Path of Beasts (Museum Keepers #3)

Path of Beasts by Lian Tanner is the third book in her Museum Keepers series. This dystopian series is set around the city of Jewel that contains a museum that changes with the mood of the city and how safe or threatened it feels.

Goldie, Toadspit and Bonnie are back from the city of Spoke. When they arrive back in Jewel and begin to sneak their way to the museum the see a sight that makes them think that all that was gained for the citizens of Jewel has been lost. There are mercenaries on the streets maintaining a curfew. And the Guardians who were disbanded with the end of the Fugleman's reign seem to have returned.

Now the people of the museum will begin a strategy of pranks and trickery to try to weaken the Fugleman's position. But if he finds out the museum is behind the campaign he will use his new cannon on the building - something that the creatures who live in the exhibits would not sit idly by and let happen.

Tanner has created a great series that will be loved by readers from age 10 and up. The Museum Keepers should be on any list of recommended fiction!

Tanner, Lian. (2012). Path of Beasts. New York: Delacourte Press.

The Double Eagle (Tom Kirk #1)

The Double Eagle by James Twining is the first book in his series featuring master thief Tom Kirk.

After a long career as a thief Tom is ready to retire. He plans on moving his father's shop to London and living a life within the law. His last job was to be two parts but he has no desire to complete it.

FBI Agent Jennifer Browne has been doing very little on the job since a shooting she was cleared of two years ago. Now is her chance to prove she is a good agent... A 1933 Double Eagle coin was found in Europe. The Double Eagle was last issued in 1933 and then recalled by FDR. It was thought that there were only three left in existence. Now one is tied to the murder of a priest.

Twining's plot, characters and amazing historical facts will have readers' attention until the last page. This is a great read for fans of history, espionage, heist stories, and thrillers. Read it!

Twining, James. (2005). The Double Eagle. New York: Harper Torch.

Once (Eve #2)

Once by Anna Carey is the second book in her Eve trilogy - a dystopian future that takes elements of The Handmaid's Tale and The Road an adds them to a thrilling and compelling story.

Eve was raised in the School with the other orphaned girls. When she was about to graduate she heard a rumor that they would not be trained for a career in the building across the lake, they would be used to breed more humans to repopulate the US from a plague that had wiped out most of the population. When she confirmed for herself what was going on, she escaped.

Now Eve is living in Calfia - a camp that takes in women who need a safe place to live. But the whole time she has been away from the school she has been hunted by the King's soldiers. As valedictorian she was selected to go to the King of The New America - presumably to give him an heir. When she overhears one of the head women comment that she could be used as a bargaining chip if Califia is invaded, she decides to move on.

Before she even makes it out of San Francisco, Eve is caught by the King's soldier and taken to the City of Sand - the new capital, built where Las Vegas once stood. But Eve is not to be the King's concubine, she is his daughter.

Carey has created a fabulous series in which readers will lose themselves and pace ceaselessly until the next book is published. Read this series!

Carey, Anna. (2012). Once. New York: Harper.

Adaptation

Adaptation by Malinda Lo is new science fiction book. Lo is an awesome writer whose previous YA books have been lesbian fantasy stories while this novel takes place in the near future when something goes wrong with the birds...

Reese Holloway and David Li are in Arizona with their debate teacher. They made it to the national debates but lost last night. Now the three of them are waiting at the airport for their delayed flight. As Reese looks out the window onto the tarmac she sees two birds plummet to the ground. Then, on the news playing in the background, there is word of a plane crash - apparently caused by a bird strike. Soon all air travel is grounded as birds strike other planes.

It looks like Reese, David and their teacher will have to drive home to San Francisco. That night, Reese is driving when they crash due to a bird flying right at the car. When she awakes she is in some kind of hospital and things in the US have changed from what she was used to from before.

Reese and David are driven back to San Francisco, but they don't feel like themselves. And there is now a curfew for the city. Reese's best friend is convinced there is a conspiracy behind the birds and curfew - but he is also convinced that since Reese crashed in Arizona, she must have been in Area 51 - where the government keeps the aliens.

Lo has written an edge-of-your-seat science fiction thriller with great characters who are trying to figure out their changing world. Previous fans will not be disappointed in this new direction - there is still a lesbian love story. There is a rumor that this is the first book in a series...

Lo, Malinda. (2012). Adaptation. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Black List (Scot Harvath #11)

Black List by Brad Thor is the eleventh book in his Scot Harvath series about a highly trained special forces soldier who has served in many capacities for the United States and is now working with the private military/security company The Carlton Group.

When Scot Harvath arrived at the Paris safe house he was surprised to see a member of the all-female Delta force group The Athena Project - but not nearly as surprised as when someone start shooting at them in the doorway.

Now Scot is on the run. He knows that protocol is to find a way out of France and to a safe location where he can contact Reed Carlton. After contacting Carlton through Skype his hiding place is attacked.

The superhacker known as "The Troll" is on his way to Texas. He has been contacted by one of his few true friends Caroline Romero who works for ATS - basically the computer securities division of the NSA (although technically ATS is a private corporation).

Thor has written a great thriller that will grab readers from page one and not let go until the very last word. Black List is what a military, espionage thriller should be.

Thor, Brad. (2012). Black List. New York: Atria Books.

A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher #17)

A Wanted Man by Lee Child is the seventeenth book in his Jack Reacher series about an ex-military cop who is wandering the United States and keeps stumbling upon scenes where his training and detective skills can be of use.

In Nebraska a man is murdered by two men in black suits. Roadblocks are set up looking for them in a red car. FBI Agent Julia Sorenson is sent to the town where the murder occurred to begin an investigation.

Also in Nebraska, Jack Reacher is dropped off by a driver whose direction is going the opposite of where Reacher is headed. After some time in the cold on the side of a highway, he is picked up by two men and a woman who are headed East. While Reacher is glad of the ride, he thinks that all three of the people in the car are lying about something.

Child has written another exciting thrill ride in this series featuring a great character who makes his own rules to bring people to his sense of justice.

Child, Lee. (2012). A Wanted Man. New York: Delacourte Press.

Eve (Eve trilogy #1)

Eve by Anna Carey is the first book in her dystopian series in a post-plague America in the year 2032. A plague wiped out a huge part of the population of the United States and the New America is ruled by a King.

Eve and other girl orphans are in a school somewhere in the west of the US. They are surrounded by a wall that protects the girls from wild dogs, rebels, and other unnamed dangers. Eve has been at the school since she was five years old and her mother had the plague. Now her class is about to graduate. When they graduate they will be moved across the small lake to join the other graduates.

But the night before graduation, Eve sees a classmate Arden about to try to escape. Arden is convinced that the promised post-graduation life is not what they said it would be. Later that night Eve sneaks around the lake and looks in the window of the graduate center.

What she sees proves that she is not going to be able to study painting like she was promised. Now she must escape and make her way to a fabled place called Califia where they take in strays. But in order to get there she will have to travel hundreds of miles through plague deadened lands filled with rebels, gangs and wild animals.

Carey has written a novel that is a cross between Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Margaret Atwater's Handmaid's Tale. It captures the fear and desperation a post-plague world. Readers will race to the library to find the second book as soon as they finish Eve.

Carey, Anna. (2011). Eve. New York: Harper.

The Key (Magnificent 12 #3)

The Key by Michael Grant is the third book in his Magnificent 12 series about twelve twelve year-olds who will have to save the world from an ancient evil that is about to resurface.

Mack MacAvoy has been traveling the world over to find the other eleven kids who are required to save the world. There are now five of them together and they are on their way to Scotland to find a key that will help them with the ancient magical language of Vargran.

If Mack and friends can get the Key they will travel to France to find more of the Magnificent 12. However, they will have to fight Risky, the evil's daughter, and her henchmen along the way.

Grant has created an adventure series with laugh-out-loud humor that will appeal to a wide audience. People of all ages should read this series.

Grant, Michael. (2012). The Key. New York: Tegan Books.

The Queen's Lady (Lacey Chronicles #2)

The Queen's Lady by Eve Edwards is the second book in the Lacey Chronicles which takes place in the 1580s in London among higher society.

Lady Jane has been married for six months and is now Marchioness Rievaulx. Her father had practically locked her away when she broke her engagement to Will Lacey, but she could not marry the man that her best friend loved. Now she is married to a lovely older man who is like the father figure she never had, but he is dying.

Once her husband dies, Jane will go into service for the queen. It is one of the only safe ways to keep the fortune her husband plans on leaving her without his sons stealing it from her. And at court there is always a chance she will see James Lacey, Will's younger brother. Plus it will give her a chance to see her other best friend, Milly Porter, who is a seamstress in London.

When Jane left Lacey hall six months ago, James decided to join the war effort against the spread of Catholicism. He became a spy in the Low Countries. But as someone who was to be invisible he could do nothing to stop the slaughter he witnessed. Now he is home but haunted by images from the war and his brother has decided to send him to court to join the expedition to the new world.

Jane and James will meet at court, but will the affection they feel for each other be able to overcome their individual and shared pasts? Edwards has created a series that captures 1580s London high society with great characters. This is a fun read that will stick with readers.

Edwards, Eve. (2011). The Queen's Lady. New York: Delacourt.