April 1, 2022
In Voice of Fear, the latest in Graham's long-running paranormal romantic suspense series, FBI agent Jordan Wallace worries about new partner Patrick's special gift of getting into another's mind--can he read her thoughts?--but must learn to trust him as they hunt for a nasty killer (400,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Johansen's Captive, Eve Duncan's daughter, Jane, is happily married to Seth Caleb, but his troubled past means threats from a psychopath. Paradise police chief Jesse Stone returns in Mike Lupica's Untitled new Robert Parker thriller, though what happens next has yet to be revealed. In Maden's Clive Cussler's Hellburner, Juan Cabrillo and his Oregon crew face a particularly violent drug-smuggling criminal syndicate that has been passed down from father to son for generations. In Patterson and Dubois's Blowback, Liam Grey and Noa Himel are upended when President Keegan Barrett orders them to help execute his secret power grab; as CIA special agents, they must follow the president's directives but are sworn to uphold the Constitution. In Turow's Suspect, Clarice "Pinky" Granum--granddaughter of Turow stalwart Sandy Stern--is working second-tier cases as a private investigator and trying to recoup from the mistakes of a mislaid life when she's asked to help Highland Isle police chief Lucia Gomez, who has been accused of soliciting sex from three male police officers in exchange for promotions.
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July 15, 2022
This is the 16th installment of the action-packed Oregon Files series. The mercenary Juan Cabrillo and his dedicated Oregon crew confront a ship carrying contraband, which leads to uncovering the Pipeline, a massive smuggling enterprise. As the series' fans know, the Oregon is a 590-foot "rust bucket tramp steamer" on the outside and a technological marvel on the inside. It can zip like a speedboat and even change colors. The primary antagonists are two businessmen named Hakobyan and Katrakis, one Armenian and the other Greek, who have known each other for more than 50 years. Their Pipeline is a conduit for transporting arms, munitions, and meth, making it "the envy of the criminal world." Now the Armenian has a plan to achieve "wealth beyond imagination" and avenge the genocide of Armenians by Turks in the process. They will steal a 100-megaton bomb and explode it underwater in the Bosporus to cause a tsunami that will "drown sixteen million dirty Turks in a flood of their own radioactive bathwater." And it will happen when POTUS and the Turkish president are in Istanbul. Then Turkey will blame Russia and go to war, dragging in NATO. World War III will ensue, and badda-bing-badda-boom, the old crooks will become richer than Croesus by--um, who knows--rebuilding atop the rubble, apparently. Their plan does seem to have a few holes. Cabrillo and crew get wind of the nuclear-tipped torpedo, and of course the clock is ticking. Spectacular fighting scenes ensue, with ex-SEAL Cabrillo displaying tenacity and skill worthy of the best fictional heroes. While the evildoer Hakobyan will "do business with the Devil himself if it turned a profit," Cabrillo will never do anything against American interests. Even his prosthetic leg deserves honorable mention for its unexpected utility in combat. The name Hellburner occurs twice near the end and is not integral to the storyline, but it makes for a good title. Like the Oregon itself, this novel is fast-moving, implausible, and fun.
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July 25, 2022
In this busy contribution to bestseller Cussler’s Oregon Files franchise from Maden (the Tony Pearce novels), Juan Cabrillo and the other series regulars from the state-of-the-art warship Oregon take on a host of bad guys and their organizations—in particular, the politicians and criminals of the Gray Wolves, an ultranationalist Turkish group. The Gray Wolves launch a Russian torpedo with a 100-megaton nuclear warhead in the vicinity of Istanbul during a summit between the American and Turkish presidents. The plan calls for killing both presidents and millions more in the resulting tidal wave, after which they figure Turkey will declare war on Russia, causing NATO to intervene and launch WWIII. If that sounds like too much to keep track of, it is, but a multitude of plotlines means plenty of action, and readers will hold their collective breath as Juan and crew rely on their guts, wits, and plenty of cool weaponry to battle their many foes. After what seems like the ending, a series of twists keeps the book racing ahead. Cussler fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Peter Lampack, Peter Lampack Agency.