Countdown to

Breaking Point

7/5/05

7 days (and counting) to Breaking Point, in stores on July 12th

Quote of the Day:  This was beyond weird--rooming with his boss.  Please, Heavenly Father, don't let either of them fart tonight.  -- Jules Cassidy's point of view, from Hot Target

Recommended Summer Reads 

Note from Suz:  Today, with only one last, seemingly endless <g> week to go before the July 12th release of Breaking Point, I want to share with you some terrific books that I highly recommend!  

First off, Double Play -- a book that's a change of pace for one of my favorite authors, fellow Massachusetts resident, Robert B. Parker.  Parker is best known for his series of mystery novels set in Boston, featuring Spencer and his associate, Hawk.  

So, okay.  I love Spencer.  And it's no secret that I absolutely adore Hawk, who is perhaps one of my five all-time favorite fictional characters.  I also really admire Parker's clever, humorous style of writing.  No doubt about it, the Spencer books rock.

But Double Play has become my all time favorite Parker novel.  It's a quick read, and it's currently available in paperback.  (Easy to slip into your beach bag!)  It also comes with the Brockmann Quadruple Highest "Must Read" Rating.  

If you like baseball, if you admire the pioneers of the Civil Rights movement, if you enjoy terrific storytelling...  No, you know what?  You don't have to like baseball to love this book.  You just have to like reading about human beings and their ability to hope and dream -- and I will guarantee that you'll enjoy this book.

Here's the back cover blurb from Double Play by Robert B. Parker:
1947: Jackie Robinson breaks major-league baseball's color barrier -- and changes the world.  The event also changes the life of Joseph Burke, veteran of World War II and Robinson's bodyguard -- because under the media spotlight, hard truths are easier than ever to see, and harder to escape.  And some can prove fatal...

Oh, yeah.  Veteran of WWII.  Burke is a survivor of the war in the Pacific -- a real modern American hero.  Double Play -- try it, you'll like it!

Another book that I really enjoyed while on a recent vacation was Velocity by Dean Koontz.   Dean's the man who wrote Odd Thomas, which I absolutely loved.  Velocity is terrific, too.  It's available right now in hardcover.

Here's the blurb from Velocity by Dean Koontz:
Billy Wiles is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life.  But that is about to change.  One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield of his car.

If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County.  If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work.  You have six hours to decide.  The choice is yours.

It seems like a sick joke, and Billy's friend on the police force, Lanny Olsen, thinks so too.  His advice to Billy is to go home and forget about it.  Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously?  No crime has actually been committed.

But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it's Billy's fault: he didn't convince the police to get involved.  Now he's got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum...and two new lives hanging in the balance.

Suddenly, Billy's average, seemingly innocuous life takes on the dimensions and speed of an accelerating nightmare.  Because the notes are coming faster, the deadlines growing tighter, and the killer becoming bolder and crueler with every communication--until Billy is isolated with the terrifying knowledge that he alone has the power of life and death over a psychopath's innocent victims.  Until the struggle between good and evil is intensely personal.  Until the most chilling words of all are: The choice is yours.

Yikes, huh?  Trust me -- the book is awesome.  I loved it -- I really loved Billy.  Dean can certainly create wonderful characters.

Next up!  A couple of rush-to-the-bookstore alerts!  

First, my good friend and fellow RWA member, Virginia Kantra's very first single title novel, Close Up, is out, from Berkley!  Virginia has written a number of wonderful books (that reside on my personal keeper shelf!) for Silhouette Intimate Moments.  (She writes heroes that are absolutely to-die-for!  I love her books!)  

Now, with Close Up, she's moving into exciting new territory.  And holy moly, action/adventure/romance fans!  You are going to LOVE this book!  I highly, highly recommend it, and it's officially on sale today!  

And hey, you can even get a signed copy through Virginia's virtual signing!  Click HERE or go to http://hometown.aol.com/virginiakantra/virtualsigning.html  to find out how!

Here's the cover blurb for Close Up:

Also just out in bookstores...

For people who love books that make them laugh (and who doesn't?!?):  You must pick up Nice Girls Finish First by Alesia Holliday.  I absolutely loved this book and give it the Brockmann Guarantee.  You will laugh out loud -- many times -- while reading this.  

By the way, Alesia's debut novel, American Idle, (which I also loved!) is up for not one but two Rita Awards from RWA.  She's a 2005 finalist for Best First Book as well as a 2005 finalist for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements!

Check out the back cover blurb for Nice Girls Finish First:  

Kirby Green might lose everything because of a double-dog dare. Or she just might discover who she really is . . .

Kirby didn't get to be vice president of marketing by being nice. When she fires her entire staff within a few weeks (they all deserved it, really!), her new boss is hardly impressed. Wanting to prove his point, he issues a bet: If Kirby can get someone - anyone - to call her nice, she can take that long-awaited dream vacation to Italy with her best friend, Jules. If she can't, she can kiss the Coliseum good-bye. Oh, and her job, too.

Now Kirby has exactly thirty days to bully someone into saying she's nice - and to show her boss who's boss. If she doesn't fall hard for him first . . .

Kirby's assistant - and aspiring opera singer - Brianna has the opposite problem. She's so nice she's in danger of fading into the woodwork. Can Brianna teach Kirby a lesson on nice while learning to be the diva she's always dreamed of being?

From the author of AMERICAN IDLE, the book Publisher's Weekly called a 'zany debut,' comes an irrepressibly hilarious novel about learning to be yourself - even if it kills you.

Click HERE to read an excerpt at http://www.alesiaholliday.com/nicegirlsfinishfirst.cfm 

Last, but way not least -- another book that had me laughing aloud, a book about Hollywood and movie making that I enjoyed as much as the Nicolas Cage movie, ADAPTATION...  Available right now, in hardcover, from Bruce Campbell (the star of Brisco County Junior and the main character, Ash, from the Evil Dead movies!), is Make Love! (the Bruce Campbell Way).  

LOL!  Some title, huh?  But yes, it's fiction -- it's Bruce's first novel.  (He wrote a really funny and wonderful memoir called If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, that I'd highly recommended during a different countdown a few years ago.)  But Make Love! is more than your average ordinary novel -- Bruce has made himself the main character of this hilarious adventure in movie-making.

Here is what you'll see if you pick up this book and read the cover flap:  

What you're reading right now is known as the "flap copy."  This is where the 72,444 words of my latest book, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, are cooked down to fit in a 3-1/2 by 9-1/2 inch column.  But how does one do that with a fictional story about a B movie actor's disastrous attempt to finally star in a big-budget Hollywood movie?  Do you tantalize readers with snappy zingers like the one in chapter six where Biff the Wonder Boy says, "You may be bred in ol' Kentucky, but you're only a crumb up here"?  Or do you reveal pivotal plot points like the one at the end of the book where the little girl on crutches points an accusing finger and shouts, "The killer is Mr. Potter!"

I have too much respect for you as an attention-deficient consumer to attempt such an obvious ruse.  But let's not play games here.  You've already picked up the book, so you either:
    A. Know who I am
    B. Like the cool smoking jacket I'm wearing on the cover
    C. Have just discovered that the bookstore restroom is out of toilet paper

Is this a sequel to my autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor?  Sadly, no, which made it much harder to write.  According to my publisher, I haven't "done" enough since 2001 to warrant another memoir.

Is it an "autobiographical novel"?  Yes.  I'm the lead character in the story and I'm a real person and everything in the book actually happened, except for all the stuff that didn't.

Mostly, the action revolves on my preparations for a pivotal role in director Mike Nichols's A-list relationship film Let's make Love!, starring Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger, and Christopher Plummer.  This is the kind of break most actors can only dream of.  But my Homeric attempt to break through the glass ceiling of B-grade genre fare is hampered by a vengeful studio executive and a production that becomes infected by something called the "B movie virus," symptoms of which include excessive use of cheesy special effects, slapstick, and projective vomiting.

From a violent fistfight with a Buddhist to a life-altering stint in federal prison, this novel has it all.  If you like John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or one too many run-on sentences, you'll absolutely love Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way.  And if the 72,444 words are too time-consuming, there are lots and lots of cool graphics.

Regards,
Bruce "Don't Call Me Ash" Campbell

Okay, that wasn't quite last -- one more note for you.  Catherine Mann (who will be attending my Rendezvous in Reno party on July 29th) has a truly terrific book coming out on July 26th called Code of Honor.  Make sure you put that one on your "To Buy" list!  

Plus, Catherine's also having a virtual signing -- click HERE  to find out how to get a signed copy of Code of Honor from http://www.catherinemann.com/coh_signing.htm 

Here's the cover blurb for Code of Honor:  

One Last Chance
Air Force captain Joe Greco had stood silently by when photojournalist Brigid Wheeler fell for his best friend, and he lent her comfort when Cooper was killed. Now he was forced to play protector as they embarked on the most dangerous mission in their lives.

One Last Chance
The cover operation was a chance for Brigid to avenge Cooper's death, and nothing would stop her from following Joe into the jungle. Though the grief they shared had brought them close, they'd never crossed the line. Until now.

One Last Betrayal
In the heat of danger Joe and Brigid finally surrendered to the explosive passion that burned between them. Then they discovered a shattering truth: Cooper was alive...and the ultimate betrayal was still to come...

That's all for now!  Just one more week to go!  Be sure to come back for tomorrow's installment in the Countdown to Breaking Point!

See you tomorrow!