Fiction Review

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Brad Thor back to The Poisoned Pen for the debut of his twenty-third Scot Harvath novel, Shadow of Doubt. Before talking about the book, Thor talked about the planned TV show for the Scot Harvath series. There are signed copies of the new book, Shadow of Doubt, available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3SAPm3U.

Here’s the description of Shadow of Doubt.

In a world shrouded in shadows, where doubt is the only weapon, can one spy expose the truth? #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor delivers his latest high-octane thriller.

A mysterious cargo plane, flanked by a squadron of Russia’s most lethal fighters, has just taken off from a remote airbase. Closely monitored by the United States, no one inside the Pentagon has any idea where it’s going or what it’s carrying.

A high-level Russian defector, a walking vault of secrets that could shatter the West, seeks asylum in Norway. Across the continent, in the heart of Paris, a lone French agent stumbles upon a conspiracy so explosive it could ignite a global firestorm.

As alarm bells ring in Washington, the CIA’s most lethal weapon, Scot Harvath, is forced to choose between his conscience and his country.

You’ll be left breathless as Harvath is swept into a whirlwind of double agents, international intrigue, and heart-stopping chases.

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Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three thrillers, including Dead Fall, Black Ice (ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), Near Dark (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), Backlash (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), Spymaster (named “One of the all-time best thriller novels” —The Washington Times), The Last Patriot (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association), and Blowback (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR). Visit his website at BradThor.com and follow him on Facebook @BradThorOfficial, on Instagram @RealBradThor, and on X @BradThor.

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Enjoy the conversation with Brad Thor.

Pat King welcomed Deborah J. Ledford back to The Poisoned Pen to discuss her latest Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran mystery, Havoc. It’s the sequel to Redemption, but you can read Havoc without reading the earlier book. You can order a signed copy of Havoc through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3yeiWp6.

Here’s the description of Havoc.

In this tightly paced sequel to Redemption, Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran joins the Taos Pueblo tribal police department to uncover a member of her community’s murder…and the conspiracy behind it.

It’s been over a year since the case that almost broke her, but when Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is called back to duty, she doesn’t hesitate to answer. A bank robbery has left an officer down and a suspect on the run. Law enforcement is in hot pursuit, and residents are on the lookout—but before anyone can catch the criminal, tragedy strikes.

A member of the Taos Pueblo tribe has been shot and killed. The culprit? An untraceable 3D printed gun. With the support of fellow tribal cops, Eva breaks the news to the victim’s family and swears to find justice.

More violence follows, feeding the rising racial tensions between the Taos Pueblo people and the Hispanic community. New evidence forces Eva to consider the possibility that the bank robbery and 3D guns are related, but until she figures out how, there’s no telling how deep this crime ring goes…or how far its evasive ringleader will go to protect it.

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Deborah J Ledford is an Agatha Award winner, three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, two-time finalist for the Anthony Award, and the Hillerman Sky Award nominee for best mystery writer who captures the landscape of the Southwest. She is the author of the Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran series, including Redemption. Havoc is her sixth crime fiction novel. Part Eastern Band Cherokee, Ledford lives in Phoenix with her husband and their awesome Ausky. To find out more, visit http://DeborahJLedford.com.

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Enjoy the conversation with Deborah J. Ledford.

Alexandra Bracken’s The Mirror of Beasts is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. The Mirror of Beasts is the sequel to Silver in the Bone. There are signed copies of the fantasy novel available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3SwvvCZ.

Here’s the summary of The Mirror of Beasts.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Bracken is back with the electrifying sequel to SILVER IN THE BONE, in which fresh betrayal ignites ancient magic to wake the dead, and a cursed girl with no magic of her own must put the past to rest.

With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death’s plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.

Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror’s strength to defeat her enemies.

Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.

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ALEXANDRA BRACKEN was born in Phoenix, Arizona. The daughter of a Star Wars collector, she grew up going to an endless string of Star Wars conventions and toy fairs, which helped spark her imagination and instilled a deep love of reading. After graduating high school, she attended the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she double-majored in English and history. She sold her first book, Brightly Woven, as a senior in college, and later moved to New York City to work in children’s book publishing, first as an editorial assistant, then in marketing. After six years, she took the plunge and decided to write full-time. She now lives in Arizona with her tiny pup, Tennyson, in a house that’s overflowing with books. 

Alex is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her work is available across the world in over 15 languages.

Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin welcomed Jamie Harrison and Mindy Mejia for a video chat for The Poisoned Pen. Harrison’s new book is The River View, and Mejia’s is A World of Hurt. The conversation was pre-publication, but signed copies of both books are available through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/.

Here’s the summary of The River View.

Former sheriff Jules Clement returns in this new installment of the celebrated mystery series, set once again in the wild, strange, windy town of Blue Deer, Montana, where your neighbors or the tourists can be just as deadly as the weather

Jules Clement is back in Blue Deer, working as an archaeologist and private investigator. He’s a mostly happy man: he’s a new father, and he and his wife Caroline are building their dream house on an idyllic patch of river bottomland. But everything that can go wrong will, in terms of money, love, and murder. The horrible neighbors enlist Jules to spy on each other. The county hires him to find out if a road runs over some misplaced bodies in a long-abandoned potter’s field. A former priest with a side hustle in extortion ends up very dead. A crew of Russians in fast cars is running amok through the Montana landscape. All this as an old nemesis returns, pulling Jules back to confront what he’s been avoiding his entire life: the death of his father.

Published alongside newly reissued editions of the entire series, The River View is further proof that “you haven’t been west in any meaningful sense until you’ve been to Blue Deer” (The New York Times)

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JAMIE HARRISON has lived in Montana for more than thirty years. She is the author of the Jules Clement novels, as well as the novels The Center of Everything and The Widow Nash, the winner of a Reading the West Book Award and a finalist for the High Plains Book Award.

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Here’s the description of A World of Hurt.

When someone dies to save your life, how do you ever forgive them?

A World of Hurt is Mindy Mejia’s highly-anticipated follow-up to the “propulsive” USA Today bestselling thriller To Catch a Storm where an Iowa City police officer and a DEA informant must work together to hunt down the remains of a hidden drug empire.

Kara Johnson always knew she’d die young and violently. It didn’t matter who delivered the final blow, she would deserve it—her years spent running drugs and spreading violence would guarantee it. But death doesn’t always go as planned. When her girlfriend sacrifices herself to save Kara’s life, Kara is left grieving and adrift. She doesn’t know why she’s alive until the DEA shows up and offers her a choice: go to prison or turn informant to lure out the last of the drug trafficking ring that murdered her girlfriend.

Max Summerlin is the kind of cop who needs answers—he’s been shot twice in the last year while looking for them. Despite his family’s objections and his struggle with chronic pain, he accepts an invitation from the DEA task force eagerly. That is, until he realizes he’ll be babysitting reformed drug trafficker Kara Johnson as she goes undercover.

Max knows Kara is keeping secrets. Kara doesn’t trust anyone, let alone Max. But the cop and the criminal will have to find a way to work together fast, because they aren’t the only ones hunting down the remains of a drug empire. And the kingpin who lurks in the shadows will stop at nothing to win.

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MINDY MEJIA is a CPA and a graduate of the Hamline University MFA program. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family, and is the author of Strike Me Down, Everything You Want Me to Be, Leave No Trace, and To Catch a Storm.

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Enjoy the conversation with Jamie Harrison and Mindy Mejia.

Alan Gordon/Allison Montclair recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen on release day for his latest book, Murder at the White Palace. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, said the Sparks and Bainbridge books are some of her favorite current mysteries. There are signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4doyoh3.

Here’s the description of Murder at the White Palace.

In post-WWII London, the matchmakers of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are involved in yet another murder.

In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous—and never discussed—past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a genteel war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Looking to throw a New Year’s Eve soiree for their clients, Sparks and Bainbridge scout an empty building—only to find a body contained in the walls. What they initially assume is a victim of the recent Blitz is uncovered instead to be a murder victim—stabbed several times.

To make matters worse, the owner of the building is Sparks’ beau, Archie Spelling, who has ties to a variety of enterprises on the right and wrong sides of the law, and the main investigator for the police is her ex-fiancée. Gwen, too, is dealing with her own complicated love life, as she tentatively steps back into the dating pool for the first time since her husband’s death. Murder is not something they want to add to their plates, but the murderer may be closer to home than is comfortable, and they must do all they can to protect their clients, their business and themselves.

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ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. She is the author of the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mystery series, which begins with The Right Sort of Man.

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Enjoy the conversation about post-war England, the series, and the latest book.

Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen welcomed Don Bentley and Joshua Hood for a virtual event. Bentley served as guest host for Joshua Hood whose new book is Burn Out. You can order a signed copy of Burn Out through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4c57pWV.

Here’s the description of Burn Out.

From the USA Today bestselling author of Robert Ludlum’s Treadstone series, Burn Out is a no-holds-barred thriller from the “master of action” (Publishers Weekly) Joshua Hood.

Becoming one of the US Forest Service’s elite smokejumpers has been Jake Slade’s dream. Parachuting into the path of a raging fire and beating it into submission isn’t a job for the faint of heart, but after four years in Folsom, he’s ready to prove himself. After surviving the grueling six-week training course, he thinks he’s ready for anything nature has to dish out.

But when fighting a wildfire gets Slade involved in a string of murders deep in the mountains of California’s notorious Emerald Triangle, Slade finds himself caught between a disgraced DEA agent trying to solve his final case and the ruthless cartel hit man determined to kill them both.

What began as a straightforward search and rescue mission swiftly turns into a harrowing run for his life …

AWARDS

• Real Book Spy Pick

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Joshua Hood joined the army after graduating with an English degree from the University of Memphis and served as a squad leader with the 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan, where he was decorated for valor in Operation Furious Pursuit. A former SWAT team member with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department in Memphis, Tennessee, he is a USA Today bestselling author of several books, including Robert Ludlum’s Treadstone series. He lives in Collierville, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.

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Enjoy the conversation with Joshua Hood.

David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon, was guest host at The Poisoned Pen, welcoming author Dean Jobb. Jobb’s new book, A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue, is available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3Ym1dGW.

Here’s the description of A Gentleman and a Thief.

Catch Me If You Canmeets The Great Gatsby meets the hit Netflix series Lupinin this captivating true-crime caper about Arthur Barry, “the greatest jewel thief who ever lived” (Life Magazine), who charmed celebrities and millionaires, stole from Rockefellers and royalty, and pulled off the most audacious and lucrative heists of the Jazz Age. 

A skilled con artist and one of the most successful burglars in history, Arthur Barry was adept at slipping in and out of bedrooms undetected, even when his victims slept only inches away. He became a folk hero, a gentleman bandit touted in the press as the “Prince of Thieves” and an “Aristocrat of Crime.” Think Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief. In a span of seven years, Barry stole pearls, diamonds, and other precious gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his many victims were a Rockefeller, an heiress to the Woolworth Department Store fortune, an oil magnate, Wall Street bigwigs, a top executive of automotive giant General Motors, and a famous polo player. He befriended the Prince of Wales, Harry Houdini, and other luminaries. The rollicking, caper-filled rise and dramatic downfall of this master thief is a high-speed ride told in stylish prose.

A Gentleman and a Thief is also a love story. Barry confessed to dozens of burglaries to protect his wife, Anna Blake (and was the prime suspect in scores of others on Long Island and across Westchester County). Sentenced to a twenty-five-year term, he staged a dramatic prison break—triggering a bloody inmates’ riot—when Anna became seriously ill, so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives. Page-turning, escapist, and sparkling with insight into the allure of gemstones and our fascination with well-planned heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off, A Gentleman and a Thief is perfect for true crime fans who relish the exploits of con artists and high-class crooks.

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Dean Jobb is the author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, winner of the inaugural CrimeCon CLUE Award for true crime book of the year and longlisted for the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. His previous books include Empire of Deception, which the New York Times Book Review called “intoxicating and impressively researched” and the Chicago Writers Association named the Nonfiction Book of the Year. Esquire magazine has hailed him as “a master of narrative nonfiction.” Jobb has written for major newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago Tribune and Toronto’s Globe and Mail and his monthly true crime column, “Stranger Than Fiction,” appears in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. He is a professor at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program.

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Enjoy David Grann’s conversation with Dean Jobb.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, grew up in the Chicago area. When David Ellis appeared at the bookstore, they started out by talking about Chicago and crime fiction authors. There are signed copies of Ellis’ latest book, The Best Lies, available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3LZkVRr.

Here’s the description of The Best Lies.

Bestselling and award-winning author David Ellis delivers a fast-paced, twisty thriller that will surprise readers at every turn.

Leo Balanoff is a diagnosed pathological liar with unthinkable skeletons in his family’s closet. He’s also a crusading attorney who seeks justice at all costs. When a ruthless drug dealer is found dead and Leo’s fingerprints show up on the murder weapon, no one believes a word he says. But he might be the FBI’s only shot at taking down the dealer’s brutal syndicate.

Risk his life going undercover for the feds or head straight to prison for murder? Leo accepts the FBI’s offer—but it comes with a price, including a collision course with his ex, Andi Piotrowski, a former cop and “the one who got away.” Forced to walk a tightrope between an ambitious FBI agent and a cruel, calculating crime boss, Leo’s trapped in a corner. But he has more secrets than anyone realizes, and a few more cards left to play …

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David Ellis is a judge and a #1 New York Times-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author of eleven novels of crime fiction, as well as nine books co-authored with James Patterson. In December, 2014, Dave was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. Ellis lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children.

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Enjoy the conversation. And, if you’re familiar with Chicago, you’ll really enjoy it.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, stressed Matthew Hart’s knowledge of diamonds when she welcomed him for a virtual event. Hart’s latest book is The Lucifer Cut. There are signed copies of The Lucifer Cut available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4cTy4Hr.

Here’s the summary of The Lucifer Cut.

A heart-pounding ride through the perilous world of the modern gem trade, by the acclaimed author of Diamond.

When a New York diamond dealer and his wife are found dead in a chilling assassination, and a mysterious gem—the Lucifer Cut—goes missing, U.S. Treasury agent Alex Turner and his lover, the billionaire Russian diamond thief known as Slav Lily, are thrust into a web of global intrigue. Uncertain they can even trust each other, the two find themselves on the trail of a secret so lethal it threatens not only the world diamond trade but the national security of the United States.

In a fiction first, diamond expert Matthew Hart tears the curtain from the secretive world of lab-grown diamonds, where master “chefs” create astonishing gems in the 8,000-degree furnaces of their reactors. Finally one of them makes what no one thought possible—a fake so perfect not even experts can unmask it. But as Alex and Lily soon discover, its allure is even more profound than its beauty as a jewel, and the stone ignites a murderous race from New York to London and finally to Cape Town, as a deadly enemy tries to beat them to the diamond.

With knife-sharp dialogue and lacerating irony, Alex and Lily navigate an ever-shifting underworld and the storms of their own desire as they rush to unravel the enigma of the Lucifer Cut and the treacheries of the human heart.

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Matthew Hart has written about diamonds for Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, and the Times of London.  His award-winning Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair was translated into six languages and made into a four-hour dramatic miniseries. He was a contributing editor of the leading New York diamond-trade publication, Rapaport Diamond Report. Matthew has traveled from the Arctic to Angola in pursuit of diamond stories. His first two thrillers, The Russian Pink and Ice Angel, are also available from Pegasus Crime. He lives in New York City.

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Enjoy the discussion of diamonds and Hart’s The Lucifer Cut.

Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin welcomed debut author Gregg Podolski for a virtual event at The Poisoned Pen. There will be signed copies of Podolski’s first thriller, The Recruiter, available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4d5zE8Y.

Here’s the description of The Recruiter.

An action-packed debut from Gregg Podolski, The Recruiter is a thrilling and unique adventure through the European underworld.

When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.

He’s a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.

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Gregg Podolski lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children. When not writing, he works as an executive recruiter for a family-owned staffing firm. He loves Philly sports, the Jersey Shore, and is one of the last people on the planet who still buys CDs. The Recruiter is his first novel. If you don’t like it, that’s cool. Just lie and say you do. Seriously, it will be our little secret.

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Enjoy the opportunity to “meet” Gregg Podolski.