Lakis Fourouklas's Blog, page 17
October 24, 2012
Book Review: Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price
Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price is a young adult mystery novel (available October 30, 2012).
As their hardscrabble lives intertwine in a small, corrupt Montana
town, Grace, a scheming runaway; JJ, her spacey foster sister; and Mick,
the hapless son of a petty thief, discover the body of a dead teenage
prostitute. Afraid to come forward, the teens try to hide their
knowledge of the crime, because they believe the murderer is one of the
corrupt officials and businessmen who rule their town. But after a
series of false moves and dumb mistakes, the teens are soon suspects
themselves in a murder investigation that threatens their freedom—and
maybe their lives.
This is one of the most disturbing stories I’ve read lately, mainly
because of its subject matter. I think the synopsis above gives you a
good idea of what it is all about, but that is not enough to convey to
you the heartaches and pains its heroes go through.
Continue at Criminal Element
October 23, 2012
The TS Eliot prize for poetry shortlist
The TS Eliot prize for poetry shortlist has been announced today. The shortlisted books are:
The Death of King Arthur by Simon Armitage
Bee Journal by Sean Borodale
Ice by Gillian Clarke
The World's Two Smallest Humans by Julia Copus
The Dark Film by Paul Farley
P L A C E by Jorie Graham
The Overhaul by Kathleen Jamie
Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds
The Havocs by Jacob Polley
Burying the Wren by Deryn Rees-Jones
New Bites: Mad Dog House by Mark Rubinstein
Mad Dog House by Mark Rubinstein comes out today.
Roddy Dolan, a successful suburban surgeon, long ago left behind his
past--one that nearly landed him in jail at 17. When he's approached by
an old friend about becoming a silent partner in a Manhattan steakhouse,
he's understandably wary. So he consults with his lifelong blood
brother, Danny Burns.
Danny's convinced this "vanity project" is
the perfect trophy to illustrate how far they've traveled. Certain he's
buried his checkered past, Roddy joins in this venture with serious
reservations. Danny is quickly sucked into the high-energy glitz of the
restaurant, but Roddy is suspicious.
Amidst the glitter of New
York's nightlife, amongst Mafia honchos and Russian thugs, events spin
out of control and the lives Roddy and Danny knew are over. Hidden shady
dealings drag them and their families into life-threatening terrain.
Struggling with a monster he thought he'd buried, Roddy must make
momentous choices, and none are good. But he has a daring plan . . .
New Bites: Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw
Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw comes out today.
We were prepared for an earthquake. We had a flood plan in place. We
could even have dealt with zombies. Probably. But no one expected the
end to be quite so . . . sticky. Or strawberry scented. Yahtzee Croshaw
(Mogworld, The Escapist's Zero Punctuation Reviews (tm)) returns to
print with a follow-up to his smash-hit debut: Jam, a dark comedy about
the one apocalypse no one predicted.
October 22, 2012
New Bites: Every Breath You Take by M.K. Gilroy
Every Breath You Take by M.K. Gilroy comes out tomorrow, October 23, 2012.
A high-profile murder tied to an online dating service has the Chicago
news media buzzing. Who better to go undercover in the world of personal
profiles and promising matches than an ace detective who is single and
as attractive as she is tough? Detective Kristen Conner can't figure out
her own dating life, but she is about to get a crash course on finding
true love - or at least a Friday night date - and become the object of a
killer's affections.
New Bites: Once Upon a Time Machine by Various Authors and Illustrators
Once Upon a Time Machine comes out tomorrow, October 23, 2012.
Fairy tales have fueled our dreams and fired our imaginations for
centuries. Step inside a time machine built by a collection of today's
finest storytellers, and enter a range of futures where familiar tales
are reimagined in an astonishing variety of styles. Editor Andrew Carl
and Producer Chris Stevens bring you the next wave of leading writers
and illustrators, working alongside superstar creators like Farel
Dalrymple (Pop Gun War), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Khoi Pham
(Daredevil), and Brandon Graham (King City) to deliver a reading
experience that will delight generations young and old.
October 17, 2012
Graphic Novel Review: Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by Fiona Staples
Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by
Fiona Staples, collects the first six issues of the science fiction
thriller series (available October 23, 2012).
It all begins with the birth of a girl called, after a lot of arguing
between the parents, Hazel. Hazel is the result of an unholy union,
according to the rules of the worlds her parents come from. Alana, her
mother, is a native of Landfall, the largest planet in the galaxy.
Marko, her father, comes from Wreath, a moon. Her own birth takes place
on planet Cleave “an ancient ball of mud circling around a fading old
star.”
Hazel is a hybrid of a child if ever there was one. Her father has
horns, her mother has wings, she has both. And they are all outcasts
from the very moment she comes to life.
Wanted by the authorities of their respective homelands, haunted by
their pasts, and hunted by mercenaries who are “the highest bidders in
the war of Good Versus Good,” they have to run for their lives, and they
do.
Continue at Criminal Element
October 16, 2012
New Bites: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.
Now, in Princess Elizabeth’s Spy, Maggie returns to protect Britain’s beloved royals against an
international plot—one that could change the course of history.
As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against
German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited,
strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government
for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad
to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great
disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle,
where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle
life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected.
The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a
shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places
the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a
most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best
defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets,
even within her own family.
New Bites: The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski
The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski comes out today.
Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was
abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really
belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an
alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly
creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.
Memories
begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he
makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought
possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up
with the way he first looked at her.
As if she were his enemy.
When
Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not
herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to
infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist
plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . .
In
this smart, compulsively readable novel, master storyteller Marie
Rutkoski has crafted an utterly original world, characters you won’t
soon forget, and a tale full of intrigue and suspense.
New Bites: The Panther by Nelson DeMille
The Panther by Nelson DeMille comes out today.
Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate
Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen-one of the most
dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working
with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole
bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther.
Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and
murders-and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no
matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don't
know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that
there is more to their assignment than meets the eye-and that the
hunters are about to become the hunted.
Filled with breathtaking
plot turns and told in John Corey's inimitable voice, THE PANTHER is a
brilliant depiction of one of the most treacherous countries in the
world and raises disturbing questions about whether we can ever know who
our enemies - or our allies - really are.
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