The Bottom Line: An unputdownable conspiracy thriller that deftly explores the consequences of immortality and the nature of unchecked power without ever missing a beat.     North Carolina resident Geoffrey Cannon has a growing reputation as a benevolent healer. He detects illnesses. Like a messiah sent from God, he cures the gravely ill with a touch of his hand. A noted metaphysical author and speaker, he is revered as a source of comfort and hope for people in distress.  But Geoffrey isn’t his real name. Despite his relatively youthful appearance, he’s a former ..read more

The Bottom Line: A literary feast that brings together fans of Connolly’s Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer book series. The great tragedy of Michael Connelly’s otherwise high-quality Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer streaming series is that they exist in a television universe where Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are not related (presumably due to the two series being on competing networks). Thankfully, Connolly has given us Resurrection Walk in the two characters’ shared book universe, which once again finds Harry Bosch coming to the aid of his half-brother Mickey Haller, a.k.a. the Lincoln Lawyer.  ..read more

The Bottom Line: This rapid-fire spy novel features an irresistible premise and brims with ample doses of romance.  A young woman wakes up at City Memorial Hospital with a broken ankle, a concussion, some abrasions on her hands and face – and no recollection of how she got there. The possessions in her hospital room reveal a flip phone and ten dollars, but no identification or credit cards. She knows only that her name might be Jamie. Thankfully, she has left herself a well-marked trail of breadcrumbs leading to essential resources. Around her neck, she finds a locker key with the n ..read more

The Bottom Line: An ingeniously crafted political thriller that is every bit as terrifying as its daunting premise. Fans of Terry Hayes’ I am Pilgrim should move THE RED MUTATION to the top of their reading queue.  THE RED MUTATION begins as a man in black returns to his home village in Northeastern China. He wishes to “honor” the place of his birth with a new biological warfare experiment called Thanatos, which he injects into the local herb doctor. The next morning, the village is sealed by China’s secret police. Two weeks later, Thanatos has all but wiped out the village’s modest popu ..read more

The Bottom Line: One of the year’s most original crime novels, Gary A James’ frightening exploration of fraud in the trucking industry is guaranteed to keep you up at night.  As The Good Driver opens, trucker Max Doren makes a decision he’ll soon regret: hauling a 53-foot van in frigid temperatures from his home base in Buffalo to West Virginia. When the fan in his truck breaks, he decides to stop for help in Pennsylvania. Unable to get hold of his dispatcher, Rick, he ends up paying the mechanic out of his own pocket.  Max’s terrible week soon gets far wors ..read more

The Bottom Line: An uproarious spy spoof that may be Orkin’s most cinematic mission yet.  Since the debut of the wildly funny You Only Live Once, the first book in Haris Orkin’s James Bond satire series, Orkin has been far more prolific than the material that originally inspired him. The latest installment in Orkin’s James Flynn Escapade series, The Spy Who Hated Me, is Orkin’s fifth since the last Bond franchise movie was released.  The new book once again finds the “double 0” operative residing at Pasadena’s City of Roses Psychiatric Institute, which he believe ..read more

The Bottom Line: A must-read thriller about medical ethics and innumerable pressures facing American physicians.  At Seattle’s fictional University Hospital, there’s an unwritten rule banning sick leave for residents. These highly trained, overextended physicians are expected to show up for work unless they are dead. Accordingly, when intern Dr. Jasmine Doherty doesn’t show up for work one morning, death is indeed the reason. When work spreads around the staff that Jasmine took her own life, fellow physician Noah Meier is rocked by the news.  Grief associated with Jasmine’s sui ..read more

The Bottom Line: A small town murder mystery that is anything but small. Right Across the Bay is a must-read whodunnit infused with romance, betrayal and an unforgettable finale.  Set in a seemingly tranquil lakeside community in southwestern Minnesota, Right Across the Bay opens as sheriffs recover the watery remains of fitness guru Britta Baxter. Three decades earlier, Britta and her cousin/BFF Maxine spent summers together at Lake Shetek. Both subsequently went to college, lived in New York and got married. But four years after Britta decid ..read more

The Bottom Line: A riveting historical thriller set at the intersection between white and tribal culture in Arizona. Fans of Dark Winds will love The Relentless Sun.  Set in the 1970s, Relentless Sun begins as archeologist and investigator Harry Thursday embarks on a government mission to Flagstaff, Arizona. Working for the Bureau of Audits and Reclamation (BAR),  a clandestine Pentagon department tasked with finding lost and stolen World War II war booty, Harry returns to Flagstaff for the first time in 20 years. But what begins as an investigation into a mysterious collection of r ..read more

The Bottom Line: Rising Phoenix is an addictive, action-packed spy thriller set in the fascinating geopolitical battleground that is Venezuela. Mark Greaney fans may find a new favorite in Evan Graver.  Rising Phoenix opens in Caracas, Venezuela, as government official Migel Tapia – also known as Cobalt Panther – arrives home to his eerily quiet McMansion. A nightmare awaits him in the master bedroom, where his wife and CIA handler have been bound and gagged by ruthless operatives from the Venezuelan government’s intelligence agency, SEBIN. After witnessing ..read more