Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #85
by muffy
Considered by people-in-the-know (Bill Ott @ Booklist) to be possibly “the thriller of the year” - HeartSick* by Chelsea Cain is a must read for fans of Thomas Harris and Ridley Pearson, and those who likes them "gritty, grim, and gory".~Publishers Weekly
Set in Portland, OR, this outstanding thriller pits Archie Sheridan, a police detective addicted to painkillers and pink-haired newspaper reporter Susan Ward, against a psychotic serial killer targeting high school girls. Added to the suspense is Archie’s ambiguous relationship with the imprisoned Gretchen Lowell, a sadistic serial killer who carved her trademark (a heart) on Archie two years ago. Archie now hopes Gretchen could help him catch the After School Strangler.
“Cain (Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody) never misses a beat here, turning the psychological screwdriver tighter for both Sheridan and Ward while drawing us deep into the nightmare that lives inside Gretchen Lowell's head”. Projected to be the first of a series, so don't let this one slip by.
* = Starred Reviews
Blog Post
Henry and Fay ride again
by manz
Fay Grim is Hal Hartley’s Henry Fool ten years later. Here we have Fay Grim, played perfectly by Parker Posey, who is caught up in conspiracy and espionage as she is tracking down the "lost" notebooks of her ex-husband, Henry Fool. CIA agents (led charmingly by Jeff Goldblum) rope Fay into heading off to Paris to retrieve the notebooks that may contain information that compromises national security. It’s an adventurous joyride with mystery, intrigue and wit. Who knew espionage could be so fun.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #78
by muffy
Looking for a fast-paced, adrenalin-fueled mystery/thriller? I recommend Lee Vance’s debut Restitution.
A graduate of the Harvard Business School and a retired partner of Goldman Sachs, Lee is no stranger to the rarified world of Wall Street’s rich and powerful, where we meet up with our protagonist Peter Tyler.
A high-power career, a beautiful wife and a dream home would not stop Peter from engaging in a one-night stand with a mystery colleague, and lands him squarely as the prime suspect in his wife’s murder. A cross between Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent and The Fugitive, this compelling read with a twisty plot pits Peter against an embittered ex-cop, the Russian mob, nasties in unexpected corners as he races across the globe to find his wife’s killer and to clear his name. A hell-of-a-ride. Nicely done.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #58
by muffy
Michael Wallner’s, debut novel April in Paris*, is a thrilling read.
The story begins in the summer of 1943, in German occupied Paris. Roth, a 22 year-old German corporal, fluent in French, is newly assigned to the SS headquarters to translate the confessions of the local Resistance fighters caught and tortured. In the evenings, he takes to wandering the city disguised as “Monsieur Antoine” a Frenchman, and meets up with Chantal, a bookseller's daughter who is connected to the Resistance.
When a bomb at a club kills several high-ranking German officers, Chantal disappears, leaving Roth as suspect in the hands of the SS, and his future very grim.
Realistic and suspenseful, with authentic period details of war-torn Paris, this love story of two decent individuals finding each other in the wrong place and at a difficult time will move you and keep you hoping for a happy ending.
Michael Wallner is an actor and screenwriter. He divides his time between Berlin and the Black Forest. The book is translated from the German by John Cullen.
* = Starred Review