Review: Invisible Country by Annamaria Alfieri

We've just published our Review of Invisible Country by Annamaria Alfieri. Minotaur Books Hardcover, July 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Daniel Radcliffe to Star in Film Adaptation of Horns by Joe Hill

Here's some casting news we missed from earlier in the week …

When we first reported on the film adaptation of the horror/thriller Horns by Joe Hill last year, Shia LaBeouf was identified as the lead.

Now we're learning (via THR) that Daniel Radcliffe is set to star as Ignatius William Perrish, a suspect — the only suspect — in the rape and murder of his girlfriend.

Alexandre Aja will direct a screenplay by Keith Bunin.

"After reading Joe Hill's cult book, I couldn't resist temptation to dive into the devilish underworld and reinvent a universal myth," Aja said. "Horns is a wild ride of sin and crime, with a love story in its heart."

In the book, Ig thought at first the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more — he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside …

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look — a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge … It's time the devil had his due …

The Absence Wins the 2012 CCI-IFF Award for Best Horror/Suspense Film

The supernatural noir thriller The Absence has won this year's Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival award for Best Horror/Suspense Film.

Written and directed by Alex DeMille, The Absence is his MFA thesis film project for UCLA film school.

The storyline follows Benjamin Moss (Matthew Rauch), assistant manager in the Records Department of Black House Securities, who is sent on a mission to a mysterious and barren rural landscape. There he crosses paths with eleven-year-old Jonathan Gardner (Jan Uczowski), a boy who is beginning to wake up to the dark forces devastating his town. Ben confronts the truth behind his company's work and must choose whether to continue to obey his messianic boss (Larry Swansen).

Watch a trailer for the film below.

This Week's Bestselling Large Print Mystery and Suspense Books (120715)

Here is this week's list of the top ten bestselling mystery and suspense books in large print format from Amazon.com.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is frequently updated, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke: A First in Series MystereBook

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke. A Dave Robicheaux Mystery. First Appearance: March 1987.

James Lee Burke had already written five novels before The Neon Rain was published. It was actually the second book in the series we read, the first being Black Cherry Blues, which in 1993 — the year we read it — had just won an Edgar Award for Best Novel. We were so taken with the character that we sought out the previous two books and have been fans ever since. (We're lucky enough to have hardcover first editions of all of Burke's early books in the series.)

Two of the Dave Robicheaux mysteries have been adapted for film. The first in 1996 was Heaven's Prisoners, the second in the series, which starred Alec Baldwin as the Cajun cop. We liked it more than most people, based on some of the reviews and scores we've seen, but think the most serious problem was the casting of Baldwin as Robicheaux.

Much later, in 2009, Tommy Lee Jones was cast as Robicheaux in an adaptation of the sixth book in the series, In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead. (The movie title was shortened to In the Electric Mist.) Here the casting seems spot on, with Jones capturing a lot of what's right about the character. We enjoyed this film quite a bit, saying in our review, "The performances are uniformly outstanding, the direction crisp, the bayou scenes dripping with atmosphere, and the plot intricate without being confusing."

But it all started with The Neon Rain. Pocket Books is currently offering this first in series ebook title for just $3.99. If you haven't read any of Burke's Dave Robicheaux books, there's no better time to start. (The 14th in the series, Creole Belle, is published this coming Tuesday, July 17th.)

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The Neon Rain
James Lee Burke
A Dave Robicheaux Mystery (ebook)

Pocket Books, July 2010

Also available: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audible Audio formats

Detective Dave Robicheaux has fought too many battles: in Vietnam, with killers and hustlers, with police brass, and with the bottle. Lost without his wife's love, Robicheaux's haunted soul mirrors the intensity and dusky mystery of New Orleans' French Quarter — the place he calls home, and the place that nearly destroys him when he becomes involved in the case of a young prostitute whose body is found in a bayou. Thrust into the world of drug lords and arms smugglers, Robicheaux must face down a subterranean criminal world and come to terms with his own bruised heart in order to survive.

      

Important Note: Any prices mentioned above were correct as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120715)

Here is today's list of the Bestselling Free Kindle Crime Fiction: the top nine mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can click on the image to the right or use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Sell Books for Steve Day, Monday July 16th

Steve Brown

We received an e-mail this morning from mystery author Gregg Brickman asking if we'd be interested in helping to promote Sell Books for Steve Day, a one-day sale of mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers to help cover the medical expenses for Steve Brown's bone marrow transplant. We jumped at the chance.

Steve, after two years of chemotherapy for leukemia, entered a Bone Marrow Transplant program at Shands Cancer Hospital at the University of Florida Gainesville in June. He has since been blogging about his transplant experience.

A former special agent and supervisory special agent for the FBI, Steve later managed his own private investigative firm. He is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Private Investigating and has written two unpublished novels. He is presently hard at work on a true crime book based on one of his cases.

How can you help? It's easy. Simply purchase one (or more) of the Kindle crime novels below on Monday, July 16th, 2012 only and the book's author will forward a part of the proceeds of the total day's sales to a fund for Steve.

All but one of the ebooks below are priced at either $2.99 or $3.99, so it's a great deal regardless.

For more information about the event, or to purchase print editions of some of the books, visit this page on the Handcuffed to the Ocean website.

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Heaven's Fire by Sandra Balzo

When a federal investigator and a television producer are thrown together by a fireworks tragedy on Lake Michigan, the man unable to let go of his past and the woman afraid to trust her future must race to prevent another catastrophic explosion–this one at the county's Fourth of July celebration.

Imperfect Contract by Gregg E. Brickman

Driven from police work by the cold realities of the job—getting shot can do that—Sophia Burgess finds her place in nursing. She brought with her the qualities that made her a good cop—fierce independence, inquiring mind, and edgy personality.

Then the victim comes to her.

Sophia's patient dies, but not from natural causes. She uses her clinical acumen as a nurse, her deductive skills as a former cop, and her police detective ex-fiancée to find the killer.

Annabelle's Attack by Diane Capri

Three unlikely events explode thrusting young lawyer Jennifer Lane into the abyss of her family's secret history. Family records search, DNA, and more reveal stolen lives and a stolen cure for deadly hepatitis C. A bewildering maze of betrayal, intrigue, and murder, put Jennifer's license to practice law, her heart, and her very life on the line. Who will survive?

Key Lime Blues by Mike Jastrzebski

For some people working in the family business means suits, power lunches, and afternoon meetings. For Wes Darling it was guns, lies, and dead bodies.

The Darling Detective Agency was founded in 1876 by Aaron ‘Dusty' Darling. Now Wes's chain smoking, stressed out mother is grooming Wes to take over. How does he handle his mother's demands? He heads to Key West, moves onto a sailboat, and takes a job tending bar at a little joint called Dirty Alvin's. Life is carefree until his mother's lover, a man who mentored Wes for years, is murdered on a Key West Beach. Reluctantly, Wes is drawn into a spinning web of murder, sex and deceit.

First there are his mother's pleas for help. Throw in a six-foot-tall red-headed stripper, a retired mobster who acts like it's the 1940's, a pair of dim-witted hit men, a phobic psychic named Elvis, a small fortune in stolen diamonds, and what do you have? Mayhem in Key West.

Circle of Bones by Christine Kling

Former U.S. Marine Maggie Riley is sailing alone in the Caribbean when she rescues a crazy conspiracy-spouting treasure hunter who is swimming in the buff off the island of Guadeloupe. She soon learns he is searching for the wreck of the World War II submarine Surcouf that vanished in 1942. He claims the sub holds millions in gold coins, as well as secret documents that will prove the existence of a powerful inner circle of Skull and Bones. Riley joins the search for the wreck when she discovers her own past intersects the inner Circle of Bones, and this conspiracy nut might not be so crazy after all.

Blinke It Away by Victoria Landis

It's an idyllic day on Oahu until Bess Blinke interrupts a bizarre robbery that ends in homicide. In the following days, she discovers terrible secrets tied to the crime, and her world unravels. When the killer realizes the depth of what she knows and comes after her, she runs, hides, and plots to reveal the truth and expose the brutal force behind several murders.

Reckless Nights in Rome by C. C. MacKenzie

Though the name of her celebration and wedding cake business is up in lights, Bronte Ludlow doesn't care for the trappings of success. All that matters to her is her company, her independence and her heritage,The Dower House. Home to her ancestors since the seventeenth century, no way will she part with it to "a man with too much money and no soul."

Nico Ferranti's only passions are money and power … He's a man who stopped believing in romance long ago and Bronte's a romantic, yet the attraction sparking between them like fireworks over the Piazza del Popolo stuns Nico.

When Bronte's brother is badly hurt in a car accident in Rome, Nico whisks Bronte to the Eternal City. He wants her and he wants The Dower House and Nico Ferranti always gets what he wants.

But Bronte's heart has already been broken by one ruthless charmer and although tempted she isn't about to give up either her heart or her home to the charismatic Italian without a fight!

Novan Witch by Prudence MacLeod

Fleeing from the very people she rules, and an arranged marriage she will not submit to, Arlessa seeks the remains of her scattered race. Using the power she discovered as a child she hopes to return them to their homeworld. Will love distract her from her quest? Will she have the power to complete her task or will she be taken and forced to submit to marriage?

Murder on Devil Ray Reef by Jeffrey Hammerhead Philips

While diving on Jesse Stoker's boat, Cassandra, a local radio personality awaiting contract with extraterrestrials, disappears. Stoker considers her a hoaxster, but allowed the charter because the bank is ready to repossess his vessel.

Cassandra's body is found three days later, but the M.E. finds she's only been dead for five hours. Once it's known that Stoker filled her tanks and she died from oxygen poisoning, he becomes the prime suspect. He's never lost a diver before, doesn't believe in alien abduction, and doesn't believe she just died. To clear his name, stop a wrongful death suit, and save his livelihood, Stoker must figure out where Cassandra spent the missing days and find her killer.

The Russian Boy by Neil S. Plakcy

"The Russian Boy" is a nude portrait of a young Russian noble, Alexei Dubernin, the painter's lover. Their affair takes place in 1912, during the dying days of the Romanov empire, in their winter haven on the Cote d'Azur. The bulk of the novel, though, takes place in the present, when poor student Dmitri Baranov steals the painting from a restorer's studio in Paris, hoping to earn enough money to continue his studies at an art academy in Montmartre. His American boyfriend and fellow student chases him to the Riviera, where Dmitri plans to make contact with the gangster who hired him, and exchange the painting for cash. But art theft consultant Rowan McNair is on his trail. Alliances shift, and new loves emerge. Each man must risk his life to earn the love he deserves.

South Beach Cinderella by Sharon Potts

Somewhere over the rainbow … is a giant dumpster. At least, that's how things appear to Frankie Wunder when she discovers her husband's been cheating on her and there are no fairy tale endings on her horizon. But Frankie, a successful South Beach realtor, isn't prepared to leave her future up to the wave of anyone's wand. Determined to find a man who meets her criteria for the perfect husband and father of the child she desperately wants, Frankie goes on a diet, assembles a list of prospective candidates, and immerses herself in the South Beach dating scene. But is a man who's rich, successful, and willing to take care of her what Frankie really wants? As she works her way through a deceitful doctor, a lecherous lawyer, and a rakish real estate executive–the men most South Beach Cinderellas would gladly lose a slipper to–Frankie realizes her dream men are nightmares and her true Prince Charming is nothing like the guy in the fairy tale.

The Throwbacks by Stephanie Queen

To salvage his career, exiled Scotland Yard “Flying Squad” detective, the not-so-young David Young, joins the Boston Police Department.

But this rogue detective can't resist an unlikely romance with his young and vivacious decorator, Grace Rogers, even when she becomes a key witness in his high-stakes case–and like Kryptonite to his career and well-being.

Aphrodisiac by Alicia Street and Roy Street

A murdered friend leaves the secret of her paranormal perfume with warmhearted oddball Saylor Oz, launching her into a deadly seven-day race to find the killer, aided only by her wisecracking BFF Benita Morales and smoking hot middleweight boxer Eldridge Mace. Danger never smelled so sweet.

Poseidon's Daughter by Diane A. S. Stuckart

Masquerading as explorer Sir John Abbot, dashing conman Malcolm Northrup goes on the road with a lecture tour to raise funds for a bogus expedition in search of the lost continent of Atlantis. But his schemes go awry when he is kidnapped by feisty scholar Halia Davenport, who is determined to carry on her late father's quest to find that mythical site.

Final Sail by Elaine Viets

To catch a jewel smuggler on a luxury yacht, Helen needs to pose as the ship's new stewardess—but between serving drinks to the snobs, scrubbing floors, and cleaning up after seasick passengers, she's starting to miss dry land almost as much as she misses Phil.

While Helen's cruising to the Bahamas, Phil's got his own job—trying to catch a sexy gold digger who may have killed her elderly husband for his fortune. Good thing he's a self-proclaimed master of disguise, playing it cool as everything from an air-conditioning repairman to a Rastafarian.

Helen's a help to Phil on his case, but when she's on her own on the high seas, Helen needs to watch her step as she searches out the smuggler—or she may end up going from undercover to overboard …

Important Note: Ebook prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel is Today's Sixth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel as today's sixth free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

— ◊ —

A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel
Publisher: Prologue Books

A Novel of Isavalta, Book One. Originally published in 2002, this is the first of four books in this series.

About A Sorcerer's Treason (from the publisher): 1899, Sand Island, Wisconsin.

Bridget Lederle resides in the lighthouse she's tended since her father died. Here, on the rocky shore of Lake Superior, she's alone with the bitter ignominy of her birth, the shame of her love child's death, and the ghost of a mother she never really knew . . . That all changes on the wintry night she rescues a mysterious, charismatic stranger whose boat is nearly dashed upon the rocks. After she's nursed him back to health, he tells her a fantastical tale … of another world, where somehow only she can save the beleaguered Empress from sorcerous plottings to usurp the throne.

His tale is wildly fanciful, yet Bridget feels somehow drawn to his world, to the empire of Isavalta. Kalami, her handsome, charming patient, transports her with him from Lake Superior to a dazzling world that seems like a dream .…

But if Isavalta is a dream, Bridget's new life is a nightmare. Caught in a magical crossfire between the powerful Dowager Empress, her daughter-in-law, an the sorcerers who serve their mistresses and other more subtle ends, she doesn't know whom to trust, whom to beware …

With the fate of an empire at stake and her heart torn by conflicting desires, she becomes a reluctant player in a deadly game of politics and magic with rules as hard to untangle as the knots in a silken tassel or the threads of a woven rug.

As she attempts to see beyond the masks of power and discover truth in a world where magical spells can take almost any form, each hour she spends in the luxury of Isavalta's court bunds her more tightly in the seductive embrace of secrets from her own past and of unfulfilled yearnings she can't deny. A stranger in this bedazzling place, she must find a path to salvation—for herself and for her new, otherworldly home—but that path seems rockier than the Lake Superior shore she left behind.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Life Sentences by Tekla Dennison Miller is Today's Fifth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Life Sentences by Tekla Dennison Miller as today's fifth free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Life Sentences by Tekla Dennison Miller
A Chad Wilbanks Thriller
Publisher: Medallion Press

This is the first entry in what appears to be a two-book series.

About Life Sentences (from the publisher): Celeste Brookstone has the perfect life. On the surface when her daughter takes a job with the Michigan Prison System, she fears for Pilar's safety. But she's glad she's away from the hell on earth Marcus Brookstone has created within his own home.

Pilar Brookstone is an idealist. She thinks she can change things, Make inmates' lives a little better. And never, ever make the mistake her mother made.

Chad Wilbanks is a serial killer. He is serving life. Eight young women were his victims. Is he about to take his ninth?

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Death Island by Joan Conning Afman is Today's Fourth Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Death Island by Joan Conning Afman as today's fourth free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Death Island by Joan Conning Afman
Publisher: Camel Press

About Death Island (from the publisher): Wrongly convicted of the brutal murder of his wife, Danny Manning is exiled to Death Island, the site of America's favorite reality TV show. Death Island is Hell disguised as Paradise, a place where no one gets off alive unless the audience vote goes his way.

Danny's day-to-day survival depends on a brilliant and hilarious psychopath who knows the ropes. But his ultimate fate lies in the hands of a clergyman's quirky wife, a smarmy TV host, and Death Island's fickle home viewers. If voted "off the island," he will be free, innocent or not. Can he stay alive that long? And will he ever discover the identity of the real murderer?

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.