I carried the two small bags out to her car, which was parked at the far end of the block. “I’ll set them in the back seat for you,” I said.
“I’m so excited,” she replied.
The object of her anticipation was at the bottom of the Saks cord-handled bag, but I know it will be the first book she’ll dig out of it. From the titles she had carried up to the register I knew she was a candidate for a Vanessa Michael Munroe story.
It probably shouldn’t, but I still get a little surprised when a little lady – struggling to keep a grip on three or four paperbacks at a time – has such a firm grasp on espionage and suspense stories. I had intended to suggest author Daniel Silva based on the titles she had already chosen, but when I offered to carry her selections up to the front, I noticed two of Silva’s books were already among them.
“Can you think of someone else I might like?” she asked, after I’d already offered up Lee Child, Nelson DeMille, and Stieg Larsson. (She’d already gone through all those.)
“Do you ever read a hardback?” I asked, and then brought over a copy of The Informationist. “It has a woman character that’s a little like Jason Bourne, James Bond, and Lizbeth Salander rolled into one.”
She decided to give it a try, even though she said hardbacks are tough to read in bed. (I have the same experience. Just as I begin to nod off, the book topples over and bonks me on the forehead.)
Author Taylor Stevens has been up late pounding at the keyboard. She’s the force behind the Monroe series, has a novella just released and a hardback due this summer. THE VESSEL is a great fill-in-the-blanks story. I’m sure you’ve experienced one of those – a book that leaves a character’s outcome unsettled, or a question unanswered. The “vessel” is the ship the bad guy sailed away on in a previous episode.
Needless to say, he’s looking over his shoulder. As Vanessa Michael Munroe notes early on, “He has to be.”
When Count of Monte Cristo is placed on the checkout counter, I always think – now THERE is a revenge story. THE VESSEL is a little like that, except Munroe isn’t so much out to get even, personally, as she is intending to put a stop to the bad guy’s activities. More of stalker story than a tale of retribution, and one that allows the author’s character to flex her muscles – both physically and mentally.
Never thought I’d be pointing anyone toward an eReader, but unfortunately (for a bookseller), that’s the way THE VESSEL has been released. The good news for you Kindle’rs, iPad owners, and Nook-ers, is that the ninety-nine cents you’ll spend for a digital copy will be the best less-than-a-dollar you’ll spend this summer. (Even ice cream cones are more than that, these days…)
Come visit!
McHuston
Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK! 74012