


RICOCHET
by Sandra Brown · Simon & Schuster
When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job. At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true--and it's the parts she's leaving out that bother him. Duncan investigates further and quickly finds his career, as well as his integrity, in jeopardy--because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elise Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect.--From publisher description.


THE MESSENGER
by Daniel Silva · Putnam
On the trail of a deadly al-Qaeda operative, Gabriel Allon returns in a spellbinding story of deception, power, and revenge by the #1 New York Times bestselling "world-class practitioner of spy fiction" (Washington Post). Gabriel Allon—art restorer and spy—is about to face the greatest challenge of his life. An al-Qaeda suspect is killed in London, and photographs are found on his computer—photographs that lead Israeli intelligence to suspect that al-Qaeda is planning one of its most audacious attacks ever, aimed straight at the heart of the Vatican. Allon and his colleagues soon find themselves in a deadly duel of wits against one of the most dangerous men in the world—a hunt that will take them across Europe to the Caribbean and back. But for them, there may not be enough of anything: enough time, enough facts, enough luck. All Allon can do is set his trap—and hope that he is not the one caught in it.

THE RUINS
by Scott Smith · Knopf
'Superior horror literature' New York Times 'A compelling set-up and provocative premise' Kirkus 'There's no let-up, not so much as a chapter-break where you can catch your breath' Stephen King __________________ Craving an adventure to wake them from their lethargic Mexican holiday before they return home, four friends set off in search of one of their own who has travelled to the interior to investigate an archaeological dig in the Mayan ruins. After a long journey into the jungle, the group come across a partly camouflaged trail and a captivating hillside covered with red flowers. Lured by these, the group move closer until they happen across a gun-toting Mayan horseman who orders them away. In the midst of the confrontation, one of the group steps inadvertently backwards into the flowering vine. And at that moment their world changes for ever...

CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO HEAVEN
by Fannie Flagg · Random House
Back in Elmwood Springs, Missouri the experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ask the question "Why are we here"?

TRIPTYCH
by Karin Slaughter · Delacorte Press
A serial killer in Atlanta crosses both race and income boundries.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS
by Sara Gruen · Algonquin
A great, glorious, big-hearted novel set in a travelling circus touring the backblocks of America during the great depression of the early 1930s. It's a story of love and hate, trains and circuses, dwarves and fat ladies, horses and elephants - or, to be specific, one elephant, Rosie, star of the Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show on Earth . . .

CRISIS
by Robin Cook · Putnam
The inventor of the medical thriller shows the profession’s dark side: the terrifying story of a doctor who is sucked into the maelstrom of the current medical malpractice crisis. When Boston-based Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical negligence, he’s shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who has endured grueling years of training and worked continuously in the service of others, he is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he provides the kind of medical care he has been prepared to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last he is earning a significant income, no longer facing decreased reimbursements from insurance companies. But this idyllic situation comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon—and things get much, much worse. Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman’s brother-in-law: Jack’s sister Alexis—now Bowman’s estranged wife—begs for his help as her husband’s trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert-witness experience to Craig’s beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack’s irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse and thereby disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora’s box of trouble. As Craig’s life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery, of tremendous legal and medical significance—and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth.


Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.

