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A good thriller, laced with romance
Bob Moyer’s not particularly into vampire romance fiction, but if a vampire writer wants to try writing a thriller, he’s willing to see what she can do. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE CHEMIST. By Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown and Co. 528 pages. $28. Stephenie Meyer came out of left field with her Twilight series and…
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A fresh perspective: What happened to the baby?
Here’s another review by one of Paul O’Connor’s students in opinion writing at the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reviewed by Lauren Tarpley THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR. By Shari Lapena. Pamela Dorman Books (Viking). 320 pages. $26. A couple in New York attend a dinner party…
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In treacherous territory
Bob Moyer wrote this review a while back, but either because of human error or a disturbance in the force, it never made it onto the blog. The book has been out since last summer, but never fear if you missed it – it’s still around, and still good. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE…
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Around the world with Dirk Pitt
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ODESSA SEA. By Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler. Read by Scott Brick. 12 hours. 10 CDs. $45. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. If you like Dirk Pitt novels, you’ll get your money’s worth and more in Odessa Sea, No. 24, out just in time for Christmas. These…
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Playing a risky game
Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor SWEET TOOTH. By Ian McEwan. Anchor Books. 400 pages, Softcover. $15.95 Serena Frome has been playing out of her league all her life. The mostly overlooked daughter of an Anglican bishop, she attends Cambridge University, where she’s a middling student in “the maths” and the target of derision by more…
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Let justice prevail
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE WHISTLER. By John Grisham. Read by Cassandra Campbell. Random House Audio. 11 CDs. $45. John Grisham has written so many books that it’s hard to keep count: In addition to the legal thrillers (29?), there are children’s books and books about the rural South, among others. His fans are…
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Beneath the surface
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE TRESPASSER. By Tana French. Penguin Audio. Read by Hilda Fay. 21 hours; 18 CDs. $55. Also available in hardcover from Viking. What a delight it is to discover Tana French, a wonderful Irish writer who pours her prodigious literary skills into richly layered detective fiction. I’m a latecomer to…
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Dark corners in the heart of North Carolina
Bob Moyer reviews the latest thriller by John Hart, a fine North Carolina author. I scooped Bob by a few months: You can see my review of the same book that ran May 8 in the Greensboro News & Record here: http://www.greensboro.com/go_triad/arts/books/hart-s-thriller-redemption-road-is-well-worth-the-wait/article_ae13edaa-bd4d-5e40-a496-51957f15bfd1.html Fortunately, Bob and I agree in our praise of the novel. Reviewed by…
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Where’s the gold?
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson CURIOUS MINDS. By Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. 7 hours; 6 CDs. $47. Also available in print from Bantam Books. For just plain fun, I adore Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, and I’ve also enjoyed some of Evanovich’s forays into other series, sometimes…
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Danger lurks in gritty Texas
Here’s a review of a second novel by a fellow newspaper veteran who is a transplant to North Carolina. The review, now with a couple of modifications, first ran in the Greensboro News & Record. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WINNING TEXAS. By Nancy Stancill. Black Rose Writing. 226 pages. $16.95, paperback. In real world…