bookpagedev

At what point in a relationship does love become obsession? Or are all relationships degrees of obsession? Alice Loudon finds out in Nicci French’s new book Killing Me Softly. A research scientist for a major British pharmaceutical corporation, Alice leads a quiet life with a considerate, loving boyfriend, Jake. She has an interesting and entertaining circle of friends and a challenging, satisfying job.

Then one day her eyes meet those of a handsome stranger on the street, and when he is still there waiting for her later that day, she goes with him back to his place, where they make love first and exchange names later. She discovers that she has fallen (an apt expression) for Adam Tallis, a famous mountain climber and guide, and she finds herself giving up her lover, her friends, and the life that she knew in exchange for this tall, handsome stranger.

Yet when she marries him, doubt begins to creep in: just who is it that she has married? Adam Tallis has gained fame for saving several lives in the course of an expedition, but perhaps things aren’t as they seem. There are mysterious notes, and questions about dead women in Adam’s past. For her own sanity, Alice must learn the shattering truth about the man she married. If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, you’ll love this book.

In the last novel written before his death, the preeminent chronicler of the mafia concludes his mob trilogy with the depiction of yet another memorable, aging chieftain. Don Raymonde Aprile, the Mafia leader in Omerta, is the latest in a long line of Mario Puzo’s characters who have tried to put centuries of vendetta behind them and become upright pillars of the American community. Unlike Vito Corleone, from Puzo’s The Godfather, or Domenico Clericuzio, from The Last Don, Don Raymonde meets with some success by keeping his three children away from the family business at the expense of his adopted nephew, Astorre Viola.

As he did in the two earlier novels, Puzo manages to imbue his less-than-savory characters with a sense of nobility by highlighting their redeeming qualities and downplaying their amorality. The crimes Viola commits during the course of the novel are portrayed as acts of justified vigilantism rather than misdeeds motivated by money. Although Puzo once again focuses on the complex relationship of loyalty and betrayal, the actual violence and bloodshed are more restrained in this novel, which was completed shortly before the author died in July, 1999.

Another new feature in Omerta is the character Kurt Cilke, an FBI agent who was responsible for bringing down many of the leaders of the Mafia in the years immediately prior to the novel’s action. The novel follows the quasi-legal dealings of Don Raymonde’s family and an attempt by a corrupt South American syndicate to take over the family banks for their own illicit purposes.

Puzo’s plot moves quickly as Cilke, Viola, and the syndicate work to gain the advantage on their opponents. Viola’s faction seems outnumbered, yet his sense of honor forbids him to break omerta, a code of conduct which forbids informing about crimes. The fact that Viola is willing and able to live by this ethical code, no matter how strange it might seem, is what distinguishes him from his antagonists.

By championing character whose ways of life are both traditional and reprehensible to modern civilization, Puzo forces the reader to consider the underpinnings of the larger society.

In Donor, the latest paperback from wizard plotter Charles Wilson, the author delivers another voyage inside the world of medicine that reads more like today’s headlines than fiction.

Wilson returns again to Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in this spine-tingling book. Donor is a mixture of thriller, action-adventure, and mystery, which is only one of the many reasons why Wilson’s readership is growing rapidly across genre lines.

Too many patients are dying inside the huge public hospital where the idealistic young doctor Michael Sims works as an emergency room doctor. When Sims watches a little girl’s life ebb away despite the best that modern medicine can deliver, he becomes depressed about his choice of careers.

Across town, a popular and prominent Congressman dies, his skull shattered, but police investigators determine the death to be a suicide. Despite what they say, the Congressman’s beautiful young daughter, Shannon Donnelly, stubbornly refuses to believe that her father took his own life.

With the stage set, Wilson skillfully plots to bring Donnelly and Dr. Sims together to uncover the truth about a medical experiment that utilizes nerve regeneration and organ transplants.

Along the way, Dr. Sims becomes the top contender for the dead Congressman’s seat, thanks to a computer billionaire who wants to organize a group of national politicians to back his dream of a nationwide chain of medical research centers. And Shannon Donnelly finds herself on a path not only to find her father’s killer but to save Dr. Sims as well. That path takes them into the deepest and darkest secrets of government and medicine where there are no volunteers, no donors, and where the pair discovers that death isn’t the worst thing they have to fear. Being chosen is.

Wilson’s next hardback book, Game Plan, will be released in January. ¦ Alice Jackson Baughn is a freelance writer in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Battle Born may be fiction, but it is not beyond the realm of fact which makes it all the more chilling to read. The story involves the two Koreas, China, and the United States in a political scenario that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Dale Brown’s favorite hero is Patrick McLanahan, a Brigadier-General in the Air Force who is now facing a formidable challenge. McLanahan is back in the air again, with a squadron of B-1 bombers belonging to Nevada’s National Guard. From this motley crew he must put together a team of combat pilots who are aggressive, young, and thoroughly skilled at pushing airplanes through the skies at supersonic speeds.

Nevada’s squadron of the B-1B Lancers is commanded by Lt. Col. Nancy Cheshire. Her major problem is keeping the pilots from battling each other. She is relatively content with her job until General McLanahan enters her life.

Meanwhile, there is a joint U.

S.-Japanese-South Korean mock bombing exercise underway. To the astonishment of the other participants, the South Korean pilots fly across the border into the North to support a revolt of the starving people of North Korea. Much to the dismay of U.

S. President Kevin Martindale, South Korean leaders declare that a United Korea exists. With that declaration the world’s newest nuclear power emerges. (The South has captured Chinese nukes which China wants back to the extent that it invades the now-unified Korea.) At this point, General McLanahan enters the conflict to try to avert World War III, bringing with him top-secret technology and his band of brazen fly-boys.

If there is a drawback to this techno-thriller, it is that Brown is so concerned with realism that he writes almost too many detailed descriptions of flying, from bomber avionics to targeting by radar. Even so, Battle Born is a gripping and entertaining novel that is hard to put down. ¦ Lloyd Armour is a retired newspaper editor in Nashville, Tennessee.

Battle Born may be fiction, but it is not beyond the realm of fact which makes it all the more chilling to read. The story involves the two Koreas, China, and the United States in a political scenario that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

Dale Brown’s favorite hero is Patrick McLanahan, a Brigadier-General in the Air Force who is now facing a formidable challenge. McLanahan is back in the air again, with a squadron of B-1 bombers belonging to Nevada’s National Guard. From this motley crew he must put together a team of combat pilots who are aggressive, young, and thoroughly skilled at pushing airplanes through the skies at supersonic speeds.

Nevada’s squadron of the B-1B Lancers is commanded by Lt. Col. Nancy Cheshire. Her major problem is keeping the pilots from battling each other. She is relatively content with her job until General McLanahan enters her life.

Meanwhile, there is a joint U.

S.-Japanese-South Korean mock bombing exercise underway. To the astonishment of the other participants, the South Korean pilots fly across the border into the North to support a revolt of the starving people of North Korea. Much to the dismay of U.

S. President Kevin Martindale, South Korean leaders declare that a United Korea exists. With that declaration the world’s newest nuclear power emerges. (The South has captured Chinese nukes which China wants back to the extent that it invades the now-unified Korea.) At this point, General McLanahan enters the conflict to try to avert World War III, bringing with him top-secret technology and his band of brazen fly-boys.

If there is a drawback to this techno-thriller, it is that Brown is so concerned with realism that he writes almost too many detailed descriptions of flying, from bomber avionics to targeting by radar. Even so, Battle Born is a gripping and entertaining novel that is hard to put down. ¦ Lloyd Armour is a retired newspaper editor in Nashville, Tennessee.