Title: The Diviner’s Tale

Author: Bradford Morrow

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, January 2011

Summary: Cassandra Brooks wants an interesting but ordinary life, but her gifts of divining and fore-vision are getting in the way. As a child, Cassandra was taught the art of divining by her father Nep, who was taught by his father, who was taught by his father and so on. She was soon able to divine the future as well, being able to predict future events even as a small child. The power of these visions was tragically demonstrated when her older brother, Christopher, failed to heed her warning and was killed in an accident.
As an adult, Cassandra is a part time teacher and lives a simple life with her twin boys, Morgan and Jonah. While dowsing for water for a new development, Cass discovers a young girl hanged from a tree. She must leave the area in order to call the police, who then scour the area but cannot find any trace of the girl. Cassandra’s integrity is questioned until the police find a young girl, Laura Bryant, very much alive but dazed and disheveled and living in a makeshift hovel. Credited with leading authorities to Laura, Cass regains her reputation, shaky as it was, but continues to be plagued by visions of the young girl she saw hanging in the woods. When Cassandra begins to receive threatening letters and confusing visions, she is forced to revisit an event from her childhood that she has kept hidden for years.
A different kind of ghost story, “The Diviner’s Tale” begins at a leisurely pace, allowing you to really get to know Cassandra and her family. The story gradually picks up speed until you find yourself flying through the pages to find out exactly who is haunting Cassandra. Fun read, not scary but definitely creepy.

Who Might Like This?: Readers who like a few ghosts with their mystery.

Recommended by: Sue B, Circulation Coordinator

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Title: Pretty Little Things

Author: Jilliane Hoffman

Publisher: Vanguard Press, September 2010

Summary: Author Jilliane Hoffman does it again with her newest thriller “Pretty Little Things”.

When 13 year old Lainey Emerson fails to return home from a sleepover, the police are called in. Detectives wonder why Lainey’s mother waited 2 days to call, and why she doesn’t remember the name of the friend Lainey was supposed to be with. FDLE special agent Bobby Dees, however, has seen this kind of neglect too many times before. Parents too busy or self-absorbed to give their children the attention and supervision they need. Many times these children run away; some are “thrown away”. As head of the Crimes Against Children Squad for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Bobby has developed a talent for finding these missing children and bringing them home. This talent has earned him the nickname The Shepherd among his colleagues. It is a nickname that has made him bristle since his own daughter went missing several months ago.

Bobby’s investigation into Lainey’s disappearance leads him to believe that she is the victim of an online predator. When a local television reporter claims that he has proof of several similar disappearances that the police have written off as runaways, Bobby fears that a serial killer could be at work, preying on these vulnerable children.

This is a thriller from first page to last. Making it even more chilling is the realization that the events portrayed in this novel could very well happen for real.

 Who will like this book: Readers of thrillers and suspense, and anyone who has enjoyed Jilliane Hoffman’s previous novels.

 Recommended by: Sue B, circulation coordinator

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Title: Plea of Insanity

Author: Jilliane Hoffman

Publisher: Vanguard Press, April 2009

Summary: In a quiet section of Coral Gables, Florida, in a neighborhood of stately homes, a terrible crime has been committed.  Someone has brutally murdered a young mother and her three small children. The prime suspect is also at the scene, with the murder weapon still imbedded in his stomach. He is still alive, though barely. He is Dr. David Marquette, the husband and father of the slaughtered family.

Julia Vacanti is a young Assistant State Attorney in Miami. She is a “B” prosecutor, usually assigned to second degree felonies. It is no wonder that everyone, including Julia, is surprised when she is asked to second seat the murder prosecution of Dr. Marquette. The Assistant Division Chief of Major Crimes, Rick Bellido, has asked for her personally. Julia can only hope that the request came because of her prosecution record, not because she and Rick are sleeping together. This is the type of case that can make or break a career, and Julia’s has really just started. Her aunt Nora begs her not to take the case. She feels the crime is too similar to the events that destroyed Julia’s own family when she was a child. When Dr. Marquette’s lawyer enters a plea of insanity on his client’s behalf, Julia is forced to re-examine the events that led to her own family tragedy.

This is a great legal thriller that will keep you hooked from beginning to end. Jilliane Hoffman is a major talent and I am looking forward to her next book, “Pretty Little Things”, due out in September 2010.

Who will like this book?: Fans of suspense and legal thrillers.

If you like this, try this: Jilliane Hoffman’s “Retribution” and “Last Witness”. William Diehl’s “Primal Fear”.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Title: Death Echo

Author:  Elizabeth Lowell

Publisher: HarperCollins, June 2010

Summary: Emma Cross, former CIA agent now working for St. Kilda Consulting, must rustle with Russian spies and a terrorist plot in Elizabeth Lowell’s latest book.  Emma needs to chase down “The Blackbird” a yacht that could have explosives attached to it… enough explosives to blow up a major city. The story moves from the Puget Sound to Vancouver Island.   Interestingly, a “twin” yacht went missing never making it to its port. Are the two connected somehow? Did they have the same owner? 

Fortunately for Emma she doesn’t have to work alone. Enter Mackenzie Mac Durand, a former Special Ops guy, and the transit captain for “The Blackbird.” Sparks fly between the two and a romance blossoms amidst all of the turmoil.

 They are in for a bumpy ride in this romantic suspense novel, fighting off Russian Spies, CIA agents, and a very hazardous sea -  and time is not on their side.

Recommended by: Nancy, Deputy Town Librarian

Title: Ice Cold

Author:  Tess Gerritsen

Publisher: Random House, June 2010

Summary: Ice Cold is Tess Gerritsen’s newest novel featuring medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles and her friend, FBI agent Jane Rizzoli. While on a ski trip, Maura and her friends become stranded in Wyoming. There they discover a deserted town called Kingdom Come. It turns out that Kingdom Come was home to a cult but the people have disappeared. When Maura also goes missing, Jane is determined to find out what has happened to her friend and the residents of Kingdom Come. Suspenseful throughout, “Ice Cold” keeps you guessing until the end.

Recommended by: Virginia, Circulation Department

Title: The Poacher’s Son

Author:  Paul Doiron

Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur, May 2010

Summary:  Mike Bowditch is a game warden for the state of Maine. Perhaps he chose this career to make amends for his father’s criminal acts. His father, Jack, is a Vietnam vet who has been divorced from Mike’s mother for several years. Since the divorce, Jack has tried to live as far from people as possible, living off the land and poaching game.

When two men are gunned down in an ambush, all evidence leads to Jack. One of the dead men is a Sheriff’s deputy and the other is a representative from Wendigo Timberlands, a company that has recently purchased close to half a million acres of forestland. Included in the purchase was land that had been used for privately owned camps and sporting lodges, one of the camps belonging to Jack  As a child,  Mike suffered from abuse and neglect at the hands of his father, but he cannot believe his father is capable of murder and sets out to prove his innocence.

The wilderness setting and the added family drama make “The Poacher’s Son” a compelling story. As an animal lover, however, I could have done without the descriptions of Jack’s hunting and trapping practices. In fact, I had to skim over the graphic details. Other than that, I really enjoyed this story and hope to hear more about Mike Bowditch in the future.

Who will like this book? Mystery fans and hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Title: So Cold the River

Author:  Michael Koryta

Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, June 2010

Summary: Once a highly sought after cinematographer, Eric Shaw’s film career is in a downward spiral. He shouldn’t be surprised-punching a famous director in the face will often have that effect. Eric’s personal life isn’t faring much better. He walked out on his wife Claire when he began to feel that she and her father were starting to think of him as a failure. Eric’s gift has always been his innate sense of knowing which pictures or footage would move the audience. His new career is using that gift to make personal memorial videos for funerals, weddings, and other occasions. When the sister of a woman memorialized in one of his videos offers to hire Eric to make a video about her dying father in law, Campbell Bradford, Eric agrees. Armed with his camera and a curious bottle of vintage mineral water that belonged to Bradford, Eric travels to French Lick, Indiana, to begin his project. What he finds there contradicts all he was previously told about Campbell Bradford. This and the fact that the bottle of mineral water he’s been carrying around keeps getting colder and colder to the touch, even as the temperature around him rises, should have been enough to convince Eric that he was heading toward danger. But, alas, Eric plunges ahead and ends up in a fight to save his life and his very soul. This is a fast paced, action packed supernatural thriller with great characters and a very clever plot. I enjoyed this from cover to cover.

Who will like this book? Supernatural and thriller readers.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Title: The Interpretation of Murder

Author: Jed Rubenfeld

Publisher: Picador, May 2007

Summary:  The year is 1909 and Sigmund Freud has arrived in the United States with his protégé Carl Jung for a series of lectures at Clark University.  The same day of Freud’s arrival a young heiress is murdered, apparently by a serial killer. Another wealthy young socialite is suffering from amnesia after a second attack by the same criminal.

 Dr. Stratham Younger, a thirty-three-year-old Harvard graduate teaches at Clark University.  He  is in New York to accompany Dr. Freud back to Clark.  Younger finds himself caught up in the murder mystery, being consulted about the use psychoanalysis to help the young woman recall the attack.   

 The plot is multileveled and intricate and includes a rivalry between Jung and Freud, a conspiracy theory against Freud’s teachings, a fascinating episode on the construction of the Manhattan Bridge, and corruption in the New York city police force. I found the story riveting and the details of that period in New York’s history to be fascinating.

  Recommended by: Barbara, Head of Children’s Services

Title: The Tale of Halcyon Crane

Author:  Wendy Webb

Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.,  March 2010

Summary: Hallie James has lived her life believing that her mother Madlyn was killed in a fire when Hallie was a small child. Now 35 years old, Hallie is dealing with her divorce and her father’s terminal illness. When she receives an envelope in the mail, she is shocked to find it contains a letter from her mother. As it turns out, Madlyn has lived the last 30 years believing that Hallie and her father were killed in a kayaking accident on the lake. The letter from Madlyn is accompanied by a letter from her attorney breaking the news that Madlyn has recently passed away. In order to find out why her father went to such lengths to keep her from her mother, Hallie travels to her mother’s home on Grand Manitou, a remote island in the Great Lakes. It isn’t long before Hallie realizes that something supernatural inhabits the mansion and grounds which she has just inherited.

  The Tale of Halcyon Crane is an unnerving ghost story that’s setting on a secluded island makes it even creepier.

Who will like this book? Ghost story aficionados.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Title: Last Night in Montreal

Author:  Emily St. John Mandel

Publisher: Unbridled Books, April 2010

Summary: When Lilia’s father abducts her in the middle of the night, the 7 year old willingly goes with him. Some might say she was rescued, not kidnapped. From that night on, Lilia and her father move across the United States, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Now, as an adult, Lilia doesn’t know how to stay anywhere for very long. She has become quite adept at leaving people behind, and most people have easily let her go. That is, until Eli. Eli’s life seemed so much better with Lilia in it that he cannot bear to think of his life without her.

  This is a story of obsession and the effect it has on everyone involved. From Lilia who is obsessed with moving on, to Eli who travels to another country to find her. From Christopher, the detective hired years ago to find Lilia, to Michaela, his daughter who he abandoned in his effort to find the missing girl. Michaela is the greatest victim here. Her wounds are so deep and her pain so obvious, it is heartbreaking to know that it was all caused by her father’s obsession to search for someone who did not want or need to be found.

Who will like this book? Anyone.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator