Russian emigree Eva Delectorskaya was 28 years old, in Paris 1939, when her beloved younger brother Kolla was murdered.  At his funeral, Eva noticed a mysterious stranger, Lucas Romer, who was connected to her brother's tragic demise.  Knowing that Eva was fluent in several languages, Romer recruited Eva to replace her brother as a spy in his underground propaganda network called the British Security Coordination.  Eva underwent intensive training, and after a successful covert operation in Belgium she was sent to New York City.  Her operation there was intended to manipulate the American press to swing sentiment in the U.S. in favor of going to war.  The operation was compromised and nearly cost Eva her life. So she was forced to disappear and change her identity.

Thirty years later, Eva has transformed herself into Sally Gilmartin, a 60 year old widow, mother and grandmother living in the Cotswolds.  But in spite of her new life, Eva has never stopped looking over her shoulder. Convinced that her life is still in danger, she tells her daughter Ruth her story and in turn recruits Ruth to help her find Romer, the man whom she had loved years ago, the man who betrayed her.

Restless, an intriguing historical thriller, is somewhat based on an actual branch of British intelligence that was formed to coax America into WWII.  Eva's fascinating story is a great illustration of how even the most minor characters played significant and pivotal roles in the events leading up to WWII.

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are back in "Robert Crais" newest thriller. Elvis get's a call from the mother of a missing girl who thinks her daughter is just run off with her boyfriend, when Elvis investigates he finds out that they have been abducted by professional border kidnappers.

Elvis and Joe set up a plan to free the young couple, but it goes awry and Elvis is Taken.

Joe enlists the help of one of his former black op friends Jon Stone, between the two they take on the lethal human traffickers.

David Bledsoe is the author of two other successful series books; one about hip'n'happening vampires and the other about a sword-wielding private-eye from back in the day of noble knights and distressed damsels.  In this first book of his new series, Bledsoe spins a fascinating tale about the Tufa; descendants of a tribe of Irish fairies that immigrate to the Smokey Mountains years before Columbus discovers America.

 

The setting is the mountains of East Tennessee, Cloud County, where a wounded, recovering Iraq War veteran returns to her secluded home town.  She's greeted with an unwanted hero's welcome, a parade celebration and national news coverage.  Only wanting to lick her wounds and rejoin her loving family, Pvt. Bronwyn Hyatt becomes the government's current poster-child depicting their latest attempt to justify their involvement in a foreign war.

 

There is a foreshadowing of death.  Bronwyn's only defense is in the music that she once was able to create, that now she struggles to relearn.  She must learn to separate her past and forge a new future.

 

Bloodlines are very important in Cloud County.  There are two family factions.  Bronwyn is the first-born daughter of a first-born daughter, of a first-born daughter, etc.  Her gifts and talents are extremely special.  Music is the tie that binds the families.  It is the hum that defies description.  The power that the music emits is godly.  It is the shiver. 

 

Bledsoe creates a world of music, magic and mystery.  The characters are lovable and believable.  Reading this story will leave readers with a hum and a shiver.

 

April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  So Kate Alcott's new novel The Dressmaker is very timely.  Not to minimize the seriousness of the subject, this book could be described as The Devil Wears Prada meets The Titanic, with a little Daniel Steel drama thrown in for good measure.  You very well could envision Kate Winslett in the part of our protagonist, Tess Collins, the dressmaker.  Leonardo Di Caprio could play the part of any male in the story since he seems to be so versatile.  But this only speaks to the many layers of this book.

The backbone of the story was derived from the actual transcripts of the Senate hearings that took place to investigate the tragedy.  Alcott's novel humanizes the tragedy, fictionalizing what happened to the real survivors of lifeboat #1 after the ship sank.  Why were there only 12 people in that lifeboat, when it could have held 50-60?  Lady Lucille Duff Gordon, who in the early years of the twentieth century was the one of the top names in the fashion world, was actually in lifeboat #1, along with her husband Cosmo.  In real life, Lady Duff, as she was commonly referred to, was a driven, nasty, tough woman.  Alcott gives her this persona in The Dressmaker, but with a hidden softer side as well.  She hires Tess Collins as her apprentice seamstress just before they board the Titanic. In the aftermath, Tess stands firm against Madame Lucille's pressure, manipulations and lies about what actually happened, determined to be a success in the U.S. and make it on her own talent.  With the Senate hearings conducted by Senator William Alden Smith as a backdrop, The Dressmaker examines the choices people make when faced with a life-threatening situation and how they live with those choices afterward. The impressive caste of characters also makes this believable and intriguing history - the "Unsinkable Molly Brown;" Pinky Wade, the indominable New York Times reporter; Tess's two suitors, Jim and Jack, who also survived the disaster; and Elinor Glyn, Lady Duff's sister, a real-life famous actress and author.