Mailbox Monday, Oct. 5, 2009

Mailbox Monday

Monday, Sept. 28
Lost by Joy Fielding

Ever since she was a child, Julia Carver has tested her mother Cindy’s nerves and tried her patience. Forever willful and self-absorbed, Julia, now twenty-one and an aspiring actress, moves back home when her father remarries – and turns Cindy’s household into chaos. But when Julia doesn’t return after a promising audition with a Hollywood film director, Cindy knows it’s more than just typical Julia dramatics – and a frantic search begins. Now, secrets are revealed, lives are forever altered, and Cindy is forced to acknowledge the disturbing truth about the daughter she realizes she never really knew.

I received this one from one of my MBS buddies, Annette. I’ve only read one other Joy Fielding book (Heartstopper) and loved it so I’m looking forward to reading more of her books.

Still Life by Joy Fielding

Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn’t be more content with her life, until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly eery bone in her body and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren’t necessarily the people she thought them to be – and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

Annette sent this one along with Lost as a freebie because she thought I’d enjoy this one too. Such a great lady! Definitely looking forward to getting to this one as well.

Immoral by Brian Freeman

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride knows it’s not a moral world. One teenage girl has already disapperaed on his watch, leaving behind no body, no killer, and no justice. Now, when another girl goes missing on a cold night in Minnesota, Stride must relive his worst nightmare….

This one came in the mail from another MBS buddie, Suzanne. I’m definitely looking forward to this one; I’ve seen different reviews of it on some other book blogs and while some people have mentioned that it’s a little too graphic, that’s how I like my books (I know, I’m kinda morbid), so I hope this is a great series to start.

Tuesday, Sept. 29
Compelling Evidence by Steve Martini

Defense attorney Paul Madriani was on the rise with the firm of Potter and Skarpellos until a short-lived affair with Potter’s wife cost him his job. Now, Potter’s wife is accused of murdering her husband, and Paul is forced to uncover secrets that may end his career – and his life.

I have a few of Steve Martini’s books on my shelves, later ones in this series, so when I saw another PBS boxer member with this one on their shelf, I snapped up the opportunity. I’m looking forward to trying this series from the start.

The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor

On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the unthinkable has happened: the President of the United States has been kidnapped, and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived – ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn’t buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are responsible, and begins his own campaign to find the truth – and exact revenge. But his search makes him a marked man by the sinister cabal behind the attack. Framed for murder by the conspirators, Harvath goes on the run, taking the fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland. There, he finds an unlikely ally: the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney’s Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus – and their only chance for survival is to enter the end of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known ….

This was the second book that I chose as part of the three book box from PBS. I’ve had my eye on this one, as I’ve wanted to try this series as well (can you tell, yet, that I’m a series ADDICT?!)

Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor

After rescuing the President from kidnappers, Navy SEAL turned Secret Service agent Scot Harvath shifts his attentions to rooting out, capturing, or killing all those responsible for the plot. As he prepares to close out his list, a bloody and twisted trail of clues points toward one man – the world’s most feared, most ruthless terrorist, Hashim Nidal. Having assembled an international league of Islamic terrorist networks in an ingenious plot to topple both Israel and America, Harvath and his CIA-led team must reach Nidal before it’s too late. One problem remains – they have no idea what the man looks like. With no alternative, Harvath is forced to recruit a civilian – a woman who has survived a brutal hijacking and is now the only person who can positively identify their quarry. From the burning deserts of North Africa to the winding streets of Rome, Harvath must brave a maelstrom of bloodshed and deception – before a madman’s twisted vision engulfs the world in the fires of all-out war …

This is the second in this series and the third book in the three book box I received from PBS.

Saturday, Oct. 4
A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

Going to two weddings – one of a former lover – and a funeral for a member of her disbanded crime discussion group keeps Aurora “Roe” Teagarden quite busy for a few months. Unfortunately, her personal life seems to be at a standstill – until her fortunes unexpectedly change. After the funeral Roe learns that Jane Engle, the deceased, has named her as heir to a rather substantial estate, which includes money, jewlery, and a house complete with a skull hidden in a window seat. Knowing Jane, Roe concludes that the elderly woman has purposely left her a murder to solve. So she must identify the victim and figure out which one of Jane’s ordinary-seeming neighbors is a murderer – without putting herself in deadly danger …

I recently read the first book in this series, Real Murders, and placed this one on my PBS wishlist. It came available and I figured I’d go ahead and give it a shot. But if this one isn’t better than the first one was, I probably won’t be continuing on with this series.