Lethal by Sandra Brown

Lethal by Sandra Brown
Published by Grand Central Publishing (September 20, 2011)
Sold By Hatchette Book Group
ISBN: 1455501476
ASIN: B004QZ9QLO
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

About The Author:

Sandra Brown is the author of sixty New York Times bestsellers, including RAINWATER (2010), TOUGH CUSTOMER (2010), SMASH CUT (2009), SMOKE SCREEN (2008), PLAY DIRTY (2007), RICOCHET (2006), CHILL FACTOR (2005), WHITE HOT (2004), HELLO, DARKNESS (2003), THE CRUSH (2002), ENVY (2001), THE SWITCH (2000), THE ALIBI (1999), UNSPEAKABLE (1998) and FAT TUESDAY (1997), all of which have jumped onto the Times bestseller list in the number one to five spot.
Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.
A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. Before embarking on her writing career, she worked as a model at the Dallas Apparel Mart, and in television, including weathercasting for WFAA-TV in Dallas, and feature reporting on the nationally syndicated program "PM Magazine."
She is much in demand as a speaker and guest television hostess. Her episode on truTV's "Murder by the Book" premiered the series in 2008 and she was one of the launch authors for Investigation Discovery's new series, "Hardcover Mysteries."
In 2009 Brown detoured from her thrillers to write Rainwater, a much acclaimed, powerfully moving story about honor and sacrifice during the Great Depression.
Brown recently was given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University. She was named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer's Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

AUTHOR WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER



Amazon.com Book Description:


When her four year old daughter informs her a sick man is in their yard, Honor Gillette rushes out to help hi. But that "sick" man turns out to be Lee Coburn, the man accused of murdering seven people the night before. Dangerous, desperate, and armed, he promises Honor that she and her daughter won't be hurt as long as she does everything he asks. She has no choice but to accept him at his word.

But Honor soon discovers that even those close to her can't be trusted. Coburn claims that her beloved late husband possessed something extremely valuable that places Honor and her daughter in grave danger. Coburn is there to retrieve it - at any cost. From FBI offices in Washington, D.C., to a rundown shrimp boat in coastal Louisiana, Coburn and Honor run for their lives from the very people sworn to protect them, and unravel a web of corruption and depravity that threatens not only them, but the fabric of our society.


My Book Review:


Seven people have been brutally murdered and the killer is still on the loose ... that is until he shows up at Honor Gillette's remote coastal Louisiana home. Lee Coburn has been accused of being the mass murderer and kidnapper of Honor and her duaghter, Emily, and now they're on the run from the manhunt that is bearing down on them. But is Lee Coburn a mass murderer, or is he really someone else?

Widow Honor Gillette and her four year old daughter, Emily, live on the bayou in remote coastal Louisiana, and their world as they have known it will never be the same when accused mass murderer Lee Coburn shows up at their home. Coburn tells Honor that he is not the mass murderer that law enforcement has made him out to be, that her life and that of her daughter's are in danger, especially from those that they have considered to be close friends. He tells her that she has "something" that the others want, and he needs to find whatever this "something" is in order to solve a corruption case, and that he needs her help. Is he lying, or should she believe him? Their journey to seek the truth and to solve the corruption case have Lethal ramifications ....

Lethal is a novel jammed packed with twists and turns that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. This novel has all the bells and whistles that a true mystery thriller needs to captivate the reader. The storyline is in true Sandra Brown style, it is very well written, the characters are believable and unforgettable, and the intense suspense she gives her readers is worth the ride. I was hooked on this story from the first page, and was completely shocked by the ending, any good mystery thriller than can do that is well worth reading.

RATING: 5 STARS *****

December 6, 2011 CLP Virtual Book Tour Event: Author Guest Post w/Chandra Hoffman, Author of Chosen

In association with Chick Lit Plus (CLP), Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host a Virtual Book Tour Event: Author Guest Post on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 with Chandra Hoffman, author of Chosen!

Chandra Hoffman's Bio: 


Since graduating from Cornell University, Chandra has been an orphanage relief worker in Romania, a horse trainer in the Caribbean, a short order cook in a third world hospital, the director of a US adoption program and an event planner for Philadelphia's Main Line elite.

She has lived in eleven international cities and this wanderlust shaped her writing - in each novel, the setting is its own character, flavoring the story. She prefers to write about everyday scenarios, shining a light on the complexities of situations through the voices of multiple characters. Her debut novel, Chosen, uses the domestic adoption scene of Portland, Oregon as a backdrop to pose the questions "What happens when you get what you thought you wanted?" and "How far would you go if it might not be what you want anymore?"

Chandra received her MFA from Antioch University in 2007. She is now settled back in her hometown outside of Philadelphia with her husband, three young children and an ever-changing menagerie.


Chosen (Book Description):


In Chosen, a young caseworker becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents she represents, and who faces life-altering choices when an extortion attempt goes horribly wrong, with devastating results.

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her "signing paperwork" charcoal suit, paired with beaming parents cradling their adoptive newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It's this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child's domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of parents on both sides.

But the job that offers Chloe refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland's winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing - except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what they really want and where it all went wrong.

Told from alternating points of view, Chosen reveals the desperate nature of desire across social backgrounds and how far people will go to get the one thing they think will be the answer.


Visit Chandra's Website
Chandra's Facebook Fan Page
Chandra's Twitter Page

Author Guest Post: M.R. Cornelius, Author of H10N1

Jersey Girl Book Reviews welcomes M.R. Cornelius, author of H10N1!

Rejection vs Rewards

Oh the rejection! It comes in so many ways.

First it was my creative writing class, when hastily-written assignments were returned bleeding red ink for poorly constructed sentences, or incomplete ideas.

After college, I dabbled with short stories and poems, but by then, I was writing with much reflection and contemplation. I crafted each sentence with glowing prose, fancy alliteration and thought-provoking metaphors that had me gasping with awe.

For validation, I took these finely-crafted pieces to a critique group, where members took turns cutting my golden words to shreds. I remember feeling like I'd been flayed by jackals. How could those people not find my every word inspiring? Didn't they understand the time and thought I'd devoted? Of course, the deepest wound of all was the realization that maybe they were right, my writing sucked.

Once I had indulged my pride for a couple days, I'd think back on comments that were made. Was my character one-dimensional? Did the dialogue drag? With my vanity out of the way, I was able to create stories that not only entertained my critique group, but drew their praise. 

I decided I was ready for the big time: a novel. The professionals tell us to rewrite and rewrite until we've got that book perfected before sending out the first query letter. And that's what I did. Is it any wonder then, that being told 'no' is so hurtful after all that work? 

And those form letters! Some had been copied so many times the type was faded and the text crooked on the page. The salutation was an impersonal 'Dear sir or madam', or a genderless 'Dear author". I was thrilled when an agent actually used my name. Sometimes they don't even waste a whole sheet of paper, it's just a slip  stapled to your query letter.

On a few occasions, I was rewarded with a personalized letter that not only called me by name but mentioned the title of my book in the text. And the biggest reward of all? I got my agent through a rejection letter. She had so many positive things to say about my book before she ultimately turned me down, that I begged for the chance to rewrite the book (again). 

Through the years, I've thought about quitting. I know there were many times when my husband wished I would; so did my kids. My friends were sure I was wasting my time, acquaintances raised an eyebrow when I said I was a writer, yet I hadn't been published. 

Well now, I do have a published book. And the rewards are quite fulfilling. Getting that first copy in the mail and brushing a hand over the cover is like caressing a newborn. Calling my mom and explaining how to get on Amazon so she can see the book online? Priceless!

But the biggest reward of all? Knowing my two sons have seen how my hard work and persistence have paid off. We tell our children they can do anything they want; they just have to keep at it. In my case, I don't think my kids really believed it until they held my book in their hands. Now they understand. Never give up.

                                                                                       ~ M.R. Cornelius

             

             

http://mrcornelius.com/

H10N1 by M.R. Cornelius

H10N1 by M.R. Cornelius
Published by Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B005H3ESEO
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Thriller


About The Author (Author Website):

M.R. Cornelius (aka Marsha Cornelius) got her start as an author by dabbling in freelancing for magazines, and wrote a couple of articles for  the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Topside Loafing. She moved to fiction, trying to write screenplays, before finally finding her niche in novels. Like thousands of others, she thought she could write romance, but soon discovered she was a dismal failure. She did increase her repertoire of adjectives such as throbbing, pulsing, thrumming, vibrating, hammering, pumping ...

Her first novel, H10N1, is a post-apocalyptic thriller about a flu pandemic that has already wiped out most of the world's population. Coming up? A fifty-seven-year-old man dying of cancer chooses cryonic preservation over death.

Cornelius lives in the countryside north of Atlanta with her husband, Bill, and two molly-coddled cats. Her two college-aged sons visit regularly for food, clean laundry and cash.


Author Website: http://mrcornelius.com/



Disclaimer: At the request of the author, a Kindle edition of this book was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.


Virtual Book Tour Event: On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, M.R. Cornelius participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/10/author-guest-post-mr-cornelius-author.html



Amazon.com Book Description:


A deadly influenza virus rages out of control. There is no easy-fix vaccine. No eleventh-hour containment. Only death.

With no workforce, power plants are unmanned so there's no means of communication; police and fire departments have collapsed so no one is safe; looters are scavenging everything from big-screen TVs to canned peas.

When Dr. Taeya Sanchez finds herself unceremoniously dismissed from an emergency medical facility in New York, she decides to steal the hospital's armored van for a midnight escape.

Unfortunately, Rick DeAngelo, a driver for the hospital, has already stocked the van for his own getaway.

Thrown into an unfriendly alliance, these two must pick their way across the dangerous wasteland of America in search of a safe haven. And as the miles roll by, they discover that the living should be feared much more than the festering corpses out there.


My Book Review:


What would you do if the world as you have known it no longer exists due to a devastating worldwide pandemic? What if you were among the survivors, and there is nothing but chaos, mayhem and uncertainty left? How would you pick up the pieces and survive in the unknown? These are the questions and circumstances that Dr. Taeya Sanchez and Rick DeAngelo found themselves in H10N1.

A Korean Flu has been intentionally spread among the world's biggest cities ... a pandemic catastrophe that has decimated millions of people worldwide .... and now only packs of survivors remain in a virtual wasteland that used to be thriving cities. For Dr. Taeya Sanchez and Rick DeAngelo, the hospital they work at is no longer their choice of a safe haven from the chaos, mayhem and uncertainty that lies outside its protective walls. Both have their own agenda of where they want to go to start over, neither like each other very much, but they band together to leave the ruins of New York for the west coast. Along the way they learn to adapt to each other's personalities, and help each other to survive when other packs of survivors try to take over their van. How they make out on their journey to survive and create a new life together will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.


I thoroughly enjoyed reading H10N1! The storyline was very well written, and the characters are so engaging and compelling, that you feel like you can actually step into the story and go along with them on their journey. For anyone who is interested in the world's super powers and their possible secret biological chemical warfare capabilities, this book will have you wondering if this devastating catastrophe could possibly happen. H10N1 is a gripping post-apocalyptic thriller that will have you so engrossed in its riveting action, that it won't let you go until you have read the very last word.


RATING: 4 STARS ****

Random Ramblings: Fortune Cookie Quote

My hubby and I had chinese food for dinner the other night and in my fortune cookie was this quote which made me very happy:

"Book lovers never go to bed alone."

This quote is so true, I take my Kindle to bed with me every night, as a matter of fact that device has become an extension of my hand. lol :p

I liked that little quote so much I taped it on the inside of my Kindle cover so I could fondly look at it every now and then. 

So fellow bookworms, what do you think of my fortune cookie quote? :)

... Just another random rambling from Kathleen @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews 

November 30, 2011 Virtual Book Tour Event: Author Guest Post w/Joseph Rinaldo, Author of Hazardous Choices

Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the following Virtual Book Tour Event: Author Guest Post on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 with Joseph Rinaldo, author of Hazardous Choices!

Joseph Rinaldo's Bio: 


Joseph Rinaldo, born in Illinois, spent most of his formative years in Kentucky. He currently resides near Nashville, TN. He attended The Ohio State University and is an avid Buckeyes fan. He currently works in finance, is married, and is the father of a wonderful young woman with Down syndrome. He has written nine books, and is self-publishing each through Amazon's KDP program.


Prior Book Review on Jersey Girl Book Reviews: A Spy At Home http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/spy-at-home-by-joseph-rinaldo.html




Hazardous Choices (Book Description):


After surviving life in a violent Chicago street gang through his high school years, Darnell Jackson's future appears promising. A football scholarship gives him the chance to escape the thug lifestyle.

During his first year in college, Darnell safely resides in a small Kentucky town, playing Division Two college football and trying to make something of himself. Adjusting to the new surroundings proves tough, but a teammate and a girl give him hope that his future will be better than his past.

In the summer after his freshman year, he returns to the old neighborhood to be with his mother. The gang reasserts its hold on him, and the leader orders Darnell to kill a member of a rival gang. Nearly dying in a gang fight, Darnell shoots an enemy gangbanger. This forces Darnell to re-evaluate his future. As a result, he lies to the mercurial leader of his gang, claiming he completed his assignment. After "doing work" for his gang, Darnell receives permission to head back to school and the security of small-town life.

When the head gangbanger learns of Darnell's lie, the small Kentucky town isn't so safe anymore.


Visit Joseph's Website: http://www.josephmrinaldo.com

"Like" Joseph's Facebook Fan Page:
 https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-SPY-AT-HOME-an-ebook-by-Joseph-M-Rinaldo/105978502763910

Visit Joseph on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@jmrinaldo

Nov 3-4, 2011 Pump Up Your Book! Virtual Book Tour Event: Author Guest Post w/Heidi Ann Smith, Author of The Clara Ann Burns Story

In association with Pump Up Your Book!, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the following Virtual Book Tour Events: Author Guest Post on Thursday, November 3, 2011 and Book Review on Friday, November 4, 2011 with Heidi Ann Smith, author of The Clara Ann Burns Story!

Heidi Ann Smith Bio:


Heidi Ann Smith grew up in the Chicago area and began publishing poems as a child. At a young age, she won various local and academic awards for her writing; based on her writing abilities, she was awarded a scholarship to a private high school and attended college courses during her high school years. After high school she began raising a family and was taken away from her writing, but soon returned to complete a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Illinois University. She then earned a Master of Arts in Humanities from California State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Several of her poems recently found homes in various journals, and she published a scholarly thesis on the German artist George Grosz. Heidi is currently a PhD student studying Creative Writing at Middlesex University in London, England. The Clara Ann Burns Story is her first novel.




The Clara Ann Burns Story (Book Description):


The Clara Ann Burns Story is a short novel, in which a woman who suffered child abuse looks back over her turbulent life as she approaches her fifties. It is a story of a young girl, Clara Ann Burns, who was tortured, abused and neglected by her family. When she was old enough to go out on her own, she got herself into situations that were not always the best. But in the end she raises her own family and holds onto the hope of healing and living without fear.


Book Website:  http://monkeypuzzlepress.com/books/the-clara-ann-burns-story/