My Favorite Reads of 2012!

Here it is, the last day of 2012 and I have for you my list of favorite reads for this year. This was an odd year for me reading-wise. I read some spectacular books, discovered some great new-to-me authors and on the flip side, I think I put down more books than in past years because I just didn't connect with them at all. And while this isn't unusual, I did have distinctly different reactions to a number of books that were quite popular with other readers. I can be weird like that!

To give you an idea of what I started with, out of my 90 reads this year, I first removed the books that are January 2013 publications (I had 6 -- I've never had that many read ahead before), and I then highlighted the books that I felt were contenders this year: 18 books, plus 3 debuts I'll mention at the end. From that I winnowed it down to the list you see below. It was hard as all 18 were fabulous reads, books I've recommended to others and more than worth the time and money invested in them. I'd say I was a pretty lucky reader this year! So I ended up cheating a tad bit. I removed 3 more titles...I'll mention at the end...that weren't classified crime fiction novels. And I combined two titles that were by the same author. Hopefully, you'll forgive me my little cheats. :-)

But enough blather, let's get to the fun part. And don't forget to leave your favorites in the comments.

10.  Astride a Pink Horse - This was the first time I had read Robert Greer, and Astride a Pink Horse is, hopefully, the start to a new series for him. The plot was complex, the characters were dimensional, the themes were strong and thought-provoking. If this is the start to a new series, it's one I'll want to follow.

9. Jack 1939 - Again, this was the first time I had read Francine Mathews, but reading Jack has made me want to pick up all of her back list. This book was so smart and fascinating; it was one of those historical fiction novels that had me running to Google regularly to see what was fact and what was fiction.

8. The Prophet - Michael Koryta returned to a straight crime novel this year and it was a beaut! The rich symbolism throughout the novel elevated it beyond a simple crime story. Throughout his writing career he's continued to improve his character development, which is astounding given that he was exceptional at character development since book one. The Prophet is full of contrasting characters, defying stereotypes and endearing readers.

7.  Gone Girl - This was one time I didn't differ with the masses of readers who loved this book. Gillian Flynn wrote an incredible novel. She defied the likable, empathetic character notion and kept her readers hanging on with a smart, unpredictable plot. Flynn's pushing the boundaries of crime fiction and coming up with an amazing result.

6. Taken - Robert Crais continues to keep the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series fresh with powerful themes and engrossing plots. And unlike a lot of series characters, we continue to learn about Cole and Pike with every book. Taken hits you deep down in the soul.

5. Whiplash River/Gutshot Straight -  Once again I'll apologize for my endless talk about Lou Berney's Shake Bouchon crime capers, but good golly am I glad I found them. They are just fun books. And while Shake is not your pristine hero-type character, you can't help but adore him. I love the constant action of these books; the settings are spectacular; and the dialogue is first class. In my humble opinion, if you want to know how to do a crime caper right, you study these books cover to cover!

4. The Trinity Game - Holy Cow. Sorry, no pun intended on this one. We waited patiently for the return of Sean Chercover and boy did he deliver. This is just a powerfully written, complex story with unique characters. It was also a pretty gutsy book to write. The themes are very touchy for many American readers, but I think Chercover handled it all with grace and elegance. I cannot wait for the next book!

3. The Cut - While I didn't end up reviewing this one, I listened to it back in January on audio (it was an August 2011 release); time factors prevented me from reviewing it at a time that would allow me to do the book justice. And it deserved justice. It is a flat out amazing start to a new series character for George Pelecanos. All the elements that make Pelecanos great are present: the gray characters, the dark atmosphere, the suspenseful pace, the beautiful prose. How the man juggles as much as he does--and still does it all at a level of superiority most of us can never begin to fathom--is beyond me. I'm constantly in awe of his work.

2.  Live by Night - Gosh I always look forward to Dennis Lehane's work. It's simply amazing. His writing is poetic, his characters are relateable and larger-than-life at the same time, the plots keep you glued to the book then devastated when you've turned the last page. The atmosphere of Live by Night was the strongest I think Lehane's created. Taking him out of Boston did nothing to shake this man's talent. This is definitely a book I see standing the test of time.

1. The Survivor - When a story haunts me as much as The Survivor did, I know it's an exceptional book. Some characters just seem to take up residence in my soul after I've finished reading. They hang around with me and we have discussions in my mind about the story. Please don't call in the psych doctors, I'd be devastated if anyone ever took this silent pleasure away. Most of us will never have to deal with psychotic bank robbers threatening our families, but symbolically, this is the story of life's true super heroes; it's the story of how people react and adapt to life's sick sense of humor. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me tell everyone they need to read it. How Gregg Hurwitz continues to top himself book after book is inspiring. He'll have a hard time topping two stellar books in a row, but I wouldn't put it past him.

So, there is my list that I hemmed an hawed over. But indeed I think it's the most accurate reflection of my favorite reads this year. That being said, I have to give recognition to three books that you won't find in the crime fiction aisle of the bookstore. These three are books that I removed because they were strong contenders with the ten above and I wasn't sure how to integrate them:

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend (Matthew Dicks)
The Round House (Louise Erdrich)
On the Outside Looking Indian (Rupinder Gill) - this one actually a non-fiction

The two fiction books revolve around a crime element, but the powers that be in marketing have labeled them as literary fiction or general fiction, I guess. And On the Outside Looking Indian is probably the most unique for me because it's a memoir. I'm not much of a memoir reader, so I think that says a lot about the book!

And then I wanted to give kudos to three debut novels I read this year that were just outstanding and I see these authors doing amazing things (one already is since I read her debut late):

Bloodman (Robert Pobi)
Playing Dead (Julia Heaberlin)
The Things That Keep Us Here (Carla Buckley)

If you did not read my review of Carla Buckley's sophomore novel, Invisible, in Shelf Awareness this month, you'll have a chance to do so this week on the blog. Her debut was a great indicator of amazing things to come!

So, that's it for me for 2012. Next month I'll celebrate five years blogging here at Jen's Book Thoughts. It doesn't seem possible, but it's been so much fun talking books with all of you over the years.  Thanks for joining in the fun. Here's hoping 2013 is full of more book wonderfulness for us all.

Happy Reading and Happy New Year, all!

2012 Favorite Audiobooks

Since the number of audiobooks I listened to this year was about half of what I listened to last year, I thought it appropriate that I choose my top five, otherwise my top 10 would be almost 50 percent of what I listened to. That's kind of silly. Staying to five is a challenge because I listened to some great audiobooks this year, but I'm up for it.

Here are the five audiobooks that I felt overall were the best listening experiences of my 2012 year (note that they were not necessarily produced this year; I listened to them this year):

5. Mr Timothy. Written by Louis Bayard and narrated by Mark Honan for AudioGo. This audio kept me company on my drive back from Washington D.C. the week before Christmas (how appropriate). The time period and atmosphere were communicated beautifully through Honan's narration. He brought out the age and maturity levels of the characters and nailed the spunk of the young Collin. Louis Bayard is a brilliant writer and none of his eloquence or art was lost in Honan's translation. Wonderfully done.

4. The Wind Through the Keyhole. Written and narrated by Stephen King for Simon and Schuster Audio. Believe it or not, this was my first foray into King's written work. I've seen several of the movie adaptations of his work, but this was the first time hearing his actual words. And while I'm not typically a fantasy reader, I loved the layers of meaning in this story. The biggest shocker, however, is that King is a fantastic narrator. I typically shy away from audios narrated by their authors because writing a book does not make a person a good narrator. As a matter of fact, very few authors have the performance talent necessary to narrate their own work. But this was stellar, so it was a treat to hear King's own interpretation of his work.

3. Invisible Murder. Written by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, narrated by Katherine Kellgren for AudioGo. Kellgren did such a spectacular job with the various dialects in this suspense thriller. The ease with which she handled all ages and genders made the audio flow so smoothly that the fact it WAS an audio simply faded into the background as the story took center stage.

2. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. Written by Matthew Dicks, narrated by Matthew Brown for Macmillan Audio. It's not technically a crime fiction audiobook, but there is a crime element. And regardless of genre, it's an amazing audiobook. The story is heartwarming but also extremely challenging. Brown had to bring out the additional dimension of imaginary friends, the dimension in which they reside and people are only tangentially connected. Brown nailed it; the recording is brilliant and unforgettable.

1. Gutshot Straight. Written by Lou Berney, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini for Audible, Inc. There are probably a lot of people tired of hearing me recommend Lou Berney this year. I had a copy of Gutshot Straight in print for quite awhile, but hadn't gotten around to reading it. So, I picked up the audio and kicked myself for not reading it sooner. However, had I read it sooner, I would not likely have picked up the audio and enjoyed the best listening experience of 2012. Ballerini did such a magnificent job narrating this all-around fun crime caper. He seemed to be on the same wave length with both Berney and Shake. I was entranced; I laughed; I exercised extra just so I could listen longer. Superb! My favorite audiobook of 2012.

There you have it! My favorite audios. Now let me know what you listened to this year that you really liked. Did anyone try audios for the first time? Anyone putting them on their list to try for 2013? The hardest list is next. Narrowing down my favorite reads of 2012. Check back on Monday. In the mean time, have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY READING!

Favorite First Lines & Covers

I was looking back over my reading spreadsheet for this year and I started to fall behind on keeping track of what I read this year. So, I'm not exactly sure of final totals, but it is somewhere in the vicinity of 95ish books total, a little low which I expected because of all the change this year. I am committing to keeping better track in 2013 and hopefully reading a bit more. But, from what I did accurately track I can tell you that I read at least 77 different authors; at least 54 of the authors were new to me; and at least 13 were debut novels. My audiobook total was the area that took the hardest hit. I listened to about 23 audiobooks. Past years it's been closer to 50 percent of my total. I'm also going to work on getting that back up in 2013 by dedicating at least an hour for walking each day, and I'll listen to audio then.

How about you all? Any areas of your reading that you'd like to work on in 2013? Anything from 2012 that you're especially proud of? A new author you tried? A different genre? Or even sub-genre of crime fiction? Did you discover you loved (or hated) something that surprised you? Share with us in the comments!

This is my week of favorites lists for this year. I'm going to include a new one today and that's my favorite covers and first lines. I have to admit that I am not a connoisseur of covers. I don't buy books because of the covers or reject books because of the covers (at least to date--if a cover really offended me I'd probably not buy it). So take my five choices with a grain of salt. Now on the other hand, first lines are something that I definitely pay attention to; that's why I include them on my reviews. And of course these choices are only from the books I read this year--it also doesn't include any 2013 publications I've read this month.

My Top Five Favorite Covers:

5. Boca Daze. I have often commented about walking down the mystery aisle in a bookstore or library. There's a sea of black, with red and white speckled in. The books that stand out to me are the ones that are NOT black. And the cover of Boca Daze just screams fun without looking preposterous. Since I had an early copy of this one, my cover was just boring black and white. The final cover is a masterpiece.

4. The Prophet. I really have to tip my hat to the Little, Brown folks because this was a bit of a gamble. I know there was some concern about people not wanting to buy the book with the dead bird on the cover. That didn't stop Koryta from hitting the NYT bestseller list with it, though. This is a cover that was tuned into the content of the book and was unique to the book. Nice call on this cover!

3. Whiplash River. I love the pure simplicity of this cover and how well it articulates the constant movement of the book. And again, I think the cover is in tune with the unique elements of the book.

2. Taken. The atmosphere of this cover is what first grabs my attention. I have a large version of this cover hanging on my library wall. It embraces the impending doom that boils in the novel while still showing a ray of hope. And the reflection is equally befitting the content of the novel. This one was well planned out.

1. The Survivor. At first glance this cover may not look like much, but the power behind the itty bitty man on his precipice is breathtaking. If you miss that little man (as I did at first because I was so excited to read a new Gregg Hurwitz book), it changes the cover completely. When I closed this book and really looked at the cover I was blown away. Again, the simplicity of the image was what did it. The enormity of the message in the simple graphic arrangement is stunning. I love this cover. Hands down, my favorite this year.

My Top Five Favorite First Lines:

5. Julia Heaberlin's  PLAYING DEAD:

"Despite its name, Ponder, Texas, pop. 1,101, isn't a very good place to think."

 This opening line is a good chuckle, but it all sets the scene and the atmosphere immediately. I was very excited to read this debut novel after that opening line.

4. Chris Grabenstein's FUN HOUSE:

"He wasn't happy about it, but last night my partner John Ceepak became a TV star."

Chris Grabenstein is a master of first lines. This first line may hold more attraction to readers of the series who already know John Ceepak, but even if you don't have that background, you know quite a tale is close on the heels of this opening sentence.

3. Ace Atkins's THE LOST ONES:

"A couple of roustabouts had been asking about guns at the Tibbehah County Fair, but by the time the word had gotten back to Donnie Varner, they'd long since packed up their Ferris wheel, corn dog stands and shit, and boogied on down the highway."
I love how Atkins's language brings out the setting of the novel. It also seems to add a scent to the air and a color to the page. Even though I know this is going to be a crime novel, I end up with a warm feeling from the way he puts his words together on the page.

2. Gar Anthony Haywood's ASSUME NOTHING:

"His last night in Florida, Joe Reddick remembered the blood in the goldfish bowl."

And the whole book follows suit with that. It's such a startling image to really grab the reader as soon as he/she opens the book!

1. Robert Pobi's BLOODMAN:

"Two hundred feet below the rolling metal surface of the Atlantic, a handful of ghosts skittered along the ocean floor in a jerky seesaw roll, furling and unfurling in a diluvial ballet."

The imagery of this statement is a mix of fun and fear. Bloodman was one of those rare books that taps the paranormal (just slightly) and I still love it and buy into it. It would have been hard to dislike the book after this opening sentence. This is another debut novel, by the way.

I went back and forth with about three other first lines that were great from my reading this year, but I wanted to keep each of these lists today to five, so I determined these five first lines to be my favorite.

Tomorrow I should have my favorite audios of 2012 and Monday will be my overall favorite reads of the year. I hope you'll check back and share your favorites as well! Happy Reading!

The Museum of Crime and Punishment

I love the handcuff stanchions.

One of the fun adventures I was able to take while on vacation was to the Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington D.C. I had actually never heard of it before this, but my sister found out about it and got us tickets. It happens to be just down the street from the International Spy Museum...next on my list of to-do's for Washington D.C.

The museum is composed of numerous categories of crime and punishment. The largest section of the museum deals with crimes and criminals.

When you first walk into the building--before you're in the actual museum itself, Ted Bundy's Volkswagen Bug is on display. There's a placard that details the history of Bundy's crimes as well as the history of the vehicle and who owned it after Bundy.

On display at the start of the museum are some medieval devices that were used for punishment. Several say they could have been rented out for "quarrelsome wives." And this, folks, is why the period is referred to as the "Dark Ages"!

Next comes the "Wild West" era of American crime history. I loved the recruitment poster for Pony Express riders. Makes me want to sign right up!

Growing up, I always wanted to put my sister in jail.

Oliver, do you need a job?

On the wall in a NM prison, 1901

Guns and other memorabilia from Wyatt Earp and the O.K. Corral are on display; Wild Bill Hickcock's revolver; various badges from law enforcement officers at the time.

In some instances, movie props are on display. The 1934 Ford used in the Warren Beatty movie about Bonnie and Clyde is one example. Numerous weapons from movies are also displayed, especially in the section of the museum on the mob.

You'll see displays on violent crimes, serial murderers, kidnappings, etc., but there is also a section that deals with "Silent Crimes"--identity theft, computer crimes, etc.

And a particular favorite of mine was the section on America's dumbest criminals. One guy was going to attack his girlfriend who threw him out with a snapping turtle. Turtle wouldn't snap, and the girlfriend had enough time to call the police. AND the girlfriend liked the turtle, and she still has it as a pet!

There were also some odd items included throughout the museum, like the vanity from Al Capone's bathroom in the Lexington Hotel. They have tiles from the bathroom as well. But what is absolutely fascinating and simultaneously terrifying is reading the information, background and statistics on the crimes and their perpetrators. And there are a lot of people who make a hobby of collecting memorabilia from crimes.

John Wayne Gacy's clown costumes

This baseball was smuggled into and out of the prison housing Charles Manson. His signature and a serial killer's signature are both on the ball.

The museum has a lot of mug shots.

Know who this is?

There's a section on famous American prisons and prison wardens. Here's a simulated prison cell that you can walk into and get a feel for the size.

And here's a replication of what Capone's prison cell looked like before he was sent off to Alcatraz, where try as he might, he couldn't buy the system. He was treated the same as all the other inmates on The Rock.

There is original art from on display, produced by notorious killers, including John Wayne Gacy.

The next section of the museum covers law enforcement officers. There's a section on the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Eliot Ness, and various other well-known and not so well-known law enforcement officers. Those familiar with Caleb Carr's THE ALIENIST will likely appreciate the small placard about Theodore Roosevelt as the president of the New York City Police Board.

This section also includes the tools of the trade throughout history, even a Harley Davidson that was purchased after he retired by the officer who rode it on duty.

This section made me immediately think of Robert Crais' upcoming novel SUSPECT about a service dog.

And the picture isn't the greatest, but this brought to mind Carol Starkey.

The next section of the museum is the Crime Scene Investigations section. As you enter this section, there's a crime scene scenario. At the end of the section, after you've gone through evidence collection displays and information, you test your skills on the scenario. There are quite a few interaction sections in this part of the museum, including a video where you can see what kind of eye witness you would be. It's fun, but you know you're trying to pay attention in that instance. In an everyday situation you'd not be trying so hard to remember details.

There's a simulator where you try to match fingerprints, another simulator to match bullet striations...I was very successful on both.

Finally, at the very bottom of the museum, a TV film set for America's Most Wanted is housed. They do actual filming here at times, but no one is ever notified WHEN it will be taking place. So, John Walsh is on site in the museum at times.

The museum earns some extra credit for having this small display on crime writers! Yay!

The only drawback to the museum is the abundance of mistakes in the copy of the placards. I'm sure those things cost quite a bit to produce, so I'd think they'd have several people going over them for editing purposes. And even having been an English teacher, I'm very easy going about typos. It happens, we're all human. But there were quite a few. But I have to say, if that's the only disappointment, it was a successful adventure!

I highly recommend visiting to all my crime fiction-loving friends! So on your next trip to D.C., make sure the Museum of Crime and Punishment is on your itinerary.

Five on Friday - Bill Cameron

We made it! The world didn't end! Or wait, is it supposed to end later today? I haven't been keeping up with the details obviously. I've been too busy trying to fit just a few more books in before we are no longer. ;-)

Today will be the last Five on Friday for this year. Don't fret, I'm going to be working on recruiting more victims...er....I mean, interviewees for 2013. I've been overwhelmed by your wonderful reactions to these posts, and they're fun for me, too! So I'm going to try to line up a great selection for you in the coming year. But next week will be for my end of the year, top 10 lists. Plus I owe you a post on my visit to the Crime and Punishment Museum AND I have some more reviews, but those may have to wait. So much fun still to have in 2012, right?

I just got my update newsletter from the Left Coast Crime folks and was embarrassingly giddy over the fact that Lou Diamond Phillips will be interviewing guest of honor Craig Johnson. How cool is that? I'm so excited that I'm going this year! Well, I was excited before, but now I'm extra excited. If you're thinking about going, here's the link for their site. I believe registration will go up a little if you wait until after the 1st to register.

And since we're talking about registering for conferences, remember about 2013's Bouchercon, which will be in Albany, NY. They also have a discount on registration if you do it before January 1st.

O.k. that's all for my babbling today. Now let me introduce today's Five on Friday guest. I know Bill thought I forgot about him. He sent me his Five on Friday almost first...back in the summer...but he said, "post it whenever is good." Today is that day! And Bill Cameron is a perfect way to wrap of the 2012 Five on Friday.

Bill is another author I highly recommend you follow on Twitter if you're there. He makes Twitter fun. I've also learned that if I wanted anything from Bill, I could probably bribe  him with bacon to do almost anything. No really, Bill is a wonderful person and an extremely talented writer. I've read some of his short fiction and I have two of his books on my ereader and several on my shelf because I enjoyed the short fiction so much. I'm looking forward to indulging in his Skin Kadash novels very soon! In the mean time, you too can enjoy some of his short fiction right now! He has a holiday story for you on his site now. You can either read it online or download it for your ereader (any kind of ereader).

In the mean time, I shall let him take over and have all the fun!

I have to assume Bill is conjuring up stories in the hammock!

1. My favorite place to read is: My wife would probably say it was the bathroom. I scoff at that notion. (Ahem.) I say it’s my backyard, though of course the weather has to cooperate. Which, since I live in Portland, doesn’t happen often enough to suit me. Sometimes I sit in the swing, sometimes in the Beverage Chair, and sometimes the hammock (though the hammock often causes napping to occur). They’re all equally awesome. (Though, I suppose, the bathroom is pretty great too.)

2. The most famous person I ever met was: This would have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, though it was at a time when he was not as famous as he would eventually become. I can’t remember the exact date, but it was post-Conan and but not yet Predator. I’d gone to the Cincinnati airport to pick up a friend, and because this was at a time before we started protecting our freedom by giving it up, I’d walked down to the gate to wait.

As I was sitting (reading, of course), a giant man sat down next to me. He was eating popcorn, and when I glanced over at him he smiled and said, “Would you like some popcorn?” The thing is, even though I’d seen his movies to date, I didn’t recognize him until he spoke. Then I had the only reasonable reaction to Arnold Schwarzenegger offering you popcorn: I panicked.

After failing to get a response from me, he went back to eating popcorn until his flight was called.

3. My favorite kind of cookie is: Prolly a peanut butter cookie, but not just ANY peanut butter cookie. It has to be homemade and have actual nut bits in it. And in answer to the question you didn’t ask, my least favorite kind of cookie is commercial, concrete peanut butter-oriented cookies like Nutter Butter. They are so not a proper peanut butter cookie that I reject them utterly.

4. My favorite brand of athletic shoe is: What kinda weirds me out is the fact I have a favorite brand of athletic shoe. For eons, this was something I cared nothing about. My favorite brand was the brand on sale. I did have an UN-favorite brand: Nike. I have never understood the whole Nike mystique. The shoes are ugly and cost too much, even on sale. And, sorry, but I don’t care how good they are (were): Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are great big jerkweasels.

And yet, now I have a favorite brand of athletic shoe. New Balance. Happened by accident. Which is to say, they were on sale and I bought a pair. And, oh my, they fit so well. And they weren’t ugly. It is possible there is a New Balance endorser who is a jerkweasel, but if so, I don’t know about them. So now when I buy a new pair of athletic shoes, I buy New Balance, even if they aren’t on sale.

And....

The #1 item on my bucket list right now is: Rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This idea has been with me for about twenty-five years. Way back in the Dark Ages, when the internet was called CompuServe and was accessed via a string stretched between two soup cans, I read a book called The River That Flows Uphill by William Calvin. It told of a group of scientists who went on a two-week raft trip through the canyon. During the trip, they had those free-ranging late night conversations about the meaning of everything we all have at some point in our lives, but because these people were all super brainiacs with giant buckets of education jammed into their skulls, the conversations were fascinating enough to put into a book. Not only does Calvin offer a fascinating look at the Grand Canyon itself from both geological and anthropological perspectives, but also shares deep and wide-ranging discourses on human evolution, the rise of intelligence, and the history of the universe. Ever since I read that book, I’ve wanted to do the same thing. Of course, when my raft trip finally happens, the late-night conversations will all consist of, “You want another beer?” and “Why, yes. Thank you.” 

"Jerkweasel" now joins "sentence enhancer" as my two favorite curse words! I completely expect to see Merriam-Webster name it the best word of 2013. Did I say this was the prefect way to end this year's Five on Friday? I hope you enjoyed it! And I'm looking forward to next year's series as well. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Have a super great weekend. I hope you have time for reading in the midst of all your holiday plans and preparation!

Happy Reading!

The Aden Effect - Claude Berube

My review of The Aden Effect first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. It is appearing here with their permission. I thought I had already posted this one, so I apologize for the delay, it came out in October and I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I was checking back, I discovered I had not posted it yet. So I hope you enjoy!

First line: "The first rocket-propelled grenade hit the supertanker's bow twenty feet above the waterline."

When the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, C.J. Sumner, runs into nothing but silence in her attempts to build relationships with Yemen leaders, she uses her influence to recall Connor Stark to active military duty--assigned to the Yemen Embassy. Sumner hopes Stark’s connections to people in high places will help her break down the walls of silence before Washington pulls her out of her position.

Meanwhile, U.S. diplomatic security agent Damien Golzari finds himself in Yemen while following a lead investigating the death of a State Department official’s college-aged son. When Golzari and Stark’s paths cross conflict erupts. Sumner has to convince the two head-strong men that they are on the same side and need to work together. With the lives of hundreds of innocent people at stake, the alliance becomes vital, but can they achieve it and will it be enough?

Heaped in political conspiracy, military intrigue and international conflict, Claude Berube’s debut novel leaves a lasting impression on its readers. Pirates, drug dealers, corrupt politicians and inept military leaders all contribute to a complex plot ripe with global issues and American fears.

Berube’s protagonist pair is an unlikely match. But, the straight-laced, impeccably dressed Golzari exudes as much arrogance as the non-traditional, informal Stark. And yet readers will find it difficult to dislike either man.

The antagonists of the novel are easier to dislike, but Berube is as respectful with them as his protagonists. Smart, determined and realistic, they make the novel’s action chillingly believable.

Fans of political thrillers, international espionage or military crime should not let this gem fly under the radar.

The Aden Effect is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781612511092) from the US Navel Institute Press.