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Thrillers and Suspense April 2017
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Ragdoll
by Daniel Cole
Thriller. William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet—a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.” Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them. The final name on the list is Fawkes. Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again.
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Burning Bright
by Nicholas Petrie
Thriller. Afghan war veteran Peter Ash is hiking through northern California's redwoods when he's forced up a tree to escape a grizzly. What he finds in that tree is an elaborate network of ropes, with a pretty blonde on the platform at the top. June Cassidy is no treehugger, however -- she's an investigative journalist on the run from fake government agents who believe she's in possession of a powerful algorithm created by her mother, who'd recently been killed. June hires Peter to discover who's behind the threat, and they uncover far more than expected. The 2nd in a series that started with The Drifter (with promises of at least two more to come), Burning Bright is a fast-paced, action-packed read that also addresses the effects of PTSD.
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| Shining City by Tom RosenstielPolitical Thriller. Political fixers Peter Rena and Randi Brooks have been hired by the U.S. president to vet his nominee for the Supreme Court, Roland Madison. It turns out that in the 1960s Madison was involved in some radical activities, spurring his critics to denounce him, but this problem is soon overshadowed when someone starts killing people connected to Madison. Rena and Brooks must now not only find out who's behind the murders (and why), but also protect the president from any political backlash. A veteran political journalist, debut author Tom Rosenstiel has filled this novel with plenty of Washington insight. |
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The Undesired
by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Thriller. Aldis hates her job working in a juvenile detention center in rural Iceland. The boys are difficult, the owners are unpleasant, and there are mysterious noises at night. And then two of the boys go astray. Decades later, single father Odinn is looking into alleged abuse at the center. The more he finds out, though, the more it seems the odd events of the 1970s are linked to the accident that killed his ex-wife. Was her death something more sinister?
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| Sharp Objects: A Novel by Gillian FlynnPsychological Suspense. Dysfunctional family relationships, long-buried secrets, and manipulative women lie at the heart of this compelling novel. After eight years away, reporter Camille Preaker has returned to her hometown to investigate the recent murders of two young girls. Haunted by memories of her long-dead sister, she must also deal with a Lolita-like half-sister and their mother, who may have caused Camille's childhood illnesses. As Camille investigates, she uncovers horrible family secrets and relives the childhood that led her to self-mutilation. Though you likely know author Gillian Flynn from the bestselling Gone Girl, this debut won both the Steel Dagger and the New Blood Dagger awards in 2007. The HBO television series based on this book (with Amy Adams in the lead role) is filming now and will premiere in 2018. |
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| The Dinner: A Novel by Herman KochPsychological Suspense. Over the course of an evening at a fashionable Amsterdam restaurant, two couples move from small talk during the appetizer to weightier issues as the meal continues. Brought together by their sons -- who have done something awful -- we learn more about what ties the families together, and what seems to be a skewering of upper-class values turns into something far darker. It will be interesting to see how the literary prose, taut suspense, dark humor, and unlikeable, unreliable narrators translate to screen next month. (Interestingly, author Herman Koch refused to attend the post-premiere reception.) |
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| Live by Night by Dennis LehaneHistorical Crime Fiction. During the heady days of Prohibition, Boston cop's son Joe Coughlin defies his strict upbringing and chooses instead to "live by night": from trading in narcotics and bootleg booze in Boston to life as a respected Mafioso in Florida and Cuba, he loves and lives dangerously. Live by Night, which is the 2nd in a loosely planned trilogy that began with The Given Day and is followed by World Gone By, was released as a feature film this past November. With only a 35% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you might be better off with the utterly compelling novel instead, which won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel in 2013. |
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The Snowman
by Jo Nesbø
Suspense Fiction. After a chilling first chapter, author Jo Nesbø turns our attention to Oslo detective Harry Hole, a man seemingly on the edge of a breakdown. The first snow has fallen, and a woman has been killed, the only witness a spooky snowman wearing the victim's scarf. Convinced that a serial killer is at work, Harry begins to track other deaths associated with snowmen though his colleagues think he's imagining connections; only a recent transfer, the secretive Katrine, believes in him. With clear prose, well-drawn characters, and layers upon layers of suspense, The Snowman is the superlative 5th entry in a "consistently superior" (Booklist) series. The film adaptation will be released on October 13, 2017.
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Great Decisions
Monday, April 10, 6:30 pm
Library Meeting Room
The foreign policy discussion program Great Decisions returns to the library for its 19th season. The discussion this session is The Geopolitics of Oil. For more information, call 873-3049. Reading material is available at the circulation desk.
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Friends of the Library Annual Collector's Corner Breakfast
Saturday, April 22, 9:30 am
Full Gospel Church, 2700 Ohio St., Michigan City
The Friends of the Library are having their annual fund-raiser Collector’s Breakfast. Tickets are $25 and you can bring one item for appraisal. Breakfast will be catered by Portofino’s of LaPorte. Martin Papke will entertain with his expertise of a wide-range of collector items. The breakfast will be held at the Full Gospel Church, 2700 Ohio St., Michigan City. For ticket information call 219-873-3049. Tickets can be purchased from Friends’ board members and at the Circulation Desk in the library.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library 100 E. 4th Street Michigan City, Indiana 46360 219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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