AHML Staff Choices

Check the catalog for this item. Rosemary Mahoney provides travel writing at it’s finest by injecting her humor and perseverance on her trip down the nile. The author faces crocodiles, dangerous river currents and most of all the stongly held beliefs from the local men about the merits of a foreign woman.
This book highlights the cultural differences yet still enlightens the reader about the richness of Egyptian culture and history. I think if you liked “Desert Queen” you would enjoy this book.

Check the catalog for this item. The story of the Thusday Night Drinking Club, four early thirties friends who meet once a week to discuss their lives. Thers is Alex the bartender,Jenn, Mitch and Ian, one night while playing one of their “What would you do with 50,000 dollars game Alex suggests they rob his boss Johnny Love. They think he’s kidding but after a couple of days they convince themselves that it would be easy and they plot their job. The fun starts when they pull the heist but a major snafu leads to murder and more. This is fast well written crime story with good characters and a great Chicago setting.

Check the catalog for this item. I have read all of this authors books and this is his newest entry, it’s another Cotton Malone lead thriller.
Cotton his former boss Stephanie and his friend and sponsor Henrik Thorvaldson embark on a collision course to find Napoleon’s lost treasure and keep an evil cartel from bringing ruin to the world’s financial markets.
I enjoy Berry’s books and this one is fun and has a lot of Napoleonic history which I loved, an easy fun read.

Check the catalog for this item. This is the story of five people in Tokyo who’s lives interact between midnight and dawn.
There is a musician, two sisters a hotel manager and a prostitute, one of the sisters has been sleeping for days, all is not what it seems. I found this book magical and disturbing and it stuck with me for days, the writing is spare yet very decriptive and great character development.
If you like David Lynch, Franz Kafka give this a look.

Check the catalog for this item. Harry Pappas head of the “Persia Desk” at the C.I.A is surprised to receive an E-mail from an Iranian scientist indicating he would like to share info on Iran’s nuclear program, this is the start of this tense spy thriller.
The author is a mideast expert and columnist for the “Washington Post” so you get the feeling you are really getting the inside scoop.
The tale leads Pappas to his counterpart in British Intelligence and has them racing against time to find the Iranian Dr. before the U.S administration attacks Iran.
I think this book would appeal to readers of LeCarre and those who enjoy political thrillers that are not led by action and violence only.

Check the catalog for this item. The story of the Becker and Vonn families set in Orange County starting in the mid 50’s and culminating in 1968. The four Becker son’s Nick the cop, Andy the reporter, David the Minister and Clay the star who is killed in Vietnam in 1966, the Vonn’s a poor family from Oklahoma with two violent and surly boy’s and two ptretty girl’s ,the two families lives entertwine throughout this novel in violent and loving ways, including murder.
The plot is multi layered and revolves around the murder of young Janelle Vonn,through the eyes of Andy Becker we meet Nixon, Leary, and Charlie Manson as he lives through 1968 in Southern California while trying to solve Janelle’s mrder.
I enjoyed the writing and intricate plot and the author’s description of 60’s CaLifornia was spot on.

Check the catalog for this item. I read this new book only because I was and to some extent still am a Rolling Stones fan, if you liked the movie “Almost Famous” you might enjoy this book. The author was a huge Stones fan growing up in Brooklyn in the disco 80’s, he started a Fanzine called “Beggars Banquet” and at seventeen managed to track down Ron Wood and give him a copy. The Stones were living in New York in the 8o’s and the this 17 year old kid managed to become a marginal part of the inner circle. The book has a lot of behind the scene tales of the band’s relationships and was quite heady stuff for a kid. I enjoyed the book but it came at a time when the Stone’s were going corporate and the bad boy partying except for Wood and Richards were over.

Check the catalog for this item. This is the newest in the Myron Bolitar series. The sports agent gets a frantic call from a former lover who he hasn’t seen in eight years, she needs him to come to Paris to help her find her ex-husband. Myron obliges and learns there is a lot she hasn’t told him, when her ex shows up dead Myron try’s to find the killer. The search leads to Myron and Therese being chased and getting invoved with French Police, Interpol, Mossad and terrorists, it’s fast paced and has great locales in both Paris and London. A fun , fast, page turner

Check the catalog for this item. This is a food-travel book by the host of the Travel show “No Reservations”. The author takes us on a world tour in search of the perfect meal,from poisonous Fugu fish in Tokyo to live Cobra heart in Saigon to sothern France where 40 years ago he had his first oyster.
This book is funny,he writes like Hunter S. Thompson,and would be enjoyed by travel and foodie fans alike. I also would reccomend “Kitchen Confidential” by the same author.

Check the catalog for this item. This is the fourth book in the “Elvis Cole” series by this author that I’ve read and they just keep getting better.
The story is a complex one involving the murder of  a former girlfriend of Cole’s partner Joe Pike, it leads to a series of five other murders and the framing of Pike.
The plot is complicated involving police coverups and old grudges, yet we learn more about Pike and Cole’s past. The fleshing out of these two let’s you understand why they do what they do and how they got to their present places in life.
I loved this book and am looking forward to more.