DCL Book Chat

Corte (no first name) is an agent for an anonymous government agency who safeguards high profile citizens. His current assignment is to protect a DC detective from a man who will do anything (i.e. torture) to extract information from him. Corte has a personal reason to stop this man: he murdered his mentor. Jeffery Deaver offers plenty of twists and turns pitting two very intelligent opponents against each in an intriguing battle of wills. In addition he gives readers a thoughtful, rather scholarly hero (who doesn’t brood or overanalyze as much as Lincoln Rhyme) in what readers can only hope is the first in a new series.

Dedra

Five year old Jack has lived his entire life in an eleven foot square room. His mother was a nineteen year old college student when she was kidnapped by a man who has held her captive for seven years. His mother has conceived a dangerous plan for escape; will Jack be able to pull it off, and what will his world be like if he does? Told entirely in Jack’s bright but socially naïve voice, Room delivers charm, humor, breathtaking suspense and, most of all, a mother’s love for her child. It’s a book you will never forget.

Dedra

When Ruby Leander was nineteen years old she found an adorable abandoned baby in a trash can. Sure that no one wanted the tiny girl with the beautiful eyes, she kept her, loved her and is raising the now eleven year old with the help of wonderful friends in Santa Fe. But when Ruby reads about a baby kidnapped by carjackers she is faced with a heartbreaking decision. Consider this one for your bookclub.

Dedra

Lilly Hawkins is having a really bad day. A news photographer (or “shooter”) for her hometown TV station, her job is already hanging by a thread because of a series of misfortunes (and her lack of people skills) when her boss tells her that she’d better deliver amazing video for her next story or else. And Lilly does take amazing shots of a homicide case but when she arrives a the station, it’s completely blank. Soon Lilly is on the run from criminals and the police who all think she has the video. Fast paced, sometimes wacky Lilly will appeal to Stephanie Plum fans.

Dedra

If you’re tired of the same old thing you might give this quirky and very British novel a try. It features Balthazar Jones, a London Beefeater (properly titled a Yeoman Warder), his wife, who works in the London Underground Lost Property Office, and a cast of delightful characters, including the world’s oldest tortoise. Toss in some fascinating history of the Tower of London, quite a few chuckles and a serious message about hope and you may find yourself utterly charmed.

Dedra

If reading novels about the Tudors has whetted your appetite for historical fiction about powerful, ruthless families, consider a location change to Renaissance Italy. Francesca’s murdered father was the personal poisoner to the powerful Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia before he was brutally murdered. Now Francesca vows vengeance and positions herself as her father’s replacement. But can she perform the brutal murders the evil Borgia demands? Poison is brimming with historical detail, double crosses and fascinating characters.

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Jennifer Weiner readers can count on a dysfunctional family usually with polar opposite sisters who, underneath their differences, really care for each other. Fly Away Home’s dysfunctional family includes a woman whose politician husband just humiliated her with his affair with a twenty-something, her older, brilliant daughter whose unhappy marriage has led her into a hot affair with a younger man, and her younger daughter who’s just out of rehab. These three women end up taking a family “timeout” and reconnect with great food, tears and a lot of laugh out loud moments. This one’s a great lazy, summer read.

Dedra

A jumbo jet has crashed for no apparent reason and the NTSB has sent a crack team of experts (called “crashers”) that include a pathologist, an engineer and a voice recording specialist, to investigate. They quickly learn that this was not pilot or mechanical error and that other planes may soon be targeted. Think CSI + 24 + beautiful, deadly spy + dedicated doctor with something to prove and you’ve got it.

Dedra

Imagine getting a taunting letter in the mail one day that ends with the simple declaration – “See how well I know your secrets, think of a number.” And when you comply, you discover the letter writer has predicted your random choice exactly. This intriguing puzzle intrigues a retired homicide detective who discovers that this challenge ignites a massive serial murder investigation. This literary mystery has an unusual slow build of suspense that gets more and more frightening as it goes along.

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Twenty-something Van Leone, fresh from serving as maid of honor at the wedding of her childhood best friend and the man Van’s been in love with since college, impulsively buys a German shepherd puppy on the Internet while drowning her sorrows in vodka and KoolAid during a late-night Rin Tin Tin marathon. The pocket-size puppy Van is expecting turns out to be a clumsy, hundred-pound beast who only responds to commands in Slovak, and Van is at the end of her rope… until she realizes that this quirky giant may be the only living being who will always be loyal to her, no matter what.

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