Sparkling Debut Novel from Drew Chapman: "The Ascendant"

The Ascendant - Drew Chapman

Meet Garrett Reilly, happa twenty-something from Long Beach. Garrett possesses a rare talent; the ability to see patterns in wildly disparate data. Combined with a near-eidetic memory, that talent makes him a powerful force in his current job of Wall Street market analyst. He’s also an arrogant sonuvabitch with a chip on his shoulder the size of Nevada.

Wiley Cash is Back: Reviewing "This Dark Road to Mercy"

This Dark Road to Mercy - Wiley Cash

Easter Quillby and her little sister Ruby are orphans – sort of. Mom Corinne Quillby ODed a while back and Dad, pitcher (L) Wade Chesterfield, relinquished his parental rights long ago, so the sisters live in foster care. But Wade is back and wants his girls. He wants them because he’s just come into money, lots of it, and can finally take care of them. The problem with that is that it isn’t Wade’s money, and in fact doesn’t even belong to the guy he stole it from. That’s why Pruitt is on their trail.

Brady Weller’s on their trail, too, but unlike Pruitt, Brady’s not bad through-and-through. He’s just sort of situationally bad. Brady, an ex-cop drummed off the force for a little accident a while back, is the girls’ guardian ad litem, and he takes the “quardian” part pretty seriously. Once he figures out the score, Brady can really turn it on.

He’d better: these girls definitely need a guardian…

The Harry Potter Generation Grows Up - Reading Midnight Riot (Ben Aaronovich)

Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovich

Meet Peter Grant, Constable (Probationary) in London’s Metro Police Department. There are two things he wants out of life: to be a detective and to get in the uniform trousers of fellow Constable (Probationary) Leslie Mays. Unfortunately, it looks like neither will happen. The detective part has been stymied by his assignment to a desk job in the department of paper shuffling, while Leslie apparently intends to remain just chums.

That’s before he meets his first ghost… and becomes apprenticed to the head wizard in MPD’s equivalent of the X-Files. Inspector Nightingale is also the only wizard in “The Folly,” but fortunately he’s a jolly good one.

Peter’s laden with hidden talents: Nightingale knows because Peter can sense the vestigium; and that’s how you tell magic is afoot. And so begins his training; a remarkably Hogwartian affair with those Vulgar Latin words uttered while casting spells and the unpredictable results of beginner’s magic gone awry. In the meantime, Peter and Nightingale spend their time tracking down the evil… whatever... that is, for reasons unknown, wreaking havoc on Central London in the form of messy magical murders – very messy.

Fox and O'Hare Get Artsy: "The Chase" by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The Chase - Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

The team of Nick Fox and Kate O’Hare are back at it: O’Hare, the FBI agent and Fox, the world-class thief and con man, find themselves reunited in their unlikely (and probably highly criminal) partnership. For The Chase, the agent (O’Hare) and her quarry slash partner-in-crime (Fox) set up operations in the world of high-end art thieves, complete with international intrigue and political shenanigans.

Elvis and the Funny Money: "Indigo Slam" by Robert Crais

Indigo Slam - Robert Crais

When your office is invaded by three kids in the middle of the day, you begin to suspect you have a problem. The oldest of the three, 15-year-old Teri Haines, contracted with Elvis Cole to find her father Clark. Daddy had disappeared eleven days earlier, and his children hadn't heard a peep out of him. Elvis Cole, World's Greatest Softy, quote a $200 price for the search. Teri peeled a couple of Benjamins off the fat roll in her purse and handed 'em over.

Graeme Simsion's "The Rosie Project" -- When Opposites Attract

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

There's a moment in the first chapter of The Rosie Project that pretty much tells you what it's all about. Don TIllman, professor of genetics, gets roped into giving a presentation on the autism spectrum to a support group. Forgetting the first rule of presentations, "know your audience," he prepares a highly technical discussion. The parents become restless at terminology that's over their heads, but the Asperger's kids in the room home in on him like one of their own… which he apparently is.

Don Tillman is handsome, fit, highly focused, intelligent, and has a good job; at age 39 a prime candidate for marriage. He's also obsessive and startlingly inept in any remotely social situation, which pretty much offsets those good attributes. When he decides he needs a wife, Don approaches the problem the same way he approaches any undertaking: he creates The Wife Project, complete with a questionnaire to screen out unlikely candidates.