The Printed Page

Archive for the ‘Mailbox Monday’ Category

Due to a trifecta of events in our household such as no Internet service at home, my work schedule and a pet medical emergency this monring Mailbox Monday will post Monday this week. See you all tomorrow

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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Drink the Tea by Thomas Kaufman (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Donated to local library)

Willis Gidney is a born liar and rip-off artist, an expert at the scam. Growing up without parents or a home, by age twelve Gidney is a successful young man, running his own small empire, until he meets Shadrack Davies. That’s Captain Shadrack Davies, of the DC Police. Davies wants to reform Gidney and becomes his foster father. Though he tries not to, Gidney learns a small amount of ethics from Shad – just enough to bother a kid from the streets for the rest of his life.

Now Gidney’s a PI, walking those same streets. So it’s no surprise that when Gidney’s closest friend, jazz saxophonist Steps Jackson, asks him to find Jackson’s missing daughter, Gidney is compelled to say yes — even though she’s been missing for 25 years. He finds a woman who may be the girl’s mother — and within hours she is killed by persons unknown. The police accuse Gidney of the murder and throw him in jail.

Maybe Gidney should quit while he’s behind. But when his investigation puts him up against a ruthless multi-national corporation, a two-faced congressman, and a young woman desperate to conceal her past, Gidney has no time left for second thoughts. In fact, he may have no time left at all.

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What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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.

***

Last Snow by Eric Van Lustbader (new-to-me author/publicist contact)

Jack McClure, Special Advisor and closest friend to the new President of the United States, interprets the world very differently from the rest of us. It’s his greatest liability, and his greatest asset.

An American senator, supposedly on a political trip to the Ukraine, turns up dead on the island of Capri. When the President asks him to find out how and why, Jack sets out from Moscow across Eastern Europe, following a perilous trail of diplomats, criminals, and corrupt politicians. Thrust into the midst of a global jigsaw puzzle, Jack’s unique dyslexic mind allows him to put together the pieces that others can’t even see.

Still unreconciled to the recent death of his daughter and the dissolution of his marriage, Jack takes on a personal mission along with his official one: keeping safe from harm his two unlikely, unexpected, and incompatible companions—Annika Dementieva, a rogue Russian FSB agent, and Alli Carson, the President’s daughter. As he struggles to keep both young women safe and unearth the answers he seeks, hunted by everyone from the Russian mafia to the Ukrainian police to his own NSA, Jack learns just how far up the American and Russian political ladders corruption and treachery has reached.

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What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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.

***

Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci (publicist contact) (Claimed by Kathy)

Evan Waller is a monster. He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything . . . and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe.

On Waller’s trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth, who must prevent Waller from closing his latest deal. Shaw’s one chance to bring him down will come in the most unlikely of places: a serene, bucolic village in Provence.

But Waller’s depravity and ruthlessness go deeper than Shaw knows. And now, there is someone else pursuing Waller in Provence-Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own.

Hunting the same man and unaware of each other’s mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerve and wits. Hitchcockian in its intimate buildup of suspense and filled with the remarkable characters, breathtaking plot turns, and blockbuster finale that are David Baldacci’s hallmarks, DELIVER US FROM EVIL will be one of the most gripping thrillers of the year.

Pray for Silence (Kate Burkholder, book #2) by Linda Castillo (publicist contact) (Claimed by Nicola)

In the quiet town of Painters Mill, an Amish family of seven has been found brutally murdered on their farm. Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to secrets, but she can’t get her mind around the senseless brutality of the crime. State agent John Tomasseti arrives on the scene to assist. He and Kate worked together on a previous case during which they began a tentative relationship, but each is wary of commitment. The disturbing details of this case will push them to their limits and force them to face demons from their own troubled pasts. When Kate discovers a diary, she realizes a haunting personal connection to the case. One of the teenage daughters may have been leading a lurid double life. As the case develops, Kate’s list of suspects grows. Who is the attractive stranger that stole the heart of the innocent young Amish girl? Did her estranged brother—a man with a violent past who was shunned by his family and the Amish community—come back to seek out revenge? Driven by her own scarred past, Kate swears she’ll find the killer and bring him to justice—even if it means putting herself in the line of fire. Topping her own bestselling debut, Linda Castillo once again immerses readers in the world of the Amish with a chilling story that is both a fast-paced thriller and compelling psychological puzzle.

Hush by Kate White (new-to-me author/publicist contact)

When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she’s pretty certain that things can’t get any worse. The upside is that she’s working with the Advanced Fertility center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-night stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse—they can become deadly.

So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping—quite literally—on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what she’s started before it’s too late?

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What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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 supported (with your links) Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. Links to Mailbox Monday posts raised approximately $175 or 88 bricks. Thank you everyone!

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. 30, we have raised 1,073 bricks. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

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Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (publicist contact) (Claimed by Lisa)

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard: the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father fails ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time – and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya’s life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother’s life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

The Empty Mirror by J. Sydney Jones (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Donated to the library)

The summer of 1898 finds Austria transfixed by a series of brutal murders. When renowned painter Gustav Klimt’s female model becomes the fifth victim, the artist is fingered as the culprit. Klimt’s lawyer Karl Werthen and the famed criminologist Inspector Gross must delve into a nationwide conspiracy in order to acquit the eccentric and unpredictable artiste. With an unmatchable knowledge of Vienna’s history, culture, and politics, J. Sydney Jones introduces a gripping new mystery series set in a cosmopolitan city at the height of its artistic and social importance.

Bellfield Hall: Or, The Observations of Miss Dido Kent by Anna Dean (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Freda)

Dean’s promising debut, the first in a new historical series, introduces Dido Kent, a single lady of a certain age who’s not too old to regret she gave up the business of falling in love some years ago. In September 1805, Dido journeys to Bellfield Hall, the country seat of the Montague family, at the request of her niece, Catherine, who’s upset that her fiancé, Richard Montague, has suddenly broken their engagement and taken flight. Soon after arriving at Bellfield Hall, Dido learns of an even more distressing event—the discovery of the body of an unknown young woman in the shrubbery. In the Miss Marple tradition, Dido observes the residents of Bellfield Hall closely, questions the servants, and interviews local shopkeepers. Excerpts from letters the likable Dido writes to her sister further illuminate her sleuthing methods. Several red herrings keep the reader and Dido guessing. Regency fans will look forward to the next installment.

City of Dragons by Kelly Stanley (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Michele)

Set in San Francisco in 1940, Stanley’s stunning first in a new series introduces a gutsy, independent heroine who isn’t always likable. As the city celebrates the Chinese New Year with the Rice Bowl Party, a three-day carnival to raise money for China’s war relief, PI Miranda Corbie sees Eddie Takahashi, a young Japanese numbers runner, shot dead in front of her on a crowded, fireworks-filled Chinatown street. When the police tell her to forget about Takahashi (Chalk him up to Nanking), the outraged Miranda decides to seek justice on her own. In her quest for Takahashi’s killer, she encounters racism and sexism at nearly every turn. A former escort who’s reinvented herself as a detective, the 33-year-old Miranda isn’t taken seriously by the cops, who enjoy rehashing her past. Stanley (Nox Dormienda) aptly describes San Francisco as a city redolent and glistening with sin and lamplight, forever a girl you didn’t take home to Mother.

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Darcy)

Superb new CIA thriller featuring black ops expert Milo Weaver and acclaimed by Lee Child as ‘first class — the kind of thing John le Carre might have written’ In the global age of the CIA, wherever there’s trouble, there’s a Tourist: the men and women who do the dirty work. They’re the Company’s best agents — and Milo Weaver was the best of them all. Following a near-lethal encounter with foreign hitman the ‘Tiger’, a burnt-out Milo decides to continue his work from behind a desk. Four years later, he’s no closer to finding the Tiger than he was before. When the elusive assassin unexpectedly gives himself up to Milo, it’s because he wants something in return: revenge. Once a Tourist, always a Tourist — soon Milo is back in the field, tracking down the Tiger’s handler in a world of betrayal, skewed politics and extreme violence. It’s a world he knows well but he’s about to learn the toughest lesson of all: trust no one.

The Last Child by John Hart (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Renee)

Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: happy parents and a twin sister that meant the world to him. But Alyssa went missing a year ago, stolen off the side of a lonely street with only one witness to the crime. His family shattered, his sister presumed dead, Johnny risks everything to explore the dark side of his hometown in a last, desperate search. What he finds is a city with an underbelly far blacker than anyone could’ve imagined – and somewhere in the depths of it all, with the help of his only friend and a giant of a man with his own strange past, Johnny, at last, finds the terrible truth.

Detective Clyde Hunt has devoted an entire year to Alyssa’s case, and it shows: haunted and sleepless, he’s lost his wife and put his shield at risk. But he can’t put the case behind him – he won’t – and when another girl goes missing, the failures of the past year harden into iron determination. Refusing to lose another child, Hunt knows he has to break the rules to make the case; and maybe, just maybe, the missing girl will lead him to Alyssa…

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (publicist contact) (finished it Sunday night) (Claimed by Jennifer)

At the age of fourteen, Catherine de Medici, last legitimate descendant of the Medici blood, finds herself betrothed to the King Francois I’s son, Henri. Sent from her native Florence to France, humiliated and overshadowed by her husband’s life-long devotion to his mistress, when tragedy strikes her family Catherine rises from obscurity to become one of 16th century Europe’s most powerful women.

Patroness of Nostradamus and a seer in her own right, accused of witchcraft and murder by her foes, Catherine fights to save France and her children from savage religious conflict, unaware that her own fate looms before her — a fate that will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and passion of her own embattled heart.

From the splendors of the Loire palaces to the blood-soaked battles of the Wars of Religion and haunted halls of the Louvre, this is the story of Catherine’s dramatic life, told by the queen herself.

***

What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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 $144 or 72 bricks.

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. 30, we have raised 1,071 bricks. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

***

Requiem in Vienna: A Viennese Mystery by J. Sydney Jones (new-to-me author/author contact) (Donated to the library)

Set in 1899, Jones’s fine second Viennese mystery (after 2009′s The Empty Mirror) opens with a falling fire curtain narrowly missing Gustav Mahler, the director of the Vienna Court Opera, but killing a soprano during a stage rehearsal. Lawyer and private inquirer Karl Werthen teams with criminologist Hanns Gross to look into this and subsequent accidents apparently aimed at Mahler. As the investigation descends into the damned politics of music, Mahler, a former Jew who must be careful to hide his contempt for fellow composer Richard Wagner, emerges as the nexus for an ever-widening pool of suspects. Complicating matters are big changes in Werthen’s home life, in particular wife Berthe’s pregnancy.

The Cold Room (A Taylor Jackson mystery, book #4) by J.T. Ellison (publicist contact) (Claimed by Kathrin)

He can truly love her only once her heart stops.

Homicide detective Taylor Jackson thinks she’s seen it all in Nashville—from the Southern Strangler to the Snow White Killer. But she’s never seen anything as perverse as The Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction.

When he’s finished, he creatively disposes of the body by reenacting scenes from famous paintings. And similar macabre works are being found in Europe. Taylor teams up with her fiance, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, and New Scotland Yard detective James “Memphis” Highsmythe, a haunted man who has eyes only for Taylor, to put an end to this horror.

Has the killer gone international with his craft? Or are there two “artists,” competing to create the ultimate masterpiece?

***

What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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 $118 or 59 bricks.

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. 23, we have raised 966 bricks. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

***

Roses by Leila Meacham (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Bonnie)

Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries, industries controlled by the scions of the town’s founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been–not just for themselves but for their children, and children’s children.

The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Grace)

Arriving in the ancient Byzantine city in the year 1273, Anna Zarides has only one mission: to prove the innocence of her twin brother, Justinian, who has been exiled to the desert for conspiring to kill Bessarion, a nobleman.
Disguising herself as a eunuch named Anastasius, Anna moves freely about in society, using her skills as a physician to manoeuver close to the key players involved in her brother’s fate. With her medical practice thriving, Anna crosses paths with Zoe Chrysaphes, a devious noblewoman with her own hidden agenda, and Giuiliano Dandolo, a ship’s captain conflicted not only by his mixed Venetian-Byzantine heritage but by his growing feelings for Anastasius.

Trying to clear her brother’s name, Anna learns more about Justinian’s life and reputation—including his peculiar ties to Bessarion’s beautiful widow and his possible role in a plot to overthrow the emperor. This leaves Anna with more questions than answer, and time is running out. For an even greater threat lies on the horizon: Another Crusade to capture the Holy Land is brewing, and leaders in Rome and Venice have set their sights on Constantinople for what is sure to be a brutal invasion. Anna’s discoveries draw her inextricably closer to the dangers of the emperor’s treacherous court—where it seems that no one is exactly who he or she appears to be.

***

What books came into your house last week? You have the choice of using inlinkz w/graphics or Mr. Linky. 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.) Duplicate links will not count toward the fundraising efforts.

Don’t forget to fill out either inlinkz or 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 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.

***

Read It Forward details

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.

***

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

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

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Read It Forward details

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 $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

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Read It Forward details

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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No review/Read It Forward books this week but I’m am slowly starting to spend my Amazon $$.

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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 from now through end of the January I will contribute .50¢ to Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. Last week’s Mailbox Monday raised approximately $25.

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

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Compulsion by Jennifer Chase (An Emily Stone Novel) (new-to-me author) (finished it last night)

When Serial Killers Terrorize a California Beach Community, One Woman Stands in Their Way

Emily Stone doesn’t have a badge. But that hasn’t stopped her from tracking down some of the West’s most dangerous child-killers. Armed with a digital SLR camera, laptop computer and her trusty Beretta, Stone uses her innate gift for detective work to identify the perps — and then anonymously e-mail the evidence to the cops.

Now, the hunt for two brazen serial killers on the loose right in her own coastal California town threatens to expose Stone’s identity — unraveling her carefully constructed cover and jeopardizing her life’s work. But when she gets too close to the action, this razor-sharp hunter becomes the hunted. Cooperating with the handsome local police detective could be the only hope for stopping the rampage directed at unsuspecting young women — and saving herself. Can they piece together the clues in time?

Compulsion mixes CSI-style investigation with a ripped-from-the-headlines plot and a dose of romance for a keeps-you-guessing, fast-paced and savvy thriller, right up until the shocking finale.

Knight of Desire (All the King’s Men, book #1) by Margaret Mallory (I finished it already)

FEARLESS IN BATTLE

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she’s keeping secrets and dares not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

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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

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

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Read It Forward details