The Price You Pay

January 1, 2023

With Robert B. Parker's Bad Influence, the Edgar and Shamus Award-winning Gaylin becomes the first female author to enter the legendary Parker's universe, with Parker's only female series protagonist, PI Sunny Randall, acting as bodyguard to an Instagram influencer. In Johansen's The Survivor, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and archaeologist Riley Smith trek through the jungles of Laos, intent on finding (and saving) a rare animal threatened with extinction (100,000-copy first printing). Passing through Kentucky in Offutt's Code of the Hills, Mick Hardin has every intention of heading on to France but instead gets caught up in helping sheriff sister Linda investigate the murder of a popular mechanic at the local racetrack. Jack Morgan of the investigation agency Private is standing in the New York Stock Exchange with a former U.S. Marine buddy when his buddy is shot to death, leaving Jack to follow clues to Russia; Patterson and Hamdy's Private Moscow is the first "Private" thriller since 2018. With Alex Cross Down owing to serious injury, John Sampson is left alone to deal with a series of ferocious, seemingly unrelated military-style attacks; Patterson and DuBois reunite. In Petrie's The Heavy Lift, veteran Peter Ash is helping loyal friend Lewis get beyond the criminal life by tracking down an associate, but all they find is a burnt-down cabin--with notebooks that could incriminate Lewis now unaccounted for. In Rollins's Tides of Fire, a military submarine's disappearance off Australia's coast leads to warfare in a dead sea recently found to be rich with bioluminescent coral, and the subsequent geological disaster destabilizes an entire region (250,000-copy first printing). From the late Woods, Near Miss is another--and maybe final?--Stone Barrington title.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2023

In Petrie's The Price You Pay, veteran Peter Ash is helping loyal friend Lewis get beyond the criminal life by tracking down an associate, but all they find is a burnt-down cabin--with notebooks that could incriminate Lewis, who is now unaccounted for (originally scheduled for June 2023 as The Heavy Lift). Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023
The latest addition to Petrie's (The Runaway, 2022) lauded Peter Ash series begins with a familiar setup: there's Gulf War veteran Peter, with "adrenaline burning his veins like gasoline," leading a gang of leathery gunmen, and his vengeance-minded pal Lewis, always ready to step up when "the law hadn't done the job." Typically, Lewis is helping Peter, but this time it's the opposite: when somebody steals notebooks full of secrets about Lewis' past from one of his former criminal associates, Peter steps in to help track them down and keep Lewis and his family safe. Petrie shows off his action-writing chops with a series of vivid, remarkably clear firefights and, in between, pauses to recover. In this series installment, the wiliest fighters are the heroes' girlfriends, which makes for great fun. But there's also some gravitas; in a devastating twist on Lewis' fascination with vengeance, midway through the book we learn of the grief that provoked this bloodbath.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2023
The eighth danger-dripping crime thriller featuring Peter Ash. One bitterly cold Wisconsin winter, Marine combat vet Peter Ash and his tight friend Lewis pay a visit to Teddy "Upstate" Wilson, a one-eyed ex-con, only to find him shivering in the snow while his cabin burns to the ground. Attackers have shot his dogs and stolen his notebooks, which are key to the story. As part of his therapy after having been shot in the head, Teddy has been writing down everything he can remember, from bowel movements to sex with his speech pathologist to the many crimes he's committed--including dates, locations, and the names of everyone involved. Those latter details could get a lot of folks, Lewis included, offed or imprisoned. Series fans already know that Lewis occasionally heads an elusive group that robs and often kills upper-level bad guys. Said group is an underworld legend often called the Ghost Killers, and even law enforcement is unsure whether the group is more than a myth. Lewis has a strong moral code: "You only go after people the law can't get," and you never shoot anybody who has his hands up. Teddy is a bit simple, due in part to his brain injury. Before his attack, Teddy had even stopped slapping mosquitoes, but his character arc takes him far from that gentle self. Peter and Lewis, on the other hand, don't change dramatically from story to story. Both have strong loyalty to family and to each other and are brave, smart, and deadly in a fight. Here the mortal enemy is an ex-CIA dude named Jay Streyling, a stereotypical killer lacking in redeeming qualities. Above him is a fearsome boss whose personal grief fuels an enduring over-the-top rage. On the good-guy side of the ledger, Peter and Lewis have June and Dinah, respectively, in their lives. They're strong, take-no-crap women determined that their men--their families--stay alive. For sheer entertainment value, though, there's no beating Teddy Wilson. All he wants is his set of notebooks and permission to fire tranquilizer darts. Oh, and maybe to hang someone by his ankles outside a 23rd-floor window. Action junkies will love this one.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 12, 2024
History catches up with Peter Ash in Petrie’s high-octane eighth adventure for the former Marine (following The Runaway). Awakened late one night by a noise from his kitchen, Peter finds his old friend, Lewis, in a state of distress. Teddy Wilson, one of Lewis’s former allies in a robbery crew known as the Heavy Lifters, has been attacked. Peter agrees to accompany Lewis back to Teddy’s cabin, where they find him alive but robbed of the notebooks that contained details about the Heavy Lifters’ jobs—all of which targeted criminal organizations. After knocking a few heads, Peter and Lewis track down the Albanian thugs who took Teddy’s journals, but not before the contents are emailed to a mysterious player who’s offering a hefty reward for information on Lewis’s old crew. From there, the race is on to see whether Peter and Lewis can identify and locate their foe before he gets to them first. Petrie nimbly combines small-unit action with cyber-sleuthing (courtesy of Peter’s partner, reporter June Cassidy) and rarely takes his foot off the gas during the narrative’s 400-plus pages. Adrenaline junkies will be in heaven. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary.