Sunday Salon: Exciting New Books

Books on my reading list: 

Tahoe Deep

Tahoe Deep by Todd Borg, August 1, 2019, Thriller Press

Genre: mystery, thriller set in Tahoe

In 1940, a teenage blind boy named Danny Callahan witnessed the scuttling of the SS Tahoe Steamer, the grandest ship to ever sail Lake Tahoe. Eighty years later, a killer beats up old man Daniel Callahan, demanding to know the truth about a secret that went down with the ship. (publisher)

A Killer Edition

A Killer Edition by Lorna Barrett, August 13, 2019, Berkley

Mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Tricia Miles overhears an argument in a bookstore, and later finds that one of the people in the argument has been killed. 

My lucky library find:

The Dragonfly Sea

The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, March 12, 2019, Knopf Publishing Group

I opened this tantalizing cover of a book at the library and found a dedication to  the author's mother, whose name I thought I recognized. Sure enough, the author is the daughter of a former college classmate of mine from over 50 years ago. We had lost contact, but are soon to be in touch. How amazing and exciting to recover a friend through this book! 

Setting: island of Pate, off the coast of Kenya

Book description: a coming-of-age novel about a young woman struggling to find her place in a vast world--a poignant exploration of fate, mortality, love, and loss.

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and the Sunday Salon,  Mailbox Monday.

Sunday Post: Murder on the Left Bank by Cara Black

I finished reading Murder on the Left Bank by Cara Black, published June 19, 2018, Soho Crime, the 18th in the Aimee Leduc Investigations series set in Paris. I was not disappointed in this new book and love that the author includes so much of Paris in her novel. People, places, streets, atmosphere are all here and would mean a lot to those who have walked these streets in that great city, and mean so much more to those who want to visit and travel in the main character's, Aimee's footsteps. 

A notebook holding secrets from the WWII past of Paris is stolen, and people are being killed by those who want to find and destroy the notebook's damaging evidence. Aimee makes it a point to follow up on these murders and find the incriminating evidence, even while putting her baby in harm's way. A mixture of danger and suspense blends the personal and the professional life of private investigator Aimee, as she goes about her duties while following her deep sense of justice. A five star READ.

Tahoe Skydrop, the 16th in the Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller series, will be published August 6, 2018 by Thriller Press. Thanks to the author for a review copy. Review will be coming soon. I'm enjoying the book right now!

I haven't yet decided which of my library books and TBR books I'll tackle next. There are several on my ereader too that I have started andwant to finish!

What books are you reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. Also, Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews

Book Review: Tahoe Payback by Todd Borg

Title: Tahoe Payback, August 1. 2017 by Thriller Press.
Source: author, for review
Objective rating: 5/5

The mystery features Owen McKenna, private investigator, and his harlequin Great Dane, Spot, with Owen's girlfriend, the entomologist Street. 

The novel tell much about the beautiful Lake Tahoe area and also deals with self defense methods, especially for women; search and rescue dogs, scams such as fake charities, and more. Add likeable, interesting personalities and a killer plot to the mix and you have another great Todd Borg thriller - suspenseful and unpredictable.  

Not only does McKenna have to solve an unusual murder or murders, but he has to protect Street from her homicidal father, now out of prison, who blames her for having him incarcerated in the first place.  McKenna and Spot do an admirable job of finding the killer as well as protecting Street. 

Book beginning: 

The person with the gun said,"Get out of the boat." The woman hesitated.

"Go!"

The woman's hands were tied behind her back. She had no way to catch herself if she lost her balance....

Page 56:

"Sergeant Bains calling. I was talking to Santiago at Placer County, and he said you and he have talked about a missing woman. I thought I'd give you a courtesy call."

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Book Review: Tahoe Blue Fire by Todd Borg

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Tahoe Blue Fire: An Owen Mckenna Mystery Thriller #13 by Todd Borg, published August 1, 2015 by Thriller Press.

First paragraph:

PROLOGUE The big rotary snowblower was parked in the dark at the side of the road where the shoulder had been cleared of snow. The unusual snow removal machine was one of the huge ones, built on a double engine chassis, designed for clearing highways. The driver engine was idling quietly despite its size. The much larger blower engine was off. Because that engine made so much noise, the operator would fire it up at the last minute.  

Three kills. Maybe four or five.

Teaser, first chapter:

"It would be too dangerous for me to come to your office," the woman on the phone said. She had told me her name was Scarlett Milo and that she'd wanted to meet and that she was in significant danger. 

My comments:  
Another in the Owen McKenna Mystery thriller series that I have enjoyed so much. The author always includes some pressing and important social issues in his novels, and this one is no exception.
An important part of the plot is the issue of football head injuries and memory loss suffered by many retired professional football players.

The author also touts Lake Tahoe and environs, highlighting its lakes, mountains, ski resorts, as part of the charm of the surroundings. These surroundings of course play a large part in the suspense, chases, and atmosphere of the novels.

In Tahoe Blue Fire, a woman is shot on the deck of her mountain home, a house is burned down, and Owen McKenna, PI, is targeted more than once in attempts to stop his investigations of several recent murders, some of them by shooting and others more bizarre. The motives for crime are somehow tied up to a Renaissance legend. Owen travels to Florence and Tuscany, Italy to get information from Renaissance scholars about the legend of the Blue Fire of Florence, to see how this might link to the Tahoe murders.

Suspenseful as always, and very atmospheric, this is another excellent thriller by Todd Borg. I recommend it for those mystery lovers who are also history buffs, armchair travelers, and lovers of the outdoors.

For more info on the author and his books, visit ToddBorg.com

Based on the book beginning and teaser, would you keep reading?
Thanks to the author for a review copy of this book.

Two Different Reads: Tahoe Blowup by Todd Borg and What Maisie Knew by Henry James

What I've been reading: a thriller and a novel of manners and psychology.

Tahoe Blowup (Owen McKenna #2) by Todd Borg, published September 1, 2001 by Thriller Press. A thriller set in Tahoe - from it I learned a lot about preventing and causing forest fires, besides arson, and the controversy over controlled or non controlled burning. I also learned about rescue dogs, the anthropomorphic qualities attributed to them that may not be so anthropomorphic after all. Dogs do have emotions similar to ours. A good thriller, the second in the series, the books only get better as they progress. There are now about 12 or so.

What Maisie Knew by Henry James, a free ebook on Kindle. I recently witnessed a divorce case and the effects on children, so this novel about a young girl being used as a pawn between two disagreeing parents was particularly interesting to me. Daisy is bandied back and forth not only by her separated and then divorced parents but later on by her stepparents as well. She comes out of it okay, had to pretend sometimes to be more obtuse then she really was, and in the process learns a lot just by observing the behavior of the adults around her. James is a master in the psychological novel. I discovered him later in life (after college, that is) and am a great fan of his.

What books have you finished this week?

Book Review: Tahoe Ghost Boat by Todd Borg

Tahoe Ghost Boat

Title: Tahoe Ghost Boat (Owen McKenna #12) by Todd Borg
Published August 2014; Thriller Press

This new release came out this month, one of a series of Owen McKenna thrillers set in and around Lake Tahoe, many of which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. I think Tahoe Ghost Boat is one of Todd Borg's best!

My synopsis: A woman calls private detective Owen McKenna desperately asking for help as she is being chased in her car. McKenna comes to the rescue and finds out that his new client, Nadia, is being blackmailed to hand over the $2 million in insurance money that she is due after the death of her husband, Ian Lassitor. Lassitor was recently found drowned in Lake Tahoe when his boat was cut in two by an unknown boat in the middle of the night. 

So begins the suspense surrounding the mysterious "ghost" boat, the people who threaten Nadia, and McKenna's attempts to protect Nadia's 15-year-old estranged daughter Gertie, who is a target for kidnappers. But the plot is even more involved than it seems.

The action: The thrill of reading this novel lies in the multiple times McKenna risks his life while protecting Gertie from criminals that seem to come straight out of a James Bond movie - seemingly indestructible bad guys that have unusually and imaginatively cruel tendencies.

I loved every roller coaster ride as McKenna escapes and eludes his pursuers(we know he has to escape, as he is the main character, after all) many times.  But rest assured, you will get multiple thrills reading Tahoe Ghost Boat, as well as an intimate knowledge of the lake itself - the beauty and uniqueness of it as well as its possible dangers, in all seasons. A tremendous setting for a mystery series!

Objective rating: 5+ out of 5.  I didn't want it to end, and now I can't wait for Borg's next in the series.

Thanks to the author for a review copy of this book.

Book Review: Tahoe Chase by Todd Borg

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.
Teaser Tuesdays  is hosted by MizB

It was the softness of the metallic click that sounded dangerous.
Cynthia Rorvik was filling the bird feeder out on the deck when she heard a faint sound of metal on metal. Her heart thumped.
Maybe it was the latch on the deck fence gate, the whisper snick of spring-loaded bar as it was eased out of its cradle.
Cynthia inhaled a short, reflexive breath and held it, listening..... (opening paragraph)

Title: Tahoe Chase by Todd Borg
Published August 1, 2013; Thriller Press
Genre: mystery, thriller
Source: review copy from author

The story: The setting is the area around the ski resorts of Lake Tahoe, Ca. and Nevada in the towns and mountains that ring the lake. Cynthia's fall from her deck to the rocks below looks like an accident, but her husband, a former Olympic ski racer, hires detective Owen McKenna to look into her untimely death.

My comments: Reading this thriller is a bit like skiing, I think. There are twists and turns and surprises around each bend in the story. First you are sure that Cynthia's fatal fall has something to do with her activism to keep Tahoe pristine and free from further development, then you find other possible motives, and you face the environmental factor again, then head off in a different direction, and so on. Which is the real reason for her now presumed murder?

Then you follow a young woman fleeing from domestic abuse, as she heads into the remote wilderness in a challenge to ski mountains and valleys and regain her self confidence. The problem is, her abuser is also a good skiier.

Owen McKenna has his hands full again in another thrilling adventure. I enjoyed the scenes of Tahoe, the lake and its mountains, one of the added perks of reading Todd Borg's Tahoe thrillers. This is a good story with a dramatic subplot and enough twists and turns to keep you really interested. This is the 11th in the series.

My objective rating: 4.5/5

Book Review: Tahoe Trap by Todd Borg

Tahoe Trap: A Novel

Title: Tahoe Trap: An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller by Todd Borg
Release date: August 1, 2012; Thriller Press
Objective rating: 4.5/5

About the book: A young illegal alien, Paco, calls for help when his foster mother is murdered. Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna not only protects the boy from the killers but plans with Paco to entrap them. 

Ten-year-old Paco witnessed the murder, but McKenna doesn't turn the case over to the authorities right away as the boy would be discovered as an illegal immigrant and deported, even though he grew up in the U.S., speaks only English, and has no ties to his home country, Mexico.

Comments: The mystery at first seems to revolve only around the foster mother, who was involved in collecting information about wealthy residents in the Tahoe area, but it quickly becomes young Paco's story of survival.

I enjoyed the view with McKenna in his Jeep (figuratively) as he drove around Tahoe, from misty mountain to dry desert to scenic beach, searching, following, investigating in order to find the killers. McKenna enlists Paco's help to concoct and prepare an elaborate trap for the killers, hence the title of the book. Super clever! I though it was unusual for McKenna, with his dog Spot, to do so much for Paco, to boost the boy's confidence.

More twists in the plot toward the end of the book turn the mystery into an even more suspenseful thriller. McKenna is a likeable guy who turns out to be a superhero himself.

About the author: Todd Borg won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year and his Owen McKenna mysteries have been chosen for Top 5 Mystery lists by the Library Journal, and by Mystery News Reviewer G. Wedgwood. He has won other awards for the series. Borg and his wife live on Lake Tahoe's South Shore. 

Many thanks to the author for an ARC of this book.

Book Review: Tahoe Hijack by Todd Borg

Title: Tahoe Hijack: an Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller by Todd Borg
Perfect Paperback: 349 pages, Thriller Press
Publication date: Aug. 1, 2011
Source: author
Objective rating: 4.5/5

Summary: Detective Owen McKenna is summoned by a crazed hijacker of a cruise boat on Lake Tahoe. The hijacker demands he arrest a man for the murder of Grace Sun, an unsolved case McKenna had worked on three years before. When McKenna investigates, he finds that Grace's daughter, Anna, is being targeted by her mother's murderer and being hunted by a fanatical militia group who believe Anna has information to a hidden treasure from the days of the Gold Rush. McKenna races to protect Anna as well as find her mother's murderer.

Comments: I had to hold my breath during the last part of this fast-paced thriller, full of action and surprises, and lots of twists and turns. I thought the book would make a great movie, what with the scenic setting of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding forests and mountains, an intriguing plot, and equally interesting characters on both the good and the bad side. I also liked the cover of the book, which made me want to pick it up and read it right away.

I liked the sympathetic main character, Detective McKenna, but I liked even more his sidekick and partner in crime-fighting, his trained pet, a Great Dane with the mismatched name of Spot. Dog lover that I am, Spot stole my affection and made me wish for a pet like him. Spot is an important part of the plot and McKenna's success in this case. I also learned more about the days of the Gold Rush and California's history. Though a little improbable in the action scenes, somewhat like a James Bond novel, the plot of Tahoe Hijack makes me want to see this book on film.

About the Author:

Todd Borg is the author of eight previous Owen McKenna mysteries. He has won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery Of The Year, been chosen by Library Journal as one of the Best Five Mysteries Of The Year, and made Amazon's Mystery/Thriller Bestseller list.

© Harvee Lau 2011