These books are available from the Popular Reading Collection located next to the library circulation desk.  Any titles currently checked out can be placed on hold.  See a staff member at the circulation desk for assistance.
 

Rough Draft, by James W. Hall

If you haven't read anything by Hall yet, give him a try.  He writes consistently good suspense novels and Rough Draft is one of his best yet.  Hannah Keller is a Miami ex-cop who now writes novels. Five years ago her parents were murdered. Her young son, Randall, witnessed their deaths and it has left him emotionally scarred.  Everyone believes that runaway embezzler J.J. Fielding paid for Hannah's parents to be killed. He stole over 400 million dollars and Hannah's father was about to prosecute him.  Now, J.J. sends word to Hannah that he is dying and wants to meet with her.  The FBI is secretly involved because it is trying to find Hal Bonner, a vicious murder-for-hire killer.  The FBI believes that Hal has been hired to find and kill J.J and retrieve the embezzled money.  Unknown to Hannah, the FBI plans to use her as bait to lure Hal into the open so he can be captured.  A reluctant player in the scheme is Frank Sheffield, a Miami FBI field agent who is falling in love with Hannah and must balance his love with his duties.  The pages really start to turn when Randall is kidnapped and Hannah must somehow find and save him.  Terrific.
 

The Lion's Game, by Nelson DeMille

A jumbo jet bound for New York and carrying over 300 passengers has been out of radio contact for several hours.  When it lands safely at Kennedy Airport, everyone aboard is discovered dead--including the pilots.  Everyone except 'The Lion'.  'The Lion' is Asad Khalil, a Libyan terrorist.  When Asad was a teenager in 1986 he lost his entire family during a bombing of Libya ordered by President Reagan.  Now, he is on a mission to kill all the Americans involved in the bombing run and he escapes from the airport in the confusion.  Tracking him but unaware of Asad's mission is John Corey, ex-NYPD and now assigned to the Federal government's Anti-Terrorist Task Force.  You may remember him as the hero of Plum Island.  His sidekick and boss is gorgeous FBI agent Kate Mayfield and together they make a great team.  But, will they be able to find and stop Asad before he completes his destruction?  This is an exciting book by one of my favorite authors.  He has given John Corey a great personality and sense of humor. Example of one of John's musings to himself during one of his flights:  "Well, we weren't tarmacked long, considering this was JFK, and we took off only fifteen minutes late, which the captain said we'd make up in the air, which is better, I guess, than making it up on the ground at LAX by taxiing to the gate at six hundred miles an hour while deploying the emergency chutes."
 

Fortune's Rocks, by Anita Shreve

This is the new book by the author of The Pilot's Wife, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection.  The Pilot's Wife was good but I think this book is even better.  Olympia Biddeford, 15, an only child, arrives at the New Hampshire town of Fortune's Rocks with her wealthy parents to spend the summer at their beach home.  Her father is in publishing and her mother is in alcohol--as in drinking it too often.  Olympia is intelligent and has been schooled at home by her father, who has taken more of an interest in her than her mother has.  The time is 1899 and it's the summer before the turn of the century.  At a dinner party hosted by her parents, Olympia meets a doctor who has written a book published by her father.  She is immediately captivated by him despite his being nearly three times her age, married, and with children.  The attraction is mutual and, against all reason, they begin a secret affair.  It's difficult to say more without spoiling the book but I enjoyed every minute of finding out what was going to happen next.  And, quite a bit happens!  Olympia is a wonderful, interesting character to get to know--especially in the 1899 time period--and the story will definitely linger in your mind.  Excellent.
 

Saving Faith, by David Baldacci

The 'Faith' being saved is Faith Lockhart in this enjoyable new book by Baldacci.  She works for Danny Buchanan, Washington's most powerful lobbyist.  Danny has done something that has brought him to the attention of a sinister, secret group that is run by Robert Thornhill, a deputy director in the CIA.  Thornhill decides that Danny must be eliminated and, for security purposes, Faith as well.  Drawn into the mix is Lee Adams, a private investigator who has been hired to follow Faith and report on her activities.  While he is spying on her he manages to save Faith from being killed by the Whitman Thornhill has hired but an FBI agent with her is killed instead.  Not knowing what is going on or the good guys from the bad, Lee and Faith decide to run until they can sort things out.  Thornhill, meanwhile, still wants them dead and the FBI is also on their trail.  The exciting chase will take them to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Lee will be called upon to once again save Faith.
 

Blackout, by John J. Nance

John J. Nance is an airline pilot, the aviation specialist for ABC News, an Air Force Reserve officer, AND an aerospace attorney.  In his spare time (ha!) he also writes novels--and good ones at that.  Blackout is his latest aviation thriller.  The action begins with the mysterious crash of  an MD-11 jet into the Gulf of Mexico.  Assigned to look into the crash is Kat Bronsky, who was introduced in The Last Hostage.  She hasn't made much progress on the accident when a reporter, Robert McCabe, tells her that he has information on the cause of the crash.  Robert is being pursued by a deadly group that wants to silence him and he flees on a flight from Hong Kong.  The pilots of his plane are both blinded by a super-intense flash of light and after a harrowing flight the jet crashes in Vietnam.  Robert is one of the few survivors but he is still marked for death.  Kat must get to him first, keep in alive, and together they must find out what is blinding  pilots before the next airliner crashes.  This is page after page of terrific white-knuckle action in the not-so-friendly skies.
 

THIS ISSUE'S OLDIE BUT GOODIE

Misery, by Stephen King

This novel is one of King's best and it's a great read even if you've seen the movie with Kathy Bates and James Caan.  Best-selling author Paul Sheldon is driving in Colorado and crashes in a snowstorm.  Unconscious, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes, his number one fan.  He wakes up at Annie's house in severe pain with injuries to his pelvis, knee, and legs.  Paul soon realizes that he is being held prisoner by Annie, who has found out that he has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, in his latest romance book.  Annie, a character both terrifying and fascinating, wants Paul to bring Misery back to life and means to keep him prisoner and torture him until he does.  Nobody knows where Paul is and he realizes that it is up to him to escape before Annie goes completely berserk and and puts him out of his misery for good.
 

RECENT ARRIVALS:

Easy Prey, by John Sandford
On Secret Service, by John Jakes
He Shall Thunder in the Sky, by Elizabeth Peters
Cradle and All, by James Patterson
The Empty Chair, by Jeffery Deaver
The Run, by Stuart Woods
The Road Taken, by Rona Jaffe

 Revised Aug. 9, 2000
Comments to Bill McCleary