RICOCHET by Sandra Brown (Thriller)
Reviewed by Maggie Harding
Sandra Brown is back with a spine-tingling story of murder and betrayal --- and a homicide detective's struggle with his own rules of conduct. RICOCHET's plot twists and palpable suspense combine to create this gripping thriller, in which a decent cop's worst enemy may be his own conscience, and trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death.

-Click here to read an excerpt from RICOCHET.

TRIPTYCH by Karin Slaughter (Suspense)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
From Atlanta's richest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. But another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways --- and who may be the key to breaking the case wide open.

-Click here to read an excerpt from TRIPTYCH.

Every week from May 19th through August 25th a different title in the Bookreporter.com Second Annual Beach Bag of Books promotion will be featured with a review and 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 fourteenth spotlighted title is A TALE OF TWO SISTERS by Anna Maxted, the bestselling author of GETTING OVER IT and RUNNING IN HEELS. A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is the smart and compelling story of two very different, London-based sisters attempting to navigate the best and worst of times. Our A TALE OF TWO SISTERS Beach Bag is a British-inspired medley of all things comforting and familial. In a sturdy blue and green beach tote, winners will find an oversized striped beach towel, a box of Twinings Earl Grey tea, refined English scone mix, a soothing eye-pack, Freesia-scented candles and Crabtree and Evelyn travel toilettes that smell like citrus --- as well as a copy of the book. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. To enter to win answer the question below:

What does Tim design that gets him an embarrassing feature in the Times business section?

You can find the answer by reading an excerpt here:

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS by Anna Maxted (Fiction)
Reviewed by Shannon McKenna
Siblings Cassie and Lizbet Montgomery are opposites in almost every way but have always maintained a close relationship. Until now. Anna Maxted's humorous and heartwarming tale follows these two sisters as they confront unexpected challenges, navigate romantic pitfalls, and find their way back to the simple goodness of sisterhood.

Kay Hooper has written over 60 novels in various genres and recently published the final book in her Fear trilogy, SLEEPING WITH FEAR. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Carol Fitzgerald and Joe Hartlaub, Hooper describes how she conceptualized this series revolving around psychic investigators and comments on the popularity of television shows that feature the paranormal. She also explains how she continually generates new ideas for future novels and provides information on the first installment of her upcoming trilogy.

SLEEPING WITH FEAR by Kay Hooper (Suspense)
New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper returns with a relentless thriller that brings her readers face-to-face with fear itself. In this terrifying new novel, a psychic special agent finds herself caught up in a tangled web of secrets, lies...and evil.

-Click here to read Kay Hooper's answers to her Advance Reader Copy Winner's questions.

We are so excited to be featuring Dan Burstein as one of our One to Watch authors. Burstein is the creator of the Secrets series, which, in addition to SECRETS OF THE CODE, includes SECRETS OF ANGELS & DEMONS, SECRETS OF THE WIDOW'S SON, and his newest --- SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE, which hit stores August 14th.

-Click here to see Advance Reader Comments for SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE.
-Click here to see our 50! Advance Copy winners.
-Click here to read a new excerpt from SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE.
-Click here to watch a trailer for the DVD and send a SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE E-Card.

More about SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE:
Continuing in the tradition of the New York Times bestselling SECRETS OF THE CODE, the latest book from the Secrets team, SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE, brings together world class experts from different faiths, backgrounds, and perspectives, to discuss the most thought-provoking new ideas and original thinking about Mary Magdalene.

All of the contributors to SECRETS OF MARY MAGDALENE are well-known and highly respected authors whose books have sold more than five million copies in total. Never before has such a wide range of fascinating ideas and new scholarship about Mary Magdalene been collected in one book that is so timely, popular and accessible.

We are SO excited to be featuring John Boyne and THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS as the newest addition to our One to Watch feature. The incredible story of two boys, one the son of a commandant in Hitler's army and the other a Jew, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS hits stores on September 12th and is already garnering exciting advanced buzz --- this is a book that touches everyone who reads it.

-Click here to see our Advance Copy Winners.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS.
-Click here to read the Reading Group Guide for THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS.
-Click here to read John Boyne's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS.

More about THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS:
Set during the Holocaust, Bruno is only nine years old when his father, a commandant in Hitler's army, is transferred from Berlin to Auschwitz. The house at "Out-With," as Bruno calls it, is small, dark, and strange. He spends long days gazing out the window of his new bedroom, where he notices people dressed in striped pajamas and rows of barracks surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Bored and lonely, and not really understanding the circumstance of his new existence, Bruno sets out to explore the area and discovers Shmuel, a very thin Jewish boy who lives on the other side of the fence. An unlikely friendship develops between the two boys, but when Bruno learns that his mother plans to take her children back to Berlin, he makes a last effort to explore the forbidden territory where the boy in the striped pajamas lives.

We are very excited to be introducing you to Jed Rubenfeld, our newest featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author. Currently the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale University, Jed Rubenfeld is one of this country's foremost experts on constitutional law. His debut novel, the psychological page-turner THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER, hits stores September 5th. 

-Click here to see our Advance Copy Winners.
-Click here to read a new excerpt from THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER.

More about THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER:
In this ingenious, suspenseful historical thriller, Sigmund Freud is drawn into the mind of a sadistic killer who is savagely attacking Manhattan's wealthiest heiresses

THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER leads readers from the salons of Gramercy Park, through secret passages, to Chinatown --- even far below the currents of the East River where laborers are building the Manhattan Bridge. As Freud fends off a mysterious conspiracy to destroy him, Dr. Stratham Younger, America's most committed Freudian analyst, is drawn into an equally thrilling adventure that takes him deep into the subterfuges of the human mind.

Richly satisfying, elegantly crafted, THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER marks the debut of a brilliant, spectacularly entertaining new storyteller.

HELEN OF TROY by Margaret George (Historical Fiction)
Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
Daughter of a god, wife of a king, prize of antiquity's bloodiest war, Helen of Troy has inspired artists for millennia. Now Margaret George, the highly acclaimed bestselling historical novelist, has turned her intelligent, perceptive eye to the myth that is Helen of Troy. She breathes new life into the great Homeric tale by having Helen narrate her own story.

-Click here to read an excerpt from HELEN OF TROY.
-Click here to visit Margaret George's website, www.MargaretGeorge.com.

THE EXPECTED ONE by Kathleen McGowan (Fiction)
Reviewed by Marcia Ford
When journalist Maureen Paschal begins the research for her new book, she has no idea that she's stepping into an ancient mystery so complex and dangerous that thousands of people have killed and died for it. She travels to France to unravel the secrets of an undiscovered treasure. A series of scrolls written in the first century by Mary Magdalene, these startling documents hold the power to redefine the events and characters of the New Testament.

-Click here to read an Author Talk with Kathleen McGowan
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE EXPECTED ONE.

SPY by Ted Bell (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
In this relentlessly paced tale of international suspense, intrepid MI-6 intelligence officer Alex Hawke confronts an evil like no other. Terror looms as a madman works his dark magic in the heart of the Amazon and a nightmare erupts along the Mexican border, creating a deadly combination that threatens to bring America to its knees.

THE JUDAS FIELD: A Novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr (Historical Fiction)
Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard
Cass and Lucian Wakefield endured unimaginable horrors during their service in the Civil War. Now, for the peace of a friend's soul, they must return to the bloody ground in Franklin 20 years later and reclaim those they left behind, opening themselves up to unwanted memories with each step.

CALLING OUT by Rae Meadows (Fiction)
Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton
After being dumped by her boyfriend, Jane quits her job in New York and lands in Salt Lake City, where she answers phones at a Mormon-endorsed escort agency. As she struggles to find companionship and purpose in her new surroundings, Jane inches toward a place that would have once been unthinkable: She becomes an escort.

HAPPINESS SOLD SEPARATELY by Lolly Winston (Fiction)
Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller
When successful lawyer Elinor Mackey and her husband Ted have trouble conceiving a child after two years of trying various treatments, their marriage begins to buckle under the strain.

GHOST DANCER by John Case (Thriller)
Reviewed by Roz Shea
John Case --- a pseudonym for the husband and wife writing team of Jim and Carolyn Hougan --- has produced an action-packed thriller, in which the very fabric of civilization threatens to come apart in the hands of a brilliantly vengeful madman.

WINS, LOSSES, AND LESSONS by Lou Holtz (Autobiography)
Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
The legendary Lou Holtz reveals what motivated a rail-thin 135-pound kid with marginal academic credentials and a pronounced speech impediment to play and coach college football, and to become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in history.

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Please note our Question of the Week will update September 8th.

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

This week we have two great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of RICOCHET by Sandra Brown and WHITE SISTER by Stephen J. Cannell.

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on September 8th.