DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay

DEFENDING JACOB is what publishers call a “lead title,” which basically means they’re putting a whole bunch of effort into promoting the book. At Bouchercon in St. Louis, you couldn’t spit without hitting a copy (not that I was spitting). Lots of respectable authors,...

THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott

I read THE END OF EVERYTHING months ago, and immediately began talking about it to anyone who would listen. I was lucky enough to meet Megan Abbott at Bouchercon in St. Louis, and I’m happy to report that she is as a wonderful a person as her books would have you hope...

RAYLAN by Elmore Leonard

I’m a big fan of the TV series Justified. It’s one of my current and all-time favorites. Right up there with ER. I’m also a fan of many of Elmore Leonard’s books. Somehow, though, I had managed to not read any of his stories that created the characters who populate...

HELPLESS by Daniel Palmer

This review is subject to my disclosure notes, which you can find here.Given how much I enjoyed Daniel Palmer’s debut, DELIRIOUS, last year, I was looking forward to reading HELPLESS. That said, I wasn’t sure I’d love it because I’m not a fan of infallible heroes, and...

WHAT IS WAS by George Pelecanos

Much of the attention around George Pelecanos’ new book, WHAT IT WAS, has focused on the quite brilliant way that the good folks at Mulholland Books are publishing and marketing it. In case you haven’t read about it, instead of the standard e-book and hardcover...