Fiction Review

Wednesday, April 28 at 1 PM PST (4 PM EST), Richard O’Rawe will be The Poisoned Pen’s guest author for a virtual event. His debut novel, Northern Heist, has an interesting backstory. As an IRA recruit, O’Rawe robbed a Northern Bank branch in Mallusk outside of Belfast in 1977. The thriller is based on the biggest bank robbery in history. Signed copies of Northern Heist are available in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3sXXH1L

Michael Barson recently interviewed O’Rawe for https://Bookreporter.com. You can read the interview here. https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/richard-orawe/news/interview-040821

In addition, you can check out Joe Hartlaub’s review of the book, https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/northern-heist

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“Full of double and triple-crosses  . . . Northern Heist’s deeds and details seem as real as a smashed kneecap, while its stopwatch tension, heightened by present-tense voice, is reminiscent of such classic caper films as ‘Rififi’ and ‘The Asphalt Jungle.”—The Wall Street Journal

A fast-paced, suspenseful thriller based on one of the biggest (and still unsolved) bank-robberies in history, written by a former IRA bank robber.

Nobody robs banks in Belfast without the IRA getting a cut — not even former Provo James ‘Ructions’ O’Hare. But when word gets around O’Hare may be up to something, the pressure from the IRA begins.

Ructions’ trusts his crack squad of former paramilitary compadres, and has full confidence in his audacious plan: To literally empty the biggest bank in Belfast by kidnapping the families of two employees – known as a “tiger” kidnapping — in order to force them to help Ructions and his crew get into the bank’s vault.

But keeping the plan — and the money — from the IRA is another plan entirely, one requiring all Ruction’s cunning and skill.

In this stunning debut novel, as audacious and well-executed as Ructions’ plan to rob the National Bank itself, Richard O’Rawe — a former IRA bank robber himself – unleashes a story that will shock, surprise and thrill as he takes you on a white-knuckle ride through Belfast’s criminal underbelly. Enter the deadly world of tiger kidnappings, kangaroo courts, money laundering, drug deals and double-crosses.

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Richard O’Rawe is a former IRA operative who was imprisoned in the Long Kesh penitentiary during the 1981 hunger strike by prisoners, which resulted in the death of ten prisoners. O’Rawe was the IRA’s press officer for the prisoners. He would later go on to write a bestselling book about the experience, Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike, as well as several other books inspired by his experiences in the IRA, including Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History, and In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story

*It is not necessary to have a Facebook account to watch our author programs. Click the link and scroll down on page to view videos.  Once the program starts the live video will the first one on the screen.

The videos are also available to view afterwards on FB and Youtube.

Let’s kick off this week with the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. In a switch, Paula McLain’s When the Stars Go Dark is a thriller, not at all what readers expect from the author of The Paris Wife. You can find signed copies of McLain’s book in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3gz4FYN

Here’s When the Stars Go Dark.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “¢ GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK “¢ “A total departure for the author of The Paris Wife, McLain’s emotionally intense and exceptionally well-written thriller entwines its fictional crime with real cases.”—People (Book of the Week)

“The kind of heart-pounding conclusion that thriller fans crave . . . In the end, a book full of darkness lands with a message of hope.”—The New York Times Book Review

“This mystery will keep you guessing, and stay with you long after you finish. Dive in.”—theSkimm

Anna Hart is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns that a local teenage girl has gone missing.

The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna’s childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever. As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with saving the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in.

Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives—and our faith in one another.

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Paula McLain is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Love and Ruin, Circling the Sun, The Paris Wife, and A Ticket to Ride, the memoir Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses, and two collections of poetry. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, O: The Oprah Magazine, Town & Country, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. She lives in Ohio with her family.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted authors who set their books in Europe. Jeffrey Siger’s series featuring Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis is set in Greece. A Deadly Twist is the latest one. David Wagner takes readers to Italy for murder and food in To Die in Tuscany, the latest Rick Montoya mystery. You can find their books in the Web Store, although you’ll have to pre-order a hardcover of Siger’s A Deadly Twist if you want a signed copy. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s A Deadly Twist.

Some crimes can never be forgiven—or atoned for

When Athens journalist Nikoletta Elia disappears while on assignment on the island of Naxos, her editor calls on Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis to investigate. Sent to report on the conflict between preservationists and advocates for expanded tourism, Nikoletta is approached by a fan who takes credit for several suspicious deaths she’d reported on in the past. The assassin claims to have abandoned that life, and convinces the reporter to write about him and his murderous exploits for hire.

Kaldis sends his deputy, Yianni, to look into her disappearance when an unidentified body is found at the base of a cliff. Who is the mysterious corpse, and where is Nikoletta? Leads turn into more dead bodies in this twisting tale of greed, corruption, and murder that puts Kaldis, his family, and members of his team in the path of a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to keep dark secrets buried—forever.

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Jeffrey Siger was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, practiced law at a major Wall Street law firm, and later established his own New York City law firm where he continued as one of its name partners until giving it all up to write full-time among the people, life, and politics of his beloved Mykonos. The Mykonos Mob is the tenth novel in his internationally best-selling and award nominated Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series, following up on An Aegean April, Santorini Caesars, Devil in Delphi, Sons of Sparta, Mykonos After Midnight, Target: Tinos, Prey on Patmos, Assassins of Athens, and Murder in Mykonos.

The New York Times described Jeffrey Siger’s novels as “thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales,” and named him as Greece’s thriller writer of record. The Greek Press called his work “prophetic,” Eurocrime described him as a “very gifted American author…on a par with other American authors such as Joseph Wambaugh or Ed McBain,” and the City of San Francisco awarded him its Certificate of Honor citing that his “acclaimed books have not only explored modern Greek society and its ancient roots but have inspired political change in Greece.” He now lives in Greece.

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Check out To Die in Tuscany.

One dead art collector and a gallery of suspects…

Translator Rick Montoya is looking forward to a quiet weekend away with his girlfriend, Betta, an art fraud investigator for the Italian Culture Ministry. Their destination: the beautiful village of Urbino, home to Renaissance masters Rafael and the lesser-known Piero della Francesca. While Betta does have official business to attend to—namely, collecting a priceless Piero drawing from a wealthy Spanish collector on the ministry’s behalf—she asks Rick to join her “in case she needs an interpreter,” but with other, less-official intentions in mind.

When the Spaniard is found murdered and the drawing stolen, Betta must shift back into art cop mode, and Rick’s official services are required after all. As they set out to discover the identity of the killer and the whereabouts of the stolen sketch, they are drawn from Urbino’s cobbled streets to eastern Tuscany and back as the list of suspects grows longer—and more dangerous. Will this lovers’ getaway literally be to die for?

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David P. Wagner is a retired foreign service officer who spent nine years in Italy, learning to love things Italian. Other diplomatic assignments included Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay, as well as two hardship postings to Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Mary, live in Pueblo, Colorado.

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Enjoy the conversation!

Mirrorland is Scottish author Carole Johnstone’s debut novel, and it’s doing very well. The Poisoned Pen was fortunate to have bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz as guest host for the virtual event to introduce Johnstone. You can find copies of books by both authors in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here is the introduction to Mirrorland.

“Dark and devious… Beautifully written and plotted with a watchmaker’s precision.“ — Stephen King

“A dark, twisty, and richly atmospheric exploration of the power of imagination” —Ruth Ware, author of One by One and The Woman in Cabin 10

With the startling twists of Gone Girl and the haunting emotional power of Room, Mirrorland is a thrilling work of psychological suspense about twin sisters, the man they both love, and the dark childhood they can’t leave behind.

Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues in almost every room: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…

A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.

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Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual “Best of” anthologies in the US and UK. She lives in Argyll & Bute, Scotland, with her husband. Mirrorland is her debut novel.

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Here’s the conversation between Carole Johnstone and Jayne Ann Krentz.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted Anne Perry, whose Daniel Pitt novels are spin-offs of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mysteries. Perry’s latest novel is Death with a Double Edge. You can order Perry’s books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2oJJzhL

Here’s the summary of Death with a Double Edge.

Daniel Pitt’s investigation into his colleague’s murder leads him through London’s teeming underbelly to the suspicious dealings of one of England’s most influential shipbuilding magnates in a thrilling novel from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.

When junior barrister Daniel Pitt is summoned to the scene of a murder in the London district known as Mile End, he knows only that the victim is a senior barrister from the same firm. To Daniel’s relief, it is not his close friend Toby Kitteridge, but the question remains: What was this respected colleague doing in such a rough part of the city? The firm’s head, Marcus fford Croft, may know more than he admits, but fford Croft’s memory is not what it used to be, and his daughter, Miriam—Daniel’s sometime sidekick—isn’t in the country to offer her usual help. And so Daniel and Kitteridge must investigate on their own, lest the police uncover something that may cast a suspicious light on the firm.

Their inquiries in Mile End lead them to a local brothel and to an opium den, but also—unexpectedly—to a wealthy shipbuilder crucial to Britain’s effort to build up its fleet, which may soon face the fearsome naval might of Germany. Daniel finds his path blocked by officials at every turn, his investigation so unwelcome that even his father, Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, receives a chilling warning from a powerful source. Suddenly, not just Daniel but his whole family—including his beloved mother, Charlotte—is in danger. Will Daniel’s devotion to justice be the undoing of his entire life, and endanger Britain’s defense at sea? As ever, the fates of family and history are inextricably intertwined in this spellbinder from Anne Perry.

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Anne Perry is the New York Times bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Tide Rising and An Echo of Murder, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Murder on the Serpentine and Treachery at Lancaster Gate. She is also the author of a series featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt’s son, Daniel, including Death with a Double Edge and One Fatal Flaw; the new Elena Standish series, including A Question of Betrayal and Death in Focus; five World War I novels; eighteen holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Resolution; and a historical novel, The Sheen on the Silk, set in the Ottoman Empire. Anne Perry lives in Los Angeles.

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Enjoy the discussion with Barbara Peters and Anne Perry.

If you watch the video, you can tell how much Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen enjoys talking with author Willy Vlautin. Millikin knows Vlautin’s music, not just his books. They cover all kinds of topics. Signed copies of Vlautin’s latest book, The Night Always Comes, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3dDuSDD

Here’s the description of The Night Always Comes.

“Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there’s something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it’s all Portland’s loss.”  — Portland Monthly Magazine

Award-winning author Willy Vlautin explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in this scorching novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family.

Barely thirty, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she’s been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland’s housing prices have nearly quadrupled in fifteen years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it’s their last best chance to own their own home—and obtain the security they’ve never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price. But a week before they’re set to sign the loan papers, her mother gets cold feet and reneges on her promise, pushing Lynette to her limits to find the money they need.

Set over two days and two nights, The Night Always Comes follows Lynette’s frantic search—an odyssey of hope and anguish that will bring her face to face with greedy rich men and ambitious hustlers, those benefiting and those left behind by a city in the throes of a transformative boom. As her desperation builds and her pleas for help go unanswered, Lynette makes a dangerous choice that sets her on a precarious, frenzied spiral. In trying to save her family’s future, she is plunged into the darkness of her past, and forced to confront the reality of her life.

A heart wrenching portrait of a woman hungry for security and a home in a rapidly changing city, The Night Always Comes raises the difficult questions we are often too afraid to ask ourselves: What is the price of gentrification, and how far are we really prepared to go to achieve the American Dream? Is the American dream even attainable for those living at the edges? Or for too many of us, is it only a hollow promise?

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Willy Vlautin is the author of the novels The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, and Don’t Skip Out on Me. He is the founding member of the bands Richmond Fontaine and The Delines. He lives outside Portland Oregon.

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Here’s the conversation between Willy Vlautin and Patrick Millikin.

It’s time to mention some upcoming virtual events at The Poisoned Pen. Check out the schedule, and then, check the Web Store for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

The Poisoned Pen launched Anne Hillerman’s latest novel, Stargazer, with a fascinating discussion of A Very Large Array, a place that listens to space. You’ll want to watch the video. And, signed copies of Stargazer are on the way to the bookstore, if you’d like to order one. https://bit.ly/2q3fNkK

Here’s the description of Stargazer.

Murder, deception, Navajo tradition, and the stars collide in this enthralling entry in New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series, set amid the beautiful landscape of the American Southwest.

What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito—serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene—takes an unexpected twist when she’s called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya’s struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya’s brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister.

Tracing Maya’s whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don’t align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems. Uncovering new information about the astronomer’s work leads Bernie to a remote spot on the Navajo Nation and a calculating killer.

The investigation causes an unexpected rift with her husband and new acting boss, Jim Chee, who’s sure Bernie’s headed for trouble. While she’s caught between present and past, Chee is at a crossroads of his own. Burdened with new responsibilities he didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, he must decide what the future holds for him and act accordingly. 

Can their mentor Joe Leaphorn—a man also looking at the past for answers to the future—provide the guidance both Bernie and Chee need? And will the Navajo heroes that stud the starry sky help them find justice—and the truth they seek?

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Anne Hillerman grew up with the stories her father, New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman, brought home from his work as a journalist and later as a fiction writer. His storytelling and a deep love of reading inspired by both her parents led Anne to own career as a journalist and nonfiction writer. After Tony’s death in 2008, Anne felt the loss of his beloved characters as deeply as his fans did. His fans’ passion for those stories inspired her to give Tony’s characters a second chance at life and to develop one of his minor characters, Bernie Manuelito, into a central protagonist. Stargazer is her sixth novel and the twenty-fourth in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series.”

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Here’s the video of the virtual book launch.

There’s an unusual sketch associated with Rhys Bowen’s The Venice Sketchbook. If you watch the YouTube conversation between Bowen and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, you’ll be able to see Rhys Bowen’s own sketch on the cover of the book. Or you can order a signed copy of The Venice Sketchbook through the Web Store, and see the sketch in person. https://bit.ly/2LV4U1i

Here’s The Venice Sketchbook.

“Rhys Bowen crafts a propulsive, unexpected plot with characters who come vibrantly alive on the page.” —Mark Sullivan, author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Love and secrets collide in Venice during WWII in an enthralling novel of brief encounters and lasting romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and Above the Bay of Angels.

Caroline Grant is struggling to accept the end of her marriage when she receives an unexpected bequest. Her beloved great-aunt Lettie leaves her a sketchbook, three keys, and a final whisper…Venice. Caroline’s quest: to scatter Juliet “Lettie” Browning’s ashes in the city she loved and to unlock the mysteries stored away for more than sixty years.

It’s 1938 when art teacher Juliet Browning arrives in romantic Venice. For her students, it’s a wealth of history, art, and beauty. For Juliet, it’s poignant memories and a chance to reconnect with Leonardo Da Rossi, the man she loves whose future is already determined by his noble family. However star-crossed, nothing can come between them. Until the threat of war closes in on Venice and they’re forced to fight, survive, and protect a secret that will bind them forever.

Key by key, Lettie’s life of impossible love, loss, and courage unfolds. It’s one that Caroline can now make right again as her own journey of self-discovery begins.

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Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including Above the Bay of Angels, The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and the World War II”“based In Farleigh Field, the winner of the Macavity and Left Coast Crime Awards for Best Historical Mystery Novel and the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery. Bowen’s work has won twenty honors to date, including multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she has fans around the world. A transplanted Brit, Bowen divides her time between California and Arizona. To learn more about the author, visit www.rhysbowen.com.

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Enjoy the conversation between two friends, Rhys Bowen and Barbara Peters. Rhys has all kinds of book news to share.