Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Bury the lead

is a mystery story that is set in New Jersey. Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who recently inherited a small fortune, and has used at least part of that money to establish a dog rescue operation. Then he gets a phone call from a friend, who is also the owner of the local newspaper; Vince needs his help with a problem. One of his reporters, Daniel, has been contacted by a serial killer and now the police have found Daniel at the scene of the most recent murder. The victim is Linda Padilla,a powerful local woman.

When Daniel turns out to be Vince's son, Andy realizes that things are going to get complicated. Together with his girlfriend Laurie, he begins to investigate the case.

This book was interesting: I enjoyed reading it for the characters.

Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Rise and Shine

is the story of two sisters--Bridget and Meghan. Orphaned as little girls, they were raised by their aunt. Meghan married young and became a successful morning news person; she and her husband Evan, a lawyer, have a son named Leo and appear to be the perfect couple. Bridget is still single, an adoring aunt to Leo, and works as a social worker. She has a cop boyfriend named Irving who is older and not wanting to get married, but who loves her.

Meghan is famous and Bridget is used to the ups and downs of being around her sister in public; they have a fairly solid relationship and spend a lot of time together. Then something awful happens: Meghan thinks the microphone is off and utters a couple of taboo words in response to a guest who is acting like a jerk on national TV. About the same time, Evan tells Meghan he wants out of the marriage. Meghan goes to Jamaica to get away from it all.

In the meantime, Bridget tries to carry on, and help take care of Leo, who is a young man by now. Since he's out of school for the summer, she enlists his help as a driver at her social work agency. When Meghan doesn't return, Bridget goes to check on her, and finds her sister transformed. She's lost weight, chopped off her hair, and gotten tanned. She swims miles and miles each day. She also has no interest in returning to her old life.

What finally brings Meghan back to New York is something that I will let the reader discover on her own. However, I found this an engaging book. I liked the characters and was drawn in by Quindlen's description and dialogue. You can find it both the CDbook collection and the Adult Fiction section.

In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Sarah Andrews has written a wonderful series about Em Hansen, a geologist. However,

In Cold Pursuit

, her recent book, features a new character--a young graduate student named Valena Walker. Valena arrives in Antarctica to work with Dr. Emmett Vanderzee, only to find out that he has been arrested in connection with the death of a newspaper reporter the year before. As Valena tries to find out what happened to the reporter, and why her professor has been charged with his murder, she finds herself in awe of the stark beauty of the what the author calls "the last continent."

It turns out that Valena has met Em, and corresponds with her by email. Valena also makes friends with a group of scientists and support people, who are also concerned about the fate of their colleague. Together, they investigate--and then another man dies, and Valena finds herself in danger.

This is a very engaging book -- and a smart one, too. I found myself learning more about the global warming crisis and controversy, as well as its effects on Antarctica. I enjoyed reading about the tight knit group of people who spend time there; however, since the book makes frequent references to snow and ice, very low temperatures, the gear needed to survive in such a harsh environment, and the need to consume food and water in large doses, the reader should beware and grab a snack and a blanket before sitting down with this book!

You can find In Cold Pursuit in the NEW books, with a Mystery sticker on its spine.
You may want to check out Sarah Andrews' website at http://www.sarahandrews.net/. Not only is she a wonderful writer, she is also a geologist herself.

(Photo of the cover of the book was taken from the author's website)

Running Blind by Lee Child

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The fourth book in the Jack Reacher series,

Running Blind

, by Lee Childs is another great read. As the story begins, Jack has settled down for awhile, living in a house left to him by one of his military mentors, Leon Garber. He has been spending time with Jodie, Leon's daughter, and a hard working young lawyer.

Jack gets picked up by the FBI and coerced into helping with an investigation: several women Jack knew in the military have been murdered and they try at first to blame him, saying that he fits the profile their experts developed. Later, they admit they are wrong but still pressure him to serve as a consultant. Jack has to call upon his own training in the military -- plus call in a few favors from old friends -- to unravel the mystery, even as several more women die.

Some of the side plots, such as an investigation into stolen weapons, and the efforts of the FBI to entrap Jack in a compromising situation with a female FBI agent, are interesting. However, it is the description of the crimes, the investigation, and the depiction of uneasy cooperation between the various law enforcement agencies that really caught my interest.

This is another great read for Lee Child's readers (and for Jack Reacher's fans). You can find it in the Fiction section of the Waterloo Public Library.

Tripwire by Lee Child

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Tripwire (1999)by Lee Child is the third book in the Jack Reacher series. When his funds start running low, Jack Reacher finds a temporary job in Florida: by day he's digging pools, and by night he's a bouncer at a local strip club. However, when a private detective starts asking around for him, and then gets killed, Reacher decides he needs to find out who sent the detective and why someone would kill him. His search takes him to a wake in New York state, where the daughter of one of his former military mentors asks for his help.

Once a shy, awkward teenager, Jodie has grown up into a confident, accomplished lawyer. After her father's recent death from cancer, Jodie hired the detective to find Jack. Reacher soon finds himself caught up in completing the task his mentor had been working on before his death--trying to help an old couple still grieving for their son lost in the jungles of Viet Nam. However, the closer he and Jodie get to unraveling what happened to young Victor Hobie, the closer they get to exposing a dangerous man. Early on, several men try to kidnap them. However, it is their boss who is behind the death of the detective--and others. He is a man who seems devoid of emotion, morality, or conscience; he is also a man who has made his fortune off of the stupidity and greed of others.

This is another wonderful read. Beyond telling an interesting story, it gives some insights into the plight of those families still affected by the war in Viet Nam--as well as by the work being done to recover and identify the bodies of soldiers lost in war time.

You can find Tripwire in the adult fiction area of the Waterloo Public Library. You might want to check out the author's website for more details on the series.

Killing Floor by Lee Child

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

I found the first book in the Jack Reacher series, Killing Floor (1997).
It introduces us to Reacher, a former military policeman, who has become a drifter after peace time leads to the military downsizing. Early in the story, he drifts into the wrong town down south--Margrave, Georgia--and within the hour gets arrested for murder. Before long, it becomes clear that this town is no ordinary town: a large foundation appears to be paying bribes to local businesses, for no visible reason. The chief of police and mayor are working with the foundation, and have become corrupt.

Jack gets held in jail in spite of the fact that he has an alibi; however, the police need to time to verify it. He meets another prisoner, who seems terrified of something that he cannot talk about, and who comes to trust Reacher when the two prisoners are transferred to a larger jail. They are processed and put on the wrong floor--and it is only by Jack's experience dealing with tough guys that they survive.

Later, his alibi is confirmed and Reacher is released. He discovers that at least a few of the town cops are clean, and works with them to unravel the murder that happened shortly before his arrival. When the body of the victim turns out to be his older brother Joe, who worked for the Treasury Department in busting counterfeit money schemes, Reacher decides he cannot walk away from this situation. He will finish Joe's investigation and avenge his brother's brutal murder.

Along the way, he gets romantically involved with a female police officer named Roscoe. He makes friends with a pair of elderly African American barbers, who don't appear to have much business. He gets hired by a frantic wife to find her missing husband -- the prisoner Jack had saved earlier, Hubble.

This book has all of the elements that keep my interest, with well developed characters, dialogue, description, and action. Just don't plan on getting all of your chores done on your "To Do" list until you've turned that last page.

You can find Killing Floor in the adult fiction area of the Waterloo Public Library. You might want to check out the author's website for more details on the series.

Venus by Ben Bova

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Venus (2000) by Ben Bova is the story of a very rich man and his two sons: unfortunately, Alex, the older son and his father's favorite, died several years earlier when his mission to Venus ended with tragedy. Van is the younger son, and has health problems; his mother died during his birth, and Van believes that this is why his father has always treated him so harshly. As the story opens, Martin Humphries is celebrating his 100th birthday on the moon with a lavish party: Van attends reluctantly and finds out that his father is going to disown him in a few months, on Van's next birthday, and that his father has offered a $10 billion award to anyone who goes to Venus to retrieve the body of Alex.

Although Van is physically limited--he has to take several enzyme injections daily--he decides that he will take up the challenge, and much of the early parts of the book detail his efforts to build a ship and acquire a crew. In the meantime, a man who is one of his father's greatest rivals also takes up the challenge: Lars Fuchs made a fortune out in the asteroid belt. Van discovers later that Lars is also the first husband of his mother.

As the mission gets organized, Van's choice of captain gets overturned by his father: Desiree Duchamp shows up and assumes command, bringing her daughter with her, Marguerite, a biological scientist. Van recognizes that there is a rather startling resemblence between the two women, and then finds out that Marguerite is a clone of her mother. Van gets Tomas Rodriguez, an experienced astronaut who had gone to Mars several times, to agree to stay on as the number two person, and they finish work on the ship and fill out the rest of the crew and take off on their mission.

I was fascinated by the characters, description, and storyline of this book; I haven't read anything by Bova before, but knew that he was a prolific and popular Sci Fi writer. Now I know why. Van's story is one of transformation and triumph: the rigors of the mission force him to focus not on his fears and physical limitations, but to take risks and fulfill his promise to find and retrieve his big brother. Along the way he discovers the real reason for his father's bias towards him, and learns to trust his own instincts.

This was a great read, and I plan to check out some of the other titles in the WPL catalog (including Mars, Mercury, Saturn). Ben Bova has a great website, by the way; you might enjoy checking it out for yourself.