Fran's Best of List, part 2, the paperbacks

My other list was all hardcovers, but I read a lot of paperback originals. In this list, I'm going to combine both mass market and trade paperbacks (the regular pocket-book sized paperbacks, and the larger ones). Also, as before, there was no way to choose one above the other, so these are in, theoretically, alphabetical order.

So, without further ado, here we go:

- Marc Acito, Attack of the Theater People, Broadway, $12.95. In this sequel to his debut, Marc has taken us further on Edward Zanni's quest for a career on the stage. However, when he's kicked out of Julliard, Edward ends up mixed up in an insider trading scheme, things go very badly -- with some fabulous highlights! I laughed throughout this novel, and it's a must for anyone who loves the theater, and who likes a bit of revenge.

- Keri Arthur, Destiny Kills, Dell Spectra, $6.99. This isn't part of Arthur's Australian urban fantasy series (which I also love) but rather is a new urban fantasy premise set here in the US, beginning on the Oregon coast, going on to England and coming back to Maine. Destiny McCree wakes up on an Oregon coast with a dead body beside her and no memory of anything before she woke up, except the certain knowledge that someone is out to kill her. I loved the sure and flawless way Arthur handled every aspect of this novel, including dialing down the steamy bits in favor of a strong and action-packed story line.

- Jennifer Lee Carrell, Interred With Their Bones, Plume, $15. Kate Stanley is about to achieve her shining moment: she's the first American to be allowed to direct Hamlet in the new Globe Theatre, when her mentor, Rosalind Howard, interrupts to hand Kate a box and then vanishes. When the Globe burns and Rosalind is found there, dead, Kate begins a race to find out what secrets Rosalind had, and all roads lead to Shakespeare. This one has it all, action, history, relationships -- past and present, but what sets it apart is that Carrell doesn't concentrate only on manuscripts but on the theatricality of the Bard.

- Toni McGee Causey, Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day, St. Martins, $12.95. Actually this came out last year but I only managed to get around to reading it this year, and it's a shame I put it off! Bobbie Faye is a force of nature, like a hurricane or a tidal wave, and she manages to get into all manner of mayhem in an attempt to retrieve the rusty iron tiara that only the Contraband Queen can wear. I laughed until my sides ached, and I found myself cornering people to read passages to them.

- J. T. Ellison, Judas Kiss, Mira, $6.99, on sale January 09.  Ellison's protagonist, Taylor Jackson, finds herself in a complicated mess while investigating the murder of Corinne Wolff, a pregnant socialite whose toddler daughter is found wandering through the house, covered in her mother's blood.  I have enjoyed the earlier novels in this series, but in this one, Ellison proves she is a rising star in crime fiction.  Her plot is tightly woven and her characters have become people you care about.  This is a series to follow, if you haven't already found it.

- Michelle Gagnon, Boneyard, Mira, $6.99. FBI special agent Kelly Jones is recovering from her losses from before, and she really needs a vacation, but when when a mass grave site is discovered in the Appalachians, recuperating will just have to wait. Michelle has created a great heroine, determined but damaged, and sadly, the situations Jones finds herself in are altogether too believeable and grim. I certainly found both of Gagnon's books to be compelling.

- Yasmine Galenorn, Dragon Wytch, Berkley, $7.99. This is the fourth in the D'Artigo sisters series, and Yasmine just keeps getting better and better. The books are told from a different sister's point of view, and in this one, we return to Camille. Now that all the sisters have been introduced, Galenorn is getting to the heart of the stories, and I absolutely love the fact that they're becoming darker and more complex!

- Caitlin Kittredge, Pure Blood, St. Martins, $6.99. Det. Luna Wilder is coming to grips with the fact that it's becoming more well known she's a werewolf, the fact that her cousin is no longer around to help her, and that she's being blamed for what happened to Dmitri. Being Insoli -- a packless wolf -- is just another added pain. The world Caitlin has created is dark and grim but with moments of humor and kindness that make it a mulit-layered and enjoyable series.

- Clare Langley-Hawthorne, Consequences of Sin and The Serpent and the Scorpion, Penguin, $14. I read both of these since Clare was coming in to sign, and I'm so glad I did! The first one is set in 1910 London, along with a few other places, and the second takes place in 1912, in both Egypt and London. Ursula Marlow is an heiress and a strong suffragette, who will do whatever it takes to protect her friends. Clare's novels are rich with history, true, but more importantly to me, she's created characters who leap off the page and whose lives are quite real to me. I'm so glad I read these, and I absolutely cannot wait for the third one!

- Jana Oliver, Virtual Evil and Madman's Dance, Dragon Moon, $19.95. Last year I recommended the first in this trilogy, Sojourn, and now the trilogy is complete. All the words you use for a strong protagonist -- strong, individualistic, determined, flawed -- apply here, but Oliver adds conflicts that are so complex and multilayered that you will either fall completely for Jacynda Lassiter or you won't like her at all. I'm a huge fan, needless to say. This is a series I'll have to re-read, because I know that, in my headlong rush to find out what happened, I've missed the subtle touches and nuances that make this trilogy even more special than it is. Jana Oliver has created a world that is decidedly unlike any other I've ever experienced.

- Wendy Roberts, Devil May Ride, Obsidian, $6.99. I was absolutely charmed by Sadie Novak in Roberts' debut last year, and I was anxious to read this sequel to see if she could keep up her fast-paced style, keep Sadie as interesting as she was in the beginning, and still keep it entertaining, if a bit gory. Wendy delivered, with honors! Sadie Novak cleans up crime scenes in Seattle and its surrounding suburbs, and she sees the ghosts of the newly departed. Except suicides. Never suicides. Roberts brings authenticity, compassion, humor and action to her story. She can't write them fast enough to suit me, frankly.

- Simon Wood, We All Fall Down, Leisure, $7.99. Hayden Duke is an up-and-coming design engineer who, with the help of his former roommate, has just signed a contract with Marin Design Engineering. But when one of Marin's employees commits suicide, and then Hayden's friend does as well, Hayden finds himself caught up in a race to figure out what's going on before he's driven to suicide himself. Simon has created a far-too-plausible situation, loosely based on actual events, that kept me awake at night, since I had to know how it all turned out. His style and pacing will do the same for you, I'm positive.

Comments

[simon]

thanks Fran. :-0

[Roommates]

Nice info a lot to think about thanks for this :-) I am just about to forward it on to friends that will be interested in it too.