Y The Last Man: Unmanned (Y #1)

Unmanned, the first book in the Y The Last Man series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra begins with a virus that kills everyone with a y chromosome - except Yorick Brown and his pet chimp Ampersand.

An unknown virus has instantly killed virtually every man on the planet. But somehow Yorick Brown lives. Now he is on his way to Washington, DC to find his mother who is a representative from Ohio.

His mother and the new President (former Sec. of Agriculture) send him to Boston to find the top scientist in cloning. It is up to him to save the human race - but all he wants to do if find his sister and his girlfriend.

Vaughan, Brian and Pia Guerra. (2002). Y The Last Man: Unmanned. New York: Veritigo.

Streams of Babel

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci is about terrorism.

Taking place in 2002, the story is set in the small town of Trinity Falls, New Jersey. Cora Holman lives with and takes care of her mother. She knows little about her mother – she did not meet her until she was twelve. Her mother is a drug addict; due to an injury Cora knows little about, her mother gave up her career as a photographer and moved home to die. But when she does, Cora’s life is sent in a spin. Not because of her mother’s death but because of the cause.

Scott Ebberman, an EMT who works on the local ambulance, sees the signs in his mother that Cora’s mother died from. He is convinced that there is some new illness in the works. But what do the two women have common other than proximity? They did not know each other. Scott and his brother Owen were never great friends with Cora.

Across the planet in Pakistan, Shahzad Hamdani is working in his uncle’s Internet café. Not only does he work for his uncle, he works for the CIA. A suspected terrorist is using the café to contact others in a group that is talking about poisoning the water somewhere. Shahzad and his CIA handler have to track down the location before people start to get sick and die…

Plum-Ucci, Carol. (2008). Streams of Babel. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Kiss and Tell (Sunrise Key #1)

Kiss and Tell by Suzanne Brockmann is the first book in the Sunrise trilogy.

Leila Hunt is visiting her brother in the Florida Keys. She is on vacation from her job in New York City and is in her hometown for New Years Eve. She moved off of the small island of Sunrise Key because she always felt like everyone was in everyone else’s business.

Leila is home trying to decide if she should marry her boyfriend Elliot. She knows she doesn’t really love him, but thinks he will be a good father for the children her bio-clock is telling her she wants. But at midnight at her brother’s costume party a man dressed as a ninja kisses her. When they kiss there are fireworks – well, there are actually fireworks, but Leila is sure they are coming from this stranger.

Now she is on a mission to find the ninja who ran off after he kissed her. Her brother and his best friend Marshall – whom Leila has been fighting with since she was ten – are trying to help her narrow the possible men. When the guest list is narrowed to four men plus Marsh, Leila is off to find each man and kiss him again – if only to prove that what she felt was due to the champagne.

Brockmann, Suzanne. (1996). Kiss and Tell. New York: Bantam Books.

Body Guard

Body Guard by Suzanne Brockmann is about escaping from the mob.

Alessandra Lamont has something that mob boss Michael Trotta wants - one million dollars that her husband stole. Unfortunately, Trotta did not discover the theft until after he killed Lamont's husband. Now if Alessandra doesn't find the money that she knew nothing about she will be killed. She has 48 hours.

FBI agent Harry O'Dell is fearless. He is good at his job because he does not consider his personal safety a priority. Since his wife and son were killed he is solely focused on revenge.

When Harry and Alessandra are forced together in a fake witness protection detail to trap Trotta, Harry may find a reason to reclaim his life - and reconnect with his two other children.

Brockmann, Suzanne. (1999). Body Guard. New York: Ballantine Books.

Learning to Fly

Learning to Fly by April Henry is a thriller that will capture readers from the first page.

Free Meeker is the daughter of hippies (obviously). All she has ever wanted was to be normal. When she learned she was pregnant by her cheating boyfriend she decided to get away for a few days.

On her way back to her parents house she picks up a hitchhiker. Though Free doesn't know it, Lydia is running from an abusive husband. Free agrees to drive her to Portland - hours out of her way.

A couple hours from Portland a dust cloud obstruct the highway. After the chaos of a huge pile up where Lydia is killed, Free finds herself in possession of a gym bag full of money. The next morning the newspaper lists Free's name among the dead.

Trying to escape her old life, Free takes the money and Lydia's identity and decides to start over in Portland. But the person who the drug money belongs to will not let nearly one million dollars just walk away. And Lydia's husband will not sit back and be humiliated as his wife tries to escape from him. Who will find Free first?

Henry, April. (2002). Learning to Fly. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

Flygirl

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith is about one of the pilots of the WASP - Women's Airforce Service Pilots - of WWII.

Ida Mae Jones loves to fly. Her daddy taught her in a JN-4 "Jenny" that he used to crop dust fields outside of New Orleans. When the US gets involved in WWII and her brother Thomas quits medical school to join the Army, Ida Mae wishes there was something she could do to help.

Then her little brother sees an ad in the newspaper for WASP. She is thrilled until she remembers that the Army only wants white women pilots. But she loves to fly and will do most anything for the chance.

Ida Mae's light skin allows her to pass for white though it is very dangerous. When she is allowed to join the training program for the WASP she has to go to Texas - an even more harsh place for African Americans than where she grew up. If she is caught she will likely be sentenced to death.

But she loves to fly and the WASP program will give her the opportunity to fly so many types of planes...

Smith, Sherri L. (2008). Flygirl. New York: G.P.Putnam and Sons.

Dark of Night (Troubleshooters #14)

Dark of Night is the 14th book in Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooter series. The Troubleshooters are dealing with the death of one of their team - Jimmy Nash.

Sophia and Dave have been dating for a short time - Dave's dream come true. When they go to Boston so that Sophia can say goodbye to her dying father, Dave is attacked. His past seems to be coming back to haunt him.

Attacks on other of Jimmy's friends lead the team to believe that it is not Dave's past that is haunting him.
Someone is panicking, trying to make sure that Jimmy is really dead and trying to take out his friends to see if he comes to their rescue.

The black ops agency he worked for is trying to cover its tracks. The Troubleshooters have to find out who is running the agency before they can kill everyone Jimmy ever cared about.

Brockmann has written another sexy suspense thriller that readers will not be able to put down. It looks like Decker has finally met his match.

Publishing note: pages 119 to 184 have been scrambled! All of the copies my library received are this way, but the book it too good to wait for the correction. The pages are numbered so read it anyway. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure with only one path!

Brockmann, Suzanne. (2009). Dark of Night. New York: Ballantine Books.