Autumn Books and Author News

Fall has finally arrived; the leaves are turning color, there’s a nip in the air and the grass doesn’t need to be mowed quite so often. That means I have a little more time to spend reading. Over the past several weeks, I’ve enjoyed four great novels. I just hope the next book I decide to take from the shelf is as good.

Sandra Brown’s newest hardcover, SMOKE SCREEN (Simon & Schuster, 8/08), is a suspense/thriller that kept me mesmerized from start to finish. When a famous newswoman wakes up next to a renowned police detective, she can’t recall how she came to be in bed with him. The fact that he’s also dead makes for some nasty accusations, and circumstances start to reveal several long-held dirty secrets. But will the truth be discovered before more people die? Add in a dash of romance and you have another keeper from the highly talented Brown.

Another dynamic author whose books I love to read is Tess Gerritsen. Last month, I told you about her new hardcover, THE KEEPSAKE (Ballantine). I’m delighted to tell you that it is just as incredibly thrilling as I hoped it would be. I read it in one sitting – I just could not put it down! Then in checking out my to-be-read shelves, I found I had not gotten around to reading her novel from last year, THE BONE GARDEN (Ballantine hardcover, 8/07). I’d put it aside because it was a departure from her present-day thrillers, with a lot of it told in flashbacks to 1830 Boston. I thought I should it read now, even if it took me a little longer to do so. Well, I can honestly say that no such thing happened. THE BONE GARDEN is a phenomenal story that had me again putting all else aside so I could read it without interruption. I was fascinated by all the interesting facts about medicine during that time period, as well as the intense murder mystery that was involved and how it affected people in the present day – especially the woman who uncovered a skeleton in her backyard garden. I’m glad I didn’t let this one gather dust any longer.

The final book is THE QUICKIE (Little, Brown hardcover, 7/07) by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. As the title infers, it involves the repercussions of a death following a one-night stand. It’s full of so many surprising twists and turns, it kept me guessing until the very end. Nothing and no one is as they seem in this rapid-fire rollercoaster ride thriller. Whew! Another one I could not put down!

Now let’s see what’s coming in the month of October that might be enticing to read.

Jaci Burton is having a banner month with two releases. First, on October 7, 2008, look for RIDING TEMPTATION (Berkley Trade), the second book in her scorchingly erotic Wild Riders series. The Wild Riders is a gang of special ops bikers working for the Feds. As a young runaway, Jessie Matthews joined up with the gang, who consider her a kid sister. But now that she’s growing up, Diaz Delgado is noticing her more and more as a woman. And that’s just fine with Jessie, who’s had the hots for Diaz for some time. When they go undercover together, it’s all he can do to keep his mind on the job and his hands off Jessie. Then scheduled for release on October 28, 2008, is THE DARKEST TOUCH (Dell), the third entry in Burton’s sexy, fast-paced Demon Hunter series. Archaeologist Angie Deveraux has in her possession a highly prized black diamond everyone wants – especially demon hunter Ryder – a man she can’t trust even though she desires him. When her twin sister is kidnapped by the dark forces stalking Angie and the diamond, it sets off a chain of events that could lead to a cataclysmic demon war.

On October 7, 2008, Katie MacAlister continues her Silver Dragon series with UP IN SMOKE (Signet). Gabriel Tauhou, head of the Silver Dragons, is encouraging his mortal girl- friend May to succumb to the seduction of the demon prince who has her trapped in Abaddon. It all has to do with fulfilling her destiny, but that doesn’t make it any easier for May to handle. And just what is Gabriel’s true motive in all this?

Also with an October 7, 2008, release date is J. R. Ward’s THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD: AN INSIDER’S GUIDE (NAL trade paper). In this compendium, compiled by Ward herself, readers are given a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes guidebook to her characters and the world of The Brotherhood. As an extra bonus, she’s included an all-new original novella. This edition is a must-have for fans of this phenomenal paranormal series.

October 14, 2008, Michael Connelly brings together two of his most popular characters in THE BRASS VERDICT (Little, Brown hardcover) – defense attorney Mickey Haller and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. After two long years of wrong turns, Haller is back in the courtroom. When a Hollywood lawyer is murdered, Haller inherits his biggest case ever – defending a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns the killer may be coming for him. Determined to find the killer, Bosch is not above using Haller as bait. As danger mounts, these two realize that to survive, they have to work together. For background on Haller and Bosch’s relationship, you need to read THE LINCOLN LAWYER (10/05) and THE BLACK ICE (6/93).

There are a lot of releases slated to go on sale later this month. Here’s just a small sampling to whet your appetite for what will be available October 28, 2008:

COLD PURSUIT (Mira) is the first book in a new series by Carla Neggers featuring Secret Service Agent Jo Harper. Jo is back in her hometown of Black Falls, Vermont, to search for a missing teenager. With his experience in mountain rescues, no one knows the rough terrain better than Elijah Cameron. But these two have never gotten along. And working together is even harder since Elijah firmly believes the missing teenager is not really lost – she’s on the run.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A VAMPIRE (Avon) is the fifth installment in Kerrelyn Sparks’ delightfully irreverent Love at Stake series. Toni Duncan’s best friend is in a mental hospital after claiming she was attacked by vampires. Willing to do anything to prove vampires do exist and to get her friend released, Toni takes on the job of bodyguard for the Undead. When she meets Ian MacPhie, who looks 27, but is actually almost 500 years old, she’s baffled how this gorgeous “dead” man could look so young and be so devastatingly sexy.

Be on the lookout for DEAD RINGER (Zebra) by Mary Burton. Beside each brutally strangled body, the killer leaves a simple charm bearing a woman’s name. Though the victims were strangers to each other, they were chosen because they bore a striking resemblance to a local anchorwoman Kendall Shaw. Why is this deranged murderer so obsessed with her, and why is she having such frightful nightmares about when she was young? With the help of Richmond Detective Jacob Warwick, Kendall hopes to learn the truth and bring an evil madman to justice.

TO SEDUCE A SINNER (Forever) is the second book in Elizabeth Hoyt’s exciting Legend of the Four Soldiers series. While hunting down a betrayer, a soldier returning from war finds love where he least expects it. Though Melisande has loved Lord Vale for many years, he weds her only after he’s jilted at the altar and she offers herself as his bride. All he desires is an heir, but he soon finds himself wanting more. Then his past rears its ugly head and everything is at risk.

In Robyn Carr’s A VIRGIN RIVER CHRISTMAS (Mira), you’ll meet two brave and loving people. After saving his best friend’s life in Iraq, Ian Buchanan left the Marine Corps with a heavy heart and troubled mind. Marcie Sullivan, a sassy redhead who brings laughter and sunshine everywhere she goes, wants nothing for Christmas but to find the man who risked his life to save her husband, who has since died. Ian is rumored to be living like a hermit in the mountains surrounding Virgin River. The Virgin River series cast of characters are present when Marcie finds Ian locked away in a little cabin in the mountains, not far from town. Three more Virgin River novels are scheduled for February, March and April 2009.

In the final book of Sara Bennett ’s Aphrodite’s Club series, HER SECRET LOVER (Avon), heiress Antoinette Dupree holds a letter that Gabriel Langley is desperate to have – its contents could help him regain his rightful inheritance. Using seduction to achieve his goal, Gabriel unleashes Antoinette’s wicked emotions, while she tames the wildness in him. But a third person’s evil intentions and involvement put everything in jeopardy.

In their latest case, London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit detectives John May and Arthur Bryant are investigating the murders of middle-aged women in THE VICTORIA VANISHES (Bantam hardcover) by Christopher Fowler. The women are targeted while they’re enjoying drinks in some of England’s most famous pubs. What makes the case even more unusual is that Bryant saw the latest victim only minutes before she died. However, the pub he describes seeing was torn down 80 years ago.

Linda Lael Miller’s A McKETTRICK CHRISTMAS (HQN) is another western romance featuring this beloved family. Lizzie McKettrick is coming home for the holidays and bringing a special young man with her. Even though he seems a bit too interested in her family’s wealth, she’s sure he cares for her a lot. But fate has something else in mind for Lizzie in the form of a handsome and intriguing doctor.

Keri Arthur, acclaimed for her inventive Riley Jensen Guardian series, starts an exciting new paranormal series, Myth and Magic, with the release of DESTINY KILLS (Bantam Spectra). The death of Destiny McCree’s lover on an Oregon beach has not only left her alone, but also without much memory of her past. She does know, however, that she has to keep moving to stay ahead of whatever has been pursuing her from Scotland to this isolated spot. A serpent-shaped ring is the only thing she has to help her in this treacherous endeavor.

A SEDUCTION AT CHRISTMAS (Avon) by Cathy Maxwell starts a new Regency romance series dubbed Scandals and Seductions. Using the Three Fates from Greek mythology as inspiration, this story has adventure, mystery and a dire prophecy, along with a fairy-tale quality. Fiona Lachlan (who first appeared in BEDDING THE HEIRESS, Avon, 4/07) is now making a life for herself in London. Since she’s a woman alone, she must use all her wits and cunning to survive. When she again encounters the dashingly handsome Duke of Holburn, the circumstances are not the most agreeable, to say the least.

MURDER PACKS A SUITCASE (Bantam) in Cynthia Baxter’s funny new mystery series featuring travel writer and recent widow Mallory Marlowe. Mallory’s new job for The Good Life magazine has taken her to sunny Orlando on an assignment to rediscover the glory days of “old Florida.” When a fellow journalist is found murdered, Mallory becomes the prime suspect. With not only her career, but her life, at stake, she has to figure out the identity of the real killer.

THE FRAILTY OF FLESH (Leisure) is the second novel in Sandra Ruttan’s suspenseful police procedural series featuring Canadian Constables Nolan, Hart and Tain. As the three Vancouver constables work to solve two viciously brutal murder cases, they find not only their careers at stake, but also their personal lives.

The Women of the Otherworld return in LIVING WITH THE DEAD (Bantam Spectra hardcover). This ninth book in Kelley Armstrong’s urban fantasy suspense series continues the adventures of Hope Adams, the half-demon tabloid reporter from PERSONAL DEMON (Bantam Spectra, 3/08). Hope finds herself, with the aid of detective Findlay, helping out a woman framed for murder.

Paranormal Investigator Delilah Street returns October 29, 2008, in Carole Nelson Douglas’ BRIMSTONE KISS (Juno), the follow-up to DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES (Juno, 10/07). This time Delilah and her partner, darkly handsome former FBI agent Ric Montoya, are trying to identify two skeletons found locked in a lovers’ embrace and buried in the sands near Las Vegas . The case finds them involved with not only vampires and werewolves, but also some ancient Egyptian evil.

Then at the end of October 2008, the third installment of Sharon Sala’s Cat Dupree series, BAD PENNY (Mira) hits bookstores. Cat and fellow bounty hunter Wilson McKay want to settle down and build a life together. But first they have to deal with the repercussions of the death of Soloman Tutuola, the man who murdered Cat’s father and slashed her throat when she was 13. An investigator from Mexico is trying to locate the person responsible for Tutuola’s death, which leads him to Cat. Adding to the turmoil is a junkie out for revenge against Wilson. Desperate to put their painful pasts behind them, Cat and Wilson will do whatever it takes to have a future together.

’Til next month...Tanzey