Friday, February 3, 2012

Books Ordered for February

Robert Ludlum's (TM) The Janson CommandRobert Ludlum's The Janson Command 

  • Paul Garrison 





  • Synopsis

  • Reformed from his days of as a covert operative and assassin for the US government, Paul Janson has a new mission and a new partner. Working independently with highly-skilled sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, Janson only takes operations he believes contributes to the world's greater good. When his latest job rescuing a doctor abducted in international waters by African pirates goes haywire, Janson realizes he's caught in the middle of something much bigger.







    Private GamesPrivate Games 

  • James Patterson





  • Synopsis

  • On your mark
    Private, the world's most renowned investigation firm, has been commissioned to provide security for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Its agents are the smartest, fastest, and most technologically advanced in the world, and 400 of them have been transferred to London to protect more than 10,000 competitors who represent more than 200 countries.
    Get set
    The opening ceremony is hours away when Private investigator and single father of twins, Peter Knight, is called to the scene of a ruthless murder. A high-ranking member of the games' organizing committee has been killed. It's clear to Peter that this wasn't a crime of passion, but one of precise calculation and execution.
    Die
    Newspaper reporter Karen Pope receives a letter from a person who calls himself Cronus claiming responsibility for the murders. He promises to restore the Olympics to their ancient glory and to destroy all those who have corrupted the games with lies, corruption, and greed. Immediately, Karen hires Private to examine the letter, and she and Peter uncover a criminal genius who won't stop until he's completely destroyed the modern games. "America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes) delivers an exhilarating, action-packed thriller that brings the splendor and emotion of the Olympics to a wildly powerful climax.


    RaylanRaylan 

  • Elmore Leonard





  • Synopsis

  • The revered New York Times bestselling author, recognized as “America’s greatest crime writer” (Newsweek), brings back U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the mesmerizing hero of ProntoRiding the Rap, and the hit FX series Justified.
    With the closing of the Harlan County, Kentucky, coal mines, marijuana has become the biggest cash crop in the state. A hundred pounds of it can gross $300,000, but that’s chump change compared to the quarter million a human body can get you—especially when it’s sold off piece by piece.
    So when Dickie and Coover Crowe, dope-dealing brothers known for sampling their own supply, decide to branch out into the body business, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens to stop them. But Raylan isn’t your average marshal; he’s the laconic, Stetson-wearing, fast-drawing lawman who juggles dozens of cases at a time and always shoots to kill. But by the time Raylan finds out who’s making the cuts, he’s lying naked in a bathtub, with Layla, the cool transplant nurse, about to go for his kidneys.
    The bad guys are mostly gals this time around: Layla, the nurse who collects kidneys and sells them for ten grand a piece; Carol Conlan, a hard-charging coal-mine executive not above ordering a cohort to shoot point-blank a man who’s standing in her way; and Jackie Nevada, a beautiful sometime college student who can outplay anyone at the poker table and who suddenly finds herself being tracked by a handsome U.S. marshal.
    Dark and droll, Raylan is pure Elmore Leonard—a page-turner filled with the sparkling dialogue and sly suspense that are the hallmarks of this modern master.


    Before the Poison

    Before the Poison 

  • Peter Robinson





  • Synopsis

  • “The accomplished Robinson never disappoints, mixing well-developed characterizations with edge-of-the-seat action.”
    New Orleans Times-Picayune
    “Make no mistake, he’s among the very best.”
    The Times (London)
    Already justifiably acclaimed for his bestselling crime fiction novels featuring British Chief Inspector Alan Banks (“The best series now on the market” —Stephen King), Peter Robinson delivers a truly stunning standalone thriller, Before the Poison. Brilliantly combining the rich, atmospheric narrative of his award-winning In a Dry Season with the twists and suspense of the noir classic LauraBefore the Poison tells the riveting story of a composer who comes to the scene of a notorious crime and becomes obsessed with a beautiful, mysterious, and possibly very dangerous woman. Evocatively set in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales, Before the Poison is a masterful tale of mystery and suspense from the Anthony and Edgar® Award winner whose extraordinary fiction Janet Maslin of the New York Timescompared to, “the masculine, brooding work of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, George P. Pelecanos, and Jonathan Kellerman.”


    The DressmakerThe Dressmaker 

  • Kate Alcott





  • Synopsis

  • Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young seamstress who survives the disaster only to find herself deeply torn between two men and embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.
     
    Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a rugged but sensitive sailor and the other a mysterious Chicago millionaire. All survive the sinking, but Lady Duff Gordon's actions during the disaster make her the subject of media scorn and later the hearings on the Titanic. Torn between admiration for the designer and dismay at her behavior, and between two very different suitors, Tess must navigate the complex waters of life and love. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle,The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour as well as all the thrilling excitement of young love.


    The HealingThe Healing 

  • Jonathan Odell





  • Synopsis

  • The pre-Civil War South comes brilliantly to life in this masterfully written novel centered around a mysterious and charismatic healer readers won't soon forget.

    Plantation Mistress Amanda Satterfield's intense grief over losing her daughter crosses the line into madness when she takes a newborn slave child as her own and names her Granada. Troubled by his wife's disturbing mental state and concerned about a mysterious plague that is sweeping through the plantation's slave population, Master Satterfield purchases Polly Shine, a slavewoman known as a healer. But the master gets more than he bargained for when Polly's sharp tongue and troubling predictions cause unrest throughout the plantation.
    Complicating matters further, Polly recognizes "the gift" in young Granada, and a domestic battle of wills ensues that raises tantalizing questions about who Polly Shine really is: a clever charlatan, a meddlesome witch, or a divine redeemer.
       
    The Healing is a tremendously rewarding work of fiction, rich in mood and atmosphere; the kind of novel readers can't put down—and can't wait to recommend once they've finished.


    The Wolf GiftThe Wolf Gift 

  • Anne Rice





  • Synopsis

  • A daring new departure from the inspired creator of The Vampire Chronicles (“unrelentingly erotic . . . unforgettable”—The Washington Post), Lives of the Mayfair Witches (“Anne Rice will live on through the ages of literature”—San Francisco Chronicle), and the angels of The Songs of the Seraphim (“remarkable”—Associated Press). A whole new world—modern, sleek, high-tech—and at its center, a story as old and compelling as history: the making of a werewolf, reimagined and reinvented as only Anne Rice, teller of mesmerizing tales, conjurer extraordinaire of other realms, could create.

    The time is the present.

    The place, the rugged coast of Northern California. A bluff high above the Pacific. A grand mansion full of beauty and tantalizing history set against a towering redwood forest.

    A young reporter on assignment from the San Francisco Observer . . . An older woman welcoming him into her magnificent family home that he has been sent to write about and that she must sell with some urgency . . . A chance encounter between two unlikely people . . . An idyllic night—shattered by horrific unimaginable violence, the young man inexplicably attacked—bitten—by a beast he cannot see in the rural darkness . . . A violent episode that sets in motion a terrifying yet seductive transformation, as the young man, caught between ecstasy and horror, between embracing who he is evolving into and fearing what he will become, soon experiences the thrill of the wolf gift.

    As he resists the paradoxical pleasure and enthrallment of his wolfen savagery and delights in the power and (surprising) capacity for good, he is caught up in a strange and dangerous rescue and is desperately hunted as “the Man Wolf” by authorities, the media, and scientists (evidence of DNA threatens to reveal his dual existence) . . . As a new and profound love enfolds him, questions emerge that propel him deeper into his mysterious new world: questions of why and how he has been given this gift; of its true nature and the curious but satisfying pull towards goodness; of the profound realization that there may be others like him who are watching—guardian creatures who have existed throughout time who possess ancient secrets and alchemical knowledge. And throughout it all, the search for salvation for a soul tormented by a new realm of temptations, and the fraught, exhilarating journey, still to come, of being and becoming, fully, both wolf and man.


    Accidents of ProvidenceAccidents of Providence 

  • Stacia Brown





  • Synopsis

  • It is 1649. King Charles has been beheaded for treason. Amid civil war, Cromwell's army is running the country. The Levellers, a small faction of agitators, are calling for rights to the people. And a new law targeting unwed mothers and lewd women presumes anyone who conceals the death of her illegitimate child is guilty of murder.

    Rachel Lockyer, unmarried glove maker, and Leveller William Walwyn are locked in a secret affair. But when a child is found buried in the woods, Rachel is arrested.

    So comes an investigation, public trial, and unforgettable characters: gouty investigator Thomas Bartwain, fiery Elizabeth Lilburne and her revolution-chasing husband, Huguenot glover Mary Du Gard, and others. Spinning within are Rachel and William, their remarkable love story, and the miracles that come to even the commonest lives.

    Fans of Fingersmith and The Dress Lodger will love Accidents of Providence, absorbing historical fiction featuring Rachel Lockyer, a character wronged by her time and the kind of woman forgotten by history, whose love affair leads to her trial for murder.


    The Union Quilters (Elm Creek Quilts Series #17)The Union Quilters (Elm Creek Quilts Series #17) 

  • Jennifer Chiaverini





  • Synopsis

  • "Chiaverini has once again written an intense and beautiful book-so much so that readers will almost hear the hollow echo of the fife and drum as they immerse themselves in every compelling page . . . Truly unforgettable."
    -BookPage
    In 1862, the men of Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, rally to President Lincoln's call while Dorothea Granger marshals her friends to "wield their needles for the Union." Meanwhile, Anneke Bergstrom hides the shame she feels for her husband's pacifism; gifted writer Gerda Bergstrom takes on local Southern sympathizers in the pages of the Water's Ford Register; and Constance Wright struggles to help her husband gain entry to the Union Army-despite the color of his skin. As the women work, hope, and pray, the men they love confront loneliness, boredom, and danger on the battlefield. But the women of the sewing circle also forge a new independence that will forever alter the patchwork of life in the Elm Creek Valley.


    The Weird Sisters

    The Weird Sisters 

  • Eleanor Brown





  • Synopsis

  • This is the "delightful" (PeopleNew York Times bestseller that's earned raves from Sarah Blake, Helen Simonson, and reviewers everywhere-the story of three sisters who love each other, but just don't happen to like each other very much...
    Three sisters have returned to their childhood home, reuniting the eccentric Andreas family. Here, books are a passion (there is no problem a library card can't solve) and TV is something other people watch. Their father-a professor of Shakespeare who speaks almost exclusively in verse-named them after the Bard's heroines. It's a lot to live up to.
    The sisters have a hard time communicating with their parents and their lovers, but especially with one another. What can the shy homebody eldest sister, the fast-living middle child, and the bohemian youngest sibling have in common? Only that none has found life to be what was expected; and now, faced with their parents' frailty and their own personal disappointments, not even a book can solve what ails them...


    Left for DeadLeft for Dead 

  • J. A. Jance





  • Synopsis

  • Ali Reynolds investigates two shocking cases of victims brutally left for dead in New York Times bestselling J.A. Jance’s latest mystery-thriller. When Santa Cruz County deputy sheriff Jose Reyes, Ali’s classmate from the Arizona Police Academy, is gunned down and left to die, he is at first assumed to be an innocent victim of the drug wars escalating across the border. But the crime scene investigation shows there’s much more to it than that, and soon he and his pregnant wife, Teresa, both fall under suspicion of wrongdoing.Ali owes Reyes a debt of gratitude for the help he gave her years earlier when she was dealing with a troubled friend. When she’s summoned to his bedside at Physicians Medical Center in Tucson, it’s impossible for her to turn away. And knowing Reyes as well as she does, Ali finds it hard to believe that he’s become mixed up in the drug trade, despite evidence to the contrary. Upon arriving at the hospital, Ali finds that her good friend, Sister Anselm, is there, too—working as a patient advocate on behalf of another seriously injured victim, an unidentified young woman presumed to be an illegal border crosser, who was raped and savagely beaten.Ali becomes determined to seek justice in both cases and secure safety for both victims. Together with Sister Anselm and a conscientious officer who won’t let the case drop despite pressure from above, Ali digs for clues to find the true culprits. Fast-paced, tension-filled, and intriguingly complex, Left for Dead is J.A. Jance at her riveting best.


    Oath of OfficeOath of Office 

  • Michael Palmer





  • Synopsis

  • From the New York Times bestselling author of A Heartbeat Away and The Last Surgeon comes a shocking new novel at the crossroads of politics and medicine. 
    What if a well respected doctor inexplicably goes on a murderous rampage?
    When Dr. John Meacham goes on a shooting spree the office, his business partner, staff, and two patients are killed in the bloodbath.  Then Meacham turns the gun on himself.
    The blame falls on Dr. Lou Welcome.  Welcome worked with Meacham years before as a counselor after John's medical license had been revoked for drug addiction.  Lou knew that John was an excellent doctor and deserved to be practicing medicine and fought hard for his license to be restored.  After hearing the news of the violent outburst, Lou is in shock like everyone else, but mostly he's incredulous.  And when he begins to look into it further, the terrifying evidence he finds takes him down a path to an unspeakable conspiracy that seems to lead directly to the White House and those in the highest positions of power. 


    The World of the Hunger GamesThe World of the Hunger Games 


  • Kate Egan,

  • Scholastic, Inc. Staff


  • Synopsis
    This is the definitive, full-color guide to Panem. Gorgeous photographs from the movie make this a rich visual dictionary for the incredible world that Suzanne Collins created and that has come to life on the big screen. It showcases the major players and participants in The Hunger Games, the life and home of Katniss Everdeen, and the perils of the Games themselves—injuries, fire, muttations, and all the rest. A glossary and new quotes from Suzanne Collins herself complete the package. Fans of both the Hunger Games novels and the stunning forthcoming film will treasure this book.




    The Winter GhostsThe Winter Ghosts 

  • Kate Mosse





  • Synopsis

  • From the New York Times bestselling author of Sepulchre and Labyrinth-a compelling story of love, ghosts and remembrance.
    World War I robbed England and France of an entire generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson's case, the battlefields took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution, Freddie is travelling through the beautiful but forbidding French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Freezing and dazed, he stumbles through the woods, emerging in a tiny village, where he finds an inn to wait out the blizzard. There he meets Fabrissa, a lovely young woman also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, Freddie will have unearthed a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries, and discovered his own role in the life of this old remote town.
    By turns thrilling, poignant, and haunting, this is a story of two lives touched by war and transformed by courage.


    Death of a Kingfisher (Hamish Macbeth Series #28)Death of a Kingfisher (Hamish Macbeth Series #28) 

  • M. C. Beaton





  • Synopsis

  • When Scotland is hit by the recession, Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices that the Highland people are forced to come up with inventive ways to lure tourists to their sleepy towns. The quaint village of Braikie doesn't have much to offer, other than a place of rare beauty called Buchan's Wood, which was bequeathed to the town. The savvy local tourist director renames the woods "The Fairy Glen," and has brochures printed with a beautiful photograph of a kingfisher rising from a pond on the cover.
    It isn't long before coach tours begin to arrive. But just as the town's luck starts to turn, a kingfisher is found hanging from a branch in the woods with a noose around its neck. As a wave of vandalism threatens to ruin Braikie forever, the town turns to Hamish Macbeth. And when violence strikes again,the lawman's investigation quickly turns from animal cruelty to murder.


    Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese CharactersPet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters 

  • Christoph Niemann,

  • Christoph Niemann (Illustrator) (Children's)


  • Synopsis
    Meet Lin and her pet dragon!
    When the dragon mysteriously disappears, Lin sets off on a journey to find her best friend . . . and readers set off on a journey of learning and discovery.
    By ingeniously integrating written Chinese characters into the illustrations as the story progresses, Christoph Niemann has created a book that is engrossing, unique, and memorable. The Pet Dragon is a playful introduction to the fascinating world of Chinese language and culture . . . and a terrific story to share with children everywhere.
    You are invited to join Lin for an adventure you will not soon forget!

    Red SledRed Sled 

  • Lita Judge,

  • Lita Judge (Illustrator) (Children's)





  • Synopsis

  • In this almost wordless picture book, a host of woodland creatures take a child's sled for a nighttime joy ride. Their whimsical ride is gorgeously depicted in bold watercolor, complemented by humorous expressions and pitch-perfect sound effects. With a timeless tone and classic characters, RED SLED will become a wintertime favorite.

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