Category: Meme

Mailbox Monday

Monday, July 13
The Madness of Mary Lincoln by Jason Emerson

The Madness of Mary Lincoln is the first examination of Mary Lincoln’s mental illness based on the lost letters, and the first new interpretation of the insanity case in twenty years. This compelling story of the purported insanity of one of America’s most tragic first ladies provides new and previously unpublished materials, including the psychiatric diagnosis of Mary’s mental illness and her lost will. This book reveals Abraham Lincoln’s understanding of his wife’s mental illness and the degree to which he helped keep her stable. It also traces Mary’s life after her husband’s assassination, including her severe depression and physical ailments, the harsh public criticism she endured, the Old Clothes Scandal, and the death of her son Tad.

I received this one from my wish list on PBS. I was really pleased when this one came up for my turn and I’m definitely looking forward to it!! I studied the Lincoln marriage in depth in college for a paper I wrote and I am interested in seeing what Emerson has to say about Mary Lincoln.

Wednesday, July 15
The Codex by Douglas Preston

“Greetings from the dead,” declares Maxwell Broadbent on the videotape he left behind after his mysterious disappearance. A notorious treasure hunter and tomb robber, Broadbent accumulated over a half a billion dollars’ worth of priceless art, gems, and artifacts before vanishing – along with his entire collection – from his mansion in New Mexico. As a final challenge to his three sons, Broadbent has buried himself and his treasure somewhere in the world, hidden away like an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. If the sons wish to claim their inheritance, they must find their father’s carefully concealed tomb. The race is on, but among Broadbent’s treasures is an ancient Mayan codex that may hold a secret far more important than the wealth of riches among it, and Broadbent’s sons aren’t the only ones after it.

I received this one today from one of my MBS buddies, Diane, as a birthday book. I had had my eye on it over at PBS by having it on my WL, but didn’t really want to spend a credit on it and couldn’t find a boxer who would swap for it. So I was pleased to see that she had this book available and I’m anxious to reading it!

Don’t Tell by Karen Rose

It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake. … Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away. As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he’s closing in on her – and everything and everyone she loves.

This one came to me from another MBS buddy, Haji. She was a sweetheart and sent me three Karen Rose books from her shelf for my birthday.

Have You Seen Her? by Karen Rose

One by one, the girls disappear from their beds at night. Each one is pretty, with long dark hair. And each one is found brutally murdered. Special Agent Steven Thatcher has sworn to find the serial killer preying on this small town. As the investigation pulls him one way, his family pulls him in another. A widower haunted by loss, he now worries about his son Brad slipping away. But there’s a bright light in his life: his son’s teacher, Jenna Marshall, has reached out to help. She’s beautiful, kind, and considerate – and slowly, tentatively, she and Steven are starting to fall in love. But both have been hurt before – badly. And as the two try to find the courage to bare their souls, a murderer who has slain many looks for the real treasure he craves. He sets his trap. And waits. For Jenna….

This was the second of three books from Haji as explained above.

I’m Watching You by Karen Rose

Star prosecutor Kristen Mayhew has a dangerous secret admirer. He seems to know her every thought, her every move. He sends her letters. And he kills the criminals she herself is powerless to stop. This avenger even knows Kristen’s deepest secret – the one that has kept her from surrendering her heart to Abe Reagan, the police detective sworn to protect her. Like Kristen, Reagan is haunted by the loss of something precious that can never be regained. But in the shadow of a calculating serial killer, the two turn to each other and dare to rediscover passion … even as the messages and vicious murders continue. Even as the killer’s thirst for retribution makes Kristen a target for murder.

This was the third book from Haji. I’m really looking forward to trying out Karen Rose for the first time! All her books sound so good!!

The Mark of the Assassin by Daniel Silva

When a terrorist bomb blows Flight 002 out of the sky off the east coast, there is only one chilling clue. A body found near the crash site bears the deadly calling card of an elusive, lethal assassin – three bullets to the face. Michael Osbourne of the CIA knows the markings. Personally. Propelled by an obsession that threatens to consume his career, his family, his life, Osbourne is not how on the assassin’s trail. But in a world of shadows and lies, intrigue and cover-up, the man with a mission puts himself and his loved ones in the sights of the most ruthless, diabolical assassins on earth….

I received this one from another fellow MBS buddy, Jud, for a birthday book. I enjoy spy type novels (even if they sometimes do take me a little longer to read) and am really looking forward to reading this one!!

Thursday, July 16
The Jury Master by Robert Dugoni

In a courtroom, defense attorney David Sloane is a master manipulator who can grab a jury and make it dance. He enjoys a wildly successful career limited only by his conscience – until he gets a phone call from a total stranger, Joe Branick, special assistant to the president of the United States. Just hours later Branick kills himself. And his death propels Sloane into a murderous whirlwind that will shatter lives from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Yet Sloane needs to know more. About Branick. About others who are in as much danger as he is. And about the president and his men. But in the face of a secret that spans decades and governments, and puts billions of dollars at risk, there’s one thing David Sloane can’t possibly envision. This runaway conspiracy is all about him – and only he can stop it.

I received this one as part of a three book swap from PBS. I chose it because it sounds like something I would really enjoy! I hope it’s as good as I think it will be!

The Testament by Eric Van Lustbder

BRAVERMAN “BRAVO” SHAW always knew his father had secrets. But not until Dexter Shaw dies mysteriously does Bravo discover the enormity of his father’s hidden life as a high-ranking member of the Order of Gnostic Observatines. For more than eight hundred years, the Order has preserved an ancient cache of documents that could shake Christianity to its foundations. Another secret society, the Knights of St. Clement, will stop at nothing to obtain the treasure, and now Bravo must follow his father’s esoteric clues to find the hidden documents before the Knights. Bravo is now a target and a pawn in an ongoing war far larger and more deadly than any he could have imagined. His companion in this quest is Jenny Logan, a Guardian assigned to Bravo by the Order. But Bravo soon learns that he can trust no one where the Testament is concerned, perhaps not even Jenny …

This was the second in a three book swap from PBS. I’ve been really into reading and/or thinking about reading books about secret societies and Christianity. I honestly don’t know why. I guess it’s the adventure in them, but I hope that this one is a good one!!

The Straw Men by Michael Marshall

In Palmerston, Pennsylvania, two men in long coats walk calmly into a crowded fast-food restaurant – then, slowly and methodically, gun down sixty-eight people. They take time to reload. On the Promenade of Santa Monica, California, a teenage girl gives sightseeing tips to a distinguished English tourist. She won’t be going home tonight. In Dyersburg, Montana, a grief-stricken son tries to make sense of the accident that killed his parents – then finds a note stuffed in his father’s favorite chair. It reads, “We’re not dead.” Three seemingly unrelated events, these are the first signs of an unimaginable network of fear that will lead one unlikely hero to a chilling confrontation with The Straw Men. No one knows who they are – or why they kill. But they must be stopped.

I first saw this one on a MBS buddies available shelf; it turned out that she had mailed it out and forgotten to remove it. But I was so intrigued by this one that I had to find it! So this one is the last in the three book swap from PBS (and it’s the one I really wanted!) I hope that this one is as good as it sure sounds to me! I’m looking forward to getting to this one as quickly as I can

Friday, July 17
Paranoia by Joseph Finder

It was only a prank: diverting cash from Wyatt Telecom’s executive slush fund to throw a retirement bash for a member of the loading dock crew. But when corporate security catches up with Adam Cassidy, a low ambition junior staffer at the high-tech behemoth, they call it something else: embezzlement. Ruthless CEO Nick Wyatt is impressed by Adam’s scheming, and offers him one way out – take on the role of a rising corporate hotshot and infiltrate Wyatt’s rival, Trion Systems. His mission is to get close to Trion’s legendary founder Jock Goddard, and his ultra-secret “Project Aurora,” and report back to Wyatt. With Wyatt pulling the strings and a dramatically improved identity, Adam is set up as Trion’s new boy genius. Suddenly, he’s got a sweet new Porsche, a closet full of $1,500 suits, and even a sexy woman in his life. But it’s all just a mirage because Adam is about to learn that nothing is what it seems and that it isn’t paranoia … everyone is out to get him…

This one part of a two book swap from PBS. I’ve never read Joseph Finder before, but I have another one of his books on my shelf. This one however, sounds really interesting!

Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn

On a busy Washington morning, the stately calm of the White House is shattered by a hail of gunfire. A group of terrorists has descended on the executive mansion and gained access by means of a violent slaughter of dozens of people. Through the quick actions of the Secret Service, the president is evacuated to his underground bunker, but not before nearly one hundred hostages are taken. While politicians and military leaders argue over how to negotiate with the terrorists, one man is sent in to take control of the crisis. Mitch Rapp, the CIA’s top counterterrorism operative, determines that the president is not as safe as Washington’s power elite had thought. Moving stealthily among the corridors and secret passageways of the White House, Rapp makes a chilling discovery that could rock Washington to its core: someone within his own government is maneuvering to make his rescue attempt fail.

Okay, so I’ve wanted to start this series for quite some time, I think I have the 6th and 7th book in the series on my shelf, acquiring them before realizing they were part of a series. So I’m really looking forward to starting with the first book (something I’m anal about) and this one sounds really good too!!

Mailbox Monday

Before I begin – I must say that this week was a wonderful week for my mailbox after nothing in it last week 🙂

Monday, July 6

The Lost Hours by Karen White

Surviving the tragic accident that killed her parents has always made Piper Mills feel invincible. That is, until fate strikes again and a near-fatal fall from a horse destroys her dreams of becoming an Olympic equestrian. Feeling more fragile than ever, Piper returns to Savannah, and to the home she inherited from her grandparents to retreat, recover, and reflect on all that she has lost. It’s during her recuperation that Piper discovers a secret room and torn pages from an old scrapbook that allude to a tragedy in her grandmother’s past. Determined to untangle the mystery, Piper tracks down her grandmother’s childhood friend, a woman named Lily, who clearly knows the truth – and the dark secrets hidden in the house. But Lily has secrets of her own – secrets she believes are better left forgotten. And for Piper to unearth the truth, she will have to be willing to open her heart to new relationships, heal the heartaches of the past, and find the courage to embrace the future.

I received this one from a fellow member of the Yahoo group ReadNSwap. I think it sounds like a good read. Plus I have been really kind of interested in reading more of what I would consider to be women’s literature rather than just straight mystery/thrillers/suspense (although that will always be my favorite!)

Friday, July 10

Venom by Jeffrey Ames

To those hunting him, he is the Fiddleback – an inhuman predator with a taste for human prey and an appetite for torture. To his victims, he is a nightmare come to life at the moment of death. His motive is his madness. His madness has no method. His methods hold no mercy. The one person who can stop him: Dallas cop Courtney Bedell, the only person who has seen the killer and survived. Now, to save herself ad those she loves, Courtney must match wits with a madman unlike any ever known – and lure the Fiddleback into a web of her own desgn ….

I also received this one from a fellow member of ReadNSwap (different member). I don’t really know what it was about this title, but it really drew me to requesting this book. I’m definitely looking forward to it!

Killing Orders by Sara Paretsky

V.I. Warshawski’s latest case had alreadyopned up old wounds. But when a silk voice on the phone threatened to throw acid into her eyes, V.I. knew this one could finish her off with some brand-new ones. The sour-faced old aunt she had agreed to help was accused of stealing millions in stock certificates from a pious order of Dominican brothers. V.I. knew the woman was a witch, not a thief, and she soon smelled something rotten in the sanctum sanctorum of Chicago’s most powerful movers and shakers – the Church and the Mob. Now someone wanted to see V.I. burn in hell. But this tough cookie of a private eye had her back up, a brand-new Smith & Wesson, and a daring plan to make the bad guys go to the devil first.

This one I received as a birthday book from a fellow member at the Yahoo group MysteryBookSwap. I had had my eye on this one over at PBS for quite some time, but I was just unsure about spending a credit on it and I never could find a Boxer that would swap for it. So I was very glad to see Kathy had this one on her list.

Denial by Keith Ablow

Frank Clevenger is a forensic psychiatrist who hates authority, fears intimacy, uses sex as an anesthetic, is tortured by his professional mistakes, and can’t free himself from the shadows of a brutal, alcoholic father and an absent, unfeeling mother. But it is precisely this injured psyche that allows him to understand the deranged behavior of the mental and emotional outcasts who cross his professional path. When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered, her body mutilated, Clevenger is shocked to discover that he knows the woman, she is a close friend of his girlfriend, and that the police department’s main suspect, a schizophrenic homeless man, cannot have committed the crime. As evidence of more shocking murders begins to mount over the next seventy-two hours, Clevenger must race to stop the senseless, horrific murders in the fight of his life against a brutal killer with a horrific trademark and his own howling demons of sexual compulsion, self-destruction, and …. DENIAL

I received this one as part of a three-book swap on PBS. I have seen this one pop up randomly in places and have been mildly interested in it and figured it would be something worth trying, so I’m looking forward to it!

The Dying Game by Beverly Barton

It’s the ultimate game – the adrenaline surge of the hunt, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. For in this game, the rules are simple: To wn, you only have to kill. To lose, you will have to die…. The victims are former beauty queens found with a single rose beside their bodies. Lindsay McAllister has seen this signature before, when she was a rookie detective with the Chattanooga PD investigating the death of Judd Walker’s wife, a murder that sent the handsome lawyer off the deep end. Now, Lindsay has the brutal task of telling Judd that his wife’s killer has struck again, and she’s going to need his help to outplay their opponent – because the killer is getting bolder, faster, and more ruthless. The game is escalating, and no one is safe. Now as the body count rises, the rules are changing. A killer will do anything to win. And the only way for Lindsay to stop a madman’s twisted game is to play it herself…

This is the second book of the three book swap from PBS. I have only read one Beverly Barton book but I absolutely adored it! So I was pleased to see this one available and am definitely looking forward to reading it! I hope it’s as good as it sounds!!!

Silent Partner by Jonathan Kellerman

At a party for a controversial Los Angeles sex therapist, Alex Delaware encounters a face from his own past – Sharon Ransom, an exquisite, alluring lover who left him abruptly more than a decade earlier. Sharon now hints that she desperately needs help, but Alex evades her. The next day she is dead, an apparent suicide. Driven by guilt and sadness, Alex plunges into the maze of Sharon’s life – a journey that will take him through the pleasure palaces of California’s ultrarich, into the alleyways of the mind, where childhood terrors still hold sway.

This was the last book in the three book swap from PBS. I am trying to gather all the books in the Alex Delaware series so that I can read them and was glad to see this one available. I hope to start reading When the Bough Breaks soon so that I can really get into this series from the start!

Mailbox Monday

Tuesday, June 23
No One Lives Forever by Jordan Dane

Born to a childhood pitted by violence, Christian Delacorte is desperate for peace when he embarks on a new life with the woman he loves, Detective Raven Mackenzie. But soon his old life comes calling – in the tempting form of a mysterious woman assassin. Jasmine Lee is determined to collect an old marker from Christian. He owes her – big time – and she needs his help freeing her kidnapped lover, Nicholas Charboneau – a powerful mogul linked to Chicago’s underworld. Christian doesn’t trust her, but Jasmine entices him to leave Raven behind when she reveals his shocking connection to Charboneau. Christian has seven days to attempt an impossible rescue of the father he never knew. And when a woman assassin with ulterior motives makes a lousy ally, Christian is alone to face the stark reality that no one lives forever … and he might be the next to die.

Mailbox Monday

Monday, June 15
White House Ladies by Webb Garrison

Stories about the forty-two men who have held the office of the American presidency are familiar. Although less well known, the first ladies are as intriguing as their mates. Some even make their husbands look bland and colorless. In this entertaining and informative compilation of stories about America’s first ladies, from Martha Washington to Hillary Clinton, Webb Garrison tells of the public roles these women have played and their private accomplishments and peculiarities. Here is an intimate view of the wives of the American presidents and their families.

I received this book from my PBS wishlist. Although a little old (no Laura Bush) I am looking forward to reading this book. I enjoy history and I thought that this would be a great way to learn about all the first ladies.

Friday, June 19
The Dyodyne Experiment by James Doulgeris & V. Michael Santoro

A research team at Dyodyne Labs has developed a remarkable new technology: a microscopic computer system with the ability to secretly track people with pinpoint accuracy. The system, code-named DaNA, is transmitted as a benign virus that passes the tracking system to all who come in contact with its host. The government sees the system as the perfect way to track down a criminal’s accomplices, making it invaluable in bringing down the drug cartel. But when the biggest terrorist attack in U.S. history devastates New York City, the Department of Homeland Security orders the team to launch the untested system to find those responsible. What they uncover is unthinkable – six nuclear bombs hidden in six major cities. And the bombs, controlled by a powerful underground alliance, are part of a much larger global conspiracy. As the team at Dyodyne rushes to track down the terrorists holding the country hostage, they discover yet another threat: DaNA is mutating and may be impossible to control…

I received this book from Merritt Talbott at Phenix & Phoenix Publicity for review. I hope to get to this one quite quickly since it sounds really interesting!!

Saturday, June 20
No One Left to Tell by Jordan Dane

The body of a brutally slain man is found on the holy grounds of a chapel, and a cryptic message pinned to his chest unravels the lives of people touched by a dark secret. Detective Raven Mackenzie and her partner uncover the dead man’s connectin to a powerful female crime boss, leading them to her mysterious head of security, Christian Delacorte, who soon becomes the prime suspect. Yet when Raven sifts through Christian’s past, she discovers the man is plagued by deeply rooted nightmares – and a shadowy childhood tragedy linking him to the case. Convinced his past holds the key to finding the real killer, she defies her partner, following her gut instincts and trusting her undeniable bond with Christian. But Raven shares her own date with destiny when she crosses paths with a heartless killer. And when he unleashes his rage, there will be no one left to tell.

I received this book from FrugalReader. I have been seeing the name Jordan Dane pop up randomly on sites that I was on, as well as browsing through some of my online buddies’ wish lists. She sounds like an author that I would love, so I ordered this book (and another one of hers) from FrugalReader and I’m definitely looking forward to them!!!!

Also – as a side note … I didn’t receive them in my mailbox (I went to the bookstore, bad Tara) … but this week I also purchased:

• Drop Shot by Harlan Coben
• High Five by Janet Evanovich
• The Death List by Paul Johnston
• Down River by John Hart
• Dance of Death by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Mailbox Monday

Wednesday, June 10
Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman

A sick child was missing – in an even sicker world. Five-year-old Woody Swope was desperately ill – and his one hope for cure was the clinic. But someone had a different idea. Woody had been kidnapped, and with every passing day, his chances of survival plummeted hideously. That was why child psychologist Alex Delaware and his ally, homicide detective Milo Sturgis, had no time to waste, and bent all the rules as they hunted through a human jungle of California health cults, sex-for-sale haunts, and dreams-turned-into-nightmares to find a child who was the only innocent in a world of guilt….

I got this book in my mailbox today from FrugalReader. I have the first book in the Alex Delaware series (haven’t read it yet though) and wanted to have the second one handy because I intend to get to When the Bough Breaks here pretty soon. Plus it’s a book that I have had my eye on for a while since I enjoy this series.

Saturday, June 13
Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler

Dirk Pitt, death-defying adventurer and deep-sea expert, is put to the ultimate test as he plunges into the perilous waters of the Pacific Vortex – a fog-shrouded sea zone where dozesn of ships have vanished without a trace. The latest victim is the awesome super-sub Starbuck, America’s deep-diving nuclear arsenal. Its loss poses an unthinkable threat to national defense. Pitt’s job is to find it, salvage it, before the sea explodes. In a furious race against time, Pitt’s mission swirls him into a battle with underwater assassins – and traps him in the arms of Summer Moran, the most stunningly exotic and dangerous woman ever to enter Pitt’s life. As the countdown heads toward disaster, Clive Cussler plummets his hero onto an ancient sunken island – the astonishing setting for the explosive climax of Pacific Vortex!

I got this book from FrugalReader. I have read Raise the Titanic last year and wanted to check this series out from the beginning (I’m kind of obsessive about series and reading them in order). I like adventure type books for some reason – I think it’s the pace that they seem to take. So I’m definitely looking forward to getting around to this one.

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly

Hailed internationally as a pge-turner in a league with the fiction of Thomas Harris, this lyrical and terrifying bestseller is the stunning achievement of an “extravagantly gifted” (Kirkus Reviews) new novelist John Connolly superbly taps into the tortured mind and gritty world of former NYPD detective Charlie “Bird” Parker, tormented by the brutal, unsolved murders of his wife and young daughter. Driven by visions of the dead, Parker tracks a serial killer from New York City to the American South, and finds his buried instincts – for love, survival, and ultimately, for killing – awakening as he confronts a monster beyond imagining …

I got this book as part of my first trade at the Yahoo group MysteryBookSwap. I have read two books in this series and wanted to read the first one. I enjoyed Parker as a character and I’m definitely looking foroward to this one!!

Mailbox Monday

Tuesday, June 2

The Court by William J. Coughlin

Nine Supreme Court judges will soon decide four history-making cases. Eight of them will split along party lines four to four. The ninth judge, holding the swing vote, will tip the scales of justice. He’s a good man, a fine man, and, unknown to nearly everyone, a dying man – barely kept alive by machines in a very private hospital. High-powered Washington attorney Jerry Green is one of the privileged few who discovers American justice rides on the rise and fall of a respirator. Now he’s been called by the President himself to do something about it. It’s a hunt for truth that will arouse his darkest suspicions … force him to make a shocking choice … and save the legitimacy of American justice. Or shatter it forever …

This book arrived today as part of a two book BOB off of PBS. I have read Coughlin before, I read Proof of Intent either last year or the year before, I’d have to look. I distinctly remember loving the end of that book because it had a great ending courtroom scene. And trust me, with all the books that I read it’s hard for me to remember anything! So I am looking forward to trying another Coughlin book soon!

State of Mind by John Katzenbach

Twenty-five years ago, Jeffrey and Susan Clayton fled their tyrannical father – a man who was later suspected in the heinous murder of a young student. Though the father was never charged, he committed suicide. Or so it seemed. For someone has sent Susan a cryptic note. Once deciphered, it carries a terrifying message: I have found you. Meanwhile, a serial killer has invaded a tightly controlled community. Is Jeffrey Clayton’s father the source of this latest killing spree? The authorities think so – and they present Jeffrey, now a noted expert on serial killers, with a challenge: Find the butcher responsible for the newborn spate of canrage. Find your father…

This was the second book in the BOB offer that came with The Court. I have another Katzenbach book here around the house somewhere, The Analyst. I haven’t gotten to that one yet but when I read the description of this book I had to have it! (I have a serious problem with books, lol). I hope that this one is as good as it sounds!!

Saturday, June 6

A Tisket, a Tasket, a Fancy Stolen Casket by Fran Rizer

Mortuary cosmetologist Calamine “Callie” Parrish likes to end her days in a relaxing way – with a Moon Pie, an episode of Six Feet Under, and a few chapters in one of her mystery novels. But right now she’s putting in some overtime at the undertaker’s. When the body of an up-and-coming car dealer Bobby Saxon comes into Middleton’s Mortuary with a hypodermic needle hidden in the neck, Callie realizes there’s a killer on the loose trying to bury some deadly crimes. With a list of suspects that includes Bobby’s dueling ex-wives, rival car dealers, and even her own boss, Callie must unearth the culprit – or she might be next. Callie’s got a knack for making the dead look their best. But no amount of concealer can cover up murder….

Got this one off of my PBS wish list. I had placed it on there a few weeks back because it sounded interesting and I got it relatively quickly. It looks like a quick and mindless read, which (no offense to the people that read strictly cozy mysteries of course), I do not generally read a lot of but tend to like to have a few of them around for brain candy as I like to call it. This one however, sounds humorous from the title and am looking forward to reading it in the near future so that hopefully I’ll come out of this reading slump quicker than I am.