Malice in Maggody (An Arly Hanks Mystery) Review

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(More customer reviews)Meet Chief of Police, Arly Hanks. She's back home in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, recovering from a nasty divorce. She wanted some quiet time to decompress and gather her wits about her, and that's just what she got. Life in Maggody is slow, really slow. There's no crime to speak of, and about the only action she ever sees is a car wreck out on the highway, once every month or so. Her biggest chief of police decisions usually involve where to set up the speed trap, in the school zone, or at the signal light. So it comes as a big surprise when two real crime cases fall her way on the same day. First a former Maggody resident, now housed at the state correctional institution escapes and looks to be heading home. Then an EPA contract specialist sent to sign the paperwork for an unwanted sewage treatment plant that the residents of Maggody are sure is going to pollute their swimming and fishing holes, goes missing. Add to that the murder of a local, and it looks like Arly is going to have to buckle down and get busy, fast. With the whole town tight lipped and stonewalling her investigation, it's going to take all her cunning and training to sort out all this mayhem and madness, and get to the truth..... Sit down and get comfortable, Joan Hess is about to take you on a roller coaster of a ride through the Ozarks. This is a light, comical mystery, easily read in one sitting, that will have you smiling, chortling, and laughing out loud. Her entertaining story line is well paced and clever, and her writing is crisp, witty and full of irreverent dialogue and back-woods southern humor. But it's Ms Hess' well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this novel stand out, and once you've gotten to know Maggody's finest and not so finest, you'll be hooked for sure. Malice In Maggody is the first of a marvelous and delightful series. Do yourself a big favor, start here at the beginning, and read them all.

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Author of The Claire Malloy Mystery Series and The Theo Bloomer Mystery Series (writing as Joan Hadley), Joan Hess creates a new series starring Sheriff Arly Hanks, the spunkiest, most appealing, off-beat sleuth around. When murders disrupt the peaceful town of Maggody, Sheriff Hanks and her slow deputy, Paulie, set out on a hilarious, hell-raising chase through the backwoods in search of a murderer. HC: St. Martin's.

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Cistern Secrets Review

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(More customer reviews)This novel kept me spellbound. I couldn't put it down! Just when I thought I had the outcome figured out - WOW! This is a must read for anyone who loves murder mysteries and historical fiction. What becomes of Sara and Rhonda? Anyone got an idea?

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The story of the love of friends who form familial ties crossing over gender, race, and age. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the discovery of skeletal remains of two unknown persons on the property of one of the family members leads to a search for answers that unearth long-buried secrets and reveals heartbreaks long-wished forgotten. The story's main characters are Dora Langer Davis - the family matriarch and potato magnate; Twin Herbert - the mixed-race son of unwed parents and bearer of the family torch; and Sara Miller - the retired police forensic scientist who investigates and reveals many buried secrets. The story opens in 1995 when Sara relates the events of the cistern discovery to old friends who have come to visit her. In telling the story, she travels back and forth in time through the twentieth-century, revealing a mosaic of personalities and intrigue. Historic themes of gender and racial bigotry, Prohibition and bootlegging, economic survival during the Great Depression, and the loss of loved ones in World War II, are touched upon as the characters play out their roles.

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Polar Bears in the Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)POLAR BEARS IN THE KITCHEN maintains the consistently high standard of Joan Leslie Woodruff's previous books. In her spare, lucid and perceptive style, this time she unravels the twisted mind of a serial killer with the whimsical help of her neighborhood ghosts.
Ms. Woodruff writes with the confidence of someone familiar with the extremes of human experience,, investing her heroine, Myra Whitehawk, with a cool, yet empathetic intelligence.
Perhaps we all live unaware we are surrounded by the ghosts of the past. Possibly we cut ourselves off from this reality through fear or convention. Myra Whitehawk introduces us to a far deeper and time-honored tradition in her respectful awareness of her ghostly neighbors, whom she accepts wholeheartedly as a natural part of life.
POLAR BEARS IN THE KITCHEN is an intensely satisfying read on many levels: as a page-turning thriller; as a beautifully etched portrait of a woman in her full power; as a touching example of living Native American spirituality; as a tender appreciation of the natural world; and not least as an insight into the workings of local police and media.
Ms. Woodruff has written another remarkable and enjoyable book . I thoroughly recommend it for anyone looking for a first-class read and a deeper appreciation of the mystery of Life.

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Filled with grief after her cousin Dana's death, Myra isn't in a mood to be messed with. So when a burning car found on her property reveals the body of a dead woman, and it becomes apparent a serial killer may be to blame, Myra and ancient spirits from the nearby Anasazi ruins unite to find the killer.

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The Companion Guide to Venice (Companion Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)I received this guidebook as a gift in 1992, and wandered all over Venice, reading it for 10 days. It's one of the finest guidebooks I've ever read, with helpful maps, organized by neighborhoods, and much, much information that will make your trip to Venice, even richer than you expected it would be.
Venice is about mystery, it's about people, and it's about finding yourself. You'll do that with this book.

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There are few pleasanter ways of passing a summer's evening than sitting over a cup of coffee, and perhaps a glass of Aurum, in the Piazza San Marco. It is especially agreeable on those nights when the Venetian city band thunders away at some throbbingly romantic piece... And all the while the younger inhabitants parade around the square, chattering, flirting, quarrelling and staring at their visitors with that same unwinking gaze that Venetians have turned on their guests for the past five centuries. The facade of San Marco closes the scene in a glitter of golden mosaic and a bubbling of cupolas, while the great thick red campanile stretches up into the warm mothy darkness of the summer sky. Hugh Honour, it is clear, knows Venice exceptionally well and catches the rhythms of the city's life with unerring skill. His guide, with its winning blend of evocative detail and precise information, spurs the reader to investigate Venice's wonders: Piazza San Marco is only the beginning of a journey into the heart of Venice and its history.

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The Mystery at Bob-White Cave (Trixie Belden #11) Review

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(More customer reviews)I would definately not recommend this book, and I do NOT like it at all. Some of the main characters talk about ghosts and sincerely believe in them as if they are real, and the Bob-Whites go along and believe it too!!! I have 15 of the Trixie Belden mysteries, and I like most of them a lot! It would be a great mystery book, just if the 'ghosts' were kept out of it.

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The Bob-Whites are off to the Ozarks to spend some time with the Beldens' Uncle Andrew. Trixie can't wait to explore some dark, damp, and most of all, mysterious caves, because she has another scheme up her sleeve. A national magazine is offering a reward to anyone who can find three "ghost cave fish." Nothing will stop Trixie from finding them—not bats or wild cats or even a real ghost!

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The Reluctant Bride (Harlequin American Romance) Review

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(More customer reviews)Grand Canyon guide Max Hunter is frustrated with his fiancée sports photographer Kari Cavanaugh as she always has an excuse for delaying their marriage. He decides no more shenanigans from his beloved even if it means breaking their two-year old engagement and his heart.
They are heading to the Grand Canyon, which may be their last trip as an entry. However someone claiming to be Kari's mother Margot arrives. Her mother allegedly committed suicide though no body was found. Kari prays the woman is her mother, but if she is why did she vanish; if not why is she terrorizing Kari.
This is an enjoyable romantic suspense as the mystery of Margot makes for a taut thriller that supersedes the underdeveloped romantic subplot. Still readers will be hooked from the moment Margot arrives in Arizona. Like the beleaguered heroine who is unsure whether she wants the woman to be her mom or not as there are pros and cons to each; fans will ponder could this be her mom and if yes where was she and why appear now; while if not sinister stalking seems strangely possible but once again why Kari.
Harriet Klausner


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Muleshoe Review

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(More customer reviews)Jess Butcher has done very well with his graphic "Muleshoe" trip through backwoods Oklahoma and Kansas. It is set in some pretty remote, but interesting country. Entertaining, easy to read and follow, this is a good effort. You'll have a a good number of chuckles with this one. Butcher's real-life characters are vividly described, and ....many of them we can identify with or recognize as those we must have known from somewhere. A very enjoyable, quick read, highly recommended!

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Death is about to descend upon tiny Muleshoe, Kansas. Mike Bishop has arrived in the sleepy little town on a mission to recover a legendary cache of rare gold coins and Confederate currency. But others are racing to recover the treasure as well. Local Sheriff Laura Moss cautiously joins Bishop in his search. Together they unearth a dark secret; a secret with roots dating back to the Civil War, William Quantrill's planned assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and an unexplained series of grisly local murders spanning more than a century.The line between good and evil blurs as Bishop and Sheriff Moss struggle to survive a murderous local legend ' a legend that threatens to turn the Kansas prairie black with blood.

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O Jerusalem (Mary Russell Novels) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first discovered that the latest adventure of Holmes and Russell wasn't in chronological order with Kings' previous novels in the series, I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it. That thought didn't last long. Kings' latest is, in my opinion, her best. . She always writes well, but she out did herself with this latest edition to this very enjoyable series.
This is a story rich with history, imagery and wonderful characters you really care about. Set in the Holy Land, the historical references meld neatly with Holmes' and Russell's present. Ancient history and post-WWI history is anything but dull as King paints a picture both realistic and captivating.
Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell are, as always, strong characters, but the other central characters are well rounded and real as well. I came to care about them and hated to come to the end of this novel. I hope that we'll meet up with Ali and Mahmoud, the odd detecting duos reluctant cohorts, again soon.
If you're uncertain about whether or not to buy this novel, don't be. Buy it now and feel the heat of the ancient desert between your toes. :o)

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The House of Thunder Review

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(More customer reviews)This book to me is a classic. Koontz brilliantly constructs this plot and makes it a joy to see unfold. I read this book a few years back and I still remember the pleasure I got from it. A couple months ago I gave this book to my girlfriend to read I got her hooked on Koontz now I am like her Koontz supplier hehehe. Anyways I dared her to figure out the plot before books end and to tell me. She had quite the imagination but could never come up with the plot. After she finsihed she was astounded by the sheer brilliance of this book. So why did I give this book 5 stars quite simply because it was a hard book to put down. I seen from other reviews some were disappointed with the ending but I bet for that moment of time when they were reading it all were captivated just as I was!!!

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz delivers a chilling novel of a traumatized woman and the terrifying place she'll never escape.

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When the Getting Was Good Review

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(More customer reviews)With big money comes big risks. "When the Getting Was Good" tells the story of Kate Munro, lone woman wall street tycoon who quickly finds her status in fear as she earns the wrath of the higher ups and finds she and her firm under investigation by the Federal Reserve. Drawing on her own Wall Street experience, "When the Getting Was Good" is a fun and riveting tale of high market intrigue.


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Drummer in the Dark (Marcus Glenwood Series #2) Review

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(More customer reviews)T. Davis Bunn keeps getting better. Wow! I thought he'd found his niche with "The Great Divide" (his legal thriller), but this book of political and financial intrigue raises the standard even higher. I'm not a big stocks and funds enthusiast, but Bunn manages to create a suspenseful and well-researched plot that hooked me early on. He works in a credible idea of dealing with Third World debt that I particularly found interesting. Beyond his obvious knowledge of the subject, Bunn creates believable characters and writes with a narrative flair that I personally love. His story is complex and maybe too intertwined for some to delve into, but I couldn't get enough.
As the title of this review suggests, I did lose sleep finishing this book. But the title is stolen from Bunn's own writing. "Jackie's eyelids felt coated with shards from the hourglass of lost sleep." It's writing such as this, passionate and imaginative, that make the political and financial arena come alive. Jackie and Wynn, the two protaganists, are complex characters whom I came to care for. Although the spiritual lessons are muted and few, Bunn works in heartfelt and very real spiritual thoughts without seeming preachy.
With a recent batch of superlative novels by Christian authors("When Heaven Weeps" by Ted Dekker and "The List" by Robert Whitlow, to name a few), I must include "Drummer in the Dark" as one of my favorites.

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The Voyageur Review

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(More customer reviews)Grace Lee Nute's The Voyageur depicts significant figures in American and Canadian history who have received little attention. Indeed, Nute has written what many consider the classic exploration of the subject in this book that dates back to 1935. The book is divided into nine specific categories on such subjects as the voyageur's canoe, his journey, his songs, his life as explorer etc. Each section is compact, well-researched and fascinating.
The section on voyaging is especially astounding when we consider these men would carry hundreds of pounds on their back when reaching a portage or place where they had to carry their canoes and accessories overland to the next river or lake for their voyage. It is astonishing for me to think, as a resident of the Lake Superior region, what it would have been like to traverse that great lake 300 years ago, to pass through the rapids at Sault Sainte Marie when there were no locks, to sleep under your canoe, to winter inland above the Great Lakes in the dead of winter when the temperature was forty degrees below zero. Nute's book is a true tale of human courage, endurance, and determination, and she makes it clear the voyageur deserves much of the credit for many of the discoveries and explorations which are credited to other men, who never would have reached those places of discovery without their voyageurs' help.
My only criticism of the book is that most of Nute's research is based in the early eighteen hundreds, and I would have preferred to hear more about voyageurs from the earlier years of the seventeenth and eighteenth century. She does explore how important the voyageurs were even long after the United States was founded, in helping John Jacob Astor's American Fur Trade Company, and their roles in early American events, especially the War of 1812. The book is a must read for anyone who lives in the Great Lakes Region or is interested in the early exploration and settlement of North America.
- Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of Iron Pioneers and The Queen City, available on Amazon

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Genius Squad Review

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(More customer reviews)Cadel Piggott returns in this action-filled sequel to EVIL GENIUS, but he's not the same teen. The Cadel readers knew in the first book loved to create havoc just for the fun of it. However, after his life-threatening experiences at the Axis Institute with his father, Prosper English, he just wants to be a good person --- and even happy. He is helped in this change of conscience by his best friend, the paraplegic math genius, Sonja. In GENIUS SQUAD, other allies help fight Prosper and his evil, but he also finds more layers of enemies and surprises.
Cadel has an earnest social worker named Fiona who tries to protect him in a new foster home. He can go nowhere without police protection, though, as authorities are aware that Prosper once tried to kill him. He is now a key witness to the evils that went on at the Axis Institute and to Prosper's many illegal activities. Prosper is behind bars, though Cadel knows that barrier is nothing to another genius like himself and has seen the lengths to which Prosper will go. But he still feels that he's safe; after all, Prosper did not kill him when he had the chance before.
Prosper is always good at making trouble, and he is now denying that he's Cadel's father. This means that Cadel has no father on record, and with a dead mother, no citizenship in any country. So he cannot leave Australia, though the country will not recognize him. He is not allowed to take classes of any kind and is desperately bored. The foster home is run by well-meaning parents, but they are also the caretakers for a couple of other children, including the bully Mace. While Cadel tries hard to stay on the path of good, Mace pushes his buttons too far, and he develops a strategy to hurt him while still looking innocent. Mace promises revenge.
In the meantime, the very smart and stubborn Detective Saul Greeniaus has been assigned to Cadel's case and stops by frequently to give him updates on Prosper's situation and how it may affect him. When visiting Sonja one day, Cadel is approached by some adults who run the new Clearview House, a cover for Genius Squad, a group of gifted teens who will work to bring down GenonMe, a company linked to the deceased P. Drakkon and his minions, which included Prosper. They offer Sonja and Cadel $50,000 each and a home while they work on the computer hacking and coding with the other teens to find out what happens at GenonMe and who is behind it. The money and offer of living with Sonja are too good to pass up; the cash would buy Sonja good care well into the future. The problem is that they cannot tell Fiona or the detective. So Cadel begins a secret life again, but this time he seems to be working for good.
As the team works to bring down GenonMe, Prosper gets more active, even from prison. Cadel has to stay on his guard and trust his new allies to keep himself and Sonja safe.
GENIUS SQUAD is even more fun than EVIL GENIUS as Cadel Piggott is more likable when he is working for good. His new allies and friends add another layer of good guys to root for as well. The evil of Prosper English knows no bounds, even with the Axis Institute demolished. Without that school, it is harder to identify his helpers, despite clues throughout the book. The spy games and suspense are complicated at times, but the surprises will inspire readers to keep turning pages right until the end, when the next installment in the series is unveiled.
--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio


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Children of the Frost (Penny Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)I really enjoyed this, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm a huge Jack London fan. This is not a book like Call of the Wild or Martin Eden. Rather, it consists of short vignettes that are, on their immediate face, about indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest. Really, though, the vignettes describe the human condition in general, from greed and spite to love and loyalty--and everything in between. Loved it.

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A weary journey beyond the last scrub timber and straggling copses, into the heart of the Barrens where the niggard North is supposed to deny the Earth, are to be found great sweeps of forests and stretches of smiling land. But this the world is just beginning to know. The world's explorers have known it, from time to time, but hitherto they have never returned to tell the world.-----------------------------------------------------------------** Check Out More Great Titles From Penny Books **-----------------------------------------------------------------Simply click on "Penny Books (Editor)" under the title to see a full list of all of our great discounted books!!New titles are being added daily, so be sure to check back often to find more great discounted books!!**Check out PennyBooksPublishing.com to get more information about Penny Books, learn how to follow us on Twitter, and look at all of our great titles!!

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Reckless (Ty Hauck, No. 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read all of Andrew Gross's books and I find it hard to say which is the best. I realize writers are supposed to give us better writing as time goes on but Andrew Gross has consistently given us great books since his first book. "Reckless" features Ty Hauck as he changes his vocation to a financial firm having decided he wanted to try something other than police work. Reckless is also very much up-to-date regarding the world financial situation with many banks and large financial institutions having loads of troubles causing some to close their doors and others to absorb huge losses. Were these loses caused strictly by the economy or were they "helped" by some rigging of stocks and other assets?
When several break-ins occurred with murders in each one, some became suspicious that the break-ins were not really that but were deliberately acted out to get rid of the financial people in those houses. The police were accepting the killings as normal high-class neighborhood robberies with things gone bad causing the killings. One of those killed had been a very close friend of Ty Hauck's several years ago and he started questioning the killings as he wondered why was this woman killed?
Merrill Simons was a well-known socialite who had just gotten a divorce from Peter Simons who was Chairman of Reynolds Reid, one of the largest Wall Street financial corporations. Merrill is now in love with Dani Thibault, who was a well-known financial player in many areas of the world. Merrill met Dani and was charmed by him so much that she fell hook, line, and sinker for him. But after being with him for some time she became suspicious of this "perfect" man. She went to the Talon Group, Haucks's employer, and asked if they could help her obtain information about Dani, thus bringing Ty Hauck into the case. Ty had spent many years on police forces from bottom to top and he missed police work but he also enjoyed his position with Talon. When he was called into a meeting and introduced to Merrill, he was requested to help her out in finding information about Dani so she could put her fears behind.
What comes next takes Hauck around the world to check all the information about Dani's past employment, bogus names, crooked deals, and much more. This information opens a broad investigation not only about Dani but also his past cohorts and present contacts. "Reckless" delves into the world finances and those that control them. While some of us might think some of these manipulations exist in our present world, after reading Reckless your eyes and mind will be opened quite a bit as to the many questionable things we hear about in our news today. A terrific fast moving story. Andrew, you have done it again with a terrific suspense story.


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Reluctant Dick - The Case of the Not-So-Fair Trader Review

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(More customer reviews)What do you get when you mix Elmore Leonard with Agatha Christie and add a dash of Tolstoy? "Reluctant Dick," is as enjoyable a mystery as you will find on any bookshelf. Richard Sherlock, Chicago detective, works at raising two feisty daughters while his ex-wife continues to try to pick his pocket for more child support during his investigation of the murder of Alvin J. Augustus, seedy financier. Stevens proves Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" axiom that "every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," while moving the plot forward with sparkling dialogue and a wry sense of humor. Sherlock is nothing if not dogged, and resolves the murder amidst a cast of characters which would do Leonard justice. The wrap-up? A terrific Christie whodunit, unraveling the motives (everyone has one)...and the murder.
Will we see Sherlock again? Only Stevens knows...another mystery.


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