3 more for the Suspense/Thriller Challenge

Only one left :)

Angel's Tip by Alafair Burke - NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher is on her morning jog with her brother when they stumble across a scene of a newly found dead body - a young college girl visiting the city and never making it back to her hotel after a night of partying. Ellie and her partner track the night's events and end up arresting an arrogant young investment banker, but after being alerted to some similar cold cases, Ellie begins to think they have the wrong man and are after a serial killer instead. Second in a series - didn't read the first, will have to hunt it down. Liked this pretty well - moved swiftly, good characters, pop culture references. Killer comes out from left field a bit, but still fairly convincing.

Corsair by Clive Cussler & Jack Du Brul - my first Kindle book :) One of the Oregon Files series, with a historical background of pirates off the Barbary Coast, and a current setting of terrorists in the Middle East. The US Secretary of State's plane crashes in Libya on the way to a peace conference and Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon must find her, and some historical writings from a Muslim cleric turned pirate, before terrorists can destroy any efforts towards peace in the future. Fun, totally unbelievable, and a little history thrown in for good measure.

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child - newest Jack Reacher. Reacher's on a NYC subway car at 2 am and is worried one of the other passengers might be a suicide bomber - she fits all the categories on the list. He's partially right - she commits suicide, but with a gun, killing only herself. But during the ensuing investigation by the police, several different groups of feds (or people claiming they're federal agents) try to get information from him that he doesn't have. Delving into the death of this Pentagon worker, Reacher finds links back to the Russian invasion of Afganistan in the 80's and American clandestine involvement that could have embarassing repercussions for a NC senator and the US government. Loved it. Great background stuff, good look at the way searching for terrorists has changed, and the uses and abuses of power. Reacher kicks butt, but also uses his brain to work his way through the puzzle.

3 TBR challenge books

Sword-Dancer by Jennifer Roberson - from main list. A Northern female warrior goes to the hot Southern desert country to hunt for her brother, stolen by slavers years before. She meets and hires a Southern warrior to guide her through the desert country and must deal with his, and just about every other man's, chauvinistic ideas that a woman can't be a real warrior. One of the early sword & sorcery stories, but more sword than sorcery (at least in this story). I enjoyed it, but I've read too many similar types of stories to see it as the groundbreaker it was in the 80's. A good read, but not sure I'll hunt out the others in the series.

The Second Summoning by Tanya Huff - from alternate list. Sequel to Summon the Keeper. Claire and Dean, after a brief disastrous separation, finally get together romantically - unfortunately their consummation, plus a few other factors, results in the summoning of an angel, encased in the anatomically correct body of a teenage boy, running loose in Canada. The presence of the angel allows a demon to come forth to equal him out - a demon in the body of a teenage girl. Claire, Dean, Diana, and Austin work together and at cross purposes to determine the fates of these two - and try not to involve too many other people while they do it. Fun. Love Austin - the sarcastic (of course) talking cat.

Injustice For All by J.A. Jance - from alternate list. J.P. Beaumont's restful vacation ends with a woman's screams - he rushes to help her pull a man from the ocean. The man, her friend and coworker on a parole board, is dead - and the woman soon is also. Beau doesn't believe she killed herself and is soon tangle up in politics and money schemes, trying to find out whether the woman's politician husband or his well-connected father (or both) is the killer. Good mystery, good characters, interesting side stories. Jance is one of my favorites :) (A to Z title)

2 A to Z authors

Wormwood by Susan Wittig Albert - Newest China Bayles. China heads to a Kentucky Shaker village for some rest, relaxation, and herbal classes. But she's soon drawn into a case of escalating vandalism, possible embezzlement, and murder - in a mystery that has its roots back in the Shaker village and the not-so-quiet passions there-in. Nice background setting, but all the back story was very different than the usual China Bayles mysteries - could have done with less then and more now. And was weird not having all the usual side characters. Still interesting, but less so than the others in the series.

Danger in a Red Dress by Christina Dodd - Dodd winds up two series here - Lost Texas Hearts with the Prescotts and the Fortune Hunters with the Manly brothers - Gabriel, adopted by the Prescotts, finds his biological brother (the legitimate one) is Carrick Manly, whose father was accused of making off with millions stolen from stockholders and employees and disappeared. Now Carrick's mother is being pressured by the government to divulge what she knows. Carrick hires a nurse to look after his mother - and to spy on her. But Hannah Grey has no intention of doing that. But she and the older woman become close and Mrs. Manly confides in her shortly before she dies - a death that Hannah is accused of causing. Now Gabriel is intent on finding her, finding the money, and helping his half-brother - if only he wasn't starting to believe in her innocence. Fun fluff.

other May books so far

trying to catch up with entries and getting tired, so... quick and dirty for the rest:)

Today I Hunt... Humankind by Mel Hynes and J. Grant - Two Lumps webcomic, year 3 collection - love it :)

The Dead Whisper On by T.L. Hines - eh.

Still Life by Joy Fielding - my 2nd Kindle book :) Interesting premise, fair follow-through. Not Fielding's best, but not bad.

Afraid by Jack Kilborn - LibraryThing Early Reviewer. Gory, action-packed, say 3.5/5.

The Declaration by Gemma Malley - eh.