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Charles Salzberg: Man on the Run
“When I walk into a room, any room, I immediately know two things: where the exit is and exactly where everyone is standing.” By the quote above some would think it’s stated by a police officer, private investigator, or perhaps an operative. In fact, it’s the master burglar Francis Hoyt. He’s known for his skill,…
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Eleanor Catton: Birnam Wood
Birnam Wood is an activist collective in the Lake Korowai area of New Zealand. The two principals, Mira Bunting and Shelley Noakes, are friends and ecological rebels in a comfortable mid-class village way. Bunting is the risk taker and the strident of the two. She likes to ‘borrow’ peoples land to do the groups…
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Florence Wetzel: The Woman Who Went Overboard
Agnes Andersson needs a husband in her life and the cruise she’s taking is her lifeline to accomplishing that. Self-described as overweight and jowly, she knows she is not desirable to everyone. Still, she is determined to find a tall, handsome husband. She spots Einar immediately, and is thrilled that he is assigned to her…
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Andrew Diamond: To Hell With Johnny Manic
Tom Gantry is a man trembling on the edge of collapse. He has assumed the persona of John Manis AKA Johnny Manic, a wealthy IT coding guru. The resemblance is so striking that Manis would play tricks on people, and laugh like hell at the deceit. Gantry gambles his way through Manis’ fortune before settling…
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Masako Togawa: The Lady Killer
Philanderer, killer The Lady Killer is a publication from 1963 translated from Japanese, it’s a little bit pulp and a little bit clever in its rendering of the tale. Ichiro Honda is a smooth operator who targets women to fulfill his sexual needs. He chooses the lonely and the uncertain. By his…
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Melissa Yi: Death Flight
ETA Emergency Just a sneak peak into Autumn and no better book than this new one by Melissa Yi. It’s number six in the Dr. Hope Sze medical crime novel series. Dr. Hope Sze flies from Montreal to Los Angeles to see Dr. John Tucker, one of the two men she is in love with.…
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Jennifer Soosar: Parent Teacher Association
Strange assembly A good book to mark the return of the school year, the debut novel Parent Teacher Association by Jennifer Soosar. Lizanne Demeter returns to the teaching world after some time in a mental institution. She is grateful for the chance at Splinter Wood Elementary. With new medication in her pocket and determined…
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Marcus Sakey: Afterlife
Entwined in ether Claire McCoy, FBI boss, Will Brody, her direct report. Lovers just discovering each other. Their lives severed then rejoined in a place neither could expect. Afterlife is not paradise. Existence on a different plane is rife with danger and more than that, it’s not even the last stop on an…
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Dot Hutchinson: The Butterfly Garden
Wings that don’t fly An enclosed garden filled with butterflies, tended by a congenial gardener. Only the butterflies are beautiful women captured and intricately tattooed. And the congeniality is the smooth mask of a psychopath. The man takes very good care of them over the years as they are there to serve his pleasure. When…
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David Joy: Where All Light Tends to Go
Backwoods Noir Jacob McNeely lives a life of self-imposed constraint. He feels cast in a poisoned drama of parental tragedy. His father Charlie runs an meth ring and has the local police on his payroll. His mother is a meth addict. Jacob believes the script of his life is written and there…