June New Popular Books

The following new books have been added this month to the Popular Reading Collection located next to the circulation desk.   These books and any other titles currently checked out can be placed on hold.
See a staff member at the circulation desk for assistance.

 

Sundays at Tiffany's, by James Patterson
Twenty Wishes, by Debbie Macomber
Careless in Red, by Elizabeth George
Phantom Prey, by John Sandford
Secrets, by Jude Deveraux
Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey
The Steel Wave, by Jeff Shaara
The Front, by Patricia Cornwell
Invincible, by Troy Denning

This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary  


You’ve Been Warned, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

Kristin Burns would like to have a career as a photographer but until that happens she’s working as a nanny to a rich family in New York City.  And, sleeping with the husband.  And, having strange  nightmares where she witnesses murders at a hotel. And having weird, confusing hallucinations. And, breaking and entering.  And, seeing her dead father on the streets of New York.  And, trying to decide whether she should murder the wife of her married lover.  And, what else?  Well, this might be the worst novel I have ever read—and that’s saying something.  It certainly has one of the worst, most unsympathetic main characters in memory—you truly don’t care what happens to Ms. Burns—but something bad would be good.  Find something else to read—even any other Patterson novel.  You’ve been warned!


The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz

Amy Redwing runs an animal rescue organization dedicated to saving abandoned, neglected, and abused golden retrievers in southern California.  With her close friend, Brian McCarthy, there is little they won’t do to save an endangered retriever.  On one of their missions, they manage to rescue a very special female retriever named Nickie from an abusive owner.  Amy immediately feels a bond with Nickie and takes her in to her own home.  Brian, meanwhile, is trying to affect a special rescue of his own.  He has learned that he has a young child from a brief affair with a woman named Vanessa—a very mixed up, cruel woman.  Having finally tracked her down, Brian hopes to convince her to give him custody.  Vanessa, however, has other ideas—deadly ones.  If you have read any Koontz books you will have probably noticed that he is almost always pictured with a beautiful golden retriever, Trixie, in the author’s photo on the book flap.  From his notes, apparently Trixie has passed away.  This novel, which features a golden retriever as one of the main characters, serves as a nice tribute to her—and dog lovers will doubly enjoy it. 


Beverly Hills Dead, by Stuart Woods

This is a sequel to The Prince of Beverly Hills, an entertaining novel of the movie industry in the early 40s that came out a few years ago.  In the first book, Rick Barron, a Beverly Hills cop, keeps a famous movie star out of hot water after a fatal automobile accident.  As a reward, he is given a job at Centurion Studios, where he finds he has a talent for the movies and ends up as head of production.  The current novel is set in the late 40s.  Rick is back from the war and in full swing again at his Centurion job.  Not only is he overseeing production, he is also producing and directing his first film.  It’s an exciting time in Hollywood but also a disturbing time as well—the Red Scare is on and Rick’s favorite screenwriter has been blacklisted as a communist.  If that’s not enough, just as his new movie is premiering to acclaim, the star of the film is found murdered, culprit unknown.  Although partly a murder mystery, the main enjoyment for me was reading another entertaining novel of the movie industry in a very interesting time period.


The Ghost, by Robert Harris

Adam Lang, the dashing, former prime minister of Britain, is on a tight deadline to get his ten million dollar memoirs written when his ghostwriter and political aide, Mike McAra, is found drowned on Martha’s Vineyard, where Lang has been holed up in seclusion with his wife, Ruth, and several assistants.  Lang’s publisher quickly hires a new British ghostwriter, the narrator of this novel, who, appropriately, remains nameless throughout his tale.  Our ghostwriter has written several bestselling celebrity autobiographies and he sees immediately that McAra’s manuscript is dull and boring and will have to be almost completely rewritten.  McAra, though a leaden writer, has compiled detailed documents and research on Lang’s life, especially his university years before he entered politics.  As our ghostwriter delves into the research, some mysteries emerge and certain of Lang’s recollections don’t square with the documentary history.  More questions emerge when Lang is accused of war crimes by one of his former cabinet ministers—and our ghostwriter is suddenly thrust into the erupting controversy.  Part mystery, part political thriller, this is a terrific page-turner by one of the superior popular novelists writing today. 






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Revised May 29, 2008

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