly crossfire.

About the author:

Mike has been called the “master of the existential thriller” by the BBC and “one of the 21st century’s most exciting authors” by the Washington Times. He is a bestselling novelist, environmental activist, international energy expert, war and human rights correspondent and award-winning poet who has lived and worked in many remote, dangerous parts of the world and has called more than 30 countries “home.” His critically acclaimed novels depict the innate hunger of the human heart for what is good, the intense joys of love, the terror and fury of battle, the sinister conspiracies of international politics and multinational corporations, and the beauty of the vanishing natural world.

If you’d like to win a copy of HOLY WAR…

Send an email to contest@gmail.com with “HOLY WAR” as the subject. You must include your snail mail address in your email.

All entries must be received by August 15, 2014. One (1) name 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. 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.

Holy War by Mike Bond. Mandevilla Press (March 6, 2014). ISBN: 978-1627040143. 434p.

Comments Off on Guest Blogger: Mike Bond | Guest Bloggers | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE SEA GARDEN by Deborah Lawrenson

July 30, 2014

Click to purchase

Three interconnected stories make up this lush and intriguing latest from The Lantern author Deborah Lawrenson.

Ellie Brooke is looking to really make a name for herself and her garden design business. The restoration of an historic garden on the island of Porquerolles could be just the thing to really get the attention the business needs. But when Ellie meets the family that wants to hire her, she realizes that the job is more complicated than it seems.

In WWII Provence young Marthe has been apprenticing at the Distillerie Musset. Things are changing in their little village and Marthe knows that it’s the result of the war. The Mussets have taken Marthe into their home, offering her shelter and a job, so she feels a certain amount of guilt in suspecting that they are keeping things from her. The truth, that the Mussets are part of the growing resistance in France, could put everyone around them at risk.

Like many of the young women in England, Iris wanted to join up and help the war effort. She’d planned to sign on as a Wren – the Women’s Royal Naval Service – but was recommended for the Special Operations Executive instead. From their office in London, Iris and her colleagues run a specialized spy ring in France. When Iris meets and falls for an operative who later goes missing, though, her job takes her well beyond 64 Baker Street.

These three women and their stories intertwine to become one larger tale in The Sea Garden. There’s even a nod to The Lantern as well, though it’s not at all necessary to have read it beforehand.

I loved the idea of the connected novellas. Each tale is its own all-encompassing story but there are some mysteries as well. The answers to those mysteries come only in completing the book as a whole.

7/14 Becky Lejeune

THE SEA GARDEN by Deborah Lawrenson. Harper (June 24, 2014). ISBN 978-0062279668. 320p.

Comments Off on THE SEA GARDEN by Deborah Lawrenson | Book Reviews, Fiction, Women's Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarty

July 29, 2014

Click to purchase

Wow!

My first Moriarty book was What Alice Forgot, a fast, entertaining read with memorable characters and an unusual story. Then I picked up The Husband’s Secret, and saw that she really stepped up her game. Big Little Lies is her latest and it appears that Moriarty just keeps upping the bar.

The book opens at a school event for parents in the small beach town of Pirriwee, Australia – but it could be Any Town, USA, too. This costume event – all the parents are dressed as Elvis Presley or Audry Hepburn, is part of  a Trivia Night fundraiser for the public elementary school. The drinks are strong and the food hasn’t arrived yet, so everyone is getting drunk and having a good time, that is until someone dies. The police are called, and then we are left hanging – the story moves back in time to six months earlier.

Sprinkled throughout the pages are little snippets from the police interviews, with parents gossiping about everything that’s gone on that semester. This is black comedy at its best, and the story moves back towards the day of reckoning with lightning speed.

At its heart, this is a story is about bullying. On the first day of school, Amabella (not a misspelling) accuses Ziggy of trying to choke her, and has the bruises to prove it. Ziggy and his very young, single mom Jane have just moved to this small town and he instantly becomes the class pariah. The parents all take sides, with the emotional Madeleine and the super wealthy Celeste forming the Jane triumverate, and the “blonde bobs,” a group of helicopter moms with identical haircuts, taking the other side.

The perfect Celeste is in a deeply troubled marriage, but no one knows. Madeleine’s teenage daughter (from her first marriage) is pulling away from her and towards her new stepmother, the eternally calm, yoga loving Bonnie. And Jane is running away from something.

There are so many secrets in this small town, the malicious gossip is scintillating and  neverending, and the characters are fraught with all the foibles we’ve come to expect from Moriarty. The way she builds almost unbearable suspense is simply magical, especially as we don’t even know who dies until the end, never mind who did it. Moriarty has become one of my favorite authors and this is a page turner of the finest kind. Don’t miss it.

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarty. Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (July 29, 2014). ISBN 978-0399167065. 384p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Women's Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell

July 28, 2014

Click to purchase

UPDATE:

Win a copy of the Landline audio book!

Macmillan Audio has offered up an audio book on CD for one lucky reader! Check out this excerpt read by the extraordinary Rebecca Lowman.

Send an email to contest@gmail.com with “LANDLINE” as the subject. You must include your snail mail address in your email.

All entries must be received by August 12, 2014. One (1) name 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. 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.

Review:

Rainbow Rowell seems able to shift between Young Adult and Adult books seamlessly. This is her latest, and while ostensibly for adults, those who love teen books will undoubtedly enjoy this one too.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who also narrated Rowell’s Eleanor and Park.  She does a fine job here.

Georgie McCool is a comedy writer working with her writing partner, Seth, on a hit TV show she hates. Seth and Georgie have their own idea for a sitcom and a week before Christmas, finally get a call from the network looking for several scripts.

Georgie panics as she, her husband Neal and their two young daughters are supposed to go to Neal’s parents for Christmas, out in Omaha.  Georgie needs to stay home and write, so an unhappy Neal takes the kids to Omaha himself.

When Georgie calls, her calls all go directly to voicemail until the mailbox is full. Her daughters call her sporadically, but she never talks to Neal. That is, until the night she crashes at her mother’s house and uses the landline in her old bedroom to call Neal’s house, not his cell. Somehow, she ends up talking to Neal – but not present day Neal, this is Neal back in 1998, a week before he proposes to her.

Suspend your disbelief and go along on an adventure through Georgie & Neal’s past to their present, and let me warn you that you will be laughing and crying along the way. Rowell writes these amazing characters that are warm and loveable yet still feel real,  but most of all, they are simply unforgettable. Teen book or adult, all her books are just a joy to read.

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Press (July 8, 2014). ISBN 978-1250049377. 320p.
Audiobook: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (July 8, 2014). ISBN: 978-1427239327
Downloadable: Audible Audio Edition. Macmillan Audio. Listening Length: 9 hours and 3 minutes.

Comments Off on LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE DANGER IN TEMPTING AN EARL by Sophie Barnes

July 28, 2014

Click to purchase

At the Kingsborough Ball (Book 3)

This book is a Regency romance, which Wikipedia defines as follows:

Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811-1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic conventions that derive from the works of Jane Austen (and to some extent from distinguished Austen progeny such as Georgette Heyer and Clare Darcy), and from the fiction genre known as the novel of manners. In particular, the more traditional Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialog between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex.

I’m bringing this up because it seems to me that this definition is now in a state of flux, due to the enormous popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Or more to the point, the profitability of romances with explicit sex seemingly has changed the Regencies from tame to taking a walk on the wild side. I, for one, am enjoying the change.

According to the author’s Goodreads page, this is the last book in the Kingsborough Ball series. The books all begin at the same lavish affair, a hugely popular ball given by Anthony Hurst, the Duke of Kingsborough. As this is the first party held at the estate in more than five years, it is a very big deal and the ton are out in full force.

Lady Katherine and Lucien grew up together, neighbors who played together. But as they grow up, Lucien realizes that he is in love with Katherine, but they cannot marry. She is destined to marry a man with a title, and he is the second son. He joins the army to escape, and she marries Lord Crossby, Lucien’s rival all through school.

But Lady Crossby is desperately unhappy in her marriage, although she doesn’t let anyone know about the abuse she endures. Then several events conspire to bring Lucien and Katherine back together – his elder brother and father die, and Lucien inherits the title of Earl. And Lord Crossby dies as well, leaving Katherine a widow with a young baby.

Katherine is convinced that Lucien just regards her as a friend and after her horrible marriage, she has no desire to be married again. Lucien needs a wife, but he only wants Katherine. They are at crossed points until she slowly realizes that her childhood friend has grown up to be a most desirable man. There is also a mystery that runs through all these books that is resolved here, so the mystery is a much larger part of this story.

I enjoyed these characters and the while these books don’t stress the history of the era, they are fast, fun reads and this one was no exception. There was some explicit sex, so if you are used to traditional Regencies peeking through the bedroom door, keep in mind this door has been flung open wide, which works for me.

I’m not sure why Barnes has decided to end the series here. Each book stands alone and they do not have to be read in order. As I haven’t read a whole lot of Regencies, I’m not sure if this device of starting each book at the same ball is a common ploy, but I liked it and thought it was very well done. I’ll be looking for more from this author.

7/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE DANGER IN TEMPTING AN EARL by Sophie Barnes.  Avon (July 29, 2014). ISBN 978-0062245182. 384p.

Comments Off on THE DANGER IN TEMPTING AN EARL by Sophie Barnes | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »