Blackbird Papers
by Ian Smith

 Rating: TDB

A rainy night . . . A stranded motorist . . . A Good Samaritan passerby … a Nobel Prize–winning professor . . . The setup for a shocking murder designed to cover up an even more sinister crime . . .

The Blackbird Papers marks the debut of Ian Smith, a major new talent in crime fiction, and of Sterling Bledsoe, his smart and occasionally combative

lsleuth. World-renowned Dartmouth professor Wilson Bledsoe is returning from a party celebrating his latest honor when he encounters a broken-down pickup on the secluded country road to his home. The next day, the discovery of his body with a vicious racist epithet carved into his chest leads to the quick arrest of two loathsome white supremacists. The local authorities seem ready to accept the case at face value as a racial hate crime. But the murdered professor’s brother, FBI agent Sterling Bledsoe, has inserted himself into the investigation and isn’t ready to buy into this pat solution. A look around his brother’s lab and brief interviews with his students and colleagues pique Sterling’s curiosity about Wilson’s pet project: a nearly completed paper on the mysterious deaths of hundreds of local blackbirds.

Fast-paced and cleverly constructed, The Blackbird Papers introduces a major new talent in mystery and crime fiction.

www.randomhouse.com/.../9780767920445.html

Summer 2007

Love & Lies
by Kimberla Roby Lawson

Rating: 6

New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby returns with another fabulous tale featuring the beloved scoundrel Curtis Black.

Truth and Lies…

At long last, the Reverend Curtis Black appears to be living the straight life. The all-too-human

preacher is a bestselling author now, and he and wife, Charlotte, are raising two adorable children. But the ever-suspicious Charlotte doesn’t trust that Curtis has put his womanizing past behind him. While’s he on the road promoting his latest book, she knows that there just needs to be one extra-devoted fan in his flock for him to stray. 

Secrets and Lies…

Still, Charlotte is no angel herself, and she’s been keeping plenty of secrets from Curtis while he’s been away.  For one thing, their daughter, Marissa, is behaving bizarrely, reminding Charlotte a bit too much of the man with whom she had an affair five years ago--an affair Curtis won’t let her forget.

Then there are the disturbing visits from her so-called brother-in-law, a man once involved with drugs and the law.  Curtis has forbidden the family to see him, but the man simply keeps turning up on Charlotte’s doorstep, no matter how hard she tries to keep him away.

Charlotte believes with all her heart that things will be better once Curtis comes home.

Love and Lies…

But Charlotte should be careful what she wishes for. She thinks love is enough to untangle the web of lies she and Curtis have woven for themselves. What she doesn’t know is that when her husband finally returns, she’ll have some tough decisions to make if she wants to save her soul and salvage her marriage.

http://www.kimroby.com/book9_lovelies.html

This Fire Down in My Soul
by J.D. Mason

Rating: 9

Love. Sex. Obsession. When Faylene Watkins starts counseling the women of her husband’s congregation, three very different women teach her just how dangerous the combination can be.

Choir girl Elise thinks she's found a good man in Jay. A truck driver, he came blowing into her life one sultry night. Irresistible and sensual, he’s caught up in romancing Elise.

However, when she’s ready for happily ever after, he realizes that he can't just walk away from his wife and two children. And Elise just can’t seem to let him go.

Everyone knows that singles ministry leader Renee is full of herself. When she takes her latest interior decorating job, she thinks her client’s husband is hot, and together, they're on fire. Meanwhile, his wife wants to be friends, and it’s not long before the whole thing turns into a twisted game.

For twenty-five years Tess's life revolved around her unfaithful husband (who sits on the deacon’s board) and their two wonderful sons. But now the kids have left the nest and Tess wants to spread her wings. She’s got a new job and a new social life (outside of the church) when a new man--a most forbidden man--steps into the picture to rock her world. But all that glitters isn't gold.

The Known World
by Edward P. Jones

Rating:  9

In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Edward P. Jones, two-time National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't

uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues. In a daring and ambitious novel, Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities.

2007 Annual Reunion Sip
New Jersey

Topaz
by Beverly Jenkin

Rating: 9

Ambitious newspaper reporter Kate Love's determination to unmask a railroad stock swindler has led her to the brink of matrimony with the wealthiest, most eligible black man in the East—the very scoundrel she intends to expose! But at the last possible moment a champion appears to whisk her away from the altar: Dix Wildhorse, a Black Seminole marshal from Oklahoma's Indian country.

A daring black knight whom Kate's father sent to rescue—and wed—the free-spirited ebony hellion, Dix ignites fires within her with just a touch, a whisper, a brazen kiss. But Kate isn't about to abandon her career to become the dutiful wife of a lawman who wants to keep her wrapped up in a protective cocoon. As the battle of wills intensifies, the heat of their passion blazes with unmatched fury. And only total surrender will unleash the sweet ecstasy of love.

Wild Stars Seeking Midnight
by J. California Cooper

Rating: 5

"In stories that are simple yet elegant, hard-hitting yet poignant, J. California Cooper writes about the search for fulfillment that propels people’s dreams and desires. In “As Time Goes By” a young woman named Futila Ways grows up focusing her dream of a better future on material wealth, only to discover that having everything she ever wanted cannot compensate for the emptiness in her heart. “The Eye of the

Beholder” recounts the story of an unattractive young girl, Lily Bea, whose search for love leads her to embrace her own brand of freedom. And in “Catch a Falling Heart” a woman mildly crippled in a fall endures loneliness and solitude until she finds a man and provides a resting place for his love. Each story beautifully conveys the profound human need to seek some sort of satisfaction, just as a wild star seeks a midnight sun." -

www.randomhouse.com