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Hot on the trail of a missing island
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson When Janet Ivanovich’s first Knight and Moon novel hit the stands a year ago, I quickly declared the new series my second favorite of Ivanovich’s prolific offerings (the Stephanie Plum books have a lock on No. 1). Now Dangerous Minds, the second in the series, has arrived, and, yep, it’s…
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Whom we love, what we see
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WATCH ME DISAPPEAR. By Janelle Brown. Random House Audio. Read by Tavia Gilbert with Kaleo Griffith. 13 ½ hours; 11 CDs. $45. Also available in print from Spiegel & Grau. Billie Flanagan was a force of nature, almost larger than life. Everybody loved and admired her. Right? When Janelle Brown’s…
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High (and sometimes deep) adventure
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson NIGHTHAWK. By Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. Penguin Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 11 ½ hours; 9 CDs. $45. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The United States’ most advanced aircraft/spacecraft has gone missing, and the Air Force and the National Security Agency have called on NUMA, the…
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The chase is on
This new book by one of Bob Moyer’s (many) favorite authors came out late last year, but we’ll forgive him for not getting around to reviewing it until now. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE OLD MAN. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 337 pages. $26. The Old Man looks like a harmless retiree, having lived…
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Disaster, resilience and Grace
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE STARS ARE FIRE. By Anita Shreve. Random House Audio. Read by Suzanne Elise Freeman. 8 ½ hours; 7 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Knopf. In the long, hot summer of 1947, a drought took hold in Maine with a vengeance. By October, conditions were dire, and when…
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The art of death in Detroit
Bob Moyer takes a look at paperback original novel from a prolific writer of mystery stories. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SHOT IN DETROIT. By Patricia Abbott. Polis Books. 302 pages. $15, paperback. The 12 bodies in this book don’t get dead the same way. Some are gunned down, some are stabbed, and one is…
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Murder in Atlanta
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson OLD BONES. By Trudy Nan Boyce. Read by Rebecca Lowman. Books on Tape. 10 ½ hours; 8 CDs. Atlanta is a powder keg after someone fires on a group of students from Spelman College who are demonstrating for police reform. One student from the historically black women’s college is killed,…
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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: The cursed Harry Potter
Again this year, students in Paul T. O’Connor’s opinion-writing class in the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have contributed book reviews to Briar Patch Books. We welcome these reviews, which offer some different fare as well as fresh perspectives. Thanks to these bright students! Reviewed by…