Who's making you go googly-eyed?

[Sandra Ruttan]

I finally have in my hands The 50/50 Killer by Steve Mosby. I am sooo happy I know Steve, so I was able to get my hands on a copy with plenty of time to for the Summer Spinetingler, as I'll be interviewing Steve. (Well, I've had it for three days, so I'm exaggerating with the 'finally' bit there.)

Want to know why I'm so distracted? Just try this teaser on for size:

"By the time they come face to face, the 50/50 killer knows his victims all too well. After weeks of surveillance, he targets young couples whom he subjects to a single night of torture and manipulation, testing and destroying the love between them. For he puts the choice in their hands: they have eight hours to decide which one of them will die at dawn..."

And if you click on the link above you can read the full synopsis. Thank cats (and Steve) I don't have to wait until June to get my grubby paws on it!

The tbr pile is overflowing with the latest PJ Parrish, which looks incredible as well, the new Robert Fate, which I'm dying to read, and plenty more. Being on the Serpeant's Tail and Bitter Lemon Press review copy mailing list is really a mixed blessing!

So, this week I'm cursing Steve because he's distracting me from my work. What about you guys? What are you reading? Any new discoveries?

[DADavenport]

Well, I just spent 2 weeks in bed with Ken Bruen. I had ordered The Vixen, The Guards, The Killing of the Tinkers and Priest. So I left my husband on the couch with basketball playoffs and retired each night to that Irish lilt of Jack Taylor (and learned to develope a sick attraction to Detective Brant. I can't help it, I really get a kick out of him!). Now I am reading A Woman's Eye, a collection of private eye short stories, edited by Sara Paretsky. Getting a taste of some greats I already loved, and picking out some new authors to add to my current TBR pile.

[Sandra Ruttan]

I know what you mean about Brant. There's something a bit dirty about finding him appealing. Good news for you is, there's a lot more Bruen to indulge in. I loved VIXEN - absolutely blazed through it. Well, same with THE GUARDS and all Bruen books I've read.

[012158]

Actually, I have 4 ARCs to review for I Love a Mystery newsletter. They are the new John Sanford, the Chris Graberstein, the new Allan Guthrie and one by an author I haven't read yet, Linwood Barclay. So, hopefully, these will knock my socks off, as, this year, I have yet to read a real GREAT book, either for pleasure of review.

The most recent GOOD one I finished was Falling by Christopher Pike, but that was in the above average category, nothing more.

[Laura Root]

That sounds like a very interesting premise from that summary, Sandra. I've read his first book, the Third Person, and found that had a highly original storyline too.

Currently 2/3 of the way through Beloved by Toni Morrison (book group book), mostly excellent but with some difficult parts. At the moment, getting quite into the Australian crime writers - was very impressed by the Big Ask by Shane Moloney and The Broken Shore by Peter Temple so want to read more of both writers.

[Joy Calderwood]

I lost sleep for a couple of nights over James Lally's THE FALLING DOWN MAN, a smart spy thriller with its roots in two pasts, and lots of human interest.

Yesterday I ordered Alan Gordon's THE LARK'S LAMENT, set in 13th century Toulouse. It came out last month and I couldn't get to the bookstore.

[Neil Plakcy]

I am totally psyched that the copy of Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson which I won through an online drawing arrived today. Now if I just had time to read it! I am working on the book for my Tuesday night book group, and then I have to read the books by my fellow panelists at Malice by Saturday. Oh, and I have to calculate final grades for four classes before I leave for Virginia. I really should get off the computer and go read.

[Donna Moore]

I've just finished Joe Lansdale's LOST ECHOES and I am in awe of his storytelling abilities. It's a wonderful book - I guess it could be called a supernatural thriller. It's about a young boy who is able to see and hear the violent crimes of the past when the place the crime happened is disturbed by a sudden sound - the lost echoes of the past. I woke up this morning at 5am and, instead of rolling over and going back to sleep I was grateful for a rare bout of insomnia and grabbed the book and finished it. He's such a great writer - the book is funny, touching, fascinating, thought provoking and scary. And I always fall in love with his characters.

[MysteryDawg]

Oh, you are so lucky. No fair. I guess it is like it was in school...Steve bring enough to share with everyone, lol.

[Dennis Venter]

I've managed to snag an ARC of Lee Child's "Bad Luck & Trouble". Maybe he's a tad one dimensional, maybe a tad improbable, but damn, Jack Reacher...you do not mess with Mr Reacher.

[Jeffrey Marks]

Laura Lippman always makes me go "WOW". I'm anxiously waiting for her new one to get here.

[Christa M. Miller]

Me too. I just read my first Lippman, and I'm anxious to get to the new one!

[norby]

I ordered a copy of The Unquiet by John Connolly from the UK-I couldn't wait for it to come out in the US, especially since my online friends will be reading it and gushing. It is on its way as I type. The anticipation may cause an out of body experience.