The Face Thief-Eli Gottlieb

The Face Thief


Eli Gottlieb

Morrow, Jan 17 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9780061735059



In New York, the Jane Doe falls down a flight of stairs. She suffers severe injuries as she slowly recovers in a hospital.



Before her precarious tumble, the unidentified female was twenty-something former reporter Margot Lassiter, a sly devious con artist who can get almost any male to give her what she covets. To enhance her charm, Margot hired married Lawrence Billings, body language guru to teach her to read the non-verbal cues. She successfully tested her new skill on her instructor. Soon after that Margot under a different name seduces married fortyish high school Vice Principal John Potash to invest his family fortune in a fraudulent financial scheme. Meanwhile, NYPD detective Dan France obsesses over the still hospitalized Margot.



This is a terrific tense psychological thriller starring a fascinating femme fatale (think of Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity) and the males craving her affection even when they know she is conning them. With a profound look at manipulating obsessiveness to control a relationship and a nod to Tom Jones’ song “Delilah”, fans will appreciate this dark character driven tale while wondering who “couldn’t take anymore”?



Harriet Klausner

Bleed for Me- Michael Robotham

Bleed for Me


Michael Robotham

Little, Brown/Mulholland, Feb 27 2012, $25.99

ISBN 9780316126380



Following the over thirty-five football game, the players stop at the only pub in the village of Wellow. Though the other fourteen players are divorced, psychologist Joe “Shrink” O’Loughlin, who has been slowed a bit by Parkinson’s disease. His estranged spouse Julianne calls him because fourteen year old Sienna Hegarty, a classmate of their daughter Charlie, arrived at the back door in shock and dripping blood. The teenage did not stick around as she ran away.



The police go to Sienna’s home near Bath that she shares with her dad, former cop Ray Hegarty. They find Ray dead with his throat sliced. The cops find Sienna and her blood is that of her father. She claims amnesia as she is charged with fratricide; the motive being her dad molested her. O’Loughlin offers to provide a psychological assessment of the troubled teen. He conceals his agenda is to help Sienna in hope that Charlie will once again adore him as she did before her parents’ marriage began crumbling. The shrink also obtains a favor from his friend, retired police inspector Vincent Ruiz, to investigate discreetly the Hegarty case because something seems off kilter in this highly visible case.



The latest O’Loughlin thriller (see The Wreckage) is a great psychological investigative tale that grips the reader from the moment Julienne calls Joe and never slows until the final murder attempt. The storyline is fast-paced with a strong ensemble cast. However, it is the protagonist who makes the novel (and his series) excellent as a champion with Parkinson and more devastating personal family issues especially his obsessive need to regain his place on his daughter’s pedestal that he recently lost.



Harriet Klausner

Till Death Do Us Purl-Anne Canadeo

Till Death Do Us Purl


Anne Canadeo

Gallery/Pocket, Mar 6 2012. $15.00

ISBN: 9781439191408



In Plum Harbor, Massachusetts, Black Sheep Knitting Shop owner Maggie Messina and four of her die-hard enthusiastic knitting friends (Lucy, Suzanne, Dana and Phoebe) meet once a week to knit and chat. At one of their socials, Maggie asks the knitters if they would help Rebecca Bailey create her wedding gown and the bridesmaids’ shrugs; as her wedding was moved forward a few months.



The five Black Sheep Knitters complete the project on time and receives invitations to attend Rebecca’s marriage to Jeremy. Two days after the vows are exchanged, an explosion occurs at the lab where Jeremy works. The knitters are in shock to learn the groom died in the accident. Not long afterward, the knitters receive a bigger stunner when they learn Jeremy contacted his grieving widow from his hiding place in a nearby hotel. When Jeremy’s corpse is found in his hotel room, the police focus on Rebecca because they have witnesses who saw her visit him at the hotel and it was her scarf around his neck. Feeling an affinity to the grieving widow, the fab five investigate knitting a case to lead the police to another viable suspect.



Fans who enjoy an enthusiastic engrossing and exciting regional cozy will want to read the Black Sheep Knitting mysteries (see Knit, Purl and Die; While My Pretty One Knits and A Stitch before Dying) as the charming quintet led by Maggie investigates the groom murder one stitch at a time. Each of the amateur sleuths possesses a different personality as their diversity adds to the fun of observing them make inquiries and gossip while knitting. Readers will appreciate Anne Canadeo’s latest New England whodunit.



Harriet Klausner

Legally Hot-Lora Leigh, Cheyenne McCray and Red Garnier

Legally Hot


Lora Leigh, Cheyenne McCray and Red Garnier

St. Martin’s, Jan 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312389130



“Sheila’s Passion” by Lora Leigh. Nick Casey saw a lot of bad crap while in combat as a marine. Out of the service, Nick loves Sheila Monterey, but believes she sees him as a friend only especially after her being hurt recently by a former boyfriend. Sheila wants Nick to admit he passionately loves her, but that may not be enough for her. The dynamics change when an adversary threatens to harm Sheila.



“Deadly Dance” by Cheyenne McCray. Seven years ago Edward Carter brutally assaulted ballerina Keri “Angel of New York” Holliday ending her stage dance career. Carter killed an NTPD cop. Now due to a technicality, that dead cop’s partner Detective Adam Boyd goes to Brooklyn Heights to inform Keri that Carter is free and is likely go after the woman whose testimony put him in prison. Boyd vows to keep the woman he loves safe from a vicious predator.



“Caught” by Red Garnier. Ivan Nordstron killed his parents and bragged about it to his twin Cody. Stunned and feeling culpable for not interceding when he knew his brother was an insane bad seed and feeling he shares the same DNA, Cody ends his relationship with Megan Banks. Six years later Megan decides to confront her man and make Cody admit he loves her back. However, as Cody the homicide detective struggles with his feelings for her vs. his belief he is unworthy of Megan, Ivan escapes from prison with one mission in mind: destroy his sibling starting with Megan.



These three heated romantic suspense thrillers are entertaining reads as heroes risk their lives to keep their courageous women safe from over the top deranged villains.



Harriet Klausner

Locked and Loaded-Alexis Grant

Locked and Loaded


Alexis Grant

St. Martin’s, Jan 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312943042



Although her brain reminds her of a conflict of interest, her heart insists DEA agent Sage Wagner destroys Miami drug lord Roberto Salazar for the murders of her family. Thus his deal with Anwar Assad of Afghanistan and al Qaeda connections enables Sage to persuade her superior to go undercover. Her plan is to become Alazar’s mistress in order to rip off his male anatomy.



Delta Force Captain Anthony Davis’ mission to prevent an arms deal with terrorists crashes with Sage’s quest. Neither is happy over their encounter as he assumes she is throwaway candy until she uses martial art ninja fighting moves to show she has no time for an outside intrusion. However, once they compare notes, they team up as Davis acknowledges her inside game while Wagner acknowledges the need to keep civilians safe; both acknowledge their attraction must remain on the back burner until they complete their mutually inclusive missions.



The latest Men of Delta Force (see Sizzle and Burn) high octane romantic thriller is an action-packed tale from the moment the protagonists collide and never slows down as the pair tries to take down an odious Miami mobster running the drug trafficking and abetting terrorists. Filled with twists, fans will relish Locked and Loaded as the romance simmers while destroying the mutual target remains the focus of the lead pair and the audience.



Harriet Klausner

So Damn Lucky-Deborah Coonts

So Damn Lucky


Deborah Coonts

Forge, Feb 28 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9780765364579



At Las Vegas’s Babylon Hotel, magician Dimitri Fortunoff dies in front of an audience while performing Houdini’s Chinese Water Torture Cell. To control adverse damage, the hotel’s customer relations chief fixer Lucky O’Toole tries to spin the tragedy.



Lucky believes Dimitri was the infamous “Masked Houdini” who had vowed to reveal all of the great magician’s secrets. She wonders if one of his angry peers killed him. Feeling unlucky, she investigates the case as a homicide not an accident after the victim’s body never made it to UMC as expected; his vanishing in thin air seems like a cheap PR stunt as if he was still performing, but from the beyond. That is followed up by a stuffed rabbit providing her with a death threat; which seems milder than what is happening with the men in her personal life from her supervisor Albert “The Big Boss” Rothstein, her live-in lover Teddie, former co-worker Paxton Dane and the French chef.



The latest Lucky O’Toole amateur sleuth misadventures (see Lucky In Love and Lucky Stiff) are an amusing lighthearted romp. Much of the fun comes from Lucky’s on the job interaction with patrons as she tries to talk them out of foolishness. The whodunit is clever while the life (and one death) in the men turns the protagonists life upside down as Lucky feels she crapped out.



Harriet Klausner

Scarecrow Returns-Matthew Reilly

Scarecrow Returns


Matthew Reilly

Simon and Schuster, Jan 3 2012, $25.00

ISBN: 9781416577591



Exiled from Paris Island due to the French placing a bounty on his head, Marine Captain Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield, accompanied by six-foot plus bald Gunnery Sergeant Gena “Mother” Newman and two other young marines, leads a test team of four civilians into the Arctic. The assignment is fielding of advanced weaponry.



Seven weeks later, the White House learns that about a hundred miles away from the ice where the Americans set up camp, Lord of Anarchy and his Army of Thieves have taken over an abandoned Soviet secret weapons testing site on The Island Of The Dragon. These terrorists plan to activate the Tesla Device that if deployed will destroy the atmosphere and just about make humanity extinct. As time is running out on the world, the White House Situation Room assigns Scarecrow to back up a SEAL team to end the threat. When the SEALs fail, Scarecrow, his squad and his Baltimore secret weapon unflappable Dr. Ulacco stand in the way of Anarchy bringing death and destruction to earth.



The latest Scarecrow thriller (see Ice Station, Scarecrow and Hell Island) is a fast-paced tale that starts faster than the speed of light and never decelerates as Matthew Reilly provides a fabulous action-packed save the world (at least the Northern Hemisphere) tale. Scarecrow being Scarecrow makes for a fun story as he lands in one mess after another but like any marine tries to complete the mission against impossible odds while insuring none of his team is left behind though a nuke to end the doomsday scenario may make the latter a bit difficult.



Harriet Klausner