Blockade Billy
Stephen King
Cemetery Dance, Apr 20 2010, $25.00
ISBN: 9781587672286
In the year Russia sent a satellite into orbit, New Jersey had a professional baseball team the Titans. Just before opening day, the Devil’s catcher Johnny Goodkind was drunk and ran over a woman. He tried to run but was caught, which ended his sports career. His replacement Frank Faraday suffered a career ending injury during a game.
The team calls up from the Minors Davenport Cornholers William Blakely who proves to be a first class player. He befriends pitcher Danny Dusen who is closing in on two hundred wins. "Blockade Billy" wants him to achieve the milestone. The crowd loves Billy, but one of the management workers who deals with the players begins to notice odd phenomena involving the catcher. Billy sometimes has a band-aid on his second finger’s middle knuckle and that means trouble. Billy exactly parrots what Danny says even when he was not there to hear the words. By the time his team figures out what makes Billy tick, they erase his name from the baseball archives; the Titans since have become a historical footnote while the game’s greatest play simply vanished as the season for the Titans does not count.
This short novel will please Stephen King’s readers especially those who cherish baseball stories. The story line feels somewhat like throwback to when baseball was the National Pastime just a decade after Jackie Robinson broke the race barrier. Well written and entertaining although the short format never allows the audience to get close to Billy or his teammates, fans will sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, King style.
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Double Comfort Safari Club-Alexander McCall Smith
The Double Comfort Safari Club
Alexander McCall Smith
Pantheon, Apr 20 2010, $24.95
ISBN: 9780375424502
In Gaborone, Botswana a delivery truck backs into salesman Phuti Radiphuti, crushing his leg against a wall. He is rushed to the hospital. When his fiancée Grace Makutsi tries to see him, his aunt refuses to grant her entrance; shaking up the timid young woman.
At the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency where Grace is the office assistant, owner investigator Precious Ramotswe works on a case for a late American. Twin City resident Estelle Grant left $3,000 to the kind guide who took her on a safari to the Okavango Delta. However, as she was dying Estelle could not recall his name or that of his camp. The office’s other cases involves biologist Robert Monageng Kereleng seduced out of his home by a femme fatale con artist and midwife Constance Mateleke wanting proof of her husband’s alleged affair.
As always with this warm series, the mysteries take a back seat to the human drama as the wonderful heroine works her caseload using wit and acumen while making Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. With a charming look at Botswana, fans of the saga will enjoy the latest cozy.
Harriet Klausner
Alexander McCall Smith
Pantheon, Apr 20 2010, $24.95
ISBN: 9780375424502
In Gaborone, Botswana a delivery truck backs into salesman Phuti Radiphuti, crushing his leg against a wall. He is rushed to the hospital. When his fiancée Grace Makutsi tries to see him, his aunt refuses to grant her entrance; shaking up the timid young woman.
At the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency where Grace is the office assistant, owner investigator Precious Ramotswe works on a case for a late American. Twin City resident Estelle Grant left $3,000 to the kind guide who took her on a safari to the Okavango Delta. However, as she was dying Estelle could not recall his name or that of his camp. The office’s other cases involves biologist Robert Monageng Kereleng seduced out of his home by a femme fatale con artist and midwife Constance Mateleke wanting proof of her husband’s alleged affair.
As always with this warm series, the mysteries take a back seat to the human drama as the wonderful heroine works her caseload using wit and acumen while making Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. With a charming look at Botswana, fans of the saga will enjoy the latest cozy.
Harriet Klausner
The Devil's Company-David Liss
The Devil's Company
David Liss
Ballantine, Apr 20 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780812974522
In 1722 London, wealthy Jerome Cobb hires thief-taker Benjamin Weaver to investigate the death of Absalom Pepper though not explainingwhy. The more Benjamin digs the less he finds on the victim. However, others do not appreciate his inquiry and tell him so; some with Benjamin’s fists in their faces.
Benjamin learns of his client’s enemy list and begins to wonder if Cobb is a bit crazy. Meanwhile as his uncle Miguel Lienzo complains about a lost shipment from the continent, Benjamin finds himself looking closely into the books of the influential East India Company and facing a big loss with the Cobb contract, Weaver soon learns that commercial espionage is everywhere and politicians are for sale as once again the thief-taker finds himself in the center of A Spectacle of Corruption; the pre-industrial -political-aristocratic complex does what it wants.
Loaded with plenty of detail yet filled with action, readers obtain a powerful look at finance in early eighteenth century style that parallels what has happened in the last few years. Ironically the East India Company is too big to fail yet in trouble die to corruption, bad deals, and selling of secrets in the “global economy” to rivals. The Devil’s Company is a superb complicated but timely economics historical thriller.
Harriet Klausner
David Liss
Ballantine, Apr 20 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780812974522
In 1722 London, wealthy Jerome Cobb hires thief-taker Benjamin Weaver to investigate the death of Absalom Pepper though not explainingwhy. The more Benjamin digs the less he finds on the victim. However, others do not appreciate his inquiry and tell him so; some with Benjamin’s fists in their faces.
Benjamin learns of his client’s enemy list and begins to wonder if Cobb is a bit crazy. Meanwhile as his uncle Miguel Lienzo complains about a lost shipment from the continent, Benjamin finds himself looking closely into the books of the influential East India Company and facing a big loss with the Cobb contract, Weaver soon learns that commercial espionage is everywhere and politicians are for sale as once again the thief-taker finds himself in the center of A Spectacle of Corruption; the pre-industrial -political-aristocratic complex does what it wants.
Loaded with plenty of detail yet filled with action, readers obtain a powerful look at finance in early eighteenth century style that parallels what has happened in the last few years. Ironically the East India Company is too big to fail yet in trouble die to corruption, bad deals, and selling of secrets in the “global economy” to rivals. The Devil’s Company is a superb complicated but timely economics historical thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Strong, Sleek And Sinful-Lorie O'Clare
Strong, Sleek And Sinful
Lorie O'Clare
St. Martin’s, Mar 30 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312943448
In Mission Hills, two female high school students have disappeared in the last year. One remains missing; the other is dead. Police Lieutenant Perry Flynn strongly believes a sexual serial killer using the Internet is on the loose stalking teenage girls; having four cherished teen nieces who he is helping raise he vows to end the predator's reign of terror.
FBI agent Kylie Donovan goes undercover as a college student investigating the same case. Kylie and Perry meet with each attracted to one another but each suspicious of the other. Kylie fears the psychopath is a cop while he wonders if there is a sinister deadly reason she befriends his nieces. As Kylie concludes someone is setting up Perry for the fall, she vows to keep him and his family safe.
This is an exciting police procedural that focuses on some of the modern day dangers with Internet enticements and stalking. Fast-paced from the moment Perry confronts his boss with evidence that the perp lives in Mission Hills, readers will enjoy the tango between the two law enforcement officials although he can be brutally nasty protecting his family from the woman he loves.
Harriet Klausner
Lorie O'Clare
St. Martin’s, Mar 30 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312943448
In Mission Hills, two female high school students have disappeared in the last year. One remains missing; the other is dead. Police Lieutenant Perry Flynn strongly believes a sexual serial killer using the Internet is on the loose stalking teenage girls; having four cherished teen nieces who he is helping raise he vows to end the predator's reign of terror.
FBI agent Kylie Donovan goes undercover as a college student investigating the same case. Kylie and Perry meet with each attracted to one another but each suspicious of the other. Kylie fears the psychopath is a cop while he wonders if there is a sinister deadly reason she befriends his nieces. As Kylie concludes someone is setting up Perry for the fall, she vows to keep him and his family safe.
This is an exciting police procedural that focuses on some of the modern day dangers with Internet enticements and stalking. Fast-paced from the moment Perry confronts his boss with evidence that the perp lives in Mission Hills, readers will enjoy the tango between the two law enforcement officials although he can be brutally nasty protecting his family from the woman he loves.
Harriet Klausner
What Lies Within-S.D. Tooley
What Lies Within
S.D. Tooley
Full Moon Publishing, Mar 2010, $16.95
http://www.fullmoonpub.com
ISBN: 9780982035238
Chasen Heights, Illinois Police Chief Murphy takes disciplinary action against Detectives Jake and Frank for allowing a murder suspect to jump to her death. Murphy rejects the extenuating circumstances alibi so both work as animal control officers for a month. The humiliated partners are in the Ember’s building looking for a cat when they break through a wall that hides a staircase which leads to the fourth floor of a three-story edifice
Inside an apartment lies the mummified body of a woman sitting in a chair posed to be looking at a TV screen. The deceased turns out to be the woman Murphy was crazy about in his youth and who disappeared on the same day a bank robbery where he worked as a guard occurred. Murphy, running for mayor, learns his two cops dug up the body of a man on property that the realtor says belong to the Chief, but he denies owning it. There is further evidence surfacing that implicates Murphy as the killer of both victims. Ironically he hires Jake’s wife Sam Casey, a former homicide detective turned private eye, to investigate who is framing him. She takes the case though he is major reason she quit the force. Her uncanny psychometric skill to paranormally see thing she touches helps her, but it is normal detecting that leads her closer to the truth.
Known as one of the first to write paranormal mysteries, S.D. Tooley also writes the exciting Chase Dagger series under the name Lee Driver. The fast-paced investigative story line grips the reader as increasingly the evidence hangs the Chief who depends on a former employee he helped drive off the force. Character driven by mostly Sam, but somewhat by a beleaguered Murphy, fans will enjoy the latest Casey paranormal whodunit (see When the Dead Speak and Echoes From the Grave) as the Sin City segment of Chasen Heights was just two weeks from having its secrets interred forever.
Harriet Klausner
S.D. Tooley
Full Moon Publishing, Mar 2010, $16.95
http://www.fullmoonpub.com
ISBN: 9780982035238
Chasen Heights, Illinois Police Chief Murphy takes disciplinary action against Detectives Jake and Frank for allowing a murder suspect to jump to her death. Murphy rejects the extenuating circumstances alibi so both work as animal control officers for a month. The humiliated partners are in the Ember’s building looking for a cat when they break through a wall that hides a staircase which leads to the fourth floor of a three-story edifice
Inside an apartment lies the mummified body of a woman sitting in a chair posed to be looking at a TV screen. The deceased turns out to be the woman Murphy was crazy about in his youth and who disappeared on the same day a bank robbery where he worked as a guard occurred. Murphy, running for mayor, learns his two cops dug up the body of a man on property that the realtor says belong to the Chief, but he denies owning it. There is further evidence surfacing that implicates Murphy as the killer of both victims. Ironically he hires Jake’s wife Sam Casey, a former homicide detective turned private eye, to investigate who is framing him. She takes the case though he is major reason she quit the force. Her uncanny psychometric skill to paranormally see thing she touches helps her, but it is normal detecting that leads her closer to the truth.
Known as one of the first to write paranormal mysteries, S.D. Tooley also writes the exciting Chase Dagger series under the name Lee Driver. The fast-paced investigative story line grips the reader as increasingly the evidence hangs the Chief who depends on a former employee he helped drive off the force. Character driven by mostly Sam, but somewhat by a beleaguered Murphy, fans will enjoy the latest Casey paranormal whodunit (see When the Dead Speak and Echoes From the Grave) as the Sin City segment of Chasen Heights was just two weeks from having its secrets interred forever.
Harriet Klausner
Death in Show-Judi McCoy
Death in Show
Judi McCoy
Obsidian, Jun 1 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451230485
There is nobody quite like professional dog walker Ellie Engleman as she talks to her canines and hears what her four legged friends have to say. It is a gift she hides from people so they will not commit her, but it is a prime reason her business is a success.
One of her paw pals is Lulu the Havanese who is a strong candidate for champion ribbons at the Mid-Atlantic Canine Challenge held at the Javits Convention Center. At the show, Lulu's handler dies. The police arrive with Ellie's boyfriend Detective Sam Ryder as the lead investigator who hopes he can Ellie her from snooping. Before she even learns that the handler's death was probably a homicide, Lulu's owner Mrs. Flora Steinman asks Ellie to be the handler in the competition. After surviving that ordeal, Flora thinks the cops are working too slowly on solving who murdered Arnie Norris, so knowing Ellie has solved some homicides before asks her to investigate. Ellie agrees placing herself in the crosshairs of a killer.
Although the police are unsure whether a homicide occurred, the audience knows from the onset the cause of death. The fascination in the latest Dog Walker Mystery lies with the unknown toxin, the method of delivery and the motive. Readers will enjoy the latest escapades of the heroine who frustrates Sam as she plunges into another amateur sleuth whodunit (see Hounding the Pavement and heir of the Dog) while her dog Rudy and her canine clients add amusing antics to the mix.
Harriet Klausner
Judi McCoy
Obsidian, Jun 1 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451230485
There is nobody quite like professional dog walker Ellie Engleman as she talks to her canines and hears what her four legged friends have to say. It is a gift she hides from people so they will not commit her, but it is a prime reason her business is a success.
One of her paw pals is Lulu the Havanese who is a strong candidate for champion ribbons at the Mid-Atlantic Canine Challenge held at the Javits Convention Center. At the show, Lulu's handler dies. The police arrive with Ellie's boyfriend Detective Sam Ryder as the lead investigator who hopes he can Ellie her from snooping. Before she even learns that the handler's death was probably a homicide, Lulu's owner Mrs. Flora Steinman asks Ellie to be the handler in the competition. After surviving that ordeal, Flora thinks the cops are working too slowly on solving who murdered Arnie Norris, so knowing Ellie has solved some homicides before asks her to investigate. Ellie agrees placing herself in the crosshairs of a killer.
Although the police are unsure whether a homicide occurred, the audience knows from the onset the cause of death. The fascination in the latest Dog Walker Mystery lies with the unknown toxin, the method of delivery and the motive. Readers will enjoy the latest escapades of the heroine who frustrates Sam as she plunges into another amateur sleuth whodunit (see Hounding the Pavement and heir of the Dog) while her dog Rudy and her canine clients add amusing antics to the mix.
Harriet Klausner
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
A Cast-off Coven-Juliet Blackwell
A Cast-off Coven
Juliet Blackwell
Obsidian, Jun 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451230492
Lily Ivory is a bona fide powerful witch who has made a home for herself in San Francisco as the owner of Aunt Cora's Closet where she sells vintage clothing. She is promised a trunk full of clothing if she exorcises what is scaring the students. They hear ghostly noises and movements at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts. The students and faculty also hear moans and footsteps that a ghost can’t make, but nobody sees anyone walking.
She enters the building believing she is dealing with a ghost and in a sense she is right because someone committed murder at the school decades ago. When she goes to the bell tower she finds the dead body of billionaire businessman Jerry Becker. After the police rope off the murder scene and finish questioning everyone who was in the area, Lily enters the closet where the trunk is. She sees and hears something that makes her realize someone called up a demon but didn't bind it. With each new day, the demon grows stronger. While the police investigate the homicide, the demon targets humans with no defense against its assaults; only Lily stands in the way.
This awesome paranormal mystery stars a terrific heroine who for the first time in her solitary life has friends, a home, a job she loves, and a responsible boyfriend who does not belittle or assault her. The supernatural subplot does not overwhelm the whodunit because there are several human suspects who could be the killer and have summoned the demon. Lily has to figure out if she is dealing with one or two antagonists as either scenario is plausible.
Harriet Klausner
Juliet Blackwell
Obsidian, Jun 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451230492
Lily Ivory is a bona fide powerful witch who has made a home for herself in San Francisco as the owner of Aunt Cora's Closet where she sells vintage clothing. She is promised a trunk full of clothing if she exorcises what is scaring the students. They hear ghostly noises and movements at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts. The students and faculty also hear moans and footsteps that a ghost can’t make, but nobody sees anyone walking.
She enters the building believing she is dealing with a ghost and in a sense she is right because someone committed murder at the school decades ago. When she goes to the bell tower she finds the dead body of billionaire businessman Jerry Becker. After the police rope off the murder scene and finish questioning everyone who was in the area, Lily enters the closet where the trunk is. She sees and hears something that makes her realize someone called up a demon but didn't bind it. With each new day, the demon grows stronger. While the police investigate the homicide, the demon targets humans with no defense against its assaults; only Lily stands in the way.
This awesome paranormal mystery stars a terrific heroine who for the first time in her solitary life has friends, a home, a job she loves, and a responsible boyfriend who does not belittle or assault her. The supernatural subplot does not overwhelm the whodunit because there are several human suspects who could be the killer and have summoned the demon. Lily has to figure out if she is dealing with one or two antagonists as either scenario is plausible.
Harriet Klausner
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