Reading right now:

            “Shock Wave” by Andrew Vachss. This hard-boiled thriller continues Vachss’ Aftershock series where a former mercenary and his wife decide to retire and settle down in an lovely seaside Pacific Northwest town only to find that the town has many dark, hidden corners. Well-known for his 18-part PI Burke series, Vachss is a busy man. He’s an attorney, runs an organization to protect children from abuse, is a dog lover, and a prolific author. 

Some coastal towns have birds, others have dark secrets.

On hold right now:

             “The Farm” by Tom Rob Smith. Smith started his writing career with the amazing MGB agent Leo Demidvo trilogy. His first book was the critically acclaimed “Child 44” which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. If you haven’t read this series, you should and you should do so before the movie comes out some time this year (with Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman). His new book “The Farm” is a complicated thriller that has gotten critical acclaim and sounds like a great choice for a book club selection. It revolves around a man who gets two phone calls: one from his Father saying his mother has gone crazy and another from his Mother who says his Father is caught up in an evil conspiracy to cover up a series of terrible crimes. Who does he believe? I can’t wait to read it and find out. 

Other Mysterious Things:

            I hate to look too far ahead, but July is going to see some amazing books come out. Donna Andrews has a new book in her hilarious Meg Lanslow series coming out called “The Good, the Bad, and the Emus.” The fourth Quinn Colson novel by Ace Atkins called “The Forsaken” will appear. The sixth book in the fantastic Kate Burkholder series comes out called “The Dead Will Tell” by Linda Castillo. James Lee Burke has “Wayfaring Stranger” and is his new standalone novel. “Grave Doubts” by Elizabeth Corley is her fifth Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Fenwick mystery. Stephanie Kegan wrote one book in 1990 and is finally coming out with her second book “The Myth of Solid Ground.” D. A. Mishani’s “A Possibility of Violence” is the second in his Avraham Avrahm mystery series. “Helsinki Dead” is James Thompson’s new book and his fifth Inspector Vaara novel.