Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Night Monster by James Swain

First line: Cops weren’t supposed to get frightened.

Initial thoughts: It’s about time I read a nice suspenseful thriller. Lately, I’ve been reading more supernatural, horror, and romance. It’s time to change it up a bit. And The Night Monster seemed like an excellent way to do just that.

Book description:

The shadowy side of the Sunshine State, where blood runs cold even in the tropical heat, is the tantalizing, terrifying territory few know better than James Swain. His razor-sharp tales of criminals, cops, and South Florida—style suspense bite like a hungry gator and never let go.

The past has come back to haunt P.I. Jack Carpenter, former head of the Broward County Missing Persons Unit. As a young cop he failed to stop the kidnapping of a college coed by a shockingly large assailant–and neither of them was ever seen again. The abduction has remained Carpenter’s most chilling cold case, and even now the mystery of the missing girl lurks in his darkest dreams. But after eighteen years, it’s about to become terrifying reality once more.

When his daughter, Jessie, asks him to bird-dog a camera-toting creep who’s been shadowing her college basketball team, Carpenter’s hot pursuit of the video voyeur leads him smack into another run-in with his old hulking nemesis, who abducts one of Jessie’s teammates. While the Broward County cops are determined to pin the rap on a convenient suspect, Carpenter isn’t about to let grim history repeat itself–especially when he discovers a pattern of unsolved kidnappings involving the same massive perp.

With the eager assistance of the kidnap victim’s high-powered tycoon father, the uneasy cooperation of his old unit’s new commander, and precious little time before the trail goes cold, Jack and his trusty dog, Buster, hit the ground running. And they’ll need all the help they can get–including backup from an FBI man with a personal stake in the hunt–as they follow a twisted trail from the ruins of a shuttered mental asylum with an infamous past to the streets of a sinister small town with a ghastly secret.

Book Details: 336 pages; Ballantine Books; Pub. September 15, 2009

Learn more:

• Official website
• Read an excerpt

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

First line: Elizabeth Bennet’s wedding morning was one of soft mists and mellow sunshine.*

Initial thoughts: After discovering the awesomeness that is Pride & Prejudice, I was hooked. Since reading it that first time, I went back and read it again.

Noticing the early signs of an addict, I decided to set Austen aside and read other books, mainly with supernatural characters such as vampires and werewolves and such.

But then I see this title–Mr. Darcy, Vampyre–how could I possibly deny myself such pleasure? I’m not completely falling off the wagon, am I? Even if I am, I fully intend to enjoy myself on the way down.

Book description:

A married man in possession of a dark fortune must be in want of an eternal wife…

December 1802

My hand is trembling as I write this letter. My nerves are in tatters and I am so altered that I believe you would not recognize me. The past two months have been a nightmarish whirl of strange and disturbing circumstances, and the future…

I am afraid.

If anything happens to me, remember that I love you and that my spirit will always be with you, though we may never see each other again. The world is a cold and frightening place where nothing is as it seems.

Book Details: 320 pages; Sourcebooks Landmark; Pub. August 1, 2009

Learn more:

• Mr. Darcy, Vampyre blog
• Reviews
  • Romance B(u)y the Book review
  • Becky’s Book Reviews
  • Sia McKye’s thoughts…

* First line taken from Chapter 1, not the prologue.

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Well by A. J. Whitten

First line: Dying in the movies always looks cool.*

Initial thoughts: I heard about this upcoming title from a friend and she said it might be right up my alley. Sure enough, after reading the synopsis, she was right. Modern horror inspired by Shakespeare? Definitely up my alley.

Plus, the cover looks pretty cool.

My review is now online

Book description:

If Hamlet thought he had issues, he should have talked to Cooper Warner.

His mother’s normally sunny demeanor has turned into something—homicidal.

And what’s worse, she has help in her hunt for Cooper: A ravenous monster living at the bottom of the old well in the woods behind their house. She’s determined to deliver her 14-year-old son straight into the creature’s eager clutches. Cooper turns to his girlfriend, Megan, for help, but then, to his horror, the creature takes her prisoner.

Now, it’s up to Cooper to fend off his murderous mother, finish his Hamlet paper, and enter the putrid lair at the bottom of the well to rescue Megan. And when he confronts the creature, Cooper must make the toughest decision of his life: kill, or be killed.

This horrific tale, inspired by Hamlet, puts a modern, terrifying twist on the Shakespearean classic.

Book Details: 336 pages; Graphia; Pub. September 28, 2009

Learn more:

• Official website
• Read an excerpt
• Reviews at GoodReads

* First line taken from Chapter 1, not the prologue.

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Wait Until Twilight by Sang Pak

First line: The sun sits flat against the blue sky like someone pressed it on there with a giant thumb.

Initial thoughts: It seems that the Waiting on Wednesday fairies paid me a visit. *sigh of relief* I finally get to read about those deformed triplets whose mother believes they were immaculately conceived. Happy days.

Book description:

What I need to do, needs to be done before it gets too dark . . .

Sixteen-year-old Samuel confronts his own inner monster when he discovers a set of deformed triplets whose mother believes they were immaculately conceived. Soon, the babies have taken hold of his waking and sleeping thoughts, and, unable to escape them, he decides to save them, but their shut-in mother and violent older brother want nothing to do with him.

Samuel must fight the trouble within him and the trouble he sees around him to determine who he will become in a year that forces him to grow from motherless boy to self-defined man. Set in a small Georgia town, this psychologically complex story of survival and self determination explores the dark, often contradictory worlds of young contemporary life, laying bare the ugly truths and secrets that haunt all of us.

Book Details: 240 pages; Harper Paperbacks; Pub. August 4, 2009

Learn more:

• Official website
• Read an excerpt

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Dark Time by Dakota Banks

First line: It was well after dark, time to set aside the herbs Susannah Layhem was sorting at the table.

Initial thoughts: I’ve been itching to get a good adult supernatural fantasy title (that didn’t include vampires, werewolves, or witches–not that I could ever tire of them, mind you, just looking to expand the horizons) and this one sounded too delicious to pass up.

Book description:

Three hundred years ago, she sold her soul to a demon. Now she wants it back.

For centuries, the woman calling herself Maliha Crayne has lived a second life—as an assassin for the malevolent creature who owns her soul. A haunted killer with the blood of countless victims on her hands, she has finally discovered a way to nullify the demonic pact that chains her: If she saves a life for every one she has taken, she will be free.

But if she fails, her punishments will be unspeakable, unendurable…and neverending.

Book Details: 320 pages; Eos; Pub. July 28, 2009

Learn more:

• Browse inside the book
• Read an excerpt
• Official website
• Reviews:
  • Darque Reviews
  • The Book Lush (mild spoilers)