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Sunshine, secrets, and swoon-worthy stories—June's featured reads are your perfect summer escape.

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He doesn�t need a woman in his life; she knows he can�t live without her.


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A promise rekindled. A secret revealed. A second chance at the family they never had.


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A cowboy with a second chance. A waitress with a hidden gift. And a small town where love paints a brand-new beginning.


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She�s racing for a prize. He�s dodging romance. Together, they might just cross the finish line to love.


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She steals from the mob for justice. He�s the FBI agent who could take her down�or fall for her instead.


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He�s her only protection. She�s carrying his child. Together, they must outwit a killer before time runs out.


Even Dogs in the Wild

Even Dogs in the Wild, January 2016
John Rebus #20
by Ian Rankin

Little, Brown and Company
Featuring: Siobhan Clarke; David Minton; Malcolm
ISBN: 0316342513
EAN: 9780316342513
Kindle: B00X47ZNO4
Paperback / e-Book
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"An absorbing puzzle that only John Rebus could solve"

Fresh Fiction Review

Even Dogs in the Wild
Ian Rankin

Reviewed by Monique Daoust
Posted February 3, 2016

Suspense | Mystery

Lord Minton, a retired Crown prosecutor was murdered. No weapon was found, but a death threat was found in his wallet. Not long after, a crime boss, "Big Ger" Cafferty is shot at; he's uninjured, but he also had received an intimidating note. Then a mobster from a rival family is killed; what could be the link between gangsters and a man above reproach. Police Scotland has formed a special investigating team, because of the murder of a peer or the realm, and the assembled officers don't precisely see eye to eye on how to proceed. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke and her friend Malcolm Fox are on the team, and as no one knows Cafferty better than retired Inspector John Rebus, they ask for his help. Rebus, retired only for one month, is bored to tears, and as always he is bound to ruffle more than a few feathers. EVEN DOGS IN THE WILD reunites beloved characters from Ian Rankin's books as we follow this painstaking enquiry, where the lines between honourable and criminal have never been more blurry. As more details surface, the more mystifying the case appears, and not only for the reader! Power plays abound between the various players, on both sides; some officers of the law are not that sympathetic, some gangsters are somewhat endearing. The enquiry becomes a muddle that leads nowhere; it progresses at a snail's pace, the process is slow and confusing, which makes it quite absorbing, because the reader doesn't know more than the characters. A few humorous passages lighten the tone of the book, especially Rebus' repartees and regarding the stray dog. As expected in an Ian Rankin novel, EVEN DOGS IN THE WILD concludes in rather stunning fashion, and I'm sure not many readers will have guessed how the story will end until the last pages. A great read from one of the masters of suspense!

Learn more about Even Dogs in the Wild

SUMMARY

Rebus comes out of retirement...to save his nemesis. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is feeling the heat. She's investigating the death of a senior government prosecutor, David Minton, who has friends in high places. When one of their own is killed, the powers that be want answers fast. But Clarke is puzzled: if Minton died in a robbery as everyone thinks, why is nothing missing from his home? The answer may lie not in what was taken, but in what was left behind at the scene--an ominous note. Malcolm Fox is feeling useless. Shunned by his colleagues because of his past in the Complaints bureau, he's been reassigned to a grunt detail, helping a surveillance team--one that trusts him even less than his own boss does--track a notorious Glasgow crime family. Helping Clarke with the Minton case is the only thing that makes Fox feel like a real cop. Newly minted civilian John Rebus is feeling restless. Being a cop is in his blood and he's failing miserably at retirement. So when Clarke and Fox ask for his help, Rebus doesn't need long to consider his options. But before he can get his bearings, a call comes from Rebus's old nemesis--"Big Ger" Cafferty. Someone just fired a bullet through his front window--and sent him a note identical to Minton's. The normally unflappable old gangster is on edge, but for the life of him Cafferty can't figure out who he's wronged. And the only man he trusts with his life is Rebus. As the cases collide, it's up to Clarke, Fox, and Rebus to connect the dots and save their unlikely ally Cafferty, whose past harbors a shocking secret that implicates Minton's friends in an unspeakable crime. Even Dogs in the Wild reunites crime fiction legend Ian Rankin's greatest characters in an explosive story exploring the darkest corners of our desires.


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