The Heist by Daniel Silva Harper Collins, $27.99, 467 pages, ISBN 978-0-06-232005-6 One of the greatest tragedies in the world today—and God knows there’s no shortage of them to choose from—is the huge and ever-expanding loss of the world’s art heritage due to theft . . . crimes that are often underwritten by some of the globe’s wealthiest citizens and performed by teams of well organized professional criminals. The
The Painter by Peter Heller Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House, $24.95, 365 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-35209-3 I keep a couple of different stacks of books to be reviewed in my office—actually it’s our dining room table–at all times. The stacks increase and decrease as I read and review, and sometimes, a new novel gets inadvertently shoved down the pile . . . which means that it doesn’t get the attention
Prayer by Philip Kerr Putnam/Penguin, $26.95, 409 pages, ISBN 978-0-399-16765-2 Across the world today, debates are raging between believers and non-believers about the existence of God, and the power of prayer. Radicals are trying to establish theocracies where everyone will adhere to strict religious law, as in Iran, where there’s no separation between church and State, because the church is the government. It’s where religious authority figures interpret the
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu Alfred A. Knopf, $25.95, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-34998-7 This week’s MBR is a diversion from our usual focus on the mystery and crime fiction genres, to take a brief sojourn into literary fiction with a novel about a love affair and the intersection of two wholly different cultures during the 1970s—a time when the entire world was adjusting to a new reality. All
The Girl With A Clock For A Heart by Peter Swanson William Morrow/ Harper Collins Publishers, $25.99, 292 pages, ISBN 978-0-06-226749-8 Have you ever known someone who was so infatuated with another person, so head-over-heels and goofy in love that they would do anything—endure any hardship or humiliation—just to be around that other person . . . even when they knew beforehand that they’d be taken advantage of, or
Hold the Dark by William Giraldi Liveright Publishing / W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., $24.95, 203 pages, ISBN 978-0-87140-667-5 There’s an ongoing battle between humans and nature that is eternal in character and inevitable in prospect; Mother Nature always wins in the end. But that doesn’t mean we humans will ever stop trying—look anywhere on Earth and one can find places where men and women have built structures to
Invisible City by Julia Dahl Minotaur Books, $24.99, 298 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-04339-9 Have you ever thought about any of the subcultures which exist in the midst of what we call ‘normal’ or regular society? Religious groups like the Amish, Mennonites, Hare Krishna’s, Islamist’s, Mormons, Sikhs and Hindus are all stitched into the fabric of America in plain sight . . . yet remain secretive and mostly unknown by all
The Final Silence by Stuart Neville Soho Press, Inc., $26.95, 340 pages, ISBN 978-1-61695-548-9 If you think about it, all of us have two faces. The first is the one we show to the world and the second is our private self—the inner person—the person we truly are, where our secret interests lie. Usually they’re harmless enough . . . a dedicated coin or stamp collector for instance, maybe
Sometimes the Wolf by Urban Waite Wm Morrow/Harper Collins, $26.99, 277 pages, ISBN 978-0-06-221691-5 Falling from grace, for whatever reason, has been an enduring theme throughout human history and all of world literature. Whether it’s from individual malfeasance, political upheaval or personal relationships gone bad, we humans seem endlessly fascinated when the high and mighty ‘take their licks’ and ‘get theirs.’ Sometimes the Wolf, by up-and-coming author Urban Waite,
Night Heron by Adam Brookes Little Brown and Co., $26.00, 387 pages, ISBN 978-0-7515-5248-5 The next war between the superpowers will most likely take place in cyberspace, because that’s where all the world’s command and control systems are located . . . and it’s highly probable that in the twenty-first century . . . the coming cyberwars will be fought by multinational corporations rather than governments. Why? The answer