Fiction Review

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Mike Lawson to the bookstore for a virtual event. Lawson signed copies of his latest book, Redemption, and there are a few signed copies still available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3zkvSaS

Here’s the description of Redemption, a standalone thriller.

Convicted of insider trading, Jamison Maddox reluctantly accepts a mysterious job that soon takes an ominous twist, sending him on the run from powerful and deadly forces in the latest thriller from Barry Award and Edgar Award finalist Mike Lawson.

With his reputation permanently marred by an insider trading conviction, Jamison Maddox, a young Wall Street broker, reluctantly takes a job doing research for a small company in the sleepy town of Redemption, Illinois. He’s never heard of the company, or of the town, but he’s out of money and options. Though Jamison notices right away that everyone in Redemption is in some way related to one another, the big city boy chalks it up to small town ways. And as for the company’s seemingly extreme security practices, Jamison was planning on minding his own business anyway.

But when he falls in love with a beautiful and enigmatic colleague, Gillian, Jamison begins to realize that he may be doing illegal work for the company. So when she asks him to run away with her, he agrees wholeheartedly. The two set off across the country, hoping to secure some money and go into hiding. The company is soon on their tails, pursuing them with the single-minded goal of silencing them forever.

If Jamison hadn’t realized how dangerous these people really are, he now realizes they will stop at nothing to protect the company. And he has no idea that his lover, a stunning woman shrouded in mystery, is as dangerous as the people he’s running from. 

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Mike Lawson is a former senior civilian executive for the U.S. Navy. He is the author of fifteen novels starring Joe DeMarco and three novels with his protagonist Kay Hamilton.

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Enjoy the conversation between Mike Lawson and Barbara Peters.

James Lee Burke’s Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. There are still some signed copies available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Nkmzfp

Patrick Millikin from the bookstore admits it’s an honor to host Burke for a virtual event. Burke says he’s published forty novels and two collections, and he’s never changed. He’s still using material from the Bible. Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a personal story, and Millikin and Burke talk about that in the event.

Here’s the summary of Every Cloak Rolled in Blood.

In his most autobiographical novel to date, James Lee Burke continues the epic Holland family saga with a writer grieving the death of his daughter while battling earthly and supernatural outlaws.

Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.

Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.

Drawn from James Lee Burke’s own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.

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James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

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Enjoy the conversation with one of our great authors, James Lee Burke.

The Private Eye Writers of America recently announced the nominees for the 2022 Shamus Awards, for private eye novels and short stories first published in the U.S. in 2021. The winners will be announced in August. In the meantime, check the Web Store for the authors and books. You have time to read or pick up a few before that announcement. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Congratulations to all of the nominees. (And, thank you to Todd Mason for the list of nominees.)

BEST PI HARDCOVER

RUNNER by Tracy Clark (Kensington)

LAST REDEMPTION by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)

PAY OR PLAY by Howard Michael Gould (Severn House)

FAMILY BUSINESS by S. J. Rozan (Pegasus)

HEAD CASE by Michael Wiley (Severn House)

BEST ORIGINAL PI PAPERBACK

EVERY CITY IS EVERY OTHER CITY by John McFetridge (ECW Press)

THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE by John Nardizzi (Weathertop Media Co.)

ANGELS IN THE WIND by Manuel Ramos (Arte Pὐblico Press)

FROG IN A BUCKET by Clive Rosengren (Coffeetown Press)

AN EMPTY GRAVE by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Swallow Press)

BEST FIRST PI NOVEL

PORNO VALLEY by Phillip Elliot (Into The Void) 

DEAD MAN’S EYES by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books) 

SUBURBAN DICKS by Fabian Nieza (Putnam) 

THE ARRANGEMENT by M. Ravenel (Chikara Press) 

LOST LITTLE GIRL by Gregory Stout (Level Best Books)

BEST PI SHORT STORY

DISPOSABLE WOMEN by Michael Bracken (ToughCrime.com) 

SIXTEEN LIES by Matt Goldman (EQMM September/October) 

SWEEPS WEEK by Richard Helms (EQMM July/August)

ORO DE TONTOS (FOOL’S GOLD) by Tom Larsen (AHMM November/December)

THE HIDDEN PLACES by Linda Stansberry (EQMM May/June)

You do need to check constantly on The Poisoned Pen’s schedule of authors. June is so active that authors are being added constantly. Once in a while an author is changing their appearance time or date. So, please check here. https://poisonedpen.com/ And, check in the Web Store for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s a quick reminder of the upcoming schedule of author events in the first half of June.

While Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen welcomed Chris Holm for the recent virtual event, James Rollins acted as guest host. Holm is the author of six novels, including his latest Child Zero. There are signed copies of Child Zero available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3m0FeAY

Here’s the description of Child Zero.

From molecular biologist turned Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind comes a fact-based thriller about our species’ next great existential threat—perfect for fans of Michael Crichton.

It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated.

They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen, perpetrated by a new brand of extremist bent on pushing humanity to extinction.

Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health—and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.

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Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, the Michael Hendricks thrillers, and thirty-odd short stories in a variety of genres. His work has been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, appeared on more than fifty year’s best lists, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.

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Enjoy the conversation with Chris Holm.

The Lost Summers of Newport was recently the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. The authors, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White recently appeared at the bookstore, the first time since the pandemic hit. They also signed copies of the book, and there are copies available. https://bit.ly/3wUNd8X

Here’s the description of The Lost Summers of Newport.

From the New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—a novel of money and secrets set among the famous summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, spanning over a century from the Gilded Age to the present day.

“Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies…This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review”

2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America’s most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America’s gilded class—famous for the lavish “summer cottages” of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia “Lucky” Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion’s ruined boathouse.

1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport’s elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she’s hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.

1958: Lucia “Lucky” Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother—the American-born Princess di Conti—fled Mussolini’s Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn’t seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky’s lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion’s old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth…and change everything she thought she knew about her past.

As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever….

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Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including Her Last Flight, The Summer Wives, and The Golden Hour, as well as All the Ways We Said Goodbye, cowritten with Lauren Willig and Karen White. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels, including The Summer Country, The Ashford Affair, and The English Wife. She lives in New York City with her husband and family.

Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs.

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The team of authors made a fun presentation that day. Enjoy!

While Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Chris Pavone for a virtual event for the bookstore, author Karin Slaughter was the special guest host. Pavone’s latest international thriller is Two Nights in Lisbon. There are more signed copies of the book available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3sXRWUD

Here’s the description of Two Nights in Lisbon.

Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line.

“I defy anyone to read the first twenty pages of this breakneck novel, then try to put it down for five minutes. This is smart suspense at its very best.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

With sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights, bestselling author Chris Pavone delivers a stunning and sophisticated international thriller that will linger long after the surprising final page.

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Chris Pavone is the author of The Paris Diversion, The Travelers, The Accident, and The Expats. His novels have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal; have won both the Edgar and Anthony awards; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into two dozen languages. Chris grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell, and worked as a book editor for nearly two decades. He lives in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island with his family.

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This might be a conversation about living internationally, and thrillers, but there’s a great deal of humor. Enjoy!

John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Tori Eldridge for a live event at the bookstore. Eldridge talks about her background and her new book, Dance Among the Flames. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/38p01uA

Here’s the description of Dance Among the Flames.

Passion. Horror. Betrayal.

From the national bestselling author of the Lily Wong thriller series comes a “stunningly original” (F. Paul Wilson) dark journey into Brazilian mysticism about a desperate mother who rises from the slums to embrace Quimbanda magic amid her quest for the ultimate revenge. Across forty years, three continents, and a past incident in 1560 France, Serafina Olegario tests the boundaries of love, power, and corruption as she fights to escape her life of poverty and abuse.

Serafina’s quest begins in Brazil when she’s possessed by the warrior goddess Yansã, who emboldens her to fight yet threatens to consume her spirit. Fueled by power and enticed by Exú, an immortal trickster and intermediary to the gods, Serafina turns to the seductive magic of Quimbanda. It’s dangerous to dance in the fire. But when you come from nothing, you have nothing to lose.

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Tori Eldridge is the national bestselling author and Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Awards finalist of the Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, and The Ninja Betrayed. Her shorter works appear in the inaugural reboot of Weird Tales magazine and horror, dystopian, and other literary anthologies. Her horror screenplay The Gift—which inspired Dance Among the Flames—earned a semi-finalist spot for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship.
 
Before writing, Tori performed as an actress, singer, dancer on Broadway, television, and film, and earned a 5th degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninja martial arts. She is of Hawaiian, Chinese, Norwegian descent and was born and raised in Honolulu where she graduated from Punahou School with classmate Barack Obama. Tori’s deep interest in world culture and religions has prompted her to visit nine countries, including Brazil.

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Enjoy the conversation with Tori Eldridge.

On Thursday, June 2 at 12 PM (3 PM EDT), Richard O’Rawe, author of Goering’s Gold, will appear for a virtual event for The Poisoned Pen. The event will be on both the Facebook page and YouTube channel for the Pen. You won’t want to miss this. Sarah Weinman, in The New York Times Book Review crime and mystery column calls O’Rawe’s books, a “rollicking series of heist novels featuring James “Ructions” O’Hare (nicknamed for a synonym for “anarchy” or “commotion,” incredibly apt either way).” Check out the complete review here. https://nyti.ms/3wTedp5

You can order a copy of Goering’s Gold, with a signed bookplate, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/38NzE1S

Here’s the description of the book.

Ructions O’Hare returns in a thriller — based on one of history’s greatest unsolved heists — pitting him against the IRA, Interpol, and neo-Nazis . . .

When WWII ended, the allies discovered that a huge amount of gold bullion plundered by Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering had gone missing. Some believed the gold had been hidden in a train box car in Poland. Others that it was secreted in Lake Toplitz in the Austrian Alps. And a few thought it was buried in the Republic of Ireland, which was neutral during the war.

When ex-IRA soldier Ructions O’Hare stumbles on a piece of Nazi memorabilia once owned by Goering, he begins to think that those who suspect the gold was in Ireland just might be on to something.

But for Ructions to return to Ireland is easier said than done. For a start, the IRA is after him for not paying them a cut from a huge bank robbery he carried out in Belfast. And then there’s the Neo-Nazis, who believe that Goering’s gold rightfully belongs to them, and who are happy to kill anyone who gets in their way.

And as Ructions gathers clues to the gold’s location and, as his many adversaries realize he’s getting closer, it’s as if a noose is tightening around his neck…

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Richard O’Rawe is a former IRA operative who was imprisoned for bank robbery 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. Most recently, he is the author of the IRA-themed thriller, Northern Heist. He lives in Belfast.

Deon Meyer, author of The Dark Flood, recently appeared virtually for The Poisoned Pen. Michael Connelly was the special guest host for the event. You’ll enjoy the humor and conversation between the two authors. You can find copies of The Dark Flood in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3MUeYUt

Here’s the description of The Dark Flood.

From internationally acclaimed crime writer Deon Meyer, a new thriller featuring superstar detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido in the wake of their impulsive pursuit of state corruption that has left their reputations hanging in the balance

Having jeopardized their careers in an unauthorized investigation that threatened to reveal the corruption in South Africa’s halls of power, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido have been demoted from the elite Hawks police unit. While waiting to be transferred from Cape Town to seemingly mundane duty in Stellenbosch, Griessel receives a disturbing, anonymous letter:  “I can only trust you and Captain Cupido. There is an adder in our bosom. Be careful of phone calls.”

Assigned to investigate the disappearance of Callie de Bruin, a young university student and brilliant computer programmer, they hit dead ends until the trail, including the death of a fellow officer, leads to a series of gun heists and the alarming absence of certain weapons from the police registry, the ramifications of which could be devastating.

As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search for de Bruin, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family. When billionaire Jasper Boonstra contacts her to represent a major property he wants to sell, she pushes aside her concerns about his notorious reputation as playboy and swindler. And then Boonstra himself disappears, and Griessel is forced to juggle between Boonstra’s bitter wife, protective lawyer, and Steenberg, the last person to see him alive.

With propulsive and intricate plotting, sharp prose, and an ending that takes one’s breath away just when the dust seems to have settled,  The Dark Flood spotlights the state capture and corruption that has overtaken the country, lending political weight to a powerful story.

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DEON MEYER is the internationally acclaimed, prizewinning author of thirteen thrillers, including The Last Hunt,  The Woman in the Blue Cloak,  Fever,  Icarus,  Cobra,  Seven Days, and the Barry Award-winning  Thirteen Hours . His books have been published in twenty-seven languages. He lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

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As I said, enjoy the conversation.