Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley, I received a copy of the Chapter Summary of Bad City, by Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Paul Pringle. Subtitled “Peril And Power In The City of Angels,” this nonfiction true crime thriller is a stunning expose of corruption in both city governments and academic institutions, featuring …
I graduated high school in the mid-sxties, so the time period of the Manson murders was right up my alley. The killing spree took place over two nights, when the “family” of young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people. There didn’t seem to be any discernible motive, and the nationwide freakout that followed seemed …
Timothy Hallinan writes just the kind of books that SOUND really exciting and somewhat quirky. Nighttown, the latest (#7) in the Junior Bender series, came my way thanks to Soho Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. As it turned out, I tried several times to get into it, but it just wasn’t …
Sara Gran has published two previous novels featuring “the world’s best private detective” Claire DeWitt, and The Infinite Blacktop is the third in the series. Not having read the first two, I was concerned I might be lost when I read it, having received an advance copy from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for …
I am generally a fan of Thomas Perry’s books, so I was happy to get a copy of The Burglar from Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review. As the story opens, we meet the protagonist, a petite blonde named Elle who is a successful burglar in the rich neighborhoods around …
If you want a comprehensive book on the Menendez murders, your wait is over! I just read The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation by Robert Rand (thanks to BenBella Books and NetGalley) and now I know way more about this case than …
I started this book, and after a few pages of VERY intense and detailed narrative about bombs, bomb making, and what they can do, I just put it aside. I just wasn’t in the mood for something so dark. Then my husband picked it up and he REALLY liked it and thought I would as …
Let’s just get this out of the way: I have been a diehard fan of Robert Crais/Elvis Cole/Joe Pike for THIRTY YEARS. Seriously, when The Monkey’s Raincoat was published in 1987, I was working in a public library, grabbed it as soon as it came in, and was HOOKED. Since then, this has been one …
Last fall, I reviewed Moral Defense, by Marcia Clark (yes, THAT Marcia Clark, of OJ Simpson trial fame), which was the second in the series featuring criminal defense attorney Samantha Brinkman, based in Marcia’s turf, Los Angeles. Sam first showed up in Blood Defense, the first title in this series, in which she defended a decorated …
I grew up on the beach in Southern California in the 60s (San Clemente High, Class of ’65!!) so I LEAPT at the chance to have an advance copy of Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles by William McKeen (thanks to Chicago Review Press and NetGalley) in exchange for my …