Mailbox Monday (June 18, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in June by Marie at Burton Book Review.  It is good to be back!  I took an unplanned hiatus the last two weeks - which started with our trip to Vegas.  Turns out that in Vegas they don't want you to spend time in your rooms, so wireless internet is NOT free!  So my computer made the trip with me, but did not get used at all.  My husband liked that alot.  This week's mailbox will cover the last two weeks because of that - I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours!



Books for review:

The Conviction
by Robert Dugoni


Attorney David Sloane is desperate to get through to his troubled teen-aged son, Jake.  Still reeling from his mother's brutal murder, the sixteen-year-old is spiraling out of control and Sloane has barely been able to keep him out of jail, much less steer him onto a less destructive path.  Haunted by his own sense of loss, Sloane must find a way to reconnect with his son and overcome the grief that feeds Jake's stubborn silences and alcohol-fueled outbursts.  So when his old friend, detective Tom Molia, suggests taking their sons on a guys-only camping trip, Sloane gratefully seizes the opportunity to spend quality time with Jake while keeping him out of harm's way. 


What Sloane imagines as the perfect getaway turns into a father's nightmare when Jake vandalizes a small town general store with Molia's young son, T.J., as an unwitting accomplice.  Early the next morning, before Sloane and Molia even realize they are missing, the boys are summarily tried, convicted, and sentenced to six months in the Fresh Start juvenile detention facility, a boot camp in California's Gold Country wilderness.


As Sloane fights the conviction, he soon finds that county judge Earl Boykin bends the law to his will with an authority that seems to go unquestioned -- both inside and outside the confines of his courtroom.  Meanwhile, Jake and T.J. face a grueling physical and psychological ordeal and learn the hard way that Fresh Start has a very different purpose than rehabilitating troubled youths.


For the first time, Sloane feels utterly paralyzed by the judicial system, and several near misses with vindictive local law enforcement leave him terrified for Jake, whose own fear is palpable during infrequent, clipped phone calls.  With their legal options exhausted, Sloane and Molia will do anything to save their sons, even mount a daring rescue operation that could win the boys their freedom -- or cost all of them their lives. 

Summerland

by Elin Hilderbrand

A perfect summer's night ends in a deadly crash -- and four lives are changed forever.

On a warm June evening, a local tradition continues:  the students of Nantucket High gather for a bonfire on the beach.  But the celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver, Penny Alistair, dead and her twin brother, Hobby, in a coma.  Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and her friend Demeter are unhurt but haunted by the events of that night, and by the questions that linger about what happened in the car -- and in the dunes before Penny took the wheel.

For Zoe, the twins' mother, the unthinkable awaits:  life without her daughter, and an agonizing recovery for the son who had been a star athlete with infinite prospects.  Free-spirited Zoe has been as much friend as mother to her children, but now she has to face devastating truths about them, and about her own role in all that happened.

As summer unfolds, Zoe and the other parents ask whether their efforts to protect their children from life's realities have only left them more vulnerable.  The key to understanding the accident lies in what Penny learned that evening on the beach -- but will it also destroy the survivors' fragile peace? 

 

Blood Line

by James Rollins

Galilee, 1025.  Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth:  the Bachal Isu -- the staff of Jesus Christ -- a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change human kind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman.  Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for the covert rescue mission into the African jungle -- for the woman is no rich tourist; she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, the daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal, one who has been manipulating events throughout history. .. and now challenges the current presidency.

For this sensitive mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents:  former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane.  But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions.  And the danger is only beginning. . .

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a centuries-old conspiracy to manipulate our genetic code.  With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby, one who holds the key to a mystery and whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking: 

Could you live forever?

Would you live forever? 

 

The Skeleton Box

Bryan Gruley

Mysterious break-ins plague the small town of Starvation Lake.  While elderly residents enjoy their weekly bingo night at St. Valentine's Catholic Church, someone is slipping into their homes to rifle through financial and personal files.  Oddly, the intruder takes nothing -- yet the "Bingo Night Burglaries" leave an entire town uneasy.

Worry turns into panic when a break-in escalates to murder.  Suddenly, Gus Carpenter, editor of the Pine County Pilot, is forced to investigate the most difficult story of his life.  Not only is the victim his ex-girlfriend Darlene's mother, but Phyllis Bontrager's body was found in the home of Bea Carpenter -- Gus's own mother.  Suffering from worsening dementia, Bea remembers little of the break-in, and the only clue from Phyllis's final desperate phone call is one unintelligible word: 'Nye-less'. 

With the help of Luke Whistler, a former Detroit Free Press reporter who came north looking for slower days and some old-fashioned newspaper work, Gus sets out to uncover the truth behind Mrs. B's death.  Yet Whistler may have his own agenda, and the secrets Gus is determined to unearth -- involving a lock-box his mother has guarded for years and the long-ago disappearance of a nun -- could forever change his perceptions of Starvation Lake, his own family, and the value of the truth.  Are some secrets better left buried? 

15 Seconds

by Andrew Gross

Henry Steadman didn't know what was about to hit him when he pulled up to a red light.  A successful Florida plastic surgeon, he is in town to deliver a keynote address at a conference when suddenly his life becomes an unrelenting chase to stay alive. 

The situation escalates when he is stopped by the police for a minor traffic violation and pulled from his vehicle, handcuffed and told he is under arrest.  Several other police cars arrive and the questioning turns scary, but just as Henry is released and about to move on, a blue sedan pulls up and the officer is suddenly killed.  As the car speeds away, there is only one suspect left behind - Henry.  In that moment, his idyllic life becomes a free fall into hell as he becomes the target of a police manhunt, as well as being pursued by a cunning unnamed perpetrator bent on some kind of vengeance.

When Henry turns to a close friend for help, and he, too, ends up dead, Henry realizes he's being elaborately framed.  But in a chilling twist, the stakes grow even darker, and he is unable to go the police to clear his name, without bringing on dire and deadly consequences.

With breakneck pacing and nonstop action, 15 Seconds shows what can happen when even the best life is turned upside down in an instant.  It is also the story of an innocent man, framed for murder, who has to save the person he loves the most, all while being drawn closer and closer to an inevitable face-to-face stand-off with a man determined to destroy his life. 

Books won:

 

Whisper Cape

by Regan Walsh

Whisper Cape is a town of secrets and Addison MacKenna soon becomes tangled in a web of them.

Fighting to shake off one of those devastating early morning nightmares.  Addison finds it even harder to escape from the vision of a man lying on the side of the road -- a man she may have just killed.  When she frantically tries to locate him, he seemingly disappears, just the beginning of strange occurrences in her life.  She also cannot ignore the weird sensations in her own body.  Suddenly, the impossible seems possible, but is that a blessing or a curse?

The only one who can protect Addison and teach her how to overpower the murderous monster who is determined to destroy her, is the same man who makes Addie's heart race and her blood heat with passion.  The same man she'd left for dead.

Cael Sheridan may be arrogant and mysterious but he's also undeniably gorgeous.  A member of a secret society, he is sworn to protect the woman he believes to be the daughter of his recently murdered mentor.  In the process, he finds it impossible to resist her magnetic sensuality, complicating his efforts to shield and guide her.  Fate has brought them together, but will it make them stronger or destroy them both in end?

Garage sale finds:

 

Angels at Christmas

by Debbie Macomber

Every Christmas, three lovable angels visit Earth.  Once a year, Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are allowed to intervene (or, more accurately, interfere!) in human affairs.  Despite their frequent misadventures and the chaos they often cause, things always seem to turn out right. . .

This Christmas, join Those Christmas Angels as they respond to Anne Fletcher's prayer request.  She wants her son, Roy, to meet a special woman -- and the angels contrive to throw Julie Wilcott in his path (literally!). 

Watch as the heaven-sent messengers reunite a divorced couple, bring peace of mind to an elderly man and grant a little boy's fondest wish.  Because there's always joy Where Angels Go.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy offer you laughter and Christmas cheer in these two heartwarming stories!

Twice Kissed

by Lisa Jackson

Marquise Walker has vanished without a trace.  There are few clues and much speculation on her sudden disappearance.  But the truth is more terrifying than anyone can even imagine. . .

Maggie McCrae would do anything to find her identical twin sister -- even if it means stepping into her unfamiliar shoes.  Walking through Marquise's wild, uninhibited life is a revelation for Maggie, proof that she knew very little about her twin's darker side and her connection to the only man Maggie ever loved, Thane Walker.  Now he's the man she shouldn't trust, a man who could be her best hope. . . or a cold-blooded killer. . . .

The deeper Maggie digs, the more she is drawn into the web of her own past. . . to a twisted family legacy of desperate deceit, betrayal, and revenge. . . each secret bringing her closer to a final, shocking truth -- and to the identity of a killer who's closer than she thinks. . .

What books came home to you this week?