People are being killed in the most horrific manners. Are the crimes related or are there three separate serial killers on the loose? Alex Cross has his hands full trying to solve these cases and in doing so, his job is jeopardized and he is jailed when he punches out a reporter who has gotten under his skin. Also on his plate is his foster child, Ava, who is believed to be on drugs and is taken out of the Cross household by Family Services. 

What other unfortunate events are in store for Cross? You will have to read this sensational thriller to find out.

Rated 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Beneath the Neon by Matthew O'Brien

The underground world of Las Vegas is not the Mafia. It is a whole new world where miles of tunnels exist beneath the streets of Las Vegas. The author meets and mingles with the people who come to live in these tunnels for a variety of reasons. Some are homeless, some addicts, or people who can no longer live above ground for reasons of their own and a killer who has eluded the police. This world is a very dangerous place to live in.

The underground world is such a contrast to all the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas and it depicts all the desperation of these people who choose to live in darkness. A real eye-opener as to what our world is becoming because the economy of our country has gone sour.

Rated 4 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood

A killer kneels in the confessional and confesses to the priest that he has committed violent and horrific crimes and he will do so again. This time he names the person that he is going to kill. This person happens to be Agent Nick Buchannan's best friend's sister. Can Nick keep her safe and catch this evil person before he kills again?

Spine-chilling romantic thriller. One of Garwood's best.

Rated 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Blind Descent by Nevada Barr

Anna pigeon is a Park Ranger who is sent with a rescue team to bring out Frieda,an injured Ranger and her crew from the bowels of the Lechuguilla Cavern in New Mexico.
Anna's adventure takes you on a harrowing experience where one must combat claustrophobia, narrow tunnels, total blackness and rock slides.
Anna must also try to solve the mystery of who tried to kill Frieda and the attempt on her own life in the aftermath.
Highly suspenseful and technical with interwoven plots. 

Rated 4 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

A new British Mystery series, which debuted in 2003, has a unique premise. The heroine has humble roots yet achieves success as a gifted private investigator using psychological techniques she learned from a mentor. All the characters are appealing. The story takes place in the late 1920's flashing back to the trauma of World War I. Once you read this first book you will want to read all eight. 

Some are available as audio books.

Rated 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Kate Carroll

The Great Express by Howard Frank Mosher

If you are a fan of the novels by Mosher set in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, you will enjoy his memoir. In it we travel back and forth with him from present to the past. he embarks on a book tour visiting independent bookstores across the US. As we travel with him we encounter interesting characters. Also he relates how he came to live in Northern Vermont. As he does we recognize the roots of many of the stories in his books. A good read.

Rated 5 out of 5

reviewed by Kate Carroll

The Mole People by Jennifer Toth

The author brings to light the existence of a population that humanity seemed to have forgotten. This population are either homeless, addicted, disabled or unable to afford housing and choose to live in the tunnels and caverns under the subway in New York City.

She visits their domains and builds a trusting relationship with them. She gives us an excellent view of what their lives are like and why they preferred this type of living rather than come above ground.  

 

This book is an eye opener. It happened then and still exists today, perhaps in other cities in the U.S. as well.

Rated 4 out of 5 

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Split Second by Catherine Coulter

FBI Agents Savitch and Sherlock are once again caught up in trying to catch a serial killer. 

It all begins when Savitch stops at the Shop"N Go to pick up some groceries and finds himself in the midst of a robbery.  Story introduces two new agents, Lucy Carlyle and Cooper McKnight and as expected a romantic relationship develops. Very fast paced, keeps you glued to your seat and unexpected ending.

Rated 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, goes to France to live with an older business partner and his family and falls in love with the partner's younger wife. Stephen and Isabella run away together and later when she finds she is pregnant with his child runs out on him. When he can not locate her, he returns to England and when WWI breaks out enlists in an English regiment and goes back to France to fight the Germans. He becomes an officer in a Brigade that digs tunnels and listens for German movement beneath the earth. Stephen is a tortured soul and does not bond with his men nor feel their sadness when some of them are killed by the tunnels collapsing or being shot when the Germans come upon them in the tunnels. 

The writing is such that you feel you are there fighting along side these men and experience all their horrors and agonizing deaths. The story stayed with me for quite awhile after reading it. As in any was the toll on human lives hits right to the core of all human emotions and failings.

I found the book to be very informative about the war and its effects, not only on the soldiers but on the civilian population in the war torn areas. The tactics of using tunnels to fight the enemy was very interesting. 

Rated 4 out of 5 

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick

 Evangeline Ames is a paid companion and an undercover investigator who works for the Flint & Marsh Agency where all their employees have hidden talents. While working for the Agency, Evangeline exposes a fortune hunter who later attacks her and he meets his death in an usual manner. She takes a month long leave from her job and rents a small cottage in Little Dixby, England to work on her book.

She is once again attacked late at night but makes her escape by running into the mysterious Crystal Gardens near her home. She is saved by Lucas, the owner of the estate which the gardens are on. Thus begins her adventures.

A very fast paced read which is full of suspense and mystery, romance and the paranormal. 

Rated 5 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Kisser by Stuart Woods

 Not the greatest of the Stone Barrington books. Very little crime and mystery. Too much sex with the female characters and high class socializing. very disappointing. It seems that Woods just threw a story together.

Rated 1 out of 5

Reviewed by Joan Boucher

Ebola by William T. Close

  

The caption on the front of the cover of the book sums it all up--"A documentary novel of its first explosion in Zaire by a doctor who was there." This book was a stunning, in-depth look at the lives of the people affected by the Ebola outbreak. It tells the tale of the missionary nuns running a mission that included a hospital, church, school and farm. When people sick with a fever start showing up at the mission, they assume it is malaria, not knowing the true horrors that await. Both the bravery and humanity shown in this novel made it a great read. Fair warning to the faint of heart--some descriptions of the illness and its aftermath can be a bit graphic, but this is necessary to convey what happened in Zaire. This book is a great look into the lives of people willing to try and save lives while risking their own. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for some medical or historical reading. 

Rated 5 out of 5 

Reviewed by Ashley Rahill

A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay

Every family has their secrets. Some are good, while others can devastate and tear the family apart once they are revealed. This is a story about a brother ans sister who are confronted with a family secret about a beautiful mother; a secret shrouded by taboo and how it effected their past and present lives.

Antoine Rey gives his sister Melanie a surprise weekend at the seashore resort where they had spent many happy summers as children until the mother's sudden unexpected death. They hoped by going back to the resort they could find the answer and come to terms with her death. At the end of the weekend they are no closer to the answer. On the way home, Melanie remembers something about her mother and as she begins to tell Antoine, she becomes highly emotional and causes an accident and is critically injured. 

Antoine can not leave the unresolved matter alone. He visits Melanie often but continues to seek answers to their mother's death. This is not his only problem. He is a torn man, unhappy in his career, life, and relationships with his divorced wife and children and with Angele, the colorful unconventional mortician who he met in the hospital where his sister is recovering. 

Can these two recover and begin to lead normal lives? 

Submitted by Joan Boucher 

Rated 3 out of 5 

A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Great book. I have read the four previous books in the series, and this book certainly was not disappointing. The characters have really grown throughout the series, but the reader truly gets to see many of the plots and hidden agendas coming to light. The ending leaves you begging for more. I cannot wait until George R.R. Martin finishes the next installment in the series so I can find out more about the characters that I have grown to love and some that I have grown to despise! If you love fantasy stories, give this series a try! 

Rated 5 out of 5

Submitted by Ashley Rayhill 

Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell

This is a story about a disabled missing child and the adults with their many secrets which may have contributed to her abduction. The father, David is a Defense Attorney who spends time away from his family defending a man accused of murdering a young child, a situation his wife and others can not comprehend. Dana, the mother hates her life, the people around her and God because she feels she has given up too much of her life because of her disabled child. The answer to her problem is to get away. She goes to Italy to study art and has an affair with an artist, the trouble brother of her best friend Lexy who is an Episcopalian priest and a recovering alcoholic.
This story has many complex characters and story lines that at times are confusing and difficult to follow. Yet, the story is very engrossing and hold your interest until the end.
It is also a story of forgiveness, for without it, no one can be healed.

 

Rated 3 out of 5

Submitted by Joan Boucher