Briar Patch Books

Category: Mysteries

  • 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…

  • While you were sleeping

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SLEEPWALKER. By Chris Bohjalian. Read by Cady McClain and Grace Experience. Random House Audio. 9 ½ hours; 8 CDs. $47. A new novel from Chris Bohjalian is always cause for celebration. It’s not just that he is a fine writer. He also is brave and inquisitive enough to tackle…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • “Jack is back,” and fortunately, so is Maggie Hope

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN’S ACCOMPLICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Read by Susan Duerden. Books on Tape. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDs. Also available in paperback from Bantam Books, $16. Maggie Hope, intrepid spy, code-breaker and all-around spunky young woman, is at it again, in the thick of World War II action and…