January 2008 -- New Year's Reading

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