By Lee Child
Delacorte Press | 400pgs
Release Date: October 19, 2010

Summary:
Former military policeman Jack Reacher returns in Worth Dying For, the 15th book of Lee Child’s bestselling Reacher series. On the move again after narrowly escaping the deadly events of the previous novel 61 Hours, the battle-scarred hero finds himself in a small town in Nebraska. There, Reacher encounters a scene very different from the idealized mid-western farming communities. The Duncan clan, a small time crime family specializing in smuggling and human trafficking runs the town, and a confrontation with one of the members puts Reacher directly in their cross hairs. When he learns of a years-old case involving a missing eight-year-old girl, his deepening investigation puts the arrival of one of the Duncans’ valuable shipments in jeopardy. The family may be small fish in a big pond, but their partners who are in want of the shipment, are vicious sharks. In order to find justice for the long lost child and stop the Duncans’ intimidation of the town, the wandering hero must square off with a pack of the clan’s well-muscled henchmen, recruited directly from the defensive line of the University of Nebraska football team. Read more…

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy starring the brilliant and enigmatic computer hacker Lisbeth Salander has the taken world by storm. Now, his father Erland, and brother Joakim are scheduled to appear on CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday to share details of a fourth book in the series. After Larsson’s death in 2004, it was revealed that a manuscript for a fourth installment existed, and rumors began to fly about how much of it he was able to develop before being felled by a heart attack. According to an article on the Los Angeles Times website, Erland claims to have seen and held the manuscript. His brother also speaks of receiving an e-mail mere days before the author’s death in which he writes of nearing completion of the book. Read more…

By Anne Fortier
Ballantine Books | 464 pages
Release Date: August 24, 2010

Summary:
The heartbreak that Julie Jacobs feels over the loss of her cherished aunt Rose soon turns to puzzled dismay as she learns the entire estate has been left to Julie’s twin sister, while she herself has only been bequeathed a single key. The mystery and adventure of Anne Fortier’s Juliet, begins with this small key, once owned by Julie’s dead mother, that fits a safety-deposit box in the city of Siena, Italy. The Twenty-five-year-old American travels to Siena and unlocks not only the box, but dangerous secrets about her Italian ancestors. She discovers a familial link to Giulietta Tolomei, a girl who fell in love with a young man from a rival family named Romeo in 1340, all to disastrous effect. This tragic love story went on to be immortalized through the ages by artists and writers, most famously by Shakespeare himself. The letters that Julie finds in the safety-deposit box point to the long hidden treasure of “Juliet’s Eyes,” beautiful jewels that adorn a gold statue. In her quest to find the valuable artifact, she encounters a mysterious contessa as well as intimidating mobsters, and realizes the blood feud that started between ancient families still exists in modern Siena. Alternating between the 21st and 14th centuries, Fortier weaves a story of intrigue and romance centered around one of the world’s most famous couples.
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By Kathy Reichs
Scribner | 320pgs
Release Date: August 24, 2010

Summary:
An unusual death in Quebec drives Dr. Temperance Brennan to dig forty years into the past for answers in Spider Bones, Kathy Reichs’ 13th outing with the forensic anthropologist. Fingerprints identify the victim of drowning, with strange S&M overtones, as John Lowery. But, records show that John Lowery died in Vietnam in 1968, and was buried by his family in North Carolina. How could one man die twice? Brennan exhumes Lowery’s grave and takes the remains to the U.S. military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, in Hawaii to find answers. Things are further complicated when yet another set of remains is discovered, this one entangled with Lowery’s dog tags, and Brennan is also asked to consult on the body of a possible shark attack victim. The good Doctor teams up with Detective Andrew Ryan, her on-again off-again lover, and Honolulu medical examiner Hadley Perry to unravel the twisted mysteries behind all these deaths. Read more…

Author Naomi Hirahara based her crime-solving protagonist, Mas Arai, on an unassuming role model: her father, who started a landscaping and gardening business in the L.A. area after World War II. With no police or military background, a 72-year-old Japanese American gardener may seem an odd choice for an amateur detective, but from the start, the series has won acclaim from both readers and critics. “I’m basically making a character like my father a hero,” says Hirahara in an interview with NPR. “I think all the times I complained that my dad was a gardener and we couldn’t afford this trip or that trip, I’m trying to make up for it by creating this heroic, iconic figure that’s underestimated.” Read more…

By Chevy Stevens
St. Martin’s Press | 352pgs
Release Date: July 6, 2010

Summary:
Annie O’Sullivan, a young realtor on Vancouver Island, deals with the aftermath of her brutal abduction in Still Missing, the debut novel by Chevy Stevens. On a warm day in August, Annie has a lot on her mind during a slow open house, but when a friendly man shows up at the end of the day, her hopes of a sale begin to rise. Instead of brokering a real estate deal, Annie is kidnapped, held captive for a year in a desolate cabin in the wilderness, and repeatedly raped by her captor. The plot interlaces details of her year in hell, told through Annie’s therapy sessions, with her fight to regain normalcy after the ordeal has ended. She may have physically escaped her horrific prison, but is still searching for a vital part of her being that is still missing.
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By Tess Gerritsen
Ballantine Books | 336pgs
Release Date: June 29, 2010

Summary:
Tess Gerritsen’s dynamic duo, detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, return in Ice Cold the eighth installment of the bestselling Rizzoli & Isles series. The novel opens with Isles attending a medical conference in Wyoming, and embarking on an impromptu ski trip with friends. The leisurely outing takes a dangerous turn as their SUV breaks down in the midst of a snow storm, and the group enters the tiny village of Kingdom Come looking for shelter. Isles and friends come upon an unsettling scene; the remote community appears to be hastily abandoned, though there are chilling signs that someone remains, watching. In Boston, a few days later, Rizzoli is notified that Isles’ burned body has been found. This shocking news incites the detective to conduct her own investigation into Kingdom Come, uncovering the village’s malevolent secrets, and learning the truth about Isles’ death. Could this be the end of a beautiful friendship?
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By Stephen King
Scribner | 144pgs
Release Date: May 25, 2010

Just in time for the lazy days of summer and baseball season, comes the release of Blockade Billy, the latest novella from Stephen King. In sharp contrast to the mammoth 1,000+ page Under the Dome released last fall, Blockade Billy is a slim volume centered around Major League Baseball circa 1957. An elderly George “Granny” Grantham, former third-base coach of the New Jersey Titans, recounts the fateful season that an unknown Iowa farm league catcher was called up to help his pro team hobbled by injuries. William Blakely is an odd young man, but boy can he play baseball. He quickly becomes a fan favorite, blowing out rookie batting records and guarding home plate with a fierceness that earns him the nickname “Blockade Billy”. As to be expected in a Stephen King story, the plot takes a dark twist as Billy’s oddness turns sinister and players start to get hurt. His short stint with the Titans is effectively erased from the baseball record books, and only “Granny” can reveal the dangerous truth.
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By Stieg Larsson
Knopf | 576pgs
Release Date: May 25, 2010

Rabid fans of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy rejoice! The final installment, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest arrives in stores tomorrow. The third novel, following The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire opens right where the second novel leaves off. “The Girl” in question, crazy-smart computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, lies in a hospital bed under police guard, suffering a gunshot wound to the head. The man who shot her, arch enemy and father, Alexander Zalachenko, is located a few doors down, convalescing from an ax wound in the head, the blow dealt by his daughter. Besides fighting for her life, Salander must also fight for her freedom as she stands accused of three murders, and will face a trial back in Stockholm, if she survives. She again teams up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist, to clear her name. Working with Salander, mainly through digital communications, and recruiting a group of hackers and journalists to aid in the fight, Blomkvist uncovers a long-term government conspiracy that has hurt many innocent people, chief among them, Lisbeth Salander herself.
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"The Secret of the Old Clock" 1930 edition cover illustrated by Russell Tandy (left). New 80th anniversary limited edition cover (right).

The world’s most famous girl detective turned 80 last week. The Nancy Drew series, beloved by generations of young girls, debuted on April 28, 1930 with three adventures The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery. These would be the first in a series of over 300 books written by numerous writers under the pen name Carolyn Keene. The constant throughout the books was Nancy’s perky, brave and inquisitive character. At the dawn of the series, Nancy was a uniquely independent and capable female lead, and some of today’s most powerful women, including Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, have named her as an early role model. In an interview with USA Today, Melanie Rehak, author of Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her (Mariner Books, 384pgs) explains the character’s lasting popularity. “The writing was formulaic, the plot twists implausible, but it’s Nancy Drew herself, ‘daring, intelligent, with tons of initiative,’ who continues to appeal to young readers,” she says.
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