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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #12
by muffy
This gripping legal thriller by real-life lawyer Dugoni, features golden-tongued, never-lost-a-case, legal ace David Sloane who is the The Jury Master. Now baddies are after him. Could they be after the package that came in the mail?
Two other converging storylines (suicide of a presidential confidant and the murder of a rookie cop), bring together a rumpled police detective and a shadowy ex-CIA operative who happens to share Sloane’s mysterious nightmares.
Fresh and fast paced, this conspiracy theory debut mystery compares well to vintage Grisham, and Martini. Readers who enjoyed Baldacci’s Absolute Power and fans of Enemy of the State will find much to like here. Surely, movie deals can’t be far behind.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #11
by muffy
If you are expecting a pleasant little cozy, well, skip this one.
Part police procedural, part psychological thriller, and part courtroom drama, this dark tale of two missing girls in a well-heeled Duluth suburb is a complicated page-turner by a first-time novelist. In Immoral, Detective Jonathan Stride suspects murder and he is sure he has the culprit; but proving it is another story altogether. Adding to the suspense are plenty of red herring, skeletons in the closet, and the fact that the victims may not all be innocent.
Mystery reviewers everywhere agree that Brian Freeman is a talent to watch. No argument here.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #10
by muffy
“The Grail legends are usually about men with swords and women getting rescued…. I want the women to have the swords…they get lots of sex, and they fall in love, but that’s not the point of the story… They are the heroes.” ~Kate Mosse.
From the cofounder of the prestigious Orange Prize, comes this heart-pounding literary thriller of two courageous and resourceful women, separated by 8 centuries, yet linked by 3 missing books, family history, deadly secrets, and the Labyrinth.
Set in the Carcassonne region of southeast France and the result of 15 years of painstaking research, this debut novel will not disappoint – inevitably to be compared to The You-Know-What. (100,000 first run).
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #9
by muffy
A former researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics and currently a student at Stanford Medical School, Josh Spanogle’s debut medical thriller will bring to mind The Andromeda Strain; written by another young medical student named Michael Crichton some years back.
…"(F)rightening, scalpel-sharp, surprising, challenging," Isolation Ward takes hold of you immediately when young, brash Dr. McCormick must race against time to identify the baffling and unstoppable virus that racked the bodies of three female mentally impaired patients in a Baltimore hospital, and threatens to become an epidemic.
Starred review in Kirkus. A sure bet from a promising newcomer. Read an excerpt
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #8 (of a new series)
by muffy
If you liked Twilight, I have another one for you.
Down-under novelist Keri Arthur gives us a sexy, supernatural tale in Full Moon Rising in which Riley Jenson, a rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf must find her missing twin brother Rhoan, to prevent some shifty cloning that could spell doom for humans as well as the supernatural races.
Standing in her way is her werewolf vulnerability to the moon heat when her need to mate becomes all-consuming, and the object of her desire who might just be the enemy. Couldn't put this one down either. Reviews.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts # 7
by muffy
Filmmaker-turned-first-time-novelist, Galt Niederhoffer’s A taxonomy of Barnacles is a charming and sly spoof of the concept of the survival of the fittest, and the nature-versus-nurture debate. Starred review in Booklist.
Barry Barnacle announced to his 6 daughters during a Passover Seder that whoever could immortalize the Barnacle name would be the sole beneficiary of his pantyhose fortune. This challenge plunged Bell, Bridget, Beth, Belinda, Beryl and Benita Barnacle, ranging in age from 10 to 29 into merciless fistfights trying to best each other.
Titled after Darwin's monograph on the arthropods, which he studied before he used the Galapagos finch to illustrate his theory of evolution, this zany 1930s-style romantic comedy will certainly bring to mind The Royal Tenenbaums. Pure Fun.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #5
by muffy
Two sisters, two wars, one hot summer, one thoughtless act with devastating consequences, and one achingly beautiful first novel.
Adolescent Kate, watchful and sensitive, her wild and theatrical sister Frankie, (the gwaimui White Ghost Girls, lovingly called by their Chinese nanny) were left navigating an idyllic summer in Hong Kong while their photographer father was on assignment for Time magazine, covering the Vietnam war. It was 1967. The Mao rebellion in China was spilling over the border.
The story was set against the backdrop of the insular colonial American/English society of tea parties, cricket games and private schools and the awakening Chinese nationalism.
Newcomer Alice Greenway gave us one of the most memorable debut novels in a long while. Starred review from Booklist. Don’t miss this one.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #4
by muffy
Paris, 1847, the ailing Louis Daguerre (from years of exposure to mercury), inventor of the Daguerreotype photographic process, searched of a model willing to pose nude for a set of 10 images he wished to immortalize before the approaching apocalypse he envisioned.
“Dreamlike, thoughtful, and impressive”, first-time novelist Dominic Smith skillfully interweaves Daguerre’s urgent quest with the memories of his lost love, Isobel, in this “touching tale of youthful love regained in maturity”.
The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre is “…(a) compelling psychological study, …and an atmospheric portrait of 19th century France”. (Kirkus Reviews). For readers of historical fiction and students of photography. (February release)
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #3
by muffy
Love Walked In, the auspicious debut from award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos earned high praise from the hard-nosed Kirkus Review folks–a rare feat considering its genre - Chicklit.
In this The Philadelphia Story meets Sex and the City, romantic and ambition-challenged Cornelia Brown envisioned life as a series of cinematic moments. So when Cary Grant (a.k.a.Martin Grace) walked into the café that she managed, you could almost hear the violin section striking up the theme song from A Man and a Woman. Happily-ever-after was threatened by the sudden appearance of 11 yr.old Clare. You think you know what happened next? Wrong!
Do yourself a favor, read this “clever, engaging, (and)timeless gem". (Film rights to Paramount with SJP to star). Certain to make future lists of Cinematheraphy.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts (Booklist's)
by muffy
The 2005 Top 10 First Novels selected by the editors of Booklist.
Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
It's All Right Now by Charles Chadwick
A Long Stay in a Distant Land by Chieh Chieng
26a by Diana Evans
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long
The Missing Person by Alix Ohlin
In the Province of Saints by Thomas O'Malley
First Love by Adrienne Sharp
Islands by Dan Sleigh