The Drunkard's Walk How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

Interesting ideas, but the author backs them up with long, and not always riveting stories. If this book were 1/5 the size it would be fascinating. Even so, its worth wading through because the ideas expressed are consistent with how the world actually works.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Enjoyable long yarn.

The Sanctuary Sparrow The Seventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters

Seven books into this series the formulas are becoming clear and predictable, but even so, I look forward to the next. PW: Barely four weeks past Easter of the Year of Our Lord 1140, with Shrewsbury and all its region secure within the King's peace, the conventual peace of Matins within the great Abbey church of St Peter and St Paul is suddenly and most rudely shattered. Hunted and hounded by an angry mob into the comparative safety of sanctuary within the House of God, a terrified young man, accused of robbery and murder, and closely followed by his accusers and would-be executioners, disturbs the midnight office of the good monks of Shrewsbury. And so starts the seventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, in which the mediaeval sleuth finds himself with yet another wrong to right, by once more putting his mind to the solving of one of Shrewsbury's small mysteries. In this particular case, the mystery is no greatly complex affair but it is, in any case, largely subsidiary to Ellis Peters' painting of a finely detailed picture of life in twelfth century England, and more especially here, within a moderately wealthy family household. There are some unexpected twists and developments along the way, though, and there is certainly nothing predictable about the way the story works itself out, although the ending is no particular surprise either. In some respects, this is one of the best of the Cadfael books. Its opening pages contain some of Ellis Peters' finest writing, with her descriptions of the running to ground of young Liliwin and the reactions of Abbot Radulfus being quite hair-raising in their potency. The tale unfolds at a sure and steady pace thereafter, too, ensuring that it is always difficult to put the book down, right up until the final exciting, and rather tear-jerking, denouement.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Just too depressing to continue listening. Not my bag.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

Always good to be reading about Harry, hope it's not too long till the next book. PW With his retirement looming, LAPD's Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch takes on two seemingly unrelated cases. The first is a botched DNA test from a 1989 rape and murder, which has been pinned on a convicted rapist who was only eight years old at the time of the crime. Harry's pursuit of that case is interrupted by the apparent suicide of a councilman's son. A former police chief and no fan of Harry's, the councilman insists that Harry investigate his son's death. In pursuit of the truth, and an elusive killer, Bosch and his partner uncover secrets and a political conspiracy deep within the police department. Connelly's aging hero is a flawed, haunted, and unforgettable character; his creator is a master craftsman.

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

Smart, funny and quirky. PW: Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble.

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question.

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . . .

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Interesting perspective but a little to sic fi for my tastes. PW: It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people--a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic--who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

This is the first book in the Amelia Peabody series, and my first book as well. Peters style is fun and engaging though the plot was a little boring. I'd try another from this series. PW: Elizabeth Peters's unforgettable heroine Amelia Peabody makes her first appearance in this clever mystery. Amelia receives a rather large inheritance and decides to use it for travel. On her way through Rome to Egypt, she meets Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a young woman abandoned by her lover and left with no means of support. Amelia promptly takes Evelyn under her wing, insisting that the young lady accompany her to Egypt, where Amelia plans to indulge her passion for Egyptology. When Evelyn becomes the target of an aborted kidnapping and the focus of a series of suspicious accidents and mysterious visitations, Amelia becomes convinced of a plot to harm her young friend. Like any self-respecting sleuth, Amelia sets out to discover who is behind it all.

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz

Started off pretty annoying but grew on me by the end - perhaps if I'd listened to the three preceding books first it would have been better. On the fence about reading Lutz again. PW: In Edgar-finalist Lutz's entertaining fourth and final novel about the eccentric Spellman PI clan (after Revenge of the Spellmans), Isabel Izzy Spellman juggles the usual family drama—her mother tries to sabotage Izzy's relationship with her Irish bartender boyfriend and younger sister Rae throws herself into freeing a wrongly convicted man—while helping to drum up business in a dreary economy. While Rae works on her Free Schmidt campaign, Izzy investigates the whereabouts of a missing valet with a checkered past and sifts through garbage for a screenwriter client. Older brother David, the only Spellman not involved in the family business, grows closer to his defense attorney girlfriend. On the sly, Izzy is also tailing Rick Harkey, a rival San Francisco PI, and discovers that Harkey left behind a trail of suspicious arrests and conveniently misplaced evidence in his career as a cop. Narrator Izzy's biting wit—mixed with a refreshing dose of humility and sadness—easily carries the story.

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler

Good read, would like to read another in the Rain series.  PW: At the start of Eisler's taut and compelling fourth thriller to feature John Rain (after 2004's Rain Storm), the freelance assassin's latest employer, Israeli intelligence, has sent him and his longtime associate, Dox, to Manila to kill weapons dealer Manheim Levi. Just as Rain is about to make his move, however, Levi's young son suddenly appears on the scene; Levi's bodyguards wind up shot while Levi and his son escape. The dead bodyguards turn out to be ex-CIA; and Jim Hilger, the renegade Company man with whom they were also working, is upset enough to ask his own specialists to exact revenge. Trying to find a way to complete his mission, Rain contacts Delilah, a fellow intelligence agent with whom he's been involved. But her Mossad colleagues, who have lost their trust in Rain's reliability, are setting up their own plan to take care of him.

Zero Day by David Baldacci

Enjoyed this book, the only bummer was the end was weak. Lot's of reviewers complained of this being a Jack Reacher rip off, but I didn't think so. Even if it was, it was better Reacher than Lee Child has been doing. PW: John Puller is a combat veteran and the best military investigator in the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division. His father was an Army fighting legend, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason in a federal military prison. Puller has an indomitable spirit and an unstoppable drive to find the truth. Now, Puller is called out on a case in a remote, rural area in West Virginia coal country far from any military outpost. Someone has stumbled onto a brutal crime scene, a family slaughtered. The local homicide detective, a headstrong woman with personal demons of her own, joins forces with Puller in the investigation. As Puller digs through deception after deception, he realizes that absolutely nothing he's seen in this small town, and no one in it, are what they seem. Facing a potential conspiracy that reaches far beyond the hills of West Virginia, he is one man on the hunt for justice against an overwhelming force.

The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters

As usual very enjoyable. PW: It is winter 1139 and the tranquil life in the monastery gardens in Shrewsbury is again interrupted by violence. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an eighteen year old girl of great beauty, with their companion, a young Benedictine nun. But the trio have disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside. Cadfael fears for these three lost lambs, but his skills are needed to tend to a wounded monk, found naked and bleeding at the roadside. Why this holy man has been attacked and what his fevered ravings reveal soon give brother Cadfael a clue to the fate of the missing travellers and he sets out to find them. The search will lead him to discover a chilling and terrible murder, and a tale of passion gone astray.

Shatner Rules by William Shatner, Chris Regan

OK, I can't believe it but I enjoyed this book "Your Guide to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large". I enjoyed his bio too. This is surprising because I have not particular interest n Shatner, but he is an entertainer and he entertains.

Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming

I liked it, Bond visits america and meets the mob. PW: Tiffany Case, a cold, gorgeous, devil-may-care blonde, stands between James Bond and the leaders of a diamond-smuggling ring that stretches from Africa to London to the United States. Bond uses her to infiltrate this gang, but once in America the hunter becomes the hunted. Agent 007 is in real danger until help comes from an unlikely quarter, the ice maiden herself.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Lindsay has a subtle style, and this was my favorite of the three I read thus far in the Dexter series. I look forward to reading another, and while the TV series is heavily influenced by the books, the two do not give each other away. PW: The story opens with Dexter at play, kidnapping and killing a priest who has murdered a number of children, then moves on to the main plot, a series of gruesome killings of prostitutes by an unknown madman. Dexter's foster sister is a Miami Vice Squad cop working on the killings, so Dexter decides to help her solve the case. This puts him in conflict with a dumb but ambitious female homicide detective as well as, soon enough, the killer himself, whose approach to serial killing mirrors Dexter's own, uncomfortably so. Might Dexter himself be the culprit? The answer feels a bit contrived, but will surprise most readers, and it's a minor flaw in a gripping, deliciously offbeat novel that announces the arrival of a notable new talent.

The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters

In this, the Fifth (1981) Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, Peters maintains consistency and excellence in the series. PW: Brother Cadfael sets out to visit the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, knowing that a grand wedding is due to take place at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. As he arrives at Saint Giles, the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride, looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians, and the groom, an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. With his usual astuteness he suspects that this union may be more damned than blessed. He is horrifically proved right when a savage murder disrupts the May-December marriage leaving Brother Cadfael with a dark and terrible mystery to solve. For the key to the killing - and a secret - are hidden among the lepers of Saint Giles, and Brother Cadfael's skills must diagnose a sickness, not of the body, but of a twisted soul.

The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block

While I like Block a lot, this was my first Bernie Rhodenbarr story and I liked it and would like to read another. PW: It's hard to ignore someone with his hands in your mouth. Bernie Rhodenbarr's all ears when Dr. Sheldrake, his dentist, starts complaining about his detestable, soon-to-be-ex wife, and happens to mention the valuable diamonds she keeps lying around the apartment. Since Bernie's been known to supplement his income as a bookstore owner with the not-so-occasional bout of high-rise burglary, a couple of nights later he's in the Sheldrake apartment with larceny on his mind -- and has to duck into a closet when the lady of the house makes an unexpected entrance. Unfortunately he's still there when an unseen assailant does Mrs. Sheldrake in . . . and then vanishes with the jewels. Bernie's got to come out of the closet some time. But when he does, he'll be facing a rap for a murder he didn't commit -- and for a burglary he certainly attempted -- unless he can hunt down the killer who left him hanging.

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

This autobiography of a theif was highly reviewed by just OK for me. I didn't really like the main character, didn't really dislike him either, but the story was OK. PW: Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it's a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe ... he can open them all. It's an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime. Until he finally sees his chance to escape, and with one desperate gamble risks everything to come back home to the only person he ever loved, and to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long.

For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming

Five short stories find James Bond facing danger from a variety of sources. Enjoyable.

Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories by Michael Connelly

While the reviews have been bad, I enjoyed these (very) short stories. PW: In "Suicide Run," the apparent suicide of a beautiful young starlet turns out to be much more sinister than it seems. In "Cielo Azul," Bosch is haunted by a long-ago closed case -- the murder of a teenage girl who was never identified. As her killer sits on death row, Bosch tries one last time to get the answers he has sought for years. In "One Dollar Jackpot," Bosch works the murder of a professional poker player whose skills have made her more than one enemy.

Pursuit by Thomas Perry

I enjoyed this and will look for another book with Roy Prescott. Thirteen bodies are found in a Louisville restaurant. When the police can find no suspect or motive, a victim’s family seeks the services of the enigmatic and solitary specialist Roy Prescott, known for his ability to find people who don’t want to be found. Working outside the law and willing to do what the police can’t, Prescott hunts the killer, an elusive adversary who is as smart, as methodical, as deadly as he is. The only way to conduct this pursuit is to goad the killer into believing that he must kill Roy Prescott. It is a contest fought from one end of the country to the other, and both men understand that when it’s over, only one of them will be alive.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Enjoyable but not as good as the reviews. I didn't really like the narration style. Interesting look at what really makes a successful baseball team.

The Detachment by Barry Eisler

Eisler did a great job of creating complex and likable characters - the short coming is too much discussions of things that don't pan out in the plot. If this 10 hour book was reduced to 8 or 9 it would be better. Eisler really hit his stride with The Detachment, and gone from mildly interesting to very enjoyable. PW: When legendary black ops veteran Colonel Scott “Hort” Horton tracks Rain down in Tokyo, Rain can’t resist the offer: a multi-million dollar payday for the “natural causes” demise of three ultra-high-profile targets who are dangerously close to launching a coup in America. But the opposition on this job is going to be too much for even Rain to pull it off alone. He’ll need a detachment of other deniable irregulars: his partner, the former Marine sniper, Dox. Ben Treven, a covert operator with ambivalent motives and conflicted loyalties. And Larison, a man with a hair trigger and a secret he’ll kill to protect.

Shock Wave by John Sandford

Virgil's back and it's good. PW: The superstore chain PyeMart has its sights set on a Minnesota river town, but two very angry groups want to stop it: local merchants, fearing for their businesses, and environmentalists, predicting ecological disaster. The protests don't seem to be slowing the project, though, until someone decides to take matters into his own hands.

Ghost In The Wires by Kevin Mitnick, William Simon

Super interesting tale about a hacker and the amazing stuff he does, but he wines and talks about being a nice guy when he causes so many people trouble. So good content and unlikable character - close call.

The Affair by Lee Child

This was a really enjoyable series that was in decline, the last two books were so bad I figured I was done reading the Jack Reacher series. BUT The Affair was a great rebound and a real fun read. PW: Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice—and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

I read the book, saw the movie, and listened to the audio book. The book is very good. PW: During his junior year at the University of California, Dan Millman first stumbled upon his mentor (nicknamed Socrates) at an all-night gas station. At the time, Millman hoped to become a world-champion gymnast. "To survive the lessons ahead, you're going to need far more energy than ever before," Socrates warned him that night. "You must cleanse your body of tension, free your mind of stagnant knowledge, and open your heart to the energy of true emotion." From there, the unpredictable Socrates proceeded to teach Millman the "way of the peaceful warrior." At first Socrates shattered every preconceived notion that Millman had about academics, athletics, and achievement. But eventually Millman stopped resisting the lessons, and began to try on a whole new ideology--one that valued being conscious over being smart, and strength in spirit over strength in body. Although the character of the cigarette-smoking Socrates seems like a fictional, modern-day Merlin, Millman asserts that he is based on an actual person. Certain male readers especially appreciate the coming-of-age theme, the haunting love story with the elusive woman Joy, and the challenging of Western beliefs about masculine power and success.

The Face Changers by Thomas Perry

Perry is one of my favorite author's but the Jane Whitefield series is not usually interesting to me. Face Changers is the best in the series and an enjoyable read. PW: Jane Whitefield, Thomas Perry's Native American "guide," has recently married Dr. Carey McKinnon and is now retired from helping people disappear from danger. But when her husband's old mentor, a world-famous plastic surgeon wanted by the police for a murder he didn't commit, turns up in Carey's emergency room, Jane steps back into the shadowy world of runners and hunters one more time. In this fourth outing in Edgar-winning Perry's fascinating and innovative series, Jane discovers that someone else is using her name and reputation to take fugitives out of the world, but for very different, and diabolical, purposes. Whitefield's Seneca heritage, plus her unique talents, make her a novel and compelling heroine, and Perry's masterful storytelling makes the most of Whitefield in this suspenseful page-turner.

Dexter By Design by Jeff Lindsay

Second book in the series I've read and I'd like to read another. Slow and quirky, the author and characters have their own endearing style. PW: After a joyous honeymoon in Paris, Dexter is feeling pretty normal. But when a corpse is found displayed on a Miami beach, Dexter realizes another killer is on the loose.

Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile

Entertaining. The insights into congressional spending are little scary.

The Company by Robert Littell

Very long and very good. Interesting look at the CIA in the context of a thriller. PW: Racing across a landscape spanning the legendary Berlin Base of the 1950s - the front line of the simmering Cold War - the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and the Gorbachev putsch, The Company tells the thrilling story of agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an enemy that is amoral, elusive, and formidable. It also lays bare the internecine warfare within the company itself, adding another dimension to the spy vs. spy game.

The Steve Jobs Way by Jay Elliot & William L. Simon

Interesting.

Black Widow by Randy Wayne White

Not bad, would try the author again. PW: In Black Widow, Ford's goddaughter pleads with him to help her out of a jam. An extortionist with a lurid videotape of her bachelorette party is threatening to ruin her imminent marriage. Despite getting paid, the blackmailer releases the tape anyway—and that's only the beginning of Doc's troubles.

Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block

Slow, but Block's characters are so likable and interesting that the book was a pleasure. PW: Matthew Scudder is facing his demons. Forced out of the NYPD, he's given up the drink. He's thinking seriously about his relationship with sometime girlfriend Jan. Then he runs into "High-Low" Jack Ellery, a childhood friend from the Bronx. They're two sides of the same coin: Scudder once solved crimes as a detective. Ellery committed them. In Scudder, Ellery sees the moral man he might have become. In Ellery, Scudder sees the hard-won sobriety he hopes to achieve.

Electric Barracuda by Tim Dorsey

Too wacky for me, stopped listening about 1/3 the way thru.

Paris Is A Bitch by Barry Eisler

OK short story that is a teaser for The Detachment, out September 15 - might be interesting, not sure. John Rain and gorgeous Mossad op Delilah take on hoodlums looking to kidnap and hurt Delilah.

Plum Island by Nelson DeMille

Enjoyable. Story of buried treasure and biological warfare on a tiny spit of land off Long Island. As told by a wry, wounded New York City detective who is drafted to explore a couple of murders, Plum Island is a rich pudding of flavorful (if familiar) ingredients, including a ferocious storm at sea.

Vertical Coffin by Stephen J. Cannell

Enjoyable, forgettable and predictable. My first Cannell book, I'd read him again.

PW: The title of the latest entry in Cannell's Shane Scully LAPD series (Hollywood Tough; The Tin Collectors; The Viking Funeral) is police jargon for any doorway, which is where cops are most vulnerable when clearing a house. As the novel begins, Shane stumbles into a full-scale barricade shootout between gunman Vincent Smiley and surrounding police. After one of two competing SWAT teams at the scene burns down the barricaded house with Smiley in it, a fight over who is to blame begins to smolder. Several subsequent cop shootings (with all victims caught in the aforementioned vertical coffins) fan the SWAT team turf tussle into a conflagration that Shane and wife Alexa, the acting head of the LAPD Detective Services Group, are assigned to investigate. Shane, an old school detective, insists on starting from zero and looking into shooter Smiley's past. Everyone else wants him to forget the gumshoe routine and come up with an instant solution. The pleasure of Cannell's work isn't in the writing ("Bullets whined and ricocheted in a deadly concert of tortured metal"), but lies more often in the interesting procedural elements ("It's very hard to protect a crime scene, so I always start at the far edges first, and work in toward the body"). Shane's still a little rough around the edges, but despite too many pop psychology musings, he's a dependable and satisfying character. Readers will enjoy watching him puzzle out the twists and turns of the plot and watch breathlessly as he undertakes a climactic high-speed chase in a souped-up dune buggy on a military shooting range.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Brilliant. Shepherd takes a journey through life. Jeremy Irons is an excellent narrator.

Life by Keith Richards

OK. It's a long book about a fascinating lifestyle. Life as a Rolling Stone sounds like a wild ride, but Richards wasn't the kind of guy I'd choose to take it with.

The Holy by Daniel Quinn

Wow this book is a wild ride. At 150 pages in I thought it might be the best I've ever read, and then it takes off down a country side road. I had no idea what was going on or why this tale became so disjointed. But the author ultimately ties things together and the reader is left with an enjoyable dose of Quinn's always thought provoking wisdom.

Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale

What a surprise, this book was fascinating. I wasn't crazy about the protagonist but his story is very exciting.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Bought this because of the great reviews but I found it boring and had no interest in finishing it.

Thunderball by Ian Fleming

Enjoyable, Bond is Bond.

Gamble by Felix Francis

The worst book in the Dick Francis series, Felix Francis doesn't have his dad's gift. Boring.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Like Quinn's other books, Ishmael puts out ideas that change the way you look at the world. Really interesting perspective.

The Third Option by Vince Flynn

The Third Option is Vince Flynn's third novel, and the second to feature Mitch Rapp, is standard fare - so if you like VF then you'll eat this up. PW: CIA counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp falls prey to government forces with an agenda of their own after Dr. Irene Kennedy is named the successor to dying CIA Director Thomas Stansfield -- a choice that enrages many inside the world's most powerful intelligence agency. Her detractors will resort to extreme measures to prevent her from taking the reins -- which makes Rapp an expendable asset. But Mitch Rapp is no one's pawn, and he will stop at nothing to find out who has set him up.

After The Funeral by Agatha Christie

OK.

When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say, “It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it.… But he was murdered, wasn’t he?”

The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming

Enjoyable read.

A brainwashed James Bond has tried—and failed—to assassinate M, his boss. Now Bond has to prove he is back on form and can be trusted again. All 007 has to do is kill one of the most deadly freelance hit men in the world: Paco "Pistols" Scaramanga, the Man with the Golden Gun. But despite his license to kill, 007 is no assassin, and on finding Scaramanga in the sultry heat of Jamaica, he decides to infiltrate the killer’s criminal cooperative—and realizes that he will have to take him out as swiftly as possible. Otherwise 007 might just be the next on a long list of British Secret Service numbers retired by the Man with the Golden Gun...

House Divided by Mike Lawson

Enjoyable but not the best in the Joe DeMarco series, but look forward to the next.

When the NSA was caught wiretapping U.S. citizens without warrants, a scandal erupted and the program came to a screeching halt. But the man who spearheaded the most sophisticated eavesdropping operation in history wasn’t about to sit by while his country sleepwalked into another 9/11. Instead, he moved the program into the shadows. So when the NSA records a rogue military group murdering two American civilians, they can’t exactly walk over to the Pentagon and demand to know what’s going on. That doesn’t mean their hands are tied, however. As the largest intelligence service in the country, both in money and manpower, they have plenty of options— mostly illegitimate.

One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt

If you liked any of Rosenfelt's books you'll like this one - it's classic Andy Carpenter. The plot gets a little unbelievable towards the end, but who cares. Light and very enjoyable.


For six years Noah Galloway has lived with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered at any moment. Now his dread has become a certainty, and he has been arrested for the arson murder of twenty-six people.

What he needs now is defense lawyer Andy Carpenter, who most definitely is not in the market for a new client. So Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, and the knowledge of what her life was like before Andy rescued her. Because Andy wasn’t her first owner—Noah rescued Tara first, and when he wasn’t able to care for her any longer, he did everything in his power to make sure that she was placed in the right home: Andy’s.

With that knowledge, Andy has little choice but to take Noah on, and he soon learns that the long-ago event that may destroy Noah’s life is only the beginning of an ongoing conspiracy that grows more deadly by the day. Andy will have to pull out all of his tricks to get to the bottom of this cold case turned white hot in the latest in David Rosenfelt’s popular mystery series.

St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters

The fourth in the Father Cadfael and I suspect I'll read the entire series. Interesting times and characters with a meandering, mostly predictable plot line.

Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva

A good story recycled with engaging characters - the author has a good series and keeps coming up with slight variations. Will read more of this series. Good entertainment.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Quirky, slow - lightly entertaining but not enough so to make me want to return to the story.

iWoz by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith

There is definitely 'I' in iWoz. Interesting technical history in mediocre memoir, Woz didn't come across as that likable or hate-able. The story reads as follows: I was the first to do XXX...

Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye

Very, very, good, hard to believe it's Faye's first book, can't wait to read her next book (due in March 2012). Pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper in a vividly detailed nineteenth-century London. Ever since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of the detective Sherlock Holmes, fans have clamored for more. Numerous authors have taken up the task of keeping Holmes alive, but few have successfully delivered as faithful an offshoot as Lyndsay Faye's Dust and Shadow, wherein she brings an unparalleled authenticity to the legendary hero. Just as Faye breathes new life into Sherlock Holmes, she masterfully recreates one of history's most diabolical villains with her version of Whitechapel's serial killer; penned as a pastiche by the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson, and brimming with impeccable historical detail, this astonishing debut novel explores the terrifying prospect of tracking a serial killer without the advantage of modern forensics and profiling.

Void Moon by Michael Connelly

OK, maybe a little better but relatively week for Connelly.  PW: Cassie Black, a resourceful ex-con, plans to burgle the Las Vegas casino's high roller suite where, five years before, a previous attempt resulted in her arrest and the death of her lover. It's an intriguing premise, and L.J. Ganser delivers a mesmerizing and nuanced performance. In creating Jack Karch, the bon vivant Vegas private eye who moonlights as a hit man, Ganser settles on a genial, almost charming delivery, underplaying the character's sinister psychopathology and adding to the suspense.

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Really enjoying re-reading this series 25 years later. This is the first Bond book and a solid start that gives an insight to Flemings understanding that he was developing a series.

Freedom (TM) by Daniel Suarez

Even better than the first in the series, Daemon. I'm stealing someone else's words "...an ambitious novel, which sets out not only to entertain, which it surely does, but also to challenge the reader to consider social issues as broad as the implications of living in a technologically advanced world and whether democracy can survive in such a world."

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

The ideas in this book are so creative, fresh and insightful that it puts this book in a class of it's own. The story is pretty good too. PW: Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity. When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity. Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan.

The Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters

Another enjoyable journey into this delightful series. Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the Abbey boasts the services of the clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, he good monk recognises Richildis, whom he loved many years ago before he took his vows, and Master Bonel has been fatallly poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's herbarium. The Sherrif is convinced that the murdered is Richildis' son Edwin, who had reasons aplenty to hate his stepfather. But Cadfael, guided in part by his tender concern for a woman to whom he was once betrothed, is certain of her son's innocence. Using his knowledge of both herbs and the human heart, Cadfael deciphers a deadly recipe for murder.

The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block

Slow plot, but Lawrence's characters are so interestingly normal. PW: Block has been getting better and better in recent Matt Scudder novels, but as this first hardcover version of a 16-year-old paperback shows, he was pretty good from the start. King's admiring introduction is generous but by no means overstated. This tale, which introduced the then-hard-drinking ex-cop, is spare and lean and full of dark insights into lonesomeness and anguish. The father of murdered Wendy Hanniford comes to Scudder to try to find out more about his errant daughter--not to find her killer, who was apparently her living partner, a brittle young man who was found in the street raving and covered with her blood and who killed himself shortly after he was arrested. In his dour, methodical, oddly empathetic way, Scudder finds out a great deal, altering several lives in the process.

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Fun concept and light and enjoyable read, I would read another.  PW: Dexter, your friendly neighborhood serial killer, is a police department blood-spatter expert who, in his spare time, kills people. Not just anyone, you understand--he only kills other killers, people whom he believes deserve it. Is this because Dexter really has a heart of gold? No, he's a monster (he is the first to admit it), but at least he tries to steer his evil into productive channels. In the second of Lindsay's alliteratively titled thrillers (following last year's Darkly Dreaming Dexter), Dexter's nemesis, Sergeant Doakes, is getting a little too close for comfort, and there is also the matter of a psychopath on the loose. When Dexter's two problems eventually link up . . . well, what's a well-meaning homicidal maniac to do? Dexter, the cheerfully sociopathic crime fighter, is one of mystery fiction's most original, compelling, and oddly endearing heroes.

The Messenger by Daniel Silva

Very good and a good series. PW: starring Israeli art restorer and spymaster Gabriel Allon. Ahmed bin Shafiq, a former chief of a clandestine Saudi intelligence unit, targets the Vatican for attack, in particular Pope Paul VII and his top aide, Monsignor Luigi Donati, who both appeared in Silva's previous novel, Prince of Fire. Shafiq, who now heads his own terrorist network, is allied with a militant Islamic Saudi businessman known as Zizi, a true believer committed to the destruction of all infidels. Gabriel's challenge is to infiltrate Zizi's organization, a task he assigns to a beautiful American art expert, Sarah Bancroft. Gabriel promises he'll protect her, but plans go awry, and by the end Sarah faces torture and death.

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

Rereading this series has been such a pleasant surprise, these books are much better than I remembered.

Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson

A very strong addition to the already strong Walt Longmire series. Johnson's subtle touch is masterful and the characters and the writing are so good that the plot is gravy on the cake.

PW: Johnson's sixth mystery featuring Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire (after 2009's Dark Horse) will remind readers that a big city isn't necessary for a compelling crime story and enduring hero. One blizzardy February day, Walt and his deputies—Victoria Moretti and Santiago Saizarbitoria—visit the Durant, Wyo., dump, owned by the Stewart family, to investigate a severed thumb found in a discarded cooler. There they discover that the Stewart family patriarch, George, was almost killed after someone dragged him behind a '68 Toronado. Walt winds up playing peacemaker between the cantankerous Stewarts, longtime Durant residents, and the owner of a new housing development bordering the junkyard. When a search of the dump unearths a surprising side business and two deaths follow, Walt realizes he has bigger problems on his hands. Series fans as well as newcomers will cheer the laconic Walt every step of the way.

Trader Of Secrets by Steve Martini

Martini is excellent in the court room but this book was far from it and mediocre at best.

Forced To Kill by Andrew Peterson

Fun and intricate ride. Deals with torture but the author avoided the predictable plot lines most would have succumbed to. I would read Peterson again.

PW: Nathan McBride is never backed away from danger, and he's not about to start now, even if it means confronting the cold-blooded interrogator who tortured him to the brink of death more than a decade ago. When a mutilated body is discovered in a remote Utah lake, it ignites a chain of events that forces Nathan to face a dark chapter from a past he's worked hard to forget. Could his Nicaraguan enemy be active again? On American soil? The evidence is clear, but the stakes are higher than Nathan can know. In a showdown that will test Nathan's understanding of justice and mercy, he'll have to make a life or death decision that has the potential to expose and destroy people at the highest levels of government.

The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry

Long and detailed but a wild ride and enjoyable. Would read the author again but might consider an abridged edition. PW: At the start of bestseller Berry's second thriller to feature Cotton Malone (after The Templar Legacy), Malone, a former employee of the covert branch of the U.S. Justice Department, is trying to lead a secluded life as a bookseller in Copenhagen. Unsurprisingly, that hope is short-lived when his son is kidnapped and his ex-wife, Pam, asks for his help in rescuing the boy. The abductors intend to force Malone to reveal what he knows about the survival of the legendary lost library of Alexandria, which may hold ancient texts that could undermine Israel's claim to biblical legitimacy. Malone and his allies get mixed up in Washington intrigue and double-dealing as they try to identify the high-level traitor seeking to use the secret sources to change the dynamics of the Middle East. Characters implausibly leave enemies unsecured, placing themselves in unnecessary jeopardy, while the notion that the texts could have the desired effect may strike some readers as too far-fetched. Predictable plots twists (like the growing rapprochement between Malone and Pam) and superficial treatment of the issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians are further minuses.

Hit And Run by Lawrence Block

Block creates very interesting characters but Hit And Run had a mediocre plot. Nevertheless it was enjoyable and I would read more of his works. The first book in this series, Hit Man, was a compilation of short stories and it moved quicker and was more interesting.

Just one more job—paid in advance—and he's going to retire. Waiting in Des Moines for the client's go-ahead, Keller's picking out stamps for his collection at a shop in Urbandale when somebody guns down the charismatic governor of Ohio. Back at his motel, Keller sees the killer's face broadcast on TV. A face he's seen quite often. Every morning. In the mirror.

Buried Prey by John Sandford

Nothing special but consistently enjoyable like the rest of the (21 book) series. Gives a peek into the beginning of Lucas Davenport's career.  In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal. His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth.

No Time Left by David Baldacci

Short story. Not very good.

Sweepers by P. T. Deutermann

Pretty good, author has a lot of potential but many things were unbelievable. It begins with a routine police investigation. A beautiful woman is dead. A detective needs answers. And a newly appointed Pentagon admiral is scrambling for his career and for his life. Suddenly, the inner ring of the Pentagon is being rocked by a living nightmare: a Sweeper-a trained covert assassin, an ex-SEAL scarred by one horrific episode in Vietnam-has gone rogue. And his killing has just begun...

With a searing insider's view of Pentagon politics, retired Navy captain P.T. Deutermann writes military suspense worthy of Tom Clancy and Nelson DeMile. Now, in his electrifying new novel, a powerful ex-Marine and a courageous woman face a kill zone: of deception, ambition, and sweeping revenge...

The Informant by Thomas Perry

Great, I loved it, didn't want it to end. The third in Perry's The Butcher's Boy series (The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs and The Informant). The only thing I don't like about this series is that the book timeline matches the release timeline of about once every 10 years. Publishers Weekly: ...pits the Butcher's Boy (aka Michael Schaeffer), an impeccably effective hit man, against his old nemesis, Elizabeth Waring, an impeccably honest Justice Department official. Though Waring's boss, arrogant political appointee Dale Hunsecker, tries to hamstring her, Waring wants to bolster her 20-year pursuit of Mafia bosses by turning the Butcher's Boy into America's most important informant. Waring soon enters into an intricate pas de deux with a man who considers death a buy-sell commodity. Meanwhile, this icy yet strangely appealing killer, who reads Waring as well as she reads him, methodically murders capo after capo and their "made men" across the country, the only way he can safely return to his quiet retirement in England with his beloved wife, Meg. Perry offers a compelling, rapid-fire plot, credible Mafia and FBI secondary characters, an indictment of self-serving officialdom, and the old soul-shattering moral dilemma: what is truth?

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille

Painfully slow and long but a very interesting story. It was hard to get through the first half of the book and hard to put it down the last half. The author obviously knows the subject matter. On the road from Smolensk to Moscow, an American tourist, Gregory Fisher, is confronted by a man on the run: an Air Force major who was shot down over appears from his hotel and soon turns up dead, the victim of a suspicious car crash. Intelligence officer Sam Hollis, press attache Lisa Rhodes and CIA bureau chief Seth Alevy must discover for themselves what is going on at the Charm School. They must also decide whether public revelation of a horrifying KGB operation during the new era of glasnost might not damage American/Soviet relations.

A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters

Wonderful to listen to Patrick Tull again! May have found a new author/series to follow. Slow flow with interesting characters. Will read another in this series. Thus begins the first of what would ultimately come to be twenty Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, former crusader turned herbalist monk living in the 12th century world of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Predictably, the monks are anything but welcome in Wales - not only are they emissaries from an English abbey, which in itself would be bad enough already; they also seek to take what village folk consider their greatest treasure and, more importantly, the village's holy protectress. When wealthy squire Lord Rhysart, who has led the village in opposing the monks' mission, is found murdered, the monks quickly find themselves implicated. Cadfael, of Welsh descendance himself but now part of a mission from an English abbey, finds himself between all lines of allegiance in trying to find Rhysart's murderer; but find the murderer he must, to ensure the success of his brothers' mission and their safe return home. And it will take all his world-wisdom and all his understanding of the divine to unravel the mystery.

The Sixth Man by David Baldacci

Enjoyed this book, the Camel Club friends would have been a nice addition. Edgar Roy-an alleged serial killer held in a secure, fortress-like Federal Supermax facility-is awaiting trial. He faces almost certain conviction. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's attorney, Sean's old friend and mentor Ted Bergin, to help work the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins-en route to their first meeting with Bergin, Sean and Michelle find him murdered.

Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin

Biographers without access to the subject are at a distinct disadvantage. That said Carlin does a good job of weaving many perspectives on McCartney. Ultimately, while interesting and insightful, not having McCartney's direct input makes this book unmemorable.

Decision Points by George W. Bush

The casual friendly tone of the the book captures, but the lack of substance and petty jabs turns what looked like a promising book into a boring, long winded story. There are lots of disappointing books, but this one is poignant in that it had so much potential for insight into what it takes to run our country.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Re-read again 8/16 five years later and enjoyed it, again. Really enjoyed this book, even as much as Lincoln Lawyer. Connelly's compelling fourth legal thriller featuring Mickey Haller (after Reversal) finds the maverick L.A. lawyer who uses his Lincoln town car as an office specializing in "foreclosure defense." Haller's first foreclosure client, Lisa Trammel, is fighting hard to keep her home, maybe too hard. The bank has gotten a restraining order to stop Trammel's protests, and she becomes the prime suspect when Mitchell Bondurant, a mortgage banker, is killed with a hammer in his office parking lot. A ton of evidence points to Trammel, but Haller crafts an impressive defense that includes "the fifth witness" of the title. Connelly has a sure command of the legal and procedural details of criminal court, and even manages to make the arcane, shady world of foreclosure interesting. While the prose may lack some of the poetic nuance of his early novels, the plot is worthy of a master storyteller.

In The Plex by Steven Levy

Fascinating insight into Google and the complexities of a growing company trying to keep values.

House Justice by Mike Lawson

Pretty good, the weakest in the series but still enjoyable - looking forward to the next one. After the head of the CIA, Jake LaFountaine, gives a secret briefing to a group of congressional leaders in Lawson's engaging fifth thriller featuring fix-it man Joe DeMarco (after House Secrets), someone leaks the information to the press. This slip results in the brutal killing of CIA agent Mahata Javadi (one of the bravest persons I ever met, LaFountaine tells a room full of reporters), who was working undercover in Iran. John Fitzpatrick Mahoney, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Washington's premier political puppet master, tasks DeMarco with finding the leaker. Despite three wild cards confounding the search—a Russian mobster, the wealthy head of a technology company, and a mysterious killer bent on revenge—DeMarco manages to remain alive and get himself a fabulous new girlfriend. The always present push and pull between the political machinations of alcoholic, egotistical Mahoney and De Marco's basic decency raises the ethical stakes.

Hit Man by Lawrence Block

Good read(s) - I didn't realize this was a compilation of short stories because they ran together so seamlessly. Look forward to reading Block again.

For some years now, Block's been chronicling the adventures of fatalistic hired assassin J.P. Keller. Now Block has revised and collected ten stories showing Keller doing what he does best. As he sallies forth from his First Avenue apartment to one American city after another at the behest of the old man in White Plains, Keller ponders whether he can kill a man he's grown to like, mops up after hitting the wrong target, serves as cat's-paw for killers initially more clever than he is, and agonizes over which of two clients who've paid to have each other killed he's going to have to disappoint. In between his methodical executions, he also checks out real estate in Oregon, consults a therapist, takes up stamp collecting, wonders if learning more about flowers would enrich his life, buys earrings for the woman who walks his dog, and worries how much of a commitment he can make to either the woman or the dog. It's the combination of the many things Keller ruminates about and the many things he tries not to (``This is the wrong business for moral decisions,'' the old man's secretary admonishes him) that gives him his melancholy fascination. Is the result a novel or a cycle of stories?

Dr. No by Ian Fleming

Better than I remembered. I'm surprised how good these books are after all these years, the stories are clever and must have been cutting edge in their time. Some far fetched things (e.g. giant squid) but it hold together. I'm enjoying this series more now than I did 25 years ago.

Sharpe's Siege by Bernard Cornwell

Real good, second in the series I've read and I suspect all of the books are good.


The invasion of France is underway, and the Navy has called upon the services of Major Richard Sharpe. He and a small force of riflemen are to capture a fortress and secure a landing on the French coast.
It is to be one of the most dangerous missions of his career. Through the incompetence of a recklessly ambitious naval commander and the machinations of his old enemy, French spymaster Pierre Ducos, Sharpe finds himself abandoned in enemy territory, facing overwhelming forces and the very real prospect of defeat.

Blowback by Brad Thor

I enjoy reading a book and being transported to an interesting place, and its a rude shock to have an author mix in his political opinions. I can turn on the TV 24 hours a day to watch angry people pontificate, it's totally uncool to have this guy spewing and taking my money while he's doing it. What kind of person would use a book as a forum to call a former first lady a bitch, ball buster, and then have the climax of the book including her being video taped giving someone a BJ. Really? A professional would not behave like this.

Whack-a-Mole by Chris Grabenstein

Danny and Ceepak are in top form for perhaps the best book in the series. These books are silly and make for a very light and enjoyable read. An innocent discovery on the beach in Sea Haven leads to a string of gruesome clues and one chilling conclusion: a long dormant serial killer is poised to strike again.

Heartshot by Steven F. Havill

This was a pleasant surprise, in the same way Craig Johnson's walt Longmire mysteries slowly take hold. Interesting regular people you come to like - look forward to reading another in this series.

Septuagenarian undersheriff Bill Gastner of Posadas County, N.M., is the skeptical, endearing narrator of this mystery debut by a writer of Westerns ( Timberblood ). Conscious of advancing age and his bulging waistline, Gastner distrusts both computers and the skills of newly elected sheriff Martin Holman, a former used-car salesman. When a large stash of cocaine is found in the car of five teenagers killed in a crash, local officials are stymied. A young state cop is brought in to mingle with the victims's friends, posing as Gastner's grandson. In short order, a grief-stricken father shoots the undercover cop, a moody teenager dies in a suspicious "suicide," and Gastner has a heart attack. Eventually Gastner, the surprisingly capable Holman and detective Estelle Reyes expose a complicated drug-smuggling operation. Airplanes, real and model, loom large in the denouement and the climactic flying sequence is a corker. If the villain's identity is not surprising, readers still will enjoy this caper and look forward to future appearances of curmudgeonly charmer Gastner.

Marker by Robin Cook

Written well, interesting plot, but I will stay away from this author. Too many superfluous side stories that go on and are dead ends. One character talks to another and is referred to another who then refers them to another to no avail.

From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

Much better than I remembered, and other than the abrupt and unclear ending, a very enjoyable read.

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall

This book is well written and has very good reviews, but I will not be reading this author again. Too slow and boring. I got 2/3 through the book and just didn't care.

The Second Perimeter by Mike Lawson

I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone, but I sure enjoyed it. I've enjoyed all of Lawson's books I've read thus far and look forward to the next.

PW: The second outing for political troubleshooter Joe DeMarco, who's employed by House Speaker John Mahoney, proves that Lawson's fine debut, The Inside Ring (2005), was no fluke. Soon after DeMarco's arrival at the U.S. naval base in Bremerton, Wash., which an espionage ring has infiltrated, dead spies start turning up. Their control, a beautiful Chinese national, Li Mei, appears to be killing her underlings once they complete their jobs. After Li Mei gets her hands on top secret information about nuclear submarine technology, she boldly takes the next step—kidnapping one of DeMarco's operatives, who, theoretically, could be tortured into revealing more secrets about nuclear subs. While the author's prose is highly readable and his plot fast-paced, it's the character of DeMarco, a man of insecurities, weaknesses and outright defects, that separates this new series from the herd. DeMarco also has a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor that contrasts nicely to the solemn gravity of his professional circumstances.

The Last Season by Phil Jackson

What a great insider look at the Lakers and the NBA. I really liked this book, wish it was much longer - even better wish Jackson wrote one every season.

The Chase by Clive Cussler

OK read but the author focuses more on detail than action. Very interesting details about life 100 years ago are exposed throughout the story.

Point Of Impact by Stephen Hunter

The first in a long series about the sniper, Bob Swagger. I accidentally got the abridged version, and I think it was a good thing, it kept the action moving and kept the macho spin from getting too tiring. Bob Lee Swagger, jungle-smart hillbilly and premier shootist, explodes as a thinking man's Rambo when Hunter's ( The Day Before Midnight ) canny plot overcomes the barrage of high-tech ballistics data in this otherwise satisfying thriller. Swagger's sniper kills were legendary in Vietnam until an enemy bullet sent him into seclusion at his home in the Arkansas mountains. Retired Col. Schreck lures him back into "the World" on the pretense that he will be testing new bullets, but instead presses him into his special "Agency" unit. Swagger's job is to predict which site on the president's upcoming speaking tour a professional sniper would choose for an assassination attempt--so Schreck's unit can prevent it. Swagger calls the hit just right but is shot and framed in the assassination by Schreck's men. Only FBI agent and sniper ace Nick Memphis believes that Swagger is innocent. Memphis and Swagger trace the real assassin through the shootist network, making clever use of gun-lore magazines. They take on FBI bureaucrats, Schreck's nasties, Salvadoran death squads and local law agencies to get to the final showdown. While the novel's firearms details may be daunting to non-NRA members, the characters, plot and courtroom finale will leave readers wrung out.

By Order of the President: Presidential Agent Series, Book 1 by W. E. B. Griffin

This is the first book in a series, and I found myself very interested in the history of the characters having read the 2nd and 3rd books a year or so ago. This was the best of the three and I enjoyed it a lot.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Really slow and meandering, but charming. Sweet characters. The debut of one of literature's favorite sleuths! Maisie Dobbs isn't just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence - and the patronage of her benevolent employers - she works her way into college at Cambridge. After the War I and her service as a nurse, Maisie hangs out her shingle back at home: M. DOBBS, TRADE AND PERSONAL INVESTIGATIONS.
But her very first assignment, seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

New York Dead by Stuart Woods

OK, but I don't think I'd read the author again. Everyone is always telling Stone Barrington that he's too smart to be a cop, but it's pure luck that places him on the streets in the dead of night, just in time to witness the horrifying incident that turns his life inside out.
Suddenly he is on the front page of every New York newspaper, and his life is hopelessly entwined in the increasingly shocking life (and death) of Sasha Nijinsky, the country's hottest and most beautiful television anchorwoman.
No matter where he turns, the case is waiting for him, haunting his nights and turning his days into a living hell. Stone finds himself caught in a perilous web of unspeakable crimes, dangerous friends, and sexual depravity that has throughout it one common thread: Sasha.

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben

Pretty good, fluffy entertainment. Sports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Trying to unravel the truth about a family's tragedy, a woman's secret, and a man's lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business--where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.

Assassin by Ted Bell

Macho, mindless, mediocre this is OK entertainment. In the opening pages of Bell's fast and furious second novel featuring the large-living Alexander Hawke, the groom-to-be is having a case of nerves, and readers will find themselves uneasy as well. Sure enough, Hawke's intended, the lovely Victoria Sweet, is shot dead by a sniper minutes after the wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, America has been targeted by the nefarious Snay bin Wazir, known as the Dog for the curious doglike sound he makes when laughing, usually while throttling someone to death. Hawke is joined once again by his "merry band" of series regulars in stopping not only bin Wazir but in finding Victoria's killer, the infamous Scissorhands, risen anew from the pages of the previous Hawke novel.

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

The book is fine, just too depressing for my tastes, I stopped halfway through.

Fidelity by Thomas Perry

Perry is probably my favorite active author and this book was pretty good. After L.A. PI Phil Kramer is shot dead as he's getting into his car one night on a quiet street, his wife, Emily, and his staff set out to find whodunit and why. As they dig, Emily discovers Phil had many secrets. Meanwhile, Jerry Hobart, the hired gun, is ordered to kill Emily. Suspicious of his client's motives, Jerry starts investigating his client, who, the reader learns, is Ted Forrest, a wealthy playboy with a secret life.

House Secrets by Mike Lawson

Very enjoyable, I look forward to reading another in the series.  DeMarco is sent to investigate the death of a reporter, the son of one of his boss’ old colleagues, even though it appears to be nothing more than an unfortunate accident. He soon learns that the reporter was on the trail of Senator Paul Morelli, a rising star considered a shoe-in for his party’s presidential nomination. Some politicians are lucky, and Morelli has been luckier than most, but his past has already been thoroughly scrutinized and he looks clean. But then, why is DeMarco being followed by a pair of rogue agents who freelance for the CIA?

Print The Legend by Craig McDonald

Solid, well written and interesting...but for some odd reason its not hard to put down and not compelling to come back to. I felt the same way about Toros A Toros, and it's hard to explain because both are good books.

McDonald raises a little discussed theory about Ernest Hemingway's suicide in 1961—that the writer's last wife, Mary, killed her husband as an act of mercy—in his provocative third Hector Lassiter mystery (after 2008's Toros & Torsos). Set in Sun Valley, Idaho, at a conference of Papa academics in 1965, the plot zeroes in on three men who have come to the conference with their own pieces of unfinished business to discuss with Mary. One is crime novelist Hector Lassiter, Hem's old friend, who's heard rumors of the discovery of lost writings. Another is Richard Paulson, a Hemingway scholar who wants to set the record straight on the suicide. Finally, there's Donovan Creedy, an old FBI man who's dogging the case for his own, dark reasons. McDonald creates a fast-paced drama—replete with shifting motives and personal interests on the part of all the major players—about the lore of one of America's greatest novelists.

The Hunted by Brian Haig

Haig can write, sometimes he's very interesting, but I won't be reading him again. Too violent and goes on and on and on and on...

The incredible rise and fall of a Russian multimillionaire. The brilliant, hard-working Alex Konevitch amasses a fortune in the building trades in the early 1990s only to have it stolen by a cabal of KGB men led by the KGB's deputy director, who not only takes Konevitch's money and control of his company but also frames him for assorted crimes. Pursued by assassins, Konevitch and his wife go on the run. The couple make their way to America, where they begin to prosper, then fall afoul of a venal FBI director out to enhance his own reputation. The reality aspect of the tale will remind readers of the repressive regime that Russia was and may be again—and of the perfidy of individuals in our own government when greed and ambition are put before democracy and justice.

Hunting Season by P. T. Deutermann

Enjoyable story forgotten as quickly as it's read.  Would read another title by this author. Edwin Kreiss is a former FBI agent whose discovery of a Chinese espionage ring made him a lot of enemies and resulted in his early retirement. Now his daughter is missing, and nobody, least of all a junior G-woman named Janet Carter, is going to keep him from finding her. Browbeating the one clue to her disappearance out of a terrified college student, Kreiss follows his daughter's trail to a deactivated federal arsenal in southwestern Virginia, where a fanatic whose son was immolated at Waco is cooking up a plan to blow the ATF to bits.

House Rules by Mike Lawson

I liked this book and look forward to the next one in the series. It's light mindless spyventure. From Publishers Weekly...At the start of Lawson's snappy third thriller starring congressional snoop Joe DeMarco (after The Second Perimeter), a series of three failed attempts by Muslim terrorists to attack Washington, D.C.—one by plane, one by car, one by lone suicide bomber—causes nationwide panic. DeMarco wades into the mess when his boss, House Speaker John Mahoney, asks him to check out the possibility that the terrorist onslaught may have been more homegrown than it appears.