Monday, January 2, 2012

New Free Books Worth Reading

     New year, new free books as the old ones are no longer free. First off some humor. Lois Winston is one of the up and coming stars in the Mystery Comedy field and I am delighted to find the hilarious Assault with A Deadly Glue Gun in the free box this week. For a more serious mystery, Steven James' The Pawn is a rough and ready thriller that is making other authors jealous with it's well crafted story line, and well researched background. Finally for the new year a nice escape from fantasy author J. M. McDermott is the first book in the Dogsland Trilogy Never Knew Another because how can you go wrong with chicks in animal skins carrying swords. More in depth descriptions below.

Brian


When Anastasia Pollack's gambling-addicted husband permanently cashes in his chips in Vegas, her life craps out. She's left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and her nasty, cane-wielding Communist mother-in-law. Not to mention a loan shark demanding fifty thousand dollars.
Anastasia's job as crafts editor at American Woman magazine makes life even stickier when she discovers the dead body of über-ambitious fashion editor Marlys Vandenburg hot-glued to Anastasia's office chair. Marlys collected enemies and ex-lovers like Jimmy Choos. When evidence surfaces of an illicit affair between Marlys and Anastasia's husband, Anastasia becomes the prime suspect. Can she sew up the case and keep herself out of jail before the real killer puts a permanent end to her investigation?

From Publishers Weekly

In this riveting thriller, the first of a planned trilogy, James (Story) introduces FBI agent Patrick Bowers. His professional specialty is environmental criminology, which attempts to track lawbreakers by analyzing the significance of the time and place at which the crime occurred. When corpses of young women start turning up near Asheville, N.C., Bowers is called in. The killer's MO is to tie a yellow ribbon in his victims' hair and leave a chess piece somewhere on the scene. Bowers begins to suspect that the governor of North Carolina, rumored to be the next Republican presidential contender, is somehow connected to the murders, and that a cult with links to Jonestown might also be involved. Making matters trickier, the special agent supervising Bowers turns out to be a longtime colleague with whom Bowers has some bad blood. Bowers, a recent widower with a surly teenage stepdaughter to raise, tries to keep his grief and parental confusion at bay so that he can focus on the case as the killer targets more innocent women. Christian faith makes a subtle appearance in the story and appears to be a theme that will be developed in future installments. A gripping plot and brisk pacing will win James some fans eager for his next offering.

From Publishers Weekly

This well-wrought fantasy trilogy launch maps the boundaries and sensibilities of Dogsland, a quasi-medieval domain that is hostile to any resident tainted by demon blood. McDermott (Last Dragon) evokes the lifestyles, politics, and attitudes of the realm through the experiences of three half-demons trying to go about their business unobtrusively: Jona, a dispossessed lord working as a noble's guard; Rachel Nolander, a cleaning maid living with her thuggish fully human brother; and Salvatore, a thief whose activities threaten to call attention to the unsavory activities of Jona's employer. Paths cross randomly and soon interesting connections develop among the characters. McDermott leaves many questions open, including the identities of the tale's wolfskin-wearing narrators, and readers will be eager to return to Dogsland in hope of finding answers.

No comments:

Post a Comment