(The Seattle Times, Feb. 15, Mary Ann Gwinn)

(The Washington Post, Feb. 2, Patrick Anderson)

Bright Futures by Stuart Kaminsky

When people ask if I have ever suffered writer’s block, I have to admit I don’t quite grasp the concept. The words suggest that wonderful ideas are teeming in the writer’s head, but some sinister force is stopping them — blocking them — from exiting his fingertips and making their way onto paper. That has not been my experience. The problem arises when I run out of ideas. But that’s not being “blocked”; that’s what happens when the well runs dry — a different matter entirely. Still, in certain circles you can find alleged writers who have been dining out for decades on the tragic tale of the great novel that is mysteriously “blocked.”

All this is preliminary to saying that Stuart M. Kaminsky is one of the most unblocked writers in America. The man has written more than 60 books. “Bright Futures” is the sixth novel in his Lew Fonesca series, and he also has his Abe Lieberman series (10 books so far), his Toby Peters series (24, including “Mildred Pierced”), his Porfiry Rostnikov series (15), plus two stand-alone novels, two short-story collections and (more…)

(Publisher’s Weekly, Mar. 9)

Though Lincoln Child doesn’t touor, that didn’t stop Doubleday’s publicity machine.  E-cards went to his 10,000+ e-mail list, and a pre-pub promotion with Sony Reader gave away two chapters a week for the month leading up to publication.  A free book offer was mounted at the Preston-Child fan club on Facebook, thousands of advance reader copies were distributed to booksellers and teaser chapters were included in the mass market release of Deep Storm.  The result:  a hefty 157,752 copies in print.

Order your signed copy of Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child from www.vjbooks.com

(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 22, Vaunda Bonnett)

A beautiful June day turns ugly when a man’s body is found hanging in the woods by a group of students. And while the Eastvale police are trying to determine what might have led to the apparent suicide of a popular theatrical set designer, the dead man’s retired businessman partner is found beaten to death in his home in a posh local neighborhood.

And celebrity connection has his superiors dragging Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks back from holiday, putting a kink in his new relationship.

But what seems to be an unfortunate, but straightforward, murder-suicide begins to get complicated when Banks runs afoul of a shadowy government agency by making a routine inquiry. Members of that group decide the stubborn DCI needs to be taught a lesson that has him fearing for the safely of everyone he cares about.

Peter Robinson’s 18th novel featuring Inspector Banks raises the tension level by playing topics from local theater group jealousies to international terrorism and remnants of the Cold War off each other. The most mundane fact might be important, and the case’s whispers, rumors and misdirections begin to resemble the theater group’s current production, “Othello.”

This 21-year-old series stays contemporary by staying on top of developments in technology and changes in society while never neglecting the growth of the characters. It also allow the books to stand on their own merit, whether a reader has been around Banks for one book, five books or all 18.

Robinson continues his practice of posting a playlist of music referenced in the book on his Web site, www.inspectorbanks.com, which adds a dimension that can be helpful to readers who don’t have access to British radio or an iPod with as broad a collection.

Vaunda Bonnett can be reached at vbonnett@tribweb.com or 412-320-7917

Order your signed copy of All the Colors of Darkness by Peter Robinson from www.vjbooks.com

(Publisher’s Weekly, Mar. 9)

Two, count ‘em, two:  that’s the number of Robert B. Parker hardcovers due out in May.  Coming on the 5th is Brimstone, the second sequel to 2005′s Appaloosa, and on the 9th Philomel will publish Cashing the Bear, a YA novel that introduces Spencer.  PW’s review of Night and Day, the author’s newest Jesse Stone adventure (copies in print:  177,000) said, “[Parker] uses long stretches of his tradmark pithy dialogue to carry the story briskly forward.”

See all Robert B. Parker signed books at www.vjbooks.com

(genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com, Feb. 4, Harriet Klausner)

Seattle attorney David Sloane has won an astronomical eighteen jury trials for his clients in a row. His current case is perhaps his most difficult to date, a wrongful-death suit against the federal government; a sure defeat for the seemingly invincible plaintiff lawyer.

His client Beverly Ford insists her husband James a national guardsman died in the current Iraq War due to underperforming body armor that the Pentagon knew it was inadequate, but in spite of safer options did nothing. David is stunned when an investigation into James’ unit reveals several other soldiers died under questionable circumstances after returning to the states. He wonders if someone is trying to cover up the truth of what happened in Iraq by eliminating the witnesses, but soon fears his inquiries have jeopardized his loving dependents.

The second Sloane legal thriller (see THE JURY MASTER) is an action-packed, fast-paced tale that in spite of vividly described legal proceedings and maneuvers comes across more as an investigative cat and mouse tale. The story line is loaded once Sloane takes on Ms. Ford as a client and never takes a breather until the finish. Although the plot is thin and a deeper look at how difficult suing the Feds is would have been enlightening as what is provided is fascinating, fans will enjoy WRONGFUL DEATH, which never slows down until the end.

Order your signed copy of Wrongful Death by Robert Dugoni from www.vjbooks.com

(Publisher’s Weekly, Mar. 2)

Bestsellers Preston and Child kill off a regular supporting character at the outset of this suspenseful tale of urban terror, their ninth to feature FBI special agent Aloysius Pendergast (after The Wheel of Darkness). William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife, Nora Kelly, an anthropologist with the New York Museum of Natural History, are celebrating their first anniversary when Smithback is fatally stabbed in their Manhattan apartment, apparently by a creepy neighbor, Colin Fearing, an out-of-work British actor. Given eyewitness descriptions of the killer, including one from Kelly herself, as well as surveillance footage showing a blood-stained Fearing emerging from the apartment building right after the crime, the case appears to be open and shut—until Pendergast and his NYPD ally, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, learn that Fearing died almost two weeks earlier. This taut page-turner can only add to the authors’ growing fan base. 8-city author tour. (May)

Order your signed copy of Cemetary Dance from Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston from www.vjbooks.com

(Publisher’s Weekly, Mar. 2)

Bestseller Fairstein (Killer Heat) has put together a stellar anthology, presented by the Mystery Writers of America, that will appeal both to contemporary noir fans and devotees of Law & Order. The late Edward Hoch starts things off nicely with “The Secret Session,” a concise whodunit centering on judicial corruption at the appellate level. In Barbara Parker’s deliciously creepy “A Clerk’s Life,” a put-upon law clerk for a major Florida firm stumbles on two murders. Joel Goldman highlights the ethical challenges of criminal defense work in “Knife Fight,” as does Eileen Dunbaugh in “The Letter.” By way of counterpoint, Michele Martinez’s “The Mother” and Morley Swingle’s “Hard Blows” dramatize the challenges prosecutors encounter, even when the defendants they charge are, in fact, guilty. The consistently high quality of the 22 selections will lead many to hope the MWA will sponsor more volumes in this vein. (Apr.)

Order your signed copy from www.vjbooks.com

(Publisher’s Weekly, Mar. 2)

Set in 1956, bestseller Smith’s edgy second thriller to feature Leo Demidov (after Child 44) depicts the paranoia and instability of the Soviet Union after the newly installed Khrushchev regime leaks a “secret speech” laying out Stalin’s brutal abuses. Now working as a homicide detective, Leo has long since repudiated his days as an MGB officer, but his former colleagues, fearful of reprisals from their victims, have begun taking their own lives. Leo himself becomes the target of Fraera, the wife of a priest he imprisoned. Now the leader of a violent criminal gang, Fraera kidnaps Leo’s daughter, Zoya, and threatens to kill Zoya if Leo doesn’t liberate her husband from his gulag prison. Shifting from Moscow to Siberia and to a Hungary convulsed by revolution, this fast-paced novel is packed with too many incidents for Smith to dwell on any in great depth. Though its drama often lacks emotional resonance, this story paints a memorable portrait of post-Stalinist Russia at its dawn. (May)

Order your signed copy of The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith from www.vjbooks.com

(www.englishrosesloverain.blogspot.com, Mar 1, Mystery Girl)

Present day Alexandria where corruption is a part of life and the Supreme Council for Antiquities has the authority to start or close down excavations at will. Discovering an ancient burial ground on a hotel construction site triggers a series of events that could uncover the final resting place of one of the greatest warriors in history, Alexander the Great. In the hunt are the head of the SCA, the rich and powerful Dragoumis family and a group of archaeologists linked by more than just their profession.

Dragoumis and his son seek the body of the real Alexander a symbol that they can use to incite the Macedonian people to rise up and take back their homeland from the Greeks and they don’t care who they have to go through to get it.

A fast paced chase across Egypt with a good dose of the history of Alexander and some complicated interpersonal relationships to keep the story moving.

Order your signed copy of Alexander Cipher by Will Adams from www.vjbooks.com