Cotton Malone of the Magellan Billet …has been dispatched to Siberia by Billet chief Stephanie Nelle on orders from lame-duck President Danny Daniels. … The plot is familiar—good guys chase bad guys to avert major crises—but Berry this time complicates the scenario with a second storyline. It involves The Society of Cincinnati, a fraternity founded after the Revolutionary War by and for the male descendants of veterans. How that organization's longtime desire for a 14th colony ties into Russian resentment is left for Malone and his Magellen cohorts to dig up. Longer than it needs to be but Berry gunfights his way entertainingly enough to the save-the-world conclusion of this formulaic yarn.
Extreme Prey (Lucas Davenport Series #26) by John Sandford
… Marlys Purdy has been through it all, and she's come to realize one thing for sure: the deck is stacked in favor of wealthy farmers, and Michaela Bowden's shoo-in presidential campaign isn't going to change that situation. The only hope for Marlys and her sons … is the election of Minnesota's left-wing governor, Elmer Henderson, and the best way to clear his path to the Democratic nomination is to remove Bowden with extreme prejudice. … Can Lucas, working without a badge, sift through the harmless and the tangential radicals in time to protect Bowden from the coup de grâce he's certain is planned during her ill-advised visit to the Iowa State Fair? An efficient and unremarkable treatment of a story that keeps threatening to leap the gap from paranoid fantasies to tomorrow's headlines.
First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower
“Brower is a thorough researcher who weaves a highly readable story through original reporting and the thorough use of earlier memoirs and histories...a gossipy, but surprisingly deep, look at the women who help and sometimes overshadow their powerful husbands.”
The Other Side of Silence (Bernie Gunther Series #11) by Philip Kerr
“The intricacies of the plot, partly based on Maugham’s history as a British spy in charge of a team of secret agents, make this one of Kerr’s best technical efforts. But it’s the characterization of Maugham and the sound of his voice…that makes this novel memorable.”
The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore
The account remains even-keeled throughout, and the last years of the dynasty especially are treated with a restraint and objectivity for which one is grateful. Overall…this monumental work is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in Russian history and the doomed dynasty of Romanovs, "blood-spattered, gold-plated, diamond-studded, swash-buckled, bodice-ripping and star-crossed."
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The Obsession by Nora Roberts
Bestseller Roberts explores the experience of a serial killer's family and, more subtly, the true natures of trust, friendship, and loyalty. A little uneven and with an abundance of detail that occasionally slows the pace, this is still an appealing story from a romantic-suspense favorite.
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