From Barbara:

Each month the American Booksellers Association's Book Sense program publishes a list of books recommended by independent booksellers.

THE MARCH BOOK SENSE NOTABLES

K.S. Bodman, Gambit ($26).

Manning Coles, A Toast to Tomorrow ($15).

Earl Emerson, Primal Threat ($27 Signed).

Miles Langan, Dark Horse ($26).

Charlie Newton, Calumet City ($14).

Christopher Rice, Blind Fall ($26 Signed).

You can see my review of Manning Coles' classic work, in my view the one that kicked off the modern spy novel along with Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, by scrolling down to the scan of the Book Sense flyer that Lorri has posted here for you.

Here we go with a couple more of Notables: to purchase, www.poisonedpen.com

Emerson, Earl. Primal Threat (Ballantine $27 Signed). If you are a mountain or trail biker, if you love the woods, hiking, the unspoilt outdoors, this wonderful book is for you. Fireman Emerson has always brought a stunning sense of authenticity to his work, but here he's loosened up the narrative a bit, created some unforgettable characters, and given it a ral head of steam.

The opening scene where fireman Zak crawls inside a wrecked SUV to steady a girl while a crew cuts her out of the wreckage is wonderfully wrought. The consequences of this good deed he can't forsee, nor can the reader. Emerson lets it unroll in a way that shows how one of those "it seemed an okay idea at the time" scenarios can gradually snowball out of control and lead to devastating consequences, here pitting Zak and some friends off for a three day ride in nearly pristine Northwest woods against a group of naïve, and let's face it, spoiled idiots led by a trust-fund guy who wants to jack Zak around. Just a great read.

Rice, Blind Fall (Scribner $26 signed here April 5).

John Houck became a Marine to further his dream of being a her, but he failed to notice an explosive device that nearly caused the captain of his Force Recon Company, a well respected Marine, to sacrifice himself to save their lives. Home from Iraq, John pays the man a visit only to learn that he has been gruesomely murdered. Hotly pursuing a fleeing suspect, John learns the man, Alex, is not the killer but the victim's secret lover—and the killer's next target. So John, fulfilling a debt of honor, sets out to teach Alex how to protect himself. In soo doing, John revisits his own family history.