"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
I love Lisa Gardner and the D.D. Warren series so I can't wait until this releases March 8, 2011
Love You More by Lisa Gardner (D.D. Warren series, #5)
Release: March 8, 2011
WHO DO YOU LOVE?
One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?
AND HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO . . .
As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?
. . . TO SAVE HER?
For Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. A mother knows who she loves. And all others will be made to pay.
Wow - I had 390 entrants into my giveaway for this hop - I think that is the most I have had. Thank you all for visiting and I hope you return. I will be involved in the Valentine's Hop soon as well as holding some more giveaways.
I hope to complete a full review tomorrow, but I have about 100 more pages so I wanted to do a mini-review today on my tour day. I readBuying Time by Pamela Samuels Young in November of last year and when I started it, the book grabbed me and sucked me right in. Murder on the Down Low took a few more pages to be sucked in, (maybe 10) but once the book really started going, it was great and it was really hard to put down.
Murder on the Down Low takes an issue that is there for African-American women and explores it and builds a great suspense tale around it. But more than that, even though the story is focused on African Americans it doesn't mean that the story is only for African Americans. No way. I have thoroughly enjoyed the story that I have read so far and it opened up to me some issues I really did not know existed. And the good thing, this book isn't just about the issue, the book is really about the suspense plot with the issue built in to it. So don't think she's trying to further an agenda either. She's not, she just crafts great stories that make you think while taking you on a thrill ride. I like authors that can do this successfully without turning people off and I think Ms. Young is already a master of this.
The characters come to life for me and I liked getting to know each of the four main women. The story is told alternating through the characters and it makes a great story to see all different perspectives. So far I can't figure out who did it and I probably won't until the author reveals it to me. I like that.
So, in conclusion of this not-so-short mini-review, after over 200 pages I am sucked in and really enjoying Murder on the Down Low. I don't see being let down in the last 150 pages either. I see it being a thrill ride to the end and I can't wait to see where it goes.
My Current Rating: 4.5/5.0
About Pamela Samuels Young
Corporate attorney Pamela Samuels Young has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. Fed up with never seeing women or people of color depicted as savvy, hot shot attorneys in the legal thrillers she read, Pamela decided to create her own characters. Despite the demands of a busy legal career, Pamela accomplished her ambitious goal by rising at four in the morning to write before work, dedicating her weekends to writing and even spending her vacation time glued to her laptop for ten or more hours a day.
The Essence magazine bestselling author now has four fast-paced legal thrillers to show for her efforts: Every Reasonable Doubt (BET Books, February 2006), In Firm Pursuit (Harlequin, January 2007), Murder on the Down Low (Goldman House Publishing, September 2008) and Buying Time(Goldman House Publishing, November 2009). New York Times bestselling author Sheldon Siegel described Buying Time, Pamela’s first stand-alone novel, as a “deftly plotted thriller that combines the best of Lisa Scottoline and Robert Crais.”
Pamela has achieved a successful writing career while working as Managing Counsel for Labor and Employment Law for a large corporation in Southern California. Prior to that, she served as Employment Law Counsel for Raytheon Company and spent several years with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP in Los Angeles. A former journalist, Pamela began her broadcasting career as a production assistant at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, where she was quickly promoted to news writer. To escape the chilly Detroit winters, she returned home to Los Angeles and worked at KCBS-TV as a news writer and associate producer.
Pamela has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from USC, a master’s degree in broadcasting from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and received her law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and is the Fiction Expert for BizyMoms.com.
Pamela is a frequent speaker on the topics of discrimination law, diversity, writing and pursuing your passion. She is married and lives in the Los Angeles area. To contact Pamela or to read an excerpt of her books, visit www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.
About Murder on the Down Low
A brazen killer is targeting some of L.A.’s most prominent citizens.The victims are all quintessential family men. Well-educated. Attractive. Successful. But appearances can be deceiving.When the baffling murders are linked to a contentious wrongful death lawsuit, two savvy lawyers and a tenacious female detective soon expose a scandalous tale of lust, lies and vengeance.
Book Excerpt
Chapter 1
Dr. Quentin Banks was a man’s man. The kind of guy other men liked being around. Handsome, but not a pretty boy. Wealthy, but not a showoff. Versatile enough to host a fundraiser one night and chill out with his buddies over a game of dominoes the next.
Standing outside Exam Room 5, the doctor scanned the chart of the first patient he was scheduled to see after his lunch meeting. His office suite in the Horton Medical Plaza was tastefully decorated with muted walls and dark slate tile. Colorful prints of jazz musicians lined the long, bright hallway. The place was classy, but not over the top. Just like Dr. Banks.
He checked his watch. It was almost eleven-thirty. Time to leave. The doctor closed the chart and dropped it into the plastic casing posted at eye level outside the exam room. He strode into his private office, locked the door, then retrieved a throwaway cell phone from his desk.
“I’m about to leave,” he said. “The President’s Suite, right?”
It was always that cut and dry. He was a happily married man who did not have the time or the need for emotional connections. His lunch meetings were all about the sex.
The doctor slipped out of his white coat and hung it on a metal rack. Casually but impeccably dressed, he wore a khaki-colored shirt and black slacks made from an expensive linen fabric. The kind that didn’t wrinkle much. He was forty-two years old, just shy of six feet, and a hearty 215 pounds. He had the build of an aging ex-football player. Not nearly as lean as in his prime, but thick and firm enough to advertise that he still hit the gym on a regular basis.
After telling his office manager that he’d be back by one-thirty, Dr. Banks took an elevator to the parking structure. He eased his black Jag onto Hillcrest Street. At the light, he turned left on Manchester Boulevard and headed for the northbound ramp of the 405 Freeway.
Without question, Dr. Banks was one of the best OB/GYNs in Southern California. From the day he had applied to Howard Medical School, he had vowed to return home to Inglewood to set up shop. And despite the sacrifices, he’d kept his word, turning down opportunities that were far more lucrative, in terms of both prestige and compensation. Having a predominantly black and Latino patient base meant keeping late office hours and working one, sometimes two, Saturdays a month. The people he served couldn’t afford to take time off from work. Not even for medical care.
When he wasn’t working, the doctor cherished his family life. Though he now lived just a few miles from his childhood stomping grounds, in many respects it was a world away. View Park was a haven for L.A.’s black elite. Professionals with six and seven-figure salaries who actually liked the idea of having neighbors who looked like them. The doctor’s residence spanned five thousand square feet and had a full-length basketball court, a circular swimming pool, and a guesthouse. The Mrs. was a stay-at-home mom who loved her job as wife and mother to their two sons as much as she loved her husband. All in all, life was good.
The doctor pulled his Jag to a stop in front of the Marina Marriott on Admiralty Way, hopped out, and took a ticket from the valet. He felt invigorated by the very thought of the treat that awaited him. Dr. Banks rotated his lunch meetings among different hotels in the area. His favorite was the much more elegant Ritz-Carlton just up the street. As he crossed the hotel lobby, he tossed the cell phone into the trash, then made a mental note to switch locations for next week. He was many things. Sloppy wasn’t one of them.
When Dr. Banks reached the hotel room, there was no need to knock. The door was always left open just a crack. He could not risk being seen with his lunch date for even the few seconds it would take to open and close the door.
As usual, the main room of the spacious suite was empty. His lunch sat on a sterling silver room service tray on the coffee table in front of the couch. He’d have the turkey sandwich, root beer, and Caesar salad after his other hunger had been satisfied.
Stepping over to the large picture window, Dr. Banks stared across the street at the sailboats lolling in the Marina. Maybe he’d buy himself a boat.
He walked back to the couch, undressed, and slipped into the white terrycloth robe left waiting for him. Another part of the ritual. Dr. Banks sank down onto the couch and for the next five minutes, fell into a deep, calming meditation. The more intensely he fantasized about what awaited him in the adjoining room, the longer and harder his erection grew. He reached down and gently stroked himself, then picked up the condom on the end table and slipped it on.
Dr. Banks entered the bedroom and nodded at his lunch date, who sat naked in a velvet club chair, a sly grin stretched across his bearded face. Clarence Mitchell was his youngest son’s soccer coach. They had been hooking up on a semi-regular basis for over a year.
Clarence stood up, showing off a solid, mink brown body. “Good to see you, man,” he said, smiling.
Dr. Banks didn’t respond, his growing excitement over what was about to occur more internal than external. The two men awkwardly embraced, then let go. Extended foreplay or professions of love were unnecessary. They saved that for the women in their lives.
Clarence walked over to the bed. Following close behind, Dr. Banks discarded his robe and prepared to treat himself.
Just over an hour later, as he exited the freeway, Dr. Banks heard his cell phone ring. He glanced at the caller ID before picking up.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said into the phone.
“Hi, honey,” his wife chirped back. “I’m catching a movie with Karen tonight. The kids are with my parents.”
“Have a good time.”
Diana was always good about making sure he knew her precise whereabouts, and Dr. Banks appreciated that. Now that he was free for the evening, the thought of arranging another hookup with Clarence crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He was not a greedy man. He never prowled for sex and the thought of going to a gay bar disgusted him. Only gay men did that, and he wasn’t gay.
His lunchtime excursions were just a freaky little hobby. Nothing more. Nothing less. He was a fanatic about safe sex and always chose partners who were family men with as much to lose as he had. Dr. Banks even required his sexual partners to periodically produce written proof that they were HIV negative, and he gladly did the same. He loved his wife too much to demand anything less. In the twelve years since he’d said I do, there had only been five other men besides Clarence.
Dr. Banks turned left into the parking structure, made his way to the second level and backed into a stall that bore his name in neat block letters. He hummed his favorite Temptations song, My Girl, as he took off his shades and clipped them onto the sun visor.
Pushing open the car door, Dr. Banks planted his left foot on the ground at the same moment that a bullet pierced his cheek, just below his right eye. The force of the shot sent his head hurtling backward, then slowly forward, as a splash of crimson darkened the car’s pristine beige interior.
As the second and third bullets entered his neck and chest, Dr. Banks’ body fell sideways toward the open car door. His hand reached out for something to grasp, but found nothing to break his fall.
In what looked like a slow motion videotape, Dr. Banks tumbled onto the dirty garage pavement, head first.
***I received this book from the author for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free. I do not receive money for my amazon links since I live in NC (something about some law), so they are up purely for my readers to have a place to check out the book.***
It's time for another wonderful giveaway hop. This time it's the Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop, hosted by Martha's Bookshelf and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer. Thanks to these two great blogs for hosting! Come hop away with me to over 180 blogs that are hosting giveaways - I know I will be busy entering the next few days!
So it's easy, just enter your information in the form and you are entered. No extra entries, no need to be a follower, though I do love new followers and I also love comments! Please check out the rest of my blog while you are here and see if you like it.
What am I giving away? Any book, with the value of $15 or less from The Book Depository. So that makes this giveaway open to anyone that the Book Depository ships to for free. So enter away. I'll draw the winner and post by January 19th.
Cross Fire by James Patterson Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publish Date: November 15, 2010
Hardcover, 384 pages
Suspense/Thriller, Alex Cross #17
My Review:
I look forward each year to a new Alex Cross novel. I have enjoyed them since I picked up Along Came A Spider back when I was in college. I still enjoy them. They give me a chance to see Alex work his magic in another case and a glimpse into his family life again.
Cross Fire did not disappoint me at all. The suspense plot was great and I liked seeing a little more of Alex's personal life. The kids aren't in this one much and neither are Bree or Alex's grandmother. So I guess I would say that truthfully this one is mostly about the case (or cases). This one also focuses again on Kyle Craig, The Mastermind and he's back and as evil as ever.
Fair warning, these books are not for the faint of heart. Murder scenes can be described in grisly detail, but I have never found it overwhelming. The book moves fast and I easily finished it in a day while at home on a snow day. Easy to read and keep up with, one thing I like about these books is I don't usually get characters confused. Also I think that if you wanted to start with this book, I don't think you would be at a loss for not reading the rest of the series. Sure there is background, but I believe it can be read as a stand-alone. (But I highly recommend the rest of the series, especially the beginning books).
So if you have missed Alex, or want to be introduced to Alex Cross, Cross Fire is a great book. A quick easy suspenseful read and I never guessed where the ending was going. I'm now ready for the next installment.
My rating: 4.0/5.0
About the Book: Wedding bells ring Detective Alex Cross and Bree's wedding plans are put on hold when Alex is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington D.C.'s most corrupt: a dirty congressmen and an underhanded lobbyist. Next, the elusive gunman begins picking off other crooked politicians, sparking a blaze of theories--is the marksman a hero or a vigilante?
A murderer returns
The case explodes, and the FBI assigns agent Max Siegel to the investigation. As Alex and Siegel battle over jurisdiction, the murders continue. It becomes clear that they are the work of a professional who has detailed knowledge of his victims' movements--information that only a Washington insider could possess.
Caught in a lethal cross fire
As Alex contends with the sniper, Siegel, and the wedding, he receives a call from his deadliest adversary, Kyle Craig. The Mastermind is in D.C. and will not relent until he has eliminated Cross and his family for good. With a supercharged blend of action, deception, and suspense, Cross Fire is James Patterson's most visceral and exciting Alex Cross novel ever.
About the Author (from the Goodreads.com):
Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.
Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.
She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure,...moreJames Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977, James Patterson's books have sold more than 180 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women's Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.
***I received this book from my local library. I was not compensated in any way. I do not receive money for my amazon links since I live in NC (something about some law), so they are up purely for my readers to have a place to check out the book.***
This week's letter is A. I looked through my spreadsheet of books I have read from 2004-2010 to find something to go with A, because I haven't read a book that starts with A or an author that starts with A this year. While perusing I found the author, Ginny Aiken. I have read 4 of Ginny's books and I loved them. Full of suspense and some romance, her books are great. The 4 I read were for the Love Inspired Suspense line that Harlequin puts out.
Here is some more information about Ginny Aiken (from Wikipedia):
Ginny Aiken is an author of inspirational fiction and mystery novels.
Ginny was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in Valencia and Caracas, Venezuela.
The former newspaper reporter discovered books early on and wrote her first novel at age fifteen, burning it when she turned a "mature" sixteen. That effort was followed years later by award-winning and best-selling titles in the secular and Christian markets. Ginny holds certification in French literature and culture from the University of Nancy, France, as well as a B. A. from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. She lives in South-Central Pennsylvania with her husband, four sons, daughter-in-law, two dogs, and a steady stream of her sons' musician-friends. When she's not busy with the duties of a soccer mom or band mom, Ginny enjoys reading, writing, classical music, and assorted needle arts.
The four books I read were:
Married to the Mob
Danger in a Small Town
Suspicion
Mixed Up With the Mob
I especially loved Danger in a Small Town and when checking her booklist out I realized I haven't read the second book in that series. I will have to remedy that.
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