The Geekish Reader

Title:   Bristol House Author:   Beverly Swerling Genre:   Historical Fiction, Mystery Pages:   416 Published:   April 2013 Publisher:   Viking Adult Source:   NetGalley Synopsis: In the tradition of Kate Mosse, a swiftly-paced mystery that stretches from modern London to Tudor England In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He’s also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House. In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of relig...

Title:   Byzantine Gold Author:   Chris Karlsen Genre:   Action Adventure, Mystery Pages:   136 Published:   December 2012 Publisher:   Book To Go Now Source:   Goddess Fish Book Tours Buy Link:   Amazon Synopsis: The sequel novel to the best-selling, thriller, Golden Chariot. A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons. Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte,...

Title:   Where Angels Rest Author:   Kate Brady Genre:   Romantic Suspense Pages:   464 Published:   November 2012 Publisher:   Forever Source:   Publisher Buy Links:   Amazon Synopsis: A RACE FOR SALVATION For the past decade, psychologist Erin Sims has been helping victims of violent crimes move on with life . . . but the one person she can't save is the one who matters most. In only seven days, her brother will be executed for a murder he didn't commit. Convinced she knows the identity of the real killer, Erin is determined to find the man and bring him to justice. A COUNTDOWN TO DESTRUCTION Sheriff Nick Mann moved to rural Ohio hoping to forget the tragedies of his past. When Erin shows up in town, bringing scandal and unwanted media attention with her, Nick knows she's trouble. No one believes sleepy Hopewell could harbour a serial killer . . . until residents begin to disappear. Now as Nick untangles the dark secrets plaguing his town, he...

Title:   Curveball Author:   Jen Estes Genre:   Cozy Mystery Pages:   312 Published:   October 2012 Publisher:   Camel Press Source:   Partners in Crime Book Tours Buy Links:   Amazon Synopsis: BACK ON THE BENCH Baseball reporter Cat McDaniel specializes in exposes. Now that very talent has left her unemployed. Desperate to get off the bench and back into the lineup, she is thrilled to land an interview with the Buffalo Soldiers' General Manager Roger "Rakin'" Aiken--Baseball legend, eight-time All Star... and oblivious father to a Major League bratty co-ed named Paige. A CURVEBALL WITH A CAVEAT Aiken offers Cat the team writer position for the following spring, but the opportunity is tempered by a curveball of a caveat: she must first spend the winter as a blogger reporting on the Latin American training facility. She is also supposed to look out for Paige, nominally the team's newest scouting assistant. Being a glorified babysitter and chape...

Baseball reporter Cat McDaniel specializes in exposés. Now that very talent has left her unemployed. Desperate to get off the bench and back into the lineup, she is thrilled to land an interview with the Buffalo Soldiers’ General Manager Roger “Rakin’” Aiken--Baseball legend, eight-time All Star ... and oblivious father to a Major League bratty co-ed named Paige. Aiken offers Cat the team writer position for the following spring, but the opportunity is tempered by a curveball of a caveat: she must first spend the winter as a blogger reporting on the Latin American training facility. She is also supposed to look out for Paige, nominally the team’s newest scouting assistant. Being a glorified babysitter and chaperone still beats being an out-of-work sportswriter. Cat reluctantly leaves behind her gorgeous boyfriend Benji and accompanies the party girl to sunny Santo Domingo to balance baselines and conga lines. Paige falls for Chance Hayward, an agent who plays hardball—the figurative...

Title:   Gentlemen Prefer Nerds Author:   Joan Kilby Genre:   Contemporary Romance, Mystery Published:   March 2012 Publisher:   Carina Press Source:   NetGalley Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: Self-professed nerd Maddie Maloney is an expert on jewels. Jewel thieves are another matter entirely! So when a mysterious Englishman warns her that a thief known as The Chameleon is after the rare pink diamond on display in her aunt's shop, she tells herself it's just a joke. Even if she can't get Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome out of her mind... But Fabian Montgomery doesn't give up easily. He's everywhere she goes, convinced the thief will strike. And when the diamond does go missing-and Maddie is suspected of stealing it-he whisks her away from the police and together they pursue The Chameleon. Fabian plunges her into a glamorous world far from her humble workshop and transforms geeky Maddie into a sophisticated siren capable of espionage. Her mission: to...

Title:   Atlantis God (aka The Gods of Atlantis) Author:   David Gibbins Genre:   Action, Adventure, Mystery Pages:   496 Published:   April 2012 Publisher:   Random House Source:   NetGalley Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: Atlantis. The world’s mightiest empire. Its secrets have been lost to the ocean’s depths, but in this high-action race against the clock, marine archaeologist Jack Howard is about to find out that the gods of Atlantis live on—through a terrifying new evil. A lost Nazi bunker in a forest in Germany contains a dreadful secret. But is there a horrifying new dimension to the Nazis’ rule of terror? When Jack Howard, head of the International Maritime University, and his team of adventurers return to the lost island of Atlantis in the Black Sea, they realize they’re not just on the trail of the most sought-after treasures in history but are about to uncover a surprising link between Atlantis and the 1930s expeditions of Himmler’s...

Title:   Succubus Lost Author:   Tiffany Allee Genre:   Paranormal Pages:   211 Published:   May 2012 Publisher:   Entangled Source:   via Bewitching Book Tours Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: Someone is kidnapping and incinerating otherworlders beyond recognition, and detective Marisol Whitman, a succubus, races to find the murderer before he claims another victim. But her pursuit is derailed when her responsible younger sister vanishes. Marisol suspects foul play and enlists support from an unlikely source: an agent from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, Valerio Costa. When the trail pointing to everyone from vampires to witches dries up, Agent Costa admits to knowing more than he’s shared. Marisol’s sister’s kidnapper harnesses more magic than she can imagine—and they’re running out of time. To find her sister before her powers are drained and twisted beyond recognition, Marisol must connect the dots between cases and put her trust in Cos...

Title:   Banshee Charmer Author:   Tiffany Allee Genre:   Paranormal Pages:   159 Published:   January 2012 Publisher:   Entangled Source:   via Bewitching Book Tours Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation. Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her...

Title:   419 Author:   Will Ferguson Genre:   Drama, Suspense, Mystery Pages:   256 Published:   March 2012 Publisher:   Viking Canada Source:   Publisher Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: A startlingly original tale of heartbreak and suspense. 419 takes readers behind the scene of the world’s most insidious internet scam. When Laura’s father gets caught up in one such swindle and pays with his life, she is forced to leave the comfort of North America to make a journey deep into the dangerous back streets and alleyways of the Lagos underworld to confront her father’s killer. What she finds there will change her life forever ... Laura’s life and that of her family has been thrown into complete chaos with the death of her father.  They are completely taken aback by the things they find out and how the weeks before his death unfolded.  How one email changed all their lives. This was a very intense book, and not something I would have nor...

Title:   Monkey Wrench Author:   Terri Thayer Genre:   Cozy Mystery Pages:   288 Published:   May 2012 Publisher:   Midnight Ink Source:   NetGalley Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: A new pattern in our popular quilting mystery series With two weeks left before the annual Quilters Crawl, Dewey Pellicano is excited to showcase her quilt shop after a four-year absence from the crawl. Quilters from all over visit as many quilting shops as they can within a short time. But Dewey's giveaway planning and Twitter promotion are cut short when her assistant manager, Vangie, is implicated in her boyfriend's untimely demise following a protest against a campus drug bust.  I have to admit, I’m a total sucker for a quilting or knitting based novel.  Especially those that are part of a series – after all I own every one of the Elm Creek Quilter’s novels – so this for me wasn’t a question of whether I’d like the book but rather how much was I go...

Title:   Golden Chariot Author:   Chris Karlsen Genre:   Action, Adventure, Mystery Pages:   147 Published:   March 2012 Publisher:   Bookstogonow Source:   via Bewitching Book Tours Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: The rare discovery of a ship sunk during the time of the Trojan War has been found off the coast of Turkey, near Troy. Charlotte Dashiell is an American nautical archaeologist and thrilled to be part of the recovery team. The wreck may contain proof of her highly controversial theory about the Trojan War. Charlotte is present when the Turkish government agent assigned to guard the site is murdered. Her possible involvement and a questionable connection to a private collector of black market relics bring her under suspicion. Atakan Vadim is the Turkish agent sent to investigate her. Unknown to either of them, the smuggler behind the murder plans to steal a valuable artifact and frame Charlotte for the theft...after they murder her. A...

Title:   Triggers Author:   Robert J. Sawyer Genre:   Mystery, Science Fiction Pages:   342 Published:   April 2012 Publisher:   Penguin Source:   from Publisher Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin's bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life. At the same hospital, researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories. Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience-but the memories that flash through Jerrison's mind are not "his" memories. It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh's equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another's minds. And now one of those people has access to the president's memories- including class...

  Triggers by Robert J. Sawyer Available April 3rd 2012 Where to buy:   Amazon Synopsis: On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin's bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life. At the same hospital, researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories. Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience-but the memories that flash through Jerrison's mind are not "his" memories. It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh's equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another's minds. And now one of those people has access to the president's memories- including classified information regarding the upcoming military mission, which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But ...

Title:   Secrets of the Lost Summer Author:   Carla Neggers Genre:   Contemporary Romance Pages:   400 Published:   January 2012 Publisher:   Mira Source:   NetGalley Where to Buy:   Amazon Synopsis: A wave of hope carries Olivia Frost back to her small New England hometown nestled in the beautiful Swift River Valley. She's transforming a historic home into an idyllic getaway. Picturesque and perfect, if only the absentee owner will fix up the eyesore next door.… Dylan McCaffrey's ramshackle house is an inheritance he never counted on. It also holds the key to a generations-old lost treasure he can't resist…any more than he can resist his new neighbor. Against this breathtaking landscape, Dylan and Olivia pursue long-buried secrets and discover a mystery wrapped in a love story…past and present. Olivia has returned to her hometown to transform her beautiful historic home into a retreat, some place she can share with fri...

Title:   Jaded Author:   Kenya Carlton Genre:   Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery Pages:   160 Published:   March 2011 Publisher:   Parker Publishing Source:   via Bewitching Book Tours Synopsis: War correspondent Mia James is back on US soil and ready to tackle a juicy political story that could make national headlines.  A politician’s aid goes missing, and the son of the wealthiest family is the only suspect.   Determined to take down the mayor of the small seaside town, Mia comes up against an angry ghost with her own agenda.  Afraid she may be suffering from post traumatic stress Mia figures that she’s way over her head and enlists the help of resident black sheep Gabe Montgomery.  Now, she must solve the mystery of her not so friendly ghost, stop herself from falling in love with the mysterious winery owner, all while making it out alive. Don't let the cover on this book fool you!  This sto...

Title:   Deadly Vows (Cahill/Deadly Series #9) Author:   Brenda Joyce Genre:   Historical Romance Pages:   379 Release Date:   March 2011 ISBN:   9780373775514 Publisher:   HQN Source:   ARC from publisher via NetGalley Synopsis:   Nothing can stop Francesca from marrying Calder Hart—except the scandal that threatens to tear them apart... On the morning of her wedding to Calder Hart, amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill is lured away to a private viewing of the one thing that can destroy her whole family: a nude painting of her. Her desperate quest to find the indecent portrait and preserve her family’s reputation leads her into a dangerous thief’s trap with no way to escape until it’s too late. Her wedding is ruined—and so is the trust and love that Calder once felt for her. Then the damning painting goes missing. Scouring the sordid streets of Manhattan, Francesca is on the hunt for answers; who is the perverse sociopath responsible f...