Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay by Reed Farrel Coleman

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

He's been killing for two decades and loves what he does; Jesse Stone and others are in danger.

352 pages

"The Company We Keep" by Kay Simone

The Company is a gang run by A.R. Carrow and his handpicked family of criminals.  They pull off dramatic heists around southern California for themselves and others and have stolen billions in the process.  When their demolition expert is killed, they must find a replacement who not only won't blow them to bits but will fit in with their family of outcasts and misfits.  Enter Dustin Wrenshall, an explosives professional who seems to pass all of their tests and who pushes the self control of Carrow with his fearless flirtation.  However, Dustin is really Charlie Judge, an FBI agent who's been trained to infiltrate and take down The Company.  (No, this isn't a spoiler; it's in the book's description.)

This is the best book I have read in a quite a while.  Everything the author did was spot on, and she seamlessly went back and forth between past and present, including Charlie's and Carrow's childhoods.  I was totally hooked not just by the suspense but also the characters and their relationships with each other.  The struggle that Dustin/Charlie has with working the case and his feelings for The Company nearly tear him and everyone else apart.  It was a really unusual and well written story, and I can't wait to read more by this author.  271 pages (Kindle edition).

The Gangster by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

The Italian American gang the Black Hand will attempt to kill President Teddy Roosevelt in 1905 and almost succeed.  387 pages.

World Gone By by Dennis Lehane

I was not familiar with this author, but picked up the ARC at ALA MidWinter.  This is the third in a trilogy about Joe Coughlin and the gangster families in the Tampa, Florida area.  The story drips with gritty realism and southern atmosphere.  Lehane does an excellent job of combining plot and character study into a gripping story.  While there is no shortage of violence, Lehane portrays the family and personal concerns of his characters, and their considerations of the moral dilemmas of the gangster life.  I will be looking for his other books.  308 pages.

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

A date, a death, a sunflower, Sunny the butcher has been killing little old ladies for ten years.  Kevin is captured and sent to the zoo.

Audio:  6 hrs. 20 min.

Print:  352 pages

Mountain Mafia: Organized Crime in the Rockies by Betty L. Alt and Sandra K. Wells

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Brief history of some leaders such as Scotti who was accused of murder because no one saw the bullet leave the gun. The mountain mafia had connections with others from Los Angeles to New York and Detroit to Florida.

Audio:  6 hrs. 25 min.

Print:  240 pages