July 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.

 

Susannah's Garden, by Debbie Macomber
Vanished, by Karen Robards
Digging to America, by Anne Tyler
At Risk, by Patricia Cornwell
The Cold Moon, by Jeffery Deaver
The Husband, by Dean Koontz
Killer Dreams, by Iris Johansen
Telegraph Days, by Larry McMurtry
On, Off, by Colleen McCullough



This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary 



Gone, by Jonathan Kellerman

The latest Alex Delaware novel finds Alex, the LA quasi-police psychologist, still in somewhat of the funk that he has been in for the past few books—dating from his breakup with his longtime girlfriend, Robin, the guitarmaker.   But Milo, the police detective he hangs out with, can always be relied on to keep Alex busy and distracted with an interesting assignment.  Actually, Alex is the first one involved with the latest case.  He has been doing a court-ordered psychological evaluation on Michaela Brand, an aspiring actress who faked an abduction with fellow would-be actor Dylan Meserve as a publicity stunt.  Alex meets with Michaela several times and learns that she and Dylan were taking acting classes run by Nora Dowd, who never made it as an actress herself.  Then, Michaela turns up murdered and Dylan goes missing—which brings Milo into the picture.  As he and Alex begin to investigate they discover several other Thespian wannabes that have disappeared.  Finding what happened to them will pit Alex and Milo against one of the strangest, most twisted families they’ve ever encountered.  On a bright note, Robin comes strumming back into Alex’s life—and not a minute too soon.   Nicely done.


Two Little Girls in Blue, by Mary Higgins Clark

Margaret and Steve Frawley have recently moved into a fixer-upper in the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, a suburb of New York City.  Steve has recently been hired by a large NY global investment firm and, with their adorable twin girls, things couldn’t be better for the couple.  The twins, Kathy and Kelly, have just celebrated their third birthday and Margaret is enjoying being a stay at home mom.   On one of Steve and Margaret’s rare evenings out, they come home to find their babysitter tied up and gagged and the twins gone.  In short order, a ransom of eight million dollars is demanded for the safe return of the twins.  And, so begins the mystery.  Why were these twins kidnapped?  The Frawleys don’t have eight thousand dollars, let alone eight million!  Could someone at Steve’s company have targeted the twins?  Margaret used to work as a public defender.  Could one of her former clients be holding a grudge against her?   A desperate search for the kidnappers begins, but will the twins be found alive?  Ms. Clark made her reputation with her very first book, Where Are the Children?, and a story of children in peril seems to bring out her best writing.  This was both interesting and suspenseful.


Prior Bad Acts, by Tami Hoag

A mother and her child have been horrifically murdered in Minneapolis.  Arrested in the case is Karl Dahl, who had been doing some handyman work for the family.  Karl has a string of prior offenses and he is now on trial for murder.   Presiding in the trial is Judge Carey Moore and one of her first rulings is that Karl’s prior bad acts are not admissible.  Her decision sets off a firestorm in the media and the judge is attacked and nearly killed on her way home.  Judge Moore survives but soon after she returns home from the hospital she is kidnapped.  Assigned to try to find her are detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska, two veteran detectives who make a great team.  They will need all their smarts because there are plenty of suspects—and, making matters worse, Karl has managed to escape from prison and is on the loose.  This was a terrific thriller and Hoag is becoming a favorite author of mine. 


Dark Harbor, by Stuart Woods

That Stone Barrington sure is a lucky guy.  You’ll remember that he’s the ex-NY cop who now practices law and is also on retainer by the CIA.  He’s already inherited a terrific Turtle Bay townhouse from an aunt and, as our story begins, he has become the sole beneficiary of a beachfront mansion on an island off the coast of Maine.  Seems Dick Stone, a remote cousin of Stone’s, has shot his wife and daughter and then committed suicide.  Dick had just recently changed his will to cut off his brother, Caleb, and leave Stone his home.  Although Dick supposedly worked for the State Department, he was actually the number three man at the CIA and Stone is asked to look into his death.  Stone and his ex-partner, Dino, fly to Maine to investigate the deaths and they decide Dick and his family were murdered.  But, now comes the tricky part—who did it and why?  There are plenty of suspects—from foreign spies to disgruntled family members—but few clues.  Then things go from bad to worse when his good friend and occasional lover, Holly Barker, now working for the CIA and in Maine helping Stone with his investigation, gets kidnapped.   Great fun and suspense.
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Revised June 29, 2006

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