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Featured Book Lists
Cure. by Robin Cook Book list From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. 9780399156625 Cook's latest thriller opens not with a microscopic medical event, as so many of his previous novels have, but with theft at a research lab in Kyoto, Japan. The perpetrator is Ben Corey, a doctor and the founder of a company designed to profit from stem cell research, and his crime is stealing away Satoshi Machita, one of Kyoto University's top researchers. But soon after he sneaks Satoshi and his family into the U.S., Satoshi disappears the target of an attack orchestrated by the Japanese yakuza and the American Mafia. Satoshi's body turns up at the Office of the County Medical Examiner in New York City, where Laurie Montgomery, just returned from maternity leave, is assigned the case. Though there's no identification on the body and he appears to have died of natural causes, Laurie digs deeper, much to the consternation of the killers. When Laurie refuses to back off the case, the Mafia threatens the young son she shares with fellow ME Jack Stapleton. The dialogue is clunky and the mobsters dull, but readers invested in Cook's married ME duo will rapidly turn the pages as danger finds Laurie and Jack once again.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2010 Booklist Library Journal Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 9780399156625 Readers opening Cook's latest medical thriller for the first time may be intimidated by the lengthy "Key Players" list, but they will find it's not really needed as the story line plunges quickly into some of the author's familiar themes. The biomedical hook is the race to exploit induced pluripotent stem cell patents by a new company led by physician/entrepreneur Benjamin Corey. Married doctors Laura Montgomery and Jack Stapleton (Intervention, Foreign Body) reappear in their roles as medical examiners when two suspicious bodies turn up in New York City. As in previous series titles, we also see into their home life with their young son JJ, who late in the book becomes a significant part of the action. Operating behind the scenes are the Mafia and the Yakuza (Japanese mob); their presence and unique cultures add exotic twists to the biomedical story. Verdict Cook weaves these elements and the numerous characters into a fascinating tale that never slows down and will appeal to the author's fans and other readers who enjoy such medical and/or crime thrillers. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/10.]-A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 9780399156625 Organized crime, international espionage, and kidnapping only mildly enliven Cook's methodical ninth medical thriller featuring husband-and-wife medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton (after Intervention). Laurie's first case back in the Manhattan medical examiner's office, after giving birth to the couple's firstborn, John "JJ" Junior, appears to be a routine case of death by natural causes. But Laurie suspects otherwise, and her dogged investigation uncovers a diabolical poisoning and a plot involving the Mafia and rival Japanese gangsters laundering money for a shady start-up firm promoting stem-cell research. To deter Laurie's prying, the thugs snatch JJ, and suddenly the intrigue gets very personal. Cook provides an interesting study of the strange bedfellows that the biotech business and the mob might make, but he telegraphs all his plot twists so far in advance that there's little suspense other than how quickly Laurie will tip to them. Even devoted Cook fans may find that the crimes and subterfuges are resolved too swiftly and perfunctorily. (Aug.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Brilliant by Rachel Vail. Book list From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. 9780060890490 In this concluding volume of the Avery Sisters trilogy, oldest sister Quinn gives her side of her family's financial crisis. Sixteen-year-old, type A Quinn is known as the intellectual, responsible one in her family. But she questions herself when her executive mom is accused of financial impropriety and loses her job, forcing everyone to tighten their belts. If her perfect mom could mess up, what hope is there for Quinn? She starts acting more like middle-sister Allison: partying, drinking, and kissing random boys. But it only makes her feel worse. Can she leave the labels behind and embrace both sides of her personality? Quinn's introspective search for self is realistically complex and exceptionally well drawn, and teen readers will sympathize with her urge to break free of the good-girl box her family has put her in. Like Quinn, this timely series defies the label of chick lit as Vail sensitively and accurately explores topics of individuality, social class, and what it means to come of age during a national recession.--Hubert, Jennifer Copyright 2010 Booklist Misty Island rescue by illustrated by Tommy Stubbs. A Nose for Justice. by Rita Mae Brown Publishers Weekly (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved 9780345511812 Wings Ranch near Reno, owned by Jeep Reed, who served as a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) during WWII, provides the appealing backdrop for the intriguing first in a new, canine-centered series from bestseller Brown (Cat of the Century). One of Nevada's wealthiest women, Jeep has outlived two "life partners," Daniel Marks and Dorothy Jocham, and welcomes a visit from her great-niece, former Wall Street banker Magdalene "Mags" Rogers. Suspicious explosions of local water pumps disturb their peace, along with an environmentalist's shooting "suicide" and a pump company employee's disappearance. Jeep, Mags, and their two dogs-King, a shepherd mix, and Baxter, a wire-haired dachshund-also discover a really cold corpse and, among the bones, a 19th-century Russian "Star of Guard" ring buried in Jeep's barn. The water issues subplot slows the action at times and the dogs don't have enough to do, but the search for the skeleton's identity will keep most readers turning the pages. (Oct.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Our Kind of Traitor. by John le Carre Publishers Weekly (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved 9780670022243 Those readers who have found post-cold war le Carre too cerebral will have much to cheer about with this Russian mafia spy thriller. While on holiday in Antigua, former Oxford tutor Perry Makepiece and his lawyer girlfriend, Gail Perkins, meet Dmitri "Dima" Vladimirovich Krasnov, an avuncular Russian businessman who challenges Perry to a tennis match. Even though Perry wins, Dima takes a shine to the couple, and soon they're visiting with his extended family. At Dima's request, Perry conveys a message to MI6 in England that Dima wishes to defect, and on arriving home, Perry and Gail receive a summons from MI6 to a debriefing. Not only is Dima a Russian oligarch, he's also one of the world's biggest money launderers. Le Carre ratchets up the tension step-by-step until the sad, inevitable end. His most accessible work in years, this novel shows once again why his name is the one to which all others in the field are compared. (Oct.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
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