Thriller Thursday: Dominance by Will Lavender

Author: Kimberly

Jul 14

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Title: Dominance
Author: Will Lavender
Subject: Fiction
Published: 07-05-2011
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Advance Review Copy
Price: $8.99

Dominance is a novel about a puzzle game about a novel.  Sounds confusing, but it’s not.  And it’s not just any game, it’s a deadly one.  One that Harvard professor Alex Shipley will have to solve very quickly before the killer catches up to her.

Fifteen years earlier, Alex was part of a night class called Unraveling a Literary Mystery, taught by famed professor Richard Aldiss.  Aldiss was teaching the class remotely from his prison cell where he was serving time for the brutal murders of two female grad students.  The women were killed with an axe and their bodies decorated with the novels of reclusive author Paul Fallows.  The night class’ assignment was to solve the mystery of Paul Fallows’ identity, using his novels as their map.  The way to follow the map was through a mysterious game called The Procedure.

During the night class, Alex exposed the true identity of Paul Fallows and uncovered evidence that acquitted Aldiss of the two murders.

Flash forward to the present day and one of Alex’s former classmates has been murdered with an axe and the body surrounded by Fallows’ novels.  She must use what she knows from the night class to stop the killer before each of the night class participants is picked off, one by one.

Dominance is the best kind of psychological thriller, the kind that wakes you up in the middle of the night with weird dreams.  Even after putting a couple of weeks between finishing the novel and writing the review, Dominance is still playing games with my head.  I fell asleep last night thinking about posting this review today and woke up this morning having had the strangest dreams.  For me, that makes this a great thriller worthy of five sunshines! 

Dominance is not a mindless, breezy beach read.  Will Lavender writes in a way that fully engages his readers.  You, the reader, are called upon to pay attention and follow the clues.  And trust me, when you finally reach the last jaw-dropping page, you will be richly rewarded for your efforts. 

Happy Reading!
Kimberly

Buy the eBook at Lazy Day Books

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New Release Tuesday: July 12

Author: Kimberly

Jul 12

I’m still on a high from last week’s new thrillers No Rest For The Dead, Dominance and The Vault.  But, I wouldn’t want to neglect this week’s equally exciting featured releases from Iris Johansen, John Hart, P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast, Jim Defede and so many more.  It seems every Tuesday, my to-be-read pile grows taller and taller!  Click any of the ebook titles or covers for more information about that ebook.  Here we go!

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The Day The World Came To Town: by Jim Defede. When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, the citizens of this small community were called upon to come to the aid of more than six thousand displaced travelers. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed.  The Day The World Came To Town is also our Lazy Day Pick of the Week.

Quinn:by Iris Johansen.  The thrilling and revelatory follow-up to Eve, which delves deep into the life and psyche of Eve Duncan’s lover and soul mate, Joe Quinn. As a ruthless killer closes in, long-held secrets are gradually and shockingly revealed.

Iron House: by John Hart, Jr. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.

   

The Matchmaker: by Linda Francis Lee. So many people fell for the adorable dog from Emily and Einstein that author Linda Francis Lee had to write a special story about him. Einstein sure loves the attention – but who knew how much he knows about love? The Matchmaker is Einstein’s special matchmaking treat for all of us, and love is surely in the air…

Love Struck:by Melissa Marr. A selchie short story from the Love Is Hell anthology…

Then Came You:by Jennifer Weiner. With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.

   

The Swinger:by Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck. The most famous athlete in the world has gotten himself into a bit of trouble.  Maybe you heard?  In this wild, funny, and deliciously mischievous novel, two veteran Sports Illustrated writers take us between the ropes and the sheets of the PGA Tour to chronicle the epic rise, astonishing collapse, and uproarious comeback attempt of the greatest golfer of our time, Herbert X. “Tree” Tremont.

Of Thee I Zing:by Laura Ingraham. While Laura Ingraham was walking through a Northern Virginia shopping mall one Saturday afternoon, it all became clear to her. Everywhere she turned, she saw signs of the impending disaster: zombie teens texting each other across a cafe table; a man having his eyebrows threaded at a kiosk; a fiftyish woman shoe-horned into a tube top and skinny jeans; and a storefront ad featuring a Victoria’s Secret model spilling out of her push-up bra and into the faces of young passersby. Ingraham wondered to herself, “Is this it? Is this what our forefathers fought for? What my parents struggled for? I wonder if Victoria’s Secret is still having that two-for-one sale?”
 

Dragon’s Oath: by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.  The first in an enthralling new mini-series of novellas from the #1 bestselling authors of the House of Night, Dragon’s Oath tells the story behind the House of Night’s formidable fencing instructor – the love that will transform him, and the promise that will haunt him.  In early 19th century England, long before he’s a professor at the Tulsa House of Night, Bryan Lankford is a troublesome yet talented human teen who thinks he can get away with anything… Young Adult
 
 
To see all of this week’s new releases, visit the Lazy Day Books store.  Which new releases are at the top of your to-be-read list?
Happy Reading!

Kimberly

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Giveaway: The Vault by Boyd Morrison

Author: Kimberly

Jul 8

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Title: The Vault
Author: Boyd Morrison
Subject: Fiction
Published: 07-05-2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: ePub eBook

I’m currently reading THE VAULT by Boyd Morrison and am really enjoying it.  So I thought it would be fun to give away an ePub eBook copy to one of you!

The easiest way to enter for your chance to win is by visiting our Facebook fan page and clicking the sweepstakes tab at www.facebook.com/LazyDayBooks. 

If you are not on Facebook and would like to enter for a chance to win, please either leave a comment at the bottom of this post that says “I want to win an ebook copy of The Vault by Boyd Morrison” or send us an email to read(at)lazydaybooks(dot)com.  Make sure you include your name, age (must be 18 or older), city and state where you live and your email address. 

Since we will use email to notify the winner and deliver the ebook, all entries must include a valid email address.

The winner will be determined by random drawing on Tuesday, July 12, at 8p CST. 

Here is the back of the book description: 

In the latest international thriller from bestselling author Boyd Morrison, former combat engineer Tyler Locke races against time to unearth the truth about the fabled touch of King Midas.

Tyler Locke’s routine commute on a Washington State ferry is interrupted by a chilling anonymous call: his father has been kidnapped, and a truck bomb is set to detonate on board in twenty minutes. When Tyler reaches the bomb on the boat’s car deck, he’s stunned to find classical languages expert Stacy Benedict waiting for him. She’s received the same threat, and her sister has also been taken.

In order to disarm the bomb, Tyler and Stacy must work together to solve an engineering puzzle—a puzzle written in ancient Greek. But preventing the explosion is only the first step; they soon learn the entire setup is a test created by a ruthless criminal who forces them to go on a seemingly impossible mission: uncover the legendary lost riches of King Midas.

Tyler and Stacy have just five days to track down the gold. Armed with an ancient manuscript penned by brilliant Greek inventor Archimedes, they begin a quest to unravel a two-thousand-year-old mystery whose answer is hidden within the workings of a cryptic artifact: the Antikythera Mechanism, a device designed by Archimedes himself. To save their loved ones and prevent their captors from recovering a treasure that will finance unspeakable devastation, the two scramble to Italy, Germany, Greece, and finally to the streets of New York City in a race against the clock to find the truth behind the story of King Midas.

The Vault combines an explosive premise and blistering pace with a fascinating exploration of one of history’s most intriguing inventors and a brilliant reimagining of an ancient legend.

If this sounds like a thrilling adventure to you, then what are you waiting for?  Go enter to win!

Good Luck and Happy Reading!

Kimberly

Buy THE VAULT at Lazy Day Books

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Book Review: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Author: Kimberly

Jul 7

Today’s book review is written by Janet B.  Learn more about Janet on our About Us page.

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Title: Full Dark, No Stars
Author: Stephen King
Subject: Fiction
Published: 11-09-2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Personal Copy

I’m an avid Stephen King fan, and I can honestly say I’ve read every book he’s written.  I always like Stephen King’s long stories.  While they lack the satisfying caramelly-nougaty goodness of his longest novels, they are no candied popcorn, either.

This time, King explorers the human mind and takes on the conscience.  Each person does or ponders something of questionable integrity, and each action is something all of us have considered at some point.

1922
Wilf fights bitterly with his wife for months over the sale of a parcel of land.  He eventually railroads his own fourteen-year old son, who leans his way in the argument, into helping him murder his wife and put the argument to rest.  The decision costs him everything except his life as his own brain, and possibly the wife’s ghost, drive him crazy and his son from his life.

Big Driver
I’m not a fan of rape scenes, but this one isn’t too bad.  After her rape, mystery-writer Tess gathers the coiled strength inside her to walk her dark road of revenge.  We accompany her as she deals with the surreal few minutes after the rape through the neatly cleaned-up denouement.  Something didn’t ring quite true about the ending, but I was already on to the next.

Fair Extension
I wasn’t as happy with this story, as it’s another thin “make a deal with the devil” plotline.  We all know how badly this goes.  However, the twist here was that he got to live indefinitely as long as he chose who would receive the afflictions that ailed him, and he had to watch.  The consequences of that are many, as our main character finds out.

A Good Marriage
Faced with the sudden, surprise and quite secret knowledge of a gigantic flaw in her husband of twenty-seven years, will our heroine act on this information, or swallow it and continue as if nothing is wrong?  It is amazing how easily you can discount everything you know about a person, in the face of startling information.

This volume was enjoyable, but felt like it lacked the substance of other short-story compilations.  The endings on a couple of these stories felt truncated. 

While anything Stephen King writes is generally granted 5-star ratings on expectations alone, I give this book four stars.

Janet

Have you read Full Dark, No Stars?  What did you think of these stories?  Please share with us in the comments!

Buy the eBook at Lazy Day Books

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New Release Tuesday: July 5

Author: Kimberly

Jul 5

It’s New Release Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!  We have great new offerings for you this week, including new books from Will Lavender, Boyd Morrison, J. A. Jance and a great collaboration from twenty-six of your favorite mystery authors!  Click any of the book titles for more information or to instantly download the ebook from Lazy Day Books.

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No Rest For The Dead: More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel, a one-of-a-kind collaboration that combines the skills of America’s greatest storytellers to produce one spellbinding whopper of a mystery. No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from mind to mind of each Creator.”

The Vault: by Boyd Morrison.  In the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Boyd Morrison, industrial engineer Tyler Locke races against time to save his father from a terrorist organization bent on unearthing the truth about the fabled touch of King Midas and using it for their own deadly means. Locke is on board a Washington State ferry when he receives an anonymous call informing him that a bomb is set to detonate on deck in ten minutes–long before the boat reaches port.

Betrayal Of Trust: by J. A. Jance.  Seattle investigator J. P. Beaumont uncovers a dark and deadly conspiracy that reaches deep into the halls of state government. At first glance, the video appears to be showing a childish game: a teenage girl with dark wavy hair smiles for the camera, a blue scarf tied around her neck. All of a sudden things turn murderous, and the girl ends up dead.

The Map Of Time: by Félix J Palma. THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence.  *The Map of Time is also our Lazy Day Pick of the Week.

Naked City: by Ellen Datlow.  In this thrilling collection of original stories, some of today’s hottest paranormal authors delight, thrill and captivate readers with otherworldly tales of magic and mischief. In Jim Butcher’s ”Curses” Harry Dresden investigates how to lift a curse laid by the Fair Folk on the Chicago Cubs. In Patricia Briggs’ “Fairy Gifts,” a vampire is called home by magic to save the Fae who freed him from a dark curse. and more!

Summer Secrets: by Barbara Freethy.  #1 NY TIMES Bestselling Ebook! Readers who enjoy books by Luanne Rice, Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs will enjoy this emotional and compelling story of family secrets and romantic adventure. There are secrets meant to be shared and those that must be kept forever … Bestselling author Barbara Freethy presents her most powerful contemporary novel — the story of three unique sisters … the secrets that bind them for life … and the summer that will set them free.

Sirensong: by Jenna Black. Faeriewalker Series, Book 3.  When Dana is invited to Faerie to be officially presented at the Seelie Court, it’s no easy decision. After all, everyone knows Titania, the Seelie Queen, wants her dead. But Titania claims not to be the one behind the death threats; and her son, Prince Henry, makes the decision a whole lot easier when he suggests Dana might be arrested for (supposedly) conspiring with her aunt Grace to usurp the Seelie throne. Young Adult

Perfectly Invisible: by Kristin Billerbeck.   A Universally Misunderstood Novel. It’s Daisy Crispin’s final trimester of high school, and she plans to make it count. Her long-awaited freedom is mere months away, and her big plans for college loom in the future. Everything is under control. Or is it?  With more of the funny-but-too-true writing readers have come to expect from Kristin Billerbeck, Perfectly Invisible shows teen girls that everyone is special—no matter what they’re going through.  Young Adult

The Secret Prince: by Violet Haberdasher. Knightley Academy is back in session, and Henry Grim is confident that nothing else can prevent him from earning his knighthood. But Henry and his friends quickly discover that their professors have made some troubling changes to the curriculum — an old classroom filled with forgotten weapons. It is the discovery of this classroom that prompts Henry and Valmont to become the unlikely leaders of a secret battle society. Ages 8-12

Visit Lazy Day Books to see all of this week’s new releases.

Which book(s) are you most looking forward to reading?  Tell us in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Kimberly

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As Seen On TV: Book-Inspired Television Shows

Author: Kimberly

Jun 25

Are you experiencing withdrawal symptoms because your favorite television shows are in repeats this Summer?  You can still get original stories about some of your favorite characters- just read the book!

Here is a short list of some of our favorite TV shows, past & present, that were adapted from books and one new series coming in 2012 that you can get a head start reading now.  Who are some of your favorite television characters that were based on a book?

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MASH: by Richard Hooker.  This is the novel that gave life to Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O’Reilly, and the rest of the gang that made the 4077th MASH like no other place in Korea or on earth.  For fans of the movie and the series alike, here is the original version of that perfectly corrupt football game, those martini-laced mornings and sexual escapades, and that unforgettable foray into assisted if incompleted suicide—all as funny and poignant now as they were before they became a part of America’s culture and heart.

Boardwalk Empire: by Nelson Johnson. Providing the inspiration and source material for the HBO series produced by Academy Award–winning director Martin Scorsese and Emmy Award–winning screenwriter Terence Winter, this riveting series explores the sordid past of Atlantic City—forever a freewheeling town long-dedicated to the fast buck—from the city’s heyday as a Prohibition-era mecca of lawlessness to its rebirth as a legitimate casino resort in the modern era.

Flash Forward: by Robert J. Sawyer.  In pursuit of an elusive nuclear particle, an experiment goes incredibly awry, and, for a few moments, the consciousness of the entire human race is thrown ahead by about twenty years. As the implications truly hit home, the pressure to repeat the experiment builds. Everyone wants a glimpse of their future, a chance to flashforward and see their successes … or learn how to avoid their failures.

Spider Bones: by Kathy Reichs. Kathy Reichs–#1 New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX television hit Bones–returns with the thirteenth riveting novel featuring forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. John Lowery was declared dead in 1968–the victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how did an American soldier end up in Canada?

Naked Heat: by Richard Castle.  Based on the hit ABC television series Castle, Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook are together again in Richard Castle’s thrilling follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, Heat Wave. When New York’s most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan.Heat’s murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook.

The Knowland Retribution: by Richard Greener.   With tainted meat the weapon and corporate greed the motive, The Knowland Retribution is an extremely topical suspense-revenge thriller. Walter Sherman, a/k/a the Locator, is a tracker who honed his skills in Vietnam.  The action takes the reader from a tiny Caribbean bar on the island of St. John to the editorial boardroom of the New York Times, from the gleaming skyline of Atlanta to the isolation of northern New Mexico, from Adirondack hideouts to Manhattan suites to Mississippi backwoods.  Main character Walter Sherman was introduced in a recent episode of Bones and rumor has it he will appear in a new FOX series next Winter called The Finder.

What are you favorite television shows that were based on a book?  Share with us in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Kimberly

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Book Review: Long Gone by Alafair Burke

Author: Kimberly

Jun 13

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Title: Long Gone
Author: Alafair Burke
Subtitle: A Novel
Subject: Fiction
Published: 06-21-2011
Publisher: HarperCollins US
Source: Review copy e-galley from publisher

From the back of the book:
What if everything you thought you knew turned out to be a lie?

After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District.

According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner. Drew assures Alice that the owner will be hands off, allowing her to run the gallery on her own. Her friends think it sounds too good to be true, but Alice sees a perfect opportunity to make a name for herself beyond the shadow of her famous father, an award-winning and controversial film maker.

Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. The phone number Drew gave her links back to a disposable phone.
The artist whose work she displayed doesn’t seem to exist. And the dead man she claims is Drew has been identified as someone else.

When police discover ties between the gallery and a missing girl, Alice knows she’s been set up. Now she has to prove it—a dangerous search for answers that will entangle her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and force her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family… secrets that could cost Alice her life.

This was my first experience reading Alafair Burke’s work and man, she didn’t disappoint!  Her previous novels were series, so Long Gone is her first stand-alone mystery.  If you’re already a fan of hers, then you already know to expect great things here.  If you’re like me and have never read an Alafair Burke novel before, then you’re in for a treat!

Burke takes the time to set up the story and doesn’t assume you’ll fill in the blanks.  I love it when an author describes the details of the city so well that I feel like I know my way around.  Alafair Burke lives in New York and uses her insider knowledge to paint a vivid picture for you.  She gives us fully developed characters like Alice, who is smart, resourceful, relatable and likable- someone you might choose as your friend.  Alice’s family is dysfunctional (and really, whose isn’t?), but it works for them.  Throw in the long-time family attorney who’s like an uncle, a missing girl, a murder, an addict brother and suspicious friends and you have all the makings of a grand mystery.

In Long Gone, Alice discovers too late that the pictures we post on social-networking sites can be manipulated and re-purposed to look like something they’re not.  With all the press recently about one social-networking site’s facial recognition software to help friends “tag” each other, this couldn’t be a more timely lesson.  And scary when you really stop to think about it.

If you like suspenseful crime novels, you will absolutely love Long Gone.  There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, with just enough clues sprinkled in to make you think you know what’s going to happen next- but you’d be so wrong.

Long Gone is a perfect Summer escape, and I gave it 4 Sunshines!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go download Alafair Burke’s first two series to read…

Happy Reading!
Kimberly

 

Download Long Gone from Lazy Day Books

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