The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Everyone is buzzing about Karen Thompson Walker's hot summer debut, The Age of Miracles. And the buzz is not without merit. Walker, a former editor with one of the big six, knows her stuff!

The Earth's rotation is slowing. Julia, now grown, was just eleven when it all started. As she faces first love, the end of friendships, and a growing awareness of issues concerning her parents and others around her (in other words, the normal issues a girl her age faces), Julia is also facing the results of the growing catastrophe: the world is literally dying around her. People are struck by new illness, society is caving in on itself, and resources are drying up. 

Julia's tale is almost tragically magical. Viewing the world through the memory of a child is always an interesting way to present a story and one that I find wonderful in all of its incarnations. Here though, Walker presents a wholly believable apocalyptic scenario and a story that is completely heartfelt. Julia comes to life through Walker's crisp prose, wrapping readers up in her story.

I know that each reader will take something different from the book, but I found myself tearing up at the end. In fact, I was left kind of torn to pieces by the time I finished the book. It was a truly strange and emotional experience that I enjoyed but also struggled with because while it is essentially a  quick and easy read, the issues Walker brings to light are disturbing in a lot of ways.

I think that The Age of Miracles is one of those books that will appeal to such a wide range of readers for so many reasons, not the least of which is Walker's wonderful ability to tell a tale.

Love Is Murder Blog Tour and Giveaway

Morning, all! I am very happy to be taking part in the book tour promoting the latest International Thriller Writers anthology, Thriller 3: Love is Murder. Compiled and edited by Sandra Brown, the collection features short stories from some of the hottest romantic suspense authors out there including J.T. Ellison, Allison Brennan, Alexandra Sokoloff, Lori Armstrong and so many more.

Instead of a standard tour, the Booktrib folks have put together something a little different: each stop features one of the contributing authors and an excerpt from their story. A fabulous way to give screen time to all of the wonderful folks featured in the collection.

My author (drum roll) is my fellow Louisianian, Toni McGee Causey! I'm pleased as punch to be her stop. Toni is the author of one of my favorite series featuring Contraband Queen Bobbie Faye Sumrall (if you don't know, every town in Louisiana has at least one signature festival and my hometown has Contraband Days, a week of pirate themed festivities that includes the Mayor walking the plank!).

I've also got one copy of Love is Murder to give away, courtesy of Booktrib. To enter, just leave me a comment here before midnight Sunday, July 15. (US/Canada only)

And now, without further ado, here's your excerpt to whet your palate!

Toni McGee Causey – Broken Hallelujah

She should not have been here. It was the worst possible scenario.

He’d caught motion on his periphery—someone threading through the crowds, moving that same fluid way she did—a powerful motion that hit his senses as if a car were about to careen into him.

He worked hard to not jerk around and try to find her. Instead, he sat in the folding chair on the hot sidewalk just below the oak trees and strummed another verse on the battered guitar before he turned his head, turned his supposedly blind eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses and scanned across the brightly lit Jackson Square in the Quarter.

And a little bit about Toni:

Toni McGee Causey is the author of the critically acclaimed and nationally bestselling “Bobbie Faye” novels—an action/caper series set in south Louisiana; the series was released in back-to-back publications, beginning with Charmed and Dangerous, Girls Just Wanna Have Guns and When a Man Loves a Weapon. While pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting as well as a Masters in Philosophy, Toni had scripts optioned by prominent studios and, just last year, produced and indie film,LA-308, which now has offers of distribution pending. Toni began her career by writing nonfiction for local newspapers, edited Baton Rouge Magazine, and sold articles to places like Redbook and Mademoiselle. She was a contributor to the anthology Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans, as well as Killer Year: Stories to Die For. She has had several of her blogs syndicated nationally from the group blog, “Murderati,” and she can currently be found at “Murder She Writes.” In her other life, she and her husband are the owners of a construction company which specializes in civil construction. She and her husband reside in New Orleans.

For more on Toni and her books, visit her official site here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. And (as mentioned in the bio) Toni blogs over at Murder She Writes with fellow Thriller 3 contributors Allison Brennan, Lori Armstrong, Roxanne St. Claire, Laura Griffin, and Debra Webb.

Big thanks to the folks at Booktrib for inviting me to participate in the Love is Murder tour. For the full list of stops and author profiles click here. And don't forget to leave me a comment below (with your email addy so I can get in touch if you win) to enter to win a copy of Thriller 3: Love is Murder.

Never Tell by Alafair Burke

When Ellie and her partner are called uptown to an apparent suicide, they're both ready to write off the call. The vic's father is big leaguer in the music industry, though, and forces the department to treat the case as a homicide. The vic's mother is insistent that her daughter would never have killed herself, despite all evidence otherwise. Even Ellie grudgingly begins to admit that there are some things that don't quite mesh with the suicide theory.

Mystery and thriller fans take note, if you're not reading Alafair Burke, you're missing out! Burke, daughter of James Lee Burke, is a master at plotting convincing mysteries with unexpected twists. I would be willing to bet that most readers (myself included) won't be able to figure out all of the threads of Never Tell before the end. I was guessing literally until the last page and loved every single second!

I love that while we get a bit more of Ellie's background and relationships with each new installment, you also get to learn so much about her just through her investigations and her interactions with other characters. It makes you feel like you really know her even if you might be meeting her for the very first time. She reminds me a lot of a friend of mine (and would therefore totally be someone I'd hang out with in real life!).

This is technically the fourth book to feature Ellie Hatcher. No worries, you can safely jump in with Never Tell though there are some references to past cases that could prove to be slight spoilers in earlier books. And with a heroine as fabulous as Ellie, you're definitely going to want to go back and read the whole series. Here's the list in order:

Dead Connection
Angel's Tip
212
Never Tell

For more on Alafair and all of her titles, visit her website here. You can also like her on facebook and follow her on twitter.

And as an added bonus, Alafair has just held her second annual Duffer Awards for Legendary Characters. The voting is over, but you can see the list of matchups and winners here.

Big, big thanks to TLC for letting me participate in the tour. To see all of the tour stops, visit the TLC site for Never Tell here.

New releases 6/26/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Blood Line by James Rollins

Wicked Nights by Gena Showalter

The Unholy by Heather Graham

Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Heartbroken by Lisa Unger

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

Flashback by Dan Simmons (pb)

The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma (pb)

A Simple Act of Violence by R.J. Ellory (pb)

Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

Keepsake by Kristina Riggle

The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Elizabeth Speller

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

The Other Woman's House by Sophie Hannah

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel

Between the Lines by Jodi Piccoult & Samantha Van Leer

New on DVD:
Wrath of the Titans
Mirror, Mirror
21 Jump Street
The Artist


New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans
Never Tell by Alafair Burke

To See or Not to See: In Darkness

I rented In Darkness this week and figured it would be a good way to kick my To See or Not to See posts off again.

The movie, starring Benno Furmann, Herbert Knaup, and Robert Wieckiewicz (to name a few) and directed by Agnieszka Holland, was a 2011 Polish release about a group of Jews who are hidden away in the Lvov sewers by a local sewer worker.

After digging their way down through the floor of one of the ghetto houses, a group of Jews find themselves face to face with Leopold Socha, a sewer inspector who knows the tunnels like the back of his hand. Socha could turn them in -- it's well known that the Germans are paying 500 a head for Jews -- or he can help them. One of the men, Ignacy Chiger, agrees to pay Socha if he'll guide them through when they need him. Need comes much too soon, though, when German soldiers raid the ghetto killing off anyone they come across. A small group is able to escape and an even smaller group is able to hide out under Socha's instruction. 

Amazingly, this story is true. Chiger's daughter, Krystyna, wrote about it in her bio The Girl in the Green Sweater, which was released in hardcover in 2008. An earlier book about the event, In the Sewers of Lvov: A Heroic Story of Survival From the Holocaust by Robert Marshall, was released in 1991.

I completely missed any an all talk of this movie in spite of the fact that it was nominated for an Academy Award this year. In fact, foreign films are so poorly advertised here, it was only because I was interested in seeing what new movies Furmann (North Face, Joyeaux Noel, Anatomy) might be in that I stumbled across it at all. The fact that I might have missed it altogether is a shame really. In Darkness is well done. The story is harrowing and intense and everyone -- both cast and crew -- seems to have done such a great job telling the story. A story like that of Leopold Socha, Krystyna Chiger, and the other survivors is a testament not only of the horrors man has visited upon one another but also to human strength and is one that no one should ever be allowed to forget.

Riffle, maybe?

I'm all about spreading the word on books and this Riffle thing intrigues me. Let's see if I can get an invite, shall we?

They're calling it Pinterest for books and it's invite only at this point. Here's the piece I read this morning on PW. I guess we won't get a peek at the actual site until we get invites, but if you're interested and want to sign up yourself, here's the link to apply.

It's all so mysterious!

BEA Best of 2012 Winner's Choice Winner

Morning, all! The entries are in and it's time to announce a winner for my Best of 2012 Winner's Choice giveaway. By random number generator, the winner is

Commenter #37, Ellisa!

Congrats, Ellisa and thanks to everyone who stopped by and entered. I hope you all have a chance to check out some of my faves this year! I'll be contacting Ellisa today to get her final pick and info.