Thriller time!
Damage Control by Robert Dugoni - Attorney Dana Hill has everything going for her - until she gets three rapid hits: a diagnosis of breast cancer, her husband is having an affair, and her brother is murdererd. Her investigation into her brother's death leads her to a political coverup that nearly gets her killed. Good storytelling, okay characters, predictable plot line.
Wicked Prey by John Sandford - Lucas Davenport has a big headache - the Republican Party Has come to St. Paul for their convention, there's a report of a man looking for ammo for a .50 caliber sniper rifle, and a deadly gang is hunting political moneymen with non-reportable briefcases full of money. But the worst thing is the one he doesn't know about - a small time hood, who blames Davenport for the bullet that put him in a wheelchair for life, is stalking Davenport's teenage ward. But Letty is no easy target and is making plans of her own for her stalker. Big fan of Sandford - really liked this. Felt a bit strange with the political angle, mostly because it's so newly past. Letty seems a bit too kick-ass for a fourteen year old, but she's still a good character.
The Poet by Michael Connelly - Jack McEvoy is a reporter whose detective brother just committed suicide. Trying to come to terms with it, he decides to write about police suicides - and then comes up with evidence that his brother was actually murdered - and so were several other supposed suicides. Jack teams up with the FBI to look into the cases. Felt slow to get into it - too used to Harry Bosch, I guess :) But once it got going, was very good. Sequel (The Scarecrow) just came out. (A to Z title)
Blood Sins by Kay Hooper - Tessa Gray works for Haven, a private investigation organization with psychic investigators - a non-government offshoot of Noah Bishop's FBI Special Crimes Unit. She's currently posing as a recent widow in a small rural NC town to investigate a charismatic religious leader, with a strange hold over his flock and deadly psychic abilities. Was okay, bit too talky - second in a trilogy - seemed to spend too much time talking about why they were investigating and how dangerous/secretive everything was rather than showing it. Still readable and I'm certain I'll read the third when it comes out.
Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin - Samantha Leiffer is a part-time preschool teacher and a part-time box office staff member, living a fairly dull, but pleasant life, until the day she sees two people dropping a small ice chest into the Hudson River. When the chest turns out to contain the body of a mutilated child, she finds herself in danger. Good story, good side characters. Lots of humor in the work situations, good suspense with the bad guys.
You Kill Me by Alison Gaylin - sequel to Hide Your Eyes. Samantha is fairly well over the events of the previous books, but in this one, set post 9/11, her boyfriend Detective John Krull has become emotionally distant and often physically absent. A mysterious man gives her a note warning her about being watched - and then people around her start to die. And everything seems to point to John. Again, good side characters, good use of humor, good suspense. Didn't like it quite as much as the first one though. (A to Z title)
The Prey by Allison Brennan - Former FBI agent turned best-selling author, Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu house, while working with a studio filming one of her thrillers. Then a killer uses one of her novels as a model for murder. And then another. The studio insists on hiring protection and the former Delta Force operative they hire forces her to realize that to catch the killer, she'll have to revisit her hidden past. Standard thriller, very readable.
The Hunt by Allison Brennan - Twelve years ago Miranda escaped the Bozeman Butcher, surviving where a friend and fellow captive did not. Still feeling guilty, she leads a search and rescue team in the same area, trying to find the various women who disappear over the years. A new body brings everything back to the boiling point, when the FBI agent she once loved arrives to help in the investigation. Related to _The Prey_, but not strictly a sequel. Still fairly standard, very readable.
Wicked Prey by John Sandford - Lucas Davenport has a big headache - the Republican Party Has come to St. Paul for their convention, there's a report of a man looking for ammo for a .50 caliber sniper rifle, and a deadly gang is hunting political moneymen with non-reportable briefcases full of money. But the worst thing is the one he doesn't know about - a small time hood, who blames Davenport for the bullet that put him in a wheelchair for life, is stalking Davenport's teenage ward. But Letty is no easy target and is making plans of her own for her stalker. Big fan of Sandford - really liked this. Felt a bit strange with the political angle, mostly because it's so newly past. Letty seems a bit too kick-ass for a fourteen year old, but she's still a good character.
The Poet by Michael Connelly - Jack McEvoy is a reporter whose detective brother just committed suicide. Trying to come to terms with it, he decides to write about police suicides - and then comes up with evidence that his brother was actually murdered - and so were several other supposed suicides. Jack teams up with the FBI to look into the cases. Felt slow to get into it - too used to Harry Bosch, I guess :) But once it got going, was very good. Sequel (The Scarecrow) just came out. (A to Z title)
Blood Sins by Kay Hooper - Tessa Gray works for Haven, a private investigation organization with psychic investigators - a non-government offshoot of Noah Bishop's FBI Special Crimes Unit. She's currently posing as a recent widow in a small rural NC town to investigate a charismatic religious leader, with a strange hold over his flock and deadly psychic abilities. Was okay, bit too talky - second in a trilogy - seemed to spend too much time talking about why they were investigating and how dangerous/secretive everything was rather than showing it. Still readable and I'm certain I'll read the third when it comes out.
Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin - Samantha Leiffer is a part-time preschool teacher and a part-time box office staff member, living a fairly dull, but pleasant life, until the day she sees two people dropping a small ice chest into the Hudson River. When the chest turns out to contain the body of a mutilated child, she finds herself in danger. Good story, good side characters. Lots of humor in the work situations, good suspense with the bad guys.
You Kill Me by Alison Gaylin - sequel to Hide Your Eyes. Samantha is fairly well over the events of the previous books, but in this one, set post 9/11, her boyfriend Detective John Krull has become emotionally distant and often physically absent. A mysterious man gives her a note warning her about being watched - and then people around her start to die. And everything seems to point to John. Again, good side characters, good use of humor, good suspense. Didn't like it quite as much as the first one though. (A to Z title)
The Prey by Allison Brennan - Former FBI agent turned best-selling author, Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu house, while working with a studio filming one of her thrillers. Then a killer uses one of her novels as a model for murder. And then another. The studio insists on hiring protection and the former Delta Force operative they hire forces her to realize that to catch the killer, she'll have to revisit her hidden past. Standard thriller, very readable.
The Hunt by Allison Brennan - Twelve years ago Miranda escaped the Bozeman Butcher, surviving where a friend and fellow captive did not. Still feeling guilty, she leads a search and rescue team in the same area, trying to find the various women who disappear over the years. A new body brings everything back to the boiling point, when the FBI agent she once loved arrives to help in the investigation. Related to _The Prey_, but not strictly a sequel. Still fairly standard, very readable.