Earth-shaking, soul-quaking, heart-breaking and icon-making are the themes this week, plus an invitation to "kick it up a notch" with recipes from a famous New Orleans restaurant.
Monday, October 3
Best-selling author Michael Connelly comes out with his first legal thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, about a cynical defense attorney named Mickey Haller, whose last spark of integrity may cost him his life. "...leaves every other contender from Grisham to Turow in the dust... While Mickey's courtroom pyrotechnics dazzle, his behind-the-scenes machinations and manipulations are even more incendiary in this taut, gripping novel, which showcases all of Connelly's literary gifts. There's not an excess sentence or padded paragraph in it--what there is, happily, is a character who, like Harry Bosch, deserves a franchise series of his own." —Jane Adams, Amazon.com review
The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Haynes Johnson, documents the era of McCarthyism and draws parallels with the Patriot Act. "Johnson's narrative is succinct and well written, although he doesn't cover any new ground... Johnson overreaches when he ties the McCarthy era to our current efforts to protect domestic security after 9/11. Although he does effectively indicate some potential dangers inherent in the Patriot Act, his suggestion that we are in store for a suppression of civil liberties is not easy to substantiate." —Jay Freeman, Booklist review
Note: Although Amazon says The Age of Anxiety can be shipped today, it is actually not released until October 3rd.
Tuesday, October 4
Romantic suspense queen Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke features Reena Hale, an arson investigator for the Baltimore Police Department, departing slightly from Roberts' "In the Garden" bestsellers (Blue Dahlia, Red Lily, Black Rose). "Reena proves unlucky in love, mainly because her beaux tend to die in fires, but her fortunes look up after she meets hunky carpenter Bo Goodnight... nothing stands in their way—except an obsessed, pyromaniac stalker determined to kill any man Reena loves... Roberts portrays investigative procedure more accurately than her many imitators. Well-sketched supporting characters with potential subplots of their own suggest that the prolific Roberts will put her feet to the fire again." —Publishers Weekly
The Sunflower by Richard Paul Evans, author of the bestseller The Christmas Box, delivers a syrupy but satisfying novel about love between a volunteer nurse and a handsome but traumatized ER doctor in the jungles of Peru. "The budding romance between Paul and Christine is totally predictable (including the awkwardness of their initial meetings). Evans adds a nice dramatic touch when Jessica's newfound boyfriend is seriously hurt while guiding a group of orphanage workers through the mountains near Machu Picchu, and he has a nice feel for framing devices, dialogue and scene-pacing." —Publishers Weekly
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Oh new book by Connelly. I'll have to check that out. To see bout getting a review copy do I ask you or one of the Erics?