Fiction Review

I’m sure many of you receive the email newsletters from The Poisoned Pen, but, in case you don’t, I’m sharing the recent list of upcoming events. Don’t forget to check the Web Store for copies of books by your favorite authors! https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the latest newsletter.

Our December Events and on into Early January

Here is our December Calendar of Events All Events Are on MST Watch them on our Facebook Live Video or on our YouTube Live Video or any time thereafter Listen to the podcasts  But First: our final LIVE event for 2021   TUESDAY NOVEMBER 30 7:00 PM Live National Book Launch (masks required) Jeffery Deaver discusses The Midnight Lock (Putnam $28) Lincoln Rhyme Books signed at The Pen, short (5 word) inscription requests available if ordered by noon November 30   WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 1:00 PM Robert Lloyd with Lee Child Lloyd discusses The Bloodless Boy (McSweeney $29.99) An astonishing historical mystery debut by an author living in Wales Signed bookplates in stock along with this special limited edition for the Welsh author’s heralded debut   WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 6:00 PM Meg Waite Clayton discusses The Postmistress of Paris (Harper $27.99) Signed books in stock THURSDAY DECEMBER 2 7:00 PM Matt Coyle and Maegan Beaumont Beaumont discusses The Darkwater Girls (Bookouvure $15.99). Coyle discusses Last Redemption (Oceanview $26.95) PI Rick Cahill Signed books in stock for Coyle   MONDAY DECEMBER 6 7:00 PM Paige Shelton discusses Dark Night (St Martins $26.99) An Alaska Wild mystery Signed books in stock   WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8 5:00 PM SJ Rozan discusses Family Business (Pegasus $25.95) A Lydia Chen and Bill Smith PI novel Signed books in stock   WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8 6:30 PM Stephen Spotswood discusses Murder Under Her Skin (Knopf $27) A Pentecost and Parker 1946 mystery Signed books available   THURSDAY DECEMBER 9 12:30 PM Ted Bell and Luke McCallin Bell discusses Sea Hawke (Berkley $28) An Alex Hawke thriller McCallin discusses From a Dark Horizon (Penguin $28) Lt. Gregory Reinhardt WWI Thriller A modern swashbuckler and a WW1 dark investigation   THURSDAY DECEMBER 9 5:00 PM Jungle Reds Christmas Cheer Celebration Pour your favorite beverage and join us Rhys Bowen, Lucy Burdette, Deborah Crombie, Hallie Ephron, Jenn McKinlay Hank Phillippi Ryan, Julia Spencer-Fleming   FRIDAY DECEMBER 10 6:30 PM Live Kevin Hearne Party Bring your books to a meet and greet with Hearne   SATURDAY DECEMBER 11 5:00 PM Croak & Dagger Discussion Club Christmas Party The Club discusses Rhys Bowen’s The Twelve Clues of Christmas ($7.99)   MONDAY DECEMBER 13 6:15 PM Jane Cleland discusses Jane Austen’s Lost Letters (St Martins $26.99) A Josie Prescott Antiques mystery Signed books available   THURSDAY DECEMBER 16 7:00 PM Hardboiled Crime discusses William Boyle’s Gravesend ($16.95) Attendees may want to discuss Boyle’s November release Shoot the Moonlight Out ($25.95 Signed) as well   FRIDAY DECEMBER 17 7:00 PM SciFi Friday discusses CL Polk’s Witchmark ($15.99) We are closed December 25 and January 1 and close at 5:00 PM on December 24 and 31.  This January listing is not complete but the below events are confirmed. I can’t promise that the omicron COVID variant won’t shut down the Live Events but let’s hope not JOIN US LIVE JANUARY 4 7:00 PM National Book Launch James Rollins discusses The Starless Crown (Tor $28.99) Moon Fall #1, Epic Fantasy Signed books available PLEASE ORDER NOW!!   WEDNESDAY January 5 5:00 PM Emily Levesque with Dana Stabenow They discuss The Last Stargazers ($16.99)   WEDNESDAY JANUARY 5 6:30 PM Jillian Cantor with Heather Gudenkauf Cantor discusses Beautiful Little Fools (Harper $26.99) Signed books available   THURSDAY JANUARY 6 5:00 PM from Australia Michael Robotham discusses When You Are Mine (Scribner $27)   THURSDAY JANUARY 6 6:15 PM Peter Mann debuts The Torqued Man (Harper $26.99) Signed copies available   MONDAY JANUARY 10 5:00 PM National Book Launch James Patterson and Mike Lupica discuss The Horsewoman (Little Brown $28) Signed bookplate available   MONDAY JANUARY 10 7 PM National Book Launch T Jefferson Parker discusses A Thousand Steps (Forge $27.99) A Laguna Beach 1968 story Signed copies available   TUESDAY JANUARY 11 7:00 PM Live National Book Launch Brad Taylor discusses End of Days (Morrow $28.99) Pike Logan Signed copies available   WEDNESDAY JANUARY 12 7:00 PM LIVE Spenser #50 Party Ace Atkins discusses Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye, Baby (Putnam $28) Signed copies available   THURSDAY JANUARY 13 6:00 PM Alafair Burke discusses Find Me (Harper $26.99) NYPD’s Ellie Hatcher Signed copies available   SATURDAY JANUARY 15 10:30 AM Croak and Dagger Club discusses Damien Boyd’s As the Crow Flies ($15.95) Britain’s DI Nick Dixon #1   SATURDAY JANUARY 15 2:00 PM Live National Book Launch Dana Stabenow discusses Disappearance of a Scribe (Zeus $29.95) Eye of Isis Series Signed copies available

War Women is the fifteenth book in Martin Limon’s Sergeants Sueno and Bascom series. It’s also the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. Signed copies of it are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Jc3Imz

Here’s the description of War Women.

Tasked with covering up a tabloid report about high-ranking officers, US Army CID Agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom discover a dark web of systemic issues that have potentially fatal consequences.
South Korea, 1970s: Sergeant First Class Cecil B. Harvey, a senior NCO in charge of 8th Army’s classified documents, has long been a friend (willing or unwilling) to Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom. So when he goes missing with a top-secret document that even a glance at could get an officer court-martialed, Sueño and Bascom take it upon themselves to find him.

Meanwhile, Overseas Observer reporter Katie Byrd Worthington is back to make life difficult for top Army brass. When she lands in a Korean jail cell, Sueño and Bascom are sent to get her out—and negotiate against the publication of an incriminating story about the mistreatment of women in the military that could land important officials in hot water. But what they learn will make it hard for them to stay silent.

---

Martin Limón retired from military service after twenty years in the US Army, including ten years in Korea. He is the author of fourteen previous Sueño and Bascom investigations: Jade Lady Burning, Slicky Boys, Buddha’s Money, The Door to Bitterness, The Wandering Ghost, GI Bones, Mr. Kill, The Joy Brigade, The Iron Sickle, The Ville Rat, Ping-Pong Heart, The Nine-Tailed Fox, and The Line as well as the short story collection Nightmare Range. He lives near Seattle.

I’m borrowing this from Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Small Business Saturday All Day November 27
This annual event is so special. It applies to all sorts of businesses. It gives you a chance to sustain and thank them for sticking around. For surviving!

We will have treats and some special deals to offer you. Pat leads the Saturday team and excels at making the love for books and for you felt. He’s worked at The Pen since he was a 16 year old intern!

Dana Stabenow, wintering here with us, and I, Barbara, will be at the store talking books and such from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Please stop by.

The Poisoned Pen’s recent virtual event launched David Baldacci’s latest Atlee Pine thriller, Mercy. You can still order copies of the book. There are shipping and Thanksgiving holiday delays, so don’t panic. Check the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2HvV1oG

Here’s the summary of Mercy.

FBI Agent Atlee Pine’s harrowing search for her long-lost sister Mercy reaches a boiling point in this breakneck thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci. 
 
For her entire life, FBI agent Atlee Pine has been searching for her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Mercy’s disappearance left behind a damaged family that later shattered beyond repair when Atlee’s parents inexplicably abandoned her.
 
Now, after a perilous investigation that nearly proved fatal, Atlee has finally discovered not only the reason behind her parents’ abandonment and Mercy’s kidnapping, but also the most promising breakthrough yet: proof that Mercy survived her abduction and then escaped her captors many years ago. 
 
Though Atlee is tantalizingly close to her family at last, the final leg of her long road to Mercy will be the most treacherous yet. Mercy left at least one dead body behind before fleeing her captors years before. Atlee has no idea if her sister is still alive, and if so, how she has been surviving all this time. When the truth is finally revealed, Atlee Pine will face the greatest danger yet, and it may well cost her everything.

---

DAVID BALDACCI is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

---

Enjoy the launch and discussion of Mercy, as well as other books.

Karen Odden’s recent event at The Poisoned Pen was one of those rare events, a combination in-person and virtual event. Odden discussed her novel, Down a Dark River, the start of a new series. You can order a signed copy of Odden’s mystery through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Czipdb

Here’s the summary of Down a Dark River.

In the vein of C. S. Harris and Anne Perry, Karen Odden’s mystery introduces Inspector Michael Corravan as he investigates a string of vicious murders that has rocked Victorian London’s upper crust.

London, 1878. One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only Senior Inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.

An Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker from London’s seedy East End, Corravan has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues. But he’s confounded when, a week later, a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. The dead women seem to have no connection whatsoever. Meanwhile, Mr. Stiles makes an alarming discovery: the shipping magnate’s missing wife, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, as her husband claims, and Mr. Beckford may not be the successful man of business that he appears to be.

Slowly, it becomes clear that the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked through some terrible act of injustice in the past—for which someone has vowed a brutal vengeance. Now, with the newspapers once again trumpeting the Yard’s failures, Corravan must dredge up the truth—before London devolves into a state of panic and before the killer claims another innocent victim.

---

Karen Odden earned her Ph.D. in English from New York University and subsequently taught literature at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed essays to numerous books and journals, written introductions for Victorian novels in the Barnes & Noble classics series, and edited for the journal Victorian Literature and Culture(Cambridge UP). Her previous novels, also set in 1870s London, have won awards for historical fiction and mystery. A member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and the recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Karen lives in Arizona with her family and her rescue beagle Rosy.

---

Enjoy the recent event featuring Karen Odden.

There are only a couple virtual events left for the rest of November, but you can’t go wrong with Patricia Cornwell one day, and Jeffery Deaver the next. Check out the list of author events coming up, and then make sure you order the authors’ books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Just look at this schedule!

With the kerfluffle that will live forever, as Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen said, you’re lucky you’re catching up with Richard Paul Evans’ virtual event now. Evans has written a number of Christmas books, including his new title, The Christmas Promise. There are signed copies available in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3kOX9KA

Here is the description of The Christmas Promise.

This holiday season, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Noel Collection returns with another heartwarming story of secrets, heartbreak, forgiveness, and the true meaning of Christmas.

On the night of her high school graduation, Richelle Bach’s father gives her and her identical twin sister, Michelle, matching opal necklaces. “These opals look identical,” he tells them, “but the fire inside each is completely unique—just like the two of you.”

Indeed, the two sisters couldn’t be more different, and their paths diverge as they embark on adulthood. Years pass, until—at their father’s behest—they both come home for Christmas. What happens then forever damages their relationship, and Richelle vows never to see or speak to her sister again. In their father’s last days, he asks Richelle to forgive Michelle, a deathbed promise she never fulfills as her twin is killed in an accident.

Now, painfully alone and broken, caring for the sickest of children in a hospital PICU, Richelle has one last dream: to be an author. The plot of her book, The Prodigal Daughter, is a story based on her sister’s life. It’s not until she meets Justin Ek, a man who harbors his own loss, that a secret promise is revealed, and Richelle learns that the story she’s writing is not about her sister, but about herself.

---

Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. Each of his more than thirty-five novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than thirty-five million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, five Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards, The Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award, and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children. You can learn more about Richard on Facebook at Facebook.com/RPEFans, or visit his website RichardPaulEvans.com.

---

You’ll want to watch this virtual event, because there’s so much background provided about Richelle Bach, the protagonist.

Marc Cameron’s latest novel is Tom Clancy: Chain of Command. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently talked with Cameron about his research and his new book for a virtual event. You can order copies of Tom Clancy: Chain of Command through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3qMxFBt

Here’s the summary of Tom Clancy: Chain of Command.

The United States has stared down many threats with President Jack Ryan at the helm, but what if he’s not there when we need him? That’s the question facing a nation in the most shocking entry in Tom Clancy’s #1 New York Times bestselling series.

A shadowy billionaire uses his fortune to further his corrupt ambitions. Along the way, he’s toppled democratically elected governments and exacerbated divisions within stable nations. The competitors he’s destroyed, the people he’s hurt, they’re all just marks on a ledger. Now, he’s ready to implement his most ambitious plan of all. There’s only one force standing in his way—President Jack Ryan.

How do you compel a man like Jack Ryan to bend? He’s personally faced down everything from the Russian navy to cartel killers. It will take more than political headwinds or media disfavor to cause him to turn from his duty to the American people, but every man has an Achilles heel. Jack Ryan’s is his family.

The answer is as simple as it is shocking. The billionaire has assembled an international team of the most ruthless mercenaries alive. Their mission—kidnap the First Lady.

---

A little more than thirty years ago, Tom Clancy was a Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had been an English major at Baltimore’s Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October, sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it “the perfect yarn.” From that day forward, Clancy established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. He passed away in October 2013.

A native of Texas, Marc Cameron spent almost thirty years in law enforcement. He served as a uniformed police officer, mounted (horse patrol) officer, SWAT officer, and a U.S. Marshal. Cameron is conversant in Japanese, and travels extensively researching his New York Times-bestselling Jericho Quinn novels. Cameron’s books have been nominated for both the Barry Award and the Thriller Award.

---

Cameron provides quite a bit of background for the books for followers of the series.

Thomas Perry’s latest Jane Whitefield book, The Left-Handed Twin, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. In fact, Dana Stabenow loved the book so much that she popped in for the virtual event so she could rave about the book. You can order signed copies of The Left-Handed Twin through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FdR5bs

Here’s the summary of The Left-Handed Twin.

“Another stunner from a modern master.”—Booklist (Starred Review)

Rescue artist Jane Whitefield leads a deadly crime syndicate on a wild chase through the Northeast

Jane Whitefield helps people disappear. Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely—to assume a new identity and establish a new life somewhere they won’t be found. And when people are desperate enough to need her services, they come to the old house in rural western New York where Jane was raised to begin their escape.

It’s there that, one spring night, Jane finds a young woman fresh from LA with a whole lot of trouble behind her. After she cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him, and now he’s free and trying to find and kill her.

Jane agrees to help, and it soon becomes clear that outsmarting the murderous boyfriend is not beyond Jane’s skills. But the boyfriend has some new friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood. When they learn that Sara is traveling with a tall, dark-haired woman who disappears people, the Russians become increasingly interested in helping the boyfriend find the duo. They’ve heard rumors that such a woman existed—and believe that, if forcibly extracted, the knowledge she has of past clients could be worth millions.  

Thus begins a bloodthirsty chase that winds through the cities of the northeast before finally plunging into Maine’s Hundred Mile Wilderness. But in a pursuit where nothing can be trusted, one thing is certain: only one party—Jane or her pursuers—will emerge alive. 

---

Thomas Perry is the bestselling author of over twenty novels, including the critically acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, The Old Man, and The Butcher’s Boy, which won the Edgar Award. He lives in Southern California.

---

Enjoy the conversation between Thomas Perry and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.