Inferno : a Novel

The New York Times – Janet Maslin …Inferno puts the idea of a plague front and center, invoking the black plague, its casualty count and its culling effect on mankind. Mr. Brown is more serious than usual when he invokes Dante's dire warning: "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their […]

Paris

"Sweeping…History has never been so fun to read.”—USA Today

The Racketeer

The New York Times In its early stages [The Racketeer] does follow the familiar Grisham template, in which a lawyer finds himself unexpectedly in legal trouble. But then it breaks out into the exhilarating tale of how Mal, a disbarred attorney, now a savvy, self-taught legal scholar, leads his pursuers on a long, winding chase…this […]

The Sandcastle Girls

Library Journal Repeatedly (and embarrassingly accurately) referred to here as "The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About," the Armenian genocide of 1915-16 takes center stage in Bohjalian's (The Night Strangers) intergenerational novel. Elizabeth Endicott, a recent Mount Holyoke graduate, accompanies her Bostonian banker father on his philanthropic mission to Aleppo, Syria, to aid Armenian […]

Harry Lipkin, Private Eye

Library Journal Not inclined to retire, 87-year-old Miami PI Harry Lipkin readily takes a case from Mrs. Weinberger, a local dowager who suspects a member of her staff of theft but doesn't know how to proceed. So she hires Harry to investigate. Slowly but methodically, Harry questions everyone from the chauffeur to the gardener, gleaning […]

Some Kind of Fairy Tale

Library Journal A girl named Tara disappears from her small English village, leaving behind a grieving but ultimately resigned family. Then 20 years later she returns—almost completely unchanged. Clearly, the work of a fantasist—Joyce has won both British Fantasy and World Fantasy awards—and comparisons are being made to Keith Donohue's The Stolen Child and S.J. […]

The Red House : a Novel

Library Journal Wealthy doctor Richard, having recently married trophy wife Louisa and inherited a teenage stepdaughter, the classically disaffected, aggressive Melissa, is feeling bad about his estrangement from sister Angela, particularly after Mum's death. So he invites Angela and her family—husband Dominic and three children—for a holiday at a rented house on the Welsh border. […]

The Third Gate : a Novel

Library Journal Archaeologist Porter Stone and Yale professor Jeremy Logan delve deeply into the swamps of Northern Sudan in search of a powerful artifact: the crown of King Narmer, the first pharaoh of Egypt. VERDICT A master of spine-chilling suspense, Child (Terminal Freeze) creates a tension-filled, fast-paced adventure sure to please fans of the supernatural […]

Calico Joe

Steven V. Roberts: John Grisham's legal thrillers are dense and hefty, full of twists and turns and tension. His latest novel, Calico Joe, is not like that at all. It's a sweet, simple story, a fable really. And like all fables, it has a moral: Good can come out of evil; it's never too late […]