Tome Travelers: Second Thrift Store Bargains This Week!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart--and an ordinary life that is changed forever on a day he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed existed--a dark subculture flourishing in abandoned subway stations and sewer tunnels below the city--a world far stranger and more dangerous than the only one he has ever known. . .(back cover)





Don't Tell by Karen Rose

DON'T LOOK



It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake. . .



DON'T TRUST



Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away. As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he's closing in on her--and everything and everyone she loves. (back cover)




Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors

Journey to dazzling seventeenth-century Hindustan, where the reigning emperor, consumed with grief over the tragic death of his beloved wife, commissioned the building of a grand mausoleum as a testament to the marvel of their love. This monument would soon become known as the Taj Mahal--a sight famous around the world for its beauty and the emotions it symbolizes.



Princess Jahanara, the courageous daughter of the emperor and his wife, tells their mesmerizing tale, while sharing her own parallel story of forbidden love with the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. Set during a time of unimaginable wealth and power, murderous sibling rivalries, and cruel despotism, this impressive novel sweeps you away to a historical Hindustan brimming with action and intrigue in an era when, alongside the brutalities of war and oppression, architecture and the art of love and passion reached a pinnacle of perfection. (back cover)



Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
(Book 1 in the Vampire Academy series)

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES. . .



Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous vampires -- the ones who never die.



The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.



After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking Academy hearts.



Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's -- inside the Academy's iron gates, their world is even more frought with danger. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals, and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever. . .(back cover)



Other books in the series are: Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, and Spirit Bound.


Chosen by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
(Book 3, House of Night series)

BLOODLUST AND DARK FORCES ARE AT WORK AT THE HOUSE OF NIGHT, and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird's adventures at the school take a mysterious turn. Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies. And, oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends. So begins the gripping third installment of this "highly addictive series" (Romantic Times BOOKreviews), in which Zoey's mettle will be tested like never before. Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn't have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity. Speaking of rare, Zoey finds herself in the very rare position of having three boyfriends, a situation with the potential to spell social disaster. Then vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. But as Zoey and her friends find out, things are not always what they seem. (back cover)

Other books in this series are: Marked, Betrayed, (Chosen), Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, Burned.

I Can See You by Karen Rose (Book Review)

Title: I Can See You
Author: Karen Rose
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

First sentence: Homicide detective Noah Webster stared up into the wide, lifeless eyes of Martha Brisbane with a sigh that hung in the freezing air, just as she did.

My synopsis: Eve had already lived through 2 traumatic incidents that left her scarred both inside and out. The outer scars had healed or been "fixed", but on certain days, the inner scars were still fresh. She was trying to rebuild her life. By day she was a grad student studying psychology - and how one might learn confidence in real life (IRL) by "practicing" it in the virtual world via games - in this case Shadowland. By night she was a bartender working at Sal's - a bar frequented by Minneapolis police officers and members of The Hat Squad.

Shadowland was an online virtual game whose motto was "Sometimes you want to go where no one knows your name". You could do there about anything you could do IRL. You could gamble at the casino, dance at the bar, even take home 'one-night stands'. You became your avatar - and this avatar could be whoever you wanted them to be - and like in most virtual worlds - your avatar was opposite of who you were IRL - for most, it was a reflection of who they wanted to be. Eve had opened up a shop in Shadowland called Pandora's - where people came to buy their avatars. It was also her way of keeping tabs on people in her study. She was not supposed to know who these people were, but she had broken the rules of the double-blind study and had learned there real names.

The Hat Squad was a group of detectives that were given a fedora when they solved their first crime. They wore the hats as a symbol of achievement and pride. A local magazine had just run a feature on The Hat Squad, with an officer on the cover who hadn't been in shining form the last few months. This article made people even love The Hat Squad more - or hate them with a vengeance.

Because Eve knew the names of her subjects - when two women's usage in Shadowland dropped - she checked in to it - and discovered they had committed suicide. She went to her professor to try to persuade him that they needed to do more evaluations, but he did not believe that the study had anything to do with the suicides - and as she was not supposed to know names, told her to forget it - but she couldn't.

Upon checking up at one of her subjects homes, she runs into Detective Noah Webster. Noah had been a patron at Sal's for the last year - and Eve could sense it whenever he was in the bar. Because of her inner scars, she kept to herself - never venturing outside her safe zone where Noah was concerned. Noah had been going to the bar for the last year, only drinking tonic water, as he could not stop thinking about Eve. His wife and son had died years before in a car accident where he was driving - and so wouldn't allow himself to approach Eve either. When he ran into her at the homes of one of the "suicides" - he wondered if it wasn't fate.

As more women die, Eve and Noah grow closer, and the clues begin to be uncovered one by one. How many women will die before they are able to close the net around this killer - and how is it all connected?

My opinion: Once again, I was not disappointed in the latest book by Karen Rose. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite thriller writers. This book was written to cover the span of about 2 weeks, and I love the way that it is split up in hours/days. Makes you realize how much can actually happen in the span of a few short hours - physically and emotionally. Her characters are flawed - and that makes them so much more real. They are able to hurt and be hurt and do not live in a perfect world. I like it that even though you could say Noah was a knight in shining armor - he was still struggling with lots of baggage. I really loved the character of Eve. Even with the rough childhood and trauma, she was shaped by very strong women - and they have rubbed off on her. Her first instinct is to help people, regardless of the cost to her. Her choice of careers - psychology and bartending - are both careers where she could listen to the problems of others. She has overcome a lot and is just getting stronger everyday.

This book is actually the second book about Eve - she was introduced in the book Don't Tell - which I have not read yet, but you can bet it is on my TBR list!

Read an excerpt of I Can See You, or watch the trailer.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a copy of I Can See You.

I Can See You
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, Aug 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-53834-3
480 pages

Teaser Tuesday: 8-4-2009

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

Eve sat in the back of a police cruiser, staring at the handcuffs on her wrists, trying to stay calm and not think about the woman hanging from a rope inside the house. (p89, I Can See You by Karen Rose)





Teaser Tuesday is hosted at Should be Reading. Come on over and share your teaser, too!





I Can See You
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, Aug 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-53834-3
480 pages

Join me for another giveaway!

Karen Rose is quickly becoming one of my favorite thriller writers! You must check out this book if you are a fan of this genre. Thanks to Miriam and Hachette Books - I have 5 copies to giveaway to 5 of my lucky readers!

Book synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose delivers her latest pulse-pounding suspense novel, where the line between the virtual world and everyday reality blurs when it comes to murder.

Eve Wilson's face was once scarred by a vicious assault. Terrified and ashamed, she escaped to the online realm, where she could choose the face she allowed people to see. Years later, her outer scars faded and inner scars buried, Eve has fought her way back to the real world and is determined to help others do the same. Now a graduate student moonlighting as a bartender, Eve researches the addictive powers of online communities. When her test subjects begin turning up dead as a result of apparent suicides, she doesn't know where to turn.

Homicide detective Noah Webster is one of the few people who believe the victims are connected murders. Eve becomes Noah's online guide and realizes that the handsome detective may have secret scars as painful as her own. As Eve and Noah chase a killer who is always one step ahead of them, together they try to overcome the tragedies of their pasts and learn to trust again, but they soon discover that danger is much closer than they think. (from Amazon website)

And now for the rules:

1. Only open to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. All entries in one comment if possible
   
4. Must leave email address in comment and tell me your favorite thriller author and/or book for first entry.
5. +2 if you follow - but must let me know (and followers - thank you very much - it is because of you that I host these giveaways!)
   
6. +3 if you post this on any social network - (on twitter please use @kherbrand in tweet) otherwise leave me a link
7. +3 for referrals and referrees (is that a word?) Just put it in your comment!
8. Oh - Giveaway ends 8/11, Midnight CST.
   

If you can't wait for the giveaway - here is a link to order it!

ARC Arrival: I Can See You by Karen Rose

I Can See You by Karen Rose

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Books

BIG THANKS to Miriam at Hachette Books for the opportunity to read this book!

About the book: New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose delivers her latest pulse-pounding suspense novel, where the line between the virtual world and everyday reality blurs when it comes to murder.

Eve Wilson's face was once scarred by a vicious assault. Terrified and ashamed, she escaped to the online realm, where she could choose the face she allowed people to see. Years later, her outer scars faded and inner scars buried, Eve has fought her way back to the real world and is determined to help others do the same. Now a graduate student moonlighting as a bartender, Eve researches the addictive powers of online communities. When her test subjects begin turning up dead as a result of apparent suicides, she doesn't know where to turn.

Homicide detective Noah Webster is one of the few people who believe the victims are connected murders. Eve becomes Noah's online guide and realizes that the handsome detective may have secret scars as painful as her own. As Eve and Noah chase a killer who is always one step ahead of them, together they try to overcome the tragedies of their pasts and learn to trust again, but they soon discover that danger is much closer than they think. (from book jacket)

About the author: Karen Rose is a former chemical engineer who is now a New York Times bestselling author. With her unique background, she's able to combine breathless suspense and cold science into ultimately thrilling reads. Karen lives in Florida with her husband of twenty years, their two children and the family cat, Bella. (from book jacket)

I Can See You
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, Aug 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-53834-3
496 pages

Scream for Me - Karen Rose (Book Review)

Title: Scream for Me

Author: Karen Rose

Genre: Romantic Suspense Fiction

Publisher: Hachette Books - Thanks Renee and Hachette!

First sentence: A bell dinged.

This was book 2 in a series with Agent Daniel Vartanian, but it read well as a stand alone. The first book, Die For Me, I have on reserve at our library, so that should tell you that I really enjoyed this book!

Daniel Vartanian is a Special Agent with the GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He has just returned from a case which involved his parents and his brother (I have a sneaky suspicion that this is what Die For Me is about...) He isn't even home a day before a murdered girl is discovered in a ditch and the investigation lands in his lap. It appears to be a copycat murder from 13 years earlier.

Alex Fallon is the twin sister of Alicia Tremaine, who was killed 13 years ago. She has received a call that her stepsister, Bailey, is missing and she is listed as the emergency contact for her 4 year old niece, Hope. This comes as quite a shock, as she didn't even know she had a niece. The last time she saw Bailey was to get her into a rehab program 5 years earlier.

Daniel's investigation and Alex's missing stepsister lead them on a collision course to each other - and the sparks start to fly. As the bodies pile up, will Alex ever find Bailey? Can Daniel catch the murderer? And can they both confront the ghosts of their past so that they can move into a better future?

This was a quick read for me, even at 569 pages! It was great the way all the suspects fell into place one-by-one. It was like watching dominoes fall in slow motion. I almost just typed a spoiler here - so I will just end on that note! Great book!