We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.
Here's what I got ~
The Cold Room (Taylor Jackson) by J. T. Ellison (ARC) ~ He can truly love her only once her heart stops. Homicide detective Taylor Jackson thinks she's seen it all in Nas
hville—from the Southern Strangler to the Snow White Killer. But she's never seen anything as perverse as The Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction. When he's finished, he creatively disposes of the body by reenacting scenes from famous paintings. And similar macabre works are being found in Europe. Taylor teams up with her fiancé, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, and New Scotland Yard detective James "Memphis" Highsmythe, a haunted man who has eyes only for Taylor, to put an end to this horror.Has the killer gone international with his craft? Or are there two "artists," competing to create the ultimate masterpiece?
Lullaby by Claire Seeber~ British journalist Seeber begins her debut, an overlong thriller, with a reasonabl
e scenario—an abducted baby, a distraught mother, and a husband under a slight cloud of suspicion. Add a sexy French nanny, a beautiful but cold ex-wife, a kid brother with a serious drug problem, and you've got a raft of possible kidnappers. As the plot develops, every possible suspect has a moment in the spotlight, if without much increase in suspense. Throughout the investigation, a policewoman known only as Deb watches over the mother, Jessica Finnegan, day and night. Some readers may find it hard to believe that the London police would assign one of its members to be a full-time bodyguard, who, presumably at taxpayer's expense, makes Jessica tea and runs errands with her as well. On the other hand, smooth prose, well-rendered London settings, and a satisfying resolution will leave many eager to see more from Seeber
Frame Up by John F. Dobbyn (ARC) ~ After graduating from Harvard Law with his closest friend John McKedrick, Michael Knight takes a job with his mentor, legendary trial at
torney Lex Devlin, while John becomes sole associate of a notorious mob lawyer. Michael never lost hope that John McKedrick would escape to 'cleaner pastures' -until John is murdered in a car bombing bearing the signature of his questionable clientele. How could two friends who were so close have taken such wildly divergent paths? In the wake of McKedrick's murder, three men who took their own deviating paths will meet for the first time in forty years. Matt Ryan, a priest, Dominic Santangelo, a mafia don, and Lex Devlin put the past aside to focus on a present concern: Dominic's son has been charged with John McKedrick's murder. At Lex's urging, Michael Knight reluctantly agrees to represent the alleged bomber. In building a defense, Michael is drawn into a high-stakes art fraud that leads him from the seediest parts of Boston to the sophisticated Amsterdam inner sanctum of international crime.
Ori
ginal Sin by Allison Brennan ~ Haunted by chilling memories of demonic possession and murder, Moira O’Donnell has spent seven years hunting down her mother, Fiona, whose command of black magic has granted her unprecedented control of the underworld. Now Moira’s global search has led her to a small California town that’s about to become hell on earth.
Tormented by his own terrifying past and driven by powers he can’t explain, ex-seminarian Rafe Cooper joins Moira’s dangerous quest. But Fiona is one devilish step ahead. Hungry for greater power, eternal youth, and stunning beauty, the sorceress is unleashing upon the mortal world the living incarnations of the Seven Deadly Sins. Together with a demonologist, a tough female sheriff, and a pair of star-crossed teenagers, Moira and Rafe are humanity’s last chance to snatch salvation from the howling jaws of damnation.
The Sculptor by Gregory Funaro ~ A serial killer calling himself the Sculptor, who resh
apes his victims into replicas of works by Michelangelo, sends creepy messages to art historian Cathy Hildebrant. When it becomes clear that her book on Michelangelo's work is an inspiration for the murders, FBI special agent Sam Markham asks her help in figuring out when and where the killer will strike next, but the Sculptor easily evades their efforts and, with clumsy inevitability, traps Cathy and promises to make her his next victim.
