Diamond Head by Charles Knief is the first in a series which introduces John Cain, “Asset Recovery” specialist, living alone on a yacht in Pearl Harbor. He is asked by his Ex-Seal buddy to look into the death of their Admiral’s daughter and if any “bad press” is possible, loose it.
Richard Armour's A Short History of Sex is a whimsical look at sex and society through out the ages.
Decked is the first of the single word titles from the daughter of Mary Higgins Clark. Carol introduces us to Regan Rielly, a detective. While she is attending her 10 year reunion of her college class, Regan investigates the murder of her roommate. Her body was recently discovered after her disappearance 10 years earlier while everyone was still at school.
It All Started with Columbus from Richard Armour lampoons American history from Columbus to Kennedy (the updated version dated 1961).
Richard Armour's Yours for the Asking is a collection of short poems commenting on his observations of life.
Wil Hardesty
takes a job for an antiestablishment woman who is convinced her father's
“suicide” was murder. This is the second from Richard Barre and, also,
is
pretty good.
Anne Rice's first book, Interview With The Vampire, has us sit in while a vampire discusses his origin and his quest to understand his own nature. This is a pretty classy vampire story in the sense that is not the stereotypical "Blah-blah, I vant to suck your blod," story. You almost have the sensation you should dress formally when reading it.
Desert Heat from J.A. Jance Introduces Joanna Brady. Her husband, has been shot in what initially looks like a suicide attempt. Joanna suspects murder and while trying to convince the authorities, evidence mounts that not only was it suicide, but is speculated that it was motivated by guilt with his involvement with drug trafficking.
Lee Goldberg's My Gun Has Bullets is the delightfully funny first novel from screen writer/producer Lee Goldberg. The mob takes a hand in television production. How to beat the competition in the ratings? Kill them off! A really wild cast of characters.
Leo Waterman, a Seattle detective who uses a group of homeless as operatives, is hired by a semi-retired and totally disable underworld character to protect is daughter from whatever mess into which she has gotten herself. The opening is similar to the beginning of The Big Sleep, right down to the overly heated greenhouse scene. Extremely witty, but hard hitting. The title comes from one of Leo’s instructions where he tell his guys to go down to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, off the Pudget Sound when one of them says, “
Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?”
Gregory McDonald
presents Irwin Fletcher’s first case, with Fletch. As an
undercover investigative reporter, he is disguised as a beach bum trying
to identify the source of drugs dealt on the beach by “fat Sam”. He is
soon approached by a well to due executive who wants to stage his own
death. Stanwyc says he’s dying of cancer and want’s to “go out” before
the disease gets ugly. The film starring Chevy Chase is remarkably
faithful to the book. Both are, delightfully, very funny.
The Undertaker's Widow by Phillip Margolin, presents another story packed with surprises to the very end. A judge, recently appointed to homicide cases, becomes involved with his first case. The defendant is running for political office and is arrested for the murder of her husband and an intruder who initially was thought to be murderer.
Hideaway starts off about a couple that drives off the road in the mountains. The man is killed, but is revived after an hour. He then begins having “visions” of some other person creating heinous crimes and who soon begins stalking their newly adapted daughter.
