  Recently Signed - In Stock
86 East Third Ave., San Mateo, CA 94401 Phone: 650-401-8077
OR Toll Free outside Bay Area: 888-405-8077
last updated: August 1st, 2011 |
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ABOUT THIS ARCHIVE
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This archive of signed first editions lists
our current stock of RECENT releases.
They are alphabetical by author,
and are kept on the list for approximately
six weeks. These listings are updated weekly.
If you are looking for older signed books, or
specialty categories, use the catalogs on our
web site. We have six catalogs on our home
page (see buttons at left).
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How to Order
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To place an order:
email usor phone us (650)401-8077 (888)405-8077 toll free We accept Visa, MC, Amex and checks by arrangement We ship USPS Media mail within the US and USPS International Priority for overseas addresses Shipping rates: In the US - $6.50 for the first book $1.35 each additional book Overseas - email us to discuss the options |
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OWEN SMITH POSTERS
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OWEN SMITH, nationally recognized artist known for his artworks for The New Yorker and Rolling Stone as well as numerous book covers, was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission in 2008 to create original works based on a theme for display in special kiosks on Market Street. Most recently, he did the cover illustration for Mark Coggins' new book, The Big Wake-Up, and appeared at "M" for that book event with the author. These posters are from Smith's "Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco" series. Each is SIGNED by the artist; 12" x 18" on heavy glossy stock, at $12.00 each.
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 Recently Signed - In Stock
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JEFF ABBOTT - Adrenaline
|  (Grand Central, $24.99). 
"A near-perfect thriller. . . Fans of Harlan Coben, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, or John Grisham -- anyone who enjoys a wild ride on a bumpy road -- can cheer the arrival of our latest master of the fine art of the page-turner. Highly recommended," said Booklist. And PW said: "Edgar-finalist Abbott's outstanding tale of high intrigue set primarily in London and Amsterdam, the first in a series, introduces Sam Capra, a London-based CIA agent Abbott (Panic), displaying a greater mastery of the genre than in previous books, hits full stride early on and never lets up. Readers who thrive on a relentless narrative pace and a straight line to the finish won't be disappointed." |
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MEGAN ABBOTT - The End of Everything
|  (Reagan Arthur, $23.99).
"Thirteen-year-old Lizzie Hood is the last person to see her best friend, Evie, before she disappears. They've been inseparable for years, and Lizzie knows everything about her -- or does she? Lizzie knows enough to pursue clues the police dismiss, but in all her reflections there are flashes of darker moments and unsettling questions. Her narration is full of quick glimpses of another story, just there on the edges, that create layers of suspense. . . . Edgar Award winner Abbott (Queenpin) offers a fascinating twist on the coming-of-age story, blending a tale of young women just discovering their sexuality with suspense and plenty of plot twists," said Library Journal. |
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DONNA ANDREWS - The Real McCaw
|  (Minotaur, $24.99).
. "At the outset of Andrews's crowd-pleasing 13th Meg Langslow mystery (after 2010's Stork Raving Mad), Meg, new mother of twin boys, awakes early one morning to find her living room filled with animals, including a bright blue macaw, who cries, 'Hiya, babe!' The Corsicans, an animal activist group whose members include Meg's dad and granddad, have rescued the creatures, mostly dogs and cats, from an animal shelter that's recently reversed its no-kill policy. . . . With the support of her big extended family, Meg sets out to solve one murder and prevent another. People connected to Parker provide clues, but the key is the real macaw," said PW. |
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ACE ATKINS - The Ranger
|  (Putnam, $25.95)
"Best known for historical thrillers like Infamous, Atkins kicks off a new series with a solid action-packed yarn featuring U.S. Army Ranger Quinn Colson. When Colson returns home to Jericho, Miss., from his most recent tour of duty in Afghanistan for his uncle's funeral, he's surprised to learn that his uncle, former sheriff Hampton Beckett, shot himself to death. An old friend, Deputy Lillie Virgil, suspects that Beckett was actually murdered. Colson's efforts to prove that theory bring him up against both the violent and the corrupt. During Colson's time away, his rural community has been overrun with meth dealers, whose blight affects those close to him. . ." said PW. And Library Journal said: "for Stephen Hunter fans who like fast-moving plots and decisive good guys facing down evil." |
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BENJAMIN BLACK - A Death in Summer
|  (Henry Holt, $25.00).
"Black's exceedingly well-written Dublin series hits its stride in the sleekly plotted fourth installment. Imprudent pathologist Quirke and reticent Inspector Hackett, whose humble appearance belies a steel-trap mind, attain new levels of drollery and investigative camaraderie. . . . moments of detective clairvoyance are neatly juxtaposed with numskull opaqueness as Black (the pen name of John Banville) once again exposes insidious corruption and prejudice," said Booklist. And Janet Maslin in the New York Times said: "[Black's] books about the dour Irish pathologist named Quirke have effortless flair, with their period-piece cinematic ambience and their sultry romance. [They] are much more like Alan Furst's elegant, doom-infused World War II spy books than like standard crime tales." |
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JULIET BLACKWELL Hexes and Hemlines
|  (Signet, $7.99 paperback original).
Lily gets called away from her vintage clothing store to give police a witch's take on how the leader of a rationalist society could be murdered, surrounded by superstitions he discredited. Evidence points to dark witchcraft. Lily's determined to use magic of her own to find the murderer, before everyone's luck runs out. "The third novel in Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft series is as delectable as the previous two . . . A cleverly written, top-notch cozy mystery," said Romantic Times.
ALSO, buy the new one plus any of the following and get 10% off!:
--  'A Cast-Off Coven' (Penguin, 2010, $6.99) As New. Signed. Mass Market Original.
-- 'Secondhand Spirits' (Penguin, 2009, $6.99) As New. Signed. Mass Market Original.
-- 'Arsenic & Old Paint' (Perseverance Press, 2010, $14.95) Writing as Hailey Lind. As New. Signed. Trade Paperback Original. |
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JAN BURKE - Disturbance
|  (Simon & Schuster, $25.00).
Booklist called it ""Tautly written and suspenseful . . . Irene [is] a strong, likable protagonist." Irene Kelly fights for her life in this blood-chilling sequel to the Edgar Award-winning Bones. Despite her reporter's nose for trouble, Irene Kelly's life has almost returned to normal -- the Las Piernas News Express wobbles along in defiance of its financial woes, and with the help of her husband, Frank, and a good therapist, she's recovered from the debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder that haunted her after her near-fatal encounter with notorious serial killer Nick Parrish. Until she receives some unwelcome news: Parrish, once thought permanently paralyzed by the injuries he sustained fleeing recapture, is walking again. And the rumor among the Moths, Parrish's online fan club, is that he's coming after Irene. |
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ANDREA CAMILLERI - The Track of Sand
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 (Mantle UK, $37.00)
Inspector Montalbano rises one morning to find the carcass of a horse on the beach in front of his seaside home. But no sooner do his men arrive, than the body has mysteriously vanished, leaving behind only a trail in the sand. Before long Rachele, a beguiling equestrian champion, turns up at police headquarters to report her horse missing. She had been keeping it at the stables of a certain Saverio Lo Duca, one of the richest men in Sicily. Montalbano investigates, entering the strange, unfamiliar world of horse-racing. Maneuvering his way through the colorful demimonde of eccentric aristocrats and high-rolling bourgeois, Montalbano must once again call upon his special blend of intuition, analysis, play-acting and Proustian memory for good food, if he is to uncover this latest mystery. |
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BONNIE JO CAMPBELL - Once Upon A River
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 (W.W. Norton, $25.95).
Booklist starred: "A dramatic and rhapsodic American odyssey. A female Huckleberry Finn. A wild-child-to-caring-woman story as intricately meshed with the natural life of the river as a myth. . . . A glorious novel destined to entrance and provoke." And Library Journal said: "This second novel by National Book Award finalist Campbell (American Salvage) is set in Murrayville, a rural Michigan town far removed from the modern world. Inhabitants have lived off the Stark River for generations, including 16-year-old Margo Crane's family. . . . Her river odyssey ultimately leads to self-preservation on her terms. A truthful and deeply human story that pulls us in and won't let go. Readers looking for superior fiction are in for an uplifting, first-rate story." |
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REBECCA CANTRELL - A Game of Lies
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 (Forge, $24.99).
"Set in 1936, Cantrell's well-paced third mystery featuring German crime reporter Hannah Vogel returns to the high level of her debut, 2009's A Trace of Smoke. Sought by the Gestapo for kidnapping the son of a high-ranking Nazi official, Vogel has assumed the alias of Adelheid Zinsli, a Swiss reporter, to cover the Olympic Games while spying for the British. . . . Her search for the truth, aided by an SS officer of uncertain trustworthiness, leads her to a deadly secret. . . . Cantrell does a fine job evoking the period," said PW. |
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JODI COMPTON - Thieves Get Rich, Saints Get Shot
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 (Crown, $23.00).
In Compton's searing sequel to Hailey's War, Hailey Cain, tough girl/West Point dropout, resurfaces in Los Angeles as second-in-command enforcer to Serena 'Warchild' Delgadillo, the leader of a Latina female gang. Rejected by the Army because of a brain tumor she knows will kill her, and rejected as well by her adored cousin CJ, who can't manage the unconventional lifestyle that allows Hailey to cope with her shortened life, Hailey plunges into a maelstrom of hijacking, deadly gang rivalry, and identity theft. . . . Readers fascinated by Hailey's conflict between her aching heart and her canny head will hope she continues raising Cain," said PW. |
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JEFFERY DEAVER - Carte Blanche: A James Bond Novel
|  (Simon & Schuster, $26.99).
Jeffery Deaver was selected by Ian Fleming Publications to write the new James Bond thriller. We are thrilled to welcome back the international number-one bestselling author of more than two dozen other suspense novels. Raves from the U.K. press: "There have been other Fleming impersonators, including Kingsley Amis and Sebastian Faulks, but the author of The Bone Collector is the biggest international name to take the job. He is also one of the world's smoothest, most devious, thriller writers -- a far better craftsman than Fleming, in fact. So could he assume Fleming's identity rather than write another Jeffery Deaver novel only with a hero called Bond? And could he, for that matter, resist thriller publishing's current obsession with relentless action inspired by the success of the Bourne movie franchise -- and indeed Quantum Of Solace? The answers are emphatically 'Yes' " (The Telegraph). And from The Sunday Express: "Fleming was a master of succinct plotting and deft characterization, his books deceptively slim but containing so much. Deaver too is a genius and this publishing marriage was truly made in heaven. . . . and, by the way, it is going to make a great movie."
ALSO:
-- 'The Burning Wire' (Simon & Schuster, 2009, $14.00) NF/F. Signed, Wrinkling at bottom edge of spine.
-- 'Edge' (Simon & Schuster, 2010, $26.99) As New. Signed. |
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WILLIAM DIETRICH - Blood of the Reich
|  (Harper, $25.99).
Mystorical July. Library Journal starred: ""Dietrich has created a wonderful web of intrigue, using history, vibrantly depicted settings, and great character development that leaves the reader unsure of whom to trust until the very end." And PW said: "Once again the occult delusions of the murderous Nazi regime prove to have a basis in fact, as shown by this diverting thriller from Dietrich, best known for his Ethan Gage historical adventure series (The Barbary Pirates, etc.). In 1938, Heinrich Himmler dispatches academic and SS man Kurt Raeder to Tibet to uncover long-lost secrets for use in the Reich's coming war effort. Seven decades later in Seattle, publicist Rominy Pickett narrowly escapes death when her car explodes, and soon finds herself on the run with the guy who saved her from the blast, journalist Jake Barrow. Plenty of chases, deadly confrontations, and startling revelations keep the pages turning."
ALSO:
-- 'Barbary Pirates' (Harper, 2010, $35.00) As New. Signed. |
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PAUL DOIRON - Trespasser
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 (Minotaur, $24.99).
In this follow-up to Doiron's Edgar Award-nominated novel, The Poacher's Son, Maine game warden Mike Bowditch's quest to find a missing woman leads him through a forest of lies in search of a killer who may have gotten away with murder once before. Booklist starred: ""Doiron delivers another perfectly plotted mystery peopled with multidimensional characters, but, in addition, his writing has matured. His descriptions of Maine's midcoast are incredibly evocative of the sights, sounds, and smells of early spring, and the heart-pounding account of Mike's fourwheeling chase through the woods is a masterpiece of high-octane narrative. Suggest this series to fans of C. J. Box and Nevada Barr." A starred review also from 'Library Journal': "Doiron serves up a tense thriller that stars a memorable main character and brings the rugged Maine landscape vividly to life." |
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ROBERT DUGONI - Murder One
|  (Touchstone, $24.99).
Publishers Weekly called it "The best yet in the series." Library Journal starred: "Tight plotting and well-developed characters push Dugoni to the head of the legal thriller pack in what is probably his finest book to date. John Grisham and Scott Turow fans should add Dugoni to their list of must-reads." And Booklist said: "Dugoni has often been described as a challenger to Turow and other big names in the legal-thriller genre, but at this point, he's claimed his own position on the A-list. A must read for fans of courtroom drama from Grisham to Turow to Erle Stanley Gardner."
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JANET EVANOVICH - Smokin' Seventeen
|  (Bantam, $28.00).
Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie's name is on the killer's list. Short on time to find evidence proving the killer's identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it's time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie's mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who's just returned to town.
ALSO:
-- 'Four to Score' (St. Martin's, 1998, $29.00) F/F. Signed and inscribed "To Kay, sally forth!"
-- 'Visions of Sugar Plums' (St. Martin's, 2002, $5.00) F/F.
-- 'Wicked Appetite' (St. Martin's, 2010, $27.99) As New. Signed.
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JOSEPH FINDER - Buried Secrets
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 (St. Martin's, $25.99).
"Bestseller Finder's compulsively readable sequel to Vanished opens fast and never slows down. When 17-year-old Alexa Marcus, the spoiled daughter of Marshall Marcus, a wildly successful money manager, is kidnapped from a Boston club and buried alive in a coffin equipped with an air hose and a video camera (for Internet streaming, of course!), Marshall asks his old intelligence expert friend, Nick Heller, to find her. . . . A number of characters from 'Vanished,'. . . lend support. Self-effacing, wry, and ridiculously competent, Heller makes a reasonably engaging protagonist, but this thriller's real star is the suspenseful, expertly paced plot," said PW. |
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EVA GABRIELSSON - There Are Things I Want You To Know..
|  (Seven Stories Press, $23.95).
PW starred: "In this candid, moving work, Gabrielsson chronicles her life's journey with her longtime companion, Stieg Larsson, the Swedish creator of the Millennium trilogy who died suddenly at age 50, in 2004, before the first volume of his phenomenally successful work (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in English) was even published. Gabrielsson tells that she had little legal recourse in Sweden to claim his literary and intellectual property even though the childless couple had lived together in Stockholm for 30 years and shared passions for science fiction and political activism; . . . . The rights to Larsson's literary trilogy fell posthumously to his father and brother, who shut Gabrielsson out. . . . Gabrielsson, evidently [is] the person who understood him as few did, warmly, lovingly depicts in this spirited defense of their relationship." |
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TESS GERRITSEN - The Silent Girl
|  (Ballantine, $26.00).
"In Gerritsen's gripping ninth Rizzoli & Isles novel (after Ice Cold), a severed hand found on a Chinatown street leads Det. Jane Rizzoli, Boston PD, to a rooftop, where she discovers a female body with a slit throat and without a hand. About the only clues to the Jane Doe's identity are silvery hairs on the victim's clothes that may not be human. Rizzoli and her team uncover a link to a 19-year-old murder/suicide case, . . . . Meanwhile, in a strange coincidence, two missing girls turn out to be related to victims of the Red Phoenix massacre. Medical examiner Maura Isles plays a supporting role, though both women deal with personal and family issues that reveal their humanity and lend credibility to this deft thriller," said PW.
ALSO:
-- 'The Keepsake' (Ballantine, 2008, $11.00) Second printing. Signed. F/F. |
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PAUL HARPER - Pacific Heights
|  (Henry Holt, $25.00).
"Dr. Vera List, a prominent psychoanalyst in affluent Pacific Heights, San Francisco, has discovered something unsettling about two of her clients. Elise and Lore, wealthy trophy wives, are unwittingly having affairs with the same man, Ryan Kroll. Kroll has the uncanny ability to see inside their heads and anticipate their darkest fantasies and fears. The only conclusion Vera can come to is that he is breaking into her office, reading her patients' personal files, then using their psychosis against them. . . . This series debut by a pseudonymous New York Times best-selling author [David Lindsey] offers a great premise and fast-paced read. Thriller fans will eagerly anticipate the next installment," said Library Journal. |
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JOHN HART - Iron House
|  (Thomas Dunne, $25.99).
Booklist starred, calling it "An unforgettable novel from a master of popular fiction." And PW also starred: "This rich, impressive contemporary thriller from two-time Edgar-winner Hart ('The Last Child') focuses on two brothers, Michael and Julian, both raised and abused at the Iron House of the title, an orphanage in the mountains of North Carolina. . . . [The book's] powerful themes and its beautiful prose will delight Hart's fans -- and should earn him many new ones." |
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JENNIFER HILLIER - Creep
|  (Simon & Schuster, $23.00).
"In Hillier's agreeably frightening debut, a psychological thriller, beautiful Sheila Tao, a highly regarded professor of social psychology at Seattle's Puget Sound University, has been having an affair with her volatile teaching assistant, Ethan Wolfe. Sheila, who's spent three years in Sex Addicts Anonymous, a fact known only to her trusted therapist, wishes to end the affair since she's about to marry Morris Gardener, a successful Texas financier who's deeply jealous. . . . the book holds its secrets well and packs a concluding wallop." |
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GREGG HURWITZ - You're Next
|  (St. Martin's, $24.99).
Library Journal starred: "The bad guys are suitably evil and the mystery satisfying, but Hurwitz's real success is depicting Mike's hard-won life as a husband, father, and successful businessman. A first-rate thriller!" Booklist praised: "Excellent . . . keeps Mike (and the reader) on edge, wondering what is happening to him and how far it will escalate. Highly recommended to Hurwitz's many faithful readers and to fans of Linwood Barclay, Harlen Coben, and Lisa Gardner." Thomas Perry called it "a deft, expertly plotted thriller driven by the kind of realistic suspense that will make any reader's heartbeat race." And PW said: "Hurwitz masterfully provokes feelings of extreme dread. . . . Shep and Mike fight and sleuth their way through intensifying mayhem until they find the unexpected answer." |
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J.A. JANCE - Betrayal of Trust
|  (Wm. Morrow, $25.99).
PW starred: "In Jance's solid if a tad sentimental 20th J.P. Beamont novel (after Fire and Ice), the creaky-kneed Seattle detective and his third wife, Mel, both working for the Washington attorney general's unfortunately acronymed Special Homicide Investigation Team, have to probe a potentially explosive scandal: . . . . Jance's denunciation of adolescent bullying and adult hypocrisy rings true, a testimony to the fundamental decency of cops like Beau and Mel who walk the mean streets the rest of their society would rather not explore except in fiction." |
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MICHAEL KORYTA - The Ridge
|  (Little, Brown, $24.99).
"Koryta (The Cypress House; So Cold the River) delivers another supernatural thriller with punch. The lives of a small-town chief deputy, an out-of-work reporter, and the owner of a big cat rescue center collide when a well-known eccentric dies in his landlocked lighthouse, set on a ridge in the eastern Kentucky hills. . . . Mystery readers, supernatural thriller lovers, and horror buffs who can live without gore all will appreciate Koryta's latest effort," said Library Journal. And PW said: "Koryta matches an original and complex plot line with prose full of understated menace." |
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ALICE LAPLANTE - Turn of Mind
|  (Atlantic Monthly, $24.00).
S&S I July. A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia. Booklist starred: "Haunting . . . [A] startling portrait of a fiercely intelligent woman struggling mightily to hold on to her sense of self. . . . This masterfully written debut is fascinating on so many levels, from its poignant and inventive depiction of a harrowing illness to its knowing portrayal of the dark complexities of friendship and marriage." Library Journal also starred: "Heartbreaking and stunning, this is both compelling and painful to read." And PW also starred, calling it "Impressive . . . A subtle literary novel." |
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SOPHIE LITTLEFIELD A Bad Day For Scandal
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 (Minotaur, $24.99).
When Prosper homegirl turned big-city businesswoman Priss Porter returns to town with a body in her trunk, she calls Stella Hardesty to dispose of it. Her uppity ways don't convince Stella to take the job, and Priss attempts to blackmail her with a snapshot of Stella doing what she does best: curing woman-beaters by the use of force. PW said: "Littlefield's eccentric cast of characters grows richer with each book, and Stella continues to dazzle with her wit, charm, and ease with firearms." 'Booklist' concurred: "Fiftyish Stella . . . continues to carry the day, as always, in this sassy mix of comedy and mystery." And Library Journal as well: "Littlefield's zesty dialog and astute observations make this irreverent third series entry (after A Bad Day for Sorry and A Bad Day for Pretty) fly by. The zaniness evokes Janet Evanovich or Harley Jane Kozak; . . ."
ALSO, buy the new one plus any of the following and get 10% off!:
-- 'Aftertime' (Luna, 2011, $14.95) As New. Signed. TPBO.
-- 'A Bad Day For Pretty' (Minotaur, 2010, $24.99) As New. Signed.
-- 'Banished' (Delacorte, 2010, $16.99) As New. Signed. |
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ADA MADISON (aka CAMILLE MINICHINO) - The Square Root of Murder
|  (Berkley, $7.99, paperback original).
"Dr. Sophie Knowles is a fortysomething math professor teaching summer session at a small Cape Cod women's college. Her close-knit academic community is suffering through a sweltering summer heat wave when, out of the blue, a much-despised chemistry professor is poisoned in his lab. Wanting to help the graduate student who's been fingered as the killer, Dr. Knowles begins her amateur investigation. Along the way, she learns about the darker side of academia. . . . in this leisurely-paced cozy. Veteran series author Camille Minichino, also known as Margaret Grace, introduces an engaging new protagonist with a fresh venue for her fans. This mystery is a puzzler designed for word problem skill building. Puzzles and brainteasers included," said Library Journal.
ALSO:
-- 'Lithium Murder' (William Morrow, 1999, $6.00) First Book Club Edition. NF/VG+. Signed. Tear at upper edge of front panel.
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PAUL MALMONT - The Astounding, The Amazing, and The Unknown
|  (Simon & Schuster, $26.00).
"Delightful . . . Madcap . . . It's so much fun that it virtually defines what light fiction should be." said Library Journal in its starred review. And PW said: "A wild trip . . . Malmont lovingly embraces the fact-fiction synthesis employed by the writers he brings to life . . . Fans of the original pulps will surely enjoy the ride." In 1943, when the United States learns that Germany is on the verge of a deadly innovation that could tip the balance of the war, the government turns to an unlikely source for help: the nation's top science fiction writers. Installed at a covert military lab within the Philadelphia Naval Yard are the most brilliant of these young visionaries. The unruly band is led by Robert Heinlein, the dashing and complicated master of the genre. |
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BETH MCMULLEN - Original Sin
|  (Hyperion, $24.99).
"Retired spy Lucy Hamilton, currently a San Francisco stay-at-home mom, proves herself to be 'a fabulous multitasker,' capable of both playing cowboys with her three-year-old son and tangling with international terrorists, in McMullen's diverting debut. When Simon Still, her former boss at the United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction, calls Lucy back to active duty, Lucy is trying hard to forget a career that her husband knows nothing about and succeeding -- except when she slips up and accidentally decks her yoga instructor or Simon's assignment stirs long-buried memories. . . . What no one anticipates is the fury of a mother's protective instinct in this promising light thriller," said PW. |
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KEN MERCER - East On Sunset
|  (Minotaur, $25.99).
Publishers Weekly starred: "Former narcotics detective Will Magowan, who was fired from the LAPD for substance abuse, has a lot to be happy about in Mercer's stellar follow-up to 'Slow Fire' (2010). Besides getting back together with his wife, Laurie, and having a baby on the way, baseball fan Will has a new job as a security guard for the L.A. Dodgers. Meanwhile, Erik Crandall, who was put behind bars five years earlier after a drug bust, is now free and seeking payback -- from Will. . . . Mercer masterfully ratchets up the suspense as the flawed, fully human Will strives to clear his name and protect his family at any cost." |
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SUSAN CUMMINS MILLER - Fracture
|  (Texas Tech Univ. Press, $24.95).
Geologist Frankie MacFarlane and P.I. Philo Dain, just back from Afghanistan, are packing for an R&R trip to a cooler clime when Philo's Aunt Heather is murdered in her empty Tucson mansion. Her husband, wealthy developer Derek Dain, is the prime suspect. The day before, Heather had left town with the Dain coin collection, worth millions. Now it's missing. Though Philo and his uncle haven't spoken in years, Philo and Frankie agree to backtrack Heather on a quest that takes them from the sun-baked Tucson Basin to the foggy San Francisco Peninsula. Among California's fault-scarred hills they uncover painful secrets from Philo's past--and clues to a mysterious chess set worthy of kings, long protected by one family and long coveted by another. A treasure worth killing for -- but who will survive to claim it?
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BILL MOODY - Fade to Blue
|  (Poisoned Pen, $24.95).
Jazz pianist Evan Horne, settled into the San Francisco jazz scene, takes a gig in Los Angeles, where he's offered his most unusual job yet. Mega movie star Ryan Stiles hires Evan to teach him to look like he's playing piano for an upcoming film role. Evan stays at Stiles' lush Malibu home for the tutoring, but suddenly things go wrong with the arrogant, spoiled star. Stiles' adversarial relationship with the paparazzi explodes when a photographers is killed. Was it an accident or is Stiles himself a suspect? Evan wants out, but Stiles' manager dangles the opportunity for Evan to score the film if he stays. With help from his FBI girlfriend, Andie Lawrence, and Lt. Danny Cooper, Evan launches his own investigation to help clear Stiles. To further complicate things, Evan's old nemesis, serial killer Gillian Sims escapes from prison. |
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CHISTOPHER MOORE - The Griff
|  (Wm. Morrow, $22.99).
Trade Paperback Original Oversized. Christopher Moore and award-winning screenwriter-director Ian Corson team up for a wacky and entertaining graphic tale of alien invasion and a motley crew of Earthlings trying to stay alive and, oh, yeah, save humankind. The mayhem begins when an ancient alien beacon is unwittingly activated, summoning behemoth spaceships from the far reaches of the galaxy. Hovering in Earth's atmosphere, they release a biblical stream of pods that transform into minivan-size, people-eating, flying lizardy things that look like mythological griffins. Destroying communications, emergency, and military infrastructure, they systematically kill everyone on the planet. Well, almost everyone. A pesky trio of New Yorkers isn't about to roll out the red carpet -- or roll over and die -- for these unwelcome intergalactic marauders. (We can't give away the rest.) |
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LAURIE MOORE - Couple Gunned Down: News at Ten
|  (Five Star, $25.95).
"Moore follows 'Woman Strangled -- News at Ten' with another twisty and satisfying romantic thriller. Dallas news anchor Aspen Wicklow is ready to start her new job at WBFD-TV just as soon as she gets out of jail for felony charges incurred while shooting a coyote that was attacking her pug. . . . Lively and funny, the adventure moves along at a rapid clip, with plenty of action, entertaining side characters, and sharp dialogue," said PW. |
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BOYD MORRISON- The Vault
|  (Touchstone, $24.99).
Tyler Locke's routine commute on a Washington State ferry is interrupted by a chilling anonymous call claiming that his father has been kidnapped and that a truck bomb is set to detonate on board in twenty minutes. When Tyler, a former army combat engineer, reaches the bomb on the boat's car deck, he's stunned to find classical languages expert Stacy Benedict waiting for him. She's received the same threat and her sister has also been taken. In order to disarm the bomb, they must work together to solve an engineering puzzle--a puzzle written in ancient Greek. Preventing the explosion is only the first step. They soon learn the entire setup is a test created by a ruthless criminal who forces them to go on a seemingly impossible mission: uncover the legendary lost riches of King Midas. |
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BOBBIE O'KEEFE - Family Skeletons
|  (Five Star, $25.95).
"Preparing her family home for sale, a San Francisco realtor faces painful old memories and surprising new opportunities. Sunny Corday's life hasn't always lived up to the promise of her nickname. After her father left and tried to disown her, then disappeared, the angry teenager turned to pills for comfort. Her strong-willed mother Roberta managed to get her first marriage annulled; Sunny was only 16 and her 18-year-old husband was as drug-addled as she. Even rehab didn't help much. . . O'Keefe (Second Thoughts, 2009) straddles the fence nicely between mystery and romance, keeping the relationship in the forefront but incorporating a genuine puzzle," said Kirkus. |
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PERRI O'SHAUGHNESSY - Dreams of the Dead
|  (Gallery, $25.00).
"O'Shaughnessy's suspenseful 13th Nina Reilly novel revisits one of the most painful episodes in the Lake Tahoe attorney's life. Philip Strong arrives one day at Nina's office with some disturbing news related to his son Jim. Two years earlier, Jim murdered his wife after finding out that she had had an affair with Philip; Jim also killed Nina's husband, then vanished and was believed dead. . . . Two brutal murders possibly related to the Strong family up the ante. This solid page-turner packs more than one surprise," said PW. Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name for two sisters, Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy. Together they have written twelve Nina Reilly legal thrillers, a stand-alone thriller, and one short story collection. |
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TONY PIAZZA - Anything Short of Murder
|  (Dog Ear, $14.99).
Trade Paperback Original. Logan was a former L.A.P.D. cop unceremoniously discharged from the force because of his honesty. A bootlegger had tossed him some money to look the other way, and in response he tossed the criminal. Logan was a hardboiled, two-fisted, no nonsense kind of guy that would rather take it on the chin than get his hands dirty with tainted mob money. Ousted from the force, he decides to set up his own business as a gumshoe in a town known for glitter, glamour, and girls. |
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WILLIAM C. REMPEL - At The Devil's Table
|  (Random House, $27.00; nonfiction).
"Investigative reporter Rempel's debut offers a behind-the-scenes look at a never-before-told story -- the secret plot to assassinate drug lord Pablo Escobar, recounted by the man hired to do it. After eight years interviewing Salcedo, Rempel pieces together his source's unbelievable story, one in which two rival Columbian drug cartels -- Pablo Escobar's Medellín and the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers' Cali -- waged a war for trafficking supremacy. . . . Rempel's book reads like an action-packed blockbuster, complete with a cast of hot-headed, short-fused drug lords and their trigger-happy underlings. A fast-paced, heart-racing nonfiction thriller, occasionally bloated by excessive drugs, blood and bullets," said Kirkus. And author James Risen said: "Bill Rempel has earned his reputation as one of America's finest investigative reporters the old fashioned way -- by getting people to tell him explosive stories they won't talk about with anyone else."
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JOSH RITTER - Bright's Passage
|  (Dial Press, $22.00).
"War is hell, and so is Henry Bright's homecoming from the trenches of WWI in songwriter Ritter's appropriately lyrical debut. Bright is a half-shattered veteran whose ordeal in combat continues with the death of his young wife in childbirth. Spurred on by an angel who speaks to him through his livestock, Henry torches the cabin where his wife died, using the family Bible to spark the blaze. Soon, the angel tells Henry his infant son is the Future King of Heaven, a replacement for the one 'who has soaked the world in blood.' Henry's desolation is believably crushing, sometimes darkly funny, and rendered with a lyricist's delicacy: against the backdrop of the forest fire sparked by the cabin's blaze, Henry, the child, horse, and a goat make their way to town, dodging his wife's psychotic family, who blame him for her death. . . " said PW. |
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ADAM ROSS - Ladies & Gentlemen
|  (Knopf, $25.95).
After his widely celebrated debut, Mr. Peanut, Adam Ross now presents a darkly compelling collection of stories about brothers, loners, lovers, and lives full of good intentions, misunderstandings, and obscured motives. And when two college kids goad each other on in an escalating series of breathtaking dares, the outcome is as tragic as it is ambiguous. Laced with glimmers of redemption, youthful energy, and hard-won wisdom, these noirish stories unspool purposefully and fluidly; together they confirm the arrival of -- as Michiko Kakutani put it in The New York Times -- "an enormously talented writer." |
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APRIL SMITH - White Shotgun
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 (Knopf, $25.95).
Booklist starred: "Ana Grey is a credible, fascinating heroine, both worldly and rueful about her unsettled life. Tight suspense and fascinating background." Even on leave from the FBI, Ana can't kick old habits: when she witnesses a drive-by shooting at an Italian restaurant in London, she helps the injured and gives testimony to the police. Still, it comes as a shock when, soon after, the Bureau contacts her -- not because they want her to investigate the shooting, but because they want her to investigate the half sister she never knew she had, Cecilia, who lives in Siena and is married to Nicosa, a coffee mogul with some suspicious connections. The entire city of Siena is gearing up for its legendary horse race, the Palio -- the dazzling annual culmination of ancient rivalries between the city's many wards. But when her nephew is stabbed and her sister goes missing, Ana understands with painful clarity that there's more than a horse race at stake here. |
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PETER SPIEGELMAN - Thick As Thieves
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 (Knopf Doubleday, $24.95).
Booklist starred: "Ever read a thriller so nicely written you flip back a few pages to re-experience an especially well-turned bit of prose? Spiegelman's caper novel is like that . . . The fine writing adds a layer of aesthetic pleasure to a good crime story . . . [The crew] brings off a sweeping symphony of a con, a grand attempt to relieve a bad guy of his gazillions . . . The ending is great, but it's an even greater trip getting there." And PW praised: "Superlative prose lifts this gritty stand-alone from Shamus Award winner Spiegelman (Black Maps). . . . Spiegelman, who has worked in both financial services and software industries, makes the mission both intricate and plausible." |
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CHEVY STEVENS - Never Knowing
|  (St. Martin's, $24.99).
Stevens's unnerving stand-alone thriller about a woman's search for her birth parents matches the intensity of her impressive debut, Still Missing. Growing up on Vancouver Island, Sara Gallagher felt emotionally detached from her adoptive family. Now 33, Sara finally locates her birth mother, university professor Julia Laroche, but is devastated when Julia wants nothing to do with her. Sara learns that she was conceived when her birth mother was attacked by the Campsite Killer, a serial killer responsible for a 40-year reign of terror, who has never been caught. . . . Stevens chillingly portrays a woman searching for her identity who's not just horrified by the results but fearful she or her child has inherited violent tendencies. . . . the skillful storytelling never flags," said PW. |
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DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI - Fun & Games
|  (Mulholland, $14.95 trade paperback original).
The first of three explosive pulp thrillers arriving back-to-back from cult crime fiction sensation and Marvel Comics scribe Duane Swierczynski. Charlie Hardie, an ex-cop still reeling from the revenge killing of his former partner's entire family, fears one thing above all else: that he'll suffer the same fate. In her New York Times crime column, Marilyn Stasio said: "The premise may be absurd, but it's good enough to propel the breathless action scenes that make Swierczynski's cinematic novels so much fun to read . . ." |
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JOHN VERDON - Shut Your Eyes Tight
|  (Crown, $24.00).
Library Journal starred, calling it "a must-read for thriller fans who enjoy tales that are not only gripping but believable." And PW also starred: "Verdon follows 'Think of a Number,' his sensational debut featuring retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney, with this standout sequel, set a year later. A bizarre, high-profile murder near Gurney's Catskills home puts his already shaky marriage to the test. . . . Verdon tosses in an apparent impossibility involving the murder weapon, and once again sensitively depicts a relationship in crisis." Another star from Booklist: "Verdon, who hit a home run with his debut novel, has now nailed another one." |
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JOHN MILLIKEN THOMPSON - The Reservoir
|  (Other, $15.95 trade paperback original).
Kirkus said: "An engaging mystery novel rendered as Southern literature," and PW called it "Solidly entertaining." Library Journal concluded: "Historian and debut novelist Thompson mined a treasure trove of documents and background detail for this novel, based on an actual murder and trial set in 1880s Richmond, VA. . . Thompson masterfully illustrates how a seemingly clear-cut case can be filled with ambiguities."
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MICHAEL WILEY - A Bad Night's Sleep
|  (Minotaur, $24.99).
"Fans of gritty PI novels will relish Shamus-finalist Wiley's third mystery featuring Chicago detective Joe Kozmarski (after 2010's The Bad Kitty Lounge). Early one morning, while staked out at a construction site to prevent thefts of building materials and equipment, Kozmarski spots two uniformed patrolmen pull up in a police cruiser. When he observes the cops helping a gang that arrives soon after make off with spools of copper wire, the gumshoe calls 911. Four squad cars pull up within minutes, and a firefight erupts. One of the resulting deaths puts Kozmarski, a former cop who was cashiered from the force in disgrace, in a difficult position. His only way out of the mess involves him infiltrating a wide-ranging conspiracy. Kozmarski, a well-developed flawed hero, would be right at home in a Chandler or Hammett novel. The relentless pacing makes the pages fly by, and the hard-edged prose is bracing," said PW. |
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(Doubleday, $25.95).
(Minotaur, $24.99).
