Librarians! Friends! Fellow terror aficionados!

ALA is a gently fading memory. Looking back, it appears I did a lot of hugging (Nancy Pearl with me on the left and my fav book stack – do you know how HARD it is to create them? You need a degree in library marketing to do it – on the right).

And, now, on to the books of Fall, plus sneak peeks of the Winter list. There are some deliciously dark books coming your way. Stock up NOW or risk your patrons’ wrath!

Books I Read in One Sitting Without Taking a Single Breath:

*THE HOLY THIEF by William Ryan (September 2010 / Minotaur)
Believe the hype! It’s already got starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly!

“Impressive…. Ryan, who merits comparison to Tom Rob Smith, makes palpable the perpetual state of fear of being reported as disloyal, besides dramatizing the difficulty of being an honest cop in a repressive police state. Readers will hope Korolev has a long career ahead of him.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In his solitude and resolve, Ryan’s Korolev evokes Martin Cruz Smith’s fierce Arkady Renko, while the period detail and gore call to mind Tom Rob Smith. Remarkable thriller…”–Library Journal (starred review)

*THE SLEEPWALKERS by Paul Grossman (October 2010 / St. Martin’s Press)
It already has a *starred* Library Journal!

“Simultaneously a work of historical fiction, a medical mystery, a thriller, and a work of crime noir, this debut novel defies easy categorization. Grossman juggles these multiple genres without ever letting the pace slow. In 1932 Berlin, ‘a city that had reached the end, of no tomorrows, teetering on the brink,’ Det. Willi Kraus, who also happens to be Jewish, is assigned to investigate a series of bizarre and heinous crimes, the victims all sleepwalking young women delivered to their killers via hypnosis—a disturbing metaphor for the city and Germany at the time. As the investigation points to high-ranking Nazi officials, the stakes grow higher. VERDICT Grossman powerfully captures the atmosphere of Berlin on the verge of Nazi takeover, the elegance and cultural brilliance amid the decadence, and the sense of impending doom. Fans of Rebecca Cantrell’s award-winning A TRACE OF SMOKE and Phillip Kerr’s suspense novels set in prewar Germany should enjoy this book. [100,000-copy first printing; library marketing; featured at the Librarians’ Shout and Share program at BEA.—Ed.]”

*ROGUE ISLAND by Bruce DeSilva (October 2010 / Forge)
It was one of only 10 selections by Publishers Weekly in their Fall “First Fiction” feature and it will also be included in Kirkus’ August 15th / fall preview issue.
–The glowing reviews from crime fiction geniuses Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben totally sold me!

What I’m Reading Now and LOVING:

*FALL FOR ANYTHING by Courtney Summers (January 2011 / St. Martin’s Griffin)
Eddie’s father, a famous photographer, has committed suicide and now she’s (yes, Eddie is a girl) left to pick up the pieces.

*THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X by Keigo Higashino (February 2011 / Minotaur)
Best way to get rid of an annoying ex-husband? Have your daughter kill him! (Don’t worry – I didn’t give anything away.)

*NIGHT SEASON by Chelsea Cain (March 2011 / Minotaur)
There’s a serial killer on the loose and it ain’t Gretchen!

*THE HYPNOTIST by Lars Kepler (May 2011 / Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Sarah Crichton)
It just doesn’t get any better than a multiple stab wound-victim so traumatized that only a hypnotist can get him to talk!

Other (non-Macmillan) Titles That Deserve Your Attention:

BLOOD WORK by Mark Pearson
–Only available in the UK and at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, where I bought it!

PORTRAIT OF AN ADDICT AS A YOUNG MAN by Bill Clegg
–A great read-alike is the New York Times Bestselling memoir, HERO OF THE UNDERGROUND

NOTHING LEFT TO BURN by Jay Varner
–Pyromania baby!