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Books
for November2007
DELIVER ME FROM EVIL
by Mary Monroe
Bestseller Monroe delivers what could be
her most entertaining novel yet. Greed, betrayal and murder
intersect as Wade Eddie Fisher, who looks like a low-income
Lenny Kravitz, and Christine Thurman, the wife of super-successful
video store entrepreneur J.R. Thurman, devise a plan to
fake her kidnapping, collect $500,000 and get her out of
her marriage. But as soon as plan is put into action and
creepy thug Jason Mack comes onboard, things quickly disintegrate.
J.R. offers to pay double for Christine's immediate and
safe return, setting into motion murderous plots and double-crosses.
The narrative is fun and the unsympathetic characters create
enough surprises to keep readers interested till the end.
A CONCISE CHINESE-ENGLISH
DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS
by Xiaolu Guo
A young woman from rural China learns how
to comprehend love and heartbreak in English in this quirky,
touching novel. Zhuang, or Z to tongue-tied foreigners,
arrives in London at age 23 after being dispatched by her
parents to get an education. Her immersion and painful education
are laid bare to readers, who witness Z's vocabulary, grammar
and understanding blossom throughout her diary like account,
sped along by an intense romance with a man met at the cinema.
Her consuming love begins promisingly, but her failure to
interpret her lover's lifestyle as a hippie drifter (he's
20 years her senior) alerts readers to potential trouble
in paradise, even while such a notion remains beyond Z's
not-yet-jaded imagination. The novel overflows with gentle
jokes about culture shock and language barriers. Z's unique,
evolving voice fits perfectly for a heroine whose naïveté
is matched by a willingness to relay the truth.
A WRONGFUL DEATH
by Kate Wilhelm
Wilhelm's sharp ninth Barbara Holloway legal
thriller (after 2006's Sleight of Hand) proves compelling
action can take place outside a courtroom. A marriage proposal
from her boyfriend, Darren, inspires Barbara to head to
a remote California cabin for some time to herself. Her
getaway is interrupted by a boy seeking help for his injured
mother. Barbara goes to get help and comes back to find
that the two have vanished. They turn out to be Elizabeth
and Jason Kurtz, on the run after discovering Elizabeth
's ex-husband's family business, the Diedricks Corp., has
been involved in illegal activities that could derail a
planned billion-dollar Swiss buyout. When Elizabeth resurfaces
in Eugene , Ore. , Barbara agrees to meet her, only to find
Elizabeth has been shot dead and Jason is missing. Barbara
comes under increasing scrutiny from the Kurtz family and
the police as she struggles to solve the bewildering puzzle.
Wilhelm's smooth style provides a cool alternative to overheated
blockbusters.
THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED
HAIR
by Margaret Coel
On the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming
, an animal unearths a woman's remains. The victim, it turns
out, was murdered in 1973, when Native American activists
came to the reservation. A group of reservation women ask
attorney Vicki Holden to press the sheriff to find the killer.
Immediately, threats are leveled against Vicki and her friend
Father John O'Malley. The duo races to find the killer before
the killer gets them. In this thirteenth Vicki Holden mystery,
Coel continues to combine full-bodied characters, vivid
landscapes, and snappy dialogue, and she builds suspense
effectively.
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