The Printed Page

Title: The Alexander Cipher
Author/website: Will Adams
336 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication date: March ’09
Genre: Historical/contemporary fiction
Would I recommend it: NA (DNF @ page 70)
I found once I started reading I had absolutely no interest in the historical aspects of this story.

Apparently everybody hates Daniel Knox, an American archaeologist turned dive instructor who is currently living in Egypt. There’s the nasty Hassan, his rich Egyptian boss, whom Daniel beat up in order to keep him from raping a young woman, and Hassan’s even nastier head of security, Nessim. There’s Gaille Bonnard, the Egyptologist who blames Daniel for the death of her father, and Nicolas Dragoumis, the wealthy industrialist whose own father seems oddly determined to ruin Daniel. Further complicating Daniel’s life is, of all people, Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who proves that being dead for 2,300 years doesn’t mean you still can’t wreak havoc in people’s lives. After Alexander’s death, in 323 BCE, his body was brought to Egypt in a massive golden funeral carriage; Alexander’s power-hungry general, Ptolemy, stole Alexander’s body for his own purposes, and the funeral carriage vanished. Daniel thinks he knows where the carriage is, but that pales in comparison to a new discovery: artifacts that might point the way to the long-lost body of Alexander himself. All Daniel, a lifelong Alexander scholar, needs to do is keep clear of all the people who are out to get him long enough to solve the mystery.

Title: A Circle of Souls
Author/website: Preetham Grandhi
339 pages
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Publication date: June ’09
Genre: Suspense/thriller
Would I recommend it: Yes, add to this one to your summer reading list
I know it’s a good book when I’ve read within 80 pages of the end in one day (257 of 339) and I’m too cross-eyed to stay up until the wee, wee hours of the morning and read any more. Taking into consideration that A Circle of Souls is a debut novel for Mr. Grandhi and could use a bit of polishing around the edges the storyline itself will keep you turning pages and entertained. I devoured this one within 24 hours of starting. If Mr. Grandhi’s continues his writing career I will continue to read his books.

The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. With the murderer on the loose, the police desperately look for any clues to lead to his identity. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist in a nearby hospital is also in a desperate search to find the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings s devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope. When these two situations converge, they set off an alarming chain of events. In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.

Title: Widow’s Tale (Kindle edition) / Widow’s Tale (Print edition)
Author/website: Maureen A. Miller
File size: 310 KB/Print: 316 pages
Publication date: March ’08
Genre: Ghost/suspense/romance
Would I recommend it: Yes
Some of the better books I’ve read this month have been from indie authors discovered by reading samples chapters on my Kindle. From the start this book captured my interest and held it throughout the story. Another one I finished within 24 hours of starting. There is a touch of romance around the edges but it’s a fine ghost/suspense/mystery story. I think the reviewers at Amazon got it right with this one. I didn’t even know it had been had been nominated by the Romance Writers of America for a Golden Heart Award in the Romantic Suspense category until after I finished. It definitely deserves it’s nomination. I will be reading more from this author.

Serena Murphy was losing her mind.

Every night Serena stood on the deck of O’Flanagans Tavern, searching Maine’s rugged coast for a sign of her husband’s body. Though he was pronounced lost at sea, Alan Murphy still haunted her as only his malevolent spirit could. In the loft above her tavern, Serena hears footsteps pace across her living room floor, yet when she turns, no one is there.

Alan would not let a little thing like death stop him from tormenting her. If she could just find his body, surely this torture would stop.

It had been ten years since Brett Murphy saw his sister in-law, although the separation was by design, to avoid temptation. Now Brett was in Victory Cove, not to declare his feelings for Serena, but to discover the truth about his brother’s death. In doing so, he must battle Serena’s ghosts, both real and contrived.

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