Fiction Review

It seems to happen more with nonfiction than fiction, but there are ways to buy a place on The New York Times BestSeller List. No, no one pays the newspaper to get on the list. But, the newspaper’s list is so valuable to sales and prestige, that people (with money) do what they can to get on the list.

Check out Sarah Nicolas’ piece in BookRiot, “A History of Buying Books onto the Bestseller List.” https://bit.ly/2N15Hgs

Caroline and Charles Todd are the mother and son team who write under the name Charles Todd. Authors of the Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford mystery series, for the sake of today’s post, it’s the Bess Crawford books that should be emphasized. You can find copies of their books, including signed copies of the latest Bess Crawford, A Cruel Deception, in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CYwbY1

The Todds recently discussed strong women in mysteries while they were travelling together. Fortunately for us, that discussion resulted in an article for CrimeReads. You can find “A Brief History of Strong Women in Mystery” here. https://bit.ly/2T1Itur

It’s a thought-provoking piece, forcing the reader to wonder what characters written today might stand the test of time.

*****

Here’s the description of Charles Todd’s latest book featuring their Bess Crawford, A Cruel Deception.

In the aftermath of World War I, nurse Bess Crawford attempts to save a troubled former soldier from a mysterious killer in this eleventh book in the beloved Bess Crawford mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.

The Armistice of November 1918 ended the fighting, but the Great War will not be over until a Peace Treaty is drawn up and signed by all parties. Representatives from the Allies are gathering in Paris, and already ominous signs of disagreement have appeared.

Sister Bess Crawford, who has been working with the severely wounded in England in the war’s wake, is asked to carry out a personal mission in Paris for a Matron at the London headquarters of The Queen Alexandra’s.

Bess is facing decisions about her own future, even as she searches for the man she is charged with helping.  When she does locate Lawrence Minton, she finds a bitter and disturbed officer who has walked away from his duties at the Peace Conference and is well on his way toward an addiction to opiates. When she confronts him with the dangers of using laudanum, he tells her that he doesn’t care if he lives or dies, as long as he can find oblivion. But what has changed him? What is it that haunts him? He can’t confide in Bess—because the truth is so deeply buried in his mind that he can only relive it in nightmares. The officers who had shared a house with him in Paris profess to know nothing—still, Bess is reluctant to trust them even when they offer her their help. But where to begin on her own?

What is driving this man to a despair so profound it can only end with death? The war? Something that happened in Paris? To prevent a tragedy, she must get at the truth as quickly as possible—which means putting herself between Lieutenant Minton and whatever is destroying him. Or is it whoever?

While Unspeakable Things is the name of Jess Lourey’s latest crime novel, it’s also the topic of a recent article she wrote for CriminalElement, “Four Authors Who Blurred the True Crime Line”. She quotes Dorothy Allison’s memoir, “I know the use of fiction in a world of hard truth, the way fiction can be a harder piece of truth.” Then, she discusses four novels that blur that line. Check the Web Store for those novels. Don’t forget to look for Lourey’s Unspeakable Things as well. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Lourey’s own novel actually fits her article as well. Unspeakable Things is based on true events in her own hometown. Check the description.

Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet—or as safe—as it seems.

Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.

All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.

One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

Did you know Maigret’s First Case is not the first Georges Simenon novel to feature Inspector Maigret? In a recent article in The Guardian, Graeme Macrae Burnet looks back at the series, as Penguin Books finishes a six-year project to reissue all of the titles. The article is called, “Put that in your pipe: why the Maigret novels are still worth savouring.” https://bit.ly/35lMXOX

It has been ninety years since the first case for Maigret. But, you can still order the books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/39CSpQY

And, you can read a description of Maigret’s First Case to see why you might want to go back and read the books.

“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian

When a Paris musician witnesses an altercation that may have been a murder, the young Inspector Maigret becomes embroiled in his first case

A musician walking home along the Rue Chaptal in the early hours of the morning sees a panic-stricken woman call for help from an upstairs window; moments later he hears a gun shot. He tries to go to her assistance, pushing past the man who opens the door upon his frantic knocking, but he finds himself roughly ejected from the premises. Undeterred, he heads for the nearest police station and urges Maigret to return with him and find out what has taken place.

With this look into the man he once was and how he became the insightful inspector we have some to know, Simenon offers new insights into the brilliance of Maigret.

Chris Hauty will appear at The Poisoned Pen on Thursday, January 16 at 7 PM to discuss and sign his debut thriller, Deep State. You can reserve a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2QndU0H

Hauty and Deep State were the subject of K.L. Roma’s recent cover story for The Big Thrill. You can read it here. https://www.thebigthrill.org/2019/12/on-the-cover-chris-hauty/

Here’s the description of the debut thriller.

“Deep State is a propulsive, page-turning, compelling, fragmentation grenade of a debut thriller.” —C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wolf Pack and The Bitterroots

“The plot…rings eerily true…will keep you turning the pages well into the night.” —Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL and acclaimed author of The Terminal List and True Believer

In this white-knuckled, timely, and whip-smart debut thriller, a deadly plot against the president’s life emerges from the shadows of the Deep State.

Recently elected President Richard Monroe—populist, controversial, and divisive—is at the center of an increasingly polarized Washington, DC. Never has the partisan drama been so tense or the paranoia so rampant. In the midst of contentious political turf wars, the White House chief of staff is found dead in his house. A tenacious intern discovers a single, ominous clue that suggests he died from something other than natural causes, and that a wide-ranging conspiracy is running beneath the surface of everyday events: powerful government figures are scheming to undermine the rule of law—and democracy itself. Allies are exposed as enemies, once-dependable authorities fall under suspicion, and no one seems to be who they say they are. The unthinkable is happening. The Deep State is real. Who will die to keep its secrets and who will kill to uncover the truth?

If you enjoy the classic horror style seen in The Haunting of Hill House and the creepy chills seen in Japanese horror films, then Voices in the Snow (on-sale 1/7/20) by USA Today bestselling author Darcy Coates should be next on your TBR list.

Poisoned Pen Press is excited to be publishing the debut in the new Black Winter series from the author of more than a dozen horror and suspense titles.

Discover Darcy Coates and dive into a story that will keep you awake and looking over your shoulder for days. Coates’ books, including Voices in the Snow, can be ordered through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2QIYyST

Here’s the description of Voices in the Snow (Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press).

No One Escapes the Stillness

Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children’s toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a terror she can’t explain. And then…nothing. When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger’s gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there’s nothing she can do but wait.

At least the stranger seems kind…but Clare doesn’t know if she can trust him. He promised they were alone here, but she sees and hears things that convince her something else is creeping about the surrounding woods, watching. Waiting. Between the claustrophobic storm and the inescapable sense of being hunted, Clare is on edge…and increasingly certain of one thing:

Her car crash wasn’t an accident. Something is waiting for her to step outside the fragile safety of the house… something monstrous, something unfeeling.

Something desperately hungry.

Also By Darcy Coates:
The Haunting of Ashburn House
The Haunting of Blackwood House
Craven Manor
The House Next Door

*****

DARCY COATES is the USA Today bestselling author of Hunted, The Haunting of Ashburn House, Craven Manor, and more than a dozen horror and suspense titles. She lives on the Central Coast of Australia with her family, cats, and a garden full of herbs and vegetables. Darcy loves forests, especially old-growth forests where the trees dwarf anyone who steps between them. Wherever she lives, she tries to have a mountain range close by.

The Poisoned Pen is kicking off 2020 with a busy schedule of author events. Brad Taylor appears at the bookstore on Tuesday, January 7 at 7 PM to discuss and sign his latest Pike Logan book, Hunter Killer. You can order copies of Taylor’s books, including a signed copy of Hunter Killer, through the Web Store. And, copies come with a specially-designed copy of Pike Logan’s passport. https://bit.ly/2Ch7R5C

Austin S. Camacho recently discussed Hunter Killer with Brad Taylor in The Big Thrill, The Magazine of the International Thriller Writers. You can find the article here. https://bit.ly/2tjH8V2

*****

Here’s the description of Hunter Killer from the Web Store.

Pike Logan tracks highly-trained Russian assassins to Brazil in this blistering, action-packed thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former Special Forces Officer Brad Taylor.

Pike Logan and the Taskforce were once the apex predators, an unrivaled hunting machine that decimated those out to harm the United States, but they may have met their match. While Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill prepare to join their team on a counter-terrorist mission in the triple frontier—the lawless tri-border region where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet—they are targeted in Charleston, South Carolina. A vicious explosion kills a friend, and the perpetrators have set it up to look like an accident. While the authorities believe this was not foul play, Pike knows the attack was meant for him. 

When he loses contact with the team in South America, Pike is convinced he and the Taskforce are under assault. His men are the closest thing to family that Pike has, which means he will do anything, even ignore direct orders to stand down, to find them. Pike and Jennifer head to Brazil to investigate their disappearance and run headlong into a crew of Russian assassins. Within days they are entangled in a byzantine scheme involving Brazilian politics and a cut-throat battle for control of offshore oil fields. 

Forged in combat, the Russians are the equal of anything the Taskforce has encountered before, but they make a mistake in attacking Pike’s team, because Pike has a couple of elite Israeli assassins of his own. And Pike will stop at nothing to protect his family.

Happy New Year! The Poisoned Pen is closed today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on your new year resolutions, if your resolution involves books. If you want to discover new authors, or specialize in a genre or sub-genre, check out The Poisoned Pen’s book clubs. Or, if you’d like to send books to someone you love, sign them up to receive books. Take a look at the book clubs today. Contact the Poisoned Pen on Thursday, and you might be on the way to an exciting 2020. https://poisonedpen.com/book-clubs/

Happy New Year!

Author Paige Shelton may now live in Arizona, but her book, Thin Ice, is set in Alaska. Shelton did a piece about gift books for the blog before Christmas. She also wrote a piece for Criminal Element called, “No Trace: The Alaska Triangle.” You can find it here. https://www.criminalelement.com/no-trace-the-alaskan-triangle/

Shelton will be at The Poisoned Pen on Saturday, February 8 to discuss and sign Thin Ice. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DiEf8P

Here’s the summary of Thin Ice.

First in a new series set in Alaska from beloved author Paige Shelton, Thin Ice will chill your bones.

Beth Rivers is on the run ““ she’s doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic’s obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she’s got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout.

Beth’s new home in Alaska is sparsely populated with people who all seem to be running or hiding from something, and though she accidentally booked a room at a halfway house, she feels safer than she’s felt since Levi took her. That is, until she’s told about a local death that’s a suspected murder. Could the death of Linda Rafferty have anything to do with her horror at the hands of Levi Brooks?

As Beth navigates her way through the wilds of her new home, her memories of her time in the van are coming back, replaying the terror and the fear—and threatening to keep her from healing, from reclaiming her old life again. Can she get back to normal, will she ever truly feel safe, and can she help solve the local mystery, if only so she doesn’t have to think about her own?

Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press author Dennis Palumbo recently wrote an article for Suspense Magazine called “Taking the Mystery out of Writing Mysteries”. It’s on page 7 of the online magazine, if you’d like to check it out. https://bit.ly/2u2x6Il

Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.), Dennis Palumbo is a licensed psychotherapist and author. His mystery ction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, e Strand and elsewhere, and is collected in “From Crime to Crime.” His series of mystery thrillers (the latest of which, “Head Wounds,” was named a “Best of 2018″ by SUSPENSE MAGAZINE) features Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police.

For more info, visit www.dennispalumbo.com.

Palumbo’s books, including his most recent title, Head Wounds, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2UF9IMA

Here’s the description of Head Wounds.

“Dennis Palumbo’s Head Wounds is a spectacular ride.” —THOMAS PERRY, New York Times bestselling author
“This is a book that’ll make you lock your doors and check your computer‘s security settings.” —JOSEPH FINDER, New York Timesbestselling author

Psychologist Dr. Daniel Rinaldi consults with the Pittsburgh Police. His specialty is treating victims of violent crime—those who’ve survived an armed robbery, kidnapping, or sexual assault, but whose traumatic experience still haunts them. Head Wounds picks up where Rinaldi’s investigation in Phantom Limb left off, turning the tables on him as he, himself, becomes the target of a vicious killer.

“Miles Davis saved my life.” With these words Rinaldi becomes a participant in a domestic drama that blows up right outside his front door, saved from a bullet to the brain by pure chance. In the chaos that follows, Rinaldi learns his bad-girl, wealthy neighbor has told her hair-triggered boyfriend Rinaldi is her lover. As things heat up, Rinaldi becomes a murder suspect.

But this is just the first act in this chilling, edge-of-your-seat thriller. As one savagery follows another, Rinaldi is forced to relive a terrible night that haunts him still. And to realize that now he—and those he loves—are being victimized by a brilliant killer still in the grip of delusion. Determined to destroy Rinaldi by systematically targeting those close to him—his patients, colleagues, and friends—computer genius Sebastian Maddox strives to cause as much psychological pain as possible, before finally orchestrating a bold, macabre death for his quarry.

How ironic. As Pittsburgh morphs from a blue-collar town to a tech giant, a psychopath deploys technology in a murderous way.

Enter two other figures from Rinaldi’s past: retired FBI profiler Lyle Barnes, once a patient who Rinaldi treated for night terrors; and Special Agent Gloria Reese, with whom he falls into a surprising, erotically charged affair. Warned by Maddox not to engage the authorities or else random innocents throughout the city will die, Rinaldi and these two unlikely allies engage in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with an elusive killer who’ll stop at nothing in pursuit of what he imagines is revenge.

A true page-turner, Head Wounds is the electrifying fifth in a critically acclaimed series of thrillers by Dennis Palumbo. Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter, Dennis Palumbo is now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice.