March 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.

 

Alice in Jeopardy, by Ed McBain
At Risk, by Stella Rimington
The Broker, by John Grisham
Alone, by Lisa Gardner
Cat's Eyewitness, by Rita Mae Brown
Conviction, by Richard North Patterson
Survivor in Death, by J. D. Robb
The Real Mother, by Judith Michael
The Forgotten Man, by Robert Crais
Honeymoon, by James Patterson
Prince of Fire, by Daniel Silva
Suspicion of Rage, by Barbara Parker
Hour Game, by David Baldacci


This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary


I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe

Meet Charlotte Simmons.  Straight A student.  Presidential Scholar.  Perfect SAT score of 1600.  Class valedictorian.  Beautiful.  Goody Two Shoes. Virgin.  Charlotte has grown up in the tiny community of Sparta, in the remote, western mountains of North Carolina.  Raised dirt poor, with the help of one of her teachers she has won an improbable full scholarship to Dupont University, a fictional top Ivy League college outside of Philadelphia.  For Charlotte, it is a huge step to leave her parents and her two younger brothers to venture into the scary, unknown territory of Dupont.  But, all through her life Charlotte has felt that she was different, and special.  And destined for great things.  When her fellow students in Sparta snickered at her super studious ways, Charlotte consoled herself and drew courage by always reminding herself, I am Charlotte Simmons.  Well, as you can guess, Charlotte is going to need to mutter that mantra ‘I am Charlotte Simmons’ a lot to get through her tumultuous first year at Dupont.  And, at year’s end, will she still be Charlotte Simmons?   Tom Wolfe is one of my favorite authors and his latest is terrific.  It’s Charlotte’s book but there are numerous other wonderfully drawn characters that help drive the story and make you feel you are right there taking freshman year with Charlotte.


London Bridges, by James Patterson

Alex Cross, formerly of the Washington, DC police, is now working for the FBI.  And, the FBI is going to need him because two vicious and dangerous men, known as the Weasel and the Wolf, have teamed up.  Alex has tangled with both of them individually in the past and they have always eluded him.  Will his luck be any better this time?  The Wolf and the Weasel have gotten their hands on a half dozen nuclear devices about the size of a suitcase.  Each packs about the same destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb.  The Wolf has targeted four major cities around the world and he is demanding two billion dollars in ransom or he will blow them up.  Sounds like a recipe for a tasty, nail-biting thriller doesn’t it?  Well, it wasn’t too tasty and my nails are all intact.  Lately, Patterson’s books have mostly been disappointments but he seemed to make more of an effort with the Cross series, his most important franchise.  Now, even the Cross books are suffering from an author who seems to be cranking out way too many books way too quickly.  I can always tell when I am not really enjoying a book.  Instead of being lost in the action and oblivious of the time, I find myself thinking of chores to do and excuses to put the book down.  That's what happened here.  The book wasn’t awful; it just wasn’t very interesting or entertaining.  


Twisted, by Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman’s books usually feature Alex Delaware, the psychologist, but now and then he lets one of the secondary characters in the Delaware series take center stage.  That’s the case here and, happily, he has featured one of my very favorite characters, Petra Connor.  Petra is the sexy and quirky LA police detective and its total bliss to be with her as she investigates a crime and, at the same time, tries to sort out her personal life.  Currently she is dating Eric Stahl, her former partner.  Eric, the strong, silent type, is overseas for most of the book on some secret assignments but he shows up with exquisite timing at several key points in the book.  Petra’s latest case is a difficult one.   Four young people have been killed in a drive-by shooting in the parking lot of an LA dance club.  There seems to be no motive for the shootings and practically nothing in the way of clues.  Worse, one of the victims, a young girl, can’t even be identified.  Petra fears she will never solve the case.  But, as luck would have it, she has been assigned to mentor a young genius from a poor background named Isaac Gomez, who is doing statistical research in the stationhouse.  The two of them make a terrific pair and they might just solve this seemingly random crime.  Unlike Mr. Patterson, Jonathan Kellerman has managed to keep his standards way up there while also writing a large number of books.  His latest is a winner. 


Wolves Eat Dogs, by Martin Cruz Smith

That wonderful Moscow police detective, Arkady Renko, first introduced in the legendary Gorky Park, is back in this latest novel by Smith.  Renko is still mourning the loss of his wife in a botched medical procedure that should have been routine.  With little in the way of a personal life, his work is his raison d’etre.  And, with seemingly little to live for, he can rock a few boats if he feels like it. What does he have to lose when he has already lost everything?  Renko is in that frame of mind when he is called to a luxury apartment building to investigate the death of a ‘New Russia’ billionaire, Pasha Ivanov.  Ivanov has apparently jumped to his death from his tenth floor condominium.  Renko’s boss wants it to be a suicide—Russia has already had enough bad press with the new super rich killing each other off.  Renko doesn’t think it was a suicide and he refuses to roll over—remember he’s a man beyond caring.  Or is he?  Somehow he has gotten himself into a situation where he has become a father figure to an orphan he agreed to watch for a friend.  A one-time meeting with the orphan, who refuses to speak, has turned into a weekly event for both of them.  But, back to the case.  Because Renko has been difficult, his boss punishes him by sending him to Chernobyl to investigate another suspicious death.  Ok, pop quiz.  When was the last time you thought about Chernobyl and the nuclear accident there?  Can’t remember, can you?  Me, neither.  Well, you will be thinking about it after you experience the Chernobyl of today through Renko’s eyes.  This novel is a fascinating look at the ‘New Russia’ wrapped up in a complex, suspenseful murder mystery beautifully written.   A gem.

 

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Revised Feb. 24, 2005

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