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July 12, 2011

Elizabeth Brundage: A STRANGER LIKE YOU, Part II

Posted by Stephen
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Bestselling author Elizabeth Brundage discusses a range of topics in this interview that informed her writing of A Stranger Like You, which is now available in paperback. Check out Part I here.

Editorial Content for Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

Spies. Though in reality they are supposed to blend into their surroundings and call no attention to themselves, in literature and film they are often too dashing, beautiful and extraordinarily stylish, not to mention clever and resourceful, to hide in the shadows. In ORIGINAL SIN, the first Sally Sin Adventure by Beth McMullen, the image of the spy is turned on its head in the titular character. Though many debonair and classic spy-types are present here, McMullen's Sally Sin is an undercover agent like no other. Read More

Teaser

A former U.S. spy turned stay-at-home mother of a toddler tries to find a most elusive work-life balance when the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction) decides it desperately requires her services again, and calls her back into the field.

Promo

A former U.S. spy turned stay-at-home mother of a toddler tries to find a most elusive work-life balance when the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction) decides it desperately requires her services again, and calls her back into the field.

About the Book

After falling in love and making a quick exit from her nine-year career in the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction), ex-spy Sally Sin does her best to become Lucy Hamilton, a stay-at-home mom in San Francisco. No one, not even her adoring husband Will, knows about her secret agent escapades chasing no-good masterminds through perilous jungles, escaping evil assassins, and playing dangerous games of cat and mouse with her old nemesis, Ian Blackford, a notorious and dashing illegal arms dealer.

In her new life as Lucy Hamilton, she squeezes inside forts crafted from couch cushions by her three-year-old son Theo, makes organic applesauce, and frequents the zoo. But sometimes her well-honed spy reflexes refuse to lay low. She can't help breaking into her own house to check on the babysitter or stop herself from tossing the yoga instructor who gets on her nerves. And when Ian Blackford, who is supposed to be dead, once again starts causing trouble for the USAWMD, the agency becomes desperate to get Sally back on the job.

How can Sally or Lucy or whatever her name is save the planet while at the same time keeping her own family's world from spinning out of control?

Every bit as much fun as a spy-mom thriller ought to be, ORIGINAL SIN is a fast-paced adventure story for mothers and spies, and anyone who has ever dreamed about being either.

Editorial Content for Iron House

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

In the acknowledgements to his brilliant new novel, John Hart reveals that he almost walked away from it during the writing process. Whatever difficulties he experienced, however, are not evident upon reading it. IRON HOUSE is a complex but sure-footed work from first word to last, full of beauty and horror, love and violence, and all things in between.

"IRON HOUSE is not necessarily for the squeamish, but John Hart...creates prose shot through with a rough and raw beauty that is compelling and riveting even through its darkest passages."

Teaser

At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, orphaned Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. Decades later, Michael is an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime. But when he revisits the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago, he will encounter a whole new level of danger.

Promo

At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, orphaned Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. Decades later, Michael is an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime. But when he revisits the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago, he will encounter a whole new level of danger.

About the Book

Two families. Two brothers. One explosive secret.

John Hart has written four New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. The New York Times labeled his work “Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding.” Now he delivers a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.

There was nothing but time at the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, time for two orphans to learn that life is neither painless nor won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is both feared and fiercely protective. When an older boy is brutally killed, Michael makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect his brother: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.

For two decades, Michael thrives on the streets of New York, eventually clawing his way to a world of wealth, fear and respect. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets a woman who knows nothing of his past or sins. He wants a fresh start with Elena, the chance to build a family of his own. But a life in organized crime is not so easily abandoned. With a price on his head and everyone he loves at risk, Michael spirits Elena back to North Carolina, to the brother he’d lost and a thicket of intrigue more dense than he could possibly imagine. In a tour de force narrative of violence, hope and redemption, the brothers must return to the Iron House of their childhood, to the place that almost broke them, the place it all began.

Editorial Content for Hotwire: A Maggie O'Dell Novel

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

Over the past several years, there has dev Read More

Teaser

Three generations of women converge on the family beach house in this wickedly funny, emotionally resonant story of love and dysfunction from the author of the bestselling debut novel COMMENCEMENT.

Promo

Special Agent Maggie O'Dell investigates the death of three teenagers, only to find herself in the middle of a conspiracy involving biological warfare.

About the Book

In New York Times bestselling author Alex Kava's new thriller, Special Agent Maggie O'Dell investigates the death of three teenagers, only to find herself in the middle of a conspiracy involving biological warfare.

On a crisp fall evening in western Nebraska, what started as a group of kids filming their drug-fueled party ends in an explosive light show, leaving the victims apparently electrocuted, with odd scorch marks being the only evidence. While Maggie tries to make sense of the dif­ferent stories, sifting through what is real and what is hallu­cination, she realizes that the surviving teens are being targeted and systematically eliminated.

Meanwhile on the East Coast, Maggie's FBI partner, R.J. Tully and Army colonel Benjamin Platt are at the scene of a deadly outbreak, desperate to identify the pathogen that has infected children at a Virginia elementary school. Despite the miles that separate them, the two cases collide as Maggie, Tully and Platt uncover secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the remote Midwest landscape.

Interview: Alice LaPlante, author of Turn of Mind

Jul 8, 2011

While TURN OF MIND is Alice LaPlante’s first novel, she has 20 years of experience as a writer and writing teacher, having earned the titles of award-winning journalist, corporate editorial consultant, writing coach, and university-level instructor. But she admits that fiction is her "true love." Bookreporter.com’s Norah Piehl spoke with LaPlante about her compelling literary thriller and the personal reasons for creating her 64-year-old protagonist, Jennifer White, who has Alzheimer’s. She discusses the challenges of delving into the mind of such a character and the crucial storytelling decisions that make it possible to follow Jennifer's thoughts all the way through her dementia.

July 7, 2011

Elizabeth Brundage: A STRANGER LIKE YOU, Part I

Posted by Stephen
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Bestselling author Elizabeth Brundage discusses a range of topics in this interview that informed her writing of A Stranger Like You, which is now available in paperback. Check out Part II next week!
July 5, 2011

Deborah Cloyed: THE SUMMER WE CAME TO LIFE - Part II

Posted by Stephen
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Deborah Cloyed’s debut novel, The Summer We Came to Life, is a beautiful story that centers around Samantha Wheland and her best friends of two generations. The relationship between the characters is so vivid that it feels as if the author drew from her own real-life experiences to capture such realism.

Alice LaPlante, author of Turn of Mind

A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, TURN OF MIND has already received worldwide attention.