Giveaway: I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author returns with a new stand-alone novel—a powerful and utterly riveting tale that skillfully moves between past and present to explore the lasting effects of crime on a victim's life....I'd Know You Anywhere

Eliza Benedict cherishes her peaceful, ordinary suburban life with her successful husband and children, thirteen-year-old Iso and eight-year-old Albie. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects—or wants—to hear from: Walter Bowman. There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere.

In the summer of 1985, when she was fifteen, Eliza was kidnapped by Walter and held hostage for almost six weeks. He had killed at least one girl and Eliza always suspected he had other victims as well. Now on death row in Virginia for the rape and murder of his final victim, Walter seems to be making a heartfelt act of contrition as his execution nears. Though Eliza wants nothing to do with him, she's never forgotten that Walter was most unpredictable when ignored. Desperate to shelter her children from this undisclosed trauma in her past, she cautiously makes contact with Walter. She's always wondered why Walter let her live, and perhaps now he'll tell her—and share the truth about his other victims.

Yet as Walter presses her for more and deeper contact, it becomes clear that he is after something greater than forgiveness. He wants Eliza to remember what really happened that long-ago summer. He wants her to save his life. And Eliza, who has worked hard for her comfortable, cocooned life, will do anything to protect it—even if it means finally facing the events of that horrifying summer and the terrible truth she's kept buried inside.

An edgy, utterly gripping tale of psychological manipulation that will leave readers racing to the final page, I'd Know You Anywhere is a virtuoso performance from acclaimed, award-winning author Laura Lippman that is sure to be her biggest hit yet.

~Book description courtesy of the publisher

Once again I am wayyyy behind in my reading. Too many books, too little time is certainly true in my case! So my review will be upcoming but I'm going to go ahead and post the giveaway!

I have two copies of I'd Know You Anywhere to give away. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on September 6.. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Many thanks to Megan at Harper Collins for sponsoring this giveaway!

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Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Review: The Shimmer by David Morrell

Santa Fe, New Mexico police officer Dan Page tries hard to forget the violence that he sees in his everyday life, keeping as much of it from his wife, Tori, as he can. It is a total surprise to him when he returns home one day to find her gone, a note she left says that she is going to visit her mother, who lives 800 miles away. She never said a word about the trip to him, why she would abruptly leave like that is a mystery.

He tries not to worry about it, but after two days she still hasn't arrived at her mother's and no one has heard from her. He is beginning to be frantic and files a missing persons report. When a Sheriff from the small Texas town of Rostov calls, Dan fears the worst. But he says that Tori is fine, though he won't give any other information. He insists that Dan must come to Rostov and see for himself what is going on.

When Dan arrives in Rostov, he is confronted with a mystery that has intrigued and frightened people for hundreds of years. The strange Rostov Lights are a phenomenon that occur out over the badlands, on the mesa towards the Mexico border. They appear at night, hover and shine, changing colors and size, merging into one another and breaking apart again. But not everyone can see them. Those that can are transfixed, caught by their beauty, like Tori. Those that can't see them are either disgusted or annoyed, sure that the viewers are making it all up. Sometimes reactions are completely unexpected.

While Dan talks to Tori and begins to unravel the reasons that she left and why she stopped in Rostov, outside events overtake the couple and they are swept into a violent maelstrom, which is caused by the lights. Putting their own problems aside, they join forces with the local police to try to uncover the source of the lights and the reason they sometimes incite uncontrollable behavior or worse in the people who see them.

This book is non-stop action from the first page, I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued by the premise, the author based the story on lights seen in the real life town of Marfa, Texas. They occur in other places in the world, too: Norway, Thailand and Australia all have areas where similar lights are seen. The phenomenon has never been explained, though there are lots of theories. David Morrell took the fact of the lights and built an intriguing story around them. Part action, part suspense, part mystery, and a taut thriller, The Shimmer has it all. I really enjoyed this fast-paced book!

David Morrell has been called the father of the modern action novel (he created Rambo, after all). You can find out more about him and his books at his website and more about The Shimmer at http://www.shimmerbook.com/ .

The Shimmer is published by Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-537-7

Review: The Devil's Company by David Liss

London in 1722 was a place ruled by two entities: the King's Government and the East India Company. Benjamin Weaver, ex-pugilist turned precursor to what will in later years become the private detective, is compelled by force into the presence of one Mr. Jerome Cobb. Mr. Cobb has a job for Weaver and has anticipated Weaver's refusal to perform the requested tasks. So Cobb has taken steps to insure Weaver's cooperation, namely buying up all the loans of his relations and friends and threatening them with debtor's prison.

What does Cobb want? Well, for a start, he wants Weaver to get some documents from inside the offices of the East India Company. At first this seems an impossible task but Benjamin soon has a plan and is able to deliver the requested papers. Only to find that this request was but the first, there will be many more before he is released from service and his loved ones freed from the threat that hangs over them.

When Benjamin discovers that multiple insurance policies have been taken out on his life, he realizes that the game, whatever it is, is much more complicated than he first imagined. With the help of his good friend Elias, they set out to discover what is at the bottom of the scheme because his complete understanding of the larger plot is the only way Benjamin can see to get out of this mess alive.

Weaver's fame has preceded him and on the strength of it he is able to secure a position as security director within the East India Company. Here he meets many people who contribute to both the mystery and its solution, not the least of whom is servant Celia Glade. She is more than she seems, but what side is she on? He will have to find out and must also figure out how to control his growing fascination with this beautiful young woman, while using every bit of cunning he possesses to sniff out the motives of some of the most powerful groups in his world.

I found this novel completely engrossing. It has all of the elements that I love in a historical tale, intriguing characters, evocative sense of place, a twisty plot that surprises at numerous turns. Add to that superb writing and you have a book that is going onto my favorites list. What I can't figure out is why I haven't read anything by David Liss before. I know I have The Coffee Trader
sitting on a shelf somewhere. You can be sure that I will be pulling it out and ordering each and every other book he has written so far! This is a fantastic story, compellingly told...a winning combination that shouldn't be missed!

Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for sending me The Devil's Companyfor review! For more information about David Liss and his books, please visit his website.

The Devil's Company is published by Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6419-9

Reveiw & Blog Tour: Ravens by George Dawes Green

Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko, bored with their dull jobs as telephone technical support in Ohio, decide to go on a lengthy Florida vacation. They hop in Romeo's old car and drive south. When they have a slight mechanical issue they pull off the highway and into a convenience store parking lot in a small Georgia town. Shaw goes inside and happens to overhear the clerk gossiping on the phone about someone in town having just won the lottery. The ticket was bought at that convenience store and the jackpot is more than 300 million dollars. The winner hasn't been announced yet and this information sets Shaw's brain whirling...he is on to a diabolical scheme.

The owners of the winning ticket are the Boatwright family. Mom Patsy is an alcoholic who compulsively buys lottery tickets each and every week, believing that a pile of cash will be the answer to all of their problems. Ineffectual Dad Mitch runs his own business but can't control anything at home. Daughter Tara is putting herself through college with the single goal of getting free of her bizarre mother. Son Jase is happy to sit and play video games. When they end up with a winning ticket, they are all in a blissful state of stunned disbelief in their good fortune.

Their happiness will not last long. Shaw, aided by that predator's friend MySpace, has found out all he needs to know about this family. He presents himself at their home under false pretenses and then proceeds to hold them hostage. He wants half of the jackpot and he will be on his way and no one will get hurt. By his reasoning, they should be happy to share. Half of over 300 million should be more than enough for any family. This is money they never had in the first place, why should they care if they only get half of a huge fortune? For the next week, the Boatwright family must act to the entire outside world as if everything is normal. Meanwhile, Shaw lives with them as an old family friend and Romeo cruises the town ready to start killing extended family members and friends if the Boatwrights step out of line.

I found this book to be a chilling psychological thriller with an interesting, if not completely plausible, premise. The character interactions were extremely compelling for me, I have a little knowledge of hostage behavior and the response of the hostages to form attachments to their persecutor is accurately and fascinatingly portrayed here. If you like suspense fiction, this is an absorbing tale that you won't be able to put down until the last page has been read.

I read Ravens as part of a Blog Tour, for a complete list of participating blogs, click here. Thanks to Miriam and Hachette for sending me my copy for review! For more information about the author and his books, please visit his website. You can listen to an interview with George Dawes Green on Blog Talk Radio by clicking here.

Ravens is published by Grand Central. ISBN 978-0-446-53896-1

Review: Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

Katie Converse is a smart, beautiful, seventeen year old Senate page from Portland, Oregon. At home in Portland for Christmas, she disappears while walking the dog. Her parents immediately raise the hue and cry and a desperate search begins.

Local Portland television reporter Cassidy Shaw announces the story of Katie's disappearance on the air. The media firestorm that follows could be the making of her career, if she can keep herself at the forefront of the action. Good thing for Cassidy that her two best friends become involved in the case, as well. Federal prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI agent Nicole Hedge are Cassidy's buddies. As a group the call themselves "The Triple Threat Club" and they get together regularly to try to sort out the difficulties of their crazy lives. Cassidy is able to glean important bits of information about the case from Allison and Nicole because both women are soon sucked into the investigation that mushrooms around the case.

When Nicole discovers that Katie had a Myspace page that she posted on regularly, things really start to heat up. Turns out Katie was having a little fling with "Senator X." It isn't too hard to figure out that "Senator X" is actually Senator Fairview, who sponsored Katie's page application. Suddenly the case has taken on a whole new aspect, the well known Senator has motive and opportunity. His relationship with Katie is certainly a juicy scandal, but is he really her killer?

This fast paced, interesting suspense novel has a premise that could easily have been ripped from the headlines. All of the characters are well-rounded and their relationships feel authentic. The point of view rotates between Cassidy, Allison and Nicole so the reader gets to know the personal struggles of each woman and how they relate to each other as a group of close friends. Cassidy is a beautiful girl with a promising career, but she is stuck in an abusive relationship. Allison and her husband have been struggling with infertility, under the stress of trying to have a baby for the past several years. Nicole is a single mom, juggling parenting her child and the demands of her job. She doesn't seem to have any time left over for a personal life. Because of their unique relationship they are able to put their heads together and figure out what happened to Katie Converse. Interspersed between the chapters are Katie's Myspace pages. Through these, the reader gets to know a little about Katie's life.

The action keeps the reader guessing and turning pages in this absorbing tale. Ms. Wiehl's experience with the media and the government are apparent and lend the book a veracity that makes it seem to almost read like a non-fiction story.

Looking for an exciting contemporary mystery with strong female characters? Add Face of Betrayal to your summer reading list!

Face of Betrayal is published by Thomas Nelson, ISBN 9781595547057.

This review was originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book.

Need more George Pelecanos Giveaway: The Night Gardener

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

Pelecanos (Drama City) delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner. In 1985, the body of a 14-year-old girl turns up in a Washington, D.C., park, the latest in a series of murders by a killer the media dub "The Night Gardener." T.C. Cook, the aging detective on the case, works with a quiet, almost monomaniacal, focus. Also involved are two young uniformed cops, Gus Ramone, who's diligent, conscientious and unimpressed by heroics, and Dan "Doc" Holiday, an adrenaline junkie who's decidedly less straight.

Fast forward 20 years. Detective Ramone, now married with kids of his own, investigates the murder of one of his teenage son's friends. The homicide closely resembles the earlier unsolved Night Gardener murders. Holiday, now an alcoholic chauffeur and bodyguard, follows the case on his own and tracks down Cook, long retired but still obsessed with the original murders. While the three work together toward a suspenseful ending, Pelecanos emphasizes the fallacy of "solving" a murder and explores the ripple effects of violent crime on society.

I have five copies of The Night Gardener to give away. To enter, just leave a comment here, include your email address if it is not in your blogger id. I'll give an extra entry to anyone who becomes a follower (or follows already), tweets this giveaway on twitter or blogs about it. If you do any of these please leave ONE extra comment to let me know. Winners will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. Contest will be open until midnight eastern on June 18. Many thanks to Valerie at Hachette Book Group for providing the books for this giveaway! Good luck everyone!

Review: Angel's Tip by Alafair Burke

When new homocide detective Ellie Hatcher takes her usual early morning jog with her brother, Jess, they stumble right over a murder victim. Chelsea Hart, a beautiful blond Indiana college student, has been dumped there in East River Park with her hair weirdly chopped off.

As the first detective on the scene, Ellie takes charge. Her find, her case. She calls her new partner, J.J. Rogan, and together they begin to put together the pieces of this seemingly random crime. Attractive college girl, in town with two girlfriends for spring break, plucked from a trendy nightclub after a night of partying.

It is surprisingly easy to find the murderer, the man Chelsea was seen dancing with at the club until three in the morning. He's the obvious choice, plus his record is not spotless. Easy. Maybe too easy, Ellie thinks. Too bad she is the only one with second thoughts. Everyone else is happy they got the guy, case closed.

But Ellie gets a call from a man whose daughter was murdered years ago. He's had a dream about his daughter and he thinks she is trying to tell him something. Maybe the two crimes are connected.

Well, he must be a nut, right? Probably. Ellie pulls his daughter's case anyway. And the biggest similarity, the only thing not released in the press, is something about the hair. Ellie becomes convinced that there is no way the suspect they have could be the right one, he is too young, and there are more similar cases that stretch back too far. A serial killer who has been at work for years. Can she and Rogan figure out who is the real murderer before it's too late...for Ellie, herself?

Alafair Burke has a winner in the character of Ellie Hatcher. She is quick, sharp, smart, endearing and fun. I enjoyed the development of the new relationship between Ellie and Rogan. This book flew by, the pages practically turning themselves as the suspense built up. The Manhattan setting is perfectly evoked and the author's knowledge of the world of the New York Police Department added believability to the story. This is a talented author and I look forward to her next exciting installment!

Visit the author's website here.

Angel's Tip is published by Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-166861-6.

Review: Dead Ringer by Mary Burton

In the freezing cold of a Richmond, Virginia winter a serial killer is at work. When the second woman is found, homicide detective Jacob Warwick is struck by her resemblance to the first victim. Not only that, but both dead women bear a strong resemblance to Kendall Shaw.

Kendall is a beautiful and successful television news anchor. She met Jacob the previous summer when they were both pulled into another murder investigation. (Those events are the focus of Ms. Burton's first book, I'm Watching You). They haven't seen each other since. When Jacob warns Kendall that the killer might be interested in her, she is reluctant to believe it. The theory does sound far-fetched.

Each victim is left with a necklace around her neck that bears a charm with a woman's name on it. But it's not the victim's name. As Jacob and his partner Zack Kier investigate, an unlikely connection begins to take shape and they race to stop the killer from completing his chilling plan.

Dead Ringer is a suspenseful thriller with an unexpected, twisting tale. The numerous characters are well developed and their stories weave easily into the central plot. The fast paced action kept me turning pages late into the night and I was fascinated by the outcome of the investigation. There was just enough romance between the main characters to make it interesting without overwhelming the drama of the story.

Dead Ringer is published by Zebra. ISBN 978-1-4201-0027-3

Many thanks to Dorothy Thompson at Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours for sending me this book for review!



Order Dead Ringer from Amazon

Review: First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader

The transition of the US President is always a volatile time. No one knows this better than President-Elect Edward Carson. It is one month before his swearing in ceremony and his nineteen year old daughter, Alli, has disappeared. She may have been kidnapped by a homegrown terrorist organization. Finding her is his top priority, and it must be done without anyone in the media getting wind of it.

Carson hand-picks ATF agent Jack McClure to investigate his daughter's disappearance. He has several good reasons for doing so. Jack's daughter, Emma, who died seven months before in a car accident, was Allie's college roommate and close friend. He knows that Jack will do anything necessary to bring Allie home.

Jack has another unique quality. He is dyslexic and while that poses great problems for him when it comes to reading, the way his brain is wired makes him an outstanding agent. He is able to see things in a more complete way than the average person. He can pick up nuances that others might miss, including smells and small details. It has made him very successful in his career and he is a top ATF agent.

It hasn't helped him in his personal life, though. He has not been able to accept the death of his daughter and his marriage has since broken up as well. He is a lost and lonely man. As he begins to investigate Alli's disappearance, striking events from Jack's past begin to crop up. Somehow the case in inextricably linked with Jack's life and as he tries to fit together all the pieces he is pressured from all sides. It's up to him to find Allie and discover the motive behind her kidnapping and he is running out of time.

This thriller has a twisting, intriguing plot and is a fast paced and exciting read. Pick up First Daughter, you won't be able to put it down!

First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader is published by Forge. ISBN 978-0-7653-2170-1


Order First Daughter from Amazon

Review: Left To Die by Lisa Jackson

Amidst an unusually bad Montana winter, a serial killer is at work near the town of Grizzly Falls. The killer "rescues" his female victims when their cars careen off of a mountain road. Most of them don't realize that their accident was caused by the killer shooting their tires out. He then carries them off to a remote cabin in the mountains and wins their trust by tending to their wounds and lulling them into trusting him. Weeks later he will leave each victim tied, naked, to a tree, to die from exposure. Nice guy.

Under intense pressure to catch the killer as the body count rises, Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli work the case for months. But each has her own personal issues to deal with as well. Regan is divorced with two typically parent-hating teens and a difficult ex-husband. Not to mention a tendency to escape into a superficial relationship based on sex and alcohol. Selena is the opposite, a lonely and solitary woman with no life outside of her job. Despite help from the FBI, they are no closer to catching the killer in December than they were in September when the first body was found.

When Seattle resident Jillian Rivers starts to get anonymous tips that her deceased husband, Aaron, is alive, she thinks it must be some kind of prank. He's been dead for ten years. Okay, so the body was never found and it turned out that he had bilked investors out of a half a million dollars. But still, he must be dead, right? She eventually heads to Montana to follow up on some photos she has received that look alot like Aaron. But she never makes it, her tires are shot out and her car plummets to the bottom of a steep ravine.

Jillian is rescued by Zane MacGregor and taken to his cabin where he gives her medical care. But they are trapped together by an intense blizzard, unable to contact the outside world or make their way to a populated area. She is lucky to be alive but she has read about the serial killer, doesn't her situation fit the known pattern? Should she trust her rescuer? It seems she has no choice.

This creepy thriller is fast paced with engaging characters and a plot that will keep you guessing. Though part of the story is neatly wrapped up at the end of the book, the remainder will be continued in the author's next book, Chosen to Die, due out August 2009! I'm a little irked that I will have to wait so long to find out what happens!

Order Left to Die from Amazon