Publisher: Minotaur Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9780312619763
ISBN-10: 0312619766

Thriller. In Portland, Oregon, rising floodwaters from the Willamette River are threatening the city with devastation not seen since the 1948 Vanport flood. After a skeleton linked to that earlier flood is unearthed, the number of drowning victims rises, too--though reporter Susan Ward (and eventually detective Archie Sheridan) is convinced that there's a killer behind the apparent drownings. Though Gretchen Lowell, Archie's tormenter from the previous three books, is imprisoned, there's no lack of tension and horror as the killer continues on his destructive path, touching even those closest to Archie. Newcomers to the series can start here, or, to get Archie and Susan's back-story, with Heartsick.

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Publisher: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/22/2011
ISBN-13: 9780385343626
ISBN-10: 0385343620

Suspense Fiction. For middle-aged British bureaucrat Richard Eusden, each day is as predictable as the one before--until his ex-wife, Gemma, asks him to deliver a briefcase to her other ex-husband (and Richard's former best friend), Marty Hewitson, who's dying of a brain tumor. The briefcase belonged to Marty's grandfather, a man known to invent tales of spies and murder, but as Richard embarks on his quest across Europe, he finds himself rescuing Marty, dodging bullets, and questioning his loyalties. A twisty plot and "masterful writing" (Kirkus Reviews) set this novel apart.

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Publisher: Pegasus Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/15/2011
ISBN-13: 9781605981215
ISBN-10: 1605981214

Thriller. In this 8th entry in the Charlie Fox series, the Manhattan-based bodyguard is sent with her fellow agent and lover Sean Meyer to retrieve a former schoolteacher who joined the Fourth Day cult five years ago. Though they get him to a safe house successfully, their careful plan soon falls apart and Charlie ends up infiltrating the cult. There, charismatic leader Randall Bane works his magic on her, putting her at odds with both her employer and a cult expert who used to lead Fourth Day himself. Comparing Charlie to Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Booklist calls these books "must reading for fans of action-packed, hard-edged thrillers."

Publisher: Crown Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/08/2011
ISBN-13: 9780307717092
ISBN-10: 0307717097

Thriller. In this intriguing debut we meet an "informationist" named Vanessa Munroe; despite a terrible past, she earns a living by learning and passing on the information her clients seek. Skilled with languages and able to blend in anywhere, Vanessa's recently been hired by a man looking for his daughter, Emily, who disappeared in Africa four years ago. Fast-paced and gritty, with a heroine whom several reviewers have likened to Steig Larsson's Lisbeth Salander, this "blazingly brilliant" (Publishers Weekly) thriller adds evocative descriptions of Africa for a very different flavor.

Publisher: Grand Central
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/07/2011
ISBN-13: 9780446561921
ISBN-10: 0446561924

Thriller. As clever as he is handsome, assassin Nicholai Hel was first introduced to readers in 1979, in pseudonymous author Trevanian's bestselling novel Shibumi. In this homage/prequel, Don Winslow traces Hel's life up to the events in Shibumi, centering on one particular event mentioned in passing in the original novel--the CIA-approved assassination attempt on the Soviet commissioner to China. The mission draws on all of his strengths--his fluency in seven languages, his extrasensory awareness of danger, and his mastery of the "hoda korosu" martial art, also known as "naked kill." It's sure to appeal to fans of the original--and to those looking for a fun, thrilling read.

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/27/2010
ISBN-13: 9780345499530
ISBN-10: 0345499530

Romantic Suspense. In this 3rd in the series starring homicide detective Nan Vining, the Pasadena cop is still struggling with the knowledge that the serial killer who attacked her two years ago, dubbed T.B. Mann, is still free--and free to kill again. The chief of police, however, has taken Nan off the case and assigned her a gang murder, while letting her partner (and sometime lover) follow up on Mann. Though unending suspense, great characters, and a well-described setting make this a "supremely satisfying read" (Booklist), newcomers to the series should start at the beginning of Nan's story, with The First Cut.

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Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780312355159
ISBN-10: 0312355157

Suspense Fiction. Two years after his son died in a drowning accident, college writing instructor Deacon Kane is still finding solace in the bottle, engaged in an obsessive affair with a married woman, and barely hanging onto his job. And now, in the wake of a series of mysterious drowning deaths in his small resort town on Long Island's Shinnecock Bay, he's a person of interest to the police after failing to account for his whereabouts during crucial periods of time. Evidence quickly mounts against him, and although it's clear to Kane that he's being set up, it's not so evident to the cops. Dark and compelling, this novel also features a complex plot and fine writing.

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Publisher: Scribner
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/04/2009
ISBN-13: 9781416594895
ISBN-10: 1416594892

Spy Fiction. This rewarding tale begins with a young man named Issa who seeks shelter in the home of a Turkish family in Hamburg, Germany. He is an illegal immigrant and a devout Muslim in a city that, since 9/11, looks askance at such men and which is home now to British, American, and German intelligence. Sent by his father (a Russian soldier who raped his Chechen mother) to take possession of money now in the hands of private banker Tommy Brue, who's got father issues of his own, Issa is marked as a militant by German intelligence. And as he determines what to do with his new fortune, Issa may further endanger himself and those who have tried to help him. This is le Carré's "strongest, most powerful novel," says author Alan Furst in a New York Times book review.

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Publisher: Delta Trade Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/29/2009
ISBN-13: 9780385342223
ISBN-10: 0385342225

Suspense Fiction. Fans of Henning Mankell's standalone novel The Italian Shoes or Åsa Larsson's atmospheric thrillers will appreciate Johan Theorin, a fellow award-winning Swedish author. This novel, which won both Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2008 and the CWA International Dagger in 2010, tells the story of Joakim Westin, who recently lost his wife in a suspicious drowning accident and must deal with his grief in the isolated Eel Point mansion they purchased together. There's a decidedly spooky element here--a ghostly presence, disembodied voices, a glowing lighthouse, and a walled-up room--and both Joakim and a local rookie cop soon uncover secrets of Eel Point's past.

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