The Professionals P To Z






P TO Z



May 8, 2008


Parker, Robert B. BLUE SCREEN. Berkley Books. July '07. $9.99. "Buddy Bollen is a C-list movie mogul who made his fortune producing films of questionable artistic merit. When Buddy hires Sunny Randall to protect his rising star and girlfriend, Erin Flint, Sunny knows from the start that the prickly, spoiled beauty won't make her job easy. And when Erin's sister, Misty, is found dead in the lavish home they share with sugar daddy Bollen, there doesn't seem to be a single lead worth pursuing. But then Sunny meets Jesse Stone, chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, under whose jurisdiction the case falls. It immediately becomes clear that Jesse and Sunny have much in common. While searching for the killer, they learn an awful lot about each other-and themselves. Tracking Misty's murderer reveals a host of seedy complications behind Erin's glamorous lifestyle as well as Buddy Bollen's entertainment empire, made up of shady film deals and mobsters out for revenge. But in a world where there's little difference between the good guys and the bad, exposing the killer could prove to be Sunny's undoing."


Parker, Robert B. STRANGER IN PARADISE. Putnam. March '08. $25.95. "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 release on Audio CD from RH Audio.


Parker, T. Jefferson. L.A. OUTLAWS. Dutton. March '08. $25.95. "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." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Brilliance Audio. Abridged edition.


Patterson, James. CROSS.Grand Central Publishing. October '07. $9.99. "Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.'s rough neighborhoods. Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love. Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life."


Patterson, James. DOUBLE CROSS. Little, Brown & Company. November '07. $27.99. "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 release on audio CD from Hachette Audio. Available in paperback. Vision. October '08. $9.99.


Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine. THE 5TH HORSEMAN. Vision. April '08. $9.99. "SOMEBODY DIES. A young mother is recuperating in a San Francisco hospital when she is suddenly gasping for breath. The call button fails to bring help in time. The hospital's doctors, some of the best in the nation, are completely mystified by her death. How did this happen? APOCALYPSE NEARS. This is not the first such case at the hospital. Just as patients are about to be released with a clean bill of health, their conditions take a devastating turn for the worse. Accompanied by the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, Yuki Castellano, Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer probes deeper into the incidents. Could these cases just be appalling coincidences? Or is a maniac playing God with people's lives? When someone close to the Women's Murder Club begins to exhibit the same frightening symptoms, Lindsay fears no one is safe. THE 5TH HORSEMAN RIDES. It is a wild race against time as Lindsay's investigation reveals a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, Lindsay and the Women's Murder Club hunt for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff. The newest addition to the top-selling new mystery series takes the Women's Murder Club to the most terrifying heights of suspense they have yet to encounter."


Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine. 7TH HEAVEN. Little, Brown and Company. March '08. $27.99. 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." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Hachette Audio. Abridged edition.


Pearson, Ridley. KILLER WEEKEND. Putnam. July '07. $24.95. "Eight years ago, in Sun Valley - snowcapped playground for the wealthy and ambitious - all that stood between New York State attorney general Elizabeth Shaler and a knife-wielding killer was local patrolman Walt Fleming. Now Liz Shaler returns to Sun Valley as the crown jewel and keynote speaker for billionaire Patrick Cutter's world-famous C3, media and communications conference where the richest, most powerful business tycoons convergence. The attorney general, a political lightening rod, is expected to announce her candidacy for president. It's a media coup for Cutter - but a security nightmare for Walt Fleming, now the county sheriff. As C3 gets under way, authorities learn of a confirmed threat on Shaler's life, and various competing interests - the Secret Service, the FBI, Cutter's own security forces - begin jockeying for jurisdiction. Beyond the logistical nightmare that the conference's opulent extravagances represent for Sheriff Fleming, he must also contend with a raft of other local concerns: his troubled nephew's arrest, his wife's infidelity, the death of a socialite under suspicious circumstances, and a series of apparent maulings by an aggressive cougar. Each of these incidents comes to a head just as Shaler's assassin puts his chillingly precise plan into action." Available in paperback. Jove Press. July '08. $9.99.


Reichs, Kathy. BONES TO ASHES. Scribner. September '07. $25.95. "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." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Simon & Schuster Audio. Abridged edition. Available in paperback. Pocket Books. July '08. $9.99.


Rowland, Laura Joh. RED CHRYSANTHEMUM. St. Martin's. October '07. $6.99. "THE TRUTH IS DRENCHED IN BLOOD.... Tokyo, 1698: Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to become the shogun's second-in-command, is investigating rumors of a plot to overthrow the ruling regime. But conspiracy theories travel far too close to home when Sano discovers that Lord Mori, heir to the shogun, has been found murdered in his own bed...with Sano's pregnant wife, Reiko, lying naked beside him. Was Reiko Lord Mori's scorned mistress, and vengeful assassin, as Lady Mori alleges? Or is she involved in a stunning hoax with her husband - as the ghost of Lord Mori has charged? Now, in a desperate race against time, Sano must find the real killer or face execution for treason...unless he can solve the mystery of the RED CHRYSANTHEMUM."


Rowland, Laura Joh. THE SNOW EMPRESS. Minotaur Books. November '07. $24.95. 12th in the series. "Japan, 1699. On a moonlit night in Ezogashima, the northern most island of Japan, a woman is running through the forest when an arrow zooms out of the darkness to strike her dead. Meanwhile, a world away in the city of Edo, the eight-year-old son of Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence in the shogun's court, vanishes during a moon-watching party. When Sano's political rival, Lord Matsudaira, hints that the boy may be in Ezogashima, Sano's wife, Reiko, insists on accompanying him on the desperate journey. After an eleven-day voyage through cold and treacherous waters, they arrive at Ezogashima, only to find that Lord Matsumae, distraught at the murder of his mistress, is holding the whole province hostage until someone confesses to the crime. No one is allowed in or out of Ezogashima, and although Matsumae tells Sano his son is there, he refuses to release him. Sano strikes a deal: He will solve the murder of Matsumae's mistress if Lord Matsumae will free the hostages and return their son. Soon, however, he and Reiko find themselves caught up in a dangerous scheme that includes clan warfare, jealous husbands, and murderous betrayal." Available in paperback. Minotaur Books. November '08. $6.99. BR>

Santlofer, Jonathan. ANATOMY OF FEAR. HarperPaperbacks. February '08. $7.99. First in the series. "NYPD sketch artist Nate Rodriguez possesses a remarkable gift. From the smallest clues - an off-hand comment, a brief flash of fear in a victim's eyes - he is able to create an uncanny likeness of the assailant. Now Detective Terri Russo needs his help to solve a particularly shocking series of murders, perpetrated by a psychopath who enjoys drawing pictures of his crimes before committing them. Nate is being asked to enter the dark, twisted mind of a monster - to re-create a face that no one has lived to identify. But as a portrait slowly begins taking shape in Nate's mind and on the page, an electrifying game of cat and mouse reaches an unexpected new level - as a brilliant killer uses his own unique talents to turn the investigation in a terrifying new direction..."


Santlofer, Jonathan. THE MURDER NOTEBOOK. William Morrow. June '08. $24.95. Second in the series. "NYPD sketch artist Nate Rodriguez cannot shake the vivid nightmarish visions that have begun to plague him. Trying to make sense of the images he cannot get out of his head, he turns to what he knows best: putting pencil to paper. But the visios he's drawing aren't random figments of a warped imagination; they have a uncanny resemblence to inexplicable murder/suicides both past and present. Propelled by his conscience - and fearing for his sanity - Rodriguez throws himself into the search for answers. On the surface there seems to be no connection among the cases. But the further he digs, the more common - and deadly - the thread appears."


Shuman, George. LAST BREATH. Simon & Schuster. August '07. $24.00. Second in the series. "Following close on the heels of his celebrated debut 18 SECONDS, George Shuman returns with yet another remarkable thriller featuring investigative consultant Sherry Moore - a blind woman with an uncanny ability to view the final living moments of any dead body she encounters. A ruthless serial killer with an unthinkable MO has left a trail of tortured, murdered women in western Maryland and seems to have gone to ground in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. With no leads or any sign of a suspect, investigators must call on the now-famous blind psychic Sherry Moore, a woman whose talent inspires skepticism, but whose results are unparalleled. When she is put in contact with the hand of any dead body, she relives the memory of the departed's final experience. While investigating this case, she is privy to the most savage and terrifying scenes imaginable. However, because the killer is aware of her methods, he keeps his identity just beyond her reach until she resolves to put herself directly in harm's way. When the fiend sets his sights on Sherry, this seemingly helpless woman must demonstrate an almost inhuman strength of will and of body as she attempts to capture the deranged killer without having to pay the ultimate price in exchange." Available in paperback. Pocket Star. July '08. $7.99.


Smith, Martin Cruz. STALIN'S GHOST. Pocket Books. June '08. $15.00 "Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly better than that of Renko, whose lover, Eva, has left him for Detective Nikolai Isakov, a charismatic veteran of the civil war in Chechnya, a hero of the far right and, Renko suspects, a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and Renko's quests become a personal inquiry fueled by jealousy. The investigation leads to the fields of Tver outside of Moscow, where once a million soldiers fought. There, amidst the detritus, Renko must confront the ghost of his own father, a favorite general of Stalin's. In these barren fields, patriots and shady entrepreneurs - the Red Diggers and Black Diggers - collect the bones, weapons and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers, and find that even among the dead there are surprises." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Simon & Schuster Audio.


Temple, Peter. THE BROKEN SHORE. Picador Books. June '08. $14.00. "THE BROKEN SHORE, his eighth novel, revolves around big-city detective Joe Cashin. Shaken by a scrape with death, he's posted away from the Homicide Squad to the quiet town on the South Australian coast where he grew up. Carrying physical scars and more than a little guilt, he spends his time playing the country cop, walking his dogs, and thinking about how it all was before. But when a prominent local is attacked in his own home and left for dead, Cashin is thrust into what becomes a murder investigation. The evidence points to three boys from the nearby aboriginal community - everyone seems to want to blame them. Cashin is unconvinced, and soon begins to see the outlines of something far more terrible than a burglary gone wrong."


Todd, Charles. A PALE HORSE. William Morrow. January '08. $23.95. Tenth in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. "In the ruins of Yorkshire's Fountains Abbey lies the body of a man wrapped in a cloak, the face covered by a gas mask. Next to him is a book on alchemy, which belongs to the schoolmaster, a conscientious objector in the Great War. Who is this man, and is the investigation into his death being manipulated by a thirst for revenge? Meanwhile, the British War Office is searching for a missing man of their own, someone whose war work was so secret that even Rutledge isn't told his real name or what he did. The search takes Rutledge to Berkshire, where cottages once built to house lepers stand in the shadow of a great white horse cut into the chalk hillside. The current inhabitants of the cottages are outcasts, too, hiding from their own pasts. Who among them is telling the truth about their neighbors and who is twisting it? Here is a puzzle requiring all of Rutledge's daring and skill, for there are layers of lies and deception, while a ruthless killer is determined to hold on to freedom at any cost. And the pale horse looming overhead serves as a reminder that death is never finished with anyone, least of all the men who fought in the trenches of France."


Vargas, Fred. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND. Penguin Books trade pbo. August '07. $14.00. Translated by Sian Reynolds. "A #1 bestselling author in France, Fred Vargas repeatedly captivates her many admirers across the globe with suspenseful mysteries featuring Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND finds Adamsberg on the trail of a killer who has been at large for decades, but has found a new victim. The details of the case reach far back into Adamsberg's past, and soon he finds that he himself is a suspect."


Wilson, Robert. HIDDEN ASSASSINS. Harvest Books. October '07. $15.00. "As Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon investigates a faceless, mutilated corpse, the city of Seville is rocked by a massive explosion. The discovery of a mosque in the basement of a devastated apartment building confirms everybody's fears of terrorism. Panic sweeps the city and the region goes on red alert. But as more bodies are dragged from the rubble, and the media interest and political pressure intensify, Falcon suspects that all is not what it appears to be. Just as he seems close to cracking the conspiracy, a terrifying discovery reveals that the threat reaches far beyond Spain's borders. Shaken to the core, Falcon races against time to restore calm to a frantic city and prevent the deaths of thousands."




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© 1996-2008 Bill Palmer.