From Ari - Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Here is a review from Ari for local YA author, Aprilynne Pike's WINGS.
A book Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight saga calls, "a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds."

Laurel, the main character, has always lived in a small town and she’s never been to public school. When her parents decided to move and the money isn’t coming in as much, her parents make her go to a public high school. She is shy and seems socially awkward until she meets David in her science class. David introduces her to his friend Chelsea and the two really help Laurel blossom. Just as she begins to fit into her school she gets a pimple on her back and after a week she gets petal like wings. She meets a faerie when she goes back to her old home and he tells her she is a faerie but doesn’t believe him. David helps her realize that she is really a faerie.

I don’t want to give away the ending of this book. It didn’t take me but a few days to finish it was so good. Definitely a great summer read if you don’t mind carrying around a hardcover. I hope this story becomes a series, which I think it will. This book truly shows what its like to be DIFFERENT from the people in your life and how people cope with changes.

-Ari

Signed Janet Evanovich - Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Finger Lickin' Fifteen ($29.95) Signed first edition.

"The next Stephanie Plum novel, in which complications arise, loyalties are tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten."

New Signed Books From The Poisoned Pen

Freeman, Brian In the Dark ($27) Signed

"Edgar-finalist Freeman's fourth thriller to feature Duluth, Minn., police lieutenant Jonathan Stride (after Stalked) may be his most ambitious-and accomplished-work to date.... Powered by darkly poetic atmospherics and deep character development (especially Stride, whose understated intensity, dignity and resilience are emblematic of the Twin Ports area itself), this harrowing and heartrending novel will leave readers guessing until the very last pages." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Rotenberg, Robert. Old City Hall ($28) Signed

Old City Hall opens with a bang, or perhaps a stab: Canada's leading radio show host, Kevin Brace, comes to the door of his luxury condominium with his hands covered in blood and tells the newspaper delivery man: "I killed her." The "her" in question is his young wife, whose body lies in the bathtub of their suite, a knife wound through the sternum. So, if he killed her, where's the mystery? That's the question asked by the detectives plowing through what should be an openand- shut case. Even Kevin's defense attorney doesn't know what really happened, because he refuses to talk to her or to anyone else after muttering those incriminating words. With the discovery that the victim was actually a self-destructive alcoholic, and the appearance of strange fingerprints in the Brace apartment, the mystery gets more complex just as it should be getting simpler. Robert Rotenberg claims and celebrates the city of Toronto as a character as exciting and vital as the Dickensian ensemble populating the story. Douglas Preston rejoices that Rotenberg's "Toronto settings make this most multicultural city in North America come alive." Elmore Leonard has Florida; John Lescroart, San Francisco; Robert Parker, Boston; Scott Turow, Chicago; George Pelecanos, D.C. And now, in Old City Hall, Rotenberg creates in modern-day Toronto a canvas as diverse and surprising as the city itself.

We have signed 1st of the new Sookie Stackhouse

We have signed 1st of the new Sookie Stackhouse, by Charlaine Harris Dead and Gone. call 4809472974or email lorri@poisonedpen.com now for your copy!

Faye and Aliza Kellerman are stopping by to sign Prism!

New book just available...Faye and Aliza Kellerman are stopping by the store (6/25) to sign PRISM. Reserve your copy today. 480 947 2974

Prism takes us to a slightly alternate universe in which medicine and health care do not exist, and in which sick people are allowed to die without any care. Set in New Mexico and California, the novel features three teens who fall through a cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico while on a field trip. They are plunged into a frightening parallel universe—seven weeks in the past, in which their "normal" worlds of family and high school remain the same…except for the fact that no medicine exists and when people die in the street they are picked up and disposed of.

New Signed Books From the Poisoned Pen

Cohen, Gabriel. Neptune Avenue. ($27) Signed

*Starred Review* Contemporary Brooklyn is one of the wellsprings of crime fiction. With many dozens of ethnic enclaves sitting cheek by jowl, it is a roiling place that challenges even the skills of veteran NYPD Homicide Detective Jack Leightner. In this third Leightner novel (following The Graving Dock, 2007, and Red Hook, 2001), Jack finds himself plumbing the mysteries of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn's Russian enclave. He's after the murderer of a friend, a Russian immigrant he shared a hospital room with while recovering from a bullet wound; but what lonely Leightner finds first is love, or at least infatuation, with Zhenya, the victim's wife. Principled and soulful, Leightner chastises himself for his feelings while his investigation takes him from Crown Heights to Coney Island. But plot takes a backseat here to character-Jack's and Brooklyn's-as Cohen treats crime fans to quirky details of Jack's world and a knowing glimpse of an amazing place blessed and afflicted by a surfeit of "tribes" that sometimes go to war and are always suspicious of outsiders. Cohen's novels belong, with those of Norman Green, at the top of every Brooklyn crime-fiction list. --Thomas Gaughan Boolist

Rosett, Sara. Magnolias, Moonlight and Murder ($24) Signed

Settling her family - Air Force pilot Mitch, baby Nathan, and daughter Livvy - into their new home in Georgia, Ellie Avery is busier than ever. With two children under four, a party to plan for Mitch's promotion, and new contacts to develop for her organizing business, Ellie's eager to relax by taking Rex, the family Rottweiler, for a peaceful stroll. But what they find is anything but tranquil. As evening's shadows fall, Ellie stumbles into an abandoned graveyard disturbed by flooding from a recent storm. It's a chilling enough setting without the shocking spectre of two dead bodies...unearthed from the same grave. The skeleton that belongs in the washed-out gravesite is that of a young casualty of World War I. The probable identity of the fresher corpse leads Ellie into a missing-person case centred around Jodi Lockworth, a vibrant young woman who once lived in the house the Averys are now renting.

When Ellie discovers a vital clue in her very own home, she becomes the next target of a sinister schemer who'll stop at nothing to protect a deadly secret. Now, with a double mystery brewing and dozens of guests about to arrive in her back yard, Ellie's agenda is once again packed. The only thing she hasn't pencilled in is one killer of a party crasher who intends to make this celebration Ellie's last.

Urrea, Luis Alberto. Into The Beautiful North ($25) Signed

Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over...

OUR TOP TEN JUNE PAPERBACKS

MASS MARKETS

Battles, Brett. Deceived ($6.99).

Bond, Stephanie. 6 Killer Bodies (7.99).

Gardiner, Meg. Dirty Secrets Club ($7.99).

Haines, Carolyn. Wishbones ($6.99).

Konrath, J A. Fuzzy Navel ($7.99).

Kramer, Julie. Stalking Susan ($7.99).

Larsson, Stieg. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ($7.99).

Parker, Barbara. Dark of Day ($7.99).

Rollins, James. Last Oracle ($7.99).

Silva, Daniel. Moscow Rules ($10).

TOP TEN JUNE TRADES

Bolton, S J. Sacrifice ($15)

Cassella, Carol. Oxygen ($15)

Furst, Alan. Spies of Warsaw (15)

Johnson, Craig. Another Man's Moccasins ($14)

Kozak, Harley Jane. Dead Ex ($14)

Liss, David. Whiskey Rebels ($15)

Ramsay, Frederick. Stranger Room ($15)

Ryan, Andie. Shakedown ($16)

Schweizer, Mark. Diva Wore Diamonds ($13 Signed)

Winslow, Don. Dawn Patrol ($14)

Triller 2 Stories You Just Can't Put Down

When some of the top thriller writers in the world came together in Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night, they became a part of one of the most successful short-story anthologies ever published. The highly anticipated Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down (edited by Clive Cussler) by is even bigger. From Jeffery Deaver's tale of international terrorism to Lisa Jackson's dysfunctional family in the California wine country to Ridley Pearson's horrifying serial killer, this collection has something for everyone. Twenty-three bestselling and hot new authors in the genre have submitted original stories to make up this unforgettable blockbuster.

Turn off your phone.

Shut down your computer.

Say goodbye to your friends and family. Be prepared to read for days.

From Booklist
Clive Cussler takes the editorial helm from James Patterson in this follow-up to Thriller (2006). This volume again features another impressive line-up of crime writers, some household names (Phillip Margolin, Ridley Pearson) and some lesser-knowns (Javier Sierra, Harry Hunsicker). All are members of the International Thriller Writers, the organization that came up with the concept for the series. What’s different in this second compilation is that this time most of the familiar authors leave their established characters at home and strike out in new directions. So while David Hewson delivers a taut, exciting story, it isn’t about his Roman detective Nic Costa. Thrillers are not an easy genre to define, as Cussler points out in his introduction, as it has more to do with pace than with plot. But that’s good news for readers, who will enjoy such diverse story types as international intrigue (Jeffrey Deaver’s “The Weapon”), suspense (Hewson’s “The Circle”), and even a blend of political thriller and science fiction (Kathleen Antrim’s “Through a Veil Darkly”). An entertaining collection. --Mary Frances Wilkens

Lord of Death signed Eliot Pattison

We have Lord of Death ($26) signed by Eliot Pattison the award winning, international lawyer based near Philadelphia.

His five previous Shan novels have been critical and commercial successes. He won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the Crime Writers’ Association Golden Dagger.

Lord of Death earned a *Starred Review* from Booklist.

" Readers seeking a change from urban whodunits have embraced Edgar Award–winner Pattison’s superlative series set in ethereal, enigmatic, long-enduring Tibet. Shan Tao Yun, disgraced Beijing investigator and survivor of a Tibetan gulag, now spends his days quietly dwelling among residents of the “Roof of the World.” Over the years, his intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Chinese political system has proved invaluable in solving a host of compelling conundrums. In this sixth installment (after Prayer of the Dragon, 2007), Shan is transporting a corpse over the slopes of Mt. Everest when he hears gunfire. Two women—a Chinese minister and an outspoken American hiker—have been shot and left for dead at the side of the road. The Chinese authorities are quick to blame the inhabitants of a local village, who have long harbored animosity toward a government that sees Tibet’s majestic mountains as little more than a tourist commodity. Shan questions revered soothsayers and surly colonels in search of answers, ever aware that the survival of his son Ko—currently imprisoned in a Chinese asylum—depends on his success. Pattison serves as literary ambassador to beautiful, brutal Tibet in a tale that engages, enlightens, and entertains." --Allison Block

Reginald Hill's Midnight Fugue signed first edition

Reginald Hill's Midnight Fugue signed first edition ($42)

The highly anticipated return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the hugely popular police duo and stars of the long-running BBC TV series, in a new psychological thriller. It starts with a phone call to Superintendent Dalziel from an old friend asking for help. But where it ends is a very different story. Gina Wolfe has come to Mid-Yorkshire in search of her missing husband, believed dead. Her fiance, Commander Mick Purdy of the Met, thinks Dalziel should be able to take care of the job. What none of them realize is how events set in motion decades ago will come to a violent head on this otherwise ordinary summer's day. A Welsh tabloid journalist senses the story he's been chasing for years may have finally landed in his lap. A Tory MP's secretary suspects her boss's father has an unsavoury history that could taint his prime ministerial ambitions. The ruthless entrepreneur in question sends two henchmen out to make sure the past stays in the past. And the lethal pair dispatched have some awkward secrets of their own. Four stories, two mismatched detectives trying to figure it all out, and 24 hours in which to do it: Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way exactly just how much difference a day makes!

Sookie Stackhouse (Book 9) signed first edition by Charlaine Harris

We have Dead and Gone the new Sookie Stackhouse (Book 9) signed first edition by Charlaine Harris!

Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps—and nothing about weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works—and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it.

But there’s a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.

The Louisiana town of Bon Temps—along with the rest of the world—is about to be rocked with some big supernatural news: like the vampires before them, the Were people—humans with the ability to change into animals—are about to reveal themselves to humanity. Psychic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse is apprehensive about the revelation, given the way some people in the small town revile anyone with extraordinary powers, including Sookie herself. While the initial announcement seems to go over smoothly with most people, tragedy strikes when Sookie’s brother Jason’s estranged wife, a werepanther, is found murdered and nailed up on a cross. Jason is the prime suspect, but Sookie has even bigger problems to deal with when she learns that a vicious fairy prince is determined to kill her. Darker and more ominous than earlier entries in the series, Harris’ latest raises the stakes (pun intended) for lovable heroine Sookie and comes up a winner. With HBO’s True Blood, a series based on Sookie’s adventures, renewed for a second season, expect demand for this latest gripping installment. --Kristine Huntley - From Booklist

Dark Horse signed by Craig Johnson

What a ride is Dark Horse (Viking $25). I swear Johnson gets better every book. He writes me he's bought a new cowboy hat for his book tour. Go, Craig.

Walt Longmire, that often conflicted, frequently rueful, shrewd sheriff of Wyoming's Absaroka County, is a man I call a true hero for he's afraid-but he acts anyway. Then there's Walt's friend, Henry Standing Bear, as stalwart a backup as you'd like, and the new recruit, Dog (literally, a big beast).

And in this novel, a remarkable and missing horse called Wahoo Sue whose spirit breathes life into the nearly defeated Mary Barsad who is charged with murdering her husband. Her plight sends Walt undercover, posing as an insurance man, in CampbellCounty to see what the dickens is about to blow Powder River country sky high if Mary and the lid on the crime aren't kept locked down in Walt's jail....

OUR MAY BESTSELLERS

Hardcovers

Child, Lee. Gone Tomorrow (Bantam $27 Signed).
Sandford, John. Wicked Prey (Putnam $27.95 Signed).
Grant, Andrew. Even (St Martins $24.9 Signed).
Hall, Tarquin. Case of the Missing Servant (Simon Schuster $24).
King, Laurie R. Language of Bees (Bantam $25).
Pears, Iain. Stone's Fall (Spiegel & Grau $27.95 Signed).
Cantrell, Rebecca. Trace of Smoke (Forge $24.95 Signed).
Rotenberg, Robert.Old City Hall (Farrar $26 Signed).
Pelecanos, George P. Way Home (Little Brown $24.99 Signed).
Larsen, Reif. Selected Works of T S Spivet (Penguin $27.95).

Trade Paperbacks

Kozak, Harley Jane. Date You Cant Refuse (Broadway $11.95).
Caldwell, Joseph. Pig Did it (Dell $13.99).
Harwood, Seth. Jack Wakes Up (Three Rivers $13.95).
Shaffer, Mary Ann. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (Dial $14).
David, Evelyn. Murder Off the Books (Echelon $12.99).
Talton, Jon. Dry Heat (Poisoned Pen Press $14.95).
Talton, Jon. Concrete Desert (Poisoned Pen Press $14.95).
Snyder, Maria V. Storm Glass (Mira $13.95).
Ure, Louise. Fault Tree (St Martins $14.95)
David, Evelyn. Murder Takes the Cake (Echelon $14).

Mass Markets

Bommersbach, Jana. Bones in the Desert ($6.99).
Box, C J. Blood Trail ($7.99).
Spencer-fleming, Julia. I Shall Not Want ($7.99).
Haddam, Jane. Cheating at Solitaire ($7.99).
Smith, Tom Rob. Child 44 ($7.99).
Barr, Nevada. Winter Study ($9.99).
Page, Katherine Hall. Body in the Gallery ($7.99).
George, Elizabeth. Careless in Red ($7.99).
Lippman, Laura. What the Dead Know ($7.99).
Hewson, David. Season for the Dead ($6.99)

New Signed Books From the Poisoned Pen

The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne (Doubleday $35 signed)

In Russia during the year 1915, at the age of 16, Georgy Jachmenev steps in front of an assassin's bullet intended for the heart of a senior member of the Russian Imperial Family. He is instantly proclaimed a hero. Before the week is out, his life as the son of a peasant farmer is changed forever when he is escorted to St Petersburg to take up his new position - as bodyguard to Alexei Romanov, the only son of Tsar Nicholas II. Sixty five years later, visiting his wife Zoya as she lies dying in a London hospital, memories of the life they have lived together flood his mind. Their marriage, while tender, has been marked by tragedy, the loss of loved ones, and experiences of exile that neither can forget. "The House of Special Purpose" is a novel about a young man ripped from a loving home and thrust into the heart of a dying empire. Privy to the secrets of Nicholas and Alexandra, the machinations of Rasputin and the events which led to the final collapse of the autocracy, Georgy is a witness and participant in a drama which will echo down the century. His is also a story of a marriage in which a husband finds it impossible to live in the present and a wife unable to reconcile herself with the past. Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, the novel moves from revolutionary St Petersburg to Paris after the First World War, and from London during the Blitz to the eastern coast of Finland during the 1980s, before returning to a quiet hospital bed where Georgy and Zoya's story must finally be resolved.


The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Voice $28 Signed)

"A fresh present-day story infused with an original take on popular history. Forget broomsticks and pointy hats; here are witches that could well be walking among us today. This debut novel flows with poetic charm and eloquence that achieves high literary merit while concocting a gripping supernatural puzzler. Katherine Howe's talent is spellbinding."
--Matthew Pearl, author of The Poe Shadow and The Dante Club

A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history-the Salem witch trials.

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.


The Warning Bell by Tom Macaulay (Orion $35)

For Iain Madoc it all began when he was eight years old and his father took him out on a boat trip. Something George Madoc saw or heard out on the water that day seemed to change him, and after that it was as if Iain didn't have a real father at all. Only later did Iain come to understand that it had all started long before, when George Madoc had commanded an RAF Air-Sea Rescue boat ferrying SOE agents between the south coast and occupied France. One night in April 1944 an operation to bring back a French agent went terribly wrong, and when George finally made it home two months later, he was unable to speak about what had happened. Now, as his mother lies dying, Iain is finally given a clue to unlocking the mystery of what so traumatised his father that he turned away from his own son. The wreck of High Speed Launch 2548 - his father's boat - has been found near the Breton village of St Cyriac, and with it, perhaps, the key to unlocking George Madoc's memories. Desperate to understand, Iain goes to St Cyriac determined to discover the truth. But St Cyriac will not give up its secrets easily. For some people the past is still dangerously alive, and Iain soon finds that his own family may have to pay the price of uncovering it.

The Information Officer by Mark Mills (HarperCollins $45)

The much-anticipated new historical crime thriller from the award-winning author of the No 1 bestseller 'The Savage Garden' "You want to know who I am? I'm the last living soul you'll ever set eyes on" Summer, 1942. For the people of Malta, suffering daily bombing raids, the British are the last line of defence against the Nazis. And it is Max Chadwick's job as the information officer to ensure the news the islanders receive maintains morale. So when Max is given proof suggesting a British officer is murdering local women, he knows the consequences of discovery are dire. With the violence on the war-ravaged island escalating daily, he embarks on a private investigation, hidden from the eyes of superiors, friends and the woman he loves. But Max finds himself torn between patriotic duty and personal honour in his efforts to track down the killer! an elusive figure always one step ahead of his hunter.

Scandinavian Mysteries for the Long Hot Summer

From Pat King - The summer in Phoenix always starts early and ends much later than any of us would actually like. One hundred days or more of 100 degree temperatures and blazing sunshine can make anyone feel depressed. There are times when any Phoenician would gladly trade in his or her home, in what many feel is paradise, and live someplace where the sun does not break through the overcast skies, where sweaters are required rather than a fashion statement, and fireplaces are something that you actually use. Yes, in the next two weeks we would gladly eat herring on a stick and play chess with Death rather than suffer through the agony and horror of the summer season that ends right around Thanksgiving. Perhaps this is why so many of our local customers have discovered the beauty of Scandinavian Mysteries- a perfect escape from the long, long, long summer. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwal and Per Wahlöö

Sjowal’s and Wahloo’s strong and gritty prose is at their finest within this novel. On a cold, rainy winter night, nine bus riders are gunned down in cold blood. Superintendent Martin Beck is called in to investigate the crime and determine who the gunner is and if the action was in cold blood or a deadly assassination attempt. The writers capture the sense of Stockholm perfectly; the setting and the story will freeze the reader to their very bones.

The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg

A young police investigator by the name of Patrik Hedstrom is called in to investigate a case where two hiker’s bodies have been found after a 22 year disappearance. Lackberg’s novel shines with the development of a complex mystery; however, what I really love is her great character development and realistic dialogue (kudos to the Translator). Within Lackberg’s novel, a foreigner like myself feels at home in this Scandinavian thriller.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
This is my favorite book of the year. I’m a little late writing about it but so many books have paled in comparison to this novel over the past few months. This novel is about a journalist who has been accused of slander and defamation of character by the head of a corporation of whom he had been writing about. Faced with a jail sentence and a hefty fine. Why would such a careful journalist place his livelihood at risk? Rich writing, strong plot and spectacular action makes this author my current favorite.

John Connolly's new book, The Lovers signed

John Connolly's new book, The Lovers signed ($27)

Parker is working in a bar in Portland, having been deprived of his P.I.'s license. He uses his enforced retirement to begin a different kind of investigation: an examination of his own past and an inquiry into the death of his father, who took his own life after apparently shooting dead two unarmed teenagers, a search that will eventually lead to revelations about Parker's own parentage.

Meanwhile, a troubled young woman is running from an unseen threat, one that already seems to have taken the life of her boyfriend, and a journalist-turned-writer named Mickey Wallace is conducting an investigation of his own into Charlie Parker in the hope of writing a non-fiction book about his exploits.

And haunting the shadows, as they have done throughout Parker's life, are two figures: a man and a woman, the lovers of the title, who appear to have only one purpose, and that is to bring an end to his existence . . .