September 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.

 

Justice Denied, by J. A. Jance
The Secret Servant, by Daniel Silva
Thursday Next, by Jasper Fforde
White Flag Down, by Joel Ross
The Careful Use of Compliments, by Alexander McCall Smith
Critical, by Robin Cook
The Devil's Labyrinth, by John Saul
Power Play, by Joseph Finder
Play Dirty, by Sandra Brown


This Month's Great Escapes
by Bill McCleary  



Fresh Disasters, by Stuart Woods

Normally Stone Barrington, the New York ex-cop turned lawyer, leads a pretty charmed life with his frequent dinners at Elaine’s, beautiful girlfriends, his elegant Turtle Bay townhouse, the farmhouse in the country, and his beach house in Maine.  Nice life—normally.  But, Stone is in for some fresh disasters—beginning with the reappearance of the always troublesome Herbie Fisher—the young, irresponsible relative of a good friend of Stone’s.  Herbie wants to sue a powerful mob boss for having him beat up after he fell behind paying off his gambling debts.  The law office that Stone sort-of works for now and then doesn’t want to handle the case so the head of the firm gives it to Stone.  Stone doesn’t want the case either—who wants to get a dangerous mob boss mad?—but Herbie is insistent.  And, so begins one fresh disaster after the other.  This was another light and fun read by the always entertaining Woods.


Next, by Michael Crichton

Ok.  I don’t care if Michael Crichton DID create ER.   I don’t care if he DID write the mega-blockbuster Jurassic Park—which was made into the hugely successful movie.  I don’t care if he DID write all those other bestsellers—many of which were also made into successful films.  This book, his latest, is crying out for a good editor.  Maybe when you get this successful nobody at the publishing house dares question anything you write—pity if that’s the case.  If you decide to read this book, keep a piece of paper and a pen handy and as soon as a character is introduced, write the information on the paper.  You will thank me later when the character reappears—mostly randomly with no rhyme or reason.  Trust me, you will have no idea who the character is since all the characters are so poorly introduced and described.  But, you can go back to your cheat sheet and at least have some idea of who’s who.  The only two memorable characters are a half-human monkey and a talking bird named Gerard—who was also my favorite character in the book--forget the humans.   It’s too bad there was seemingly no editor involved because there ARE the makings of a good story here dealing with genetic engineering.  Parts of the book are fascinating and there is the wonderful and entertaining Gerard but, unfortunately, Mr. Crichton has failed to provide a climax to the book.  When you get to the end you will probably say—as I did—“Huh?”


Simple Genius, by David Baldacci

Former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, introduced in a previous novel, make a return appearance in this latest Baldacci novel.  All is not well for Michelle, who seems to have a death wish.  After a near-fatal fight in a bar, she agrees to Sean’s offer to get her psychiatric help—in the form of Sean’s good friend Horatio Barnes.  Sean, meanwhile, has taken on the assignment to investigate the death of a research scientist at a mysterious and secretive compound called Babbage Town on the York River.  The scientist was found on a CIA property across the river—was his death a suicide or murder?  As Sean settles in to investigate, the security chief at Babbage Town, who was assisting Sean, is found drowned in his bathtub.   And, Sean is finding it difficult to pry a single secret out of any of the CIA or Babbage personnel.  Sensing Sean needs help, Michelle and Horatio arrive at Babbage Town to lend their assistance.  For Michelle, getting to know the young daughter of the dead scientist will unlock some of the secrets surrounding her father’s death—and assist Michelle in coming to terms with some of her own secrets from her past.  This wasn’t Baldacci’s best book but it was an entertaining and interesting read.


The Woods, by Harlan Coben

Twenty years ago Paul Copeland, then a teenager,  was working at a summer camp in New Jersey.  One night, while he was suppose to be providing security at the camp, four campers went into the woods.  Two of them were found murdered and the bodies of the other two were never found.  One of the teenagers who was never found was Paul’s sister.  Paul has always felt guilty that he was with his girlfriend, Lucy, instead of being on duty that night.  A fellow camp employee was later tried for other similar murders and is thought to have killed the four campers, too.  Now, all these years later, a man has been found murdered and he bears the distinctive scars of one of the victims who was never found.  Did he survive the night of murder?  And, if he did, is there a chance that Paul’s sister also survived?   Paul, now a New Jersey county prosecutor, hopes to solve the mystery with the help of Lucy, who he hasn’t seen since that tragic summer.  This was a good read with some interesting twists and turns.







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Revised Aug. 30, 2007

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