Reading Material for All Tastes …

Ice Shear

By M.P. Cooley
William Morrow. $25.99

After her husband’s death FBI agent June Lyon retires and returns home with her young daughter to the small hamlet of Hopewell Falls, New York. Since her father was the town’s police chief, June lands a position with the local police force.

The job is pretty boring given her past experience, but that changes radically when June finds the body of Danielle Brouillette one frigid morning down by the river, impaled on a spike of ice.

The daughter of a congresswoman, the young woman had a troubled existence and when the FBI steps in to investigate the situation, her old bosses ask June to take over and find the killer. Now having to deal with her fellow officers’ resentment because of the situation, June discovers the dead woman’s father-in-law is the enforcer for a local motorcycle gang and that becomes a major complication.

Gangs, drugs and politics make a heady mix that marks the debut of this interesting protagonist. A Campbell resident, M.P. Cooley has launched her writing career with a captivating and chilling novel. Hopefully there’s more where this came from.

The Heist

By Daniel Silva
Harper. $27.99

Bestselling author Daniel Silva hit a grand slam with this thriller that combines spies, stolen art and international terror. At the center of this exciting, international adventure is a missing masterpiece, Caravaggio’s Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence, which is in the hands of a dangerous and powerful art collector.

It will be the task of art restorer, assassin and spy, Gabriel Allon, to retrieve the masterpiece and avenge the death of a British spy who has been trafficking in stolen art and selling the paintings to a mysterious collector.

The hunt will take Gabriel to the capitals of Europe and to some of the criminal strongholds in Marseilles and Corsica. At his side will be a young woman who will have the opportunity to get back at a dynasty that destroyed her family.

An operative for Israel’s secret intelligence service and a world-class art restorer, Gabriel Allon has captured the imaginations of scores of readers.

The subterfuge he creates to flush out the villains in this novel is not only brilliant but also fits perfectly with Gabriel’s abilities and those of his team of supporting operatives.

In a real sense this exquisite thriller has been snatched from the front pages of newspapers and the internet and been transformed into a work of fiction by one of the best action writers in the business right now.

Don’t Talk to Strangers

By Amanda Kyle Williams
Bantam. $26

Meticulous planning goes into his abductions. He stalks and patiently waits before he strikes. Then he holds his victims for an inordinate length of time before he kills them. This is the sociopath Keye Street, an ex-FBI profiler and private investigator, has gone to a town 90 miles outside of Atlanta to find.

The remains of teenage girls have been found in the woods outside the town and the local authorities led by Sheriff Ken Meltzer, have agreed that some outside assistance and expertise would be in order.

As Keye tries to connect the sparse pieces of evidence, a third girl goes missing. Now the stakes are much higher; in fact, this almost appears to be a challenge. “Stop me if you can but time is running out!” might well be the killer’s taunt.

As she works Keeye has an uncanny feeling that she is being watched by more than just the local law establishment. She also has to gear her investigation up drastically and figure out who the madman is before another teen lies dead in the woods.

Amanda Kyle Williams’ fiction has been called “addictive” and her previous “Stranger” novels have been called “powerfully human” as well as “brutally funny” and she’s been also lauded for creating stories with “delicious final twists”.

All these accolades certain apply to this latest captivating thriller.

All Day and a Night

By Alafair Burke
Harper. $26.99

Incarcerated for nearly two decades for the serial murders of six women, Anthony Amaro is about to have his case revisited. A recent killing of a psychotherapist has raised some serious questions about Amaro’s case. Now two investigations are delving into the past to see if there has been a serious miscarriage of justice.

On one hand there’s Carrie Blank, whose half-sister was supposedly killed by the imprisoned man. She joins a legal team formed to exonerate Amaro only because she wants the real killer uncovered and this may be the best way of doing so.

NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher along with her partner, JJ Rogan, is also assigned to the case to reassess the first investigation to see if and where it went off the tracks.

As these two quite different groups of individuals delve through the conflicting pieces of evidence, they’ll be drawn to Carrie Bank’s hometown where some unexpected surprises await them.

This is another episode in the Ellie Hatcher series, but Carrie Blank is such a strong personality that she nearly steals the show. Burke says that as she was writing this novel Blank “wouldn’t recede into the background”. The reader will probably be happy that this uppity character didn’t play the secondary role she was originally assigned!

Inspirational Possibilities: Connect With Your Spiritual Self …

By Mary Ferguson
Poppyhill Publishing. $17.95

Mary Ferguson, a Santa Cruz County resident, has practiced and taught yoga, meditation and spiritual healing for many years. She believes that everyone can connect with the special spiritual presence he or she has within.

In this guide Ferguson offers material and advice that will help a person achieve self-discovery and work toward greater spiritual awareness.

The author says an individual can invite Divine Consciousness to guide him or her in new directions and bring about healing.

To begin this journey one must decide what he/she would like assistance with and then inform the divinely conscious presence of that need. The person also has to be willing to receive the healing. This book offers a recipe for that spiritual discovery.

“Read and practice these inspirational possibilities every day,” Ferguson says, “and soon you will recognize the truth of your true self…You will begin to receive glimpses that help you to remember your divine purpose and the gifts you came to earth to share.”

Any individual looking for a connection with his/her spiritual self will find this a worthwhile book. Go to the author’s website at inspirationalpossibilities.com for more information and to purchase the book.