Fiction Review

Daniel Silva recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen on his book tour for The Black Widow.

How would you like to have been in the audience? This is a picture of anticipation.

Then, Silva made his entrance through the audience.

He was interviewed by Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

He signed the poster that will hang in the store.

And, of course, he signed copies of The Black Widow.

Now, if you’re interested in a signed copy of the latest Gabriel Allon thriller, we have them available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2a7ZApU

Meet debut authors Megan Miranda and Lili Wright. Well, actually, Megan, author of All the Missing Girls, writes young adult books. This book is her first adult suspense novel. Wright’s debut is Dancing with the Tiger.

We’d love to “introduce” both authors to you. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, interviews them here on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/5619218

Would you like signed copies of either book? You can purchase them at the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Nancy Herriman writes historical mysteries. Her first Mystery of Old San Francisco was No Comfort for the Lost. Her new one, No Pity for the Dead will be released on August 2. You can order or pre-order them through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/29yIHia

Nancy’s one of the authors who responded when I asked people to share their suggestions for summer reading. Check out her picks!

She says, “I almost exclusively read historical mysteries (no surprise that I write them, then), so my recommendations are all set in the past:”

Ruth Downie’s Medicus series; Vita Brevis is the latest. Brings Roman-occupied Britain to life.

Now, here’s the party you really wanted to be at, right? It was The Poisoned Pen’s signing party for Outlander Kitchen by Theresa Carle-Sanders. Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander books, and Carle-Sanders both signed it.

Here’s the book teaser before the photos.

“Take a bite out of Diana Gabaldon’s New York Times bestselling Outlander novels, the inspiration for the hit Starz series, with this immersive official cookbook from OutlanderKitchen.com founder Theresa Carle-Sanders!

Claire Beauchamp Randall’s incredible journey from postwar Britain to eighteenth-century Scotland and France is a feast for all five senses, and taste is no exception. From Claire’s first lonely bowl of porridge at Castle Leoch to the decadent roast beef served after her hasty wedding to Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, from gypsy stew and jam tarts to fried chicken and buttermilk drop biscuits, there are enough mouth-watering meals along the way to whet the appetite of even the most demanding palate.

Now professional chef and founder of OutlanderKitchen.com Theresa Carle-Sanders offers up this extraordinary cuisine for your table. Featuring more than one hundred recipes, Outlander Kitchen retells Claire and Jamie’s incredible story through the flavors of the Scottish Highlands, the French Revolution, and beyond. Following the high standards for prodigious research and boundless creativity set by Diana Gabaldon herself, Carle-Sanders draws on the events and characters of the novels to deliver delicious and inventive dishes that highlight local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques. Yet amateur chefs need not fear: These doable, delectable recipes have been updated for today’s modern kitchens.”

Can’t you see yourself sitting in this audience?

Better yet, can’t you see yourself waiting for Diana Gabaldon to come in, followed by Theresa Carle-Sanders, only to find out that they’re being piped in?

People even came to Arizona from Southern California for the signing.

Here’s author Theresa Carle-Sanders, Diana Gabaldon, and Poisoned Pen Bookstore owner, Barbara Peters.

Have I enticed you? Does a menu entice you? “Here are just a few of the dishes that will keep the world of Outlander on your mind morning, noon, and nicht:

“¢ Breakfast: Yeasted Buckwheat Pancakes; A Coddled Egg for Duncan; Bacon, Asparagus, and Wild Mushroom Omelette
“¢ Appetizers: Cheese Savories; Rolls with Pigeons and Truffles; Beer-Battered Corn Fritters
“¢ Soups & Stocks: Cock-a-Leekie Soup; Murphy’s Beef Broth; Drunken Mock-Turtle Soup
“¢ Mains: Peppery Oyster Stew; Slow-Cooked Chicken Fricassee; Conspirators’ Cassoulet
“¢ Sides: Auld Ian’s Buttered Leeks; Matchstick Cold-Oil Fries; Honey-Roasted Butternut Squash
“¢ Bread & Baking: Pumpkin Seed and Herb Oatcakes; Fiona’s Cinnamon Scones; Jocasta’s Auld Country Bannocks
“¢ Sweets & Desserts: Black Jack Randall’s Dark Chocolate Lavender Fudge; Warm Almond Pastry with Father Anselm; Banoffee Trifle at River Run

With full-color photographs and plenty of extras—including cocktails, condiments, and preserves—Outlander Kitchen is an entertainment experience to savor, a wide-ranging culinary crash course, and a time machine all rolled into one. Forgetbon appétit. As the Scots say, ith do leòr!”

Now, if you would like to order a signed copy, you can get them online only through our Web Store. https://bit.ly/29VYAC2

The Poisoned Pen recently held a book launch party for Anne A. Wilson and her new book, Clear to Lift.

Anne A. Wilson was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served nine years active duty as a navy helicopter pilot, which included deployment to the Persian Gulf. The Naval Helicopter Association named Anne and her crew Helicopter Aircrew of the Year, an award given for search and rescue. She and her husband currently own Camelback Coaching, a triathlon coaching company. Hover was her debut novel.

The Poisoned Pen knows how to throw a book launch.

That’s the author in the front row in orange.

Fellow authors, friends, readers showed up. But, here’s the person who made a special trip just to see her. Joan Burtnett was Anne’s fifth grade teacher.

We now have signed copies of Clear to Lift in the Web Store. Here’s the description.

“Navy helicopter pilot Lt. Alison Malone has been assigned to a search and rescue team based at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, near the rugged peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and far from her former elite H-60 squadron. A rule follower by nature, Alison is exasperated and outraged every time she flies with her mission commander, Boomer” Marks, for whom military procedures are merely a suggestion. Alison is desperate to be transferred out of the boonies, where careers stagnate, and back to herlife and fiance in San Diego.

Alison’s defenses start to slip when she meets mountain guide Will Cavanaugh during a particularly dicey mission. Will introduces her to a wild, beautiful world of adventure that she has never known before. Stranded on a mountain during a sudden dangerous blizzard, Alison questions every truth she thought she knew about herself. When Will braves the storm to save her life, she must confront the fact that she has been living a lie. But is it too late to change course?

Full of action and adventure, dangerous and heart-stopping rescues, blizzards and floods, family secrets and second chances, Clear to Lift by Anne A. Wilson is a thrilling woman’s journey as she finds confidence, truth, love, and herself against the majestic backdrop of the Sierra Nevada.”

And, here’s where you can purchase a copy. https://bit.ly/29KQFJK

Anne Wilson welcomed authors John Sandford and Michele Cook to The Poisoned Pen the other day for a drop-in book signing.

The authors stopped in to sign Rampage, the third in their Young Adult thriller trilogy.

Here’s the summary of that book.

“John Sandford and Michele Cook complete their New York Timesbestselling thriller series in this explosive finale. Fans of James Dashner, Harlan Coben, and Suzanne Collins will love this nail-biting trilogy.

Shay Remby and her band of renegade activists have got the corrupt Singular Corporation on the run. Their expose is finally working. Or is it?

Even as revelations about the human experimental subjects break in the news, Singular’s employees are slithering out of sight. And then their CEO is killed in a plane crash… Was it a freak accident?  Or a cover-up?

Shay’s gang begins to see signs that there may be even more powerful figures than they knew managing events—publicly expressing outrage and mopping up the mess, but secretly gathering up their scientists and moving the operation further out of sight.

It will take nothing short of a rampage to stop the Singular menace for good…”

Are you looking for a new series for the young adult in your life? We have all three books in The Singular Menace series, and they’re all signed by the authors. Start with Uncaged, and move to Outrage.

Check them out in the Web Store now. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Poisoned Pen Press publishes Clea Simon’s Pru Marlowe pet noir series. The series features an animal behaviorist who can hear what animals are thinking, most notably her irascible tabby Wallis.

Simon’s books in order, by original Poisoned Pen Press publication date, are: Dogs Don’t Lie (2011), Cats Can’t Shoot (2012), Parrots Prove Deadly (2013), Panthers Play for Keeps (2014), Kittens Can Kill (2015), and When Bunnies Go Bad (2016).

Clea has three suggestions for summer reading. “The Sympathizer has been coming with me to the beach. Never mind the Pulitzer, the Anthony, etc., Viet Thanh Nguyen’s first-person voice grabbed me right away with its immediacy. Besides, I think it’s important to hear from the other side of what is now our second-longest war.”

Simon’s second pick is by an author who regularly appears at The Poisoned Pen. “The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King is next up. I love this series (which features an aging Sherlock Holmes and his very Holmes-ian American partner/spouse) and this latest installment has gotten wonderful reviews.” Interested in a signed copy of this one? We have them in our Web Store. bit.ly/29vDrkL

Clea Simon’s final pick is another by an award-winning author. “Catriona McPherson’s The Child Garden is also on my summer TBR (To Be Read). I came to McPherson’s books through her whimsical historical cozy series, the Dandy GIlver books, but then I read her eerie, darker standalone Quiet Neighbors and I was hooked.”

If Clea has hooked you on any of these titles, check out the Web Store to buy them. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, recently welcomed F. Paul Wilson for a program and book signing. He’s on his book tour right now for Panacea.

Here’s the description of the book, as it appears on the store’s website.

“Two secret societies vie for control of the ultimate medical miracle – Panacea – in the latest novel by New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson.

Medical examiner Laura Hanning has two charred corpses and no answers. Both bear a mysterious tattoo but exhibit no known cause of death. Their only connection to one another is a string of puzzling miracle cures. Her preliminary investigation points to a cult in the possession of the fabled panacea – the substance that can cure all ills – but that’s impossible.

Laura finds herself unknowingly enmeshed in an ancient conflict between the secretive keepers of the panacea and the equally secretive and far more deadly group known only as 536, a brotherhood that fervently believes God intended for humanity to suffer, not be cured. Laura doesn’t believe in the panacea, but that doesn’t prevent the agents of 536 from trying to kill her.

A reclusive, terminally ill billionaire hires Laura to research the possibility of the panacea. The billionaire’s own body guard, Rick Hayden, a mercenary who isn’t who he pretends to be, has to keep her alive as they race to find the legendary panacea before the agents of 536 can destroy it.”

Would you like to see photos of the event?

Of course, we have signed copies of Panacea for sale in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/29N4ANH Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?

If you missed the program featuring Frederick Ramsay and Keith McCafferty, you missed a fun time at The Poisoned Pen. For instance, McCafferty, who is the Survival and Outdoor Skills Editor of Field & Stream, brought bookstore owner Barbara Peters a gift. McCafferty writes about Sean Stranahan, a painter, fly fisherman, and private investigator, and Sheriff Martha Ettinger, in Montana. To commemorate his fifth book, he brought Peters a fly.

Enjoy the pictures from that evening.

If you would like signed copies of Keith McCafferty’s Buffalo Jump Blues or Frederick Ramsay’s Danger Woman, stop by the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Poisoned Pen Press author J.C. Lane responded when I asked for suggestions for summer reading. The author of Tag, You’re Dead, recommended four books.

Robert Crais’ The Promise is actually called “An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel”. But, readers certainly have their favorite character. Lane says, “Anything that includes Joe Pike is a good summer read, because, well, he’s awesome.”

Lane suggests a title that many readers may not recognize, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender.”Paris, ghosts, unexplained murders…it has it all.”

Have you met Bernie Rhodenbarr? You will in Lane’s next pick, Burglars Can’t Be Choosers by Lawrence Block. She picked it “Because a re-read of these is wonderful, and if you haven’t yet had the pleasure – you’re in for a treat (and I’m jealous)! Funny and fun.

J.C. Lane’s last recommendation is Charles Todd’s A Fine Summer’s Day. She says, ‘A look back before Ian Rutledge went to war – a lovely “flashback” for Rutledge fans.”

A Fine Summer’s Day, a fine way to end a summer books post. You can order any of the books, including J.C. Lane’s Tag, You’re Dead, through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/