Audio Books A To J
A TO J
July 13, 2008
Alexander, Robert. THE ROMANOV BRIDE. Blackstone Audio. May '08. $29.95. Audio Cassette. Unabridged. "As the Russia of Nicholas and Alexandra rushes toward catastrophe, the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta is ensconced in the lavish and magnificent Romanov court. In the same city, but worlds apart, Pavel is a simple village man in search of a better life. When his young wife, Shura, is shot ad killed by tsarist soldiers during a political demonstration, Pavel dedicates his life to overthrowing the Romanovs. Pavel's underground group assassinates Elisavyeta's husband, the Grand Duke, changing her life forever. Grief stricken, the Grand Duchess gives up her wealth and becomes a nun dedicated to the poor people of Russia. When revolution finally sweeps Russia, Elisavyeta is the last Romanov captured, ripped from her abbey in the middle of the night and shuttled to Siberia. It is here, in a distant wood on a moonlit eve, that Pavel is left to decide her fate. THE ROMANOV BRIDE is Alexander's fullest and most engaging book yet. Combining stunning writing with a keen talent for storytelling, Alexander uncovers more of the compelling Romanov drama and intrigue for his many readers and all fans of historical fiction." Audio CD edition. Unabridged. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Viking Press.
Brown, Sandra. SMOKE SCREEN. Simon & Schuster Audio. August '08. $49.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. Read by Victor Slezak. "New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown is back, with a blistering story about corruption, betrayal, and the ultimate abuse of power. When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there...or how Jay wound up dead. Handsome and hard-partying, Jay was the hero of the disastrous fire, which five years earlier had destroyed Charleston's police headquarters. The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety. Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered. Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers - and ruin his - has festered, but he was helpless to set things right. That changes when he learns of Jay's Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication - and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire. But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire, and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that faithful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Burke, James Lee. SWAN PEAK. Simon & Schuster Audio. July '08. $49.95. Audio CD. Read by Will Patton. Unabridged. Sixteenth in the series. "Trouble follows Dave Robicheaux. James Lee Burke's new novel finds Detective Robicheaux far from his New Iberia roots, attempting to relax in the untouched wilderness of rural Montana. He, his wife, and his buddy Clete Purcel have retreated to stay at an old friend's ranch, hoping to spend their days fishing and enjoying their distance from the harsh, gritty landscape of Louisiana post-Katrina. But the serenity is quickly shattered when two college students are found brutally murdered in the hills behind where the Robicheauxs and Purcel are staying. Drawn into a twisted and dangerous mystery involving a wealthy, vicious oil tycoon, his deformed brother and beautiful wife, a sexually deviant minister, an escaped con and former country music star, and a vigilante Texas gunbull out for blood. At the center of the storm is Clete, who cannot shake the feeling that he is being haunted by ghosts from his past - namely Sally Dio, the mob boss he'd sabotaged and killed years before. In this expertly drawn, gripping story, Burke deftly weaves intricate, engaging plotlines and original, compelling characters with his uniquely graceful prose." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Cain, Tom. THE ACCIDENT MAN. Penguin Audio. February '08. $39.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. "Breathlessly paced and featuring one of the most intriguing heroes in recent fiction, Tom Cain's THE ACCIDENT MAN surprises the reader at every turn. For a certain sum of money, Samuel Carver will arrange a death. A ruptured gas line, an automobile crash, a fall from a window; anything can look like an accident. But when Carver is to carry out a job in a tunnel in Paris, and when the job goes wrong for him, and when he is pursued by the very forces that hired him, Carver must execute his most daring feat yet. A thriller of the grandest and most exhilarating sort, THE ACCIDENT MAN races above and below the streets of Paris, across Europe, and through storms at sea. It is also a startling introduction to a hero engaged in acts of moral violence. With the dissolution of world powers, with everything and anything for sale, how does one justify death? Samuel Carver - a clouded man of determined action - will come to understand the prices to be paid." Simultaneous hardcover release from Viking Press.
Child, Lee. NOTHING TO LOSE. Random House Audio. July '08. $44.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. Read by Dick Hill. "Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child's electrifying new novel, Reacher - a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose - goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead. It wasn't the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see...where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later...where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops - the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded - waits and watches...where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return. Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair - against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him - and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that's killing Americans by the thousand. Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Delacorte Press.
Clark, Mary Higgins. WHERE ARE YOU NOW?. Simon & Schuster Audio. April '08. $39.95. Audio CD. Read by Jan Maxwell. Unabridged. "From America's Queen of Suspense comes a gripping tale of a young woman trying to unravel the mystery of a family tragedy - a quest with terrifying repercussions. It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ('Mack') went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father, a corporate lawyer, in the tragedy of 9/11 does not bring him home or break the pattern of his calls. Mack's sister, Carolyn, is now twenty-six, a law school graduate, and has just finished her clerkship for a civil court judge in Manhattan. She has endured two family tragedies, yet she realizes that she will never be able to have closure and get on with her life until she finds her brother. She resolves to discover what happened to Mack and why he has found it necessary to hide from them. So this year when Mack makes his annual Mother's Day call, Carolyn interrupts to announce her intention to track him down, no matter what it takes. The next morning after Mass, her uncle, Monsignor Devon MacKenzie, receives a scrawled message left in the collection basket: 'Uncle Devon, tell Carolyn she must not look for me.' Mack's cryptic warning does nothing to deter his sister from taking up the search, despite the angry reaction of her mother, Olivia, and the polite disapproval of Elliott Wallace, Carolyn's honorary uncle, who is clearly in love with Olivia. Carolyn's pursuit of the truth about Mack's disappearance swiftly plunges her into a world of unexpected danger and unanswered questions. What is the secret that Gus and Lil Kramer, the superintendents of the building in which Mack was living, have to hide? What do Mack's old roommates, the charismatic club owner Nick DeMarco and the cold and wealthy real estate tycoon Bruce Galbraith, know about Mack's disappearance? Is Nick connected to the disappearance of Leesey Andrews, who had last been seen in his trendy club? Can the police possibly believe that Mack is not only alive, but a serial killer, a shadowy predator of young women? Was Mack also guilty of the brutal murder of his drama teacher and the theft of his taped sessions with her? Carolyn's passionate search for the truth about her brother - and for her brother himself - leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret he cannot allow her to reveal." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Crais, Robert. CHASING DARKNESS. Brilliance Audio. July '08. $34.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. Read by James Daniels. "Its fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. When police and fire department personnel rush door to door in a frenzied evacuation effort, they discover the week-old corpse of an apparent suicide. But the gunshot victim is less gruesome than what they find in his lap: a photo album of seven brutally murdered young women - one per year, for seven years. And when the suicide victim is identified as a former suspect in one of the murders, the news turns Elvis Cole's world upside down. Three years earlier Lionel Byrd was brought to trial for the murder of a female prostitute named Yvonne Bennett. A taped confession coerced by the police inspired a prominent defense attorney to take Byrds case, and Elvis Cole was hired to investigate. It was Cole's eleventh-hour discovery of an exculpatory videotape that allowed Lionel Byrd to walk free. Elvis was hailed as a hero. But the discovery of the death album in Byrd's lap now brands Elvis as an unwitting accomplice to murder. Captured in photographs that could only have been taken by the murderer, Yvonne Bennett was the fifth of the seven victims - two more young women were murdered after Lionel Byrd walked free. So Elvis can't help but wonder did he, Elvis Cole, cost two more young women their lives? Shut out of the investigation by a special LAPD task force determined to close the case, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike desperately fight to uncover the truth about Lionel Byrd and his nightmare album of death - a truth hidden by lies, politics, and corruption in a world where nothing is what it seems to be." Abridged edition. $26.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Deaver, Jeffery. THE BROKEN WINDOW. Simon & Schuster Audio. June '08. $49.95. Audio CD. ""Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose ingenious staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information.... When Lincoln's estranged cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested on murder charges, the case is perfect - too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's relative is sealed. At the behest of Arthur's wife, Judy, Lincoln grudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance - desptie ironclad evidence at the scenes or the crime. Rhyme's team realizes this 'perfect' evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity theft and manipulation. An information service company - the huge date miner Strategic Systems Datacorp - seems to have all the answers but is reluctant to help the police. Still, Rhyme and Sachs and their assembled team begin uncovering a chilling pattern of vicious crimes and coverups, and their investigation points to one master criminal, whom they dub '522.' When '522' learns the indentities of the cime-fighting team, the hunters soon become the hunted." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Dorsey, Tim. ATOMIC LOBSTER. HarperAudio. February '08. $39.95. Audio CD. Read by Oliver Wyman. Unabridged. "Why is everyone rushing to flee Tampa on a cruise ship to hell? Serge is back with a bullet, torn between homicide and souvenirs. So is Coleman, torn between getting hammered and getting more hammered. Then there's good ol' Jim Davenport, the E-Team, the Diaz Brothers, and Johnny Vegas, the Accidental Virgin, cranking up the fevered action as the pot boils over on a street called Lobster Lane. It's reunion time in the Sunshine State, and we're not just talking the family jamboree of that blood-soaked criminal clan, the McGraws, whose nastiest, meanest member is finally released from prison and heads south bent on revenge. On top of it all, the government is covering up a growing list of mysterious victims across Florida who may or may not be connected to a nefarious plot being hatched against national security. But wait! There's more on the horizon! Who is the oddly familiar femme fatale named Rachael? Is Serge wrong that guns, drugs, and strippers don't mix? What sets the Non-Confrontationalists off on a rampage? What finally brings Coleman and Lenny together? Will they succeed in building the biggest bong ever? And can Serge surf a rogue wave to victory? So batten the hatches, don the life jackets, and take cover as all these questions and more are answered in the latest adventure from the acclaimed author of HURRICANE PUNCH." Simultaneous hardcover release from William Morrow.
Ghelfi, Brent. VOLK'S SHADOW. Tantor Media. July '08. $34.99. Audio CD. Unabridged. Narrated by Stephen Hoye. "An international cabal drives Volk back to blood-soaked Chechnya, where he confronts an old nemesis and reunites with his lost love in this gripping sequel to the acclaimed series debut. The headquarters of an American oil company hemorrhages chemical-pink smoke into the Moscow night, the aftermath of an apparent terrorist attack. A Russian army captain carrying a priceless Faberge egg and digital evidence of horrific wartime atrocities is murdered and relieved of both these prizes. And in the snowy mountains of southern Russia, a terrorist named Abreg - who once held Volk captive in a Chechen mud pit - hatches a plan to lure him back into his grasp. VOLK'S SHADOW finds Colonel Alexei Volkovoy - covert agent of the Russian Army and major player in the Moscow underworld - once again struggling to stay afloat in the swirling currents of political economic intrigue in modern-day Russia." Simultaneous hardcover release from Henry Holt and Co.
Greenlaw, Lindae. FISHERMAN'S BEND. Brilliance Audio. July '08. $24.95. MP3 Audio CD. "When former Miami homicide detective Jane Bunker left her big-city life for Green Haven, Maine, she thought she was also leaving behind the pollution, noise, and dead bodies. Well, as any New Englander will tell you, two out of three ain't bad. After solving a murder and surviving a couple of attempts on her life (recounted in the bestselling mystery SLIPKNOT), Jane Bunker believes she's finally earned a respite from murder and intrigue. But if she thinks it's time for her to soak up the peace and quiet she's been seeking, she should think again. On her way back from a routine investigation into some smashed equipment, Jane takes a moment to appreciate the beauty of a Maine autumn - there's the sublime rainbow foliage of the highlands, the serene reflections of the setting sun on the bay's gentle waves, the elegant silhouette of a lobster boat on the bay. But her calm lasts only as long as it takes for Jane to make the chilling discovery that the vessel is in serious trouble with nobody aboard - and that its owner has vanished without a trace... And that's the least of the mysteries. A young mariner dead of a heroin overdose; the real agenda of a charismatic Indian leader; a missing bait iron and a corpse painted red - nothing is what it seems. FISHERMAN'S BEND brings us Greenlaw's pitch-perfect ear for all things maritime. From the eccentric denizens of little Green Haven - Audrey, the punk rock waitress, the delightful Vickersons with their all-mussel cookbook - to the dark undercurrents that run beneath this seemingly idyllic coastal village, Greenlaw's flair for combining humor and Down East flavor with roller-coaster suspense makes this a mystery that will grab you hook, line, and sinker." Simultaneous hardcover release from Hyperion.
Gross, Andrew. THE DARK TIDE. HarperAudio. April '08. $39.95. Audio CD. Read by Melissa Leo. Unabridged. "An explosion rips through New York City's Grand Central Station one morning, destroying the train Karen Friedman's husband, a successful hedge fund manager, is riding in to work. Days later, with many bodies still unidentifiable, Karen resigns herself to the awful truth: her husband of eighteen years is dead. On that same day, a suspicious hit-and-run accident leaves a young man dead in Karen's hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut. Ty Hauck, a detective, becomes emotionally caught up in the case and finds a clue that shockingly connects the two seemingly unrelated events. Months later, two men show up at Karen's home digging into Charles's business dealings. Hundreds of millions of dollars are missing - and the trail points squarely to Charles. With doubt suddenly cast on everything she has ever known, Karen, with Hauck, steps into a widening storm of hedge fund losses, international scams, and murder. And as the investigations converge, these two strangers touched by tragedy are pulled into a deepening relationship and unwittingly open the door to a twisted - and deadly - conspiracy." Simultaneous hardcover release from William Morrow.
Hillerman, Tony. THE SHAPE SHIFTER. HarperAudio. December '07. $26.95. Audio CD. "Since his retirement from the Navajo Tribal Police, Joe Leaphorn has occasionally been enticed to return to work by former colleagues who seek his help when they need to solve a particularly puzzling crime. They ask because Leaphorn, aided by officers Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito, always delivers. But this time the problem is with an old case of Joe's - his 'last case,' unsolved, is one that continues to haunt him. And with Chee and Bernie just back from their honeymoon, Leaphorn is pretty much on his own. The original case involved a priceless, one-of-a-kind Navajo rug supposedly destroyed in a fire. Suddenly, what looks like the same rug turns up in a magazine spread. And the man who brings the photo to Leaphorn's attention has gone missing. Leaphorn must pick up the threads of a crime he'd thought impossible to untangle. Not only has the passage of time obscured the details, but it also appears that there's a murderer still on the loose." Simultaneous hardcover release from HarperCollins.
Hubbard, Susan. THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES. Tantor Media. May '08. $34.99. Unabridged Audio CD. Read by Joyce Bean. Second in the series. "It was the year of disappearances. The honeybees were the first to go. Ariella Montero is no stranger to the dark side of life. Halfhuman, halfvampire, she spent her first thirteen years in exile from both societies. When her best friend was murdered, Ari ran away to begin a new life in Florida. But, one by one, the people and things she cares most about keep disappearing. And Ari may be next. She can hypnotize, she can read minds, and she can make herself invisible, but can she escape her stalkers? Ari's special talents are severely tested as she moves on - from a vampire community in the Sunshine State to college in Georgia to the primeval maze of the Okefenokee Swamp. In contending with the politics of vampire and human cultures, Ari comes face to face with zombies that are infiltrating America, as well as demons and shadows that haunt us all. THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES continues the most surprising vampire story you'll ever read." Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Hunter, Stephen. THE 47TH SAMURAI. Brilliance Audio. September '07. $38.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. "In THE 47TH SAMURAI, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels POINT OF IMPACT and TIME TO HUNT, returns in Hunter's most intense and exotic thriller to date. Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived. More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest. Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless but worth killing for. Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture. Swagger's allies, hard-as-nails, American-born Susan Okada and the brave, cocaine-dealing tabloid journalist Nick Yamamoto, help him move through this strange, glittering, and ominous world from the shady bosses of the seamy Kabukicho district to officials in the highest echelons of the Japanese government, but in the end, he is on his own and will succeed only if he can learn that to survive samurai, you must become samurai. As the plot races and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that a ruthless conspiracy is in place, and the only thing that can be taken for granted is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. If Swagger hopes to stop them, he must be willing not only to die but also to kill." Abridged edition. $26.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Hunter, Stephen. NIGHT OF THUNDER. Brilliance Audio. October '08. $26.95. Audio CD. A Bob Lee Swagger Novel. "The stakes are high and personal because this time, Swaggers daughters life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her clinging to life in a coma, Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southern Fried scandal. Corrupt constabulary, meth lab crackers, and deranged evangelicals rear their ugly heads and when Swagger picks up where Nikki left off, his swift sword of justice is let loose. All of it is set against the backdrop of the excitement and insanity that only a weeklong NASCAR event can bring to the backwoods of a town as seemingly sleepy as Bristol, VA." Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.
Johnson, Joan. A STRANGER'S GAME. Simon & Schuster Audio. March '08. $29.95. Audio CD. Abridged. "From New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnson comes a dazzling new Bitter Creek novel that features all of the passion and intrigue in Texas high society that her readers know and love, mixed with an explosive, spine-tingling tale of murder, wrongful imprisonment, and a woman who will rist everything to see a killer brought to jutice. FBR special agent Breed Grayhawk ahs the hottest sex in his life with a stranger who calls herself Grace Smith. Early the next morning, Breed's FBI office in Autin, Texas, gets an anonymous phone tip. The beautiful young woman's real name is Merle Raye Finkel - and she's a convicted double murderer who broke her parole a year ago and disappeared. Now she's the prime suspect in a terrorist threat against the U.S. president during his upcoming visit, and Agent Grayhawk has just five days to find his dangerous lover...." Simultaneous hardcover release from Pocket Book
Linked audio tapes can be purchased online at a discount of 10 to 40%. To return here, use the back button on your browser.
© 1996-2008 Bill Palmer.