Fresh Fiction | Editors' Top Pick for September

TRIGGER MORTIS

Okay, you've got to know I'm a sucker for spy thrillers. My first dates with my husband were to watch James Bond movies and I cut my reading teeth on all the old Alistair McLean and Helen MacInnes novels in our high school library. So when I found out Anthony Horowitz, the creator of "Foyle's War" and writer for "Midsomer Murders" was penning a James Bond novel from Ian Fleming's papers, I was IN! TRIGGER MORTIS (Harper, September 8, 2015) promises to pick up after the Fort Knox battle in Goldfinger and includes old familiar faces. To get ready, I think I'll just indulge in a little Ted Bell whose reminds me so much of Bond, James Bond.

The world's most famous spy, James Bond, has just returned victorious from
his
showdown with Auric Goldfinger in Fort Knox. By his side is the glamorous
and
streetwise Pussy Galore, who played no small part in his success. As they
settle down in London, the odds of Galore taming the debonair bachelor seem
slim—but she herself is a creature not so easily caught.

Meanwhile, the struggle for superiority between the Soviet Union and the
West
is escalating. In an attempt to demonstrate Soviet strength, SMERSH plans to
sabotage an international Grand Prix in the hot zone of West Germany. At the
Nürburgring Racing Circuit, Bond must play a high-speed game of cat and
mouse
to stop them, but when he observes a secretive meeting between SMERSH's
driver
and a notorious Korean millionaire, it becomes clear that this is just the
infamous organization's opening move.

An orphan of the Korean War, he has a personal reason for wanting to bring
America to its knees. He's helping SMERSH decisively end the white-hot space
race—but how? With the help of an American female agent, Bond uncovers a
plan
that leads first to Florida and then to New York City, where a heart-
stopping
face-off will determine the fate of the West.

DEVOTED IN DEATH

There are series I never get tired of visiting, and J.D. Robb's In Death series is at the top of the list. Not only do I re-read the series, but in the weeks building up to a new release I experience the same anticipation I feel at the Holidays because in my family a new J.D. Robb release is a family event. My mom, sister, uncle, and I trade each new release back-and-forth until we can all get to the book store for our own copy. I'll admit to feeling a sense of victory when I am the first to read the new book. DEVOTED IN DEATH releases on September 15, and I may start preparing for it by revisiting some of the previous books in the series!

Ella-Loo and her boyfriend, Darryl, had been separated while Darryl was a
guest
of the state of Oklahoma, and now that his sentence has been served they
don’t
ever intend to part again. Ella-Loo’s got dreams. And Darryl believes there
are
better ways to achieve your dreams than working for them. So they hit the
road,
and when their car breaks down in Arkansas, they make plans to take someone
else’s. Then things get messy and they wind up killing someone—an experience
that stokes a fierce, wild desire in Ella-Loo. A desire for Darryl. And a
desire to kill again.