Congratulations and happy reading, Judythe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My 2011 list of books that enticed and tantalized me

wasn’t easy to come up with but here they are with my

great thanks to all these authors and publishers—

1.   Hounded by Kevin Hearne (Del Rey Books)—Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old–when in actuality, he’s twenty-one “centuries” old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.  Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power–plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish–to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

2.   Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick (Egmont)—An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. Alex, a resourceful seventeen-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor, hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom–a young soldier who has left the war in Afghanistan–and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP.  For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.

Review of Ashes

3.   Ashfall by Mike Mullin (Tanglewood Press)—Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano, so large that the caldera can only be seen by plane or satellite. And by some scientific measurements, it could be overdue for an eruption. For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to seach for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.

Review of Ashfall

4.   Skating Over the Line by Joelle Charbonneau (Minotaur Books)—Rebecca Robbins is desperate to sell her inherited roller-skating rink in small-town Indian Falls, and—finally—she has a buyer. She can’t wait to head back to Chicago, especially now that her long delinquent father has blown back into town, but Lionel, her veterinarian boyfriend, thinks she should stay put. Also, the gang at the Senior Center wants her to track down the thief who’s been hot-wiring rusted-out classic cars. Unable to resist, Rebecca soon has the Sheriff’s Deputy threatening to arrest her for obstruction, and strange but scary men threatening her life. Then cars start exploding, with people in them, and Rebecca’s father goes missing. With the help of Pop, her Elvis-impersonating grandfather, Rebecca must find the pyromaniac car thief and put a stop to him—before he stops her first.

5.   The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn (Atria Books)—Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, but it’s Chet that the bigshot P.I. in charge has secret plans for. Meanwhile Chet and Bernie are hired to find a kid who has gone missing from a wilderness camp in the high country. The boy’s mother thinks the boy’s father–her ex–has snatched the boy, but Chet makes a find that sends the case in a new and dangerous direction. As if that weren’t enough, matters get complicated at home when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. Affairs of the heart collide with a job that’s never been tougher, requiring our two intrepid sleuths to depend on each other as never before.

Review of The Dog Who Knew Too Much

6.   Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis (Angry Robot)—Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. Like the rest of America, Scranton’s got an uneasy ‘live and let unlive’ relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that’s when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.

Review of Hard Spell

7.   The Providence of Death by Bronson L. Parker (Self-published)—Joe McKibben refuses to accept the emotional reality that his wife of thirty years was killed in a vehicle crash. Like the good cop he once was, he ignores his feelings of grief, telling himself he’s still married. Eleven months of living alone has him asking why he’s still alive. His ignored feelings of grief explode into anger when he finds the brutally slain body of another retired detective and close friend. Evidence indicates his friend’s death may be linked to an older murder in the city, one that has remained unsolved for three decades. McKibben, now the owner of a historical research firm, begins to dig into the older murder, using computerized data that did not exist in the 1970s. His research unearths a trail of crime and tragedy that leads back a half-century into the city’s history and forward to the wife of the man who will be the city’s next police chief. McKibben’s search, which takes him across three states, also leads to a chance encounter that gives his life a new beginning.

8.   The Shattering by Karen Healey (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)—Seventeen-year-old Keri likes to plan for every possibility. She knows what to do if you break an arm, or get caught in an earthquake or fire. But she wasn’t prepared for her brother’s suicide, and his death has left her shattered with grief. When her childhood friend Janna tells her it was murder, not suicide, Keri wants to believe her. After all, Janna’s brother died under similar circumstances years ago, and Janna insists a visiting tourist, Sione, who also lost a brother to apparent suicide that year, has helped her find some answers.  As the three dig deeper, disturbing facts begin to pile up: one boy killed every year; all older brothers; all had spent New Year’s Eve in the idyllic town of Summerton. But when their search for the serial killer takes an unexpected turn, suspicion is cast on those they trust the most.  As secrets shatter around them, can they save the next victim? Or will they become victims themselves?

Review of The Shattering

9.   I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)—It starts with whispers. Then someone picks up a stone. Finally, the fires begin. When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer. . . . Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren’t sparkly, aren’t fun, don’t involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy. But someone–or something–is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root–before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her.

10. Ranchero by Rick Gavin (Minotaur Books)—Repo man Nick Reid had a seemingly simple job to do: talk to Percy Dwayne Dubois– pronounced “Dew-boys,” front-loaded and hick specific–about the payments he’s behind on for a flat screen TV, or repossess it. But Percy Dwayne wouldn’t give in. Nope, instead he saw fit to go all white-trash philosophical and decided that since the world was stacked against him anyway, he might as well fight it. He hit Nick over the head with a fireplace shovel, tied him up with a length of lamp cord, and stole the mint-condition calypso coral-colored 1969 Ranchero that Nick had borrowed from his landlady. And he took the TV with him on a rowdy ride across the Mississippi Delta.  Nick and his best friend Desmond, fellow repo man in Indianola, Mississippi, have no choice but to go after him. The fact that the trail eventually leads to Guy, a meth cooker recently set up in the Delta after the Feds ran him out of New Orleans, is of no consequence–Nick will do anything to get the Ranchero back. And it turns out he might have to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

]]> http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2012/01/01/this-has-gotta-be-a-better-year/feed/ 1 http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/12/25/the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/ http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/12/25/the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 05:01:07 +0000 Lelia http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/?p=9074

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!!

]]> http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/12/25/the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/feed/ 2 http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/12/03/where-will-your-child-be-today/ http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/2011/12/03/where-will-your-child-be-today/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:00:02 +0000 Lelia http://www.cncbooks.com/blog/?p=8776

Jenny Milchman, a soon-to-be-published author,

had a great idea last year and she created

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day to celebrate the love all readers have

for bookstores and reading and kids. And, now, it’s the second annual

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day today, Saturday, December 3rd.

Don’t have a child? Borrow one!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations to the winners of

Carolyn J. Rose’s A Place of Forgetting—

Paperback—Sandi Lewis

Ebook—Malena E.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please support your local independent shops this Saturday!

winner of Liz Jasper’s Underdead!

Trick

or

Treat

During my insurance career as a casualty underwriter of large accounts, I had several especially horrific death claims and two of them were in August. They didn’t affect me personally, of course, except they did in a way. You can’t know a client and experience such a thing with him without being emotionally touched, for him, for his driver, for the victims.

September of 2003 brought lovely Hurricane Isabel to Richmond. By the time she left, a 70-foot tree had destroyed my roof, a roof truss, and a room and had damaged two other rooms. She had also flooded the lower level of my house (not covered by insurance because I was not in an area subject to floods).

In August of 2004, I suffered a heart attack, followed several days later by open-heart surgery (a quadruple bypass and a valve repair). While I was in the hospital recovering, I watched the horrendous scenes on TV of Hurricane Gaston parking himself over Richmond for hour after hour after hour, resulting in terrible flooding.  The sight of a tractor trailer floating down a street in one of the historic districts was mindboggling and, among many others, my house was flooded—again.

On August 27th of this year, Hurricane Irene struck Richmond. I was lucky this time—no trees down and no flooding—but I did live in the dark for 6+ days while the power was out. This weather event followed the earthquake that hit the East Coast four days earlier. The epicenter was less than 50 miles away and, while I know West Coasters snickered at us, 5.8 does indeed make your house sound and feel as though it’s coming apart at any second.

All of this pales in comparison, though, to the day we commemorate today. None of us who were around and old enough to understand will ever forget where we were and what we were doing on 9/11. We’ll forever feel and see and hear what we felt and saw and heard that day and we’ll always honor those who lost their lives then and in subsequent years. I remember my first sight of the Pentagon just a few weeks later when Bouchercon took place in northern Virginia. That gaping hole is seared in my memory but I’m glad I saw it, if you know what I mean.

Someday, I hope to visit Ground Zero and that lonely field in Pennsylvania.

many other posts as you want between now and the end of the

day next Wednesday, July 20th. Each comment will earn you

an entry into the random drawing for one of these

fine ARCs. Open to US and Canadian residents.

Winners will be announced on July 21st.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blasphemy by Douglas Preston (2008)—The world’s biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself. The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world’s most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven? Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on, and what they discover must be hidden from the world at all costs. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is tapped to wrest their secret, a secret that will either destroy the world…or save it. The countdown begins…

The Time Quake (The Gideon Trilogy #3) by Linda Buckley-Archer (2009)—kids—Time itself is splintering. If the catastrophic consequences of time travel are now impossible to ignore, Lord Luxon only has eyes for its awesome possibilities. He has his sights set on no lesser prize than America. Abducted to 1763, Peter and Kate begin to understand that history has arrived at its tipping point. Adrift in time, Kate transforms into an oracle, able to see the future as easily as the past. While Gideon does all he can to help, he is tormented by the knowledge that The Tar Man, his nemesis, is also his own brother. As they pursue him through the dark streets of eighteenth-century London, and the time quakes begin, Peter realises that this monster may hold the fate of all of us in his hands.

Angel with Two Faces by Nicola Upson (2010)—Exhausted and disillusioned with the world of theater in May 1935, Josephine Tey has traveled to Cornwall to spend the summer with her friends the Motleys at their run-down but beautiful country estate. Ready to begin work on her second mystery novel, Tey finds much to inspire her in the landscape and its legends. Meanwhile, the Motleys have become involved in an amateur production at the nearby Minack Theater. Detective Inspector Archie Penrose has returned to his roots in Cornwall to attend the funeral of a family friend, a young estate worker who died in a tragic riding accident. Penrose has a few questions about the circumstances surrounding the fatal occurrence. And when the Minack Theater proves to be the stage for a real-life tragedy, Penrose and Tey together must investigate an audacious murder and confront an evil suggesting that there are darker things than death.

Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews (2010)—Meg’s expecting twins—any minute!—in this next hilarious entry in the award-winning, “New York Times” bestselling series! Meg is eight and a half months pregnant with twins when Michael asks if she wouldn’t mind another houseguest. One of his doctoral students is directing his new translation of a play by a minor Spanish playwright, and the playwright has agreed to come to town for the production. Senor Mendoza turns out to be a drinker, a smoker, and an inveterate partygoer. Before long, Meg’s kitchen is filled with the smells of Spanish food and the voices of all the wilder souls in both the drama and Spanish departments. Into this chaos arrive two  prune-faced administrators, the dean of the English department and a man from the college president’s office, who say that the play must be canceled. When the dean is found murdered, Meg’s house becomes a crime scene, and the only way to restore peace is to help Chief Burke solve the murders—while rescuing the student’s dissertation and Michael’s tenure—all before dashing off to the hospital to give birth to her twins!

Enduring by Donald Harington (2009)—Forty years ago Donald Harington created the little town of Stay More, hidden away in the hills of the Ozarks. He populated it with generations of families that had escaped the Appalachians in search of more room, greener pastures, freedom from convention, sweeter air and water, or, simply, a world where time and history do not matter. In Enduring, Harington continues the themes of the Stay More series and reveals, for the first time, the mysteries of the life of Latha Bourne, the heroine and demigoddess of Lightning Bug, The Choiring of the Trees, and other Harington classics. Latha is set apart from her fellow Stay Morons, as Harington affectionately calls them, by her beauty, wit, mystery, and intense, unfullfilled sexuality.

Outside Valentine by Liza Ward (2004)—Many long years have passed since the winter of blinding white when Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate drove across the hushed midwestern landscape and left a trail of blood and pain. So why does Lowell, a Manhattan collector of antiquities, still dream of what happened, despite his wife’s best attempts to draw him back and offer comfort? And who is Susan, the teenager who appoints herself a detective, piecing together the story of the murders while wondering if she’ll ever be loved like Starkweather loved his girl? And then there’s Caril Ann herself, who takes us back to relive the ride she swears she could not control. It began on the day Charlie first saw her, dangling her bare legs off the edge of a tree house. It ended outside Valentine, Nebraska, on that night when she still believed that life could somehow go back to being normal . . . Every so often a novel comes along that is capable of redeeming the losses it so devastatingly conveys. Disturbing, bittersweet, and lyrical, Liza Ward’s Outside Valentine is a story of people torn apart by tragedy and yet, finally, transformed by love.

Blonde Bombshell by Tom Holt (2010)—The year is 2017. Lucy Pavlov is the CEO of PavSoft Industries, home of a revolutionary operating system that every computer in the world runs on. Her personal wealth is immeasurable, her intelligence is unfathomable, and she’s been voted World’s Most Beautiful Woman for three years running. To put it simply – she has it all. But not everything is quite right in Lucy’s life. For starters, she has no memories prior to 2015. She also keeps having run-ins with a unicorn. And to make matters even worse, a bomb is hurtling through interstellar space, headed straight for Lucy – and the planet known as Earth.

Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger (2009)—From the gothic eccentricity of Asheville, North Carolina to the terrifying recesses of the Appalachian wilderness, from modern demonology to ancient Cherokee mythology, Soul Catcher follows the tormented journey of folk artist Livia Belane, who is a Soul Catcher, a soul dedicated to riding the world of evil beings through capturing and destroying their essence and who has been stalked through many lives by a sadistic and vengeful demon. Livia and her loved ones, including her frontier-era soulmate and husband, Ian, a Soul Hunter, have never beaten the demon before. Now, in this life, he’s found them again. The Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger is dark urban fantasy that takes a walk on the wild side and is a quick read and a page turner.

The Unit by Terry DeHart (2010)—In a world gone mad, one ordinary, suburban family must find a way to survive. But each member of the Sharpe family must struggle in their own way.
The father: is an ex-marine and, for him, survival means protecting his family by any means necessary.
The mother: is learning just how much she will sacrifice for her children.
The daughter: was going to go to college. Now, her only hope is to hold on to what’s right.
The son: is discovering a brave new world – a world with only one choice to make: kill or be killed.
When survival is on the line, what wouldn’t you do for your family?

Liberating Paris by Linda Bloodworth Thomason (2004)—Woodrow McIlmore is leading the perfect life in Paris, Arkansas: married to his high school sweetheart, he has two wonderful children and a warm circle of family and friends. When Wood’s daughter announces that she wants to marry a college classmate, Wood is stunned. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg — her intended is the son of the woman who left Wood twenty years earlier, the free-spirited Duff. And so begins a tumultuous year in Paris, as Duff returns and familiar sparks fly with her old flame. Their rekindled passion affects not only Wood and Duff but also their good friends, as they must now all decide what in their lives is worth keeping and what needs to be thrown away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~