Category: Mailbox Monday

This week only one book came in, from Paperbackswap:

Molly Murphy always knew she’d end up in trouble, just as her mother predicted. So, when she commits murder in self-defense, she flees her cherished Ireland, and her identity, for the anonymous shores of America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.

Using her Irish charm and sharp wit, Molly escapes Ellis Island and sets out to find the wily killer on her own. Pounding the notorious streets of Hell’s Kitchen and the Lower East Side, Molly makes it her desperate mission to clear her name before her deadly past comes back to haunt her new future.

This week I received my Book of the Month selection:

Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants – the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming – until one of them mysteriously disappears.

Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her elder sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found dumped in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past – and a voice that won’t be silenced…

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And I got two in from Paperbackswap:

After a routine delivery, Sarah visits her patient in a rooming house – and discovers that another boarder, a young girl, has been killed. At the request of Sergeant Frank Malloy, she searches the girl’s room. She discovers that the victim is from one of the most prominent families in New York – and the sister of an old friend. The powerful family, fearful of scandal, refuses to permit an investigation. But with Malloy’s help, Sarah begins a dangerous quest to bring the killer to justice – before death claims another victim…

 

 

Thinking she has been summoned by German immigrant Agnes Otto to usher a new life into the world, Sarah Brandt is greeted by the news of an untimely death instead. It seems that Agnes’s beautiful younger sister, Gerda, had fallen into the life of a “Charity Girl.” Caught up in the false glamour of the city’s nightlife, she would trade her company – and her favors – not for money, but for lavish gifts and an evening’s entertainment. And now she was dead, victim, no doubt, of one of her “gentlemen friends.”

No one cares much about the fate of girls like Gerda; but Sarah does. And she vows to find her killer. To do so, she turns to Sergeant Frank Malloy. As the two pursue an investigation that leads from the bright lights of Coney Island to the stately homes of Fifth Avenue, they find that their shared passion for justice may cost them dearly…

This post encompasses the last two weeks. We’ve been lucky to have two weekends in a row of grandparents keeping the kiddos for us! The first weekend we went up to St. Louis for a car show and of course we had to stop by V-Stock, a cool store that sells used books/DVDs/video games and the like. The second weekend we had tickets to a concert in Evansville and of course any trip to Evansville must include a trip to my absolute favorite used book store – Book Broker 😀 So here are my goodies:

From V-Stock:

By the time psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware reaches the school, the damage is done: A sniper has opened fire on a crowded playground, though he’s gunned down before any children are hurt.

While the TV news crews feast on the scene and Alex begins his therapy sessions with the traumatized children, he can’t escape the image of a slight teenager clutching an oversize rifle. What is 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 patters – in fact, a trail of blood. In the dead sniper’s past was a dark and vicious plot. And in Alex Delaware’s future is the stuff of grown-up nightmares: the face of real human evil.

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Madeline Dare has at last escaped rust-belt Syracuse, New York, for the lush Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. After her husband’s job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers.

Behind the academy’s ornate gates, she discovers a disorienting world in which students and teachers alike must submit to the founder’s bizarre therapeutic regimen. But when Maddie questions his methods, she’s appalled to find her fellow teachers more likely to turn on one another than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie’s worst suspicions, leading her to suspect an even darker secret, one that lies at the academy’s very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school’s most violently rebellious students – kids who, despite their troubled grip on reality, may well prove to be her only chance of survival.

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From Book Broker: [I may have gone a little crazy at Book Broker 😀 To be fair, I did take 10 books in for trade ….. as if that really matters all that much when you walk out the door with 14 new-to-you books only to realize that you’ve actually already read one book back in 2011 and have another one already on your shelf at home … oops?]

In a drab room in a hospital for the criminally insane, Dr. Paul Lucas can tell whether a patient is lying or lost, salvageable, evil, or insane. Paul interviews criminals and killers all the time. But he has never had an interview like this one …

Craig Cavanaugh is accused of stalking a female Harvard instructor. With his good looks, intelligence, and money, Craig has no doubt that he can outsmart his doctor, that love will excuse his actions, and money will set him free. And Paul is about to discover how right – and how dangerous – Craig really is.

Suddenly, Paul’s personal life is imploding. His beautiful wife is tied to a sordid murder. And his grip on his profession and even his sanity is slipping. What began with a typical, carefully controlled session in the interview room has turned into this: Paul faces a master manipulator – with no rules, no walls, and only one way out…

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It’s been ten years since Sasha Keeton left her West Virginia hometown … since she escaped the twisted serial killer known as the Groom. Returning to help run her family inn means being whole again, except for one missing piece. The piece that falls into place when Sasha’s threatened – and FBI agent Cole Landis vows to protect her the way he couldn’t a decade ago.

First one woman disappears, the another, and all the while, disturbing calling cards are left for the sole survivor of the Groom’s reign of terror. Cole’s never forgiven himself for not being there when Sasha was taken, but he intends to make up for it now … because under the quirky sexiness Cole first fell for is a steely strength that only makes him love Sasha more.

But someone is watching. Waiting. And Sasha’s first mistake could be her last.

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In a quiet English seaside town, antiquarian bookseller Robin Jessop has acquired an odd medieval volume. What appears to be a book isn’t a book at all but a cleverly disguised safe, in which she finds a single rolled parchment written in code.

For encryption expert David Mallory, the text is impenetrable until an invaluable clue opens the door to a mystery and a conspiracy stretching back seven centuries, when the most powerful man in Europe declared war on the most powerful clan, the Knights Templar.

Now Jessop and Mallory find themselves on a global hunt for an unsurpassed treasure and this much closer to the keys to secrets that could change history, topple an empire, and bury them both alive. Because they’re not only the hunters. They’re also the hunted.

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Four days later, Louise Rick still has no answers. An unidentified woman’s body has been discovered in a local forest. The large scar on her face should have made the identification easy, but strangely nobody has reported her missing.

Louise, new commander of the Missing Persons Department, takes a chance by releasing a photo of the victim to the media. Her gamble pays off when an older woman recognizes the woman as Lisemette, a child she once cared for in the state mental institution. But Louise soon discovers something more disturbing: Lisemette had a twin and both girls were issued death certificates more than thirty years ago.

The investigation takes Louise back to her childhood home … where she uncovers more crimes that were committed – and hidden – in the forest.

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For thirty-five years the identity of the dismembered woman found under the Las Piernas pier has remained a mystery. What secret did she take to her grave? Southern California reporter Irene Kelly has uncovered a maze of forensic records and confidential files that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined. The discovery has brought her close to Detective Frank Harriman, and closer still to exposing a killer who will resort to anything to keep his secrets buried – and Irene silenced forever.

 

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When the student is ready, the teacher appears. The only problem is, in this online classroom, the students are would-be serial killers eager to learn the tricks of the trade from a master, the enigmatic Cain42.

FBI consultant Esme Stuart is struggling to staunch the doubt and fear eating away at her marriage. Now a seedy true-crime writer is dredging up the deadly confrontation that nearly destroyed her. But the link between Esme’s old enemy and this new predator is the key to the Bureau’s manhunt.

Esme knows her involvement in the case could cost her everything. Her marriage. Her daughter. Her life. But when Cain openly challenges his “students” to embark on a killing spree, she has no choice but to act. Before Cain strikes another victim down…

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It’s a beautiful house – a perfect place to live. To dream. To start a life together. It’s the perfect place for so many things, he thinks as he puts on the gloves and reaches for her, enjoying her screams. But today, it’s a perfect place to die.

Steerforth, Connecticut, was once an idyllic, sleepy New England town. But now, the leafy streets and picture-perfect houses have turned shadowy and meaning, every small detail suddenly becoming suspect: lost toys placed carefully on back porches, lights blazing in a house that should be empty, closet doors standing slightly ajar, mysterious flowers wrapped in black tissue paper. And the bodies…

A serial killer has come to Connecticut. He is watching, honing his skills, waiting, for the perfect time to make them pay for what they’ve done. And when he’s through, home will never be sweet again…

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When Emily Pollifax answered the phone that Sunday morning she quickly forgot about her Garden Club tea in the afternoon. The last time she had heard the voice on the other end of the line it had sent her off on a journey that plunged her into a wild tangle of secret agents and high adventure – an exciting change from her quiet life in the New jersey suburbs. Now the man from the CIA was asking if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her half-way across the world. What else could Mrs. Pollifax say but yes?

 

 

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Adam Chase is passionate and misunderstood, a fighter. When narrowly acquitted of a murder charge, he disappears for five long years: not a clue, not a trace. Now, he’s back and nobody knows why – not his family or the cops, not the women he left behind. But Adam has his reasons.

When more bodies surface, Adam must unravel a web of deceit and violence so dense it staggers the imagination. Old secrets rise, lives collapse, and more than one person crosses the brink as author Hart probes the timeless, destructive power of deception and revenge.

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Johnny Merrimon was twelve when his twin sister disappeared. A year later, his mother is devastated, his father gone, and life will never be the same. But Johnny has a map, a bike, and a plan. He’s going to find his sister, even if he has to track every dangerous man in the country. Meanwhile, detective Clyde Hunt has also been searching for Johnny’s sister, and he knows to what dark places a case like this can lead. But even Hunt can’t imagine how far Johnny will go to learn the truth – or what he will find when he gets there.

 

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Chief resident Steve Mitchell is the quintessential surgeon: ambitious, intelligent, confident. Charged with molding a group of medical trainees into doctors, and in line for a coveted job, Steve has a bright future. But when a hospital patient mysteriously dies, it becomes clear that it’s a case of foul play. And the killer is set on playing a deadly game with Steve.

Someone is holding information that could ruin Steve’s career – and his marriage – and is willing to kill to achieve his means. Now, alone and under a cloud of suspicion, Steve must discover a way to outsmart his opponent and save the killer’s next victim before the cycle repeats itself, again and again…

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Tension between America and Russia is high as the UN convenes in New York City. Snow blankets the avenues of Manhattan’s exclusive Upper West Side. The storm is the perfect cover for a fashionable, highly trained team of lethal assassins as they prowl the streets. Their first hit is target practice. Their next hit could turn the Cold War red-hot once again – because they’re aiming for the president of the United States.

Pulled away from his family and pressed into service, Detective Michael Bennett must trace the source of a threat that could rip America apart – and ignite a war the likes of which the world has never seen. With allegiances constantly in doubt and no one above suspicion, only Bennett can save the president – and the country – before the assassins’ deadly kill shot hits its mark.

 

Only one book this week …. picked it up on a whim at Wal-Mart. It’s been on my radar since it was released, so I was glad to finally get a copy of it.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies,” who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. That is until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth … no matter where it leads.

Two books came in this week. My Book of the Month selection + the extra book I purchased.

What did she see?

It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.

Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbours. When the Russells move in, Anna is instantly drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.

But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?

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When two young sisters disappear from a strip mall parking lot in a small Pennsylvania town, their devastated mother hires an enigmatic bounty hunter, Alice Vega, to help find the girls. Immediately shut out by a local police department already stretched thin by budget cuts and the growing OxyContin and meth epidemic, Vega enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. Cap is a man trying to put the scandal of his past behind him and move on, but Vega needs his help to find the girls, and she will not be denied.

With little to go on, Vega and Cap will go to extraordinary lengths to untangle a dangerous web of lies, false leads, and complex relationships to find the girls before time runs out, and they are gone forever.

I haven’t participated in Mailbox Monday in forever! I had a slim mailbox this week with only one book coming in. I ordered this off of Paperbackswap shortly after enjoying the first book in the Maggie Hope series, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.

As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, becomes a spy for MI-5. Possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous – and deadly – than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.

I have been in a terrible reading slump. So it makes perfect sense that I picked up at 700+ page book at Target last week … right?

Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue family. He is bewildered by his strange new home and, tormented by his longing for his mother, clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that has come into his possession.

As an adult, Theo moves easily between the antiques store where he works, the drawing rooms of the rich, and the underworld of art. He is alienated, unmoored, and in love – and drawn inexorably by the power of that painting into a narrowing, dangerous circle.

 

And then I just joined Book of the Month (based on Beth Fish Reads’ recent recommendation) and received my first selection:

They meet in the final months of college, and by graduation, they have married. It’s 1991. At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. There are lean, romantic years that follow: potluck parties in a Manhattan basement apartment; a wilting acting career that doesn’t pay the bills; a household that seems to run on good luck and good sex. A decade or so later, though, Lotto and Mathilde are on their way. He is a world-famous playwright, she is integral to his success. Their life and marriage are the envy of friends, the very definition of successful partnership.

It is with an electric thrill, then, that the reader realizes things are even more remarkable than they have seemed. In an emotionally complicated twist, the perspective shifts, and what began as a story about one extraordinary union becomes so much more. With stunning revelations and multiple threads, in prose vibrant and original, Fates and Furies is a profoundly moving, surprising, and provocative novel about the yoke joining love, art, and power, and about the influence of perception. Exquisitely imagined, it is a book that defies expectation, stirring both the mind and the heart.

Two books this past week. The first one I’m currently reading, I snagged it out of the cruise ship’s library (I was just glad I had a book to leave in its place….)!! You bet I picked it up the moment I saw it!!

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The second book is one that I ordered off of Paperbackswap:

To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premier historians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimes seems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washington as a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies and emotions.

Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. And here is the general who lost more battles than he won, and the reluctant president who tried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet. His Excellency is a magnificent work, indispensable to an understanding not only of its subject but also of the nation he brought into being.

Only one book this past week … one that I had requested after seeing it mentioned in an email I received.

Brett has been in love with Charlie ever since he took her skiing on a lovely Colorado night fourteen years ago. And now, living in a seaside cottage on Cape Cod with their young daughter, it looks as if they have settled into the life they desired. However, Brett and Charlie’s marriage has been tenuous for quite some time. When Charlie’s unstable younger brother plans to move in with them, the tension simmering under the surface of their marriage boils over.

But what happened to Charlie next was unfathomable. Charlie was the golden boy so charismatic that he charmed everyone who crossed his path; who never shied away from a challenge; who saw life as one big adventure; who could always rescue his troubled brother, no matter how unpredictable the situation. So who is to blame for the tragic turn of events? And why does Brett feel responsible?

Set against the desolate autumn beauty of Cape Code, The Last September is a riveting emotional puzzle that takes readers inside the psyche of a woman facing the meaning of love and loyalty.