15 SECONDS - Andrew Gross

First line: "It had all gotten a little blurry for Amanda, behind the wheel of her beat-up, eight-year-old Mazda:

Her recollection of what she'd been doing only twenty minutes before."

Dr. Henry Steadman is embarking on a day he believes will be wonderfully memorable: playing golf at an elite course with a college buddy during the day, speaking at a Doctors Without Borders conference in the evening. Steadman's day winds up memorable, but for all the wrong reasons - starting with his being pulled over by a cop. What starts out as a typical traffic stop escalates, and before Steadman can be on his way, an unknown driver pulls up to the police officer's car, shoots the officer and drives off. With no one around, it appears Steadman has killed the cop. He panics and takes off after the shooter. When that's unsuccessful, he returns to the scene of the crime to explain, only to be shot at by police officers who have already determined his guilt. Steadman resolves to prove his innocence. What he doesn't realize is that his memorable day has only just begun.

When starting a thriller by Andrew Gross, readers have to immediately feel sorry for the protagonist. Gross is about to put the poor soul through more hell in 300 pages than the average person would experience in a dozen lifetimes. This, of course, works to keep the momentum of the plot moving swiftly. The shorter, two-to-five-page chapters also work to keep the book's movement quick.

In 15 Seconds, Gross has parallel plots running through the first half of the book; plots that are seemingly unrelated, so suspense is building as the perspective bounces back and forth, and the reader attempts to discern just how the plots will intersect.

15 Seconds will require skeptical readers to loosen up their grips on reality and the dialogue has a tendency to be overly dramatic and repetitive during high action scenes, but fans of plot-focused thrillers will likely find this a satisfying summer read.

My review appears as part of the TLC blog tour for 15 Seconds. To see additional reviews of 15 Seconds, visit the TLC website.

15 Seconds is available from William Morrow in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0061655975) and on unabridged audio (ISBN: 9780062241481) from Harper Audio, narrated by Christian Hoff. Reading groups interested in 15 Seconds can find a guide here. You can follow Andrew on Facebook or Twitter and learn more at his website.

A Slew of Wonderful Events

As most of you who read the blog regularly know, I kinda like author events. Oh, alright, alright! I have a bit of an addiction. I admit it. :-)

One of the goals I set for myself was to average one event a month this year - I'm ahead of schedule for this year. Not only do I find them fun and informative, I also find that they add to my reading experience after. On a very rare occasion one has turned me off of an author, but the good experiences far outweigh the bad. I also like to support the authors I read and admire; attending their events is a great way to do that.

Well, June was a busy month for events and I have lots of fun to share with you from those events, starting with Chicago's Printers Row event that was held the first weekend in June.

This was my second year attending Printers Row and I really enjoy the event. Seems to rain at least a little every time, but that's o.k. I was none too happy when they outlawed the taking of pictures during the sessions, but I found a way to get a few pictures anyway.

First, I had the chance to meet Lesley Kagen after her wonderful panel. She is so passionate about writing and that comes through in everything she says. Lesley is one of our xuni authors, which is how I found out about her. Listening to her read from her book resulted in me being very excited to hear she will be reading her own audiobooks. I don't usually get excited about an author reading his/her own audiobooks, but I have a feeling Lesley is going to be the best choice for these!

Later that day, Judy Bobalik and I attended a conversation with Sean Chercover and Marcus Sakey. How much fun! First, I know many of you will be excited to hear that Sean has finished his third book and we'll be hearing more about publication of that soon. But the basis of the story is a revivalist, con-man preacher who begins to spew predictions that are coming true. The root of the idea came to Sean in 1996 when he was having to take numerous pain killers and was also drinking whiskey. - See, you always wondered where authors get their ideas. Now you know!

Marcus also revealed where the seed for THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES came from.  Sean had actually shared a story about Satchel Paige who didn't know his age but was asked at one point by a reporter, so his response was, "How old would ya be if ya didn't know how old ya was?" That question led Marcus to the question, "WHO would ya be if ya didn't know who ya was?"

There was a fun early-release party for Marcus' THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES afterward. I was really excited to be able to celebrate the release of this book with him.

The next day at Printers Row, Judy and I attended a panel with Andrew Gross, Kevin Guilfoile, Keir Graff and Jamie Freveletti.

Andrew talked about his upcoming novel EYES WIDE OPEN. He explained that he typically works around ideas that come from news headlines, but this book deals with two events a bit more personal to him. The first being the death of his nephew from suicide and the other being the time he met Charles Manson when he was 12. The revelation of this meeting elicited quite a startled response from Jamie who was moderating the panel.

The week after Printers Row was just as busy. It started with Craig Johnson's event in Oakmont at Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Tuesday. There was a full house for Craig, which is fitting because he's so entertaining and fun!

Craig spoke about the fact that he does indeed plan story elements well in advance of the actual book he's working on. When he created Virgil in ANOTHER MAN'S MOCCASINS he had intentions of using him with another storyline later (a.k.a. HELL IS EMPTY).

HELL IS EMPTY was challenging for Craig to write in that he was relaying on another book's structure to put his own together, since HELL IS EMPTY ties in allegorically with DANTE'S INFERNO.

Craig also addressed the pilot of LONGMIRE and how much involvement he had in the process. When he saw the auditions for the role of Henry, Lou Diamond Phillips was the only actor who didn't instinctively create contractions out of Henry's speech.

Craig charmed the audience and it was a wonderful evening!

The following night was Michael Koryta's event. Luckily that one was in Westlake, about 20 minutes from my house. And this was an event that was originally scheduled for the CYPRESS HOUSE release but had to be canceled twice because of weather. The weather was cooperative this time around and all went as planned.

Michael shared a few fun tidbits about THE RIDGE, including the fact that his mother use to take Michael and his sister to see lighthouses whenever they traveled. According to Michael, she dragged them to every lighthouse she possibly could. So having the lighthouse in THE RIDGE was a bit of payback to Mom for those excursions.

Michael also gave some advice to anyone visiting a feline rescue like the one in the book. "Don't wear perfume." Micael's publicist wanted to visit the rescue facility that influenced the writing of THE RIDGE, and when she did she wore nice clothes and perfume, which attracted the cats to...well...mark her. Once one cat had left its mark, many more decided they needed to as well. YIKES!

The next book Michael's working on is going back to traditional crime fiction. It may be out as early as 2012 or may be later into 2013.

I had a short break after Michael's event, which gave me time to take my dogs to the vet for their overdue vaccinations and celebrate my mom's birthday and Father's Day. The family was appreciative of that.

This past week brought Karin Slaughter to the Cleveland area. Aside from the nasty woman who sat next me, this was a tremendous event. Karin Slaughter is fun, humorous and energetic. You can see how much she loves what she does. I think that's one of the most amazing things to experience. She takes nothing for granted and is appreciative of every fan and every circumstance that got her to where she is.

This event was held at the North Olmsted library, which is part of the Cuyahoga County library system. Many of you are probably familiar with the work Karin has done on behalf of libraries; many of her events for this tour are taking place in libraries, and I was thrilled that one of those libraries was near me.

Karin talked about the role libraries played in her childhood and her road to publication. She acknowledged the role her father played. His hard work provided her with a life that allowed her to go to the library and read books instead of having to work to support their family. He also taught her how to do more than "be pretty."

I think anyone who has ever had a chance to listen to Karin Slaughter speak knows without any doubt that she is a born story-teller. Her abilities go beyond the written word to the spoken word as well. She's absolutely amazing and I encourage you to see her if you have the chance. I assure you, she's worth going out of your way, driving a longer distance than usual, whatever. It is a fabulous experience.

So that's been my June of author/book events. Who have you all seen recently that you really enjoyed? Did they do anything special or unique that made the experience extra special? I really encourage all of you to check out an author event at a local bookstore or library. Show some support to those folks who provide you with hours and hours of entertainment.

Now for a little down time when I can catch up on the reviews of books I've been reading, plot some fun project ideas, and update this darned blog. Have you been wondering when in the heck I'm going to get on the ball? Holy cow I need to update. Thanks for being patient with me and for coming back to visit regularly.

Happy reading everyone!

They Said What?

Since I was in L.A. last Sunday, I didn't have a chance to post my favorite lines of April. So, I'll post it today, just a tad bit late. I didn't fit in as much reading last month, but I still found some great lines to share with you.

First up are a few lines from Andrew Gross's new thriller RECKLESS. I think Andrew did an amazing job of creating images that truly represent the fear and destruction of terrorism in this day and age. His choice of imagery is a big part of what made RECKLESS so powerful. The following are some of the excerpts that had tremendous impact on me:

• "If he had ever been worth saving, the statute of limitations had long run out. The pieces of his soul had scattered across the globe. Like an F5 blowing into town. Leveling most everything. Scattering the rest."
• "'What if there were people on an organized basis, people of influence,' she suggested, 'who wanted to do our country systemic harm, using a new strategy, a 'change of direction,' as they referred to it.' She steeled herself, 'Not by flying a plane through our tallest buildings, like before, but by driving one figuratively, sir, through the heart of our most vital national asset. The root of everything we stand for.'"
• "The triumph that comes after a bloody battle. Where it's hard to tell who has won and who has lost."

I finished Don Winslow's POWER OF THE DOG and I know I've peppered the last few favorite lines posts with excerpts from this book. Had I been reading a print copy and not listening on audio, I may have had even more lines. Winslow never ceases to amaze me with his pen. But the fact that I recalled so many of these to look them up and include them, I think says a lot about the writing in this book. The final line I'm including is:

• "I'm a farmer in fields of the dead. The barren crop I cultivate with only a scythe. My landscape of devastation."

And finally, I have a few lines from Michael Koryta's SO COLD THE RIVER, which is due out in June. You'll hear a lot more about the book later, but overall, the writing in this book is amazing and I didn't think there was another level Koryta could reach in his writing but he proved me wrong with this masterpiece. Here are a couple sneak peaks:

• "Artifacts of their ambition. Only through study of those things could you truly understand people long departed. General artifacts could be over-analyzed, layered with undue importance. It was critical to find things that indicated ambitions and aspirations, that tired bit about hopes and dreams. The reality of someone's heart lay in the objects of their desires. Whether those things were achieved did not matter nearly so much as understanding what they had been."
• "The train had seemed faster than anything to her that day, dazzling in its speed. There were race cars that went faster than the train, though, and planes that went faster than the cars, and rockets that went faster than the planes, but what still blew them all away was time itself, the days and months and the years, oh, yes, the years. They went faster than anything man had the capacity to invent, so fast that for a while they fooled you into thinking they were slow, and was there any crueler trick than that?"

And finally, it's subtle lines like this one that always make me devour Koryta's work. This is a line that could easily be overlooked by someone reading too quickly or God-forbid, scanning:

• "The visitor got out, a man with short hair of a color that had gotten confused somewhere between blond and brown."

I just love that image.

One last thing I'd like to mention in this post today is a book I received in the mail this week. It was put together by Brad Meltzer for his son and it is stunningly beautiful. HEROES FOR MY SON. I've added the book jacket photo to this post, but I assure you it doesn't do this book justice. I wasn't expecting to receive this book, but when it arrived I couldn't stop looking at it. I'm reading the stories inside and learning many things I never knew, feeling inspired and just smiling an awful lot. The day after I received the book, I took it to work because I wanted people I work with to see this, too. In a day and age where I think our heroes are chosen for the wrong reasons, I'm encouraged by this book. I have to say that I'm incredibly thankful that Brad didn't save this exclusively for his son, but shared it with the world. We can all stand to be reminded of these heroes. They span genders, races, religions, even political parties. I don't have children myself, but I have a lot of people I'm planning to bestow this book on. I hope everyone will take time to look at this book and open their hearts and their minds.

I also wanted to share this short little video I found about the book on Brad's website. It talks about how this book came to be. I enjoyed hearing about it, so I thought you might as well:

Brad Meltzer on Heroes for My Son from HarperStudio on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: Great Lines, Michael Koryta, Brad Meltzer, Andrew Gross, Don Winslow

The L.A. Times Festival of Books

Alright, my second visit to L.A. for the Festival of Books. It was as wonderful and magical as the first. You've heard about the great Mystery Bookstore party and the fabulous Kingpins panel. This post will be highlights about all the rest of the weekend wonderfulness and will probably be mostly pictures.

From Wednesday's post, you know I was blessed to meet my wonderful friend Elyse, a.k.a. Pop Culture Nerd, for the first time in person.

And was joined by Michael, a.k.a. le0pard13, and Christine. We also had the privilege of meeting Elyse's friend (and now our friend too) Debby as well as Michael's family. This was our "festival crew"

We spent a hefty amount of time hanging out around the Mystery Bookstore booth because they had the BEST signing schedule imaginable:

(Gar Anthony Haywood, Reed Farrel Coleman, Eric Beetner, Duane Swierczynski)

(Robert Gregory Browne, Gregg Hurwitz, Ed Decter)

(Lisa Lutz, Andrew Gross)

And I presented Michael Connelly with a copy of the World's Favorite Detective bracket for Harry Bosch's win. When I found out that he knew about it, I was floating! O.k., yeah, that's totally geeky fan girl. I own up to it 100%!

And of course MBS has the greatest staff, so that adds to the fun! I just love them.

(Linda Brown)

(Bobby McCue)

Spent some quality time talking with Gregg Hurwitz about his upcoming release THEY'RE WATCHING. Plan on hearing plenty about that later here on the blog. Can't wait for the release in July!

Even managed to snag a hug or two from Robert Crais!

Saw my pals Steve Hockensmith and Sophie Littlefield at the Mysterious Galaxy booth while they were signing.

And this time at the festival, I didn't miss seeing fellow blogger and friend, Trish (from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?). I introduced her to Sophie and then helped her spend money on books! So happy to finally meet Trish in person and I'm already looking forward to the next time we can see each other!

A surprise I wasn't expecting was seeing Tim Hallinan. He stopped up at the festival and introduced me to Gar Anthony Haywood! How cool is that? Tim speaks very highly of Gar's work and since I think highly of Tim's work, I'm looking forward to reading Gar.

Another great surprise was meeting Brett Battles' gorgeous family. Thank you, Brett! Had a blast listening to Reed's stories. I think he's just the cat's pajamas. And that silly Andy Gross. When I went to say good-bye to him, he thought he was going to get off with just a hand shake! What a super guy.

And the highlight that wrapped everything up was having the chance to just hang out and talk with Alafair Burke. Have a mentioned lately how fabulous I think she is? Oh right! Well, one more time won't kill you.

I probably don't need to say it was just a fantastic weekend. As I'm writing this and loading the pictures, I'm smiling all over again. Tucking the memories into my bag of cherished times. I hope that each and every one of you has the chance to experience a weekend like this at some point in your life. This community is full of warm, generous people. So, stop by and introduce yourself. You'll be pleasantly surprised. In the meantime, Happy Reading!

Technorati Tags: LATFoB, Reed Farrel Coleman, Robert Crais, Andrew Gross, Alafair Burke, Sophie Littlefield, Gregg Hurwitz, Michael Connelly

MBS Pre-FOB Bash

I'm back after another wonderful Festival of Books out in Los Angeles. Last year was very special because it was my first year attending. This year is very special because it was the year I met in person my wonderful friend Pop Culture Nerd! Michael, Christine, Elyse and I wreaked some havoc on the festival this year, and I'm excited to share some memories with you.


Today I'm going to be highlighting "THE" LATFoB pre-party, The Mystery Bookstore's party. Everyone who's anyone attends this party, so I'm still not sure why they let me come, but shhhh don't rat me out.



Last year the party was magical for me because I met everyone for the first time. This year I met a lot of other folks for the first time, but I also met up with some great friends and it was more like a reunion. If you're a regular here at the blog, you may remember that last year I met Michael from Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer for the first time at the MBS Bash. We met up again this year, joined by Christine and Elyse, a.k.a. Pop Culture Nerd. "Kids in a candy store" doesn't begin to describe the four of us at Mystery Bookstore on Friday night! Crime fiction fans surrounded by other crime fiction fans and crime fiction writers? Literally wall to wall! No caffeine or other drugs necessary, it's all a natural high. And while I don't get to physically see Michael, Christine and Elyse on regular basis, I feel as though I've known them all my life. To be able to share things like the festival and this party with them, that's really a great treasure. And we also shared all the pictures. Not only did we trade off on what we took, but most of the time we were doing the "snapping" for each other. So, all of these posts are a group effort!


What other treasures were in the MBS chest this year? Well, the dashing Reed Farrel Coleman! It is so fun to talk to Reed. He IS the natural-born storyteller. He would tire of "telling" far sooner than I would tire of "listening." This is my new Facebook profile picture by the way! Love it!


Brett Battles. You simply aren't going to meet a nicer person. I know I've said this before, but he is a true gentleman in addition to a talented writer. I so enjoy talking with him about everything from families to books to the knucklehead mistakes I make with my iTouch! Brett also formally introduced me to Robert Dugoni, who I've spoken with online but met in person this year for the first time.




My wonderful friend Alafair Burke, who I was certain would be sick of seeing me by this event. But she wasn't and I was excited to introduce her to Michael, Christine and Elyse, as well as my sister. I was in true geeky-fangirl heaven to be chatting with Alafair AND Karin Slaughter!




A party is just not a party without Sophie Littlefield or Kelli Stanley! And I have to admit that I certainly blush any time Gregg Hurwitz calls me "Jen-Jen." Gregg is a genuinely wonderful person and lordy what a talented writer.



I didn't get to talk to them Friday as much as I would have liked, but Juliet Blackwell and Cara Black were also in attendance. I introduced myself to both Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. And the wonderful T. Jefferson Parker signed his 6-word memoir in the scrapbook!

So wouldn't that be absolutely amazing if those were the only people I met up with? Let's talk a little about who I met for the first time!

Be still my heart, y'all, I finally met Andrew Gross! We were ships passing in the night at Bouchercon, and missing him was my great B'Con disappointment. But I finally caught up with him at the MBS party. And no jokes about the fact that he had to bend down a little so we could both actually be IN the picture at the same time!

Reed gave me my formal introduction to Duane Swierczynski, who I just think is absolutely adorable, but don't tell him I said so. That's not very good for the crime fiction/noir rep, is it? But in all seriousness, a kindred spirit. We talked about how we're not so great in social settings, but around other crime fiction folks, it all just comes naturally. Duane's already lined up for some future face time here on the blog, so it was wonderful to meet him in person this weekend.

Some Facebook author friends I met on Friday: Tim Maleeny, David Corbett and Eric Beetner. And I also chatted briefly with Lisa Lutz.

Some more online friends I met up with at the party were Clair Lamb and Holly West. For someone who's always had problems feeling comfortable in social settings, meeting these ladies was like seeing old friends again. This whole community is special, and the fact that they let me come along for the ride, well that's just a million kinds of amazing in my book.

But the special nods really need to go to the staff at The Mystery Bookstore. The first person to greet me back to the store was Linda. I received the most welcoming hug from Bobby. And Emily, who's always so patient with me on my online orders, knew who I was when I checked out. Pam, the owner, asked to look at my scrapbook and we talked all about it for awhile. Personalization like that doesn't exist much in these days of big box stores and online purchasing. And when you couple that personalization with this amazing party that they throw? They are invaluable to this whole community. And I know I've mentioned this before, but you can always access their website from my blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, their logo links to their site. If you have questions, they have answers. If you need books, they can get them. And they do it all because they love crime fiction. That's all of our common bond. We love this genre and the folks connected to it.

This is the place to be before the L.A. Times Festival of Books. If you have the chance to attend, don't pass it up. This IS an event you would regret missing!

I'll have more about the festival in upcoming posts. But in the mean time, check out PCN's fun post about her Festival Highlights, her post that includes a photo montage of the weekend, Michael's post about the pre-Party and his recap of the weekend. Geez...I'm the pokey poster around here! Happy Reading!

RECKLESS Giveaway!

As I'm getting ready to head out to the Mystery Bookstore for the Pre-Festival of Books Bash, I thought you all might like a little reason to celebrate as well. The kind folks at Wiredset have provided me with two copies of Andrew Gross's RECKLESS to give away here.

You know from my review last week that I think this is a definite must-read. If you missed my review of RECKLESS last week, you can see it here.

Here are the necessary details. This contest is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. And I will take entries through the RECKLESS release date, April 27th (midnight Eastern). Just complete the following form to be put in the drawing for one of the two copies.

If you have any questions, you can drop them in the comments or send me an email. Good luck!

Odds and Ends before the FOB

I'm a little crazy right now trying to get dogs ready for their respective babysitters and get myself ready to fly to California. But since we've been occupied with Detectives Around the World, I wanted to take a minute and pass along some little tidbits of information.

The first is a reminder to vote for the Spinetingler Awards if you haven't done so already. Those can be found here.

Next is a new blog I think you should check out. Hilary Davidson is not a new name around here. She's written some fantastic short fiction and has her first novel coming out later this year. She's started a blog and you can find that here. She'll keep you updated on where you can find her short fiction and other fun things of interest. Mark my words, she's going to be huge, huge, huge!

Andrew Gross's book, RECKLESS, that I was raving about last week. It comes out next week, but if you pre-order it this week, you can still get a signed book cover when you email your receipt to Andrew at info[at]andrewgrossbooks[dot]com. This is a great opportunity if you can't make a tour stop, because as much as I love you all, I simply don't have enough suitcase room to buy you all copies and bring them home with me when I see him in L.A. I do promise to come back and share my pictures, though!

I'm trying to find a proxy for me. Chris Grabenstein's launch party for my book - oh all riiiiiiight, it's actually Chris's book, but it's my fictional debut! *smile*  Anyway, the launch party for ROLLING THUNDER is May 13th at The Mysterious Bookstore in New York. My friend and blog reader Patrick said he may be able to go, but he's a little apprehensive about doing a guest post about it. I'm looking for someone who might go and put together a guest post for the blog. If you think you might be interested in being my proxy there, drop me an email. I'd just really love to have someone cover the party for the blog.

I think that's about it for me today. I am planning at this point to send updates from L.A. We'll see how that goes. But regardless, you'll get a rundown when I return. I will also report on DATW contest winners when I return. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm planning to have the time of my life!

Happy Reading!

RECKLESS - Andrew Gross

FIRST LINE: "'Beep, beep! Beep, beep!' Amir, "Marty" al Bashir's six-year-old son, raced his motorized Formula One model around the dining room table, almost crashing it into Anna, the Lebanese housemaid, as she brought out their Sunday lunch of flatbread and spiced lamb."

Ty Hauck has left his position with the police department to work for the Talon Group covering corporate data security and internal forensics. But when an old friend and her family are brutally murdered, Ty's investigative instincts won't let him leave this case to the authorities. They are writing it off as a botched home invasion. Ty doesn't buy it, and he especially doesn't buy it when the case begins to intersect with a background investigation he's doing for Talon. A "friend" of Talon's has asked for assistance looking into the the man she is dating when she finds discrepancies in his background stories. Ty's investigation collides head first into Treasury Agent, Naomi Blum's investigation of a possible terrorism issue. As Wall Street, and thus the world's economy, appears to be literally imploding, Ty and Naomi discover something "bigger than terrorism":

"''What if there were people on an organized basis...who wanted to do our country systemic harm, ...Not by flying a plane through our tallest buildings, like before, but by driving one figuratively, sir, through the heart of our most vital national asset.'"

Andrew Gross is back with one killer thriller. Not only is this a fast-paced, action-packed plot, it's a complex look at the reality of our vulnerability. I only half-jokingly said while reading it that I was going to go hide my money in my mattress. Gross illustrates how with the right pieces in place, the whole world's economy could be brought to its knees. This isn't a paranormal, I-know-it-can't-happen-to-me plot or a situation that revolves around a bunch of covert spies and the average person is never touched by it. This is a plot that all-too-realistically could touch each and every reader that picks up the book. That's what keeps you glued to the pages. That's what makes a great thriller.

Consistently throughout this Ty Hauck series, Gross has shown a natural aptitude for developing character relationships. This plot element is often overlooked in thrillers as the concentration centers more on the action of the plot. But Gross doesn't let his characters falter. Ty's daughter Jessie never appears (except for a phone call) in this novel, but the strength of their father-daughter bond is as evident as any of the books she features prominently in. A past friendship re-surfaces for Ty in RECKLESS that could have been a disastrous cliché. Instead Gross molds it into a connection so jarringly real, I had to remind myself I was reading fiction.

The final element of RECKLESS that must be noted by me as superb is Gross's female characters. They hold equal footing with his male characters, and he affords them a level of respect that isn't always present in this genre. And that's not to say that they are all equipped with extra testosterone, either. They aren't damsels in distress or unrealistic superheros. They're human, just like his male characters. Male or female, Gross's characters can be smart, funny, emotional, talented, scared, stubborn; there's no gender discrimination on characteristics. Gross introduces Naomi Blum in RECKLESS; the Treasury agent working with Ty is a prime example of this equality in characters. I hope Gross intends on keeping Blum around, as I think she is quickly becoming one of my favorite females of crime fiction.

RECKLESS is out in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-06-165595-1) April 27th from William Morrow. Don't be reckless and miss this one.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Gross, thriller, book review

Looking Foward

Been super busy the last couple of days preparing reviews and other items for next week's "Detectives Around the World" theme week. I do hope you'll all check back daily next week to see all the great bloggers who are participating and highlighting detectives. It could be a great opportunity for you to discover some new detectives and to chat with each other about detectives you know and like. There will be some contests, guest posts from authors, and even great recipes you can check out. Each day I'll provide links to all the participating blogs so you can use Jen's Book Thoughts as your guide. I'll also be posting my own contributions to the fun. There will be a scavenger hunt that you can complete for a chance to win prizes and of course we'll be voting in the final face-off of the "World's Favorite Detective" tournament. I hope you'll check all of it out.

I'm falling a little behind on my reading since I've been doing a lot of planning and plotting, but I thought I'd share some of what I'm looking forward to this spring and summer:

Murder in the Abstract is Susan Shea's debut. It comes out this summer.

Bolt from the Blue is Diane Stuckart's newest in the Leonardo Di Vinci mystery series. Love this series, so looking forward to this one. It's out now, waiting for me to get to it. Soon, very soon!

Dead Head is Rosemary Harris' next in the Dirty Business mystery series. Another series I love, and I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. Dead Head is out this Tuesday. I still have to get my copy of this one.

Silent Auction is presently in my grimy paws awaiting it's turn to be read. It's also out this month and is the next Josie Prescott novel from Jane Cleland. If you're a regular to the blog, you know how much I'm always raving about this series.

Expiration Date is just a gorgeous book! Duane Swierczynski claims ownership of this lovely prize. Also out right now.

Junkyard Dogs is the next Walt Longmire. Enough said! It's out at the end of May.

Rolling Thunder by Chris Grabenstein and Reckless by Andrew Gross you'll hear about next week from me. Loved them both! Reckless is out the end of this month, Rolling Thunder is May. Also, I'll be seeing Andy Gross in L.A. in a couple weeks. Very jazzed about that!

Also up soon is The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien. This is the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. This is his second novel, and it sounds outstanding. Looking forward to this one. I think you can actually get this one now. If not then very soon. Definitely within the month.

Shane Gericke's Torn Apart is out this summer. I'm anxiously anticipating that book. In the interim, I get my Gericke fix with his blog posts at Criminal Minds.

Another Criminal Mind that has a release this summer is Rebecca Cantrell. Her A Night of Long Knives, the follow-up to A Trace of Smoke, will hit bookstores in June.

Last but by far not least, actually probably what I'm looking most forward to is So Cold the River, Michael Koryta's first book with Little Brown. Now mind you, I've had this book since October, and have tortured myself with it every day since I got it. I kid you not, it sits right next to my keyboard and every day I say, "that's what I want to read next." And it IS going with me to L.A. so I can read it on vacation. The torture simply must stop!

So your turn. Share with us what you are most looking forward to this spring and summer!

And the last thing I wanted to share with you before I get back to theme week preparations is this beauty that came in the mail. I ordered this from Michelle Scalise on her Etsy shop to commemorate my appearance in ROLLING THUNDER.


Cool? I love it!

Don't forget it's your last day to vote in the Final Four round. Check back tomorrow for the results of who will be our champions facing off for the title of "World's Favorite Detective"!

Happy Reading!

A Few Weekend Odds and Ends

I spent the better part of this morning shoveling my driveway after our snowfall this weekend. After two hours I almost had the driveway finished, only about a foot left - that end is always the worst because the city plows the snow from the street into the end of everyone's drives. So not only is it higher, but it's heavier because of all the gunk in the street. But anyway, I was about a foot short of finishing when my heaven-sent parents pulled up with the snow blower! My dad took care of the sidewalks, so Mr. Mailman (I have a male mail carrier) you can thank my dad for a clear walk. I never would have been able to do it myself! I'm already starting to feel the aftermath, I'm kinda scared what tomorrow morning may bring.

O.k., so that's my moaning and complaining for this weekend. I do have a few tidbits of news to share with you, although I'm embarrassingly behind on my blog reading, so I don't have lots of that to share. What I do have to share is Felonious February. It is going to take place on February 20th at the Muskego Public Library in Wisconsin. The special guest authors are Alafair Burke and Joseph Finder. I will be making my live interview debut here when I interview my hero, Alafair! If you can be in the area, I encourage you to contact Penny and register. The event is actually an all-day affair with many authors and lots of fun. There isn't an online presence for the event, but you can email Penny Halle (pennyphalle[at]gmail[dot]com) or you can call the library to register 262.971.2101.

Another item I'd like you to be aware of is Andrew Gross's Facebook promotion that he's holding in the month of February. For every fan he has on his fan page at the end of February, he's donating $1 to the Clinton/Bush Haiti Relief Fund. So, let's really put a hurt on Andy's wallet and make that donation a hefty one, alright? In exchange you get the lowdown on his upcoming release, which sounds like it's going to be pretty exciting. I'm looking forward to it. Join Andy's page, make a difference and stay in the know.

And last but not least, I wanted to remind you that you have until tomorrow at noon (Eastern) to enter to win an ARC of Alex Berenson's new spy thriller THE MIDNIGHT HOUSE. Get your entry in!

I hope your weekend has been a bit warmer than mine. I'm off now to console myself with a great book. Have a wonderful week and happy reading!

You Have the Right to Six Words - the 12th Installment!

We've hit a dozen! A dozen six word memoir posts. Who'd a thunk we'd a made it this far? Are you sure you aren't getting bored with these? If you're not bored, I'll keep going. I still have some aces of up my sleeve! Hmm, let me see...which four shall I pull out this week? Let's start with our recap author.

Timothy Hallinan is the author of the Bangkok Thriller series about Poke Rafferty, a travel writer whose travel books are guides to the "non-touristy" areas. Going off the beaten path regularly leads Poke straight into trouble. Tim's newest book in the Bangkok Thriller series, BREATHING WATER, will be released next Tuesday - August 18th.

Tim is able to create an authentic Far East setting in the Bangkok Thriller novels thanks to his love of the area. He continues to split time between his home in California and apartments in Thailand and Cambodia.

Tim has been involved with all kinds of writing throughout his career. He's written songs, written for television, written non-fiction and of course written novels. He also teaches writing and the fine art of finishing one's novel. Tim's writing is obviously the enjoyable part of his life, as his memoir is:

Lived seriously but wrote for fun.

Next up this week we welcome another Northeast Ohio native. While Lisa Black doesn't live here physically anymore, her spirit remains in the character of Theresa MacLean. Lisa Black was CSI before CSI was cool. This talented woman tired of life behind a desk and returned to school - Cleveland State University, I must add - to earn a degree in biology. She followed that up with a job as a forensic scientist for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office. Lisa worked very contentedly in the morgue analyzing finger prints, DNA, gunshot residue, blood, fibers, all that cool forensic stuff, until her husband "dragged" her away to Florida because he tired of the Cleveland snow - o.k., o.k., I can't blame him! Now Lisa works as a latent print examiner for the Cape Coral, Florida, police department when she isn't writing books about forensic science in Ohio.

Theresa MacLean is the star of Lisa's forensic science series that started with the book TAKEOVER. The follow-up to TAKEOVER releases September 8th and this thriller is called EVIDENCE OF MURDER. In her second caper, Theresa will investigate the supposed suicide of a Cleveland "escort."

So you would think that juggling a job in forensic science and a second career as a writer, Lisa would have her hours pretty well booked. However, in her free time she enjoys traveling. She even toured Europe with her 82 year old mother and 78 year old aunt. Lisa also makes time to sun in Barbados and gut house in New Orleans. With all of this under her belt, I'm stunned that her memoir would be:

Did a lot but not enough.

I don't know if I want to see her Bucket List!


Andrew Gross didn't start out as a thriller writer. As a matter of fact, he took a bit of a roundabout path to his solo stint on the Bestseller list. Andy started with an MBA from Columbia. Armed with the MBA, he headed off to work in a women's clothing firm. But clothing didn't turn out to be the right fit - ha. So, he earned an English degree and wrote a book that, through a good turn of fate, ended up in the hands of James Patterson. And thus, the writing team of Patterson and Gross was born. The team went on to write six #1 thrillers in seven years, including the second and third book in the Women's Murder Club mystery series. Not a shabby way to start off. And that would be a pretty exciting career, but it wasn't the end. No indeed. Instead, Andy earned himself a solo book deal and wrote a best seller on his own - THE BLUE ZONE. This past March, Andy released his third solo book, DON'T LOOK TWICE and will be releasing a fourth in 2010 that continues the story of Ty Hauck and murders that lead to a conspiracy behind the financial meltdown.

So, with all of his career experience to this point, what does Andy Gross think his six-word memoir should be?

Writing's easy. The rag trade, whew!

And we will wrap up Week 12 of "You Have the Right to Six Words" with a writer who this past week celebrated the release of book number four. On Thursday, Marcus Sakey released THE AMATEURS about a group of friends who find their 20s slipping away and they aren't where they had planned to end up. Instead they decide to take what they think they are owed. THE AMATEURS follows up his acclaimed novels THE BLADE ITSELF, AT THE CITY'S EDGE, and GOOD PEOPLE. All three of these novels are presently in development for film.

Marcus is simply a man who loves "telling stories for a living." Those stories extend beyond his novels to short stories in several anthologies and blog posts on THE OUTFIT COLLECTIVE. A native of Michigan, Marcus and his wife now call Chicago home. Marcus loves to travel, cook, and watch The Golden Gloves. In a previous life, he ran a design shop and won my devotion with the office policy: bring-your-dog-to-work. As you read Marcus's Twitter tweets, his blog posts, his website, you can't help but hear an absolute love of life, a love for what he does and where he is. So, it should just seem natural that his six-word memoir would be:

Fucking spectacular! Can I go again?

Anyone who has this much fun the first time around, certainly deserves another shot at it, don't you think? I'd say that's a pretty high energy memoir to leave off on this week. I hope it leaves you all with a smile. My sincerest thanks to our authors this week: Tim, Lisa, Andy and Marcus. Best wishes to them all.

So, unless I hear a bunch of votes that this post is getting boring, I'll meet you all back here same time next week for another crew of talented writers sharing their memoirs with us. Until then, happy reading!