The Printed Page

Title: The Apple: Based on the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust Love Story Author/website(s): Penelope Holt & Herman Rosenblat (Wikipedia link) / The Apple 200 pages Publisher: York House Press Publication date: August ’09 Genre: Non-fiction Review book or pleasure reading: Review book New-to-me author: Yes Would I recommend this book: I would Would I read more from this author: Depending on subject matter/topic Journal notes: Come the end of this year you will find The Apple on my favorite books list for 2010. I was vaugely aware of the controversy surrounding Mr. Rosenblat’s memoir. I had seen some headlines but frankly paid little or no attention to the details. After reading The Apple it matters little to me whether Mr. Rosenblat’s story is pure fact, fiction or a some combination thereof. It was a story that touched me. There is a love story there just not the one most readers believed they’d find. It is story of deep, profound love – parent for child, sibling for sibling. Until I can walk the path of Mr. Rosenblat’s life I have no right to judge.

Oprah called the tale of love in a concentration camp that lies at the heart of holocaust survivor, Herman Rosenblat’s controversial memoir, “The greatest love story every told.” But when his story is attacked and his memoir cancelled, Rosenblat must defend his narrative. The Apple first tells the story of his struggle to survive the camps and the girl he says helped him by tossing apples over the fence. It then uncovers the story behind the story: Why did an old man weave real love with a dream of love into an account that touched and inspired many, but also ignited a firestorm of criticism.

(The Apple was provided to me by May at York House Press. I was not paid and this pdf file has been deleted from my Kindle.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

***

Again this year I’m supporting Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. For every link to a Mailbox Monday post left here at The Printed Page through end of the January I will contribute .50¢ to Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. So far links to Mailbox Monday have raised approximately $80 or 40 bricks.

Can you help build a refugee camp library? For $2 you can, and you can even turn your donation in honor of someone into a last-minute holiday gift.

Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign for 2009 asks book lovers everywhere to contribute one of the 5000 bricks we need to build a library for Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad. As of Jan. 9th, we have raised 898 bricks. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

*** Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy (publicist contact) (Claimed by Zia, Teddyree, Alayne and Julie)

The past Janeal thought had burned away is rising from the ashes.

Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend–at serious risk to her own life–or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered . . .

But the past is quickly coming back to haunt her. Both the best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There’s a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there’s an even greater debt she must face–and if the chaff isn’t burned from her own heart, it will consume her.

The Timer Game (A Grace Descanso Novel, book #1) by Susan Arnout Smith (new-to-me author & a book I’ll have finished by the time you see this post) (Kindle eBook; not available for Read It Forward)

Do you really want to play?

Grace Descanso was going to be a pediatric heart surgeon–she was a brilliant up-and-comer with a bright future in a heart-breaking, innovative field. Then she took two months off to work in a clinic in Guatemala, and came back nearly destroyed. She won’t talk about why, but she quit medicine altogether. Now, five years later, Grace is a crime scene tech in San Diego, going to AA meetings, scraping by and living to be a mom to five-year old Katie.

Everything falls apart again when Grace is summoned to work what looks like a routine crime scene. Hours later, two colleagues have been brutally murdered and Grace herself is under investigation for shooting the killer. Katie’s all she’s got. But when Katie is snatched, Grace is thrown into a nightmare world of timed riddles that she must solve in order to find her daughter before it’s too late. Welcome to The Timer Game.

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What books came into your house last week? This week you can leave the same link twice. They won’t count twice toward the fund raising campaign but you get to experiment with a new link feature. There is a new linking system out there in blog land and I’ve decided to give it a try. inlinkz just launched this month. Granted it has a few kinks to work out but it also has a cool feature I kind of like. With inlinkz you can include a book cover if you’d like along with the link to your Mailbox Monday post (clicking on the image takes you to the blog post. It should also show the link name but that part of link doesn’t appear to be working). So for this week you have the choice of using inlinkz, Mr. Linky or both. Please be sure and let me know if you like inlinkz and it’s graphics feature.

Don’t forget to fill out inlinkz, Mister Linky or both or leave a comment with a list of books if you don’t blog. If you’re interested in Read It Forward you will need to leave a comment in addition to filling out a link feature.

• In the “Your name:” box, please enter either your name or your blog’s name.

• In the “Your URL:” box please enter the URL/link that will lead directly to the post you are submitting (also called the permalink). This is not the URL to the blog’s home page.

Mailbox Monday Participants

1. One Persons Journey Through a World of Books 2. Freda’s Voice 3. Elysium 4. pinkilili 5. Cathy@Kittling: Books 6. bittenbyparanormalromance 7. Stark Raving Bibliophile 8. Katrina (Bloody Bad) 9. Karissa’s Reading Review 10. Bluestocking 11. Stephanie–Reviews by Lola 12. Elizabeth@Thoughts from an Evil Overlord (25) 13. gautami tripathy 14. gautami tripathy (CORRECT LINK!) 15. Sarah (Confessions of the Un-published) 16. Crystal @ My Reading Room 17. Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) 18. Wrighty’s Reads 19. Teddyree The Eclectic Reader 20. Wendy (Caribousmom) 21. The Book Faery Reviews 22. Kim (page after page) 23. Toni @ A Circle of Books 24. Zia@My Life In Not So Many Words 25. Amber Stults 26. Alita (alita.reads.) 27. Fresh Ink Books 28. Bekah (Bekahs Bytes) 29. Snowbell 30. Mary (Bookfan) 31. Escape In A Book 32. Savvy Verse & Wit 33. Kathy(Bermudaonion’s Weblog) 34. Kaye 35. Today’s Adventure 36. Bonnie (Redlady’s Reading Room) 37. RAnn 38. Marie at The Burton Review 39. Diane (Bibliophile By the Sea) 40. Kristen (BookNAround) 41. Kim (Metroreader) 42. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair 43. Diary of an Eccentric 44. Beth(bookaholicmom) 45. Care’s Online Book Club 46. Caitlin (chaotic compendiums) 47. Missy @ Missy’s Book Nook 48. Carrie K. (Books & Movies) 49. Alayne (The Crowded Leaf) 50. Rose City Reader 51. Susan (All the Pretty Pages) 52. Carol’s Notebook 53. kay – Infiniteshelf 54. Nicola (Back to Books) 55. Jonita @ The Book Chick 56. Laurel-Rain Snow 57. Cheryl (CMash) 58. Amused (AmusedbyBooks) 59. Alyce (At Home With Books) 60. Susan (Bulging Bookshelves) 61. Julie @ My Own Little Corner of the World 62. Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict 63. April (cafeofdreams) 64. Andrea (So Many Books, So Little Time) 65. Tiina (A Book Blog of One’s Own) 66. MarthaE (Martha’s Bookshelf) 67. Lisa (Book Blab) 68. Tracee (Review From Here) 69. Shelly (Write For A Reader) 70. Katy (A Few More Pages) 71. Suko’s Notebook 72. Library of Clean Reads 73. Wordsmithonia 74. Michelle (The True Book Addict) 75. Colleen -Books in the City) 76. Wisteria Leigh

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

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Read It Forward details

Oprah called the tale of love in a concentration camp that lies at the heart of holocaust survivor, Herman Rosenblat’s controversial memoir, “The greatest love story every told.” But when his story is attacked and his memoir cancelled, Rosenblat must defend his narrative. The Apple first tells the story of his struggle to survive the camps and the girl he says helped him by tossing apples over the fence. It then uncovers the story behind the story: Why did an old man weave real love with a dream of love into an account that touched and inspired many, but also ignited a firestorm of criticism.

Title: The Timer Game (A Grace Descanso Novel, book #1) Author/website(s): Susan Arnout Smith 336 pages Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication date: January ’08 Genre: Suspense/murder mystery Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading New-to-me author: Yes Would I recommend this book: I would Would I read more from this author: I started the 2nd Grace Descanso, Out At Night, as soon as I finished The Timer Game Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

Do you really want to play?

Grace Descanso was going to be a pediatric heart surgeon–she was a brilliant up-and-comer with a bright future in a heart-breaking, innovative field. Then she took two months off to work in a clinic in Guatemala, and came back nearly destroyed. She won’t talk about why, but she quit medicine altogether. Now, five years later, Grace is a crime scene tech in San Diego, going to AA meetings, scraping by and living to be a mom to five-year old Katie.

Everything falls apart again when Grace is summoned to work what looks like a routine crime scene. Hours later, two colleagues have been brutally murdered and Grace herself is under investigation for shooting the killer. Katie’s all she’s got. But when Katie is snatched, Grace is thrown into a nightmare world of timed riddles that she must solve in order to find her daughter before it’s too late. Welcome to The Timer Game.

Title: Out At Night (A Grace Descanso Novel, book #2) Author/website(s): Susan Arnout Smith 293 pages Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication date: March ’09 Genre: Suspense/murder mystery Review book or pleasure reading: Review book New-to-me author: No Would I recommend this book: DNF’d @ pg. 131 Would I read more from this author: No Journal notes: One word – boring. While I enjoyed The Timer Game and thought it was a decent murder mystery I couldn’t develop one iota of interest in Out At Night.

The next installment of Susan Arnout Smith’s gripping detective series starring CSI detective Grace Descanso. Opening just one day after the ending of The Timer Game, CSI agent, Grace Descanso has to come to terms with the reality of introducing Mac into Katie’s life, as her father. As the three spend time together in the Bahamas, Katie begins to develop a bond with her father. Grace knows that life as she knew it, with her daughter, has come to an end. It is not long before Grace’s personal life is interrupted. Thaddeus Bartholomew, a history professor is forced at gunpoint to drive to a soy field. As he lies dying, he leaves a message on his answerphone at home in Morse code: find Grace Descanso. Cut off before finishing, the FBI need to know why he asked for Grace. A journey into a world of activism and violence, secrets and lies, ‘Out at Night’ is a break neck rollercoaster of a thriller, gripping from the first page until the last.

(Out At Night was provided to me by Nicole at Authors on the Web. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

The next installment of Susan Arnout Smith’s gripping detective series starring CSI detective Grace Descanso. Opening just one day after the ending of ‘The Timer’ Game’, CSI agent, Grace Descanso has to come to terms with the reality of introducing Mac into Katie’s life, as her father. As the three spend time together in the Bahamas, Katie begins to develop a bond with her father. Grace knows that life as she knew it, with her daughter, has come to an end. It is not long before Grace’s personal life is interrupted. Thaddeus Bartholomew, a history professor is forced at gunpoint to drive to a soy field. As he lies dying, he leaves a message on his answerphone at home in Morse code: find Grace Descanso. Cut off before finishing, the FBI need to know why he asked for Grace. A journey into a world of activism and violence, secrets and lies, ‘Out at Night’ is a break neck rollercoaster of a thriller, gripping from the first page until the last.

“That’s it.” “I’ll have a Riverside police officer there in five.” Grace looked at Elaine, gathering books together and quietly weeping. Her cheeseburger lay untouched. “You’re going to need somebody to talk to her professors. She’s worried about assignments being due and missing deadlines.” “I’m worried about the Convention Center going up in flames in an hour, unless we can figure out what’s here.” “Where are you taking me?” Elaine’s voice was subdued. “Somebody from the police is going to take you into Palm Springs, Elaine.” “No, I mean where.” “Tell her the Convention Center Grace,” Pete barked in her ear. “Everybody’s at the Convention Center,” Grace said quietly. “That’s where they’ll interrogate you.” She immediately wished she hadn’t used that word. Elaine paled. “Grace, I just remembered something else. Tammy told me she was working there. She had a job at the Convention Center.” Grace looked at her steadily. “Uncle Pete, you still there? Tammy was going to work the Convention Center.” She lowered her voice and turned so that Elaine couldn’t hear. “Were the student volunteers at the ag convention all printed?” “To work there, yeah. And we just came up with a match to prints for the housekeeper at Bartholomew’s. A student named Mindy Coresu.” “Mindy.” Grace searched her memory and found it: a dewy, glossy-haired student with a name tag: HELLO! MY NAME IS MINDY! Manning the information kiosk inside the Convention Center. If she was inside, and part of Bartholomew’s group, then what they had planned for that night could have made it inside. ~ From page 244, Out At Night by Susan Arnout Smith ~

For the second week my Cover Attraction is also my Wish List and Waiting On post. I spotted this beautiful cover at Fantastic Fiction (one of my favorite sites), immediately dashed over to Amazon to update the already super-sized wish list and then found out that a copy is in the mail and on it’s way to me. Title: The Sheen on the Silk Author: Anne Perry Release date: March ’10

The Sheen on the Silk is an epic historical novel with a heart-stopping love story at its core, and a deep spiritual quest.

It’s set in the gorgeous, cosmopolitan and enlightened city of Byzantium, in the twilight years of its Empire. Surrounded by the fierce Ottomans to the East, Saladin and the infidels to the South, the barbarian European tribes to the North and the powerful Venetian Empire to the West, Byzantium’s Emperor badly needs an ally. The city has never recovered from its sack by the Venetians in 1204, and now, in 1272, it’s in acute danger. Another Crusade is being mounted, and Byzantium is in its path.

This is the city into which Anna arrives. A handsome woman with an unhappy past, she has just learned that her brother has been imprisoned for murder. Unable to believe that he’s guilty, she will stay in Byzantium until she can find out the truth and secure his release. However, she needs a way to move freely in all levels of society. This isn’t something she can do as a woman and as a stranger. She will pose as a eunuch; this cadre, while past its heyday, still has power and influence. And she will work as a doctor.

As the future of Byzantium grows ever darker, Anna struggles to navigate the complex truths of her brother’s guilt or innocence, the intrigues of the powerful, long-simmering revenge plots… and the even more perilous currents of her heart and her spirit. Only in Byzantium’s darkest hour does she discover the truths that will lead to salvation for Byzantium and the soaring path to the forgiveness and love of God.

Do you really want to play?

Grace Descanso was going to be a pediatric heart surgeon–she was a brilliant up-and-comer with a bright future in a heart-breaking, innovative field. Then she took two months off to work in a clinic in Guatemala, and came back nearly destroyed. She won’t talk about why, but she quit medicine altogether. Now, five years later, Grace is a crime scene tech in San Diego, going to AA meetings, scraping by and living to be a mom to five-year old Katie.

Everything falls apart again when Grace is summoned to work what looks like a routine crime scene. Hours later, two colleagues have been brutally murdered and Grace herself is under investigation for shooting the killer. Katie’s all she’s got. But when Katie is snatched, Grace is thrown into a nightmare world of timed riddles that she must solve in order to find her daughter before it’s too late. Welcome to The Timer Game.

“Is your operation still viable?” He motioned for a cigarette and she took another one out and flicked it across the table at him with such force it bounced into the air and sailed off the table. “Easy,” he said mildly, catching it midair and pocketing it in his shirt. “Viable. I don’t run things from the inside, but I hear things.” “What kind of things?” She tossed him another and he stowed it behind his ear. “About how easy it is in San Diego to grab a kid, drug her, dye her hair. Matches.” He waited as she slid the matches across. There was something, right on the edge of consciousness, if she could find it. He tore off a match. “Things about people – bad people, oh, so bad – taking pictures of kids in – shall we say awkward positions? And then there are those children who are simply not as – tractable as one would wish and so they’re – sent on to perform a more useful function.” She grew very still. A numbness was closing her throat, making it difficult to breathe. “Who? I need a name.” He looked at her and for the first time laughed. Syzmanski’s face appeared in the glass viewing window and she waved him away. It was stronger now, the knowing. Something was off, something just out of reach. He struck the match and held it to a cigarette, inhaling deeply. “Do you honestly think a candy bar and a couple of smokes can buy you that?” She stared across the table at him and it clicked, the thing right on the edge of awareness. “San Diego.” “What’s that?” The pungent smell of smoke filled the air. “You said San Diego. You knew where I was from before I told you.” ~ Page 234 (partial), The Timer Game by Susan Arnout Smith ~

Title: Easy Innocence (A Georgia Davis mystery, book #1) Author/website(s): Libby Fischer Hellmann 396 pages Publisher: Bleak House Books Publication date: June ’08 Genre: Suspense/murder mystery Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading New-to-me author: Yes Would I recommend this book: Yes Would I read more from this author: I started the 2nd Georgia Davis mystery, Doubleback, as soon as I finished Easy Innocence Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

In this fast-paced mystery, the author of the Ellie Forman series introduces suspended cop and now PI Georgia Davis. Georgia is hired to help clear a mentally ill man, Cam Jordan, who is accused of killing a teenage girl, Sara Long, in a local forest preserve. It looks like an open-and-shut case; Cam’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and the victim’s blood is on his shirt. However, Georgia and Cam’s lawyer suspect Cam is being railroaded. Through her investigation, Georgia finds Sara was killed at a high-school hazing, and a local teenage prostitution ring is operating on the North Shore, a privileged, upper-class area north of Chicago. Also, there is a shady real-estate deal going on. Even when Georgia finds enough evidence to cast doubt on Cam’s culpability, she continues her investigation, intent on finding out who killed Sara and why. Georgia is a loner with a minimalist lifestyle who is recovering from her breakup with her boyfriend. She is a principled, compassionate character, determined to do the right thing, even if it doesn’t follow conventional assumptions.

Title: Doubleback (A Georgia Davis mystery, book #2) Author/website(s): Libby Fischer Hellmann 344 pages Publisher: Bleak House Books Publication date: October ’09 Genre: Suspense/murder mystery Review book or pleasure reading: Review book New-to-me author: No Would I recommend this book: Yes Would I read more from this author: I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in this series and I intend to read the 4 books in the Ellie Forman series starting with An Eye for Murder Journal notes: 12 days and 7 books into the new year and I’ve discovered my 1st new favorite/auto-buy author. . The Georgia Davis mysteries are more complex than initially meets the eye and lead the reader to unexpected places. I was hooked from the first page to the last. More from the author will be making appearances here at The Printed Page throughout the year.

Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she’s returned, apparently unharmed. Molly’s mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she’s willing to overlook the odd circumstances.

A few days later, the brakes go out on Chris’s car.

An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank, may have misappropriated three million dollars. Not convinced that his daughter is safe, Molly’s father hires PI Georgia Davis to follow the money and investigate Chris’s death.

(Doubleback was provided to me by the Librarything Early Reviewers program. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she’s returned, apparently unharmed. Molly’s mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she’s willing to overlook the odd circumstances.

A few days later, the brakes go out on Chris’s car.

An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank, may have misappropriated three million dollars. Not convinced that his daughter is safe, Molly’s father hires PI Georgia Davis to follow the money and investigate Chris’s death.

Panic has a way of defining an individual. It scrapes the soul bare, strips away pretense, reveals the core of the human spirit. It’s hard to dissemble when fear crawls up your throat, your heart stampedes like a herd of wild animals, and your skin burns with the prickly-heat of terror. For the six people thrown together in a Loop office building on a hot June day, the moments they shared would reveal parts of themselves they had not known existed.

It was early afternoon in Chicago, the kind of day that made people want to ditch the chill of air conditioning and head to Wrigley Field. The first man who stepped into the elevator at the sixty-fifth floor might have been doing just that. He was a florid- faced, doughy man with gray at his temples. His jacket was hitched over his shoulder, and his shirt gapped between buttons, calling attention to his belly. He moved to the left side of the car and kept his gaze on the floor, as if by doing so, he—and his early departure—might escape notice.

The elevator descended to the sixty-second floor, where two women who didn’t know each other got on. One was slender and small, with mousey brown hair pulled back at her neck. She wore a heavy sweater over a flowered dress. She went to the back of the car and leaned against the metal railing, trying to look inconspicuous. The other woman, in a gray pinstriped pants suit over a sleeveless black tank, wore her hair in a chin-length bob. She positioned herself on the right side of the car and kept her eyes on the car’s indicator panel. The faint aroma of coconut shampoo surrounded her.

On fifty-seven a young man got on. Wearing shorts and a ratty t-shirt, he clutched a large manila envelope in one hand and a bicycle helmet in the other. The envelope bore the logo of a prominent Chicago messenger service. He kept shifting his feet, and his mud-caked sneakers left tiny pellets of dirt on the tiled floor.

Three floors below a middle-aged man in khaki chinos entered. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, and he wore his hair in a sparse comb over. Another man entered the car on the fifty-first floor. Dressed in a suit, tie, and crisp white shirt, he wore wrap-around Oakley sunglasses. He kept one hand in his pocket, but through the shades despite the shades, appraised everyone in the elevator.

As the elevator descended past the fiftieth floor, it gathered speed. It was one of three express cars from the upper floors; the next stop was the lobby. Both women stared at the overhead panel lights. The messenger squeezed his eyes shut. Comb-over Man hugged the back wall. Florid-face shot the man with the Oakleys a sidelong glance, but whether from envy or trepidation, it was hard to tell.

No one expected the elevator to lurch to a sudden stop. ~ Chapter One, pages 7-8, Doubleback by Libby Fischer Hellmann ~

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

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Again this year I’m supporting Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. For every link to a Mailbox Monday post left here at The Printed Page through end of the January I will contribute .50¢ to Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. So far links to Mailbox Monday have raised approximately $50.

Can you help build a refugee camp library? For $2 you can, and you can even turn your donation in honor of someone into a last-minute holiday gift.

Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign for 2009 asks book lovers everywhere to contribute one of the 5000 bricks we need to build a library for Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad. Since Dec. 5, we have raised 821 bricks, 16% of our goal. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

*** Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff (new-to-me author/St. Martin’s Press)

Every so often that story comes along that reminds us of what it’s like to experience love for the first time—against the odds, when you least expect it, and with such passion that it completely changes you forever.

An unexpected discovery takes eighty-four-year-old Lily Davis Woodward to 1945, and the five days that forever changed her life. Married for only a week before her husband was sent to fight in WWII, Lily is anxious for his return, and the chance to begin their life together. In honor of the soldiers’ homecoming, the small Georgia town of Toccoa plans a big celebration. And Jake Russo, a handsome Italian immigrant, also back from war, is responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned. But after a chance encounter in a star-lit field, he steals Lily’s heart and soul–and fulfills her in ways her socially-minded, upper-class family cannot. Now, torn by duty to society and her husband–and the poor, passionate man who might be her only true love–Lily must choose between a commitment she’s already made and a love she’s never known before.

Fireworks Over Toccoa takes us to a moment in time that will resonate with readers long after the book’s unforgettable conclusion. A devastating and poignant story, this debut novel will resonate with anyone who believes in love

Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag (Kindle eBook; not available for Read It Forward)

California, 1984. Three children, running in the woods behind their school, stumble upon a partially buried female body, eyes and mouth glued shut. Close behind the children is their teacher, Anne Navarre, shocked by this discovery and heartbroken as she witnesses the end of their innocence. What she doesn’t yet realize is that this will mark the end of innocence for an entire community, as the ties that bind families and friends are tested by secrets uncovered in the wake of a serial killer’s escalating activity.

Detective Tony Mendez, fresh from a law enforcement course at FBI headquarters, is charged with interpreting those now revealed secrets. He’s using a new technique-profiling-to develop a theory of the case, a strategy that pushes him ever deeper into the lives of the three children, and closer to the young teacher whose interest in recent events becomes as intense as his own.

As new victims are found and the media scrutiny of the investigation bears down on them, both Mendez and Navarre are unsure if those who suffer most are the victims themselves-or the family and friends of the killer, blissfully unaware that someone very close to them is a brutal, calculating psychopath.

Easy Innocence by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Georgia Davis Mysteries) (new-to-me author) (Kindle eBook; not available for Read It Forward) (finished it already – very good)

When pretty, smart Sara Long is found bludgeoned to death, it’s easy to blame the man with the bat.

But Georgia Davis — former cop and newly-minted PI — is hired to look into the incident at the behest of the accused’s sister, and what she finds hints at a much different, much darker answer. It seems the privileged, preppy schoolgirls on Chicago’s North Shore have learned just how much their innocence is worth to hot-under-the-collar businessmen. But while these girls can pay for Prada pricetags, they don’t realize that their new business venture may end up costing them more than they can afford.

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What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to fill out Mister Linky or leave a comment with a list of books if you don’t blog. If you’re interested in Read It Forward you will need to leave a comment in addition to filling out Mister Linky.

• In the “Your name:” box, please enter either your name or your blog’s name.

• In the “Your URL:” box please enter the URL/link that will lead directly to the post you are submitting (also called the permalink). This is not the URL to the blog’s home page.

Mailbox Monday Participants

1. Freda’s Voice 2. Elysium 3. Stark Raving Bibliophile 4. Laura (The Calico Critic) 5. MariReads 6. Marie at The Burton Review 7. Karissa’s Reading Review 8. Bluestocking 9. Library of Clean Reads 10. Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) 11. Zia@My Life In Not So Many Words 12. Alita (alita.reads.) 13. Vicki@Reading At The Beach 14. Bekah (Bekah’s Bytes 15. Alice Teh 16. Aths @ Reading on a Rainy Day 17. Wrighty’s Reads 18. gautami tripathy 19. Mary (Bookfan) 20. Stephanie–Reviews by Lola 21. Jeena 22. Kristen (BookNAround) 23. Savvy Verse & Wit 24. Kathy(BermudaOnion’s Weblog) 25. Snowbell 26. Kim (Metroreader) 27. Wendy (Caribousmom) 28. NotNessie 29. Alayne (The Crowded Leaf) 30. Shannan 31. Mo (Reading WIth Mo) 32. Amber Stults 33. Melissa C 34. Bonnie (Redlady’s Reading Room) 35. Jo-Jo Loves to Read 36. Kara (World According to Books) 37. Carrie K. (Books & Movies) 38. Carol’s Notebook 39. Amused (AmusedByBooks) 40. Marce 41. Robin 42. Cheryl M 43. Crystal @ My Reading Room 44. April (cafeofdreams) 45. Diary of an Eccentric 46. Missy @ Missy’s Book Nook 47. Renee (Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot) 48. Susan (All the Pretty Pages) 49. Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict 50. pinkilili 51. Mean Old Library Teacher 52. Andrea (So Many Books, So Little Time) 53. MarthaE (Martha’s Bookshelf) 54. Katy (A Few More Pages) 55. Avis (she reads and reads) 56. Lisa (Book Blab) 57. Laura (Please Pardon the Interruption) 58. Wordsmithonia 59. Lori (Psychotic State) 60. Cathy@Kittling: Books 61. Michelle (The True Book Addict) 62. Kristina (Kristina’s Favorites) 63. Beth(bookaholicmom) 64. Rose City Reader 65. Missy @ Missy’s Book Nook 66. Jo-Jo Loves to Read

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

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Read It Forward details