Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most!
Check back every Wednesday and see what we're reading for the week!
Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton
Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he’s also brilliant, rich, and (some people might say) handsome, or he’d probably be homeless. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard Business and Harvard Law. Her aggressive Texas spitfire attitude has helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst with mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. At least Riley Moon thought it was her dream job, until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight.
What starts off as an inquiry about missing bank funds in the Knight account leads to inquiries about a missing man, missing gold, and a life-and-death race across the country. Through the streets of Washington, D.C., and down into the underground vault of the Federal Reserve in New York City, an evil plan is exposed. A plan so sinister that only a megalomaniac could think it up, and only the unlikely duo of the irrepressibly charming Emerson Knight and the tenacious Riley Moon can stop it.
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The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history—and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?
The case affords Paul entry to the heady world of high society—the glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his disposal—private spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P. Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it?
In obsessive pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric, brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.
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Damaged by Lisa Scottoline
One boy. One lawyer. One chance for justice.
Ten-year-old Patrick O'Brien is a natural target at school. Shy, dyslexic, and small for his age, he tries to hide his first-grade reading level from everyone: from his classmates, from the grandfather who cares for him, and from the teachers who are supposed to help him. But the real trouble begins when Patrick is accused of attacking a school aide. The aide promptly quits and sues the boy, his family, and the school district. Patrick's grandfather turns to the law firm of Rosato & DiNunzio for help and Mary DiNunzio is on the case. Soon Mary becomes Patrick's true champion and his only hope for security and justice. But there is more to the story than meets the eye and Patrick might be more troubled than he seems. With twists at every turn and secrets about the family coming to light, Mary DiNunzio might have found the case that can make her a true protector, or break her heart…
Read an excerpt from Damaged here!
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Any Minute Now by Eric Van Lustbader
Red Rover is broken, finished, dead. The blackest of black ops teams is betrayed on its top-priority mission to capture and interrogate a mysterious Saudi terrorist. One of their own is killed, the remaining two barely get home alive. Then without warning or explanation the mission is shut down.
Greg Whitman and Felix Orteño are left adrift in a world full of deathly shadows, blind alleys, and unanswerable questions. Into their midst comes Charlize Daou, a brilliant, wildly talented arms expert with a past entangled with Whit's. Though Charlie grapples with damage of her own, she becomes their new center, their moral compass, and their reason for resurrecting Red Rover.
Despite Whit's seemingly super-normal abilities it is Charlie, fully rooted in reality, who recognizes that both Whit and Felix have lost parts of themselves. And it is she who possesses the true power necessary for survival: the power to heal, to forgive, and to bring these two lost souls back from the demonic spiritual darkness into which they have fallen.
Ignoring their new orders, Red Rover secretly sets out to find the protected Saudi terrorist, the first step in a perilous journey into the heart of a vast conspiracy that involves the NSA, a cabal of immensely wealthy mystics known as the Alchemists, and an ageless visionary out to create an entirely new way of waging war. A war that will destabilize one of the great super-powers and forever rearrange the balance of power across the entire globe.
Read an excerpt from Any Minute Now by Eric Van Lustbader.
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Rob Thy Neighbor by David Thurlo
Charlie Henry and his friends are enjoying a cookout on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. But when a gunshot rings out in the neighborhood, Charlie is abruptly brought back to a world he's all too familiar with.
As he and best friend Gordon run to the source of the shot, they happen upon two masked intruders in their next-door neighbor's house. The men seem to be there to kidnap Sam Randall, the owner of the home, but upon the interruption from Charlie and Gordon, they abandon their mark and get away in a waiting van outside.
Detective DuPree has been investigating a string of similar home invasions in the area, but this one seems out of the ordinary. Sam Randall hires Charlie and Gordon to investigate the crime, not trusting the police to keep him and his wife safe. Detective Dupree warns Charlie and Gordon not to overstep their bounds in police business, but he needs all the help he can get. The investigation reveals Ray Geiger, son of retired NYPD cop Frank Geiger, as the prime suspect. As the simple home invasion case continues to turn into something more, it is up to Charlie and Gordon to protect the Randall's and themselves as they attempt to uncover the truth.
See also: Rob Thy Neighbor: New Excerpt and Review: Rob Thy Neighbor by David Thurlo.
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