Author Jefferson Bass is actually two authors.  Dr.  Bill Bass is a world-renowned forensic anthropolgist.  Mr.  Jon Jefferson  is a veteran journalist and writer. 

Together they have created Bones of Betrayal , a riveting, accurate account of murder most foul entwined in the story of the Manhattan project.

This secret government project to build the first atomic bomb provides a fitting backdrop to espionage, infidelity, dementia, and simmering resentments.

Dr. Bill Brockton  with his graduate assist, Miranda Lovelady, jump into a frightful battle wtih the horrors of radiation sickness.  Their battle is liberally laced with accurate scientific information on this "hot" topic. 

The forth thriller from Bass and Jefferson will lead you to read their  earlier books:  Flesh and Bone , The Devil's Bones and Carved in Bone .

Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Geraldine Brooks, adds to her list of wondrous reads another victory.  People of the Book utilizes all the historical detail her works have been known to encompass. 

The narrative bounces back and forth in time to search out the people who have contributed to the illuminated Hebrew Haggadah's history.  Using clues such as an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair,  Hanna Heath , an entrepid rare book expert,  will risk all in the pursuit of a scientific truth.

A touching love stories are interwoven with the book's journey through time.  Love of God, love of wealth and love of tradition compete in fascination with the romantic love Hanna struggles to grasp. 

When you finish reading this scientific and literary investigation you will be compelled to go back and read Geraldine Brooks' earlier two works, March and Year of Wonders . 

Lucas Davenport constantly runs in mental circles in this new novel, Phantom Prey , by John Sanford.  This mystery resolves itself only in the final pages.  It seems totally disjointed and difficult to grasp in its narration. 

It delves into the Goth culture. It also manages to include a story line that hinges on the criminal insane.  In many ways the book seems over optimistic in its attempt to narrate a story that in final analysis just doesn't make sense.

I found it unbelievable and much to convoluted to hold my interest.  For readers who enjoy 200 pages of total confusion before a solution appears, it just might be the ticket for a good evening read.  

Tommy Carmellini is back again as a narrator and protagonist in The Assassin , a fast paced spy thriller.  In "Library Journal on Liars and Theives " Carmellini is described as "a self-deprecating and wisecracking narrator who brings a welcome energy to the genre".

Admiral Jake Grafton once again does battle with the forces of evil.  His battle is complicated by the efforts of a group of private citizens who are financing their own war against terrorism.  These citizens and the President of the United States become the targets of a master terrorist. 

Coonts is a master of the techno-thriller laced with spirited action.  An over the top violent  and recreational read.

"Twilight " by Stephenie  Meyer has invigorated the teen literature scene.  Following in it's wake is this fun collection of short stories,"Prom Nights From Hell ".  It is just the thing to feed a craving for the paranormal.    It will also introduce  you to other YA novelists who are well worth your time to read.

Containing the short stories: "The Exterminator's Daughter", "The Corsage", "Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper", "Kiss and Tell" and "Hell on Earth", it has a joyful selection of prom nightmares.

A  review of these stories, in retrospect, makes your own prom seem somewhat pleasant.  My favorite of the stories is the offering by Stephenie Meyer, '"Hell on Earth".

We can only hope that Meyer takes the time to weave characters: Gabe, Melissa, Celeste and Sheba into another much longer work of fiction.

Echoing her earlier novel, "Labyrinth ", Kate Moss once again pulls together the elements that made the earlier novel compelling.  In Sepulchre , she provides strong female heroines. She weaves dual narratives separated by a vast span of years  Placing the story in  the villages of southwestern France, she repeats  a search of historic artifacts  as a  motivating force. 

Unfortunately, the book bogs down early in the narrative.  Its plot is contrived and loaded with cliches.  It is also wordy. 

Based on the "Vernier Tarot", an imaginary deck, it dwells so heavily on descriptions, and creation of this deck that the reader is hard pressed to continue on through the 565 pages of this tome.   

There is suspense and a desire to find great excitement, but the climax of the book is disappointing.     This book is not for the casual reader. 

A frenetic fast moving thriller "Third Strike" is an on-point novel from British Author Zoe Sharp.  Barry Award Finalist for "First Drop" ,  Zoe Sharp has once again manged to provide a great thriller for an afternoon read.

If you haven't read any other Charlie Fox Thrillers you've missed out on a gripping read.  Featuring a flawed but magnetic female protagonist, this book is insightfully accurate in its view of parent child relationships.

Praised by Jeffrey Deaver and Lee Child as breathlessly compelling and the real deal, it can be highly recommended for readers who enjoy characters such as Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone.

Charlie struggles to protect her cold and distant parents from killers determined to silence them.  In spite of their disapproval of her profession and lifestyle choices, she commits herself to their safety.  Reminiscent of the struggles between generations, it validates the humanity of all.  Definitely worth reading!

Palace Council is a political thriller covering the two decades of the 60's or to be more precise 1954-1974, this book manages to include many of the prominent personalities of the time. 

It involves a mysterious secret society, the murder of a prominent lawyer and a sister involved in terrorist activities.  The book  takes a shot gun approach to evidence.  By the time all the shot is found the author must struggle to pull out a conclusion. 

A talented writer whose first novel,"The  Emperor of Ocean Park" received well deserved praise achieves another electrical  portrait of  our country.  Especially astute in his view of  well educated African American professionals, Mr. Carter  opens a window into this world for the rest of us.  He manipulates history and combines the the Harlem Society of the  1940's and 1950's with the world in which his protagonist, Eddie Wesley, moves.

This book achieves a facinating and human portrait of Richard Nixon.  It actually manages to  make him real, sympathetic and yet pathetic at the same time. 

At the end of the book the author unashamedly confesses his manipulation of history. But the reader doesn't mind because the journey has been enlightening. 

If you haven’t started reading the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer you have a great read ahead of you.  “Breaking Dawn” is the fourth volume in the series.  It follows “Twilight”, “New Moon” and “Eclipse”. Hesitant to read the last book in a series first, I suggest you begin with  “Twilight”.  I read all four titles in four days.  It is a tribute to the series that the 700+ pages in each book were rapidly consumed.   These books follow the convoluted romance between Bella (human), Edward (vampire) and Jacob (werewolf).

Where often Vampire fiction is overly bloody, violent, evil and stomach turning, this series reworks the dark myths into something that is actually innocent, funny and often moralistic.  As a YA writer Meyer is a master craftsman.  Maintaining all the romance and mystery of forbidden love she manages to reach to a moral high ground as she delves into the supernatural realms. 

This series is a worthy heir to the success of Rowling’s Harry Potter books.  

As the final book in the quartet it is a book filled with suspense, adventure, hope and tenuous happy endings.  There is no mystery why so many young women responded to the siren call of the Barnes Noble midnight book release party.  It is a romantic fantasy for the innocent of heart.  With danger always in the background the good triumph.

Characters are diverse, engaging as well as mysterious and repellent in some cases.  The idealistic, vegetarian vampires (They only drink the blood of wild animals or blood bank donations.) have an aversion to killing humans and maintain a mutually beneficial truce with the shape shifters in a neighboring Indian tribe.    They have created a family of individuals held together by common ideals and love. 

Unusual and wonderfully refreshing, don’t miss reading these books.  

A Silicon Valley satire revolving around three women: a housewife reminiscent of the Desperate Housewives' television  show, her entrepreneur daughter learning the cost of financing a busines with credit cards and a fourteen year old child involved in a trainwreck of teenage angst.

The family patriarch, Paul, betrays all of them by systematically cheating them of the rewards of his business success.  Leaving the family for his wife's best friend, this jerk waltzes off into the middle age man's euphoria while destroying his family. 

Likeable, believable characters demand your sympathy but their behavior is somewhat stereotypical.  The book flows swiftly with what is supposed to be engaging humor.

I found the book to be profoundly sad with a positive ending that was rather wishful.  It seemed to tell a story most older women can echo in the voice of at least one of their friends.    The book ends on a hopeful note that in reality would most likely be immense tragedy. 

It is a fun, quick read with a bitter after taste.

An implausible, over-the-top, techno-historical, action thriller, this book is the second in his epic story series.  The first book was "Seven Deadly Wonders". 

It is a fast action, grand sweeping adventure that in spite of it's ridiculous premise provides a pure escapist joy ride  leaving you anxious to read the next installment. 

Some of the dangers have a bit of redundance in their construction.  They are cleverly blended with factual and fantastical locations that blur the line of reality. 

Characters are vivid, likeable but totally fraudulent.  It doesn't matter the weaknesses of the story as you climb aboard the roller-coaster of thrilling feats of heroism based in ancient places around the planet.

Reilly appears to have asperations of writing another "Lord of the Rings".  This book lacks the charm and the magic of Tolkien's work.  It is worth reading if you are the sort of a reader who would rather be playing Dungeons and Dragon  than hanging out in a library.

Final Salute is book about what happens after a Marine dies.  It is about the notification officers who knock on the door and notify the families .  It is about  the public ceremonies as well as about the families, the fallen marines and the challenges of mourning, coping and remembering.

The thoughts and convictions of the notification officers are laid bare along with their struggles to assist the  families with the funeral arrangements and bureaucratic red tape. 

This is not a book with a political agenda.  It provides a window into the  home front anguish of those traumatized souls who remain the invisible casulties of the war. 

Major Steve Beck, notification officer, is featured in the introduction to the stories of four marines.  Sheeler payed the deceased troops and their families the respect of not treating them as card board characters, but rather as well rounded dimensional human beings all people can relate to. 

Sheeler ends the book with  a follow-up on how the families have managed to go forward in the years following their tragic losses. 

Every one  on either side of the War on Terror debate should take the time to read this book.  It removes the debate from the impersonal statistics  and sanitization of the media to a realization that all the people involved in this cycle of sacrifice and loss are individuals,  imperfect  and  unique.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jim Sheeler has performed an act of national service with this book. 

Douglas Preston, author of "The Wheel of Darkness" and "Basphemy" moved his family to Italy to research a novel.

While there he became involved in the mystery surrounding the serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. Joining with Mario Spezi, a longtime student of the crimes and well known reporter, Preston pursued the history of the investigation. An investigation that was so convoluted and incompetent it ranks with the greatest failures of law inforcement.

All the crimes involved the double murders of couples found on lovers lanes surrounding Florence. Over the years many individuals and groups are accused and some convicted of the crimes. Victims of this investigation include village idiots, Sardinian bandits. physicians and pharmacists. Most of individuals were victims of the ineptness of the police system and feuding between branches of the Italian judicial system.

The first half of the book follows Mario Spezi's dogged investigation of the crimes and conflicts with the police. The second part of the book reveals Preston's entrapment in the spider web of this bureaucratic incompetence. Both
writers end up being accused of various crimes, harshly interrogated. Spezi's home is ransacked and he is imprisioned. Preston is forced to leave the country.

Lives have been ruined by this Clouseau like investigation that resulted in no one really knowing who committed the crimes. This book, The Monster of Florence , is equivalent to Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi.

Rollins delivers another high energy suspense thriller, The Judas Strain , about a virus that changes friendly bacteria into killer bacteria. As with most of his novels, Rollins provides very human characters with extrodinary abilities.

Sigma force once again saves the world while tracing the mystery virus along the route Marco Polo followed on his return from China. An implausible but rivoting story, the plot commands the readers attention to the final page. A great read for a summer afternoon.

There is nothing like spending the aftertoon with Sigma's commander Gray Pierce as he once again thwarts the designs of a murderous female assassin to ultimately partner with her in this astonishing quest to save Mankind.

Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef is the Kinsey Millhone of the senior citizen set.   A detective on the cusp of retirement, she is coping with all the afflictions of many women her age.   A full time career, recently divorced after nearly four decades of marriage, grown children and care giver for her elderly mother, she also is afflicted with a bad back.

A serial killer of terminally ill patients on a holy crusade is pitted against this super woman with a sense of humor.  A delightfully humerous tome in spite of the ominous crimes being committed, this book gallops along with all the excitement of a runaway horse.  Hazels bickering staff reflect all the foibles present in most work environments while they maintain the steadfast support that we all long to find among our co-workers.   

This annonymous writer under the pseudonim , "Inger Ash Wolfe" is obviously a master craftsman.  Readers should be careful not to confuse this author with Danish crime writer Inger Wolf.  Grab this book.  It is a keeper!