Veteran thriller writer Ken Follett (Eye of the Needle, The Third Twin, The Key to Rebecca) turns in another nifty story of espionage, deceit, and betrayal, a fast-paced read with "bestseller" written all over it. A man wakes up in a Washington, D.C., train station in 1958, shortly before the launch of Explorer I, America's first space satellite, with no idea who he is or how he got there. And in less than a few hours, it's clear that someone doesn't want him to find out. He's dressed like a bum, and he looks like he's been on a bender. But he's remarkably skillful at evading pursuit, obscuring his tracks, stealing a car, and breaking into a house. He's not sure how he came by those talents, and it worries him:
"I wonder if I'm honest?" Maybe it was foolish, he thought, to pour out his heart to a whore on the street, but he had no one else. "Am I a loyal husband and a loving father and a reliable workmate? Or am I some kind of gangster? I hate not knowing." "Honey, if that's what's bothering you, I know what kind of guy you are already. A gangster would be thinking, am I rich, do I slay the broads, are people scared of me?"But he does, and it's that firm interior moral compass that keeps him on track through the novel's most fascinating pages as he solves the puzzle of who he really is: Claude "Luke" Lucas, a renowned rocket scientist who was en route from Cape Canaveral to Washington to warn someone in the Pentagon about something he also can't remember, even with the help of some of his oldest friends. Like Anthony Carroll, a CIA agent who apparently has proof that Luke's been sabotaging the fledgling American space program and working for the Russians. And Billie Josephson, the woman Luke once loved, who happens to be an expert in brainwashing and memory loss. And Elspeth, Luke's mathematician wife, who'll do almost anything to save his life.
That was a point. Luke nodded. But he was not satisfied. "It's one thing to want to be a good person--but maybe I don't live up to what I believe in."
This is one of Follett's strongest books in years. The flashbacks bring the story of the idealistic young collegians from World War II into 1958, nicely setting up the action in an exciting, solidly plotted, and suspenseful read that grabs the reader by the throat in the first paragraph and doesn't let up until the last.
Download: Code to Zero (pdf)
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Julie Kenner- The Prada Paradox
Review:
"Another delightfully clever mix of chick-lit and thriller. Readers who like their suspense novels with a sexy edge and a wicked sense of humor will find Kenner irresistible."
Download: The Prada Paradox (pdf)
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Kim Wong Keltner - Buddha Baby
Lindsay Owyang, the protagonist of Wong Keltner's second novel, is like the story itself: up-beat, bighearted, fun to spend time with and lacking focus. She works at two low-paying jobs and is "deluded enough to think her noncommittal career choices [qualify] as artistic." The drama starts when Lindsey's unofficial fiancé leaves town (a lovingly rendered San Francisco), and a childhood crush, Dustin Lee, arrives on the scene determined to seduce Lindsey. But Lindsey (a third-generation Chinese Californian) isn't attracted to Chinese men... or is she? The novel meanders through Lindsey's flirtation with infidelity and, more interestingly, her peeks into the history of San Francisco's turn-of-the-20th-century Chinatown, which make her suddenly aware of her heritage. Fans of Keltner's The Dim Sum of All Things will enjoy her tripping wordplay ("his slice of life was not made completely of wonder bread") and spot-on description (a piano teacher's fingers resemble "waterlogged segments of baby corn"), but these pleasures are diluted with cheap-shot puns (wok this way) and implausible scenarios. These story lines gain momentum in the last third of the book, and though the stakes are never quite believable, Keltner ends with straight-from-the-heart emotional insight, an unexpectedly strong finish to an uneven read.
Download: Buddha Baby (pdf)
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James Patterson - The Quickie
Product Description:THE #1 BESTSELLING SENSATION
#1 New York Times
#1 Chicago Tribune
#1 Washington Post
#1 Entertainment Weekly
#1 USA Today
#1 Wall Street Journal
America's most popular thriller writer, James Patterson, presents his most daring-and astonishing-novel ever.
With the perfect marriage and a great job, Lauren Stillman loves her wonderful life . . . until she sees her husband with another woman. Devastated and lusting for revenge, Lauren has her own affair. It's supposed to be a quickie, but Lauren's night of passion takes a shocking turn when she witnesses an unbelievable and deadly crime.
Now her horrifying secret threatens to tear her life apart, pitting her need to uncover the truth against her fear that the truth may be too horrible to bear. And whichever choice she makes may cost her dearly-her job, her marriage . . . or even her life.
#1 New York Times
#1 Chicago Tribune
#1 Washington Post
#1 Entertainment Weekly
#1 USA Today
#1 Wall Street Journal
America's most popular thriller writer, James Patterson, presents his most daring-and astonishing-novel ever.
With the perfect marriage and a great job, Lauren Stillman loves her wonderful life . . . until she sees her husband with another woman. Devastated and lusting for revenge, Lauren has her own affair. It's supposed to be a quickie, but Lauren's night of passion takes a shocking turn when she witnesses an unbelievable and deadly crime.
Now her horrifying secret threatens to tear her life apart, pitting her need to uncover the truth against her fear that the truth may be too horrible to bear. And whichever choice she makes may cost her dearly-her job, her marriage . . . or even her life.
Download: The Quickie (pdf)
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Jennifer Greene- Blame It On Paris
Product Description:Kelly Rochard is determined to have one last adventure before settling down to married life!
Still, being mugged at the Louvre is not what she had in mind for her long-awaited trip to Paris. Until Will Maguire comes to her aid, and she finds herself completely distracted by the handsome stranger in the Notre Dame sweatshirt.
Kelly can't seem to resist the world's most romantic city or Will, who is determined to show her all its treasures, from the top of the Eiffel Tower to strolls along the Seine.
But will their love last when they're back in plain old South Bend, Indiana, or will they end up blaming their breathless fling on the city of love?
Download: Blame It On Paris (pdf)
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Harlan Coben - Just One Look
Coben's latest thriller (after No Second Chance) is a riveting, albeit perplexing, nightmare that finds hapless New Jersey wife and mother Grace Lawson dealing with an assortment of fearful developments, including a missing spouse, a terrifyingly adaptable hit man, deceitful friends, hidden agendas and ghosts from the past.
Reader MacDuffie wisely takes her cues from Coben's prose. When he describes a policeman as "patronizing," she lends just the right vocal inflection to his lines, then quickly switches to the sarcastic tones of feisty Grace. And for the novel's most ingratiating character, Charlene Swain, MacDuffie's voice subtly shifts from vague to vital as the Percodan-popping, bored-to-tears housewife rises above her ennui to give Grace a helping hand in combating the wicked hit man Wu. Coben fills his thriller with unoriginal characters (including a murderer on death row, a rock-and-roller in comeback mode and a gentrified mobster with revenge on his mind), but MacDuffie's skillful interpretation brings the characters and action into sharp focus.
Download: Just One Look (pdf)
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