Most of us have never heard of the Scottish writer Susan Ferrier. But, author Val McDermid is a big fan, and she’s leading a city-wide effort in Edinburgh to revive the reputation of the 19th century author. You can read about it in The Guardian. https://bit.ly/2CSSO4X

While it may take a little while to get Ferrier’s books through the Web Store, it may turn out to be easier with McDermid’s efforts. You can order here. https://bit.ly/2CFLm9m

In the meantime, if you’re interested in McDermid’s books, such as her latest, Insidious Intent, you can find them here. https://bit.ly/2AHVqg1

Did you “hear” that The Poisoned Pen now has a Podcast? Some of the events from the bookstore will be broadcast there. Check it out! https://poisonedpen.com/podcast/

The first program to be podcast is James Rollins appearance for The Demon Crown. You can listen to the program, and then order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CETkzG

Readers of James Lee Burke would probably agree that is latest book, Robicheaux, should be the Hot Book of the Week everywhere, not just at the Poisoned Pen. But, there are signed copies available through the Web Store here. https://bit.ly/2qBDvYC

Here’s the description.

James Lee Burke’s most beloved character, Dave Robicheaux, returns in this gritty, atmospheric mystery set in the towns and backwoods of Louisiana.

DAVE ROBICHEAUX IS A HAUNTED MAN.

Between his recurrent nightmares about Vietnam, his battle with alcoholism, and the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Molly, his thoughts drift from one irreconcilable memory to the next. Images of ghosts at Spanish Lake live on the edge of his vision.

During a murder investigation, Dave Robicheaux discovers he may have committed the homicide he’s investigating, one which involved the death of the man who took the life of Dave’s beloved wife. As he works to clear his name and make sense of the murder, Robicheaux encounters a cast of characters and a resurgence of dark social forces that threaten to destroy all of those whom he loves. What emerges is not only a propulsive and thrilling novel, but a harrowing study of America: this nation’s abiding conflict between a sense of past grandeur and a legacy of shame, its easy seduction by demagogues and wealth, and its predilection for violence and revenge. James Lee Burke has returned with one of America’s favorite characters, in his most searing, most prescient novel to date.

It’s unusual for C-Span 2’s Book TV to use time slots for fiction books and authors. But, this weekend, they will broadcast “In Depth with David Ignatius”. “Author and columnist, David Ignatius, discusses his work and takes viewer questions. Mr. Ignatius is the author of many books, including Body of Lies, The Director, and The Quantum Spy.” Ignatius’ books, including signed copies of The Quantum Spy, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2EXiLxA

Here’s the description of The Quantum Spy, Ignatius’ most recent book.

A hyper-fast quantum computer is the digital equivalent of a nuclear bomb; whoever possesses one will be able to shred any encryption and break any code in existence. The winner of the race to build the world’s first quantum machine will attain global dominance for generations to come. The question is, who will cross the finish line first: the U.S. or China?

In this gripping cyber thriller, the United States’ top-secret quantum research labs are compromised by a suspected Chinese informant, inciting a mole hunt of history-altering proportions. CIA officer Harris Chang leads the charge, pursuing his target from the towering cityscape of Singapore to the lush hills of the Pacific Northwest, the mountains of Mexico, and beyond. The investigation is obsessive, destructive, and—above all—uncertain. Do the leaks expose real secrets, or are they false trails meant to deceive the Chinese? The answer forces Chang to question everything he thought he knew about loyalty, morality, and the primacy of truth.

Grounded in the real-world technological arms race, The Quantum Spy presents a sophisticated game of cat and mouse cloaked in an exhilarating and visionary thriller.

*****

If you want to see “In Depth with David Ignatius”, check C-Span 2’s schedule.

Program ID:

438498-1

Category:

Call-In

Format:

Call-In

Location:

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Will Air:

Jan 07, 2018 | 12:00pm EST | C-SPAN 2

Airing Details

• Jan 07, 2018 | 12:00pm EST | C-SPAN 2
• Jan 08, 2018 | 12:00am EST | C-SPAN 2
• Jan 13, 2018 | 9:00am EST | C-SPAN 2

Boyd Morrison’s personal story is as fascinating as some that are written. When you read his biographical sketch, you can see why he picked his favorites read in 2017. Although I’ll include some of his biography here, you can read the entire bio on his website, https://boydmorrison.com/

He’s the co-author of some of Clive Cussler’s recent books including Typhoon Fury. That book, along with Morrison’s other ones, can be found in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2lNtenB

A little about Boyd Morrison before you read about his choices from 2017. He has a BS in mechanical engineering and worked for Lockheed on the Space Station Freedom project at Johnson Space Center. His job required him to fly on NASA’s Vomit Comet, the same plane used to train astronauts for zero gravity and to film the space sequences in the movie “Apollo 13”. He has a PhD in industrial engineering, and earned eleven US patents while working for RCA. But, then he had what he calls “every “ten-year-old boy’s fantasy job”, working in the Xbox games group at Microsoft. In other words, he was paid to play video games.

So, what kind of books would this man select as his favorites of 2017? Check them out.

As a thriller writer myself, I find it’s sometimes difficult for me to simply read for enjoyment in my genre. I tend to nitpick things I would have done differently or analyze how the writers are plying their craft. So it’s a true pleasure when I come across books that immerse me in their world and make me forget I’m reading. I’m there with the characters, and it’s only after I’m done with the book that the envy sets in. How am I ever going to write anything as good as that? I cherish those novels because they make me want to work even harder at improving as a writer. These are three books I read in 2017 that not only made me jealous, but were also brilliant stories.

DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch

I’d call Blake’s fantastic novel a contemporary science fiction thriller, and boy is it good. In DARK MATTER, a physicist named Jason Dessen gets abducted one night, and his whole life literally disappears. I don’t want to spoil the story by saying anything else because there are so many juicy twists and turns, but I can tell you I raced through the book in no-time flat. Besides being a nonstop thrill ride, it gets into existential questions about choices we make in life and what lengths we would go to in order to save what is dearest to us. I guarantee you’ll be thinking about this book long after you finish it.

FLASHMOB by Christopher Farnsworth

Chris and I have been friends since my first book tour when we met during a joint signing at the Poisoned Pen, and I’m a big fan of everything he’s written. Like Blake, Chris adds a bit of science fiction edge to his contemporary novels, and his ideas just blow me away. In his latest, FLASHMOB, which is a follow-up to the also-excellent KILLFILE, a former CIA agent with psychic gifts is after a madman who is using the Internet to brainwash mobs into becoming killing machines. The action never lets up, the twists are neck-snapping, and I particularly enjoyed the world building (the protagonist isn’t a superhero; his telepathic abilities come at a terrible cost). For good reason, FLASHMOB was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of its best books of 2017, and after you read it, you’ll start noticing with regularity how relevant it is to today’s world, where a single social media post can change lives forever.

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER by Karen Dionne

Karen started her career writing eco-thrillers, but with her latest novel, she made a hard right into pure suspense, and wow did she nail it. THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER tells the tale of Helena Pelletier, a woman who grew up in the swamps of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as the daughter of an abducted teenager. Her father is a sociopath skilled in wilderness survival, and he also happens to be the man who kidnapped her mother. Twenty years later, after Helena was freed and her father sent to prison, he makes a brutal escape back into the countryside, and Helena is the only one with the skills and knowledge to track him down. Karen obviously did extensive research to make her gripping story come alive because the novel feels so real and visceral that I would have believed her if she’d told me it was nonfiction. Suspense Magazine named it their best book of 2017, and deservedly so.

*****

Interested? Check the Web Store for Boyd Morrison’s selections. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Gayle Leeson is the author of Honey-Baked Homicide, a mystery currently available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CuU8eo

Here’s the description of the book.

The owner of a delightful Southern café tastes the sharp sting of suspicion in this delectable comfort food mystery . . .
 
It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.

As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation…

*****

Leeson recently did a short YouTube video to discuss her research and early writing.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxK2pnHl6W8?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

It’s unusual to find a nonfiction book that reads like a thriller. According to all accounts, Paul Kix’ story of Robert de La Rochefoucauld’s exploits in World War II qualifies as one of those books. The Saboteur is subtitled The Aristocrat Who Became France’s Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando. The book is available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CmC59X

Ian Shapira recently reviewed The Saboteur for The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2lFJtSW

Here’s the description of this intriguing book.

In the tradition of Agent Zigzag comes this breathtaking biography, as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the very best spy thrillers, which illuminates an unsung hero of the French Resistance during World War II—Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned anti-Nazi saboteur—and his daring exploits as a résistant trained by Britain’s Special Operations Executive.

A scion of one of the most storied families in France, Robert de La Rochefoucauld was raised in magnificent chateaux and educated in Europe’s finest schools. When the Nazis invaded and imprisoned his father, La Rochefoucauld escaped to England and learned the dark arts of anarchy and combat—cracking safes and planting bombs and killing with his bare hands—from the officers of Special Operations Executive, the collection of British spies, beloved by Winston Churchill, who altered the war in Europe with tactics that earned it notoriety as the “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” With his newfound skills, La Rochefoucauld returned to France and organized Resistance cells, blew up fortified compounds and munitions factories, interfered with Germans’ war-time missions, and executed Nazi officers. Caught by the Germans, La Rochefoucauld withstood months of torture without cracking, and escaped his own death, not once but twice.

The Saboteur recounts La Rochefoucauld’s enthralling adventures, from jumping from a moving truck on his way to his execution to stealing Nazi limos to dressing up in a nun’s habit—one of his many disguises and impersonations. Whatever the mission, whatever the dire circumstance, La Rochefoucauld acquitted himself nobly, with the straight-back aplomb of a man of aristocratic breeding: James Bond before Ian Fleming conjured him.

More than just a fast-paced, true thriller, The Saboteur is also a deep dive into an endlessly fascinating historical moment, telling the untold story of a network of commandos that battled evil, bravely worked to change the course of history, and inspired the creation of America’s own Central Intelligence Agency.

Happy New Year! The Poisoned Pen is closed today. But, we’ll be kicking off the first week of the year with appearances by authors Thomas Perry, Jeffrey Siger, Jennifer Ashley, Jenn McKinlay, Paige Shelton, and Sujata Massey. There will be many more authors and books to come in 2018. We hope you join us at The Poisoned Pen, at the Web Store, on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,Instagram, the blog. Join us as we celebrate books and authors in 2018.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!