Dad and his GrandmotherThis Sunday is Father’s Day, and my dad’s birthday is next Wednesday, June 22. This is my gift to him.Thirty-seven years ago my dad made a choice that changed our lives. He was just 28 years old, and my mom had been killed in a horrific car...
Alafair Burke and Duffer, who is not really a ladybugI liked Ellie Hatcher from the moment I met her in Alafair Burke’s ANGEL’S TIP, the second in the Ellie series (I read them out of order). Ellie is a New Yorker, but not by birth. She’s from Wichita, just like my...
THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES is the riskiest book on my “money back guarantee” list for a simple reason: Not everyone is going to love it.THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES has already met with a great deal of critical acclaim, and rightly so. Marcus Sakey is simply a...
Keith Rawson made a compelling case recently for authors not having Facebook Pages. While I see—and appreciate—his points, I have also over-thought myself into a fervor…and decided that Pages do have a viable role for other-than-household name authors. Here’s my...
Maureen Johnson started an interesting discussion on Twitter the other day about what makes a good book blog. Opinions varied, but one thing that emerged is that some folks dislike and/or distrust book blogs that don’t contain negative reviews.As you might have...
If you read crime fiction, you’ll be noticing a lot of books coming out that are dedicated to David Thompson. Having read Duane Swierczynski’s touching and heartfelt Acknowledgements in FUN &GAMES the other day, I’m inspired to share my own testimonial...
A tall, quiet, thoughtful man in a suit walked into my life last year. He’s as brilliant as he is flawed, and Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent quickly became one of my favorite crime fighters.And with an 89% clearance rate, Will is a force of crime fighting...
I’ll admit it: I was late to the Karin Slaughter party. Not sure how exactly it happened, but it wasn’t until last year I started reading her books. Since then, I’ve been making up for lost time because she is one of those rarities, a hugely successful internationally...
LONG GONE is the first stand-alone novel from Alafair Burke, author of the Ellie Hatcher and Samantha Kincaid series. I’m a little skeptical when established authors venture into new territory—I am a creature of habit—but I like Alafair’s writing a lot, and so I...
Ok, so this isn’t really about any of those things…but it sounded so much more interesting than “How I Learned to Love Preordering Books.”Next month there are a bunch of amazing books being released. To wit:HELL IS EMPTY by Craig Johnson on June 2THE TWO DEATHS OF...
