August 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.

 

The Sleeping Doll, by Jeffery Deaver
Spare Change, by Robert Parker
When Day Breaks, by Mary Jane Clark
The Diana Chronicles, by Tina Brown
Double Take, by Catherine Coulter
Love Kills, by Edna Buchanan
Stalin's Ghost, by Martin Cruz Smith
The Quickie, by James Patterson
Drop Dead Beautiful, by Jackie Collins
New England White, by Stephen Carter
American Legacy, by David C. Heymann
High Noon, by Nora Roberts
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
Someone to Love, by Jude Deveraux


This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary  



Capitol Threat, by William Bernhardt

This is a sequel of sorts to Bernhardt’s previous novel, Capitol Murder, and it features lawyer Ben Kincaid.  Ben is an Oklahoma lawyer who came to Washington to represent a senator charged with murder.  Ben managed to successfully defend the senator but other scandals caused him to resign his seat.  Emerging as somewhat of a hero in the whole process, Ben was appointed to take over the vacated senate seat.  So, Ben is now a senator as the current novel begins and he is just starting to learn the ropes.   A Supreme Court vacancy has opened up and the Republican president has nominated Judge Thaddeus Roush for the position.  At a White House ceremony to introduce the nominee, Judge Roush surprises everyone—especially the President—by announcing that he is gay.  Suddenly, what looked like an easy confirmation now becomes anything but.  Ben is selected by the Senate Majority Leader to help spearhead Roush’s nomination through the Senate.  With his work cut out for him, Ben’s task becomes even more difficult when a woman is found murdered in the garden of Roush’s home.  This could have been a terrific book—certainly it starts with a good plot idea.  But, I had the same trouble with this book that I had with Bernhardt’s last one—a number of the characters are just not likable and this is especially the case with Judge Roush.  As a reader, I didn’t care if he was confirmed or not.  A surprise ending made me even dislike Ben—and that’s not a good thing.  A lot of the story seemed very implausible and unrealistic as well and much of the action was repetitive.  This author needs a good editor.


Boomsday, by Christopher Buckley

Who’s ready for some humor?  You’ve got it here with Buckley’s latest—and maybe funniest—novel.  We’re a few years into the future and things aren’t going too well for our beloved country. We seem to be fighting at least four wars, interest rates are over 20 percent, the value of a dollar has plunged to new lows, the country is deeply in debt, and-- here’s the really bad news—all the baby boomers are retiring.  Social Security is nearly bankrupt and the burden of keeping it afloat has been shifted even more to the population under thirty.  Enter twentysomething Cassandra Devine, working at a DC public relations firm.  Late one night, after maybe one too many Red Bulls, Cassandra issues a call to arms on her website for the under 30s to rebel.  And, rebel they do.  Suddenly Cassandra is a media darling and the general in charge of the rebellion.  Her star burns even brighter when she comes up with the idea of saving Social Security by having seniors exit early by what Cassandra calls—in her best PR spin--‘voluntary transitioning’ to the afterlife.   This may sound like a grim topic but there is laugh out loud humor on every page and the book is filled with wonderful, colorful, hilarious characters—mostly all doing the wrong thing.   Terrific fun.


Obsession, by Jonathan Kellerman

When we last encountered Alex Delaware, the LA psychologist, he was making a cameo appearance in a novella set in Memphis.  Happily, he is back in LA and the star in this latest mystery from Kellerman.  Years ago Alex had successfully treated Tanya Bigelow for obsessive-compulsive behavior when she was a child.  Now, Tanya is nineteen and doing well in college.  Doing well, that is, until her Aunt Patty, who has raised her since she was a toddler, dies of cancer.  On her deathbed, Patty seems to confess to Tanya of a murder she may have committed.  Patty is in a drugged state and she is vague on the details but Tanya is left with the impression that she is in danger.  Not knowing exactly what to do, she decides to turn once again to Alex—who helped her so long ago. Alex needs police assistance so he enlists the aid of his good friend Milo Sturgis, a homicide detective.   As they begin asking questions, the first person they interview is murdered. To get to the bottom of the mystery, they will need to go back into Patty’s past while also solving the new murder.  The plot for this latest Delaware outing wasn’t quite as compelling as some earlier ones but the interaction of the main characters makes for a good read.


What Came Before He Shot Her, by Elizabeth George

Towards the end of Ms. George’s previous novel, With No One as Witness, Inspector Thomas Lynley’s pregnant wife, Helen, is shockingly murdered on her London doorstep as she arrives home after a day of shopping.  The culprit is, apparently, a twelve-year-old boy named Joel Campbell from the rough, crime-ridden North Kensington part of London.  What circumstances could have possibly brought him to this unlikely and fatal meeting with Helen in the posh Belgravia area?   With her latest novel, Ms. George takes us a short distance back in time—and to another part of London—to answer that question.  Life has been difficult for the three mixed-race Campbell children.  Their father was killed in a shooting and their mother has mental problems and is institutionalized. They’ve been raised by their grandmother but she has just dumped them on the doorstep of their Aunt Kendra and decamped for Jamaica.  In addition to Joel, there is Vanessa at fifteen and eight-year-old Toby, who is learning-challenged.  Suddenly, life has turned upside down for all of them. The kids are in an unfamiliar, much rougher environment and thrown into new schools and Kendra, living the single life, is suddenly thrust into an unwanted and unasked for mother role.  Vanessa immediately falls in with a bad crowd, Joel gets into trouble with the neighborhood gang leaders and bullies, and Toby becomes a target that Joel feels he must protect at all costs.  Kendra tries to cope but she is clearly in over her head and, despite her best efforts, the family is headed for disaster—and a rendezvous in Belgravia.  In some ways this novel was difficult to read because, from the beginning, I knew it would eventually lead to Helen’s doorstep and her murder—and I dreaded that arrival.  But, getting to that doorstep is utterly fascinating and I commend Ms. George for taking this unexpected leap into the world of North Kensington.  The result is an unforgettable novel and, in my opinion, Ms. George’s finest to date.






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Revised July 30, 2007

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