The Last Minute-Jeff Abbott

The Last Minute


Jeff Abbott

Grand Central, Dec 18 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780446575232



Sam Capra understands his comatose former wife Lucy’s allegedly seditious actions cost him his position with the CIA "Special Projects" after she and others blew up the London office killing over twenty employees. The Agency accuses him of abetting his spouse as the lone survivor of the mass murder and his subsequent cleaning up the aftermath while seeking Lucy and their now born baby (see Adrenaline).



He joined the Round Table so that he could continue his activities, but now faces a new personal crisis when The Nine Suns kidnap his baby Daniel. This nefarious felonious group informs Sam if he wants Daniel back he must assassinate the person who possesses incriminating evidence re the criminal activities of the Nine Suns. Furthermore they warn him that if others besides their assigned individual to work with him Leonie the hacker (whose daughter Taylor was also snatched) help him they will kill both infants. His boss at the Round Table Mila understands her subordinate’s dire situation, but decides to assist him anyway as she feels he needs all the help he can garner, a third group targets her and her million dollar wanted price tag.



The latest Sam Capra thriller (see the short story Last Chance) is an action-packed tale with a fascinating moral dilemma as the hero and his new partner know they must kill an innocent individual to save their children. Fast-paced throughout with a strong lead baggage laden trio, fans will relish this Adrenaline pumper enhanced by Mila’s trafficking background.



Harriet Klausner

Redemption-BJ Daniels

Redemption


BJ Daniels

Harlequin HQN, Jan 29 2013, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373777570



Jack French spent the last two years in prison doing forced ranch labor after being convicted for cattle rustling, a crime he did not do. After his release, he returns home to Beartooth, Montana with one mission in mind: enact vengeance on the unknown(s) who framed him.



While he did hard time, Kate LaFord relocated to Beartooth where she owns the Branding Iron Café. Beartooth General Store owner Lynette “Nettie” Benton persuades Sheriff Frank Curry to uncover the secrets of the enigmatic Kate and also wants to know more about her mysterious new tenant Tiffany Hayes. Lynette and Frank are attracted to each other though her remaining married but separated from her husband Bob (who resides in Arizona) leaves both hesitating to do more than harmlessly flirt. Having found a murdered corpse, Frank asks Lynette to look at a photo he found on the unidentified body; she confirms it is the dead for three decades Ackermann family. As Kate serendipitously searches for rumored gold that her mom swears exists, she and Jack meet and fall in love.



The latest Beartooth Big Sky romantic suspense (see Unforgiven) is an entertaining thriller as once again deaths from decades ago (and rumored lost gold) keep a firm grip on the townsfolk. Fast-paced from the moment Jack returns home as an unappreciated Good Samaritan and never decelerating, readers will enjoy this taut Montana tale with multiple (perhaps too many) mysteries and one and a half romances.



Harriet Klausner

The Wrath of Angels-John Connolly

The Wrath of Angels


John Connolly

Atria/Emily Bestler Books, Jan 1 2013, $26.00

ISBN: 9781476703022



Retired Maine Forest Service Ranger Harlan Vetters knows that very soon he will join his late wife Angeline. Before he dies, he summons his son and daughter to tell them the tale of the crashed airplane he and his deceased buddy Paul Scollay found in the nearby Great Northern Woods. No one reported the plane missing and the best friends found no bodies in the wreckage or in the vicinity.



However, the plane contains a list that many people covet; names of those who made a Faustian deal with the devil. Marielle Vetters and Ernie Scollay mention the plane that the forest tried to swallow to private detective Charlie Parker who believes he is on this roster of the damned. Hired by Ernie, Parker plans to find the damnation document before others like a scarred female killer; the perpetual tweener who recalls all the details of his death; and the serial killing Kushiel Collector, etc. They and others race into the Great Northern Woods searching for this lost plane with some wanting to use the list to strike at the human quislings and others especially the named needing it destroyed; unaware that the primeval forest and the malevolence that survived the crash passionately look forward to greeting visitors.



The latest Charlie Parker paranormal private investigative thriller (see The Burning Soul) is a great convoluted tale due to the dark foreboding atmosphere that engulfs everyone who enters the woods. Fast-paced from the moment Harlan tells his story to his adult children and never slows down; hooked readers will wonder what next as John Connolly writes a taut twisting suspense.



Harriet Klausner

Beyond Valor-Lindsay McKenna

Beyond Valor


Lindsay McKenna

Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Jan 22 2013, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373278091



Near Lar Sholtan, Afghanistan, highly regarded for his scrounger skills almost as much as his combat medical expertise, US Navy medic Luke Collier learns he is responsible for mentoring and keeping safe newly assigned Navy medic Megan Trayhern. General Maya Stephenson, who recognized modern warfare has no clearly delineated front line and thus created the Black Jaguar Squadron, persuaded the Pentagon to send trained female medics into the villages to gather Intel from the frightened villagers who may talk to a woman, but never a man as they fear the marines as much as the Taliban.



Luke and Megan are attracted to each other at first sight. However, each knows that the fraternization ban must be strictly adhered too especially in combat settings. Additionally, Luke knows what three deployments did to his marriage and Megan believes a relationship, especially a taboo one, would compromise her mission. Honor and duty are at war with love.



The latest Black Jaguar Squadron military romance (see His Duty To Protect and Operation: Forbidden) is a great tale due to the deep look at daily survival of combat medics in the field. The Afghani villagers bring the freshness with their fear of the marine and the Taliban. Action-packed, readers will appreciate Lindsay McKenna’s excellent forward deployed romantic thriller.



Harriet Klausner

A Date With Fortune-Susan Crosby

A Date With Fortune


Susan Crosby

Harlequin Special Edition, Jan 22 2013, $5.25

ISBN: 9780373657216



His Uncle James sent Michael Fortune, CEO of FortuneSouth Enterprise based in Atlanta to Red Rock, Texas to talk some sense into his cousin Wyatt who quit the family business and became engaged to Sarah-Jane Early (see Her New Year's Fortune by Allison Leigh). An atheist when it comes to believing in the myth of true love, Michael wonders what is in the Red Rock air as Wyatt is the seventh Fortune to find their soul mate here.



While meeting at Estelle’s Diner, Sarah-Jane invites her roommate confectioner Felicity Thomas to join them. When True Convections’ owner Felicity and Michael meet, sparks fly. She babbles mentioning his sister Wendy was her first truffles customer, which has become a booming business while the hunk in the “Suit” acts like an idiot. As they fall in love, Michael refuses to acknowledge his feelings leaving Valentine's Day apparently a misfortunate holiday for the candy-maker.



This “Fortunes of Texas: Southern Invasion” is an engaging contemporary filled with humor mostly by the Red Rock gossip brigade starting with Estelle. The virginal confectioner and the sophisticated non-believer in love make a nice pairing as Susan Crosby concocts a fun sweet romance.



Harriet Klausner

Eye of the Wizard-Daniel Arenson

Eye of the Wizard


Daniel Arenson

Moonclipse, Nov 29 2011, $10.99

ISBN: 9780987886408



Thirteen year old Scruff Thistle notices the shadow moving outside his family’s home. He forces his irritated younger brother Neev to look out the window; Neev sees the same thing, a beautiful woman who stares back at the siblings before proclaiming: “You will die, Scruff.” His sister Jamie screams waking up, their Mother and Father. The grobbler attacks but Father kills it. He tells his family he must leave as Dry Bones the evil warlock and his grobbler horde finally arrived at their village. Before the night ends, the three siblings become orphans vowing vengeance one day.



Five years later, a coven expels Neev the novice from their ranks as a loser for conjuring up fearsome looking Romy, a child demon with rabbit ears who likes ribbons and considers her new warlock as her mommy. Scruff wants to become a knight but the now seven footer refuses to use a sword so is considered unfit for warrior duty. The opposite of Scruff as she loves using a sword, Jamie also wants to become a knight, but that occupation is male only. The pair is exiled from the village. On their trek away from their home the siblings meet Cobweb the Spiderling banished from her clan due to a severe lisp. The teen quintet forges a team of mercenaries Bullies for Bucks even as Dry Bones stalks the Thistle threesome.



The first Misfit Heroes fantasy is an amusing yet dark coming of age tale. The fab five are fully developed with diverse personalities while sharing the “misfit” stereotype for not fitting in the acceptable norm. Although the dialogue at times can be inanely cutesy, fans will enjoy the satirical Bullies for Bucks’ heroic misadventures.



Harriet Klausner

The Dead Shall Not Rest-Tessa Harris

The Dead Shall Not Rest


Tessa Harris

Kensington, Dec 24, 2012, $15.00

ISBN: 9780758266996



In 1782 at the Oxfordshire annual spring fair, Lady Lydia Farrell asks her betrothed American Dr. Thomas Silkstone to examine attraction eight-foot-tall Charles “Irish Giant” Byrne. The anatomist concludes that Byrne is dying. Not wanting to be a dissected freak in death especially after learning that unscrupulous Dr. John Hunter plans on grave robbers snatching his body, Byrne arranges his burial at sea; Thomas vows to insure the man’s wishes are met.



In London, someone removed the larynx from Signor Cappelli after murdering the castrato. Because of his unsavory grave-robbing reputation and the surgical precision, Hunter becomes the prime suspect though he swears he is innocent. His rival Silkstone believes the anatomist is innocent so in spite of his preference to see the amoral doctor sent to the gallows, he investigates the homicide.



The second Dr. Thomas Silkstone mystery (see The Anatomist’s Apprentice) is an outstanding late nineteenth century whodunit. The investigation is top rate with clever clues and anchored by a strong sense of time and place; for instance Byrne and Hunter were real persona and grave-robbing was a thriving occupation as the opening transaction depicts. The Dead Shall Not Rest is a fabulous historical investigative thriller.



Harriet Klausner