I hope all of you had a wonderfully joyous holiday season. I'm really
anticipating that the year ahead is going to be a great one, so I want everyone
to be thinking very positive thoughts!
I didn't get as much personal reading done as I would have liked during
December, since I had a lot of ARCs to read. A terrible ice storm came through
our region of Kansas during the middle of the month, followed closely by
several inches of snow. It did a great deal of damage to trees and power lines,
leaving a lot of people without power for many days. Our place looks like a
disaster area right now and cleanup is still an ongoing process. Then a
blizzard dumped 10 inches of snow on us right before Christmas, followed by 5
inches more before the end of the year. I don't ever recall us having this icy
or snowy a December. Here's hoping January isn't quite as bad. But if it is,
I'll just stay in and snuggle up with some good books -- I have plenty in stock.
One recommendation I'd like to make is THE SANCTUARY (Dutton
hardcover, 8/21/07) by Raymond Khoury. It's the gripping and unnerving story of a
geneticist who becomes involved in the deadly pursuit of a secret that's
destroyed everyone in its path for centuries -- and the conspiracy surrounding
it that could change the world forever. This is not a fast read, since it
contains long passages of historical background information concerning the
underground society involved in keeping the secret. But once I got started, I
was totally enthralled until the chilling conclusion.
Gayle Lynds wrote in
her December holiday letter that she's been hard at work on her next espionage
novel,
THE BOOK OF SPIES. As the first book in a new trilogy, it will
set up continuing characters and features the CIA, world events and a lot of
fast-paced adventure. It's been awhile since Gayle has had a new book, and I'm
anxious for this new one to be released.
Available in stores January 8, 2008, will be the trade paperback edition of Tasha Alexander's A POISONED SEASON (Harper),
the second book in her Lady Emily Ashton historical suspense series. Victorian
England's strict societal codes are gently peeled away to reveal suspense,
intrigue, larceny and even murder. Then be watching for the next exciting
installment, A FATAL
WALTZ (Wm. Morrow), to be released in hardcover on May 20, 2008.
Even though her collaborative deal with Stephen J. Cannell has
been put on hold for now, Janet Evanovich is still going strong on her own. January 8, 2008,
she gives fans another of her between-the-numbers holiday novellas (this one
for St. Patrick's Day), titled PLUM LUCKY (St. Martin's hardcover). This time our favorite
bounty hunter is in Atlantic City and luck is not really in her favor. This fun
book should tide you over until the next full-length Stephanie Plum novel,
titled FEARLESS
FOURTEEN, goes on sale in June 2008.
Another Arcane Society book by Jayne Ann Krentz is set to go on sale January 15, 2008. Titled SIZZLE AND BURN (Putnam
hardcover), it tells the story of Raine Tallentyre, who's paranormal ability of
hearing voices has cost her relationships in the past. When her last blood
relative dies, Raine is alone in the world. Cleaning out her aunt's house,
Raine discovers a bound woman, still alive, in the basement storage area. Then
Zack Jones enters her life unexpectedly. He doesn't fear her powers for he has
some of his own -- he sees visions. However, he's working for the secretive
Arcane Society, the same organization that betrayed Raine's family years ago.
As a killer targets Raine, will she be able to put her trust in Zack and defeat
the nemesis?
Nicole Jordan starts
her Courtship Wars series with the release of TO PLEASURE A LADY
(Ballantine) on January 29, 2008, followed in consecutive months by TO BED A BEAUTY
(Ballantine, February 26, 2008) and TO SEDUCE A BRIDE (Ballantine, March 25, 2008). This fun and sexy
Regency trilogy chronicles the exciting passion that ensues when three
beautiful and feisty sisters play the matrimonial mating game with three
extremely eligible noblemen in desperate need of wives.
Marjorie M. Liu
continues her unique paranormal Dirk & Steele series with the seventh book
in the succession, THE LAST
TWILIGHT (Leisure), which goes on sale January 29, 2008, and features a
virus hunter working in the Congo. When mercenaries try to kidnap her to
prevent an investigation into a deadly plague she's uncovered, Dirk &
Steele sends the shape-shifting Amiri to protect her. Amiri does not want to go
back to Africa, where he was raised as a cheetah -- and where he was trapped
and
experimented upon. But loyalty to his friends of Dirk & Steele demands that
he face his past.
The deadly (and hilarious) Bombay family of assassins returns January 29, 2008,
in GUNS WILL KEEP US
TOGETHER (Leisure), the second addition to Leslie Langtry's
Greatest Hits series. Dakota Bombay's current assignment is to get rid of
another assassination group that's become too competitive with the Bombays.
Then Dak is thrown for a loop when he's introduced to a six-year-old son he
never knew existed. That can really interfere with a playboy's lifestyle,
especially when he's wooing a really hot funeral director.
Also on sale January 29, 2008, is THE UNDEAD NEXT DOOR (Avon), the fourth book in Kerrelyn Sparks' Love at
Stake series, which features a band of good vampires who find true love while
evading the CIA Stake Out Team set on eliminating them. This time a small-town
girl meets her match when she helps a mysterious (and sexy!) stranger -- who
just happens to be a vampire.
The titles are set for Allison Brennan’s Prison Break trilogy coming from
Ballantine in 2008. An earthquake under San Quentin allows several death row
inmates to escape... In KILLING FEAR ( January 29, 2008), a sociopath convicted of
murdering four strippers has vowed to kill everyone involved with his
prosecution. When grisly murders occur in San Diego, a detective must track
down the escaped convict and stop his killing spree. TEMPTING EVIL ( May 27,
2008) tells of two escaped murderers who take a Colorado resort hostage during
a snowstorm. Things turn deadly when one of them becomes obsessed with a
romance writer trapped in the hotel, convinced she wrote his story. In
DYING BREATH (September 30, 2008), an innocent man on death row
for the murder of his wife and her lover seeks refuge with his estranged
daughter, who was the prosecution’s primary witness against him 20 years ago.
As he struggles to prove his innocence, he must earn her trust before the real
killer strikes again.
Lots more good titles to come next month, so stay tuned...Tanzey
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