Unfinished Business

January 1, 2021

In Bentley's Tom Clancy Target Acquired, Jack Ryan Jr. is on a seemingly simple stakeout in Israel when he is targeted by trained killers. Ellroy delivers Widespread Panic in his latest, which features a former cop negotiating his way through dark-and-dirty Fifties Los Angeles as a private eye. In The Maze, retired NYPD Homicide Detective John Corey answers the call to help investigate when bodies are found buried on the beach. Broadcast journalist-turned-cybersecurity expert Ali Reynolds must deal with both a serial killer and a former employee of her husband just out of prison in Jance's Unfinished Business (100,000-copy first printing). In Johansen's The Bullet, it's bad news for forensic sculptor Eve Duncan when the former wife of her beloved Joe Quinn returns with dangerous secrets (100,000-copy first printing). In Lippman's tense fantasia, novelist Gerry Andersen is trapped in bed after an accident and fears he is losing his mind when he thinks he's getting phone calls from the main character in his big-deal novel Dream Girl (200,000-copy first printing). From mega-best-selling Patterson and former President Clinton, The President's Daughter features a new family in the White House--and a former White House family targeted by an international assassin (one-million-copy first printing). Joined by Quartermous, Woods hits the Jackpot with another Teddy Fay thriller, as Teddy investigates threats to a film festival in sumptuous Macau.

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April 26, 2021
At the start of bestseller Jance’s plodding 16th Ali Reynolds mystery (after 2020’s Credible Threat), Ali, the CFO of High Noon Enterprises, an Arizona cybersecurity company she owns with her husband, serves an eviction notice on Harvey McCloskey, a deadbeat tenant who rents office space from High Noon. Harvey vows to get revenge. Meanwhile, Mateo Vega, who’s been paroled after serving 16 years in prison for a murder he claims he didn’t commit, has trouble finding a job in his field of expertise, computer technology, until High Noon hires him. At one point, Ali makes a call to someone who can help Mateo clear his name. When High Noon employee Cami Lee is kidnapped, Ali turns to Frigg, an AI entity that handles everything from background checks to strategic planning. Frigg applies its cyber-magic to tracking down Cami’s kidnapper. Since Ali does so much delegating, she has lots to time to focus on her aging parents and their problems. Well-defined characters make up only in part for the shortage of detective work. This is for established fans only. Agent: Alice Volpe, Northwest Literary.

May 21, 2021
In the latest Ali Reynolds novel, the journalist-turned-sleuth is totally fine with her husband's plan to offer a recently paroled, convicted murderer a job at his company. For one thing, the man used to work there. For another, he's innocent of the murder. At least that's what he's been saying for years, and Ali, for one, believes him. Teaming up with private investigator J. P. Beaumont (the lead character in another Jance mystery series), Reynolds launches an investigation into the old murder, hoping to clear the man's name, but soon she's distracted by some troubling events close to home: one of her husband's employees has gone missing. Jance has been writing mysteries for more than 35 years, and she's accumulated a large and enthusiastic fan base, all of whom should be delighted with this new one. Reynolds continues to be an engaging and resolute series lead, and it's certainly nice to see Beaumont lend a hand.

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