All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and entrances;
Each man in his time plays many parts.
~ William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It |
The Meaning of Night: A Confession - by Michael Cox |
Publisher: W.W. Norton |
Pub Date: 09/01/2006 |
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ISBN: 0393062031 |
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Historical Thriller. Impoverished, bookish, murderous Edward Glyver believes that he's been cheated out of his rightful destiny as a man of great wealth, power, and influence--thanks to the lies and betrayals of his former fellow schoolboy Phoebus Daunt. Believing that the wily Daunt is the cause for his Eton expulsion, his failure as a law clerk, and his usurped inheritance, Glyver kills a complete stranger--for practice... Unfortunately, he's been seen. Combining an unreliable narrator (Glyver himself), intrigue, mystery, and many fine details of the Victorian era, this stunning debut has received high praise from many sources; Booklist calls it "masterful." |
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The First Cut - by Dianne Emley |
Publisher: Ballantine Books |
Pub Date: 08/29/2006 |
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ISBN: 034548617X |
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Police Thriller. A year after a gruesome assault nearly killed her, Detective Nan Vining has returned to work; her first task is to find fellow female officer Frankie Lynde's killer. Her own assault has left her with lingering panic attacks and a sort of psychic ability to connect with Frankie, whose death was so similar to her own attack. The psychic visions provide information about the psychopath behind Frankie's murder--although not, alas, proof--as well as a clue into the identity of her own assailant. Thanks to an edge-of-your-seat plot and well-developed characters, Library Journal calls this a "gripping debut page-turner." | |
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The Alibi Club - by Francine Mathews |
Publisher: Bantam Books |
Pub Date: 08/29/2006 |
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ISBN: 055380331X |
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Historical Espionage Thriller. As the Nazis draw ever closer to Paris, news of a lawyer's murder circulates around the Alibi Club, a small but very popular nightclub. His death brings together four fascinating women, who must prevent a scientist's deadly secrets from falling into German hands. This story, which is based on a true but little-known episode during World War II, is populated by richly drawn characters both fictional and factual, and is flavored with political intrigue, double agents, murder, and betrayal. | |
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Pressing the Bet - by W.L. Ripley |
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books |
Pub Date: 08/22/2006 |
Check library catalog |
ISBN: 0312274610 |
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Adventure Thriller. In 2001's Springer's Gambit, former Fed Cole Springer didn't make any friends among the local Mob bosses--in fact, he was banned from ever returning to Las Vegas. This doesn't faze him in the least, and he agrees to return there in order to bring home a friend's son--or at least his body. But it turns out that said son, Jesse Robinson, isn't dead at all--though that happy state of affairs may not last much longer. While Springer may give the local bad guys king-sized migraines, for readers it's nothing but fast-talking, Elmore Leonard-esque entertainment. | |
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Liberation Movements - by Olen Steinhauer |
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur |
Pub Date: 08/22/2006 |
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ISBN: 0312332041 |
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Historical Thriller. In short, fast-paced chapters, Liberation Movements jumps from events leading up to a hijacking that ends in an explosion, to the resulting investigation, and back to a murder seven years earlier in Russian-occupied Prague. Part police-procedural, part political/espionage thriller, this 4th in the Eastern Bloc crime series takes place both in 1968 and 1975, when Brano Sev (36 Yalta Boulevard) is charged with overseeing the hijacking investigation. As the multiple perspectives come together, you'll understand why Library Journal calls this a "fast, intriguing read." | |
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The Devil's Feather - by Minette Walters |
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf |
Pub Date: 08/22/2006 |
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ISBN: 0307264629 |
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Psychological Thriller. Talented war journalist Connie Burns is used to dealing with the stresses inherent in terrorism. But when her efforts to find out more about a man she suspects of multiple sadistic murders leads to her abduction in Iraq (and subsequent release), she hides away in a remote English house. Her fear and panic attacks cut her off from everyone but her parents and her reclusive neighbor, whose past she delves into as she waits, knowing her abductor will return. The Devil's Feather is an intense, harrowing read--you'll be sleeping with the lights on after reading this one. | |
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Gideon - by Russell Andrews |
Publisher: Ballantine Books |
Pub Date: 06/01/2000 |
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ISBN: 0345434781 |
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Political Thriller. Struggling writer Carl Granville has been hired to ghostwrite the story of "Gideon," a powerful man he's not allowed to meet--he's also not allowed to know who this Gideon is. When the agent who hired him is murdered--and the publishing company has never heard of the book deal--the FBI fingers Carl for the murder. Realizing that his only option is to figure out who wrote the decades-old diary on which he is basing his book, Carl and his ex-girlfriend flee D.C. in order to clear his name. Gideon is full of unexpected twists; Booklist calls it a "top-notch yarn." | |
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Empire of the Wolves: A Novel - by Jean-Christophe Grangé; translated by Ian Monk |
Publisher: Ecco Press |
Pub Date: 01/01/2005 |
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ISBN: 0060573651 |
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Suspense Fiction. Parisian chocolate worker Anna Heymes is suffering from an unusual type of amnesia--known people seem strange, and strangers seem familiar. In addition, she finds scars that suggest radical plastic surgery--yet she has no memory of ever having it done... As she searches for the truth, she starts to believe that even her memories may be manufactured--but by whom? Meanwhile, elsewhere in Paris, investigators are working on a case in which three female red-headed Turkish immigrants have been killed and mutilated beyond recognition. Good thing Anna's not red-headed. Or is she? | |
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Learning to Fly: A Thriller - by April Henry |
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur |
Pub Date: 05/01/2002 |
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ISBN: 0312290527 |
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Thriller. When a massive freeway pileup leaves pregnant Free Meeker in possession of a new identity--and a duffle bag containing $750,000--she takes the opportunity to free herself of her old life and create a new one as Lydia. Too bad the money belongs to a ruthless drug boss who wants it back, and Lydia's husband plans to kill Lydia for abandoning him in the first place. Author April Henry is known for her Claire Montrose mystery series; Learning to Fly is a change of pace in which the suspense becomes "deliciously unbearable" (Booklist). | |
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Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation - by Robert Littell |
Publisher: Overlook Press |
Pub Date: 04/30/2005 |
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ISBN: 1585676969 |
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Espionage Thriller. Martin Odum is a former CIA agent turned private detective, but he's struggling with disjointed memories of his numerous past identities with the CIA; it's also a distinct possibility that his current identity may be just another trumped-up personality courtesy of his former employer. And his current case, that of tracking down an Israeli woman's husband, brings him into contact with people and places from his CIA past that he'd rather not revisit--and that the CIA would also rather he not revisit... If you're up for a challenge, Booklist calls Legends a "smart, fun adventure." | |
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Flashback - by Jenny Siler |
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. |
Pub Date: 02/01/2004 |
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ISBN: 080507211X |
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Thriller. Think The Bourne Identity--but written by a young John Le Carré and with a female protagonist, says Publishers Weekly. And it's an apt description of this beautifully written, well plotted, highly entertaining and literate read--"Eve" has been shot in the head and left to die; she's lost her memory but retains an uncanny talent for self-defense. When the nuns who take her in are slaughtered, Eve flees France for North Africa, where she attempts to figure out who she is and why people are trying to kill her. An "absorbing page-turner," says Library Journal. | |
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