Thirsty Thursdays

Thirsty for something new to read? Well here's this week's Thirsty Thursday selections of new releases and books that are coming soon. As these are new releases, I have not had time to read these books. Enjoy and have a great Thursday. Don't forget to come back and check out next week's Thirsty Thursday selections.

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"A Drop of the Hard Stuff" by Lawrence Block

Release Date: May 12, 2011

Product 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, 2011

Product 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.

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"The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo

Release Date: May 10, 2011

Product Details: Publishers Weekly

In 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, 2011

Product 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, 2011

Product 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

Thirsty Thursdays: New Releases

"The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan

Release Date: May 2, 2011

Product Details:

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

Rick Riordan is best known for his bestselling YA series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and for a series of award-winning adult mysteries featuring San Antonio P.I. Tres Navarre.

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"On Black Sisters Street" A Novel by Chika Unigwe

Release Date: April 26, 2011

Product Detail: (Black Voices Review)

On Black Street Sisters' is the haunting novel by Chika Unigwe, a writer who was born in Nigeria and lives in Belgium. She weaves the tale of four African women from disparate worlds who made their way to Belgium seeking fame and fortune. Instead, they sell their bodies from the windows of Antwerp's red-light district. Unigwe came up with the idea after cruising the streets of Antwerp herself to research material for this stunning must-read novel.

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"Trying to Stay Saved" by E.N. Joy

Release Date: May 1, 2011

Product Details:

The New Day Divas is a church group for women led by Mother Doreen at New Day Temple of Faith, and Lorain, Bethany and Paige are all members. Still suffering memory loss thanks to a nasty blow to the head, Lorain is back from her sabbatical and starting to piece her life together. But how many lives will be damaged or restored when she figures it all out? Meanwhile, Bethany has just been exposed for the affair she’s been having with the former pastor of the church. And Paige’s husband, Blake, has been taking her for granted much less since her terrible car accident. Except now he’s becoming more physically aggressive in the arguments they do have. These sisters will need all the faith and support they can get to keep it together!

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"Dead Reckoning" (Sookie Stackhouse Series Book 11) by Charlaine Harris

Release Date: May 3, 2011

Product Details:

New in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series-the basis for HBO(r)'s True Blood!
With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows...

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"You Are Free: Stories" by Danzy Senna

Release Date: May 3, 2011

Product Details:

Each of these eight remarkable stories by Danzy Senna tightrope-walks tantalizingly, sometimes frighteningly, between defined states: life with and without mates and children, the familiar if constraining reference points provided by race, class, and gender. Tensions arise between a biracial couple when their son is admitted to the private school where they'd applied on a lark. A new mother hosts an old friend, still single, and discovers how each of them pities-and envies- the other. A young woman responds to an adoptee in search of her birth mother, knowing it is not she.

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"10th Anniversary" (Women's Murder Club)  by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Release Date: May 2, 2011

Product Details:

For every secret Detective Lindsay Boxer's long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals—but that the victim may be keeping secrets as well.

For every lie
At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life—a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?
 
There's a different way to die
Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family. With James Patterson's white-hot speed and unquenchable action, 10th Anniversary is the most deliciously chilling Women's Murder Club book ever.

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"Suspicions" by Sasha Campbell

Release Date: May 1, 2011

Product Details:

As the owner of Situations, the hottest beauty salon on the south side of Chicago, Noelle Gordon has a direct line to the private lives of her clients. But when an abandoned baby girl appears on her doorstep, Noelle finds herself at the center of a personal drama. Could the baby be her husband’s? Or maybe her grown son’s? Both men deny it—but Noelle is sure one of them is lying.... Meanwhile, Noelle’s employees are discovering that their own romantic relationships harbor a secret or two. The truth isn’t always pretty. But can they find the strength to deal with the secrets their men keep—to deal with all the ramifications and stand by the men they love? Says Brenda Hampton (the Naughty series): “This novel will heat your seat!”

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"The Hackman Blues" by Ken Bruen

Release Date: May 1, 2011

Product Details:

A gay, manic-depressive, thoroughly disreputable ex-con with a violent streak, Tony Brady is also vibrantly alive and capable of dropping insightful quotes from Genet, Baldwin or Maupin gleaned from his prison reading. At the beginning of this slang-filled noir caper from London, Tony has settled in to a sweet racket with a former cellmate from Wormwood Scrubs, Elias Rasheed MohammedReed for short. Together they conduct a useful little business finding lost items, even if they have to make the items disappear so that they can recover them for the grateful owners.

Tony is approached by a wealthy builder named Jack Dunphy and asked to find his runaway teenage daughter. With Reed and little effort he succeeds. The problem is that the Brixton tough the daughter is with isn't going to give her up easily. And when Reed and Tony decide to play both ends against the middle, violence is the inevitable result. Bruen combines jazz, drugs, sex and violence into a heady brew that goes down easy and leaves a long aftertaste

Thirsty Thursdays

Thirsty for something new to read? Well, here are a few upcoming book releases along with their release date and product details provided by the publisher. I will likely add a couple of them to my book review list to complete a review for in the future. Stay connected every Thursday for new book releases.
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"Chasing Fire" by Nora Roberts


Release Date: April 2011
Product Details from Publisher:

There's little as thrilling as firefighting-at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are in Rowan's blood: her father is a legend. She's been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home-even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering. 

Fortunately, this year's rookie crop is one of the strongest ever-and Gulliver Curry's one of the best. He's also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids' arcade. 

Everything is thrown off balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year's tragedy. Rowan knows she can't complicate things with Gull-any distractions in the air or on the ground could mean the end-but if she doesn't find someone she can lean on, she may not make it through the summer. . . .
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"The Gathering" by Kelley Armstrong


Release Date: April 2011
Product Details From Publisher:

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations. 

It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

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"A Wife for Westmoreland" by Brenda Jackson

Release Date: April 1, 2011
Product Details by Publisher:

For weeks, Derringer Westmoreland was haunted by memories of a woman whose face he could not recall. But he wanted—he needed—to share that intense passion again. Now.When he finally traced his mystery woman, he was met with a surprise. His fantastic one-night stand was Lucia Conyers, his sister-in-law's best friend. And Lucia wasn't about to become one of Derringer's women. For the first time in his charmed life, the ranch owner had some wooing to do. And if he wanted to win Lucia's heart, he'd better be ready to risk his own.…

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"The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen

Release Date: April 2011

Product Details by Publisher's Weekly:

At, Willa Jackson returns to her small Southern hometown, Walls of Water, N.C., in the wake of a failed marriage to her college sweetheart. She's determined now to lead the quiet life she believes her father wants her to have, but is soon derailed by the wealthy and powerful Osgoods, the family that shaped her high school experience. The Jacksons were also wealthy once, until the logging industry failed, and Willa's teenage grandmother went to work as a maid for the Osgoods. Paxton Osgood, Willa's counterpart, has everything Willa envies—wealth, beauty and a sense of belonging—but Paxton hides a deep loneliness and discontent. To further complicate Willa's unrest, Paxton's brother, Colin, fled town years before but has returned and become an irresistible force in Willa's life. When a skeleton that holds the secret to both the Osgood and Jackson family fortunes is discovered at the Jackson family's old estate, long-held beliefs are likely to be overturned. Allen (The Girl Who Chased the Moon) juggles smalltown history and mystical thriller, character development and eerie magical realism in a fine Southern gothic drama. The underlying tension will please and unnerve readers, as well as leave them eager for Allen's next.

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"Heartbreak of a Hustler's Wife" by Nikki Turner


Release Date: April 2011
Product Details by Publisher:


Yarni Taylor is a successful corporate attorney who wants nothing more than for her husband, Des, to renounce his hustlin’ ways and commit to his life as a pastor—especially after someone tries to kill him. But Des isn’t ready to abandon his old habits just yet. He has to find out who is behind the murder attempt, and he wonders if the brazen robbery that took place during one of his church services is related in any way. But before he or Yarni can regain their footing, a young woman shows up on their doorstep—Desember Day, the eighteen-year-old daughter Des never knew he had. And, unfortunately, she takes after her father, so trouble isn’t far behind. With their lives on the line, Yarni must sacrifice everything and take it out of the office and back to the streets to save her husband and her family from their checkered but intricately connected pasts.
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"Heads You Lose" by Lisa Lutz


Release Date: April 2011
Product Details by Publisher:


Meet Paul and Lacey Hansen: orphaned, pot-growing twentysomething siblings eking out a living in rural Northern California. When a headless corpse appears on their property, they can't exactly dial 911, so they move the body and wait for the police to find it. Instead, the corpse reappears, a few days riper . . . and an amateur sleuth is born. Make that two.

When collaborators Lutz and Hayward (former romantic partners) start to disagree about how the story should unfold, the body count rises, victims and suspects alike develop surprising characteristics (meet Brandy Chester, the stripper with the Mensa IQ), and sibling rivalry reaches homicidal intensity. Think Adaptation crossed with Weeds. Will the authors solve the mystery without killing each other first? 
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"Shady: A Novel" by Dell Banks



Release Date: March 31, 2011
Product Details by Publisher:


A world that is ruled by greed, betrayal and secrets! Giselle Whitfield's life has always been full of surprises. It all started with Ms. Greta Mitchell; her jealous-hearted mother, who abandoned her at a young age only to barge back into her life to create hell on earth. To cope with the drama of her past, Giselle does what's expected of her; scheming, lying and keeping secrets. Now, as a grown woman holding her own, will Giselle be able to extinguish the hellish flames of her conniving past and deceitful ways? Will the red carpet treatment from her Prince Charming, be the beacon of light to escape the darkness of her past? Join Dell Banks in his highly anticipated debut novel SHADY as he introduces some of the shadiest people to ever hit the streets of Detroit. Experience it all as it untangles toward a state of undoubted destiny...or fate.