VJ Books has received: James Patterson – Fang, Lisa Scottoline – Think Twice, John Vorhaus – The California Roll, Erica Spindler – Blood Vines, Jefferson Bass – The Bone Thief, Robert McCammon – Mister Slaughter (Limited Edition), and James Grippando – Money to Burn.
Watchlist is a two-part thriller by Jeffery Deaver, who created the characters and set the plot in motion. In turn, twenty-one of the world’s greatest thriller writers contributed to the work, some of which include Linda Barnes, Brett Battles, Lee Child, David Corbett, Joseph Finder, Jim Fusilli, John Gilstrap, James Grady, David Hewson, P.J. Parrish, S.J. Rozan, and Lisa Scottoline. Each author wrote a chapter and Deaver then completed this thrilling sequel.
In part one, The Chopin Manuscript, former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton possesses a previously unknown score by Frédéric Chopin. But he is unaware that, locked within its handwritten notes, lies a secret that now threatens the lives of thousands of Americans.
In part two, The Copper Bracelet, Harold Middleton, an ex-U.S. military intelligence officer returns as he’s drawn into an international terror and assassination plot that threatens to send India and Pakistan into full-scale nuclear war.
Additional great authors who contributed to this exciting novel include Jon Land, David Liss, Gayle Lynds, John Ramsey Miller, Ralph Pezzullo, James Phelan, Jenny Siler, Peter Spiegelman, and Erica Spindler, with an introduction by M.J. Rose.
Order your copy of Watchlist from VJ Books today!
See all Jeffery Deaver books here
VJ Books has just received: Martin Limon – G.I. Bones, John Grisham – Ford Country Stories, David Poyer – The Crisis, Ken Bruen – London Boulevard, Lisa Scottoline – Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, Norb Vonnegut – Top Producer, and Larry Bond – Red Dragon Rising: Shadows of War.
Scottoline’s latest departs from her customary Philadelphia law firm setting, revolving instead around a reporter at a Philadelphia daily. Said PW’s starred review, “Bestseller Scottoline scores another bull’s eye with this terrifying thriller about an adoptive parent’s worst fear – the threat of an undisclosed illegality overturning an adoption…[She] expertly ratchets up the tension as the desperate Ellen flies to Miami to get DNA samples from Timothy’s biological parents. More shocks await her back home.” St. Martin’s reports 220,000 copies in print.
Order your signed copy of Look Again by Lisa Scottoline from www.vjbooks.com
(Publisher’s Weekly, Feb. 16)
Bestseller Scottoline (Lady Killer) scores another bull’s-eye with this terrifying thriller about an adoptive parent’s worst fear—the threat of an undisclosed illegality overturning an adoption. The age-progressed picture of an abducted Florida boy, Timothy Braverman, on a “have you seen this child?” flyer looks alarmingly like Philadelphia journalist Ellen Gleeson’s three-year-old son, Will, whom she adopted after working on a feature about a pediatric cardiac care unit. Ellen, who jeopardizes her newspaper job by secretly researching the Braverman case, becomes suspicious when she discovers the lawyer who handled her adoption of Will has committed suicide. Meanwhile, Will’s supposed birth mother, Amy Martin, dies of a heroin overdose, and Amy’s old boyfriend turns out to look like the man who kidnapped Timothy. Scottoline expertly ratchets up the tension as the desperate Ellen flies to Miami to get DNA samples from Timothy’s biological parents. More shocks await her back home. Author tour. (Apr.)
Order your signed copy of Look Again by Lisa Scottoline from www.vjbooks.com
(news.cincinnati.com, Jan. 21, Dinesh Ramde)
“In the Shadow of the Master” (William Morrow, 416 pages), edited by Michael Connelly: The beating of the telltale heart still echoes beneath the floorboards. The cask of amontillado still eludes the wretched Fortunato. The raven still croaks, “Nevermore.”
No matter how many times you read them, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales never seem to lose their macabre magic.
And so, in honor of the master’s 200th birthday, which was Monday, the Mystery Writers of America have compiled a volume of his works – from the best-loved to the more obscure – along with short essays by award-winning authors who cite him as their inspiration.
“In the Shadow of the Master” was edited by Michael Connelly and includes vignettes by mystery authors from Sue Grafton to Stephen King.
Their essays provide a range of insightful observations. Some authors reminisce about their favorite Poe tales, while others recall their first exposure to his stories. Still others have come back to Poe’s works after many years and describe how their reactions have evolved as they’ve grown older.
Most of the guest essays sparkle. Each is about two to five pages, a quick read, and each resonates with an unmistakable passion for Poe.
One author, Lisa Scottoline, likens high-school exposure to Poe to broccoli for teenagers – as something forced upon kids because it’s good for them. The lesson she learned after Poe’s “William Wilson” inspired her own evil-twin story. Eat your vegetables.
A particularly stirring vignette by Laura Lippman traces the legend of the Poe Toaster. He or she is the mysterious figure who celebrates Poe’s birthday every year by stealthily leaving three red roses and half a bottle of cognac on his grave in downtown Baltimore.
Lippman once kept watch at the grave and finally caught a glimpse of the figure. But she refuses to describe the elusive fan, respecting the person’s mystery the same way that person honors the king of mysteries.
All Poe’s classics are here: “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Raven.”
So are a number of other works, lesser-known but still distinctively Poe. “A Descent Into the Maelstrom,” “The Masque of the Red Death” and “Ligeia” may not have the same name recognition as his more famous stories, but they are no less gripping.
A number of the vignettes speak of an experience that certainly rings true for this reviewer. Poe was required reading in our sixth-grade class. When we were that young, his formidable vocabulary made some of his stories a little too complex to fully appreciate.
But rereading the tales as an adult brings a fresh sense of admiration. Few authors can match his disturbing detail, few can create such disconcerting worlds of madness.
That’s why the Mystery Writers of America named its annual award the Edgar Award.
The only thing that separates “In the Shadow of the Master” from any other Poe anthology is the 20 vignettes, most of which are worthy additions. Their collective effect is to create a sense of camaraderie, as though a group of friends has gathered in communal respect of Poe’s genius.
If you just want to read Poe, any anthology will do. But readers who have loved Poe since they first explored his works will feel a special appreciation for this volume.
(Publisher’s Weekly, Jan.26)
Lisa Scottoline‘s story should inspire wannabe writers. Divorced with a young child, she left the legal world to attempt writing legal thrillers for financial support. On her Web site, she notes that she gave herself five years or $50,000 in credit (whichever came first) to write and seller her first book. It only took her three years – HarperCollins published Everywhere That Mary Went in 1993 (PW called it “an engaging, quick read, sprinkled with corny humor and melodrama”) and it was nominated for an Edgar. The next year, her second book, Final Appeal, won the Edgar.
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