AHML Staff Choices

Check the catalog for this item.

Warning!  After reading this book you might never use a charge/debit card again.  Identity theft is quite the topic these days.  Deaver’s latest book in his Lincoln Rhyme series is about this subject, only on a grand scale.  When we think of identity theft, we tend to internalize.  What if this happens to me?  Deaver takes this to the next level.  Picture about 400,000,000 Americans; each having a 500-page dossier that contains all of their personal/professional/private information, and all this info is stored on a super-computer.  This privately owned and managed computer system is not subject to federal laws and/or guidelines.  To confuse things further, most federal and state government agencies including police forces, rely on the data this company supplies.  The founder and owner of the company’s motto:  “Information is power”.  Deaver’s plot is diabolical.  A serial-killer has found a way to commit murder and have all the evidence point toward an innocent bystander of his preconceived choice.  The killer cannot only plant evidence but manipulate the investigations and investigators.  As usual, Deaver has many characters for his reader’s to choose from that might be the killer.  I guessed wrong and was not pleased.  Author’s note:  The non-fiction book that Deaver got a lot of ideas from is No Place to Hide by Robert O’Harrow, Jr., which is in our collection (303.4833/O’HARROW,R).    �

Check the catalog for this item.

Richard Montanari is my new favorite mystery author.  Merciless is his 6th novel.  His books are about two homicide detective partners from Philadelphia:  Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.  I like the bond that is between both of these characters.  Very supportive and caring.  Both are descendants of cop families.  Byrne is divorced with a deaf-mute teenage daughter that he adores.  Jessica is part-time pro boxer who is married to a pretty-boy vice cop, who once strayed from his wedding vows, and is trying to save their marriage.  They have a precocious 5-year old daughter.   Montanari’s books are always quick-paced and I usually read them at one or two sittings.   Merciless is set in Philadelphia; which can be rough city with a high crime rate.  At times there is a lot of irony in it being known as the City of Brotherly Love.  Merciless is about a serial killer with a Hans Christian Andersen fetish.  If you like mysteries with good character development and a lot of suspense, you enjoy this book.    �

Check the catalog for this item.

Author W.E.B. Griffin is a knowledgeable historian and master of character development.   He has written over 40 novels divided into 6 different series of books primarily dealing with World War II and all of the armed forces’ branches.  His books are always very comprehensive and show great detail toward the time period.  Loyal fans of his have been waiting nearly 10 years for this installment.   I was worried that I would have to reread his last previously written book in this series in order to remember the plot and characters; however, I should have remembered that all of Griffin’s characters are so memorable, that I just fell right into this next chapter in their lives.  Griffin’s characters are generally fictitious, based on real people.  His plots are always based on historic facts written as nonfiction prose.  The Honor Bound series of books deal with U.S.A. Marine aviator, Capt. Frade, and his selection by “Will Bill” Donovan into the OSS (prelude to the C.I.A.)  Frade was born in Argentina and because of political connections in that country is posted there around 1942 to spy.  His “Uncle Tio”is the legendary Col. Juan Peron (who later went on to become the leader of Argentina) who is a Nazi sympathizer.  The major plot line in this book is the seldom talked about extortion scheme the Nazis developed late in the war that released Jewish prisoners held in concentration camps in exchange for gold.  The riches collected were then transported to Argentina, in secret, by submarine; to be stashed for use by high-ranking Nazi officials after they lost the war.�

Check the catalog for this item.

This book is the twelfth in the series of Jack Reacher novels.  I have read all of them and this story is one of the best.  It begins in Colorado with our hero stuck between two towns:  Hope and Despair.  The ex-military police Major and veteran of the first Iraq war is arrested, Rambo-esque, in the town of Despair, tried and convicted without legal council and sentenced to be escorted out of town; told never to return.  Reacher is a man who does not take kindly to being pushed.   He also is a man who is curious.  Why was he given the bum’s rush for no apparent reason?  He figures that the town has something to hide.  Despair is a “company town” owned and run by an elderly man who has the biggest salvage business in the state.   Why would a junk yard need an impregnable fence and roads secured by elite Army police?  As pieces of information are collected, Reacher forms a union with a policewoman from Hope in hopes of finding answers.  Lee Childhas created a character that is a present-day superhero:  A-modern-day-Madonna-like-cowboy living in a materialistic world.  Reacher’s moral code is impeccable.  If he is on your side, you’re blessed with a man who won’t back down until the problem is solved.  If he’s not on your side, look out!  It is refreshing to find a character whose fears in life are not like any normal person.  He is a warrior who is anti-war.  If looking for light-reading to escape reality for as long as it takes to absorb 400 pages of some serious fantasy payback, this is the book.

Check the catalog for this item.

This book a mystery that is historic fiction.  It begins in 1940 with the German occupation of the British Channel Islands during Word War II and the murder of a popular islander girl who was accused of being a “Jerrybag” (a person who consorted with the enemy).   This time in history on the Channel Islands was known as the “perfect occupation” since the occupied and occupiersboth work together to govern the islanders.  Lawbreakers were tried by Bristish court and sent to France by the Nazis for prison terms .  This occupation lasted for about five years.  The black market was a major source of income for both sides.  Slave labor to build defense positions was exported to the Islands and this helped decrease food supplies and other precious resources.  In short, people were thrown together in a seemingly impossible situation and forced to deal with it.  This book develops memorable characters and reinforces the author’s beliefs that there is good and bad in all kinds of people.  It explores the depth of what people are willing to do to survive in tumultuous world during desperate times.  �

Check the catalog for this item.

For those that are not familiar with Burke’s tragic fictional character, Dave “Streak” Robicheaux, this is his 16th novel in this series.  Burke first introduced the alcoholic, Vietnam veteran,  New Orleans police detective in 1987 in Neon Rain.   Both Burke’s writing style and his fictional hero have matured over the years.  Although it is fun to read all 16 books in ascending order, this is not a requirement.  Burke uses a lot of recurring characters and spends just the right amount of time refreshing his reader’s memory on those characters as he adds more depth to them.  This novel takes place just after Katrina wipes out New Orleans.  A family that suffered through a brutal attack prior to the hurricane only to see the crime go unpunished is shocked when they see looters paddle up to the house across the street from them and realize they are the attackers that were never brought to trial.  The question of justice vs. vengeance is shrouded in a time when the law does not prevail.  We had an elderly aunt who had to stay at the Superdome until she got taken to the Astrodome in Houston and then eventually settled in California.  Her stories about her experiences were a lot like some of the experiences that Burke describes.  Burke captures the destitution and hopelessness that still torments the Katrina survivors.  Whenever I read his books I can’t help but feel the humidity he describes or the smell of the magnolias blossoms, or swat at the gnats and mosquitoes.�His settings always seem to come alive and his characters are always tragic and noble, Mon.Â

Check the catalog for this item.

This is Michael Palin’s sixth book. I applaud him for having the forbearing to keep a running diary during probably the most crazy period of his life: The formation and success of Monty Python.  One reads about their not-so-humble beginnings to their million-dollar-grossing hit films. This 650-page book encompasses a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of arguably one of the funniest and most famous British comedy teams of all times.  Read Palin’s insights on all the different personalities of the team’s members. . .their likes and dislikes. . .their loves and losses. . .the rewards and tolls of making it big in an industry that talent and timing is not always enough. I always thought that Palin was the most grounded member of Monty Python and I think this book is confirmation. To be creative and to be able to sustain that creativity for a long period of time and to be able capitalize on it, for most, is only a dream. This book is a must-read for the Monty Python fan and definitely for the anyone who is considering or has ever considered show business as a career.

Check the catalog for this item.

New book by James Patterson is a collaboration with Michael Ledwidge. Patterson introduces a new character, Michael Bennett, who is an Irish, New York City homicide detective and father of 10 adopted kids whose wife has terminal cancer. The two main plots spin from this family preparing for the Christmas holidays and the expected loss of the loving mother to 33 celebrities held hostage in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s like “Dog Day Afternoon” meets “Going My Way.” It is a quick read. I read the 400-page book in a half day. Once again Patterson has a main character (somewhat like Alex Cross) who is a grounded family man who struggles to balance his dangerous career and time-comsuming workload while trying to be the best husband and father he can be. There are some nice twists at the end that are unexpected. This is a good 1st novel and I am already looking forward to the sequel.�If you are a die-hard Patterson fan you won’t be disappointed.