From Publishers Weekly

"D" is for Detective Kinsey Millhone, given $25,000 of stolen drug money by a drunkard named Daggett who then dies in a drowning. When she decides to deliver the money to Daggett's designee, a young man who was the sole survivor of an auto accident perpetrated by Daggett, Kinsey finds herself in a dilemma: too many "D's" are after the loot. There are two Mrs. Daggetts, a daughter, the drug dealers and a determined killer who soon claims a second life. At this point, Grafton's lively, well-written adventure develops a deadly flaw. Kinsey comes upon the second victim shortly after he's been shot. Though dying, he is conscious and coherent. Why, then, doesn't she ask who did it? When asked the same thing by the police, she says, "I didn't want the last minutes of his life taken up with that stuff"a humane but unlikely rejoiner from any private eye. Even so, the pleasure of this story comes through. Let's give it a "D" for Dandy.

Natalie Greco loves being a law professor, even though she can't keep her students from cruising sex.com during class and secretly feels like Faculty Comic Relief. She loves her family, too, but as a bookworm, doesn't quite fit into the cult of Greco football, headed by her father, the team captain. The one person she feels most connected to is her colleague, Angus Holt, a guy with a brilliant mind, a great sense of humor, a gorgeous facade, and a penchant for helping those less fortunate. When he talks Nat into teaching a class at a local prison, her comfortably imperfect world turns upside down.A violent prison riot breaks out during the class, and in the chaos, Nat rushes to help a grievously injured prison guard. Before he dies, he asks her to deliver a cryptic message with his last words: "Tell my wife it's under the floor."The dying declaration plunges Nat into a nightmare. Suddenly, the girl who has always followed the letter of the law finds herself suspected of a brutal murder and encounters threats to her life around every curve. Now not only are the cops after her, but ruthless killers are desperate to keep her from exposing their secret. In the meantime, she gets dangerously close to Angus, whose warmth, strength, and ponytail shake her dedication to her safe boyfriend.With her love life in jeopardy, her career in the balance, and her life on the line, Nat must rely on her resources, her intelligence, and her courage. Forced into hiding to stay alive, she sets out to save herself by deciphering the puzzle behind the dead guard's last words… and learns the secret to the greatest puzzle of all-herself.Filled with the ingenious twists, pulse-pounding narrative drive, and dynamic, flesh-and-blood characters that are the hallmarks of her bestsellers, Daddy's Girl is another wild, entertaining ride about love, family, and justice from the addictively readable Lisa Scottoline.

El cubano (La Habana, 1959) José Carlos Somoza quedó finalista del Nadal del 2.000 con esta complicada novela donde se plantea el conflicto entre el mundo `real` y el literario. La sociedad que imagina Somoza, aunque no necesariamente utópica ni ucrónica (transcurre en un Madrid reconocible y en tiempos contemporáneos), es la de la preponderancia de lo literario, de lo narrativo. Hay una macroeditorial, SALMACIS, omnipotente que además es sólo la terminal ibérica de una todavía mayor multinacional. En esta sociedad donde `todo el mundo escribe`, un escritor de fama, Juan Cobo, ha sufrido un accidente de automóvil y ha quedado amnésico. Recuerda vagamente haber entrevisto a una dama misteriosa de la que cree haberse enamorado y cuya pista sigue. Por aquí aparecen cosas bizarras como un restaurante `literario` donde los comensales, mientras restauran sus fuerzas, escriben en unos folios que les facilitan los siempre solícitos camareros. Algún día estos fragmentos serán editados. También aparece un curioso detective literario que se dedica, entre otras cosas, a detectar plagios e intertextualizaciones varias.

Según explica el flamante propietario de SALMACIS, la novela del siglo XIX presenció el predominio del personaje (Madame Bovary v.g.), el XX contempló el ascenso y la dictadura del autor, pero el XXI es el tiempo del editor. Será -¿es?- el editor quien conciba el libro y luego le de forma, recurriendo al autor como uno más dentro de la industria editorial (junto a correctores, `negros`, ilustradores, maquetadores, etc.), y sus preferencias van por la gran novela coral. Como una que aparece en `Dafne Desvanecida`, en la que se afanan docenas de anónimos escritores a sueldo, plasmando la cotidianidad de un día en la vida de Madrid. La obsesión del editor por las descripciones literales de la realidad no es, en todo caso, casual, ya que él es ciego y, como le gusta recalcar, sólo conoce las cosas a través de la lectura (en su caso no dice si Braille o en voz alta por otra persona).

En este mundo los libros alcanzan su relieve más por la solapa que por el interior. Lo importante, recalca el detective Neirs, es la solapa. Ella nos explica cómo hay que leer el libro. La cuestión no es baladí, y él lo explica. No es igual leer la Biblia como la verdad revelada de un dios omnipotente que leerla como lo que es, una colección de chascarrillos folklóricos de un pueblo de pastores del Sinaí. Pensemos, nos aconseja, en que si las `Mil Y Una Noches` se hubiera interpretado como la Palabra de Dios (es decir, si la `solapa` mantuviera tal), `muchos devotos hubieran muerto por Aladino, o habrían sido torturados por negar a Scherezade…`.

Existen también los `modelos literarios`, algunas bellísimas como esa Musa Gabbler Ochoa que se ofrece, voluptuosa, a Juan Cobo, invitándole a que la maltrate, como acaba de contarle que hacía su padre cuando era niña. Pero Cobo descubre en el apartamento de la Musa a un `voyeur`, no un voyeur sexual, sino literario, que emboscado tras unos biombos toma nota febrilmente de la escena. Después se dará cuenta de que la Gabbler se gana así la vida y le ha metido como involuntario `modelo literario` en su vida, notando cómo les sigue otro aparente `voyeur` que garrapatea subrepticiamente desde los portales y esquinas…

Pero nada es lo que parece. Cobos, en su búsqueda de la bella desconocida, a la que creyó entrever antes de su accidente en el restaurante literario (y que NO es la Gabbler), será sometido a un engaño y a un chantaje. Se le hace creer que un escritor zumbado la tiene secuestrada y que va a matarla entre torturas, como pura experiencia literaria. Mientras haga esto, irá publicando unos textos donde la mujer real va desapareciendo como mero personaje literario. Él debe hacer lo contrario, contra reloj, darle características reales, sin miedo a caer en el prosaísmo (la pinta vulgar, casi fea, aunque con un remoto brillo de belleza en los ojos). Cobos, como un loco, apremiado por el detective, lo hará. Para descubrir luego, de boca del editor de SALMACIS, que todo es mentira, que ha sido inducido a ello para obligarle a escribir. Pero incluso su accidente es falso y la amnesia fue provocada ¡Con su consentimiento! (según demuestra un contrato que él firmó antes de la intervención).

Scarlet ‘Cairo’ Sloane fired up another Dunhill and waved out the match. Beyond the Escalade’s tinted windows the busy streets of Karachi’s Noor Jahan Market district buzzed with life under the baking Pakistani sun.

She blew the smoke into the SUV’s cab, drawing a weary glance from her superior officer, Captain Clive Hudson. Taking the hint, she lowered the window an inch and redirected her exhaust fumes into the street outside.

As a freshly-minted lieutenant she had transferred out of the Parachute Regiment into the Special Air Service only three months ago and she was still finding her feet in the distinct atmosphere of the world’s most elite Special Forces Regiment. Hudson had worked hard to fit her in, but the note of recommendation from her CO in the Paras — Major Richard Eden — had sealed the deal among the others in the squad. There weren’t many people in this close-knit world who had not heard of the notorious Cairo Sloane.

El hallazgo de los cadáveres de dos mujeres en el Bronx despierta la preocupación de la policía. El asesino se ensañó con las víctimas, las destripó y con su sangre pintó un lienzo que dejó como macabra firma personal en la escena del crimen. Kate McKinnon historiadora del arte y ex policía es contactada para llevar a cabo la investigación. Aunque reacia en un principio a involucrarse en el tema, McKinnon se verá empujada a hacerlo cuando el asesino, de forma brutal, reclame su atención. A medida que se suceden los crímenes, siempre acompañados del particular sello del homicida, McKinnon irá haciéndose una idea más definida del ser que se halla detrás de los mismos y descubrirá que se enfrenta a un psicópata con una extraña obsesión por el arte. Jonathan Santlofer autor de El artista de la muerte, además de reputado pintor estadounidense vuelca tensión y suspense en un thriller que toma Nueva York como escenario para presentarnos a una investigadora que debe apoyarse en sus conocimientos de arte, sus antiguos compañeros de la policía y un psiquiatra para frenar los arrebatos de un perverso asesino en serie.

From New York Times bestseller John Lescroart comes an explosive look at the seductive power of revenge and the terrible costs of justice.

The Curtlees are the most powerful family in San Francisco, unscrupulous billionaires who ve lined every important pocket in the Bay Area in pursuit of their own ascent. So when the family's heir, Ro Curtlee, was convicted of rape and murder a decade ago, the fallout for those who helped to bring him to justice was swift and uncompromising. The jury foreman was fired from his job and blacklisted in his industry. The lead prosecutor was pushed off the fast track, her dreams of becoming DA dashed. And head homicide detective Abe Glitsky was reassigned to the police department s payroll office. Eventually, all three were able to rebuild their fragile, damaged lives.

And then Ro Curtlee's lawyers won him a retrial, and he was released from jail.

Within twenty-four hours, a fire destroys the home of the original trial's star witness, her abused remains discovered in the ruins. When a second fire claims a participant in the case, Abe is convinced: Ro is out for revenge. But with no hard evidence and an on-the-take media eager to vilify anyone who challenges Ro, can Abe stop the violence before he finds himself in its crosshairs? How much more can he sacrifice to put Ro back behind bars? And just how far across the line is he prepared to go in pursuit of justice?

The hostages are young: a bus full of teenagers on a church mission. The ransom demands are explicit: deliver three million dollars-with zero involvement from law enforcement-or all captives will be executed. But rescue specialist Jonathan Grave doesn't believe in ultimatums. For him and his elite team at Security Solutions, it's all about protecting the innocent. Now Grave must face the chilling possibility that someone within the U.S. government has a deadly secret to protect-one that could jeopardize national security like never before…

During a fleet exercise in India, Alan Craik faces a minefield of explosive events that threaten to tear the country and a U.S. battlegroup apart. A military base is attacked by "fringe elements," an Indian submarine mutinies and then shoots down a U.S. Navy aircraft, and a group of Indian scientists are killed when they are attacked with Sarin gas. Craik, ignoring the conventional wisdom that the incidents are unrelated, believes that a fanatical group have control of certain elements of both the Indian government and its armed forces. Then the rebels seize part of India's nuclear arsenal. Suddenly, a U.S. carrier battle group joins Pakistan, China, and Saudi Arabia on the target list. The world is faced with the spectacle of a nuclear-capable nation in the hands of a self-destructive religious cult, and it's up to Craik and a team of specialists to re-capture the nukes and prevent massive devastation. But with time running out and the cult leader still at large, are they already too late?

All eyes are on the Middle East. Israel has successfully launched a first strike on Iran, taking out all of their nuclear sites and six of their nuclear warheads — and causing The Twelfth Imam to order a full-scale retaliation. US President William Jackson threatens to support a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Jewish State for unprovoked and unwarranted acts of aggression.

Meanwhile, CIA operative David Shirazi has infiltrated the Iranian regime and intercepted information indicating that two Iranian nuclear warheads survived the attack and have been moved to a secure and undisclosed location. In danger not only from the ongoing missile strikes on Iran but also from the increasingly hostile and suspicious governments of multiple countries, David and his team are in a race against time to find the remaining nuclear warheads before disaster strikes.

El comisario Harald se enfrenta al caso más difícil de su carrera: en un apacible paraje de la ciudad de Forshälla, en Finlandia, ha sido hallado el cadáver de una mujer joven, sin ojos y con una «A» grabada en el estómago. A este cadáver le siguen otros dos que presentan mutilaciones similares.

El veterano policía, famoso por meterse en la piel del asesino más allá de los límites de lo razonable, solo cuenta con una pista: unas cartas halladas en casa de las víctimas donde estas confiesan sus secretos más íntimos, sus culpas y sus pecados. Cuando él también recibe una carta, la trama da un giro inesperado que conducirá al desconcertado lector a descubrir al asesino, antes que el propio comisario Harald, en un sorprendente final.

Agent Pendergast has become one of crime fiction's most endearing characters. His greatest enemy is one who has stalked him all of his life, his cunning and diabolical brother Diogenes. And Diogenes has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, several of the people closest to Pendergast are viciously murdered, and Pendergast is framed for the deeds. On the run from federal authorities, with only the help of his old friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Pendergast must stop his brother. But how can he stop a man that is his intellectual equal-one who has had 20 years to plan the world's most horrendous crime?

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Three Sisters Island, coast of New England, present day

Sensuality rating: 6

Perennial New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts's new Three Sisters Island trilogy is pure magic! No, I mean really magic. An intriguing combination of The Witches of Eastwick and Sleeping With the Enemy, Dance Upon the Air introduces readers to the idyllic town of Three Sisters Island. Reputedly conjured by a trio of sisters seeking to escape the Salem witch-hunts, the island remains a place of quiet refuge for one and all, including pretty Nell Channing who arrives in town afraid of her own shadow, with few possessions and no past. But the warm, sunny days and cool, windswept nights, as well as the loving concern of new friends-especially hunky sheriff Zack Todd-soon lure skittish Nell into a much-welcome fresh life. Nell's new boss, the captivatingly lovely bookstore owner Mia Devlin (look for Mia's story, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future), wonders from what or whom Nell is running. Mia treats Nell as she would a sister, which isn't too far off the mark, helping Nell discover and explore her inner resources while Zack's romantic attentions bring a rosy glow to Nell's cheeks and to her future. But something wicked this way comes… Will Nell be ready to face and conquer her past? Even with the love and support of Mia, Zack, and Zack's fellow police officer, his peppery, down-to-earth sister Ripley, Nell has the fight of her life-the fight for her life-on her hands. Roberts continues to delight fans and create new believers with her talent and imagination.

From Publishers Weekly

The first installment of Roberts's newest trilogy set on Three Sisters island invokes the sensitive characterizations and magic that distinguished her previous trilogy (Jewels of the Sun; Tears of the Moon; Heart of the Sea). An enchanted island off the coast of Massachusetts, Three Sisters was formed as a sanctuary by three frightened witches fleeing persecution. Although the witches found peace on the island, each of them entered into an ill-fated relationship and died tragically. Now their descendants Nell Channing, Ripley Todd and Mia Devlin have to break the pattern set by their foremothers, or the island will sink. This first book focuses on Nell, a newcomer to the island who escaped her abusive husband by staging her death. Nell is unaware that she's a witch, but she is instinctively drawn to the island and secures a job as a chef in the caf‚ owned by Mia. Between coping with her bleak memories and deciding whether she can give her heart to Zach Todd, Ripley's brother and the island sheriff, Nell has little time to digest the discovery that she's a witch. In the end, however, Nell will have to come to terms with her newfound powers so that she can fight her all-too-demented husband. It's probably witchcraft that Roberts can turn out so many books and still create something that's sexy and charming, but in this tale, it's evident that she hasn't lost her fairy touch. (June 5)Forecast: No stranger to bestseller lists, Roberts triumphed in 2000 with the release of two hardcovers and eight mass market paperbacks, seven of which sold in the millions. National radio advertising and print advertisements in USA Today will ensure that her latest hits the big time as well.

It was the revelation of the millennium: witches, werewolves, vampires and other supernaturals are real. Fast-forward 13 years: TV reporter Delilah Street used to cover the small-town bogeyman beat back in Kansas, but now, in high-octane Las Vegas – which is run by a werewolf mob – she finds herself holding back the gates of Hell itself. But at least she has a hot new guy and one big bad wolfhound to help her out…

The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells – the greatest power is the power to create.

Daniel has that power.

Daniel's secret abilities – like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses – have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone could imagine.

From the day that his parents were brutally murdered in front of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he has located the killer.

Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission-and to have vengeance in the process.

An anthology of stories

Extreme sports. Extreme future. Extreme collection.

Science fiction's most expert dreamers envision the computerized, high-risk games of the future in this winning collection. Features Robert Sheckley, Cory Doctorow, Kate Wilhelm, Alastair Reynolds, Vernor Vinge, Jonathan Letham, Gwyneth Jones, William Browning Spencer, Allen Steele, Terry Dowling, and Jason Stoddard.

The third of the castle novels will take the reader ever deeper into a world of beauty and terror. A world led by an immortal emperor and the circle; his 50 immortal helpers. It is a world with an absentee god, a world that has been fighting a war against giant insects. A world like no other. There will be more insights into Jant, the emperors vain winged messenger, and the shift, the surreal other life Jant enters when he overdoses on his drug of choice and where he meets the dead in a land that defies logic. This is a fantasy series like no other – a literary fantasy with the verve and originality to stand alongside the best of Mervyn Peake, M. John Harrison and China Mieville.

DESCRIPTION: From some of the greatest literary minds of our time comes a collection of stories about dangerous women.

With an unprecedented lineup of authors, Mysterious Press proudly presents an extraordinary collection of short stories. Lorenzo Carcaterra, Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, J.A. Jance, Andrew Klavan, Elmore Leonard, Laura Lippman, Ed McBain, Jay McInerney, Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin, S.J. Rozan, and Thomas H. Cook combine their talents in a collection which is certain to find a large audience eager to read stories by some of the most distinguished names in the genre.

Depuis sa rupture avec Camille, Adamsberg est devenu l'ombre de lui-même. Il en est même à courir après une revenante ! De tombes ouvertes en reliques disparues, d'évasion de prison en sacrifices d'animaux, il ne manquait plus que deux cadavres retrouvés égorgés dans Paris. La nonne, morte en 1771, qui hante sa nouvelle maison serait-elle responsable de ces drames ? Adamsberg a du mal à y croire. Et pourtant.

Humour, audace, génie des atmosphères et des personnages secondaires, écriture à la fois épurée et évocatrice… Dans les bois éternels, entre polar et tragédie grecque, est un petit bijou.

LE MAGAZINE LITTÉRAIRE

FRED VARGAS, archéologue de métier, a créé le rompol, genre littéraire à part entière, où la narration est empreinte d'humour, de liberté, et de poésie. Ses romans ont fait l’objet d'adaptations cinématographiques et télévisuelles et son œuvre est désormais traduite dans plus de trente pays.

The fourteenth book in the New York Times bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series: sharp, sassy, sexy and bloody good fun.