Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

He witnessed his father's death while he was twelve...

Grand Central Publishing sent me an ARC of this book to review (thank you). The ARC's title is "Who Is Gideon Crew?"  The hardcover book being published is titled:  "Gideon's Sword."  It will be published in February and is a new series for these two authors.  They have never disappointed me yet, so it was nice to "taste" a new series.

Gideon finds out at age twenty-four that his father was framed for a crime he didn't commit.  His mother is dying now, and she makes him promise that he will avenge his father's death. 

Leaving his staid life behind, he embraces a new life as a private operative - and almost gets killed in his first meeting.  Every person he meets has layers to his/her personality and motives that don't show.  While he dances through this world of high power and scientists, he also finds out he has a personal problem to deal with.  It's a death sentence in his head.  But it also removes any inhibitions he may have had about his actions.

The plot is tangled, the action intense, and you can tell it's just a taste of what is to come.  I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series.  (There will be twelve, so we have lots of fun left.)

Be sure to add it to your TBR list and check with your local bookstore in February for a copy.  You won't put it down after you start reading it...

If you'd like my copy of this ARC (it has a different cover), please leave a comment here on the blog and then email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (remove spaces) with your name and ADDRESS and tell me why you'd like to read it.  I'll give it away in about a week.

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

These two authors never fail to please me. They write fast moving, suspenseful, and dramatic fiction. This book is no different...

Special Agent Pendergrast has had a hard time dealing with his wife's death while hunting big game with her in Africa. She'd missed the lion and it killed her. It had been years before, but it still nagged at him. And then he finds out that it wasn't that she missed her shot - someone had tampered with her rifle filled it with blanks!

He returns to Africa to ask questions and determine exactly how this could have happened. He also takes Lt. Vincent D'Agosta with him for backup.

The mystery gets larger as he digs through the past trying to determine just exactly WHO his wife was, why she married him, and who wanted her dead. The other players in the mystery are determined to keep him from finding the truth. And his dead wife just keeps becoming more of mystery to him...

This is a rapid read (you won't want to put it down). The trail to the truth is twisted, many of the people involved are dead, both investigators are in danger, the motive for the murder was unusual. I really enjoyed it!

If you'd like my copy of this ARC, leave a comment here on the blog and then email at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) telling me why you'd like to read it and giving me your name and address for shipping.

Cemetery Dance - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have never written a book that bored me. This one is also full of action and with a hint of horror to add to the mix.

The adventure starts when an apartment neighbor attacks a man in his own apartment and kills him. They have video showing the killer, and the wife identifies him. But he died two weeks previously - how could he be the killer?

During the autopsy, they also find some strange markings and an odd thing in his mouth - which point to voodoo...

This leads to the thought that the killer could be a Zombie. The police detective is scornful, and continues to look for clues to a human killer, but then another murder happens. And it's the first victim who has returned and murders in front of a crowd that recognizes him.

They stumble upon a secret reclusive cult of Obeah and voodoo that no one would have imagined existed in Manhattan. They know they do animal sacrifices, but do they create Zombies? Intruders are not welcome, and they are not answering any questions.

Action picks up when the surviving wife gets kidnapped right out from under police protection and a video shows her in captivity and promises her death. Both police and FBI want to stop that, but how? They can't access the compound. They're not sure she's being held there anyway.

How all this ties together is fascinating. Nothing is what it seems to be.

It's a good mystery and has some horror for you, too.

If you'd like my ARC of this book, please leave a comment here on the blog, and then email me at info@bookfaerie.com with your name and address and tell me why you'd like to read it. I'll pick a winner in about a week.