Publisher: Grove Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/25/2013
ISBN-13: 9780802121295
ISBN-10: 0802121292

Thriller. Eddie Wolfe's family is involved in a lot of shady activities across the Texas/Mexico border, but they do have a few rules -- no smuggling of drugs or people, and every family member must have a college degree before joining the family business. Impatient Eddie isn't willing to wait for the degree, so he heads to Mexico and gets a job working security for a drug cartel, where he falls for a beautiful girl. His imprudent actions regarding her soon have the lovers fleeing into the Sonora Desert with half the cartel hot on their heels; help from the family whose rules he broke may not be forthcoming. "Violent, sexy and exciting," says Kirkus Reviews.

Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/25/2013
ISBN-13: 9780143123231
ISBN-10: 0143123238

Psychological Suspense. This one's for fans of Gillian Flynn's superb depiction of a marriage gone disastrously sour in the bestselling Gone Girl. And, like that novel, to say too much of the plot might affect your reading of The Silent Wife. Told in alternating voices, this gripping debut exposes the 20-year relationship of Jodi and Todd; it's a comfortable, stable union marred only by Todd's infidelities, which Jodi pretends to ignore. But his last one goes too far, and Jodi's about to learn the lengths she's willing to go when she's got nothing left to lose. Though there's not a lot of action, tension derives from the realistic characters and their chillingly plausible actions.

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Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/25/2013
ISBN-13: 9780802119957
ISBN-10: 0802119956

Suspense Fiction. Political fixer Joe DeMarco works for House Minority Leader John Patrick Mahoney, but sometimes that means he works for the whole family, which is the case in House Odds, his 8th appearance. Daughter Molly Mahoney has been arrested for insider trading, though Joe doubts she had anything to do with it and thinks it's more likely to be an attempt to embarrass her father. Worse, as Joe investigates, he finds that she's got gambling problems big enough to force Mahoney to get in bed with the mob. Vivid characters are the highlight of a book that also offers a behind-the-scenes peek at Congressional D.C.

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/18/2013
ISBN-13: 9780345541536
ISBN-10: 0345541537

Suspense Fiction. Lawyer George Becket did not have a privileged upbringing, but he rubbed elbows with those who did. In college, he witnessed what was probably a rape by the relatives of a powerful senator; with evidence suppressed, no one was punished, and the girl eventually committed suicide. The victim's father has never forgiven George for not standing up for her, while George owes his job to the senator. Years later, he agrees to look into the murder of another young woman, and once again he comes up against the same senator's family. Forced to confront past mistakes that continue to haunt him, he must also outmaneuver those far more powerful than he. "A page-turning, puzzle-solving adventure," says Booklist of this tale of morality and misbehavior.

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Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9780451212467
ISBN-10: 0451212460

Suspense Fiction. Author Barry Eisler's enigmatic half-Japanese, half-American paid assassin John Rain lives outside of the law and without conventional ties to society, guided only by his strong moral code. Though he has a nice place in Tokyo, he dreams of retiring to Brazil. In Hard Rain, his 2nd appearance, Rain investigates underground fights for a policeman friend and is also approached by the CIA, which is involved in economic reform in Japan. Or perhaps they're corrupting it. Hard to tell. Either way, the book offers stylish writing, a noir atmosphere, a complex plot, detailed action sequences, and a strong sense of place.

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Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9780312375065
ISBN-10: 0312375069

Psychological Suspense. Ishigami is a lonely Japanese math teacher infatuated with his next-door neighbor Yasuko, a lovely woman who has killed her deadbeat ex-husband to protect her daughter. Not only does Ishigami help her dispose of the body, he also devises a clever cover story for her when the police begin to investigate. But problems build as the involvement of an old colleague threatens to destabilize both Ishigami's ability to counter every police move and his plans for himself and Yasuko, who begins to break down -- and pull away. A bestseller and prize-winner in Japan, this is Keigo Higashino's first novel to be translated into English; the second is Salvation of a Saint.

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Publisher: Pocket Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/25/2008
ISBN-13: 9780743458009
ISBN-10: 0743458001

Thriller. With a high opinion of loyalty as well as a need to bring about justice -- by any means necessary -- Bob Lee Swagger is a former Marine whose skills are frequently required as he rights wrongs and clears conspiracies. The 47th Samurai is his 4th of eight (so far) appearances, and it takes him to Japan to return a samurai sword that his father had acquired to the son of the rightful owner. But after he does so, someone slaughters the entire family in order to get the historic sword. Vowing to avenge their murders and retrieve the sword, Bob Lee is drawn into the world of the samurai. Fans of Stephen Hunter's series featuring Bob Lee's father, Earl, will enjoy his role here.

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Publisher: Vintage International
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/14/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307387486
ISBN-10: 0307387488

Noir Fiction. In this bleak depiction of contemporary suburban Tokyo, oppressive summer school boredom is shattered by a teenager's brutal murder of his mother. Four teenage girls make small choices to help him -- loaning a bicycle, not answering questions by the police -- as they're inevitably drawn to the mystery, drama, and alternative to real life that his act offers. Though the self-absorbed teens may be too much for some, the multiple points of view allow for a gripping if somber glimpse into modern teenage Japanese culture.

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Publisher: Soho Crime
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/20/2012
ISBN-13: 9781616950217
ISBN-10: 1616950218

Suspense Fiction. The thief of the title and the star of the book is mostly anonymous -- as a pickpocket, his livelihood depends on an ability to get close to people without them noticing or remembering him. But he can't remain aloof forever: entanglements with a young boy learning to steal groceries and a former partner who gets him involved in a deadly home invasion force him to confront his life, which he is now in danger of losing. Likened to Albert Camus' The Stranger for its disaffected protagonist, The Thief is also "strangely, compulsively readable for its portrait of a dark, crumbling, graffiti-scarred Tokyo" (Booklist).

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