Reading right now:

            “Mr. Mercedes” by Stephen King. When Brady Hartfield drives his Mercedes into a crowd, he finds he likes to kill people and decides to try to take out thousands. After retired detective Bill Hodges receives a letter from Hartfield promising to become the greatest mass murderer of all time, Hodges’ boredom leads him to try to find Hartfield before he kills again. He assembles a group of volunteer helpers in order to find this evil man who enjoys killing. In his blog, Declan Burke recently wrote about King’s new book stating, “It’s a downbeat and occasionally unsettling tale. As with all great thrillers, however, it’s also compulsively readable and hugely entertaining.”

On hold right now:

            “Crime Always Pays” by Declan Burke. Declan Burke has finally written a sequel to “The Big O.” While it has taken six years for the book to be released in the U.S., the book picks up right after “The Big O” ended with the characters heading off to the Greek Islands. Burke’s books are dark and funny. They are also full of action from start to finish. He’s been called an Irish Elmore Leonard for good reason. While he has only written five novels, he hosts a really great website also called Crime Always Pays which is dedicated to Irish crime fiction.

Also try "Eight-ball Boogie."

Other Mysterious Things:

            We recently lost a terrific mystery author, C.J. Henderson who died July 4 from cancer at the youthful age of 62. He is known for his horror, hard hitting crime novels, and comic books. He has also written nonfiction including his well-known “The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies” which he wrote with William Shatner. On his Black Gate blog, John O’Neill wrote: “Personally, I only got to know him through my first publication, and he was an open and generous soul. He fought the disease all the way to the end, determined to make it out to future conventions to sell more books and meet more fans, and in his many emails to me he would discuss his fight, his deep love for his wife, and his passion for writing. CJ leaves a legacy filled with hard-boiled characters, ripping yarns, and good humor. He will be missed.”