Are you participating in the 2010 National African American Read-In?

What is the Read-in?

I asked that same question myself and I discovered the following:

February has traditionally been known as Black History Month For the last 20 years, as part of that month of exploration and celebration, the Black Caucus of NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and the full body of the NCTE itself have sponsored The National African American Read-In.

Basically the program runs the entire month of February allowing schools, churches and book discussion groups plenty of time to organize a Read-In in their community. Those and other institutions are encouraged to read and discuss a work of literature by an African American author.

They even have a list of books you could read for the read-in, although they caution that its just a beginning list. Click here to download the PDF version of the Supplemental List for Young Adults and Adults.

What Can I Do Next?

There are a lot of bookstores, libraries, school and churches which are organizing read-ins in your community.

A quick stroll through your local newspaper might reveal several events nearby. If that doesn’t work, call nearby establishments and double-check. There is still time to find a read-in near you — or organize one of your own. Check the Read-In website for more details.

What Are You Reading for February?

Leave a comment below letting us know who you’re reading and what books.

You might even talk about why you’re reading them.

Who knows? We all might find a new favorite author.

“There was no shortage of nightmares aboard the Imperial Prison Barge Purge.”

The Purge loses its engines and tries to salvage parts from a nearby abandoned Star Destroyer only to bring back something more than material . . . something deadly . . . and hungry.

Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the book cover to order it from the CLEVNET webcatalog.

TITLE:

STAR WARS: DEATH TROOPERS

WRITER:

by Joe Schreiber

GENRE:

Horror Book, Horror Novel, Humor, Science Fiction,

DESCRIPTORS:

Prisoners, Guards, Warden, Criminals, Sickness, Derelict Ships, Zombies,

CHARACTERS

Trig Longo, A teenage (barely) prisoner, a grifter and son of the late Von Longo.
Kale Longo, The older teenage prisoner, a grifter and son of the late Von Longo.
Zahara Cody, Medical officer.
Jareth Sartoris, Captain of the guard who killed Von Longo while interrogating him.

SUMMARY:

Imperial Prison Barge Purge is heading for a detention center when the thrusters break down stranding them in a seldom traveled region of the Empire. On board are the Longo brothers, still coming to terms with their father’s death and a medical officer who has lost the trust of the barge’s staff because of her humane treatment of the prisoners.

The warden, Kloth, sends Captain Sartoris and a team of guards, engineers and storm troopers to a near by derelict star destroyer to salvage parts to repair the Purge. On the destroyer, Sartoris splits the group into two teams. His team finds the material they need but return with one of their engineers sick. The other team never returns.

Of course many of the crew were eaten before they could change over — torn to pieces and . . . well, consumed, I suppose is the word.

As the killing sickness sweeps throughout the Purge, Zahara and the 2-1B droid, Waste, are overwhelmed by sheer numbers of sick people as well as the fact that the sickness does not show up on the computer scanners. Meanwhile, the Longo brothers seem to be one of the few people immune to the sickness but that doesn’t help them much as Aur Myss, the new leader of the Delphanian Face Gang has put an steep contract on their heads.

Within a day the entire ship is dead save the Sartoris, the Longo boys, Zahara and two harden criminals in solitary. And that’s when the dead begin to rise.

APPEAL:

Star Wars: Death Troopers is one of the fastest most fun reads I’ve had all year. When I was done I grabbed the MP3 audiobook version and ran through the story a second time. Despite the fact that this was a horror novel, it was set in the Star Wars Universe which means the action is going to go fast. Joe Schreiber adapts his zombie novel to that pace very well.

Joe Schriber does an excellent job of characterization. Zahara Cody, the doctor not trusted by the staff who knows this is her last trip and possibly the last time she’ll ever be a doctor. Trig and Kale Longo, sons of a grifter who have not only lost their freedom but also their father. Jareth Sartoris, the career officer in the Empire who has been self-destructing for some time now.

I’ll drop by again next time I feel like getting abused. If you live that long, which I doubt.

Other characters in the book, get very little stage time until they die but Mr. Schriber does an excellent job of making them memorable — Gat the prisoner who is actually nice to Zahara, Armitage, the guard with the soul of a painter, ICO Wembly who may be the only decent guard aboard the ship — certainly the heaviest, and many others.

When the sickness killed off all but six people on The Purge I was a little surprised. You expect to witness the zombie induced deaths of a bunch of second string characters before the protagonist gets into serious danger. Not so here. You spend most of the story waiting to see who of the six will fall while they try to find ways off the Purge.

These zombies have features not normally seen in zombies — and things that actually increased the tension. For instance, they scream and moan but in a pattern . . . they communicate with each other. . . .

Set in the Star Wars Universe, the story is expected to fit within that well designed structure. This novel happens about a year before Star Wars IV: A New Hope — the first movie filmed in this series. The Empire is strong and crushing the Rebels. Darth Vader is the terrifying right hand of the Emperor. Within this framework, Death Troopers fits quite nicely.

NOTE:

I’ve heard that Joe Schriber is working on a second Star Wars novel, possibly a prequel to this story. If so please read Death Troopers first so that the surprises are fresh and not spoiled by a prequel.

READALIKES:

I’ve encountered few books that read like Star Wars: Death Troopers. The horror in outer space fare like Aliens tends to mover slower with deep shadows and claustrophobia. Still, you might like Earth Hive (Aliens, Book 1), Nightmare Asylum (Aliens, Book 2), and The Female War (Aliens, Book 3), the first three novels in the Dark Horse adaptation of their Aliens stories which pick up where the movies left off. These stories make use of the science fiction environs to enhance the tension in the stories.

Presenting the first Recommended Reads book list for 2010: Recommended Reads: January 2010.

This list is brought to you monthly by the Readers’ Advisory Team Services (RATS).

It contains some of the newer books that have arrived or are expected to arrive at the library soon. Want to know what’s new, what’s hot and what’s going to be talked about tomorrow?

Check out the Recommended Reads list. You will find it on the Heights Library Website, in the upper right hand corner — just under the green catalog button. The link is in green letters and says “Recommended Reads”. Go ahead and click the mouse on it.

Once you see the list of books, find something that interests you, click on the green link that says “Check the CLEVNET Catalog for availability” and place a hold on the book to be picked up at your local Clevnet library.

I would like to take a moment to wish you a happy and safe winter holiday and a wonderful New Year.

Remember, the Heights Libraries will be closed Thursday December 24 and Friday December 25 for the holidays.

Next week we close early at 5:30pm on Thursday December 31 and are closed all day Friday January 1, 2010.

In the next year we’ll be back with a new look and a new bunch of books to talk about on this website.

Until then,
Be Safe and Happy.
–Greg “The Undead Rat” Fisher

All good things must come to an end and our food for fines drive is no exception.

Together, we collected a lot of food for the food bank which will help a lot of people this holiday season.

I and the library would like to thank those patrons who participated.

Thank you.

From now until November 23, 2009, you can bring in non-perishable food items and get your overdue library fines reduced or even eliminated!

You get $1.00 off your fines per item you bring in.

Bring your donations to the Cleveland Hts.-University Hts Public Library on Lee Rd or any of her branches — Coventry Village Library, Noble Neighborhood Library and University Heights Branch Library.

Of course, you don’t need to have fines in order to bring in food. We’ll accept non-perishable food donations from people with no fines on their cards and even those without cards.

All food items collected will go to the Heights Emergency Food Bank.

Please note: Food for fines will reduce your overdue fines but they cannot reduce fines for lost or damaged items.

“And do you know what? In my job? That doesn’t even make the top thirty of the weirdest things I’ve seen or heard.”

Jessica Jones was once a costumed superhero who hung up the cape and opened up a private detective agency. When not smoking or drinking herself into an early grave, she helps people — better than she ever did as a superhero, and often her path crosses those who still wear the cape.

See a graphic novel you’re interested in? Click the mouse on the book covers to order this graphic novel from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

TITLE:

ALIAS

WRITER:

by Brian Michael Bendis

ARTISTS:

by Michael Gaydos (art)
and Bill Sienkiewicz (Sidekick illustrations)

SERIES:

Alias #1
Collects Alias comics #1-9

PUBLISHER:

Marvel Comics/MAX Imprint

CHARACTERS:

Jessica Jones, former superhero turned detective.
Warbird/Carol Danvers, an Avenger and friend to Jessica.
Power Man/Luke Cage, a Hero for Hire and Jessica’s friend.
Daredevil/Matthew Murdock, Blind lawyer and superhero.
Clay Quartermain, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and former boyfriend.
Malcolm Powder, a teenage geek who pesters Jessica.
Captain America/Steve Rogers, superhero, leader of the Avengers.
Man Mountain Marko, very strong hired thug.
Rick Jones, former sidekick of The Hulk, Captain America and Captain Marvel or a con artist?

MATURITY:

Contains violence, mature situations and language.

GENRE:

Graphic Novel (collected), Hard-Boiled Detective, Mystery, Fantasy, Superhero

DESCRIPTORS:

Murder, Private Detective, Framed for Murder, Betrayal, Paranoia, Conspiracy, Mental Illness, Cult of Personality, Superhero, Self-Destructive Tendencies.

SUMMARY:

Jessica Jones was once a superhero named Jewel and she had super strength, resistance to damage and the power of flight although the ability to land eluded her. She didn’t make it as a superhero and eventually hung up her cape. Now she’s a private investigator doing more good than she was ever able to do as Jewel.

We’re introduced to Jessica and her gritty, dark world. It’s a world where she runs into Luke Cage accidentally and sleeps with him in an effort to feel something. What she’s after she can’t say. It’s a world where she and Carol Danvers have a broken relationship from an earlier betrayal. It’s a world where not everyone is who they say they are.

In the first storyline, Jessica agrees to find out how a woman’s estranged sister is faring and stumbles on to Captain America’s secret identity when she stakes out the apartment. Paranoia shifts into overdrive as the estranged sister is found murdered and Jessica gets framed for the killing.

Then the woman who hired Jessica dies while fleeing from questioning and the clue from the cell phone leads Jess to a man so powerful that he dares to unseat a President with a cooked up scandal and casually threatens to kill Miss Jones anytime he chooses.

In the second storyline, Jane Jones hires Jessica to find her missing husband Rick Jones — a famous Marvel sidekick and rock star. She locates him but he seems to be on the run from the Skrulls or Kree who are out to get him for his role in assisting the Avengers in the Skrull/Kree wars. When she tries to get a high powered hero in on the case, he seems reluctant to get help or return to his wife. But then, is this the real Rick Jones?

APPEAL:

This is a mature label (the MAX imprint) and a lot of four letter words, adult themes and even a scene of sitting on the toilet can be found here. There is a drawn out interrogation scene between Jessica and the arresting detective which is so well written that I’ve read it a dozen times or more.

Bendis takes his time with the pacing of the stories in Alias. He is more interested in the character of Jessica Jones and the people around her, in and out of costume. Skillful use of dialogue propels the stories and often creates tension thicker than the fight scenes.

Jessica was once a superhero and now she is a detective even though she still has her powers. Why did she leave and what sort of person is she are some the questions that Bendis develops in this series. We learn most about Jessica by watching her interact with the people around her.

The story is told in 3rd person limited omniscience from Jessica’s point of view. The few captions that pop up are in Jessica’s voice and serve the place of thought balloons, but Bendis seldom employs captions and never employs thought balloons. He relies on dialogue and the art work to relay the text and the subtext and leave you to figure it out.

These stories take place in the Marvel Universe but on a level that most heroes never operate on.

READALIKES:

Brian Michael Bendis has another graphic novel series which has a similar feel to it. Powers is about two homicide detectives who are assigned the special cases involving super-heroes or super villains. The artwork is by Michael Avon Oeming. The stories are grim and gritty, as is Alias and it deals with mature subjects and nudity although to a lesser degree than Alias. In Powers the universe is all Brian’s so things can and do change in that series, whereas he is somewhat restricted in his stories set in the Marvel Universe.

NOTES:

Brian Michael Bendis grew up in the Greater Cleveland area before moving away.

Artist Michael Gaydos graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Stieg Larsson was an investigative journalist and an activist who wrote a projected ten book series of mysteries as a hobby until his sudden death by heart attack. His series ended with three complete books and a partial fourth and notes for two more stories. All three books were published after his death.

For more information, click on Scandanavian Mystery Writers — Then and Now, by Jo Ann “The Head Rat” Vicarel.

Each week I pick a new series and detail it here — giving you the proper order. Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (The Millenium Trilogy #1) Author: Larsson, Stieg Translator: Reg Keeland Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 480pp. Pub. Date: September 16, 2008 Publisher: Knopf
Nominated for the 2008 International Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel Translated into English Nominated for the 2009 Anthony Award for Best Novel Nominated for the 2009 Anthony Award for Best First Novel Nominated for the 2004 Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel Nominated for the 2004 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel. Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pieced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
	The Girl Who Played with Fire (The Millenium Trilogy #2) Author: Larsson, Stieg Translator: Reg Keeland Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 512pp. Pub. Date: July 28, 2009 Publisher: Knopf
Nominated for the 2009 International Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel Translated into English Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander — the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire. As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.
	Castles in the Sky (The Millenium Trilogy #3) Author: Larsson, Stieg Translator: Reg Keeland Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: ???pp. Pub. Date: 2010 ? Publisher: Knopf
No summary available — not yet announced. All information, including the title, is subject to change.

For More Information:

Jo Ann “The Head Rat” Vicarel talks about Swedish mysteries in the article: Scandanavian Mystery Writers — Then and Now.

Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo are the husband and wife team that created the ten books in the The Inspector Martin Beck Mystery Series, when ended when Per died of cancer. They are currently being reprinted in trade paperback — only the last two stories wait to be reissued.

Don’t forget to check out the other blog posts listed below for more information.

Each week I pick a new series and detail it here — giving you the proper order. Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

	Roseanna (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #1) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 224pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1965
The masterful first novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Beck hunting for the murderer of a lonely traveler. On a July afternoon, a young woman’s body is dredged from Sweden’s beautiful Lake Vattern. With no clues Beck begins an investigation not only to uncover a murderer but also to discover who the victim was. Three months later, all Beck knows is that her name was Roseanna and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people on a cruise. As the melancholic Beck narrows the list of suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for casual sex, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive — indeed, terrifying — sense of propriety. . . .
	The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #2) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 208pp. Pub. Date: September 2008 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1966
The masterful second novel in the Martin Beck series of mysteries by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Beck searching for a well-known Swedish journalist who has disappeared without a trace. Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad has his summer vacation abruptly terminated when the top brass at the foreign office pack him off to Budapest to search for Alf Matsson, a well-known Swedish journalist who has vanished. Beck investigates viperous Eastern European underworld figures and — at the risk of his life — stumbles upon the international racket in which Matsson was involved. With the coolly efficient local police on his side and a predatory nymphet on his tail, Beck pursues a case whose international implications grow with each new clue.
	The Man on the Balcony (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #3) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 180p. Pub. Date: February 2009 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1967
The chilling third novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Martin Beck investigating a string of child murders. In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendent, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three year old boy. With the likelihood of another murder growing as each day passes, the police force work night and day. But their efforts have offered little insight into the methodology of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck’s mind, and he may just have the break he needs.
	The Laughing Policeman (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #4) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 224pp. Pub. Date: February 2009 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1968
Winner of the 1971 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel The incredible fourth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Martin Beck heading a major manhunt in pursuit of a mass-murderer. On a cold and rainy Stockholm night, nine bus riders are gunned down by a mysterious assassin. The press portrays it as a freak attack and dubs the killer a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck thinks otherwise — one of his most ambitious young detectives was among those killed — and he suspects it was more than coincidence. Working on a hunch, Beck seeks out the girlfriend of the murdered detective, and with her help Beck reconstructs the steps that led to his murder. The police comb the country for the killer, only to find that this attack may be connected to a case that has been unsolved for years.
	The Fire Engine That Disappeared (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #5) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 224pp. Pub. Date: June 2009 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1969
The lightning-paced fifth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Beck investigating one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career. The incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building’s eleven occupants. And if one of Martin Beck’s colleagues hadn’t been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe because somehow a regulation fire-truck has vanished. Was it terrorism, suicide, or simply a gas leak? And what if, anything, did the explosion have to do with the peculiar death earlier that day of a 46-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: “Martin Beck”?
	Murder at the Savoy (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #6) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 240pp. Pub. Date: June 2009 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1970
The shocking sixth novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Beck investigating a brutal assassination. When Viktor Palmgren, a powerful Swedish industrialist is shot during his after-dinner speech in the luxurious Hotel Savoy, it sends a shiver down the spine of the international money markets and terrifies the tiny town of Malmo. No one in the restaurant can identify the gunman, and local police are sheepishly baffled. That’s when Beck takes over the scene and quickly picks through Palmgren’s background. What he finds is a web of vice so despicable that it’s hard for him to imagine who wouldn’t want Palmgren dead, but that doesn’t stop him and his team of dedicated detectives from tackling one of their most intriguing cases yet.
	The Abominable Man (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #7) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 240pp. Pub. Date: October 06, 2009 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1971
The striking seventh novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, finds Beck facing one of the greatest challenges in his professional career. The gruesome murder of a police captain in his hospital room reveals the unsavory history of a man who spent forty years practicing a horrible blend of strong-arm police work and shear brutality. Martin Beck and his colleagues feverishly comb Stockholm for the murderer, a demented and deadly rifleman, who has plans for even more chaos. As the tension builds and a feeling of imminent danger grips Beck, his investigation unearths evidence of police corruption. That’s when an even stronger sense of responsibility and something like shame urge him into taking a series of drastic steps, which lead to a shocking disaster.
	The Locked Room (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #8) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 416pp. Pub. Date: December 1992 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Original Pub: 1972
The stunning eighth installment in the Martin Beck mystery series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo is a masterful take on a classic locked room mystery. A young blonde in sunglasses robs a bank and kills a hapless citizen. Across town, a corpse with a bullet shot through its heart is found in a locked room — with no gun at the scene. The crimes seem disparate, but to Martin Beck they are two pieces of the same puzzle, and solving it becomes the one way he can escape the pains of his failed marriage and the lingering effects of a near-fatal bullet wound. Exploring the ramifications of egotism and intellect, luck and accident, this tour de force of detection bears the unmistakable substance and gravity of real life.
	Cop Killer (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #9) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 416pp. Pub. Date: June 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group Original Pub: 1974
Martin Beck investigates the murder of a woman in Southern Sweden, and begins by looking at the murderer he put away in “Roseanna”. At the same time, Malm leads a manhunt for the surviving partner of a teenage criminal who killed a policeman during a gunfight. Description provided by Wikipedia: Cop Killer (novel) page.
	The Terrorists (The Martin Beck Mystery Series #10) Author: Sjowall, Maj and Per Wahloo Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 416pp. Pub. Date: June 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group Original Pub: 1975
The story opens with a trial where an eighteen-year old woman is accused of a bank robbery she never intended to commit. Later, a pornographic film producer is found murdered at the home of his mistress. The main plot of the book involves Martin Beck leading a team of policemen to prevent a presumed terrorist attack on a highly unpopular American senator who is paying an official visit to Sweden. The attack is led by terrorist Reinhard Heydt, born by a Danish mother in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Description provided by Wikipedia: The Terrorists page.

For More Information:

Jo Ann “The Head Rat” Vicarel talks about Sweedish mysteries in the article: Scandanavian Mystery Writers — Then and Now. Pat “The Excitable Rat” Gray discusses The Laughing Policeman in her post The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo: Sweden in the 1960’s.

Originally published in England, Meg Gardiner’s Evan Delaney Mystery Series was published in mass market paperback over a series of a few months. Her first novel, when reprinted in the United States, won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.

Each week I pick a new series and detail it here — giving you the proper order. Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

	China Lake (The Evan Delaney Mystery Series #1) Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 416pp. Pub. Date: June 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
Winner of the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Evan Delaney learns that not only has her ex-sister-in-law joined a religious cult, but the unstable young mother plans to regain custody of her son and disappear with him into the fold of the fanatical group. But when murder raises the stakes, Evan is dragged even deeper into the nightmare.
	Mission Canyon (The Evan Delaney Mystery Series #2) Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 352pp. Pub. Date: July 1, 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
After a hit-and-run accident leaves a friend dead, Evan Delaney wants justice. But she underestimates the power of the person responsible. When the witnesses begin dying one by one, Evan is unprepared for the dark places retribution will take her.
	Jericho Point (The Evan Delaney Mystery Series #3) Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 384pp. Pub. Date: August 5, 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
When a woman’s body washes up on the shore of California’s Jericho Point, she’s identified as Evan Delaney. Except that Evan is very much alive — apparently the victim of an identity thief who’d been scamming Hollywood elite. The thief may be dead, but the crimes she was murdered for — committed in Evan’s name — are turning Evan’s life into a nightmare. Now it’s all Evan can do to survive in the shadow of a dead woman’s lies.
	Crosscut (The Evan Delaney Mystery Series #4) Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 384pp. Pub. Date: September 2, 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
Evan Delaney knew China Lake was a tough place to grow up. She never knew how tough until she returns to the desert military base for her high school reunion and learns that several of her classmates have died young. Then, on the first night of the reunion, another one dies — this one savagely butchered. And she’s just the first. Someone has an ax to grind. And Evan’s graduating class has something to fear.
	Kill Chain (The Evan Delaney Mystery Series #5) Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 384pp. Pub. Date: October 7, 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
When Evan Delaney’s father disappears, the cops think he’s fled the country to avoid prosecution. But Evan is sure he’s been abducted or killed for reasons associated with his work for Naval Intelligence. As Evan hunts for clues, she’s attacked by an armed man. The attacker ends up dead — and turns out to be a federal agent. Now Evan is on the run, implicated in his murder. And then she’s contacted by a sinister duo — a madam and gigolo mother-and-son team who claim her father was mixed up in their very dirty business. Can Evan save her father’s reputation — and his life?