New Fiction
The black angel by John Connolly.
The Black Angel begins with the disappearance of a young prostitute from one of New York City's seamiest neighborhoods. Like so many tormented souls before her, the girl's mother is inevitably drawn to Charlie Parker's doorstep desperate for redemption and revenge. Despite the danger that his chosen profession imposes on his wife and newborn daughter, Parker knows that the woman and her troubles cannot be ignored. As always, he is driven as much by the evil that simmers in the hidden honeycomb world as he is by the ties of friendship and blood. As Parker gets closer to the girl's captors, he discovers that her disappearance is linked to a church of bones in Eastern Europe, to the slaughter at a French monastery in 1944, and to the myth of an object known as the Black Angel -- an object considered by evil men to be beyond priceless. But the Black Angel is not a legend. It is real. It lives. It dreams. And the mystery of its existence may contain the secret of Parker's own origins.
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Captain Alatriste is the story of a fictional seventeenth-century Spanish soldier who, after being wounded in battle during the Thirty Years' War, is forced to retire from the army. Now he lives the comparatively tame-though hardly quiet-life of a swordsman-for-hire in Madrid. Approached with an offer of work, Alatriste is told to go with another hired blade to an unfamiliar part of the city at midnight and wait. They are received by men who explain that they want Alatriste and his companion to ambush two travelers the following evening, stage a robbery, and give the men a fright. "No blood," they are told.
But then a third figure enters the room. He says the job requires some clarification: he increases the pay, and tells them that, instead, they must murder the two travelers. Then he reveals his identity: Emilio Bocanegra. It is a name synonymous with the Spanish Inquisition, the bloodiest name in Europe. This is a man whose requests cannot be denied. But the following night, with the attack imminent, it becomes clear to Alatriste that these aren't ordinary travelers. And what happens next is only the first in a series of riveting twists and turns, with implications that will reverberate throughout the courts of Europe.
Company man by Joseph Finder.
Joseph Finder's New York Times bestseller Paranoia was hailed by critics as "jet-propelled," the "Page Turner of the Year," and "the archetype of the thriller in its contemporary form."
Now Finder returns with Company Man - a heart-stopping thriller about ambition, betrayal, and the price of secrets.
Fade by Kyle Mills.
The government abandoned him. Now they're asking for his help. But they're not going to like his answer.
A secret department of Homeland Security is recruiting agents to work undercover in the Middle East, and the director wants his second-in-command, Matt Egan, to bring aboard an old friend, Salam Al Fayed-better known as Fade. He seems perfect for the job: A New Yorker and ex-Navy Seal, he is the son of immigrants and he speaks perfect Arabic. Trouble is, he's "retired;" he got shot in the back in the line of duty, and the U.S. government refused to pay for the risky surgery that could have helped him. Now Fade lives the life of a hermit, walking around with a bullet lodged near his spine and liable to shift at any moment, and the last thing he wants to hear is that his country needs him-least of all, his ex-best friend Matt Egan, whom he sees as responsible for his present condition. Against Egan's wishes, the director forces the issue and tries none too subtly to "persuade" Fade to join the team. But Fade, angry and hopeless, is prepared to fight back at any cost; the ensuing confrontation is a bloody one. And the chase is on-will Matt be able to find his friend-turned-fugitive before Fade can take the ultimate revenge? Fade is a remarkable, take-no-prisoners read from an unparalleled writer at the height of his talents.
Lords of grass and thunder by Curt Benjamin.
When his father is murdered by magical treachery, Prince Tayyichiut watches his uncle takes over as elected Khan of the Qubal clans. But Tayyichiut remains the Khan's heir, and when he's ready, his uncle plans to turn the clans over to him. But there are those who see a different future for the Qubal. And when dark magic begins to spread its poison, only the apprentice shaman who seems fated to be Tayy's bride may be able to save him from a deadly destiny.
North by Frederick Busch.
Combining the pace of a detective story with the bold prose of a master storyteller, North is both an adventure and a pilgrimage. Alone and haunted by memories of his dead wife and child, Jack—who prowled the backwaters of Girls—returns to upstate New York from the Carolina coast, where he has been working as a security guard. A New York lawyer hires him to find her missing nephew, last seen in the area of Jack's northern hometown. His search gradually uncovers a dark underside of rural life and a cast of dangerous characters. Jack is besieged by memories as he uncovers a brutal crime and finds himself in a turbulent relationship with a treacherous woman. In trying to save another's life, Jack must relive his own; memory, obsession, and reality fuse; and Jack discovers the truth of Faulkner's observation that "the past is not really past; it's not even over."
The wild girl: the notebooks of Ned Giles, 1932 by Jim Fergus.
From the award-winning author of "One Thousand White Women" comes a novel in the tradition of "Little Big Man," tracing one man's search for adventures and the wild Apache girl who invites him into her world.