Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Devil’s Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

www.murdershebaked.com

Ingredients:

1 murdered minister

25 recipes

1 baker/sleuth

1 mischievous feline

2 nosy sisters plus a dash of incorrigible mother

1 small Minnesota town

Mix together and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 322 pages and you will have yourself a heaping helping of the newest Joanne Fluke/Hannah Swensen mystery Devil’s Food Cake Murder.

In the 14th entry of this series, Hannah Swensen finds herself in familiar territory. While juggling the demands of her cookie store (appropriately called “The Cookie Jar”), trying to figure out what is going on with the two men in her life (Norman and Mike) and dealing with the whims of her mother, Hannah stumbles upon a murdered minister. In Lake Eden, Minnesota, when there is a murder to solve the police are called but Hannah is also on the case. Armed with a constant supply of cookies, Hannah delves into the death of Reverend Matthew with her mother, two sisters, and Norman as her trusty sidekicks. This time Hannah must figure out who Reverend Matthew was and why someone would want him dead. Also, what is going on with Norman? Suddenly he seems distant and moody which is not at all like the Norman Hannah knows. Plus Hannah knows that she is tired by why does she keep finding socks on top of her refrigerator?

Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries are a light-hearted and fun read even though they do revolve around murder. I look at them as a collection of recipes with a murder mystery thrown in for entertainment. If you haven’t read a Hannah Swensen mystery before you might want to start with the first book in the series Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder to familiarize yourself with the core cast of characters. Fluke’s books are in no way hard-boiled murder mysteries but you may find a great recipe using hard-boiled eggs. I tried out the Pear Crunch Pie recipe on page 154. Pear pie was pretty ambitious for me, I don't bake very often but this recipe was easy enough for those of us who are baking challenged. It was pretty good so I might have to try out more recipes from Devil's Food Cake Murder.

In October Fluke will be coming out with her next book called Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook. This will be a departure from her previous books in that it will contain all the recipes from books 1-10 as well as short tales about Lake Eden.

If you are a fan of culinary mysteries and have read all that Joanne Fluke has to offer grab a Delicious, Decadent and Dangerous bookmark from the Recommendations desk on the first floor.

~Amy, Adult Services

Read Alike: Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan is a pen name of James Rigney, Jr., an author of fantasy as well as books in the Conan the Barbarian series. Mr. Jordan is best known as the author of the fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. The first book, The Eye of the World, came out over twenty years ago, and the last book, A Memory of Light, is scheduled for release sometime in late 2012. The series is set in a richly detailed world and peopled by a large cast of characters. The action of the novels primarily follows a small band of adventurers in their quest to save the world from great evil, but latter books tend to focus on other side characters. The books are, unsurprisingly, modeled loosely on the great classic by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Mr. Jordan unfortunately died in 2007 before he had a chance to finish his long-running series. After receiving a diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis, he resolved to finish the 12th book, but he also took steps to ensure that the series would be finished even without him. After his death, his widow worked with his long time editors to select Brian Sanderson to complete The Wheel of Time.

The Wheel of Time has been adapted as a series of graphic novels. The Eye of the World will be released next month. In October, a documentary on Robert Jordan is scheduled for release, "The Wit of the Staircase: The Life and Works of Robert Jordan." There is, however, no word of an upcoming film or television adaptation of The Wheel of Time at this point.

Fans of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, may also enjoy these authors:

Terry Brooks is another of the well-known names in fantasy. His books are fast-paced, action-filled and optimistic. His interconnected series gradually provide the details of his extensive world-building. Start with The Sword of Shannara, wherein the hero Shea is given a sword, traveling companions, and an epic quest to save the world.

Terry Goodkind is a darker fantasy author who includes more violence in his tales of good versus evil in a magical world. His novels are fast-paced, intricately plotted, and richly detailed. Start with Wizard's First Rule, wherein our heroes struggle to prevent the evil Darken Rahl from acquiring the powerful Sword of Truth.

David Eddings, along with his wife Leigh, was the author of several popular fantasy novels. The epic coming of age series, The Belgariad, is a teen-friendly introduction to the genre. His writing style is fast-paced, witty, and includes strong female characters. Start with Pawn of Prophecy (note: this is a downloadable audiobook), wherein young Garion learns that he is destined for far bigger things than life on the farm, assuming he survives today.

Guy Gavriel Kay assisted in the editing of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, but has gone on to create his own works of richly-detailed and character-driven fantasy. Start with Sailing to Sarantium, set in a world which echoes the Byzantine Empire the mosaicist Crispin arrives to create art, but finds intrigue and adventure.

Elizabeth Moon writes both upbeat military science-fiction and character-driven fantasy novels. Start with The Deed of Paksenarrion, a compilation of three novels about the heroine Paksenarrion, whose humble beginnings on a sheep farm help to drive her to defy expectations.

George RR Martin is another well-known fantasy author, though his novels tend to be darker and more violent. His Song of Ice and Fire series is a highly-detailed and complex example of world-building, taking elements of the historical War of the Roses to create something new. The series was recently adapted to television by HBO. Start with A Game of Thrones, political intrigue, mysterious danger, lost magic, and a cast of hundreds.

There are many other Fantasy authors that you might want to try, including:
Stephen R. Donaldson, Lord Foul's Bane
David Farland, The Runelords: the sum of all men
Raymond E. Feist, Magician
Melanie Rawn, Dragon Prince
Tad Williams, The Dragonbone Chair
Robin Hobb, Assassin's Apprentice
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Several weeks ago I turned off the air conditioner and opened all of the windows in hopes that a nighttime breeze would keep my house cool. Muggy heat rolled in instead, and I wasn't comfortable in bed, so I went out to the living room to lie on the couch. After tossing and turning for a few minutes, I got up and checked the bookshelves for something to read. I chose my wife Maggie's twenty-year-old paperback copy of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

Maggie's kept this dog-eared, yellowing copy of Slaughterhouse-Five since high school, longer than she's known me. I hadn't read the book before, but I remembered hearing about it when Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007. At that time I had been reading the wartime diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jewish university professor at Dresden, and Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) is a novel about the Allied firebombing of Dresden where Vonnegut had been a prisoner of war.

Knowing that the bombings killed an estimated 25,000 civilians, I was moved when I first heard about the passage in Slaughterhouse-Five where Kurt Vonnegut imagines the American planes flying backwards, sucking up their loads of unexploded bombs, returning to their bases in England, the airmen shipping back home to States, turning back into high school kids, becoming children again, and eventually turning into infants.

Maggie's paperback copy of Slaughterhouse-Five has 215 pages, and I read most of it on the couch that muggy night. Vonnegut is wry and irreverent. Protagonist Billy Pilgrim time travels back and forth between experiences, from when he was a prisoner of war at Dresden, to becoming an optometrist after the war, and then being abducted by aliens and put on display in a zoo on the planet Tralfamadore (Slaughterhouse-Five was recently selected 19th of the Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books by NPR).

At one point, Billy overhears literary critics discussing "whether the novel was dead or not":

The master of ceremonies asked people to say what they thought the function of the novel might be in modern society, and one critic said, "To provide touches of color in rooms with all-white walls." Another one said, "To describe blow-jobs artistically." Another one said, "To teach wives of junior executives what to buy next and how to act in a French restaurant."

I loved this because I'd been trying to write a review Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, and in that novel the main character loses one of her shoes under her table at a French restaurant and later vomits her asparagus and champagne into a nearby alley. So the function of this new novel Rules of Civility must be to show us how not to act in a French restaurant?

Just a few days after I read Slaughterhouse-Five, and while I was still feeling pretty smug about discovering this wonderful novel in my own living room, a school board in Missouri voted to remove it along with Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer from their high school library and curriculum after a resident complained that these two books "teach principles contrary to the Bible." The school board deemed the books to be "inappropriate for kids" rather than "good or bad." The superintendent explained, "We very clearly stayed out of discussion about moral issues." The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis responded by offering free copies of the Slaughterhouse-Five to the school’s students.

I searched for Slaughterhouse-Five in the Dubuque Community School District's online library catalog, and it looks like they have copies in print and audio CD. I hope Slaughterhouse-Five is taught in the high school curriculum, too, especially since my kids attend Dubuque schools. I enlisted in the Marine Corps through a delayed-entry program when I was still in high school, and the idea that it would have been inappropriate for me to read one of the most important American war novels at the same time as I signed my enlistment papers is disturbing.

Removing books from schools and libraries harms children more than it protects them; it teaches children that banning controversial material is better than trying to understand and discuss it. Where access to books and ideas enriches the lives of people of all ages, censorship diminishes and impoverishes us all.

Michael May, Adult Services

Read Alike: J.R. Ward

J.R. Ward is a bestselling author of paranormal romances. Her stories contain a blend of adrenaline-fueled danger and erotic stories. Ward is best known for her vampire-based Black Dagger Brotherhood series beginning with Dark Lover about six vampire brothers who are fighting for the very existence of their race. In 2009 Ward started her new Fallen Angels series beginning with Covet. Ward's novels are plot-driven, fast-paced, steamy and violent. If you are a fan of J.R. Ward and the Black Dagger Brotherhood or paranormal romances in general, we suggest the following:

Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series starting with A Hunger Like No Other

• Seeking revenge for years of torture from the vampire horde, Laclain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan of werewolves, abducts the ethereal Emmaline, a young woman who is half Valkyrie and half vampire, and finds himself falling in love with his captive.

Christina Dodd’s Darkness Chosen series starting with Scent of Darkness

• When the man she loves, Jasha Wilder, turns into a wolf before her very eyes, Ann Smith soon discovers that she has been chosen to break the curse that binds his soul.

Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breeds series starting with Kiss of Midnight

• Drawn to the enigmatic stranger she sees across the room in a crowded dance club, Gabrielle Maxwell is drawn into the dark and dangerous world of hunter vampires, one in which a blood war is on the edge of ignition, when she falls for Lucan Thorne, a vampire Breed warrior sworn to protect other vampires and humans from the threat of the Rogues.

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series starting with Fantasy Lover

• Cursed to remain a love slave for eternity, Julian of Macedon finds himself falling for his latest owner, Grace Alexander, who might hold the key to breaking the curse.

Alexis Morgan’s Paladins of Darkness series starting with Dark Protector

• Devlin Bane, an immortal Paladin warrior in the centuries-long battle against evil, is destined to die and be revived over and over again in his quest to protect humankind from the Others, until he finds himself coming ever closer to losing his humanity and falling in love with Dr. Laurel Young, the Handler who revives him every time he dies.

Jacquelyn Franks Nightwalkers series starting with Jacob

• When Jacob, a Nightwalker who is forbidden to love a human, saves Isabella's life, he is torn between his duty as Enforcer of the Nightwalkers and his attraction to Isabella.

Additional series and authors include the Psy-Changelings series by Nalini Singh, the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands, Dark series by Christine Feehan, and the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

More suggestions for fans of "The Help"

The Help by Kathryn Stockett has been released to area theaters, and the feedback has been largely positive. It's not everyday that a book makes a successful transition from print to silver screen! Stop by the Recommendations Desk to see a display of other books that have been adapted as movies or television shows.

In case you missed it, be sure to check out our Read Alike post for fans for The Help. You may also enjoy seeing read alike lists that other libraries have put together. We may not have all the titles, but you can always fill out a Purchase Suggestion form!

The Help Read Alikes from the Fayetteville Free Library

The Help Read Alikes from the Wakefield Public Library

Of course, not everyone has been quite as happy about the book and movie. Recently the Association of Black Women Historians posted an Open Letter expressing their concerns. Whether or not you are a fan, you might enjoy reading more about the history of African-American Women and their roles within the Civil Rights Movement.

You can check out our blog post from Black History Month for some suggestions, or stop by the library to see a display that mixes Read Alikes for The Help with Non-Fiction titles, including:

Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans tell about life in the segregated (305.896 REM)

Freedom in the Family: a mother-daughter memoir of the fight for civil rights (332.1196 DUE)

Barefootin' : life lessons from the road to freedom (Biog Blackwell)

Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black women, work, and the family from slavery to the present (304.5 JON)

The Vintage House: A Guide to Successful Renovations and Additions by Mark Alan Hewitt

The Vintage House: A Guide to Successful Renovations and Additions by Mark Alan Hewitt and Gordon Bock. W. W. Norton, 2011.

Dubuque is lucky to have wonderful examples of 19th and 20th century architecture throughout its neighborhoods. Its five historical districts are committed to preserving this heritage. I myself live in a home (built in 1860), which in turn is built atop a miner’s cabin (built in 1835). The house has character and a life of its own, which requires stewardship.

Being a novice historic home owner, I love browsing the Library’s interior design books, and have found The Vintage House to be enlightening. It is about making thoughtful renovations and supports change that doesn’t destroy historic character. The book will appeal especially to dwellers of “vintage houses,” those “artifacts of American culture that have aged well.” The authors state upfront that their book is about “renovation and addition projects without regard for cost or investment potential, and with a deliberate focus on value.” It is a primer for historic preservation enthusiasts, architects and designers, yet it reads easily.

The authors offer abundant photographs and drawings of various styles of houses along with regional histories. They discuss the philosophy behind historic preservation efforts, heating systems, roofing materials, and windows by era (with an essay on “the secret life of wavy glass”).
Other similar books in the Carnegie-Stout Public Library are Green Restorations: Sustainable Building and Historic Homes (2010) by Aaron Lubeck, and Kennedy Green House: Designing an Eco-Healthy Home from the Foundation to the Furniture (2010) by Robin Wilson--a beautifully crafted book that is a pleasure to browse: the younger Robert Kennedy’s family embarked upon a LEED-certified renovation of their 1920s home and transformed it into something beautiful, spare, and healthy.

~Mirdza, Adult Services

Read Alike: "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova

Lisa Genova has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University, who found success in the publishing world with her moving and thoughtful first novel, Still Alice. Her second, and more hopeful novel, Left Neglected, debuted on the bestseller lists in January of 2011.

Still Alice is told from the perspective of a brilliant and successful Harvard professor who is struck with Alzheimer's while she is still in her fifties. Dr. Genova found inspiration for her novel from her own grandmother's experience with Alzheimer’s. In the process of researching the experiences of people diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, she became involved in several national support organizations.

You can read more about Lisa Genova's experiences and writing on her blog, her website, and her publisher profile. Two of the organizations that she is active with are The Alzheimer's Association, and the Dementia Advocacy and Support Network International.

Over the years, several other authors have explored the effects of Alzheimer's on individuals, families, and communities. A selection of their works is presented below:

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Marina Buriakov switches between a present, where she is preparing for the wedding of her granddaughter, and WWII, where she shelters in the Hermitage during the siege of Leningrad. The novel's second narrator is Marina's daughter, who is reluctantly coming to recognize her mother's struggle with Alzheimer's.

Turn of Mind by Alice La Plante
Once a highly successful Chicago surgeon, Jennifer White is now suffering from the effects of Alzheimer's. When her friend and neighbor is murdered, Dr. White is a suspect, but she can't remember if she was involved or not. A heartbreaking debut novel that combines the family drama of aging with a compelling mystery.

The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block
Seth is a bright teenager who is trying to understand his mother's diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's. Abel is a lonely seventy-something hermit left with only his memories. The two are drawn together by the shared story of Isidora, a mythical land where memory loss is not a curse.

Once a Spy by Keith Thomson
Charlie's father, Drummond, lived an average life before his diagnosis with Alzheimer's. An assumption that is blown to pieces, along with his house, one night by assassins. This spy-thriller is a lighter and more action-packed look at the effects of Alzheimer's on a former CIA-operative. A sequel, Twice a Spy, was published earlier this year.

Bill Warrington's Last Chance by James King
Bill Warrington lives with his divorced daughter and teenage granddaughter, April. The reality of Alzheimer's causes Bill to take action in the hopes of reuniting his estranged family, and so Bill and April set off on a cross-country road trip.

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
While this Pulitizer Prize winning adaption of Shakespeare's "King Lear" to the farmlands of Iowa doesn't expressly include Alzheimer's, it's still a worthwhile, if bleak, read.

There are also a number of non-fiction accounts available:

The Alzheimer's Project (DVD 616.831 ALZ)
This four-part documentary by HBO and the National Institute on Aging provides a comprehensive exploration of what it means to have Alzheimer's in the United States.

Losing my mind: an intimate look at life with Alzheimer's by Thomas DeBaggio (616.831 DEB)
A journalist, Thomas DeBaggio, writes his autobiography after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 57. Alzheimer's from the inside out (616.831 TAY) offers a similar insider's perspective on the disease.

Jan's story: love lost to the long goodbye of Alzheimer's by Barry Petersen (616.831 PET)
Barry Petersen writes about how his wife's diagnosis of Alzheimer's at age 55

Elegy for Iris by John Bayley (Biog Murdoch)
After author Iris Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, her husband wrote this and other books about her life.

The Sioux City Public Library has also put together a great list of reading suggestions for Still Alice.

Carnegie-Stout has several guides for caretakers of Alzheimer's patients:
Mom's OK, She Just Forgets (616.831 MCL)
A Caregiver's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease: 300 tips for making life easier (618.97 CAR)
Inside Alzheimer's: How to hear and honor connections with a person who has dementia (616.831 PEA)
The Alzheimer's Advisor: a caregiver's guide to dealing with the tough legal and practical issues (616.831 JAM)

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

Heat Wave by Richard Castle? Wait, isn't Richard Castle a TV character? Why yes, yes he is. Richard Castle is a character on the ABC show Castle and he is a mystery writer who uses his considerable celebrity to finagle an extended ride along with New York City homicide detective, Kate Beckett, as research for his new series of books. Castle's presence in Beckett's life causes no shortage of problems as he involves himself in her investigations. Ultimately, Castle proves himself to be a valuable member of the investigative team.

Again you may ask, is this a book review or a review of a TV show? I'm getting there, hold on.

Heat Wave is a real book and is the first in a series written under the pen name Richard Castle. The actual author is a mystery and there is speculation that these books are written by one of the the writers on the TV show. Regardless of who the author is, Heat Wave is an entertaining police procedural that can be read without having watched a single episode of the TV show. In Heat Wave, New York City homicide detective Nikki Heat is being shadowed by a magazine writer whose presence in Nikki's life causes no shortage of problems as he involves himself in her investigations. Do you sense a theme here?

Nikki Heat and her team arrive at the scene of what looks like the suicide of a wealthy New York City developer by the name of Michael Starr. Soon it becomes apparent that this wasn't suicide, it was murder. To make things more complicated, Nikki has to deal with magazine writer Jameson Rook who is shadowing her at the insistence of the police commissioner. Rook is not one to stand on the sidelines and observe, he is often irritating and tends to forget that he is not a cop. However, his connections with the wealthy and elite of New York as well as his connections with the criminal element end up helping Nikki wade through the evidence and solve the crime. Along the way there is plenty of action including dangerous and life threatening situations.

Even though the Nikki Heat novels need not be read in conjunction with the show, as a fan of Castle I feel like I can relate to some of the past episodes better now that I've read Heat Wave. The relationships between the characters in the book closely mirrors the relationships between the characters on the show. I now understand why, when Kate Beckett's coworkers read Heat Wave (when it was released on the show), they questioned the personal relationship between Beckett and Castle.

When all is said and done, I did enjoy Heat Wave. It wasn't a gritty, edge of your seat thriller but it was an entertaining solid police procedural. Nikki Heat is a strong female character that manages to be tough without being masculine. She is respected because she a good and dedicated cop. Did I like the book more because I am a fan of the show? Possibly, but again there is no need to watch the show to enjoy the book.

Whoever the author "Richard Castle" is, tell him I'll be picking up book number two in the series, Naked Heat and I will also be reading the third one Heat Rises when it comes out on September 20th. Hmmm.....interesting that the third book in the series will be published the day after the 4th season premier of the show on ABC. Coincidence or marketing genius, you be the judge. When you look at the lengths to which ABC has gone to make Richard Castle seem like a real author is it any wonder people get confused? Just check out his website and you will see what I mean.

~Amy, Adult Services

Read Alike: Vince Flynn

www.vinceflynn.com

Vince Flynn is known for his novels of international intrigue and political crisis with complex missions full of technical details and fast-paced action. Flynn’s hero, CIA agent Mitch Rapp is independent, moral and heedless of danger. Even though he tends to focus more on plot than on character, Flynn does succeed at capturing the intensity between his main characters. The first book in the Mitch Rapp series, Transfer of Power, finds Rapp trying to stop an insurrection when a gang of terrorist seizes control of the White House. Kill Shot, book 12 in the Mitch Rapp series is scheduled to be released on October 11, 2011. If you enjoy political suspense stories; spy fiction and suspense stories may we suggest the following:

Ghost Dancer by John Case

Photojournalist Mike Burke carried his camera into every war zone and hellhole on earth and came back with the pictures (and battle scars) to prove it. When his helicopter crashed and burned in Africa, he decided it was time to stop dancing with the devil. But neither danger, nor the devil, is done with him yet. An ocean away, Jack Wilson leaves prison burning for revenge. He, too, dreams of starting life over, only Jack's dream is the rest of the world's nightmare. Driven by his obsession with a Native American visionary, and guided by the secret notebooks of Nikola Tesla, Wilson dreams of the Apocalypse and plans to make it happen.

Fade by Kyle Mills

A former Navy SEAL who speaks perfect Arabic, Salam al-Fayed (a.k.a. “Fade”) had been one of the deadliest weapons in America’s arsenal until a mission gone wrong put a bullet in his back, requiring risky surgery the government refused to pay for. Embittered by a wound that could one day immobilize him, Fade isn’t exactly cooperative when Homeland Security insists on putting him back on the payroll. But they’re not taking “no” for an answer and what is meant to be a foolproof deception turns into an explosive bloodbath. It falls to an estranged friend of Fade’s named Matt Egan to clean up the mess made by his superiors. But it isn’t going to be easy because Fade is gunning for the men who set him up. And Matt is at the top of the list.

The Patriot's Club by Christopher Reich

Thomas Bolden grew up on the streets, his childhood a blur of fragmented memories. But now he’s managed to put his past behind him, find the woman he wants to share his life with, and carve out a successful career on Wall Street. Until, in the blink of an eye, his world is turned upside down. A bizarre kidnapping sends him fleeing for his life, his face everywhere on the TV news, and a violent, shadowy organization is framing him for crimes he did not commit. But as Bolden survives one violent, harrowing hour after another, he makes a series of startling discoveries: about a mysterious woman wanted for murder; about an astounding secret rooted in history; about a conspiracy lurking in the darkest corners of corporate America and a deadly plan that only he can stop.

Prepared for Rage by Dana Stabenow

A terrorist filled with resentment; an FBI analyst challenged to be three steps ahead of the intelligence; a Coast Guard captain assigned to keep watch; an astronaut who takes her job very seriously; the paths of all of these characters converge on one clear morning in Florida. NASA is preparing to launch the space shuttle, this time with a high-paying visitor on board as a guest, and the FBI and the Coast Guard are doing everything they can to help the launch go off without a hitch. But one Pakistani man with a bottomless personal grudge and the commitment of many zealous men behind him is determined to strike back at the most visible target he can find.

The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor

On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived, ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn't buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are behind the attack and begins his own campaign to find the truth and exact revenge. But now, framed for murder by a sinister cabal, Harvath takes his fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland and joins forces with beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus where their only chance for survival lies inside the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known.

These authors also write suspense fiction: Christopher Whitcomb, Steve Alten, David Baldacci, Stella Rimington, Brad Meltzer, Brian Haig, Daniel Silva, Nelson DeMille and David Poyer.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!