Audio Books K To Z

K TO Z

July 13, 2008

Lewis, Pam. PERFECT FAMILY. Recorded Books. April '08. $34.99. Audio CD. "Pony Carteret - the lovely headstrong youngest member of the Carteret family - has always been a strong swimmer. So when she is discovered drowned at the family's summer home on Lake Aral, Vermont, her red hair tangled in an anchor chain and her baby abandoned on shore, her family is stunned by disbelief. As the police conduct their investigation, Jasper Carteret, the patriarch, calls an urgent family meeting. Had any of her siblings known that Pony would be at the house that day? Was she having personal problems, was she depressed? Had she ever revealed the true identity of her baby's father? Neither sister - Tinker, the family caretaker, nor Mira, the moody, thoughtful one - has any information, and ultimately the police rule the drowning an accident. But William Carteret, Pony's older brother, can't accept the explanation that his favorite sister's death was an accident. Determined to uncover the truth, he eventually learns the disturbing fact that a stranger had been present at the house the evening Pony died. Who was this man, what was he doing at the house, and why hasn't he stepped forward? As William digs deeper, his investigations quickly lead him to a new and more daunting series of questions, not only about the mysteries in Pony's life but also about the shadowy details of his deceased mother's past and even his own. Before long, he has opened a Pandora's box of family secrets, including one dangerous fact his mother has Pam Lewis's PERFECT FAMILY is a masterful, atmospheric tale about the ways in which family secrets, no matter how long they're buried, can wield their tremendous power." Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.

Lippman, Laura. ANOTHER THING TO FALL. HarperAudio. April '08. $39.95. Audio CD. Read by Linda Emond. Unabridged. "The California dream weavers have invaded Charm City with their cameras, their stars, and their controversy.... When private investigator Tess Monaghan literally runs into the crew of the fledgling TV series Mann of Steel while sculling, she expects sharp words and evil looks, not an assignment. But the company has been plagued by a series of disturbing incidents since its arrival on location in Baltimore: bad press, union threats, and small, costly on-set 'accidents' that have wreaked havoc with its shooting schedule. As a result, Mann's creator, Flip Tumulty, the son of a Hollywood legend, is worried for the safety of his young female lead, Selene Waites, and asks Tess to serve as her bodyguard/babysitter. Tumulty's concern may be well founded. Not long ago a Baltimore man was discovered dead in his own home, surrounded by photos of the beautiful, difficult superstar-in-the-making. In the past, Tess has had enough trouble guarding her own body. Keeping a spoiled movie princess under wraps may be more than she can handle - even with the help of Tess's icily unflappable friend Whitney - since Selene is not as naive as everyone seems to think, and far more devious than she initially appears to be. This is not Tess's world. And these are not her kind of people, with their vanities, their self-serving agendas and invented personas, and their remarkably skewed visions of reality - from the series' aging, shallow, former pretty-boy leading man to its resentful, always-on-the-make cowriter to the officious young assistant who may be too hungry for her own good. But the fish-out-of-water P.I. is abruptly pulled back in by an occurrence she's all too familiar with - murder. Suddenly the wall of secrets around Mann of Steel is in danger of toppling, leaving shattered dreams, careers, and lives scattered among the ruins - a catastrophe that threatens the people Tess cares about...and the city she loves." Simultaneous hardcover release from William Morrow.

Lutz, Lisa. CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS. Simon & Schuster Audio. March '08. $29.95. Audio CD. Read by Ari Graynor. Abridged. Second in the series. "THEY'RE BAAAAACK.... Now the Spellmans, a highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators, return in a sidesplittingly funny story of suspicion, surveillance, and surprise. When Izzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, she writes it off as a job hazard. She's been (obsessively) keeping surveillance on a suspicious next door neighbor (suspect's name: John Brown), convinced he's up to no good - even if her parents (the management at Spellman Investigations) are not. When the (displeased) management refuses to bail Izzy out, it is Morty, Izzy's octogenarian lawyer, who comes to her rescue. But before he can build a defense, he has to know the facts. Over weak coffee and diner sandwiches, Izzy unveils the whole truth and nothing but the truth - as only she, a thirty-year-old licensed professional, can. When not compiling Suspicious Behavior Reports on all her family members, staking out her neighbor, or trying to keep her sister, Rae, from stalking her 'best friend,' Inspector Henry Stone, Izzy has been busy attempting to apprehend the copycat vandal whose attacks on Mrs. Chandler's holiday lawn tableaux perfectly and eerily match a series of crimes from 1991-92, when Izzy and her best friend, Petra, happened to be at their most rebellious and delinquent. As CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS unfolds, it's clear that Morty may be on retainer, but Izzy is still very much on the case...er, cases - her own and that of every other Spellman family member. (Re)meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, past missteps are never forgotten, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation - all in the name of unconditional love." Simultaneous hardcover release from Simon & Schuster.

Michaels, Fern. FREE FALL. Brilliance Audio. October '07. $69.25. Seventh in the series. Audio Cassette. Narrated by Laural Merlington. Unabridged. "SOONER OR LATER, THE SISTERHOOD ALWAYS GETS THEIR MAN... The loyal friends who make up the Sisterhood have gathered at Myra Ruthedge's beautiful Virginia home for the first time in a year, eager to talk, laugh, and share their joys and heartaches. For one of their, it's an evening filled with anticipation. Because tonight, over delicious food and in the company of those she trusts most, it will finally be time to tell her story - and for the Sisterhood to help plan her revenge. Yoko Akia's mother was only fifteen when a wealthy man swept her off her feet with promises of love. Instead, he filled her brief life with horror and misery. The Sisterhood has helped each other exact vengeance on rotten men before, but time it's different. Their target is none other than America's favorite movie star - a brute who has conned the world into believing he's Mister Perfect. But he's about to learn that nobody - not even a powerful superstar - is above the Sisterhood's special brand of payback...." Audio CD edition. Abridged. $19.95. Simultaneous release in paperback from Zebra Books.

Michaels, Fern. HOKUS POKUS. Brilliance Audio. April '08. $29.95. Unabridged Audio CD. Read by Laural Merlington. "Not even an ocean can keep the Sisterhood from helping a friend in need. There is no match for the Sisterhood - the seven friends who have taken vigilante justice to a new level - not even the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although the women foiled former FBI director Mitch Rileys plot to frame their friends Judge Nellie Easter and lawyer Lizzie Fox, now they must remain in exile or risk capture. They can't complain about their opulent digs on a remote, luxurious mountaintop, but the ladies desperately miss home. Their wish to return might come true sooner than they expect when they receive a panicked call from Supreme Court Chief Justice Pearl Barnes, who faces blackmail for her own illegal brand of justice. Now the women must not only sneak back into the United States, but also remain undetected as they investigate. But how do you make seven women disappear? With a nosy reporter on the brink of exposing them, the clock is ticking as the Sisterhood tries to create a little magic - and save the day...." Abridged edition. $19.95. Available in hardcover from Kensington Books. Paperback edition. Zebra Books.

Mystery Writers of America. Edited by Michael Connelly. THE BLUE RELIGION: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase. Tantor Media. Unabridged Audio CD. May '08. $34.99. "Taking us from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, from Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century to the post-Civil War frontier, these riveting stories trace the perils and occasional triumphs of lawmen and - women who put themselves in harm's way to face down the bad guys. Some of them even walk the edge of becoming bad guys themselves. In T. Jefferson Parker's 'Skinhead Central,' an ex-cop and his wife find unexpected menace in the idyllic setting they have chosen for their retirement. In Alafair Burke's 'Winning,' a female officer who is attacked in the line of duty must protect her own husband from his worst impulses. In Michael Connelly's 'Father's Day,' Harry Bosch faces one of his most emotionally trying cases, investigating a young boy's death. These are hard-hitting, thrilling, and utterly unforgettable stories, from some of the best writers in the mystery world." Nineteen original stories. Available in hardcover from Little, Brown & Company. Trade paperback edition. Back Bay Books.

Parker, Robert B. NOW AND THEN. RH Audio. November '07. $29.95. Audio CD. Narrated by Joe Mantegna. Unabridged. Thirty-fifth in the Spenser series. "When a simple case turns into a treacherous and politically charged investigation, Spenser faces his most difficult challenge yet - keeping his cool while his beloved Susan Silverman is in danger. Spenser knows something's amiss the moment Dennis Doherty walks into his office. The guy's aggressive yet wary, in the way men frightened for their marriages always are. So when Doherty asks Spenser to investigate his wife Jordan's abnormal behavior, Spenser agrees. A job's a job, after all. Not surprisingly, Spenser catches Jordan with another man, tells Dennis what he's found out, and considers the case closed. But a couple of days later, all hell breaks loose, and three people are dead. This isn't just a marital affair gone bad. Spenser is in the middle of hornet's nest of trouble, and he's got to get out of it without getting stung. With Hawk watching his back, and gun-for-hire Vinnie Morris providing extra cover, Spenser delves into a complicated and far-reaching operation: Jordan's former lover, Perry Alderson, is the leader of a group that helps sponsor terrorists. But Perry doesn't like Spenser poking around his business, so he decides to get to Spenser through Susan. The Boston P.I. will use all his connections both above and below the law to uncover the truth behind Perry's anti-government organization. But what Alderson doesn't realize is that Spenser will stop at absolutely nothing to keep Susan out of harm's way; nothing will keep him from the woman he loves." Simultaneous hardcover release from Putnam Books.

Parker, Robert B. STRANGER IN PARADISE. RH Audio. March '08. $29.95. Audio CD. Read by James Naughton. "Police Chief Jesse Stone faces his most fearsome adversary in the latest addition to the celebrated series. The last time Jesse Stone, chief of police of Paradise, Massachusetts, saw Wilson 'Crow' Cromartie, the Apache Indian hit man was racing away in a speedboat after executing one of the most lucrative and deadly heists in the town's history. Crow was part of a team of ex-cons who plotted to capture Stiles Island, the wealthy enclave off the Paradise coast, by blowing up the connecting bridge. Residents were kidnapped, some were killed, and Crow managed to escape with a boatload of cash, never to be seen again. Until now. So when Crow shows up in Jesse's office some ten years after the crime, it's not to turn himself in. Crow is on another job, and this time he's asking for Jesse's help - by asking him to stay out of his way. Crow's mission is simple: find young Amber Francisco and bring her back to her father, Louis, in Florida. It should be an easy payday for a pro like Crow, but there are complications. Amber, now living in squalor with her mother, Fiona, is mixed up with members of a Latino gang. And when Louis orders Crow to kill Fiona before heading back with Amber, he can't follow through. Crow may be a bad guy, but he doesn't kill women. It's up to Jesse to provide protection. Meanwhile, Jesse's on-again, off-again relationship with ex-wife Jenn picks up steam as Jenn investigates the gang problem for her TV station. As they dig deeper, the danger escalates. The life of a young girl hangs in the balance, and saving Amber could be the miracle Jesse and Jenn need for themselves, too." Simultaneous hardcover release from Putnam.

Parker, T. Jefferson. L.A. OUTLAWS. Brilliance Audio. March '08. $36.95. Audio CD. Read by David Colacci and Susan Ericksen. Unabridged. "Los Angeles is gripped by the exploding celebrity of Allison Murrieta, her real identity unknown, a modern-day Jesse James with the compulsion to steal beautiful things, the vanity to invite the media along, and the conscience to donate much of her bounty to charity. Nobody ever gets hurt - until a job ends with ten gangsters lying dead and a half-million dollars worth of glittering diamonds missing. Rookie Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies, and he prevents an eyewitness - a schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones - from leaving the scene in her Corvette. Drawn to a mysterious charisma that has him off-balance from the beginning, Hood begins an intense affair with Suzanne. As the media frenzy surrounding Allison's exploits swells to a fever pitch and the Southland's most notorious killer sets out after her, a glimmer of recognition blooms in Hood, forcing him to choose between a deeply held sense of honor and a passion that threatens to consume him completely. With a stone-cold killer locked in relentless pursuit, Suzanne and Hood continue their desperate dance around the secrets that brought them together, unsure whether each new dawn may signal the day their lies catch up with them." Abridged edition. $26.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Dutton.

Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine. 7TH HEAVEN. Hachette Audio. March '08. $39.98. Audio CD. Read by Carolyn McCormick. Unabridged. A Women's Murder Club Book. "A terrible fire in a wealthy suburban home leaves a married couple dead and Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin searching for clues. And after California's golden boy, Michael Campion has been missing for a month, there finally seems to be a lead in his case - a very devastating lead. As fire after fire consume couples in wealthy, comfortable homes, Lindsay and the Murder Club must race to find the arsonists responsible and get to the bottom of Michael Campion's disappearance. But suddenly the fires are raging too close to home. Frightened for her life and torn between two men, Lindsay must find a way to solve the most daunting dilemmas she's ever faced - at work and at home." Abridged edition. $29.98. Simultaneous hardcover release from Little, Brown and Company.

Patterson, James. DOUBLE CROSS. Hachette Audio. November '07. $39.98. Audio CD. Narrated by Peter J. Fernandez & Michael Stuhlbarg. Unabridged. "Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game - this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other. A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. have the whole East Coast on edge. They are like nothing Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever seen. With each murder, the case becomes increasingly complex. There's only one thing Alex knows: the killer adores an audience. As victims are made into gruesome spectacles citywide, inducing a media hysteria, it becomes clear to Alex that the man he's after is a genius of terror - and he's after fame. The killer has the whole city by its strings - and he'll stop at nothing to become the most terrifying star that Washington D.C. has ever seen." Simultaneous hardcover release from Little, Brown & Company.

Reichs, Kathy. BONES TO ASHES. Simon & Schuster Audio. September '07. $39.95. Audio CD.Narrated by Linda Emond. Unabridged. "Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another assignment. Evangeline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Evangeline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Evangeline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was 'dangerous.' Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl? Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Three girls dead. Four missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator." Abridged edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Scribner.

Rollins, James. THE LAST ORACLE: A Novel. HarperAudio. July '08. $44.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. Read by Peter Jay Fernandez. "What if you could bioengineer the next great world prophet: scientifically produce the next Buddha, the next Muhammad, or the next Jesus? Would it mark the Second Coming or initiate a chain reaction with disastrous consequences? A master at combining historical and religious intrigue with edge-of-your-seat adventure, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins brings back SIGMA Force to battle a group of rogue scientists who've unleashed a bioengineering project that could bring about the extinction of humankind. In Washington, D.C., a homeless man dies in Commander Gray Pierce's arms, shot by an assassin's bullet. But the death leaves behind a greater mystery: a bloody coin found clutched in the dead man's hand, an ancient relic that can be traced back to the Greek Oracle of Delphi. As ruthless hunters search for the stolen artifact, Gray Pierce discovers that the coin is the key to unlocking a plot that dates back to the Cold War and threatens the very foundation of humanity. An international think tank of scientists known as the Jasons has discovered a way to bioengineer autistic children who show savant talents - mathematical geniuses, statistical masterminds, brilliant conceptual artists - into something far greater and far more frightening, in hopes of creating a world prophet for the new millennium, one to be manipulated to create a new era of global peace...a peace on their own terms. Halfway around the world, a man wakes up in a hospital bed with no memory of who he is, knowing only that he's a prisoner in a subterranean research facility. With the help of three unusual children, he makes his escape across a mountainous and radioactive countryside, pursued by savage hunters bred in the same laboratory. But his goal is not escape, nor even survival. In order to thwart a plot to wipe out a quarter of the world's population, he must sacrifice all, even the children who rescued him. From ancient Greek temples to glittering mausoleums, from the slums of India to the toxic ruins of Russia, two men must race against time to solve a mystery that dates back to the first famous oracle of history - the Greek Oracle of Delphi. But one question remains: Will the past be enough to save the future?" Simultaneous hardcover release from William Morrow.

Silva, Daniel. MOSCOW RULES. Brilliance Audio. August '08. $36.95. Audio CD. Unabridged. Read by Phil Gigante. "Now the death of a journalist leads Allon to Russia, where he finds that, in terms of spycraft, even he has something to learn. He's playing by Moscow rules now. This is not the grim, gray Moscow of Soviet times but a new Moscow, awash in oil wealth and choked with bulletproof Bentleys. A Moscow where power resides once more behind the walls of the Kremlin and where critics of the ruling class are ruthlessly silenced. A Moscow where a new generation of Stalinists is plotting to reclaim an empire lost and to challenge the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States. One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel who built a global investment empire on the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hidden within that empire, however, is a more lucrative and deadly business: Kharkov is an arms dealer - and he is about to deliver Russia's most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda. Unless Allon can learn the time and place of the delivery, the world will see the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11 - and the clock is ticking fast. Filled with rich prose and breathtaking turns of plot, MOSCOW RULES is at once superior entertainment and a searing cautionary tale about the new threats rising to the East - and Silva's finest novel yet." Abridged edition. $26.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from Putnam.

White, Jenny. THE ABYSSINIAN PROOF. Blackstone Audio. February '08. $29.95. Second in the Kamil Pasha series. "Constantinople, May 1453. As seven thousand armed men prepare to defend Byzantium against the invading Turks, Isaak Metochites and his family are entrusted with a silver reliquary carved with the figure of a weeping angel and an inscription: Behold the Proof of Chora, Container of the Uncontainable. Four hundred years later, in Ottoman Istanbul, the local magistrate, Kamil Pasha is plagued by thefts of antiquities from mosques and churches, which quickly appear fro sale in Europe. Christians and Muslims blame each other for the desercrations, and the city is on the verge of riots. Adding to the tensions is a series of murders in which all the bodies bear the same distinctive mark. Sources lead Kamil to a hidden sect descended from Abyssinian slaves living in an abandoned cistern in Istanbul's gritty underworld. The reemergence there of the ancient reliquary and its subsequent theft set off a brutal race between those sworn to protect it and those who will stop at nothing to gain its explosive secret that could rewrite history. As Kamil uncovers the sect's secrets and its connection to the reliquary, his most cherished beliefs about his family and his past are also destroyed. Caught up in the savage struggle over the mysterious box, Kamil finds not only his life in danger but his moral compass as well" Audio Cassette edition. $29.95. Simultaneous hardcover release from W.W. Norton.

Winspear, Jacqueline. AN INCOMPLETE REVENGE. Macmillan Audio. February '08. $39.95. Audio CD. "In her fifth outing, Maisie Dobbs, the extraordinary Psychologist and Investigator, delves into a strange series of crimes in a small rural community. With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggests a darker criminal element at work. As Maisie discovers, the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders who flock to Kent at harvest time - even more troubling, they seem possessed by the legacy of a wartime Zeppelin raid. Maisie grows increasingly suspicious of a peculiar secrecy that shrouds the village, and ultimately she must draw on all her finely honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases. Rich with Jacqueline Winspear's trademark period detail, this latest installment of the bestselling series is gripping, atmospheric, and utterly enthralling." Simultaneous hardcover release from Henry Holt and Co.

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