A May 10 front page feature in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Arts section noted John Sandford’s varied tastes and interests: “His…passions range from art and photography to golf and hunting. He funds a $150,000-a-year archaeological dig in Israel. A former military man, he also recently reported on Iraq for Parade magazine.” The author kicked off his Wicked Prey tour (copies in print: 383,770) with SRO events in the Twin Cities, as well as talks and signings in Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Milwaukee and Los Angeles.
Order your signed copy of Wicked Prey by John Sandford at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, May 25)
Preston and Child are on a first-ever, two-week, 24-city tour aboard a custom bus that sports a wrap of the book jacket. This way they can appear together at every signing; formerly, they appeared together only selectively, with Preston traveling farther afield on his own. Their fans, reporst the publisher, “will travel great distances to get to see them together, let alone get their signatures.” The duo is blogging every day – complete with pictures – about the tour, the crowds and the bus at www.prestonchild.com. There are 241,000 copies in print.
VJ Books has an extensive inventory of Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books signed by BOTH AUTHORS!
(Publisher’s Weekly, May 25)
Earlier this month, Grand Central signed a new contract for one of its bestsellers, Robert Ludlum. The deal was for two more thrillers featuring the amnesiac hit man Jason Bourne, as well as two books with the retired government operative introduced in the 2002 bestseller, The Janson Directive.That the Ludlum brand is nearly as strong today as when he was alive is more than a stroke of good luck (and Hollywood intervention). Ludlum’s agent, Henry Morrison (who represents the author’s estate), said he had numerous talks with the author about ways to rely on more than just backlist after Ludlum was gone. (Ludlum died in 2001, but had had major heart surgery in the early 1990s, and that’s when, Morrison said, conversations about a posthumous publishing plan began.)
The first prong of the plan was to ensure there were new novels from Ludlum after he died. To that end, Ludlum wrote a handful of manuscripts that Morrison said “he didn’t really polish,” with the intention that they would be edited and released after he died. One of them became The (more…)
Parker introduces young readers to private investigator Spenser, star of his bestselling adult novels, at age 14. Short chapters and Spenser’s signature quick-fire delivery propel the story, which reveals the ways young Spenser uses the survival skills and scruples passed on to him by his loving, wise father and the two uncles who are raising him in a small town (“They took turns with everything…. So none of them got ground down, so to speak, by being the only parent”). Knowing when to defend himself and when to run away comes in handy when the teen encounters a black bear in the woods, rescues his friend from her drunken, gun-toting father and is ambushed by a gang of racist thugs after he protects a bullied Mexican peer. The narrative alternates between the youth’s adventures and the reminiscences of an adult Spenser, who appears with his longtime love interest, Susan, in less compelling, present-day chapters in which he—at her prodding—offers insight into his past. Carefully tempered emotion, full-throttle suspense and subtle humor should win Parker’s (Edenville Owls) detective enthusiastic new fans.
Order your signed copy of Chasing the Bear by Robert B. Parker at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, May 18)
This exciting time-travel adventure opens three years after Jake Ransom’s archeologist parents have disappeared in the Yucatán, leaving him and his sister, Kady, nothing but their journals and a Mayan coin, broken in half. The siblings receive an invitation to attend an exhibition of Mayan antiquities at the British Museum, and are soon after catapulted into the prehistoric past where ancient Mayans, Romans, Egyptians, Vikings and even Neanderthals have joined together to do battle with the Skull King, a creature so evil that he only appears wrapped in shadows, “as if the darkness were scared of what lay hidden at its heart and attempted to hide the horror from the world.” Jake, an Indiana Jones in the making, and Kady, a cheerleader who learns to channel her inner Viking, fight the Skull King to a draw, discovering clues about their missing parents. In this series opener, Rollins (The Last Oracle) presents a wide range of interesting historical information while telling a rollicking good story that should please a wide range of readers—and maybe even some of his adult fans.
Order your signed copy of Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow by James Rollins at www.vjbooks.com
At the start of Konrath’s brisk and breezy sixth Jack Daniels mystery, the guilt-ridden Chicago cop, who’s attending the funeral of a loved one, takes a call from Alexandra Kork, the sadistic psychopath who did in the loved one at the end of 2008’s Fuzzy Navel (“I checked the Weather Channel…. It’s raining in Chicago. That’s appropriate, don’t you think? Funerals on sunny days seem so wrong”). Barred from the official hunt for Kork because she’s personally involved in the case, Daniels soon finds herself on the wrong side of the law with few of the usual resources to call on. Meanwhile, the wily Kork, who’s stopped counting her victims (after 50 they blur), strews bodies over a wide area as part of a scheme to lead Daniels to a slow and painful death. Konrath leavens the violence with offbeat humor, including a feces-throwing monkey in love with a cashmere sweater. The slam-bang ending is sure to satisfy series fans.
Order your signed copy of Cherry Bomb by J.A. Konrath at www.vjbooks.com
MWA Grandmaster Burke spins a tale replete with colorful prose and epic confrontations in his second novel to feature smalltown Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland (after Lay Down My Sword and Shield). An anonymous phone call leads Holland, a Korean vet who survived a POW camp, to the massacre and burial site of nine Thai women, a crime that brings FBI and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials running. As a slew of bad guys relocated from New Orleans after Katrina grapple for advantage in new territory, mercurial killer “Preacher” Jack Collins finds plenty of work. Pete Flores, a possible witness to the massacre, and his girlfriend are targeted by Collins for elimination, and by the FBI for bait. Holland must protect the hapless Flores and his girl from both. Three strong female characters complement the full roster of sharply drawn lowlifes. The battle of wills and wits between Holland and Collins delivers everything Burke’s fans expect.
Order a signed copy of Rain Gods by James Lee Burke at www.vjbooks.com
In Rosenfelt’s excellent seventh legal thriller to feature Paterson, N.J., defense attorney Andy Carpenter (after Play Dead), Andy takes on another canine client—Waggy, a Bernese mountain puppy, who’s somehow connected to the murder of Walter Timmerman, “a semi-titan in the pharmaceutical industry.” Andy represents the dog in a custody battle between Diana, Walter’s widow, and her stepson, Steven, who’s a suspect in his father’s shooting. Shortly after Andy picks up Waggy from Diana, she dies in a bomb explosion at her house. When Steven’s arrested for Diana’s murder, Andy agrees to represent him. After Andy’s police chief girlfriend, Laurie Collins, who’s visiting from Wisconsin, is shot and wounded while playing with Waggy and Tara, Andy’s golden retriever, Andy realizes Waggy was the real target. Rosenfelt injects this clever installment with courtroom twists, a peek into some scary DNA research and a romantic surprise.
Order a signed copy of New Tricks by David Rosenfelt at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, June 1)
Based on a true story, this absorbing stand-alone thriller from bestseller Haig (Secret Sanction and five other books featuring army JAG lawyer Sean Drummond) charts 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.
Order your signed copy of The Hunted by Brian Haig at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, June 1)
Set in a future American divided into two major regions, Edgar-finalist Ferrigno’s final entry in his Assassin trilogy (after Sins of the Assassin) nicely ties up the wildly diverse plot lines that have motivated his many characters. New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Mecca have all been nuked by the Old One, a 150-year-old Muslim fanatic trying to become the Muslim messiah who will lead a new caliphate. The only person who can stop him is Rakkim Epps, a fedayeen warrior whose historian wife, Sarah, is masterminding an effort to unite America by finding a piece of the true cross, buried somewhere in the D.C. nuclear hot zone. The Old One is aided by Baby, a brilliant blonde bombshell who’s married to the Colonel, a powerful warlord. One can read this volume as a stand-alone, but to enjoy the vast breadth of what is truly a remarkable achievement, one should start with book one, Prayers for the Assassin, and read the series in order.
Order a signed copy of Heart of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno at www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, June 1)
