97. Gone for Good

Yes, another Harlan Coben book. Another very good one. Can't wait for the next!!

Here's the description from B&N:

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found brutally murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good. Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother, and even himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come.

96. One False Move

Another Myron Bolitar book, another really good read. With several twists I totally didn't see coming!!

Here's the description from B&N:

She's smart, beautiful, and she doesn't need a man to look after her. But sports agent Myron Bolitar has come into her life—big time. Now Myron's next move may be his last—Brenda Slaughter is no damsel in distress. Myron Bolitar is no bodyguard. But Myron has agreed to protect the bright, strong, beautiful basketball star. And he's about to find out if he's man enough to unravel the tragic riddle of her life.Twenty years before, Brenda's mother deserted her. And just as Brenda is making it to the top of the women's pro basketball world, her father disappears too. A big-time New York sports agent with a foundering love life, Myron has a professional interest in Brenda. Then a personal one. But between them isn't just the difference in their backgrounds or the color of their skin. Between them is a chasm of corruption and lies, a vicious young mafioso on the make, and one secret that some people are dying to keep—and others are killing to protect....

95. The Woods

This one was good... really good and suspenseful. I definitely recommend it!

Here's the description from B&N:

Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again.

Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again.For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his six-year-old daughter as a single father after his wife has died of cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor's family are threatened.

Is this homicide victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer twenty years ago: his first love, Lucy; his mother, who abandoned the family; and the secrets that his Russian parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.

94. Back Spin

Still good, but not as good as the first few Myron Bolitar books. Too many story lines that were connected, but at the same time not really necessary I think. Anyway, still worth reading if you start the series!

Here's the description:

Kidnappers have snatched the teenage son of super-star golfer Linda Coldren and her husband, Jack, an aging pro, at the height of the U.S. Open. To help get the boy back, sports agent Myron Bolitar goes charging after clues and suspects from the Main Line mansions to a downtown cheaters' motel--and back in time to a U.S. Open twenty-three years ago, when Jack Coldren should have won, but didn't. Suddenly Myron finds himself surrounded by blue bloods, criminals, and liars. And as one family's darkest secrets explode into murder, Myron finds out just how rough this game can get.In stories that crackle with wit and suspense, Edgar Award winner Harlan Coben has created one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction--Myron Bolitar--a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent who grows more and more engaging and unpredictable with each appearance.

93. Fade Away

With the other two Myron Bolitar books I figured at least some of the plot twists out before the ending. This one had me guessing til pretty much the last page. I can't wait to read the next one in the series!

Here's a review from B&N:

Wisecracking sports agent Myron Bolitar returns with style in his third mystery (after Deal Breaker and Dropshot). This time, Myron is given a chance to return to professional basketball after being sidelined by a heartbreaking injury 10 years ago. No, the owner of the New Jersey Dragons doesn't want Myron to play. He wants him to use his skills as a onetime FBI undercover agent ("the worst kept secret in the continental United States") to find a missing player and former rival. The hunt for the absent player turns up an ugly web of complications that include a dead body, blackmail, a nasty custody suit, out-of-control gambling and thugs intent on revenge. Myron finds himself dragged in deeper than expected as the case stirs unresolved issues from his own past. With the help of his lethally loyal pal Win, he untangles the mess with bravado and not a little personal pain. Coben writes a fast-moving narrative in a style witty enough to keep pace without straining too hard.

92. Another Thing to Fall

As usual, I'm kinda sad that I've come to the end of a series... the last of the Tess Monaghan books. The author has been writing one new book a year or so which I hope means something else will be coming soon!

Here's the description of the latest:

When private investigator Tess Monaghan literally runs into the crew of a fledgling TV series while sculling, she expects sharp words and evil looks, not an assignment. But the company has been plagued by a series of disturbing incidents since their arrival on location in Baltimore. Worried for the safety of the young female lead, they ask Tess to serve as her bodyguard/babysitter. In the past, Tess has had enough trouble guarding her own body; keeping a spoiled movie princess under wraps may be more than she can handle. But the fish-out-of-water p.i. is abruptly pulled back in by an occurrence she's all too familiar with—murder. Suddenly the wall of secrets is in danger of toppling, leaving shattered dreams, careers, and lives scattered among the ruins—a catastrophe that threatens the people Tess cares about…and the city she loves.

91. Drop Shot

Yet another series I'm completely hooked on.

Here's the description:

Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubled past who's now on the verge of a comeback and wants Myron as her agent. Myron, who's also got the hottest young male tennis star, Duane Richwood, primed to take his first grand slam tournament, couldn't be happier. That is, until Valerie is murdered in broad daylight at the U.S. Open and Myron's number one client becomes the number one suspect.

Clearing Duane's name should be easy enough. Duane was playing in a match at the time of Valerie's death. But why is his phone number in Valerie's black book when he claims only to have known her in passing? Why was she calling him from a phone booth on the street? The police stop caring once they pin the murder on a man known for having stalked Valerie and seen talking to her moments before the murder. But Myron isn't satisfied. It seems too clean for him.

Myron pries a bit and finds himself prying open the past where six years before, Valerie's fiancee, the son of a senator, was brutally murdered by a juvenile delinquent and a straight-A student was subsequently gunned down on the street in retaliation, his death squandered in bureaucratic files. And everyone from the Senator to the mob want Myron to stop digging.

The truth beneath the truth is not only dangerous, it's deadly. And Myron may be the next victim.

In novels that crackle with wit and suspense, Edgar Award winner Harlan Coben has created one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction—Myron Bolitar—a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent who grows more and more engaging and unpredictable with each page-turning appearance.

90. No Good Deeds

The latest Tess Monaghan book for me took place in part oh so appropriately in Bethany, Fenwick & Ocean City! It even mentioned the 84 Lumber about a mile from my parents house and Bridgeville (famous for it's motto "If you lived here you'd be home now") . :) I don't know why this makes me happy but, it does.

Besides my happiness over the location, it was a really good story and makes me happy I have another Tess Monaghan book to start on tomorrow!

anyway, here's the B&N description:

For Tess Monaghan, the unsolved murder of a young federal prosecutor is nothing more than a theoretical problem, one of several cases to be deconstructed in her new gig as a consultant to the local newspaper. But it becomes all too tangible when her boyfriend brings home a young street kid who doesn't even realize he holds an important key to the man's death. Tess agrees to protect the boy's identity no matter what, especially when one of his friends is killed in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. But with federal agents determined to learn the boy's name at any cost, Tess finds out just how far even official authorities will go to get what they want. Soon she's facing felony charges -- and her boyfriend, Crow, has gone into hiding with his young protégé, so Tess can't deliver the kid to investigators even if she wants to. Time and time again Tess is reminded of her father's old joke, the one about the most terrifying sentence in the English language: "We're from the government -- and we're here to help."

89. Deal Breaker

Liked this one... a lot! And good news - it's book 1 in a series! The others are sure to follow soon!

Here's the description from B&N:

Sports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Trying to unravel the truth about a family's tragedy, a woman's secret, and a man's lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business—where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.

In novels that crackle with wit and suspense, Edgar Award winner Harlan Coben has created one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction—Myron Bolitar—a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent who grows more and more engaging and unpredictable with each page-turning appearance.

88. The Last Summer (of you and me)

Ok, so it's by the author of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the B&N review I'm going to copy below makes it sound like chick lit but... it wasn't. It was more serious then that, better written, more tugging of the heart strings and full of life's complications then chick lit.

Oh, and it was good. You should read it too.

Here's a review from B&N:

In her first adult novel, the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants makes a journey to Fire Island, where 21-year-old Alice and her slightly older sister, Riley, are sharing a home and an infatuation. Boyish lifeguard Riley values her closeness with longtime neighbor Paul, but their "best friend" relationship has less pull than the attraction he shares with Alice. To protect Riley's feelings, the pair try to keep their blossoming romance secret. In the land of fiction, as in the real world, such furtiveness can't be sustained indefinitely, but in The Last Summer (of You & Me), complications and surprises confront us around every turn.

87. Burned

Another Carol Higgins Clark book... As usual, a quick, cute mystery that is quite a well woven story. I know whoever did it is among the cast of wacky characters but I'm always a bit surprised by who it is in the end.

Here's the description from B&N:

Regan Reilly and her best friend, Kit, are on vacation in Honolulu, intent on having a Hawaiian adventure. They won't be disappointed!

When we last saw L.A.-based private detective Regan Reilly, she'd recently become engaged, but before the big event Kit convinces her to come to Hawaii for one last girls' weekend.
At the Waikiki Waters Resort, the body of Dorinda Dawes washes ashore. Around her neck is an exquisite and historically valuable shell lei that had been stolen from the Seashell Museum in Honolulu thirty years before. Will Brown, the manager of the resort, doesn't believe that it's an accidental drowning. In the three months Dorinda had worked in Hawaii, she had become a controversial character who had a reputation for pointing out the very worst in people. Will is afraid that she was murdered and that the murderer might still be in their midst.

Lucky for Will, he meets Regan Reilly in the hotel lobby and convinces her to get on the case. Can Regan find out what really happened to Dorinda before it's too late for someone else? Before it's too late for her?

86. The Mercy Rule

I liked this one. It was different, but definitely a good read.

Here's the description:

A trenchant, funny, and timely novel about what makes a good parent and who should judge that issue.At first glance, Dr. Lucy Weiss looks like the typical high-achieving, upper-middle-class working mother who, along with her husband, is bringing up much-beloved children in the suburbs. But Lucy's own history makes her an anomaly. Having overcome a difficult childhood in foster care, she is what's called a super-survivor. Now a pediatrician, Lucy finds herself working with some of those same at-risk patients and their families.The Mercy Rule is a novel about the all-important job of taking care of children. Lucy's work takes her back into the world of families living on the edge, where every day she must decide whether a parent's actions are so incompetent—or so clueless—that a child is in danger. It's her job to make the call, and to step in when she has to. As she moves between her disparate worlds—from worrying about her own brilliant but odd son being labeled with a diagnosis to worrying about parents struggling with drugs and impossible living situations—Lucy must judge herself as a parent, critique other parents, and also deal with the echoes of her childhood.Watching Lucy try to keep the balance, enjoy her own children, and look at other families with humor and justice and mercy, readers will understand why Chris Bohjalian said of Perri Klass, "Few writers write as beautifully or as authentically about parenting."

85. Somebody Else's Daughter

I'm going to need someone else to read this one so we can discuss. Soon please. Thank you.

Here's the description from B&N:

A psychological thriller of secrets, dark motives, and an adoption buried in the past At the center of Elizabeth Brundage's new novel lies an adoption under stressed and tragic circumstances. Willa, brought up in elegant prosperity, is now a student at the prestigious Pioneer School. But her biological father, a failing writer and former drug addict, can't live with himself without seeing her again.In this idyllic Berkshires landscape, Willa's adoptive parents have fled a mysterious past; a feminist sculptor initiates a reckless affair; teenagers live in a world to which adults turn a blind eye; and the headmaster's wife is busy keeping her husband's disastrous history and current indiscretions well hidden. The culmination of these forces is the collision of two very different fathers—biological and adoptive—and a villain whose ends and means slowly unfold with the help, witting and unwitting, of all around him. Somebody Else's Daughter delivers an electric, suspenseful tale of richly conflicted characters and the disturbed landscape of the American psyche.

84. Hold Tight

This was a page-turner that I could not put down. It reminded me a lot of a Jodi Picoult book and I definitely recommend it and can't wait to read more by this author.

Here's the description from B&N:

Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill—the latest in a string of issues at school—they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: "Just stay quiet and all safe."

Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death... and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?

83. Fearless Fourteen

And I've come to the end of the Stephanie Plum series. Kinda sad there isn't another one I can move right on to but kinda glad I can read some other things now. :)

Here's the description from B&N:

Personal vendettas, hidden treasure, and a monkey named Carl will send bounty hunter Stephanie Plum on her most explosive adventure yet.

The Crime: Armed robbery to the tune of nine million dollarsDom Rizzi robbed a bank, stashed the money, and did the time. His family couldn’t be more proud. He always was the smart one.

The Cousin: Joe MorelliJoe Morelli, Dom Rizzi, and Dom’s sister, Loretta, are cousins. Morelli is a cop, Rizzi robs banks, and Loretta is a single mother waiting tables at the firehouse. The all-American family.

The Complications: Murder, kidnapping, destruction of personal property, and acid refluxLess than a week after Dom’s release from prison, Joe Morelli has shadowy figures breaking into his house and dying in his basement. He’s getting threatening messages, Loretta is kidnapped, and Dom is missing.

The Catastrophe: MoonmanMorelli hires Walter “Mooner” Dunphy, stoner and “inventor” turned crime fighter, to protect his house. Morelli can’t afford a lot on a cop’s salary, and Mooner will work for potatoes.

The Cupcake: Stephanie PlumStephanie and Morelli have a long-standing relationship that involves sex, affection, and driving each other nuts. She’s a bond enforcement agent with more luck than talent, and she’s involved in this bank-robbery-gone-bad disaster from day one.

The Crisis: A favor for RangerSecurity expert Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, has a job for Stephanie that will involve night work. Morelli has his own ideas regarding Stephanie’s evening activities.

The Conclusion: Only the fearless should read Fourteen.Thrills, chills, and incontinence may result.