Battlegrounds: Old Friends Meet New Enemies

We all do it, whether we want to or not. Old friends, whom we love dearly, slip into the darkness or fade into the sunset. When they accidentally tap into our memories through a song, or a photo, or even a phone call, we remember how we loved them and set about catching up on things. If you’ve stopped by my Kiss and Tell Blog, you can probably name some of my favorite authors and quickly identify their characters whom I embrace as good friends. If you’ve got a minute or two, I’ll clue you in on a few of my favorites.

Let’s start with J. D. Robb, alter ego of author Nora Roberts. I’ve loved them both for more than

two decades and spend countless hours emerged in the books they create. Sad to say, I’ve been negligent and recently haven’t spent any time reading old or new novels they’ve created. My first stop is with Lieutenant Eve Dallas in the January 30, 2018 release Dark in Death, another bestselling novel by master of suspense J. D. Robb. Publishers Weekly calls this phenomenally popular police procedural novel “inventive, entertaining, and clever”.

Dark in Death

(Book 46 in the In Death series)

Lt. Eve Dallas takes on a case that may well be "death imitating art". It was a stabbing in the dark on a chilly February night during a screening of Psycho in midtown. Someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Ryan's neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourist in Time Square. Her best friend had slipped out of the theatre to take a call. As Eve puzzles over this carefully planned homicide which seems oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source. An author of police thrillers claims she recognizes the crime from the pages of her own book. Since this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else's imagination, Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke read mystery stories for help in identifying the killer.Time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in the murderer's deranged drama.

The NYPD Red series is another favorite of mine and is something a bit different. It focuses on police officers who are tasked with protecting New York's elite. The relationship between Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald adds another level of interest.This is the fifth book in the series.

NYPD Red 5

(Book 5 in the NYPD Red series)

James Patterson and Marshall Karp

The one who knows the secret is the one who holds the power.

The richest of New York's rich gather at the Pierre's Cotillion Room to raise money for those less fortunate. The mayor is present, along with Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald of the elite NYPD Red task force providing security.

The room is rocked by a fatal blast, stirring up memories of 9/11. Is the explosion an act of terrorism-or a homicide? But, Zach and Kylie have other cases, especially the murder of a high profile film producer in rather shocking circumstances. The repercussions of both crimes can be enormous and the city is terrified of a loose bomber in its midst. The pressure is on.

This novel is another page-turner from James Patterson, a master of his craft.

Private Princess

(Book 14 in the Private Series)

James Patterson 

When Jack Morgan, the head of the world's foremost investigation agency, receives an offer he cannot refuse he boards his Gulfstream jet an flies straight to London. He's been invited to meet Princess Caroline, third in line to the British throne. The Princess needs Morgan's  skills, and his discretion. A close friend, Sophie Edwards, is missing.

How could I catch up with friends without checking in with the Women's Murder Club and Detective Lindsay Boxer? It's book 17 already, believe it. James Patterson and Maxine Paetro present a novel filled with suspense and mystery, compelling characters, and top notch drama. Don't miss out on this special treat.

17th Suspect

(Book 17 in the Women's Murder Club)

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

A methodical, unpredictable killer is stalking San Francisco-and is getting too close to Detective Lindsay Boxer. A confidential informant's tip leads Lindsay to disturbing conclusions, including concern that something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department itself.

Well, I'll need to check on Alex Cross and Michael Bennett, so stay with me as I renew more old friendships. Stay tuned for the next post and meet the newest star of James Patterson's crew.

The President's Missing

The President is Missing

James Patterson and Bill Clinton

 The publisher's advance publicity release for "The President is Missing" promises "intrigue, suspense and global drama". A former President of the United States  collaborating with a celebrity author immediately alerts the reader to the possibility of an outstanding read. Neither of the co-authors need an introduction. Bill Clinton established himself as a best selling author with his 2004 memoir "My Life" which sold more than 2 million copies. James Patterson seems to be a permanent fixture on the best seller list having sold 365 million novels world wide. The political thriller produced by this duo is a spellbinding work of fiction.

The story line begins with President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan facing growing political support for his impeachment. He's suspected of a deliberately botched attempt to capture a high profiled terrorist. In the middle of this turmoil, Duncan quietly leaves the White House, ditching the trappings of  his office, including his Secret Service protection, to follow whispers of a planned espionage and cyber terrorist attack. When the press discovers his unexplained absence from the White House, uncertainty and fear grips Washington.

Bill Clinton

The novel covers the next 3 days set in real time, detailing the dangers this President faces to protect his country. As the clock continues rapidly ticking, Duncan faces the recurrence of a serious debilitating medical condition, a high speed chase, a deadly shoot out, and highly skilled assassins making every effort to complete their mission and take him out. This President actually pursues those who use every effort to bring the country to its knees and destroy its standing in the world. He uses ties with global allies and even long time enemies to thwart the menace. Meanwhile, he must uncover a traitor within his inner circle while time continues to run out.

James Patterson

Once started, I couldn't put the book down, finishing it in record-breaking time. As a card carrying political junky and purveyor of hours of daily political news reporting, I'm quite familiar with Washington drama. The interaction between the White House and Congress and between various ambitious political rivals, the details in the storyline were quite familiar and highly plausible. Clinton's first hand experiences were a tremendous asset that added to the novel's credibility. Patterson captures the reader with heart stopping suspense and adds pertinent details that tie up meaningful elements of the story line. The well developed characters seem familiar enough to spot them in any administration, not withstanding the loyal, apolitical government employees who serve behind the scenes.

If you invest the time to read this highly acclaimed novel, you'll likely enjoy the fast paced entertainment presented by these two highly skilled craftsmen.

Dynamic Duo: Two Heads are Better than One

 

Meet Tami Hoag

TAMI HOAG is the #1 international bestselling author of more than thirty books. There are more than forty million copies of her books in print in more than thirty languages. Renowned for combining thrilling plots with character-driven suspense, Hoag's first hit the New York Times bestseller list with Night Sins in 1995, and each of her books since has been a bestseller. She lives a double life in Florida where she is also known as a competitive equestrian. Her other interest include the study of psychology and mixed martial arts fighting.

A Bitter Season

Tami Hoag
(Book 6- Kovac / Liska series)

#1 New York Times Bestselling author Tami Hoag returns to the bestselling series of her career with a Kovac and Liska case that will delight fans and new listeners alike.

A murder from the past.  A murder from the present.  And a life that was never meant to be....

As the dreary, bitter weather of late fall descends on Minneapolis, Detective Nikki Liska is restless. After moving to the cold case squad in order to spend more time with her sons, she misses the rush of pulling an all-nighter, the sense of urgency of hunting a murderer on the loose. Most of all she misses her old partner, Sam Kovac. Sam is having an even harder time adjusting to Nikki's absence, saddled with a green new partner younger than pieces of Sam's wardrobe. Sam is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a middle-aged husband and wife bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Nikki's case, the unsolved murder of a family man, community leader, and decorated sex crimes detective for the Minneapolis PD, is less of a distraction: twenty years later, there is little hope for finding the killer who got away.

On the other end of the spectrum, Minneapolis resident Evi Burke has a life she only dreamed of as a kid in and out of foster homes: a beautiful home, a family, people who love her, a fulfilling job. Little does she know that a danger from her past is stalking her perfect present. A danger powerful enough to pull in both Kovac and Liska and destroy the perfect life she was never meant to have.

Cold, Cold Heart

Tami Hoag
(Book 5-Kovac / Liska series)

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag delivers a shocking stand-alone thriller.

Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until she was kidnapped by a notorious serial killer. A year has passed since she defeated her attacker, but Dana is still physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred by her ordeal, with aftereffects including PTSD and memory loss. In an attempt to put herself back together after surviving the unthinkable, Dana returns to her hometown. But it doesn't provide the comfort she expects: She struggles to recognize family and childhood friends and begins experiencing dark flashbacks - but she's not sure if they're truly memories or side effects of her brain injury.

Dana decides to use her investigative skills to piece together her past and learns of the event that made her become a reporter in the first place: the disappearance of her best friend, Casey Grant, the summer after high school graduation. Looking at her past and the unsolved mystery through the dark filter of PTSD, old friends seem to be suspects, authority figures part of a cover-up. Dana begins to question everything she knows. What is real? What is imagined? Are we defined by what happens to us? And is the truth really something too terrible to be believed?

Die Again
Tess Gerritsen
(Book  11-Rizzoli and Isles series)

Die Again is the latest enthralling case in Tess Gerritsen's New York Times bestselling Rizzoli & Isles series, the blockbuster books behind the smash hit TNT series.

Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli is on the case of a big game hunter found dead in his apartment, alone with the body of a beautiful white snow leopard he had recently been commissioned to procure and stuff for a high-profile museum in the area. Medical examiner Maura Isles connects the case to a number of seemingly unrelated deaths where the victims have all been found hanging upside down, the hallmark of a leopard's kill. Rizzoli follows the puzzling trail of clues all the way to Botswana, where she uncovers the unsolved mystery of a deadly camping safari four years prior. When she realizes the two cases are connected, Rizzoli must track down the sole survivor of the tragic trip to discover who - or what - is behind these gruesome deaths.

Deserves to Die
Lisa Jackson
(Book 6-Alvarez and Pescoli series)

JUDGED:  As he watches, her body drifts below the water's surface, forever altered. Before he disposes of each victim, he takes a trophy. It's a sign of his power, and a warning - to the one destined to suffer most of all...

CONDEMNED:  In Grizzly Falls, Montana, Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli are struggling with a new commander and a department in the midst of upheaval. It's the worst possible time for a homicide. A body has been found, missing a finger. Alvarez hopes this means a murderer with a personal grudge, not a madman. But then a second body turns up...

EXECUTED: As the clues begin pointing toward a suspect, Pescoli's unease grows. She senses there's more to this case than others believe. A killer has mad his way to Grizzly Falls, ready to fulfil a vengeance years in the making. And Pescoli must find the target of his wrath- or die trying.

Meet Lisa Jackson

Lisa Jackson has been writing romantic fiction for more than fifteen years. Over sixty of her books have been published and reprinted in more than a dozen languages. A single mother, she is a native of Oregon, where she still resides with her two teenage sons.

Lone Wolves of Mystery and Suspense

If you love mystery and suspense, get ready for some unforgettable heroines in the latest pulse-pounding novels that will blow your mind. Take a deep breath and plunge in!

Three Truths and A Lie
Lisa Gardner
(Book 8-D. D. Warren Series)

Lisa Gardner will quickly earn a place at the top of your reading pile. Her Detective D. D. Warren novels include Fear Nothing, Catch me, Love You More, and The Neighbor, which won the International Thriller of the Year Award.

In Lisa Gardner's second short story, after the New York Times bestseller The 7th Month, Detective D.D. Warren takes on her most intimidating assignment yet: a fifty-minute class meant to educate a horde of bloodthirsty thriller writers on the ways of actual police work. Yet sometimes life really does imitate fiction, as D.D. takes the writers through the reality of one of her most twisted cases - a case that involves a seedy motel room, drugs, prostitution...and a severed leg.

With Gardner's trademark suspense, sharp observations, and thrilling storytelling, 3 Truths and a Lie is a fascinating chapter in D.D.'s storied career.

Flora Dane is a victim.  Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.

Flora Dane is a survivor. Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who's never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she's become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who've never made it home.

Flora Dane is reckless....or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime - a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him - she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D. D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who's determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her.

Crash & Burn
Lisa Gardner
 (Book 3-Tessa Leoni series)

You can always count on Lisa Gardner to deliver the goods-shocking suspense, compelling characters and unforgettable heroines. Her novels are compulsive, chilling and guaranteed to keep you up all night.

Nicole Frank shouldn’t have survived the car accident, much less the crawl up the steep ravine. One thought allows her to defy the odds and flag down help—she must save Vero.

"My name is Nicky Frank. I'm in hospital after crashing my car. I am afraid. The only thing I can think about is Vero. I know I have to save her, but why couldn't I find her? She's just a little girl.

The man standing in my hospital room tells me we are married, but there is no Vero. That six months ago I suffered a traumatic brain injury which caused changes to my personality. I have dramatic mood swings, an inability to concentrate, and large gaps in my memory. I'm much easier to anger these days. And I drink. All of which, he says, explains the car accident and my confusion.

Now a Sergeant Wyatt Foster is investigating. He has questions about the car accident. He has concerns about my husband. And he's worried about a missing girl. He would like to know what happened to me. So would I. My name is Nicky Frank. This is my life. Watch me crash and burn."

Meet Lisa Gardner

Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and decided to stick to writing.  She sold her first novel when she was just 20 years old. In 1993 she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations. A self-described research junkie, she parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics, and twisted plots into a streak of thirteen bestselling suspense novels. She lives in New Hampshire with her family, including two highly spoiled dogs and a extremely neurotic three-legged cat.

Mean Streak
Sandra Brown

Combining the nail-biting suspense and potent storytelling that has made Sandra Brown one of the world's best loved authors, MEAN STREAK is a wildly compelling novel about love, deceit, and the choices we must make in order to survive.

Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her.

While police suspect Jeff of 'instant divorce', Emory, suffering from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds herself the captive of a man whose violent past is so dark that he won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape him, and willing to take any risks necessary to survive.

As her husband's deception is revealed, and the FBI closes in on her captor, Emory begins to wonder if the man with no name is, in fact, her rescuer from those who wish her dead - and from heartbreak.

Flesh and Blood
Patricia Cornwell
(Book 22-Kay Scarpetta series)

Number-one best-selling author Patricia Cornwell delivers the next enthralling thriller in her high-stakes series starring Kay Scarpetta - a complex tale involving a serial sniper who strikes chillingly close to the forensic sleuth herself.

It's Chief Medical Examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta's birthday, and while she's enjoying a leisurely morning, a man is shot dead five minutes from her house. The bullet tore through him as he unloaded groceries from his car. Yet nobody heard or saw a thing.

It looks like the work of a serial sniper - one who leaves no trace except for tiny copper fragments, and whose seemingly impossible shots cause instant death. As Scarpetta investigates, uncovering details that only she can analyze, she begins to suspect that the killer is sending her a message

.

Adding to Scarpetta's growing unease is the sense that those closest to her are keeping secrets. And when her pursuit of the sniper takes Scarpetta to a shipwreck off the Florida coast, she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her niece Lucy - Scarpetta's very own flesh and blood...

Bones Never Lie
Kathy Reichs
(Book 17-Temperance Brennan series)

The evidence is irrefutable: In sixteen New York Times bestsellers over the course of as many years, Kathy Reichs has proven herself "a genius at building suspense" (New York Daily News). 

In forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, Reichs has created a detective fiction heroine who's brilliant to the bone. "Every minute in the morgue with Tempe is golden," says The New York Times Book Review. In the acclaimed author's thrilling new novel, Brennan is at the top of her game in a battle of wits against the most monstrous adversary she has ever encountered.

Unexpectedly called in to the Charlotte PD's Cold Case Unit, Dr. Temperance Brennan wonders why she's been asked to meet with a homicide cop who's a long way from his own jurisdiction. The shocking answer: Two child murders, separated by thousands of miles, have one thing in common - the killer. Years ago, Anique Pomerleau kidnapped and murdered a string of girls in Canada, then narrowly eluded capture. It was a devastating defeat for her pursuers, Brennan and police detective Andrew Ryan. Now, as if summoned from their nightmares, Pomerleau has resurfaced in the United States, linked to victims in Vermont and North Carolina. When another child is snatched, the reign of terror promises to continue - unless Brennan can rise to the challenge and make good on her second chance to stop a psychopath.

But Brennan will have to draw her bitter ex-partner out of exile, keep the local police and feds from one another's throats, and face more than just her own demons as she stalks the deadliest of predators into the darkest depths of madness.

In Bones Never Lie, Kathy Reichs never fails to satisfy readers looking for psychological suspense that's more than skin-deep.

Don't miss Kathy Reichs's short story "Swamp Bones" in the back of the book.

"Kathy Reichs writes smart - no, make that brilliant - mysteries that are as realistic as nonfiction and as fast-paced as the best thrillers about Jack Reacher, or Alex Cross." - James Patterson

"Nobody does forensics thrillers like Kathy Reichs. She's the real deal." - David Baldacci

When Murder Hits Close to Home: Alex Cross, Lindsay Boxer and Friends

I admit it. Romance novels are my first love, but over the years I’ve also gotten hooked on murder, mystery and mayhem. It must be the characters I’ve come to love, i.e. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett and Jack Morgan. Don’t forget the women who wage war or crime, i.e. Eve Dallas and Lindsay Boxer. What’s not to love?

There’s always fresh material hitting the market, so grab your spectacles and let’s catch up with the latest thrillers. The pages from James Patterson and company should be a great place to start.

Cross Justice
James Patterson

The toughest cases are the ones that hit close to home.

When his cousin is accused of a heinous crime, Alex Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in over three decades. As he tries to prove his cousin's innocence in a town where everyone seems to be on the take, Cross unearths a family secret that forces him to question everything he's ever known.

Chasing a ghost he believed was long dead, Cross gets pulled into a case that has local cops scratching their heads and needing his help: a grisly string of socialite murders. Now he's hot on the trail of both a brutal killer, and the truth about his own past—and the answers he finds might be fatal.

Profile: Alex Cross

Alex Cross is six foot three, weighs 200 pounds, and is athletic. He still lives on Fifth Street in D.C., with wife, Brianna (Bree) Stone, Nana Mama, Ali and Jannie, and Rosie the cat. Damon is away at prep school in Massachusetts. He drives a Mercedes Benz R 350.

Education

PH.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Special concentration in the field of abnormal psychology and forensic psychology.

Professional

Upon graduation Cross worked as a migrant farm worker for a year.

He went into private practice in D.C. and struggled financially for three years before giving it up.

He joined the Washington, D.C., Police Department as a psychologist, working in Homicide and Major Crimes. Cross is a profiler. He worked with VICAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) as a liaison between the FBI and D.C. police. After his stint as an FBI Senior Agent, Alex returned to private psychology practice and continued to consult for the MPD and the FBI as needed. He rejoined the MPD as a special consultant to the Major Case Squad.

A Washington Post Magazine in-depth article called Cross "The Last Southern Gentleman" and praised him for his work in Homicide. It brought his name to the public's attention.

Articles by Alex Cross on the criminal mind have appeared in Psychiatric Archives and American Journal of Psychiatry. He also wrote a diagnostic profile of psychopathic killer Gary Soneji/Murphy.

Alert

James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

 "This is not a test"—every New Yorker's worst nightmare is about to become a reality.

New Yorkers aren't easily intimidated, but someone is doing their best to scare them, badly: why? After two inexplicable high-tech attacks, the city that never sleeps is on edge. Detective Michael Bennett, along with his old pal, the FBI's Emily Parker, have to catch the shadowy criminals who claim responsibility—but they're as good at concealing their identities as they are at wreaking havoc.

In the wake of a shocking assassination, Bennett begins to suspect that these mysterious events are just the prelude to the biggest threat of all. Soon he's racing against the clock, and against the most destructive enemy he's faced yet, to save his beloved city--before everyone's worst nightmare becomes a reality.

Profile: Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett is six foot three, weighs 200 pounds, and is Irish American. He lives in New York City with his 10 adopted kids who he cares for with the help of his au pair, Mary Catherine, and his grandfather Seamus. His wife, Maeve, died of cancer in December, 2007.

Michael graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan, and studied philosophy at Manhattan College in the Bronx.

Private: Paris
James Patterson & Mark Sullivan

Paris is burning—and only Private's Jack Morgan can put out the fire.

When Jack Morgan stops by Private's Paris office, he envisions a quick hello during an otherwise relaxing trip filled with fine food and sightseeing. But Jack is quickly pressed into duty after a call from his client Sherman Wilkerson, asking Jack to track down his young granddaughter who is on the run from a brutal drug dealer.

 Before Jack can locate her, several members of France's cultural elite are found dead—murdered in stunning, symbolic fashion. The only link between the crimes is a mysterious graffiti tag. As religious and ethnic tensions simmer in the City of Lights, only Jack and his Private team can connect the dots before the smoldering powder keg explodes.

 

NYPD 4
James Patterson & Marshall Karp

An audacious jewel heist. A murdered actress. A killer case for NYPD Red.

 In a city where crime never sleeps, NYPD Red is the elite task force called in only when a case involves the rich, famous, and connected. Detective Zach Jordan and his partner, Kylie MacDonald—the woman who broke his heart at the police academy—are the best of the best, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to catch a criminal, even if it means antagonizing the same high-flying citizens they're supposed to be helping.

 When a glitzy movie premiere is the scene of a shocking murder and high-stakes robbery, NYPD Red gets the call. Traversing the city's highs and lows, from celebrity penthouses to the depths of Manhattan's criminal underworld, Zach and Kylie have to find a cold-blooded killer—before he strikes again.

 

15^th Affair
James Paterson and Maxine Paetro

Detective Lindsay Boxer chases an elusive suspect...her husband.

As she settles into motherhood and a happy marriage, Lindsay Boxer thinks she has found domestic bliss. But when a beautiful, alluring blonde woman with links to the CIA disappears from the scene of a brutal murder at a downtown luxury hotel, Lindsay's life begins to unravel. Before she can track down the woman for questioning, a plane crash plunges San Francisco into chaos and Lindsay's husband Joe vanishes.

The deeper she digs, the more Lindsay suspects that Joe shares a secret past with the mystery blonde. Thrown into a tailspin and questioning everything she thought she knew, Lindsay turns to the Women's Murder Club for help as she tries to uncover the truth. Filled with pulse-pounding international intrigue, 15TH AFFAIR proves that all is fair in love, war, and espionage.