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City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sep 092014
 

Cover for City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. A grey, hooded figure looms in a cloudy sky. Below him is a city at night, full of skyscrapers and lighted windows.The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world’s new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

 September 9, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Blood on the Water by Anne Perry

Sep 092014
 

cover for Blood on the Water by Anne Perry. A hazy pink and yellow sunrise over the Thames river, boats floating in the middle ground and a foggy St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.As Anne Perry’s New York Times bestselling novels always remind us, she is a matchless guide to both the splendor and the shame of the British Empire at the height of its influence. In her twentieth William Monk mystery, she brings us to London’s grand Mayfair mansions, where the arrogant masters of the Western world hold sway—and to the teeming Thames waterfront, where one summer afternoon, Monk witnesses the horrifying explosion of the pleasure boat which takes nearly two hundred of the merrymakers on board to their deaths.

The tragedy is no accident. As commander of the River Police, Monk should handle the case, but the investigation is turned over to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. An Egyptian man is swiftly caught, tried, and sentenced to die. But almost as quickly, Monk presents evidence that Habib Beshara, though a nasty piece of work, was elsewhere at the time of the blast. The investigation, now in complete disarray, is hastily turned over to Monk. Continue reading »

 September 9, 2014  Tagged with: ,

The Family Hightower by Brian Francis Slattery

Sep 092014
 

cover for The Family Hightower by Brian Francis Slattery. A black cover with ragged white edges and the title in white script above the red silhouette of a wolf.In 1968 two boys are born into a large family, both named for their grandfather, Peter Henry Hightower. One boy—Peter—grows up in Africa and ends up a journalist in Granada. The other—Petey—becomes a minor criminal, first in Cleveland and then in Kiev. In 1995, Petey runs afoul of his associates and disappears. But the criminals, bent on revenge, track down the wrong cousin, and the Peter in Granada finds himself on the run. He bounces from one family member to the next, piecing together his cousin’s involvement in international crime while learning the truth about his family’s complicated history. Along the way the original Peter Henry Hightower’s story is revealed, until it catches up with that of his children, revealing how Peter and Petey have been living in their grandfather’s shadow all along.

 September 9, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Fighting Chance by Jane Haddam

Sep 092014
 

cover for Fighting Chance by Jane Haddam. View down a pretty city sidewalk of paving stones, with trees and iron lamposts on either side. Yellow police tape slashes through the serene scene, trailing into the foreground.Gregor Demarkian grew up in the Armenian-American enclave in Philadelphia known as Cavanaugh Street. Even though he left to go to college, and then went on to a storied career in the famous Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI, he eventually returned to Cavanaugh Street after an early retirement. There he finds himself in a rapidly gentrifying urban neighborhood that still retains some of the friends, institutions, and flavor of the immigrant neighborhood he grew up in.  Among them is his best friend, Father Tibor Kasparian, the parish priest of the local Armenian-Orthodox church, probably the most genuinely gentle soul that Demarkian has ever met.

When Father Tibor is then arrested on murder charges, it tears at the very foundation of Demarkian’s world.  While Gregor has very strict rules about for whom and under what conditions he will consult, all those rules go by the wayside. In Fighting Chance, from award-winning author Jane Haddam, Demarkian is now a man possessed, and his one goal is to find out what really happened and who is really responsible for the murder Father Tibor is charged with.

 September 9, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Night’s Honor by Thea Harrison

Sep 022014
 

Cover for Night's Honor by Thea Harrison. An attractive white man with dark hair and a purple shirt, open to reveal massive pecs, stands sexily in the foreground. A peaceful night scene is in the back, reminiscent of a Spanish village.On the run from her former employer, Tess knows that she’s vulnerable on her own amongst the Elder Races. That’s why she decides to audition to become the human attendant of a powerful Vampyre of the Nightkind demesne. But while her position affords her the safety she seeks, her protector turns out to be more than she bargained for.

The right-hand man of the Nightkind King, Xavier del Torro is both terrifying and alluring. While his true nature frightens Tess, she can’t ignore the appeal of his innate sense of integrity and self-restraint. Thrown into Xavier’s world, Tess must quickly learn to navigate the dangers—both to her life and to her heart. But the biggest threat comes from her own past…

 September 2, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

Sep 022014
 

Cover for Maplecroft by Cherie Priest. A woman's whose blond hair is in a proper Victorian updo has her back to us as she stands between two forebodingly lit marble columns. She is wearing a fancy blue Victorian dress. In her left hand, held slightly behind her, she holds a bloody ax.Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one….

The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny.

But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness.

This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.

 September 2, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Wood Sprites by Wen Spencer

Sep 022014
 

Cover for Wood Sprites by Wen Spencer.Even though they attend a school of gifted students in New York City, child geniuses Louise Mayer and her twin sister Jillian have always felt alone in the world, isolated by their brilliance. Shortly before their ninth birthday, they make an amazing discovery. They’re not alone.

Their real mother was astronaut Esme Shenske and their father was the famous inventor, Leonardo Dufae. They have an older sister, Alexander, living on the planet of Elfhome, and four siblings still in cryogenic storage at the fertility center. There’s only one problem: the frozen embryos are scheduled to be destroyed within six months. The race is on to save their baby brother and sisters.

As a war breaks out on Elfhome and riots start in New York City, the twins use science and magic to plow over everything standing in their way. But when they come face to face with an ancient evil force, they’re soon in over their heads in danger.

 September 2, 2014  Tagged with: ,

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

Sep 022014
 

cover for Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes. A bright teal background with the title in yellow handwriting. Across the bottom are a half dozen chairs, most of them yellow but one bright blue.In this Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower tale, narrator Anika Dragomir is the third most popular girl at Pound High School. But inside, she knows she’s a freak; she can’t stop thinking about former loner Logan McDonough, who showed up on the first day of tenth grade hotter, bolder, and more mysterious than ever. Logan is fascinating, troubled and off-limits. The Pound High queen bee will make Anika’s life hell if she’s seen with him. So Anika must choose—ignore her feelings and keep her social status? Or follow her heart and risk becoming a pariah. Which will she pick? And what will she think of her choice when an unimaginable tragedy strikes, changing her forever? An absolutely original new voice in YA in a story that will start important conversations—and tear at your heart.

 September 2, 2014  Tagged with: ,

The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

Aug 262014
 

Cover for The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks. A lone man in a hooded cloak stands silhouetted on a hill by a dead, twisted tree full of crows. The sky is a kaleidoscope of orange, yellow, and green.As the old gods awaken and satrapies splinter, the Chromeria races to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe. But Gavin Guile is enslaved on a pirate galley. Worse, Gavin no longer has the one thing that defined him — the ability to draft.

Without the protection of his father, Kip Guile will have to face a master of shadows alone as his grandfather moves to choose a new Prism and put himself in power. With Teia and Karris, Kip will have to use all his wits to survive a secret war between noble houses, religious factions, rebels, and an ascendant order of hidden assassins, The Broken Eye.

 August 26, 2014  Tagged with: ,

A Promise by Daylight by Alison DeLaine

Aug 262014
 

Cover for A Promise by Daylight by Alison DeLaine. Interior of a coach. A handsome white man with dark hair, wearing a black coat and fancy white shirt denoting the time period as Victorian, leans as though to kiss the shoulder of the pretty brunette with her back to him, as he starts to undo her fancy blue dress.In the aftermath of a near-fatal accident, the virile and charming Duke of Winston vowed to reform his ways. But for an infamous rogue, it’s easier said than done. Hiring a personal medic, he sets about recovering from his injuries—and avoiding temptation at all costs. Little does Winston know, the one temptation he can’t resist might be hiding before his very eyes. 

Without a friend or farthing in the world, posing as a man is Miss Millicent Germain’s only chance to achieve her dream of becoming a physician. But working for the decadent duke is trickier than no-nonsense Millie anticipated—and his touch threatens to awaken her deepest desires. By daylight, the two are at odds…but by night, their attraction may prove undeniable.

 August 26, 2014  Tagged with: ,
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