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"From the bestselling author of Carter Beats the Devil comes an elegant blend of reality and fiction, war drama and Hollywood glamour. Gold sets into motion his cameo-heavy, multipronged plot with a bizarre incident in winter 1916, when Charlie Chaplin is spotted simultaneously in 800 places across the country, causing mass hysteria and panic. The primary story line follows Chaplin’s struggles with women, creativity, film budgets and his opposition to the war... The result is a dramatic narrative of chance and coincidence, and also a serious reconstruction of an evolving social landscape. It is wholly exhausting and entirely satisfying: to borrow an idea from Chaplin’s great personal-artistic quest in the book, it’s a work as good as Gold," said Publishers Weekly. "Gold’s dexterous voice can swing from the exuberant melodrama of silent film to the terror of doomed soldiers to the quiet despair of the world’s most beloved man... Sunnyside offers a wealth of wit and pathos and insight, and who better to guide us through this transformational moment in history than the Little Tramp?" said The Washington Post.

"All good thriller writers know how to build suspense and keep the pages turning, but only better ones deliver tight plots as well, and only the best allow the reader to match wits with both the hero and the author. Bestseller Child does all of that in spades in his 13th Jack Reacher adventure (after Nothing to Lose). Early one morning on a nearly empty Manhattan subway car, the former army MP notices a woman passenger he suspects is a suicide bomber. The deadly result of his confronting her puts him on a trail leading back to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s and forward to the war on terrorism... Child sets things up subtly and ingeniously, then lets Reacher use both strength and guile to find his way to the exciting climax," said Publishers Weekly. Kirkus adds, "No one kicks butt as entertainingly as Reacher."

"Better known for New Weird fantasies (Perdido Street Station, etc.), bestseller Miéville offers an outstanding take on police procedurals with this barely speculative novel. Twin southern European cities Beszel and Ul Qoma coexist in the same physical location, separated by their citizens’ determination to see only one city at a time. Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad roams through the intertwined but separate cultures as he investigates the murder of Mahalia Geary, who believed that a third city, Orciny, hides in the blind spots between Beszel and Ul Qoma... Through this exaggerated metaphor of segregation, Miéville skillfully examines the illusions people embrace to preserve their preferred social realities," said Publishers Weekly. Kirkus called The City & The City "Grimy, gritty ... this spectacularly, intricately paranoid yarn is worth the effort."

"See explores tradition, the ravages of war and the importance of family in her excellent latest. Pearl and her younger sister, May, enjoy an upper-crust life in 1930s Shanghai, until their father reveals that his gambling habit has decimated the family’s finances and to make good on his debts, he has sold both girls to a wealthy Chinese-American as wives for his sons. Pearl and May have no intention of leaving home, but after Japanese bombs and soldiers ravage their city and both their parents disappear, the sisters head for California, where their husbands-to-be live and where it soon becomes apparent that one of them is hiding a secret that will alter each of their fates... See’s skillful plotting and richly drawn characters immediately draw in the reader ... this is an accomplished and absorbing novel," said Publishers Weekly. "See is masterly in her powerful depictions of the prejudice and harsh treatment the sisters encounter as they try to assimilate into the strange new world of Los Angeles. Possibly the best book yet from the author of Peony in Love; highly recommended," said Library Journal.

"Deaver brings back body-language expert Kathryn Dance (The Sleeping Doll) in a clever and twisted tale that explores the world of the Internet and the premise that words can be more powerful than any weapon. A roadside remembrance cross is found with the next day’s date. When that day arrives, someone almost dies near the spot. As more memorials appear that seem to predict future deaths, Dance must push her talents to the limit; this killer lives in an online world and believes that his imaginary life is his real one. And how does an expert on human interaction deal with an avatar from a fake realm? The web sites mentioned throughout the book are actual live links and add to the fun... Dance is another exciting series character, and though this series has a ways to go before it achieves the devotion accorded Deaver’s Rhyme/Sachs series, it has unlimited potential. Don't miss this one," said Library Journal. Publishers Weekly adds, "Deaver’s expert and devious plotting makes it a challenge to stay only a couple of steps behind him." ALSO: Special Deal! Buy the new one plus, any one or more of these titles and save 10% OFF ALL! -- The Broken Window (Simon & Schuster 2008, $26.95) SIGNED, NEW. -- The Sleeping Doll (Simon & Schuster 2007, $26.95) SIGNED, NEW. -- The Cold Moon (Simon & Schuster 2006, $22.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- The Twelfth Guard (Simon & Schuster 2005, $18.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- Garden of Beasts (Simon & Schuster 2004, $12.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- The Vanished Man (Simon & Schuster 2003, $14.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- The Stone Monkey (Simon & Schuster 2002, $9.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- Speaking in Tongues (Simon & Schuster 2000, $14.00) SIGNED, F / F. -- The Empty Chair (Simon & Schuster 2000, $13.00) SIGNED, NF / F. -- The Empty Chair (Simon & Schuster 2000, $9.00) SIGNED, NF / F.

"Nayeli, the Taqueria worker of Urrea’s fine new novel (after The Hummingbird’s Daughter), is a young woman in the poor but tight-knit coastal Mexican town of Tres Camarones who spends her days serving tacos and helping her feisty aunt Irma get elected as the town’s first female mayor. Abandoned by her father who headed north for work years before, Nayeli is hit with the realization that her hometown is all but abandoned by men, leaving it at the mercy of drug gangsters. So Nayeli hatches an elaborate scheme inspired by The Magnificent Seven: with three friends, she heads north to find seven Mexican men and smuggle them back into Mexico to protect the town... Urrea’s poetic sensibility and journalistic eye for detail in painting the Mexican landscape and sociological complexities create vivid, memorable scenes ... the colorful characters, strong narrative and humor carry this surprisingly uplifting and very human story," said Publishers Weekly.

Two Authors Tonight!
GILLIAN FLYNN and CHRISTI PHILLIPS
Thursday, June 11th at 7:00 PM

"Edgar-finalist Flynn’s second crime thriller tops her impressive debut, Sharp Objects. When Libby Day’s mother and two older sisters were slaughtered in the family’s Kansas farmhouse, it was seven-year-old Libby’s testimony that sent her 15-year-old brother, Ben, to prison for life. Desperate for cash 24 years later, Libby reluctantly agrees to meet members of the Kill Club, true crime enthusiasts who bicker over famous cases. She’s shocked to learn most of them believe Ben is innocent and the real killer is still on the loose... Flynn fluidly moves between cynical present-day Libby and the hours leading up to the murders through the eyes of her family members. When the truth emerges, it’s so twisted that even the most astute readers won’t have predicted it," said Publishers Weekly.

"Fans of historical romance and traditional whodunits alike will welcome Phillips’s second novel, which like her debut, The Rossetti Letter (2007), alternates between past and present. In the present, historian Clare Donovan, who delved into 17th-century Venetian intrigue with handsome Cambridge fellow Andrew Kent in The Rossetti Letter, is now a temporary lecturer at Cambridge’s Trinity College, packed with scheming academics roiling in a hotbed of nearly every human frailty imaginable. When dashing and venal Professor Derek Goodman is found slain clutching a page of a coded diary by 17th-century physician Hannah Devlin, Clare and Andrew get on the trails of vicious killers from different centuries... Phillips’s command of period detail and her sure touch with emotional relationships help make this a stand-out," said Publishers Weekly.

"Pintoff’s debut, winner of the first Minotaur Books/MWA Best First Crime Novel award, will remind many of Caleb Carr at his best. The wreck of the steamship General Slocum in 1904 cost Det. Simon Ziele of the New York City police both his fiancée and the full use of his right arm. In response to those losses, Ziele has abandoned big-city policing for the quiet dullness of Dobson, a town in Westchester County, but a brutal murder interrupts his retreat from the world. Someone slashes and bludgeons to death ... a Columbia mathematics graduate student whose brilliance evoked jealousy in her peers, in her home under circumstances that resemble the notorious murders of Lizzie Borden’s parents. Ziele’s investigation is soon co-opted by ... a student of criminology who’s convinced he knows the culprit’s identity. The period detail, characterizations and plotting are all top-notch, and Ziele has enough depth to carry a series," said Publishers Weekly.

Two Authors Tonight!
TIM MALEENY and ERIC STONE
Tuesday, June 23rd at 7:00 PM

"Cop Sam McGowan has been retired for one day when his landlord takes a dive off the roof of his building. The San Francisco police want to call it a suicide, but all signs point to murder. Sam talks to his neighbors on the top floor and finds that every one of them hated the dead man. Fast-paced, rollicking humor and characters right out of a -- well, a 1930s Agatha Christie country house mystery -- make this one of the best from the award-wining author of the Cape Weathers series," said Library Journal. Publishers Weekly calls it "fast-paced and funny... a perfectly blended cocktail of escapism, with or without the beach towel." ALSO: -- Beating the Babushka (Midnight Ink 2007, $14.95, Trade paperback original) SIGNED, NEW. -- Greasing the Piñata (Poisoned Pen 2008, $24.95) SIGNED, NEW.

Hong Kong’s been handed back to the Chinese. Ray Sharp’s whole world is changing. Carnivorous Tibetan monks are worried about what a Chinese bank is doing with their money. A murderous, sociopathic veteran of the U.S. invasion of Grenada, along with his twin kung-fu bodyguards, Floss and Betty, muddy the waters. Adding to it all is a painful dumpling accident, drugs, sex and rock and roll; along with the usual coterie of business moguls, hookers, friends and foes. And the return of Ray’s Chinese-Mexican colleague and pal, the diminutive Ms. Wen Lei Yue. This is Ray Sharp's deadliest adventure yet. ALSO: Buy the new one, plus any one or more of these previous titles and take 15% OFF ALL! -- Flight of the Hornbill (Bleak House 2008, $24.95) SIGNED, NEW. -- Grave Imports (Bleak House 2007, $24.95) SIGNED, NEW.

"A bizarre series of attacks that terrify New York may be linked to the brutal history of a foreign regime. Dr. Jake Rosen spots details the police miss. When he’s called in to examine the latest victim of the Vampire, a strange attacker who uses ether to subdue his apparently random victims and then withdraws a vial of their blood, he sees a clinician’s touch in the odd crime. His girlfriend, chic and beautiful lawyer Philomena Manfreda (Manny), is intrigued too, but riled when Jake tries to warn her against defending ... two private-school students mixed up in the bombing of a mailbox that injures a federal judge... Naturally, the two cases turn out to be linked... The married authors use their backgrounds -- he’s a forensic pathologist, she’s a trial attorney -- to great advantage in their second collaboration (Remains Silent, 2005). Scenes with both the living and the dead are always believable, and the protagonists’ love for their professions shines through. But it’s the chemistry between appealing Jake and Manny that really drives the book, as well as Manny’s amusing, and useful, affection for her toy poodle, Mycroft. A well-plotted thriller supported by real-world experience and the main characters’ likability," said Kirkus.

Publishers Weekly starred: "Fans of Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and new readers alike will be delighted with this gothic semiprequel. In 1920s Barcelona, David Martin is born into poverty, but, aided by patron and friend Pedro Vidal, he rises to become a crime reporter and then a beloved pulp novelist. David’s creative pace is frenetic; holed up in his dream house -- a decrepit mansion with a sinister history -- he produces two great novels, one for Vidal to claim as his own, and one for himself. But Vidal’s book is celebrated while David’s is buried, and when Vidal marries David’s great love, David accepts a commission to write a story that leads him into danger. As he explores the past and his mysterious publisher, David becomes a suspect in a string of murders, and his race to uncover the truth is a delicious puzzle: is he beset by demons or a demon himself? Zafón’s novel is detailed and vivid, and David’s narration is charming and funny, but suspect. Villain or victim, he is the hero of and the guide to this dark labyrinth that, by masterful design, remains thrilling and bewildering." ALSO: UK Edition -- To be SIGNED Saturday, June 27th. -- The Angel's Game (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, UK, $59.00) ALSO: Spanish Language Editions -- To be SIGNED Saturday, June 27th. -- El Juego del Angel (Vintage Español, 1st US Edition Trade Paperback Original, $17.95). -- El Palacio de la Medianoche (Rayo 2008, 1st US Edition Trade Paperback Original, $12.95). -- El Principe de la Niebla (Rayo 2008, 1st US Edition Trade Paperback Original, 2nd Printing, $12.95). -- Las Luces de Septiembre (Rayo 2008, 1st US Edition Trade Paperback Original , $12.95).

"M" is for Mystery Book Club TUESDAY, June 30th at 7:00 PM "M" has its own Book Club that meets in the store. This month the group will discuss The Foreigner by Francie Lin. If you have never attended, and are interested, just drop us an email. Please note: This is not a signing and the author will not be present. For further information click on Book Club notice.

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