The Agency by Ally O’Brien

The Agency by Ally O’Brien. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, February 2009

Meet Tess Drake. She’s earned everything she has. Now it’s time to get what she deserves…

Sexy super-agent Tess Drake has worked hard to make a name for herself in the glamorous yet cut-throat entertainment industry. Tess works at an international agency, where she skillfully manages some of the world’s biggest egos—her company, Bardwell International operates in the thrilling, fast-paced worlds of Rights, wrongs and revenge. Tess has been an agent there for longer than she cares to remember and now she’s in trouble. Real trouble. After the mysterious death of the agency’s senior partner, Lowell Bardwright, Tess’s sworn enemy, Cosima Tate, has taken over and would do anything to send Tess’s career down in flames. And Cosima is only one of the rogue’s gallery of agents in London and New York who want Tess to take a fall.

Tess has another little complication, too. She’s sleeping with men on both sides of the Atlantic who are in bed with the women who are trying to sink her.

Can Tess jump ship without losing her clients and breaking her heart? Or will she lose everything before finding out if she really has what it takes to do what she’s always wanted?

There’s risk and reward in this wickedly funny novel that turns the world of agenting inside out and lays bare all the ambition, sex, adrenaline, bad luck, and good luck at the center of one young woman’s success.

This book introduces Tess Drake, an agent at an international entertainment agency.  Her boss is found dead and the worst thing that can happen to Tess did, her sworn nemesis Cosima Tate is now her boss.  Tess has a secret plan, she wants to take her biggest client and open up her own agency, but something is bad is going to happen.  Tess is smart but sometimes what she does get her in trouble and now the police is looking at her for the murder of her boss.  There is sex, ambition and betrayal throughout this book coming from those she trust. Will it turn out for Tess, you’ll have to read the book to find it.  I enjoyed it.  [3.5 stars – liked it]

Run for Your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Run For You Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge is the second book in the “Michael Bennett” thriller series.  Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, February 2009

A calculating killer who calls himself The Teacher is taking on New York City, killing the powerful and the arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what they deserve. For New York’s elite, it is a call to terror.

Only one man can tackle such a high-profile case: Detective Mike Bennett. The pressure is enough for anyone, but Mike also has to care for his 10 children-all of whom have come down with virulent flu at once!

Discovering a secret pattern in The Teacher’s lessons, Detective Bennett realizes he has just hours to save New York from the greatest disaster in its history. From the #1 bestselling author comes RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, the continuation of his newest, electrifying series.

Having been widowed for over a year and raising 10 children, all Michael want is to sleep.  Manners!  The Teacher has decided to teach the city a lesson by killing people are arrogant and think they are entitled to do whatever they want.  NYPD Detective Mike, a former hostage negotiator is called upon to head this case.  As Mike delves into this case, he learns there is more to this than a random killing spree.  The Teacher has an agenda and will harm those that get in his way.   Mike is trying to solve this case while he deals with all ten of his children being sick with the flu.  I could not put this book down. This was a thrilling ride.  [4.5 stars – really liked it]

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb is the 28th book in the “In Death” mystery series.  Publisher: Putnam, February 2009

#1 New York Times– bestselling author J. D. Robb takes us to the New York City of 2060, where Lieutenant Eve Dallas faces down a cop killer.

A Amarylis Coltraine may have recently transferred to the New York City police force from Atlanta, but she’s been a cop long enough to know how to defend herself against an assailant. When she’s taken down just steps away from her apartment, killed with her own weapon, for Eve the victim isn’t just “one of us.”

Dallas’s friend Chief Medical Examiner Morris and Coltraine had started a serious relationship, and from all accounts the two were headed for a happy future together. But someone has put an end to all that. After breaking the news to Morris, Eve starts questioning everyone from Coltraine’s squad, informants, and neighbors, while Eve’s husband, Roarke, digs into computer data on Coltraine’s life back in Atlanta. To their shock, they discover a connection between this case and their own painful, shadowy pasts.

The truth will need to be uncovered one layer at a time, starting with the box that arrives at Cop Central addressed to Eve containing Coltraine’s guns, badge, and a note from her killer: “You can have them back. Maybe someday soon, I’ll be sending yours to somebody else.”

But Eve Dallas doesn’t take too kindly to personal threats, and she is going to break this case, whatever it takes. And that’s a promise.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas gets the call most cops fear, the murder of a cop.  The cop is Amaryllis Coltraine who happened to be dating the Chief Medical Examiner Li Morris.  Because he’s a friend, Eve will do everything in her power and promises Morris that she will find her killer.  With discovered ties to Max Ricker which includes his son, Alex, Eve will work the case until she can narrow down evidence.  With the help of her department and her billionaire husband, Roarke, the clues take Eve to the killer being one of their own. It was very enjoyable to see Eve work this case and get the much needed evidence to bring Ammy’s killer to justice.  There are some comical reliefs when Eve has to buy a bridal shower gift at the lingerie store and then hold an overnight bridal shower/pajama party with drunken, naked women.  Too darn funny.   One of the best in the series and I could not put this book down until the last page.  5 stars – it was amazing

J. D. Robb is the pseudonym of Nora Roberts

Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein

Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein is the 11th book in the “Alex Cooper” crime drama mystery series. Publisher: Doubleday, February 2009

When Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is summoned to Tina Barr’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she finds a neighbor convinced that the young woman was assaulted. But the terrified victim, a conservator of rare books and maps, refuses to cooperate with investigators. Then another woman is found murdered in that same apartment with an extremely valuable book, believed to have been stolen. As Alex pursues the murderer, she is drawn into the strange and privileged world of the Hunt family, major benefactors of the New York Public Library and passionate rare book collectors.

Eventually Alex connects their internal family rivalries to a priceless edition of Alice in Wonderland, which also contains the world’s oldest map. Would one of the well-bred Hunts be willing to kill for the treasures? The search for the answer takes Alex and her team on a breathtaking chase from Manhattan’s grandest apartments to the secret tunnels and chambers of the New York Public Library, and finally to a nineteenth-century underground vault. There, in the pitch-black darkness, Alex comes face-to-face with the killer who values money more than life.

Featuring a cast of elite, erudite, and downright eccentric characters, and a complex trail of clues that will have you guessing until the final pages, Lethal Legacy is Linda Fairstein’s most beguiling thriller yet.

 

Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper arrives to talk to the victim, Tina, and convinces her to go to the hospital.  When they arrive, the girl runs away.  Later Alex, along with NYPD Detective Mike Chapman arrives at the same apartment because another woman is found dead with a valuable book that may have been stolen.  While Alex, Mike and Mercer look into the murder, they find themselves thrown into the Hunt family who are collectors of rare books.  When Tina is found dead behind the New York Public Library, Alex and the team realizes both murders and the internal strife among the Hunt family involving rare books and maps are connected and look into clues to find the murderers of the two women.  I really enjoyed this story especially the history of the establishment of public libraries in New York.  [4 stars – really liked it]

Murder at the Academy Awards by Joan Rivers and Jerrilyn Farmer

Murder at the Academy Awards by Joan Rivers and Jerrilyn Farmer is the first book in the new “A Red Carpet” murder mystery series.  Publisher: Pocket, February 2009

As the Queen of the Red Carpet, Joan Rivers has been eyewitness to Hollywood’s most heinous crimes (okay, so they’re fashionrelated). And in this über-stylish mystery, she enlists her no-holdsbarred, slightly blonder literary counterpart, Maxine Taylor, to solve a crime of a different sort. When a gorgeous young actress dies on the Red Carpet, some in Tinseltown call it bad publicity. Max calls it murder.

The Academy Awards®. It’s Hollywood’s biggest night, and there’s no star better equipped than the tart-tongued Max Taylor to hold court on the glamorous Red Carpet. Sharing the dish with her daughter, Drew, the calls-it-as-she-sees-it entertainer has parlayed this star-studded annual gig into television’s most-watched pre-show event. And tonight, Max has landed a real coup — an exclusive interview with Halsey Hamilton, a fabulous, young, paparazzi-trailed Oscar nominee. But not even Max, who’s seen her share of celebrity train wrecks, is prepared for an incoherent Halsey, straight out of rehab, to stumble up to the mic, slur a few cryptic words, and drop dead at the hem of Max’s stunning Michael Kors gown.

To Hollywood, the starlet’s demise was tragic but inevitable. To Max, it looks more like a perfectly calculated crime. After all, she alone heard Halsey’s final whisper — a clue that leads Max to the pricey rehab clinic Wonders. With a weakness for nothing more disturbing than artificial sweeteners, Max nonetheless goes undercover and embarks on a twelve-step investigation into murder. Once inside the luxury clinic, Max’s list of suspicious players expands faster than the Jolie-Pitt family: Burke Norris, a professional cad and Drew’s ex-fiancé; Halsey’s father, who is still making money off his dead daughter’s fame; Halsey’s jealous younger sister; and Rojo Bernstein, a tattooed karate hipster who knew the troubled fallen star much better than anyone suspected.

Now it’s left to Max to unravel the sordid motives and find Halsey’s killer while upstaging an over-the-top Hollywood memorial service and funeral where the ill-fated actress was buried in, of all things, a tacky designer knockoff! And you thought the Oscars were all swag bags and Jimmy Choos? Hah! Honey, it’s murder.In Murder at the Academy Awards®, Joan Rivers delivers a very smart, bracingly funny, and pitch-perfect reflection of a Hollywood only she would dare to reveal — all seen through the eyes of an indomitable, high-end amateur sleuth who isn’t asking “Who are you wearing?” but rather “Whodunit?”

Max Taylor and her daughter Drew are the hosts for the Red Carpet Pre-show event before the Oscars are presented.  Near the end of their show, Max is on the verge of getting an exclusive interview with a young starlet who is recovering from a recent stint at a rehab facility.  When the young starlet shows up in only her lingerie, she is intoxicated and after a few words with Max, collapses and later is pronounced dead.  Max is the only person to hear her last words and unfortunately the words implicate Drew’s ex-fiancé.  Drew implores Max to solve the murder saying that Drew is innocent, so Max goes undercover at the rehab facility to ferret out the clues.  It was a cute murder mystery.  [3.5 stars – liked it]

Kill For Me by Karen Rose

Kill For Me by Karen Rose is the third book in the saga that began with Die For Me for Me and Die for Me that featured the “Vartanian” family.  Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, February 2009

Five teenage girls have been viciously attacked. One survived. Only she can reveal the secrets of a disturbing ring of people who kidnap and sell teenage girls on the black market. But those responsible for the crimes will do whatever it takes to maintain her silence.

Susannah Vartanian and Luke Papadopoulos have both sworn to stop the murderers for their own personal reasons. The investigation leads them to the shady realm of Internet chat rooms, where anyone can mask his or her identity. They soon discover a chain of deception so intricate they don’t know whom to trust. Finding comfort in each other’s arms, they begin to unravel the intricately knotted threads, but the killers are ruthless and determined, and won’t hesitate to take extreme measures to insure their anonymity and keep their business intact. When Susannah proves to be inexplicably linked to the crimes, her life is soon in danger, and Luke will do everything he can to save the woman he loves.

Thirteen years ago, Susannah Vartanian was the victim of an assault and she tried to erase her past by leaving the area to become a successful ADA.  What brings her back to Dutton, GA is to find evidence linking her brother and his crew of boys who raped other young girls.  With a recent rash of kidnapped girl, Susannah and Luke Papadopoulos fear there are similarities with what happened to her 13 years ago and today.  When Susannah discovers that the second time she was raped was a set-up, both Susannah and Luke will use all their resources to punish the people who are involved.  They do they know that this individual is always one step ahead of them, if only because he has informants everywhere they turn.  With a race against time and Susannah’s life on the line, Luke will put the nail to the hammer in solving this case.  [4.5 stars – really liked it]

Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon

Trouble in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon is the first book in the new “Ghost-In-Law” mystery romance series.  Publisher: Love Spell, January 2009

Family can be the death of you.

Maryse Robicheaux can’t help heaving a sigh of relief at the news that her not-so-beloved mother-in-law has kicked the bucket. The woman was rude, manipulative and loved lording over everyone as the richest citizen of Mudbug, Louisiana. Unfortunately, death doesn’t slow Helena Henry down one bit.

Being haunted – or more like harried – by Helena’s ghost isn’t even the worst of Maryse’s problems. Close to making a huge medical breakthrough, she’s suddenly been given an officemate, and the only thing bigger than Luc LeJeune’s ego is his sex appeal. Maryse would bet her life the hot half-Creole is hiding something. Especially because it seems someone’s out to kill her. But getting Luc to spill his secrets while avoiding Helena’s histrionics and staying alive herself will be the ultimate bayou balancing act.

Maryse Robicheaux is attending her mother-in-law’s funeral when she Helena Henry rises out of her coffin.  Besides trying to find her no-good of a husband to serve divorce papers on him, now Maryse has to deal with being haunted by the woman who made her life hectic.  Helena’s ghostly spirit tells her that she has unfinished business to attend to before she could go towards the light and Maryse holds the key.  After inheriting Helena’s land, attempts have been made on Maryse’s life.  With the help of ghostly Helena, Luc LeJeune who she is attracted to, Mildred who is her surrogate mother and Sabine, her best friend, they will work to solve the mystery of why someone wants Maryse dead.  I really enjoyed this story and was glad to learn there will be more in this series.  My rating: 4 stars

Trick My Truck but Don’t Mess with My Heart by LuAnn McLane

Trick My Truck but Don’t Mess with My Heart by LuAnn McLane. Publisher: Signet, January 2008

Rumor has it that Candie Montgomery is to blame for her twin sister’s broken engagement with Nick, the hot auto repair shop owner. But how can she be the other woman without even knowing it? Now, she needs an insta-boyfriend to put a lid on the gossip. Damage control comes in the sexy form of Tommy Tucker, who was supposed to be a quick fix. But Candie might just be in for the long haul…

This is a romantic comedy about Candie Montgomery who is shunned by the people of Pinewood, Kentucky when her twin sister’s fiancé breaks off their engagement and Sarah claims it was because of Candie who lives several hours away in Chicago.  Once Candie knows the truth behind the broken engagement, Candie comes up with a plan – all she has to do is get a boyfriend and the shunning and rumors will be put to rest.  When Candie meets Tommy Tucker and arrange a friendly game of be my boyfriend, who would have thought that their game playing role would turn into the real thing. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more by this author.  [4 stars – really liked it]

*new-to-me author

Cut To The Quick by Dianne Emley

Cut To The Quick by Dianne Emley is the second book in the “Nan Vining” thrillogy. Publisher: Ballantine Books, January 27, 2009 

he crime scene was like something out of a horror movie. Billboard tycoon Oliver Mercer has been brutally slain in his home in the Pasadena hills, joined in death by his long-legged trophy girlfriend–both of their bodies displayed in a chilling tableau. The murder scene reawakens terrible memories for homicide detective Nan Vining, who survived her own harrowing attack a year earlier. While tracking the taunting gameplayer her daughter Emily dubbed T. B. Mann–The Bad Man–she is now working the Mercer case alongside her ex-flame Jim Kissick, stirring up conflicted feelings in her. From the ritzy estates of L.A.’s Lamborghini-driving set to a rocky desert outpost where rattlesnakes whisper murder, Nan will risk both her badge and her heart on a case that cuts close to the bone.

Nan and her partner, Jim Kissick, are assigned to a double homicide where the killer dismembered the male victim.  Nan has her sight on two suspect and they both chase down the clues leading to the murderer(s).  Meanwhile, Nan is still haunted by the brutal attack on her and when a mystery man has information that only her attacker knows, Nan goads him and looks into clues that will help located him.  In between dealing with Jim’s renewed advances (had personal relationship) and raising her daughter, Nan once again is thrust into a cycle where she can only hope she survives.  What a thrilling ride!  This was another page-turning story that I did not want to end.  I’m looking forward to the conclusion with the next book.  [4 stars – really liked it]

The First Cut by Dianne Emley

The First Cut by Dianne Emley is the first book in the “Nan Vining” thrillogy series.  Publisher: Ballantine Books, December 2008

For two minutes she was dead.

The assailant was vicious, the attack brutal–and it left her lifeless . . . until her pulse fluttered and she jolted awake. Now, a year later, detective Nan Vining is still questioning her strength, her safety, even her sanity: Can she ever again be the cop–and mother–she was before? And will her attacker someday return to finish the job, before she can track him down herself?

Shaky but determined, Vining rejoins the Pasadena PD, only to confront a murder case that strikes close to home: A slain policewoman has been discovered beneath the Colorado Street Bridge, her body bruised, her throat slit. Even as Vining struggles to recover her standing within the department, she can’t help but feel profoundly drawn to the murdered officer, Frankie Lynde–and she is deeply troubled by the baffling otherworldly visions that haunt her waking hours. Are these mere fever dreams? Or could they be, as Vining’s daughter insists, messages from beyond the grave?

Digging deeper into Lynde’s past, Vining discovers clues that set her on the twisted trail of a killer as ruthless as he is depraved–a predator whose methods and madness recall those of her own attacker. Amid a rising tide of danger, she pushes herself to bold new limits, desperate to avenge the murder of a fellow police officer . . . and to reclaim the life she lost a year ago.

Packed with suspense and action, this pulse-pounding novel will hold you breathless from the first cut to the last.

For two minutes Pasadena police Detective Nanette Vining was dead, the result of a brutal knife attack that left her recuperating for a year.  Her attacker, who she dubbed T(he).B(ad). Mann escaped and secretly she will always be on the lookout for him.  Her first case upon her return to the detective squad is the death of fellow police officer, Frankie Lynde, by a knife. Her superiors fear this case may hit a little to close to home but Nan promises that she can handle the case.  Due to the attack, Nan has panic attacks whenever she has to enter strange homes, a fact she hides from the department and how the dead speaks to her, in particular, Frankie.  Nan feels strongly that the killer is a local man who has close ties to the police community, having recently won a citizen’s commendation.  Nan dwells more into the killer’s life and when a woman is listed as missing, Nan strongly feels both cases are connected.  It was exciting to see Vining put the pieces together and get this deranged psychopath off the street.  I couldn’t put this book down and look forward to the next book in the series.  [4 stars – really liked it]