From Publishers Weekly
LAPD detective Peter Decker, promoted to lieutenant after his heroics in Jupiter's Bones (1999), is overloaded with troubles in this outstanding, suspense-packed mystery, the 12th in Kellerman's acclaimed series. As usual, a challenging case distracts Decker from his family, but this time there is one difference. Cindy, his smart, outspoken daughter from his first marriage, is now a cop, to the overprotective Decker's dismay. Meanwhile, Decker is faced with two different series of car-jackings. In one string, the thief targets young women carrying babies. The cops tie the other jackings to Armand Crayton, a sleazy real estate developer who had supposedly died in a car crash a year earlier, after being kidnapped. Several women Crayton knew have been threatened, their cars stolen. When Drecker discovers that an anonymous stalker has been harassing Cindy, he hits the roof. Is it one of her colleagues, or does trouble stem from her casual acquaintance with Crayton? Kellerman is a fine writer, beautifully evoking the feel of Los Angeles and creating scenes that would please Chandler and MacDonald. She deals realistically with the problems women face in a male police world. Her development of the tense father-daughter relationship is wise and honest: Decker is torn between his inability to accept Cindy as an independent adult and his pride in her accomplishments; meanwhile, Cindy respects and loves her father but is distraught by his interference in her personal and professional life. The complex Cindy is a most welcome addition to Kellerman's cast. (Aug.)
For those who never leave home without a copy of the prophecies of Nostradamus tucked in their hip pocket, Steve Alten's new thriller is just the ticket. Domain focuses its doomsday scenario on an ancient Mayan myth and sets up an intriguing pair of saviors in Dominique Vasquez, a psych grad student who's an intern at a Florida psychiatric facility, and Mick Gabriel, her first patient. Mick, the son of two famous archaeologists, has languished in the Miami asylum for over a decade after attacking the man who publicly humiliated his father and who now happens to be the American secretary of state. The elder Gabriel believed he had unearthed the riddle surrounding the origins of Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the desert glyphs of the Nazca desert, the temples of Angkor Wat, and the Mayan ruins of the Yucatan peninsula--and that the answer pointed inexorably to the doom of humanity.
An award winner in Canada (and winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize), Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book.
From Publishers Weekly
Visions of the Virgin Mary, secret documents and politicking in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church—Berry (The Amber Room) combines combustive elements in this well-researched thriller. In 1917, the Virgin Mary revealed herself to three children in Fatima, Portugal, disclosing three secrets to the eldest, Lucia, who shared the first two secrets soon after their revelation but left the last to be disclosed upon her death. This third secret was released to Pope John XXIII in 1960 and made public by Pope John Paul II in 2000... or was it? The novel's stolid protagonist—Msgr. Colin Michener, longtime secretary to Clement XV, the novel's near-future successor to John Paul II—has reason to doubt the accuracy of the public version of the secret. Beleaguered by radically dogmatic cardinals and bishops, the embattled Clement XV also appears distressed by recent knowledge of secret documents regarding the Fatima messages. Before his inexplicable suicide, Clement sends Michener to Romania in search of a Father Tibor, who translated the third secret for Pope John XXIII and may hold the key to its mystery. Also on the case, if a step behind, is the ambitious and traditionalist Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Valendrea, with an eye on the papal throne. Da Vinci Code fans hungry for more may want a taste of this.
From Publishers Weekly
Something old, and dark, and cold. Something evil" is on the loose at a remote, exclusive resort in the Tennessee mountains in the easy-reading second installment of the Hooper's Fear trilogy (after Hunting Fear). When an eight-year-old girl mysteriously goes missing—at least the sixth disappearance in the past few decades—a crack team of paranormals, the FBI's Special Crimes Unit (SCU), aka Spooky Crimes Unit, is on the case. SCU head Noah Bishop and telepathic new recruit Quentin Hayes recover the girl and stick around to track down the lurking evil once and for all. This isn't Hayes' first stay at the Lodge: on vacation with his parents there 25 years earlier, 12-year-old Hayes discovered the strangled corpse of his friend Missy, an unsolved crime that has haunted him since. On this visit, Hayes meets Lodge guest Diana Brisco, a striking redhead who's at the resort taking a therapeutic art class to treat the nightmares, disorientation and blackouts she's suffered since childhood. Hayes helps Diana understand that she's not crazy but rather powerfully psychic, and they join forces to rid the Lodge of evil. Hooper's latest may offer her fans a few shivers on a hot beach.
From Library Journal
A radical departure from Follett's novels of international suspense and intrigue, this chronicles the vicissitudes of a prior, his master builder, and their community as they struggle to build a cathedral and protect themselves during the tumultuous 12th century, when the empress Maud and Stephen are fighting for the crown of England after the death of Henry I. The plot is less tightly controlled than those in Follett's contemporary works, and despite the wealth of historical detail, especially concerning architecture and construction, much of the language as well as the psychology of the characters and their relationships remains firmly rooted in the 20th century. This will appeal more to lovers of exciting adventure stories than true devotees of historical fiction.
Amazon.com:
"The Time Traveler's Wife" is one of the most interesting, powerful books I've read in a long time. Audrey Niffenegger did a beautiful job taking some of the most complex ideas - time travel, marriage, love, children, friends, literary and artistic allusions, religion, death, drugs, childhood, growing, loss, and what it means to be human - and weaving them together poetically and with amazing clarity. Her characters are wonderful, "real" people with strengths and flaws, and I really grew to adore them. Despite skipping around time at the same rate as Henry, the time traveler, the events are sequenced in such a way that you still witness each character's growth as a person, as well as discover many surprises along the way. Clare and Henry's story is one of the best love stories I've read in a very long time. This book also echoes important modern-day questions about the appropriateness of gene therapy, and what it means to be a human being. I highly and enthusiastically recommend this book.
