Archive for March, 2010

Book Giveaway: Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson

One of today’s premier suspense writers, Lisa Jackson is unequalled in her ability to make the reader stay up all night, to chew nails, to resent having to go to work while the book remains at home, unfinished.  It was certainly no surprise to her legions of fans when she hit #1 on the New [...]

March 31, 2010   Posted in: Contests/Giveaways  17 Comments

Patience Is a Necessity

Alan Orloff’s debut mystery, Diamonds for the Dead, will be released TOMORROW by Midnight Ink. The first in his new series, Killer Routine – A Last Laff Mystery, featuring Channing Hayes, a stand-up comic with a tragic past, will be out Spring 2011 (also from Midnight Ink). For more info, visit  www.alanorloff.com
When it comes to [...]

March 30, 2010   Posted in: Guest Blogs  8 Comments

Book Review: Sex in a Sidecar by Phyllis Smallman

Sex in a Sidecar
Phyllis Smallman
McArthur & Company, February 2010
ISBN 9781552787731
Trade Paperback
Hurricane Myrna is heading up the west coast of Florida, heading right for Jacaranda and the Sunset Bar.  Sherri Travis has been here before and knows what to expect.  She’s one of those people that wait until the last possible moment to obey the evacuation [...]

March 29, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

It’s Coming! It’s Coming! Part 2

RavenCon, our local fantasy/science fiction convention, is less than two weeks away and I’m now officially in frenzy mode.  This is when I start second-guessing myself.  Have I ordered enough books or too many?  Will they get here in time?  Have I overlooked any authors?  Have any signed up so recently that I don’t even [...]

March 28, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Review: The Gutter and the Grave

The Gutter and the Grave
Ed McBain
Hard Case Crime/Dorchester, December 2005.
Originally published as I’m Cannon – For Hire by Curt Cannon by Hui Corp., 1958.
ISBN 9780843955873
Mass Market
The name is Cordell.
I’m a drunk. I think we’d better get that straight from the beginning. I drink because I want to drink. Sometimes I’m falling-down ossified, and sometimes [...]

March 27, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Einstein’s Tongue–Why to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

There’s something I encountered in class one day, an idea that somewhat piqued my interest at first. I chose, of my own free will, to investigate minimally further just to satisfy that interest. So much work for a disappointing climax, and in writing, a shameful climax is the last thing one [...]

March 26, 2010   Posted in: Einstein's Tongue  No Comments

Skipping to the End

The other day,  Annie handed back an ARC I’d given her.  I’m not going to name the book or the author because there’s no sense in ruffling feathers unnecessarily.
She got to a certain point in the book when something very dramatic and unexpected happened and this caused her to do something she rarely does—she skipped [...]

March 25, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  One Comment

Review: The Empire of the Wolves

The Empire of the Wolves
Jean-Christophe Grangé
HarperCollins, 2006
ISBN 006057366X
Trade Paperback
The Empire of the Wolves is a French thriller by John Christophe Grange, who is a former French reporter with two prior novels to his credit.  The story’s a complex and gritty tale with a strong Parisian voice. While this book is not the [...]

March 24, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Old Bones and Fresh Bodies

Lillian Stewart Carl has written multiple novels and multiple short stories in multiple combinations of mystery, romance, and paranormal. Her latest book is The Charm Stone, book four of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series: Scotland’s finest and America’s exile on the trail of all-too-living legends.
Visit Lillian at her website, http://www.lillianstewartcarl.com/.
In my early teens (more [...]

March 23, 2010   Posted in: Guest Blogs  No Comments

Review: Thereby Hangs a Tail

Thereby Hangs a Tail
Spencer Quinn
Narrated by Jim Frangione
Recorded Books, January 2010
Downloaded Unabridged Audio Book
Bernie and Chet run the Little Detective Agency, Bernie being a human P.I. always a bit, or a lot, behind with the bills, and Chet being a four-legged dude who had to drop out of K-9 school.  Together, they make a savvy [...]

March 22, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: My Reviews  No Comments