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"A Drop of the Hard Stuff" by Lawrence Block
Release Date: May 12, 2011Product Details:
Matthew Scudder is finally on the straight and narrow when he runs into "High-Low" Jack Ellery, a childhood friend from the Bronx. In Scudder, Jack sees the moral man he might have become. In Jack, Scudder sees the hard-won sobriety he hopes to achieve. Then Ellery, following to the letter the dictates of Alcoholics Anonymous' infamous twelve steps, is shot down while attempting to atone for past sins, and Scudder is drawn into a murder investigation that threatens to upset his path toward recovery—and get him killed in the process. Exploring themes of loss, nostalgia, and redemption, for Lawrence Block, A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF circles back to how it all began, reestablishing why the Matthew Scudder series is widely regarded as one of the pinnacles of American detective fiction.
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"Just Wanna Testify: A Novel" by Pearl Cleage
Release Date: May 10, 2011Product Details:
In her return to the West End, that fictional Afro-urban paradise in Atlanta, Ga., Cleage (Till You Hear from Me) has the everlovin' mysterious Blue Hamilton, "godfather" of the neighborhood where crime is unknown, pitted against the Too Fine Five, Amazonian African-American supermodels whose arrival in town spells trouble. Serena Mayflower manages the girls, or "vamps" (vampires, get it?), who are all part of a group that has moved its headquarters from New Orleans to an island near the West End. The good thing is they drink tomato juice instead of blood, the bad is that they are looking for some appropriate stud muffins for breeding purposes. They've hired five Morehouse College men for generous compensation, but the men neglected to read the fine print in their contract and have come to Blue for help. Seems that when the vamps are done with the men, the men will be done... for good. There's moments of kick butt fun, and although the plot veers toward hackneyed and the "Say what?" ending is a groaner, fans will be pleased.---------------------------------
"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo
Release Date: May 10, 2011In this chilling installment in Nesbø's Insp. Harry Hole crime series (The Devil's Star, etc.), a snowman left in the front yard of Birte Becker's Oslo house is the only clue to the woman's disappearance. When Sylvia Ottersen disappears from her farmhouse soon afterward, the snowman the killer leaves behind has a gruesome addition: Sylvia's severed head. Harry, aided by Katrine Bratt, a brash new member of his team with secrets of her own, combs through past missing person cases, looking for other victims of the killer now dubbed the Snowman. Several months earlier, Harry received an anonymous letter referring to both snowmen and the Australian serial killer he'd pursued early in his career. What appeared random and bizarre then now takes on new meaning as Harry realizes the killer is taunting him. Nesbø breathes new life into the serial killer subgenre, giving it a Norwegian twist and never losing his laconic hero in the process.
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"What Happened to Serenity" by PJ Sarah Collins
Release Date: May 15, 2011Product Details:
A Young Adult Novel: Katherine lives in a post-apocalyptic community completely cut off from the rest of the world. Her town is austere, run by utopians that have created a paternalistic order. Knowledge and the search for truth are not popular tenets. When her best friend's sister Serenity suddenly disappears, Katherine starts to question what she has been told...and nothing is as she was told. Will she have the courage to seek the truth no matter where it leads her? This haunting story about growing up and searching for the truth will challenge young readers' notions about knowledge, the search for truth, and the fight for freedom.
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"Wife" by Michelle Monay
Release Date: April 15, 2011Product Details:
Life has never been a struggle for India, the hood's celebrity. For this inner city girl, escaping out of the Queens projects and settling into the suburban hills was more than easy. Accustomed to the luxuries of life, this ghetto-superstar has everything a hood-born chick could dream of, but most prominently, she's married to Queens' biggest dope king: Sumpter "Sump" Jones. With two beautiful daughters, the good life and her childhood sweetheart all in tow, living couldn't have been better. That is, until one day when tragedy strikes and secrets emerge. Soon, India finds herself lost in the sauce, stagnant, and trapped in a world where the streets love no one. Eventually she realizes that being the wife of a kingpin isn't always sweet. The question is, will she be able to triumph out of the mean wicked streets, or fall victim to the dope game? Kidnapping, deception and death fill the pages from urban literary powerhouse Michelle Monay
