Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Bookreporter.com's Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight Team (Carol Fitzgerald, Joe Hartlaub and Wiley Saichek) interviewed Steve Berry, author of THE THIRD SECRET. Berry addresses the coincidence of events surrounding the publication of his latest novel and how he hopes the public will react to the book, especially considering the recent death of Pope John Paul II and the election of a new pontiff. He describes his fascination for writing about the "greater mysteries" of world history, explains how he conducts research for his novels (which is an ongoing process), and shares with readers details about his future projects.

THE THIRD SECRET by Steve Berry (Suspense)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Explosive in both its pace and its revelations, this intricate, well-written tale is a remarkable international thriller. Bestselling author Steve Berry tackles some of the most controversial ideas of our time in a breakneck journey through the history of the Church and the future of religion.

Whether your "beach" is on sand, your backyard deck or a grassy meadow in the country, the summer months mean it's time for "beach reading." Bookreporter.com is celebrating the lazy days of summer reading with a special feature, "Bookreporter.com Beach Bag of Books."

Every week from May 20th through August 19th a different title in the Bookreporter.com Beach Bag of Books promotion will be featured with a review and author interview, as well as a  contest prize --- a beach bag stocked with that book, plus summertime essentials that tie in to its theme. Five FABULOUS beach bags will be given away each week, as well as five copies of the book to additional winners.

Our first spotlighted title is HISSY FIT by Mary Kay Andrews, a book that made us both laugh --- and decorate! Our HISSY FIT Beach Bag prize is a hot pink beach bag, complete with a cellphone holder, copies of Mary Kay Andrews books --- HISSY FIT, LITTLE BITTY LIES and SAVANNAH BLUES --- as well as a HISSY FIT go-cup, frozen margarita mix for a crowd, chocolate covered jelly beans and a copy of Southern Living magazine. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of HISSY FIT. To enter to win answer the question below:

What does it say on the barbecue apron that A.J., Keeley's fiance, is wearing?

You can find the answer by reading an excerpt here:
http://www.bookreporter.com/features/beachbag2005/hissy_fit.asp

Read more about HISSY FIT and Mary Kay Andrews here.

Martha O'Connor covers a number of intense subjects in her debut novel, THE BITCH POSSE, which some are calling "anti-Chick Lit." In this interview O'Connor explains why she thinks her book is a good read for young people and offers advice to writers who are trying to get published. She talks about the ways in which she is able to identify with her protagonists, the advantage of having a spouse who's also a novelist, and her deep involvement in diabetes advocacy.

THE BITCH POSSE by Martha O'Connor (Fiction)
Reviewed by Alexis Burling
Martha O'Connor's unforgettable debut novel is the story of three women --- as seniors in high school and as women in their mid-thirties --- who formed a bond in order to survive the pitfalls and perils of their lives.

Readers love Perri O'Shaughnessy, a New York Times bestselling duo who have created a series of novels centered around lawyer and single mother Nina Reilly. The new Reilly novel is CASE OF LIES, which will be on-sale on June 28th.

We have 20 advanced reading copies of CASE OF LIES by Perri O'Shaughnessy to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. A description can be found by clicking the link below. If you are interested, please send your name and mailing address to SuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 3rd, 2005. BE SURE TO INCLUDE CASE OF LIES in the subject line as we have two titles being solicited for advance readers at this address!
 
More About CASE OF LIES:
 
For Nina Reilly, the mountain town of Lake Tahoe is home. It's where she forged a successful career as a tough, resourceful attorney -- and raised her teenage son, Bob, alone. Back from a stint in Monterey, where her love life took a tumble, Nina has returned to her Tahoe law office with her old friends Sandy Whitefeather and Sandy's son, Wish. It isn't long before she has a new client. As Nina tries to unravel the mystery of one violent Tahoe night, a harrowing journey begins -- one that takes her from the dark underworld of Tahoe's casinos to the halls of a prestigious East Coast university to Europe and an emotional reunion with Kurt.

Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes are back in Laurie R. King's highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling mystery series. And this time the first couple of detection pair up to unlock the buried memory of a shocking crime with the power to kill again --- lost somewhere in Russell's own past.
 
We have 20 advanced reading copies of LOCKED ROOMS by Laurie R. King to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. A description can be found by clicking the link below. If you are interested, please send your name and mailing address to mystery@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 3, 2005.

Watch a video with Laurie R. King here.

More About LOCKED ROOMS (on-sale June 21st):

After departing Bombay by ship, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes are en route to the bustling modern city of San Francisco. There, Mary will settle some legal affairs surrounding the inheritance of her family's old estate. But the closer they get to port, the more Mary finds herself prey to troubling dreams and irrational behavior --- a point not lost on Holmes, much to Russell's annoyance.

The more questions they ask of Mary's past, the more people from that past turn out to have died violent, unexplained deaths. Now, with the aid of a hard-boiled young detective and crime writer named Hammett, Russell and Holmes find themselves embroiled in a mystery that leads them through the winding streets of Chinatown to the unspoken secrets of a parent's marriage and the tragic car "accident" that a fourteen-year-old Mary alone survived --- an accident that may not have been an accident at all. What Russell is about to discover is that even a forgotten past never dies...and it can kill again.

• Nelson DeMille - Win one of five signed copies of The General's Daughter. Click here to sign up.
• Daniel Silva - Win a signed copy of Prince of Fire. Click here to sign up.
• Joseph Finder - Win one of five signed copies of Company Man. Click here to sign up.
• Marcia Muller - Win one of 5 signed copies of The Dangerous Hour. Click here to sign up.
• Linda Lael Miller - Win a "How the West Was Really Won" T-shirt and a signed copy of McKETTRICK'S CHOICE. Click here to sign up. (Note: A new contest will start on Monday.)
• Kristin Hannah - Win a copy of the paperback of The Things We Do For Love. Click here to sign up.
• Karen Robards - Win one of 5 signed copies of Superstition. Click here to sign up.

THE CLOSERS by Michael Connelly (Thriller)
Reviewed by Kate Ayers
DNA revives an investigation into a 17-year-old murder gone cold, and LAPD detective Harry Bosch --- on his first day back on the job --- is handed what looks like a slam-dunk wrap-up to the case. Of course, nothing is as easy as it looks.

THE HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss (Fiction)
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Nicole Krauss's superb second novel is a complicated mystery of sorts, about an old man and a young girl with more in common than they ever could have imagined. This well-crafted story is by turns comic, mythic, thoughtful, and almost heartbreakingly sad.

LOST IN THE FOREST by Sue Miller (Fiction)
Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon
Tragedy, grief, love and redemption play out in Sue Miller's compelling and beautifully written story of one family living in California's wine country. In the wake of a tragic accident, a young girl seeks solace in a damaging love affair with a much older man.

LEEWAY COTTAGE by Beth Gutcheon (Fiction)
Reviewed by Kathy Weissman
A summer place in Maine, evocatively conjured. Scenes from a long, complex marriage. The quietly heroic story of Danish resistance to the Nazi occupation. Beth Gutcheon's latest novel is all of these, wrapped up in one fat, ambitious book.

SNAKES AND EARRINGS by Hitomi Kanehara, translated by David Karashima (Fiction)
Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
This international bestseller by debut novelist Hitomi Kanehara, about a young woman living in the violent world of Japan's underground youth culture, is both shocking and strangely beautiful.

EXACT REVENGE by Tim Green (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
A promising attorney and political candidate, Raymond White was on the fast track when his life was suddenly derailed. Unexpectedly framed and convicted of murder, he is sentenced to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison. While there, he methodically plots his revenge against those who schemed to ruin his career and take away his life. 

OUT OF RANGE by C. J. Box (Mystery)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Joe Pickett learns that Will Jensen, a fellow Wyoming game warden and a good friend, has killed himself and that he's been picked to temporarily run Jensen's Teton district. But the closer Joe comes to the truth about Will's death, the more his own life spirals out of control.

GENEVIEVE by Eric Jerome Dickey (Fiction)
Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton
Eric Jerome Dickey's latest novel is the story of a man torn between the love of his beautiful wife and the sudden arrival of his wife's sister --- a mysterious and provocative woman who offers him the passion he craves, but at a steep price. 

COURTROOM 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse by Steve Bogira (Current Events/Law)
Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
Steve Bogira's riveting book takes readers into the heart of America's criminal justice system. This is the story of one year in a single courtroom in Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courthouse, the busiest felony courthouse in the country.

RADICAL EVOLUTION: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human by Joel Garreau (Science)
Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
Taking readers behind the scenes with today's foremost researchers and pioneers, Joel Garreau reveals that the super powers of our comic-book heroes already exist, or are in development in  hospitals, labs and research facilities around the country. Over the next fifteen years, Garreau says that these enhancements will become part of our everyday lives. But where will they lead us?

NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH: Raising Lance, Raising Me by Linda Armstrong Kelly with Joni Rodgers (Memoir)
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
Linda Armstrong Kelly, the mother of champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, has put together this behind-the-scenes look at life with her famous son, a miracle kid who became one of America's favorite heroes.                                   

Which author (name up to 3) is a must-buy or must-borrow as soon as his or her book comes out?  

Please note: Our question of the week will update June 10th.

Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't.

This week we have some great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of VELOCITY by Dean Koontz and ZORRO by Isabel Allende. Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on June 10th.