Mailbox Monday
Monday, July 20
A Taint in the Blood by Dana Stabenow
Thirty-one years ago in Anchorage, Alaska, Victoria Pilz Bannister Muravieff was convicted of murdering her seventeen-year-old son, William. The prosecution convinced the jury that she set fire to her home while both of her sons were trapped inside. William died and the other, Oliver, narrowly escaped. Victoria was sentenced to life in prison, and though she pled not guilty at the trial, she never again denied her guilt. Now Victoria has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her daughter, Charlotte, who’s always believed in her mother’s innocence, wants her free. Kate Shugak is the only PI Charlotte can find who’s willing to take such a long-shot case. Kate figures it can’t be bad to do a favor for the Bannister family, one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in Alaska’s short history. As she begins her investigation, Victoria refuses to cooperate. But it seems she isn’t the only one who wants to leave the past in the past, as Kate finds herself caught in a web of deception, secrets, and danger….
I received this one from another MBS buddy as a birthday book. I’m looking forward to this one, it sounds interesting!
Tuesday, July 21
The Double Eagle by James Twining
Somehow, impossible, someone has invaded Fort Knox and stolen five of the world’s last remaining Double Eagles – the $20 gold coin ordered destroyed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Now, one has resurfaced during an autopsy in France – in the stomach of a murdered priest. Disgraced FBI agent Jennifer Browne needs to recover the priceless coins to resuscitate her stalled career – and her investigation is pointing her toward Tom Kirk, a brilliant international art thief who wants to get out of the game. But Kirk’s only chance for freedom – and survival – is to find the missing coins, joining Browne, an unlikely ally, on a breakneck race across the globe and into the lethal heart of a shocking conspiracy of greed and power .. and death.
I’ve had my eye on this for a while now. Actually for at least 2 years when a co-worker’s wife told me about her reading it at the company Christmas party. But lately I’ve been lucky enough to build up some credits over at PBS and I finally used one to order this book (I hope it’s good!) So I’m looking forward to reading this one finally!!
Wednesday, July 22
Time Bomb by Jonathan Kellerman
By the time psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware reached the school the damage was done: A sniper had opened fire on a playground, but was gunned down before any children were hurt. While the TV news crews feasted on the scene and Alex began his therapy sessions with the traumatized children, he couldn’t escape the image of a slight teenager clutching an oversized rifle. What was the identity behind the name and face: a would-be assassin, or just another victim beneath an indifferent California sky? Intrigued by a request from the sniper’s father to conduct a “psychological autopsy” of his child, Alex begins to uncover a strange pattern of innocence, neglect, and loss. Then suddenly it is more than a pattern – it is a trail of blood. In the dead sniper’s past wsa a dark and vicious plot. And in Alex Delaware’s future is the stuff of grown-up nightmares: the face of real human evil.
I got this one from another BOB swap off PBS, I’m just trying to get as many of the early Delaware books as I can so I can start the series.
New York Dead by Stuart Woods
Everyone is always telling Stone Barrington that he’s too smart to be a cop, but it’s pure luck that places him on the streets in the dead of night, just in time to witness the horrifying incident that turns his life inside out. Suddenly he is on the front page of every New York newspaper, and his life is hopelessly entwined in the increasingly shocking life (and perhaps death) of Sasha Nijinsky, the country’s hottest and most beautiful television anchorwoman. No matter where he turns, the case is waiting for him, haunting his nights and turning his days into a living hell. Stone finds himself caught in a perilous web of unspeakable crimes, dangerous friends, and sexual depravity that ahs throughout it one comnon thread: Sasha.
I got this one as the second in the BOB swap. I’ve been wanting to start this series from the beginning so I was pleased to see this one available.
Thursday, July 23
The Aztec Heresy by Paul Christopher
In search of a Spanish galleon in the Caribbean, Finn Ryan and her partner, Lord Billy Pilgrim, find evidence of a lost Aztec Codex. The invaluable book, created by fifteenth-century explorer and accused heretic Hernan Coretz, is said to reveal the secret location of the lost City of Gold. Finn and Billy soon realize they are not alone in their quest. Also on the trail is the head of a menacing religious cadre, who would kill to get teh Codex first, as well as a sociopathic billionaire, with his own sinister reasons for wanting to possess it. But while trying to find the Codex – and stay alive – Finn and Billy come upon an even greater and more explosive secret. This mystery will take them from the jungles of the Yucatan to the Sonoran Desert, where the stakes are life and death – and the game is just beginning.
I ordered this off of Frugal Reader. I bought Rembrandt’s Ghost at the used bookstore and wanted to get the rest in the series before I started. This is the 4th in the series.
The Lucifer Gospel by Paul Christopher
Young archaeologist Finn Ryan and charismatic pilot and photographer Virgil Hilts are scouring the Sahara for the long-lost tomb of an apostle. But they find somethign they weren’t looking for: signs of a decades-old murder, along with an ancient Roman medallion bearing the infamous name of a fallen archangel. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that they’ve found a piece of a much bigger puzzle – and a trail of clues that could get them killed. Forced to flee from a relentless enemy, Finn and Virgil are pursued across the globe. From the sinister ruins of an ancient monastery to a sunken ship in the Caribbean, the two desperately search for a truth that can save their lives, but might shake the foundations of history…
This is the second in this series. I now have 2-4 … I still need to find 1 before I can start (I was hoping it would pop up on a Boxer’s account at PBS or on FrugalReader because I really didn’t want to waste a PBS point on it…. I guess we’ll see)
Tales of a Book Addict 