June Author of the Month is Max Allan Collins.
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Staff Picks for June
Lelia's Staff Picks
The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton
"The murder of a renowned expert in Mayan history lures Lara into the jungles surrounding Merida, Mexico. For in this lush paradise are the temples of the Mayan gods--and the camps of modern-day rebels fighting to save their Mayan heritage. As the body count escalates, Lara must uncover the secrets of the Mayan underworld known as Xibalba--and the journey into the very heart of darkness."
Past Malice by Dana Cameron
"In her third mystery, archaeologist Emma Fielding joins a dig at an 18th-century house in Stone Harbor, Massachusetts. When a pair of freshly-slain corpses are unearthed and a young local is murdered, Emma begins to dig in the town's secrets."
A Buried Lie by Roberta Isleib
"Up-and-coming golfer Cassie Burdette finds herself in the hell of a pro-am tournament. Teamed up with four doctors, she's afraid she'll overdose on their oversized egos. But when one of them turns up dead, Cassie suspects these doctors prescribe to a very different kind of game."
The Prodigal Project: Genesis by Ken Abraham & Daniel Hart
"Immediately, life after the Rapture becomes a chaotic battle for survival. Into the void steps Azul Dante, the charismatic leader of the Prodigal Project. He shines a light in the darkness of the End Times, his new world order representing a return to the promised land of the past. In the beginning, seven hopeful men and women set out separately to find salvation in the Prodigal Project. Instead, they initiate a series of personal trials that will ultimately prove to be the sternest test of their souls."
Murder in the Pleasure Gardens by Rosemary Stevens
"The master of style, Beau Brummell, returns in the national bestselling series. A game of chance at Beau Brummell's gentleman's club escalates into a duel...when stuffy government official Theobald Jacombe practically dares a young military officer to fight him. But someone has beaten the soldier to the draw. Jacombe is found murdered--leaving the officer as the most likely suspect
--and leaving Beau with a mystery on his hands."
$22.95 prior to 25% new hardcover discount
Andrew's Staff Picks
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
"Storytelling in the grand manner, The Secret History is a debut remarkable for its hypnotic erudition and acute psychological suspense, and for the richness of its emotions, ideas, and language. These are the confessions, years afterward, of a young man who found at a small Vermont college the life of privilege and intellect he'd long coveted - and rarely has the glorious experience of youth infatuated with knowledge and with itself been so achingly realized. Then, amazed, Richard Papen is drawn into the ultimate inner circle: five students, worldly and self-assured, selected by a charismatic classics professor to participate in the search for truth and beauty. Together they study the mysteries of ancient Greek culture and spend long weekends at an old country house, reading, boating, basking in an Indian summer that stretches late into autumn. Mesmerized by his new comrades, Richard is unaware of the crime which they have committed in his dreamy, unwitting presence. But once taken into their confidence, he and the others slowly and inevitably begin to believe in the necessity of murdering the one classmate and friend who might betray both their secret and their future. Hugely ambitious and compulsively readable, this is a chronicle of deception and complicity, of Dionysian abandon, of innocence corrupted by self-love and moral arrogance; and, finally, it is a story of guilt and responsibility. An astonishing achievement by any standard, The Secret History immediately establishes Donna Tartt as a supremely gifted novelist."
$7.50
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
"Lyra and Will, the two ordinary children whose extraordinary adventures began in The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, are in unspeakable danger. With help from Iorek Byrnison the armored bear and two tiny Gallivespian spies, they must journey to a dank and gray-lit world where no living soul have ever gone. All the while, Dr. Malone builds a magnificent amber spyglass. An assassin hunts her down. And Lord Asriel, with troops of shining angels, fights his mighty rebellion, a battle of strange allies -- and shocking sacrifice. As war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living -- and the dead -- finally comes to depend on two children and the simple truth of one simple story. The Amber Spyglass reveals that story. It is the third and final volume of His Dark Materials trilogy."
$6.99
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
"Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a super computer and run completely by machines. His rebellion is a wildly funny, darkly satirical look at modern society."
$11.95
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
"One of the most talked-about fiction debuts in years -- The Emperor of Ocean Park is as brilliant in its suspense as in its acute social observation. Set in the privileged world of New York-Washington-Martha's Vineyard upper-crust African-American society and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school, it tells the story of a complex family with a single seductive and dangerous link to the shadowlands of crime.
The Emperor is Judge Oliver Garland, a man of striking personality and accomplishment, conservative and famously controversial. He once received a Supreme Court nomination. But in a nationally televised moment of bitter humiliation, he had to withdraw -- a public scandal and private agony from which he never recovered. Now his sudden death hints at an even more terrible scandal. To his law professor son Talcott -- the narrator of the story -- he has left "the arrangements": a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can put together. And to follow his father's clues, Tal risks everything.
Superbly written, often scathingly funny, The Emperor of Ocean Park is a masterfully wrought tapestry of ambition, family secrets, murder, and justice gone terribly wrong."
$14.00
Summerland by Michael Chabon
"For over a century, the people of Clam Island, Washington, have enjoyed barbecues and baseball games at Summerland, on the Western tip of the island, where it never rains. The small beings -- known as ferishers -- who ensure this perfect weather, however, are threatened by an ancient enemy, and need a hero -- a baseball star, in fact -- to vanquish their foe. Summerland is the story of Ethan Feld, the worst ball player in the history of the game, recruited by a hundred-year-old scout called Ringfinger Brown, himself a Negro League Legend. Accompanied by his determined friend, Jennifer T. Rideout, and guided by a friendly werefox, Ethan struggles to defeat giants, bat-winged goblins, and one of the toughest ballclubs in the realms of magic, to save all the Summerlands, and ultimately the world.
Summerland creates a whole new universe, an American version of Middle Earth, with legendary beings, monsters, and mythical creatures inhabiting a magical landscape where the powers of the past and the future, of good and evil, are engaged in an elaborate battle."
$22.95
Annie's Staff Picks
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
"Twelve-year-old Artemis is a millionaire, a genius--and above all, a criminal mastermind. But Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEP recon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories--they're dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure."
$5.99
Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
"Her name is Firekeeper. An expedition finds her living with a pack of wolves that she considers family, but she may just be the heir to the throne. Her pack, "royal wolves" much bigger and stronger than normal wolves, are sending her back to live in a world she doesn't understand. With her goes her best friend, the wolf called Blind Seer. In the months to come, learning how to be human will turn out to be more complicated than she ever imagined. The question of the royal succession is heating up, and Firekeeper will find herself at the center of a tangle of intrigues.
On top of this, becoming human also brings with it strange matters of the heart, and Firekeeper must chose between the life she's known, and a love that she has not."
$7.99
Well of Darkness by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
"Loerem: A world where humans, elves, dwarves, and orken co-exist in a fragile balance maintained by the Dominion Lords, warrior-peacemakers forged from the magic of the Sovereign Stone. But evil slumbers at the sacred Stone's core.
Second in line for succession to the throne, Prince Dagnarus will have his crown . . . and his queen -- though his heart's prize is a married elfin beauty. Let his hated half-brother Prince Helmos and the Dominion Lords dare to oppose him. For Dagnarus's most loyal servant has ventured into the terrible darkness, where lies the most potent talisman in the realm. And once it is in the dark prince's hand, no power will deter his Destiny."
$7.99
Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff
"A force from the Otherside threatens to break through and destroy the balance between Light and Darkness unless, of course, the Keepers Claire and Diana can reweave the possibilities of time and space and prevent a permanent rift between the two worlds at the local shopping mall."
$6.99
Buffy: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2 by Nancy Holder, Jeff Mariotte and Maryelizabeth Hart
"It's the year 2000 in Sunnydale, which of course means that Buffy Summers & Co. have sloughed off the angst-filled bonds of high school and boldly moved on to bigger and better things -- namely, freshman year at the local UC campus. The same bigger-and-better theme applies to The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2. Because although the bestselling first volume did much to satisfy Buffy's legions of hardcore fans, the satisfaction understandably gave way to demands for something more.
Consider it done. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 2 is a massive, all-encompassing compendium of actors' profiles (including all of the show's new characters), fully analyzed episode lists for both the third and fourth seasons, exclusive photographs, and a grade to Buffy-speak. In addition, this new companion features the complete production of an episode -- from script to shooting to airing."
$17.95
