Thanks to Wesley, mystery has become my favorite fictional genre. Her sassy sleuth, Tamara Hayle embraces those true qualities of the quintessential African American woman; strong and sassy on the outside while all the while able to conceal her internal self-doubts and fears. In the end, it's all done for the betterment of her family, friends, her community at large.

When Tamara takes on the case to find the murderer of her ex-husband's son, she knew that against her better judgement, it was something she had to do. After all, she too shares a son with this man even though he hasn't been much of a father to him. The only thing that I really didn't feel too comfortable with was how Tamara handled the fate of her son. I thought she should have shown more concern in the beginning about his welfare. As the book progresses, however, the motherly instincts kick in better. Tamara also shows us how hard it is for a Sista not to get clouded by her feminine desires when it's the right thing to do.

All in all, this is an engaging book with a strong ending. There are many characters flowing through this mystery. This creates motives and means for many so it concludes in a very unpredictable fashion which is exactly what you want in a good mystery.

Thanks Valerie for the Tamara Hayle series. This is the second one I read and I will definitely be reading them all!

I read this book in two days. Great mystery! This is a must read. Tamara Hayle is a great detective. This would be a great book for a book club

"Someone is after my sons Tamamra." Every so often you come across a book that you can't put down. You must continue reading to the very last pages. That was the case with this book. When Death Comes Stealing by Valarie Wilson Wesely. This mystery book about murder and the race against time will keep you on the edge of your seat. Will the smart and witty dectective Tamamra Hayle uncover the mysterious murder before it takes her son? You will just have to read and find out. What I enjoyed about this book was the narrative hook. The narrative book was that form the very begining someone was murdered, but the authour never told you until the very end, there was no way for you to know the killer without reading the last pages. I also enjoyed the suspense and mystery. On the other hand, you always have something about a book that you don't like or that annoys you. The didn't I didn't enjoy about When Death Comes Stealing was the language. This book had a lot ofcursing. I think the other could have used different words in stead of cursing. I learned that you should spend more time with your family because in an instant, they can be snatched away from you by a mysterious force. I would recommend this book for anyone who is over the age of fourteen due to the fact of language. If you like mystery books, this also the book for you.

David Rosenfelt's debut work is a marvelous legal thriller with a strong & likeable protagonist - the maverick lawyer - Andy Carpenter. Open and Shut is a mystery & a suspense thriller, & is as good as any Grisham work.

Andy Carpenter is a talented & successful attorney with a great reputation as a trial lawyer. His father, Nelson Carpenter, a former District Attorney, asks Andy to take an appeal case of a young black man, Willie Miller, accused of the murder of a lady journalist. Nelson himself had prosecuted Miller a couple of years back, & before Andy could get any information on the case or the reason why his father wants to defend Miller, Nelson dies - leaving behind lot of unanswered questions.

Suddenly Andy is the inheritor of a huge fortune that he never knew his father possessed. He also finds an old photo of his father & a few friends who he feels has a close connection with the Willie Miller case. With few clues & little knowledge of the background, Carpenter takes a seemingly airtight case & what follows is courtroom drama at its best with Andy finding out chilling truths & opening closed secrets - that were best left undisturbed.

Open and Shut is an impressive legal thriller. However, the theme of the work (lawyer finding a dark secret of his dead father) is one that has been dealt with in two other legal thrillers published this year, John Grisham's The Summons & Stephen L. Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park. For so long authors have been after the 'alcoholic/disillusioned lawyers' (eg.- David Cray's Bad Lawyer, Barry Reed's The Verdict, J. F. Freedman's Disappearance, etc.) Now I see a shift in focus toward the theme of 'a past secret discovery.' with Michael Salinas' White Lies being another notable example in recent years.

Rosenfelt delivers a taut thriller, & it is impossible to believe that this is a debut work. Carpenter has all the makings of a series protagonist, & I wouldn't be surprised to find a 'Carpenter Thriller' occupying the bestseller racks in a couple of years.

Most first novels read like first novels. Not David Rosenfelt's OPEN AND SHUT. Rosenfelt offers up a rarity - a lawyer you like and a lawyer you want to root for. Attorney Andy Carpenter's musings are more than worth the price of admission for this novel.

The read works on a number of fronts, with good plot, subplots, and a nice supporting cast. "Legal thrillers" aren't usually my first choices when selecting crime fiction, but to this book's credit it goes more for heart than power lunches and three piece suits.

I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

It's hard to believe this is David Rosenfelt's first novel, but that's what the book jacket says.

New Jersey attorney Andy Carpenter's biggest problems are fretting over whether to work things out with his estranged wife or move forward with pretty PI Laurie Collins. He's good in court, wins most of his cases, and is popular with judges and prosecutors alike. He lives with a Golden Retriever named Tara in a house he likes a lot, and life is pretty darn good.

And then Andy's father, Nelson, a retired prosecutor, asks him to take on the appeal of Willie Miller, on death row for a murder Nelson himself prosecuted. Before Andy can ask his father what's going on, Nelson dies. Finding himself heir to a mysterious fortune and a troubling photograph, Andy plods ahead with his new client's appeal. And that's when the threats start. Andy himself had always believed Willie Miller was guilty, so who could feel so threatened by a re-trial?

As the investigation of the murder Willie was convicted of, that of young newspaper reporter Denise McGregor, progresses, evidence of an old and ugly murder gradually comes to light. What are the connections, and what could Willie Miller have had to do with it? More intriguing, what about the photo of Nelson Carpenter and his powerful friends? And where did Nelson Carpenter get all that money which he never touched? This novel is artfully constructed and superbly plotted and, if this is a first novel, I hope it's only the first of many to come. This author is uncommonly talented and this is a spectacular debut.

Sure, I grew up in Morristown and thus immediately identified with Reiken's setting (Livingston, NJ; the Turtle Back Zoo; the Jersey shore) and the characters. But Reiken's talent is taking the ordinary--the lives of a middle class New Jersey family--and digging until the magic appears. And magic is what we get from every point of view in this book.

Anthony, the teenage hockey star, is our first-person character, and through him we learn about the world his family inhabits: its geographical location as well as its emotional landscape. The joy of the story is moving from this first person to the points of view of his father, his mother, his neighbor, and a few other characters who inhabit this space. All are searching or longing for connections, deeply personal connections. In the shadow of the Meadowlands complex, where a wrong turn off Route 3 can lead to danger or just surreality, connections are hard to come by, even within the bounds of your own family.

Some of the jumping around in this book makes for the most fun. From revisiting high school from the point of view of the bully's girlfriend as he beats on some sorry kid to meeting a lover on a trip to buy bagels, Reiken gets you with absolutely fascinating magic moments. I highly recommend this book.

With his knockout second novel, Reiken makes it clear that he is not a one-hit wonder. A much more complex and multidimensional book than its predecesssor, The Lost Legends once again demonstrates Reiken's uncanny ability to create characters we feel and know and remember. The most amazing thing about the novel, however, is that it simultaneously manages to depict suburban New Jersey as both mundane and magical. The author's gift is that he is capable of taking the ordinary and, while keeping it realistic, achieve a certain resonance that stems directly from the characters' varying and all-too-human points of view. In other words, the magic is not literally magic. Rather, we feel a sense of magic because at certain times we feel a character's sense of wonder and beauty rising out of the sterility of the landscape -- something like the plastic bag scene in "American Beauty." Reiken is masterful at this kind of thing and New Jersey is the perfect setting for such moments of quiet luminosity. In one scene, for instance, the main character and his sister take a nighttime bike ride across Livingston NJ under a full moon. What could easily be banal turns haunting under the glow of the moonlight -- no magic realism here, just emotionally charged childhood wonder (and sorrow). Likewise, the scene in which Anthony finds a garbage dump filled with old band instruments in the Meadowlands becomes legendary... This is a powerful, heart-wrenching book, a must read, whether or not you've ever driven the NJ Turnpike!

Frederick Reiken has given us a wonderful, brilliant novel. It snuck up on me. I started reading it thinking it was a nice, coming of age in New Jersey novel, but after about 50 pages, I realized it is so much more than that. As a coming of age novel, it is wonderful. Reikien's prose is so evocative of a particular place and time (northern New Jersey, 1979-1981). But this novel is about so much more. It is about the tremendous hold the past has over us, how it keeps being repeated, in our actions and in our minds. It is about stories--the stories we tell, the stories we omit and what the listener/reader must extrapolate from beyond the boundaries of what is told. I highly recommend this book. I don't think you have to be from New Jersey, or in your thirties to appreciate what happens to Anthony Rubin, the wonderful protagonist, and his family. His parents separate after his father's affair with his best friend's mother and Anthony falls in love with the girl next door, whose father just could be in the mafia. A wonderful story, wonderfully told. I highly recommend it.

A true education of the world of gambling from a master of the cards himself- a professional magician and gambling expert - Swain fools the reader again and again as the mystery unravels. This is James Swain's second book featuring Tony Valentine, an intelligent ex-cop (retired) who worked Atlantic City when he was on the force, and became an expert in casino crime over the years. Now he catches casino cheaters for a living. I found this novel to be fast paced, witty, funny, and addictive. The first Tony Valentine book, Grift Sense, was a great read, too, introducing the reader to his deadbeat son, Gerry, and caring neighbor Mabel. Swain has created characters who are genuine, well-rounded, flaws and all. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of deceit taking place in Valentine's hometown, Atlantic City. Once again, the writing was crisp, concise and witty. Swain writes with a subtle, somewhat sarcastic sense of humor. In the same style as Grift Sense, there were so many plot twists, your head will spin! Over and over, I was absolutely sure "who dunnit", only to find I was wrong every time! I am looking forward to reading the third book, newly released, Sucker Bet.

Swain clearly has hit on a fresh topic in mystery novels. Grift Sense was very good. Funny Money is better. Like a fine well aged wine, Tony Valentine is both smooth and complex. His determination is inspiring and draws you in. Swain brings us through a labrynth of twisting scenarios making the book a very fun read. The relationship between Tony and his son is classic.
Swains descriptions of the emotions between them paints a clear picture in your mind putting you right there with them.
Read both Grift Sense and Funny Money and you get the sense that Jim Swain is well on his way to becoming big in the mystery catagory. I loved the story line and the fact that I couldn't put this book down. It's very intriguing to read about gambling scams. Makes you wonder just how much of it is based on actual similar events.
I suspect quite a bit. I can't wait for Book 3.

I read Grift Sense and Funny Money back-to-back in a two day span; they were both GREAT! I found Funny Money a bit better 'read', but I think that's from knowing Tony Valentine and crew so well, as I had just read their exploits in Grift Sense. I read in a blurb on the bookjacket, that Swain has invented a new genre, Casino Noir, and that is a nice way to describe the books. Swain has an insider's viewpoint of cheating, gambling and cons that worked for this reader! If you like detective/mystery novels this will definitely turn you on. I can't wait for Book #3! Tony Valentine is an ex-cop, a street-wise "Con Catcher" with a heart of gold under his cynical facade...I wonder who will play him in the movies? Enjoy these books!

An excellent novel that is hard to put down. Not since I've read the works of Michael Cunningham has an author captured or moved me so. I identifed very strongly with the central character, Robin MacKenzie, having grown-up closely to the same time period. So many authors throw pop culture references into their books so that the reader can identify themselves with the book. By doing this, they think it will make up for the poor writing, which is definately not the case here! Author K.M. Soehnlein draws you into Robin's world effortlessly and everything is described in perfect, colorful, vivid detail that stays with you long after the book is closed. (Examples, describing the fatal trajedy with his brother, Jackson. Or, Robin's love and sexual awakening with both Scott Schatz and Todd Spicer. Why is it that us "normal boys" are always attracted to the dangerous, "rough boys?") One of the few novels that I hope the author writes a sequel to. Please don't tell that the world of Robin MacKenzie is over when his his life is just beginning. Would make an great movie or play! Someone please "green light" this!!

About once every decade or so along comes an author with a voice so clear and exciting that a first novel becomes a revelation. K.M. Soehnlein has given us another universally effective tale of the coming of age of a boy in the labyrinth of puberty. Joyce, Salinger, Wolfe did it and created prototypes that became icons for countless young men fortunate enough to be encouraged to read abou the tangles life presents when the hormone balance shifts toward adulthood. "The World of Normal Boys" is a sheer wonder of writing skill, passion, and commitment. I wonder at the lack of notoriety due a book of this stature - but then perhaps this book has fallen victim of being too "specialized" in its reader audience. Yes, ONE of the struggles that the main character, Robin, encounters is his fear and coming to grips with nascent homosexuality. But Soehnlein handles this so adroitly that it should ring bells in everyone's psyche; sexual ambivalence is a normal step toward sexual identity, gene theory or no. Accompanying this odyssey of a highschool freshman is an incident which changes everything in his milieu of maturing. And with this incident we are allowed to observe the disintegration of a "normal" family unit, the inception of alcoholism, parental abuse of children as they seek escape from their own frustration about life choices, the obsessive need to feel loved/needed/to exist, the imbalance between juvenile naivete and adult "sophistication." Yet the author sweeps us along with a storytelling technique which is incredibly fine. If you wonder early in the book why he is taking such detail to describe a playground and especially an almost architecturally rendered view of a play slide, then you only realize in a few pages further why that little bit of apparent "diversion" was so important and why there is a replay of the same theme at book's end when our now beloved main character unveils the place the universe has fashioned for him in this life. If there were more than 5 stars to rate this book I would go to the maximum number. This is a brilliant book by an enormously gifted author who has not only given us a new Stephen Daedalus, Holden Caulfield, Eugene Gant...he has documented a decade (the 1970's) better than almost anyone writing today. Yes this book deals with gay issues (very well) and that can only be another reason for everyone to read it. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!

This was the second in the series of some gay fiction i've read and i have to say it was BEAUTIFUL, if i had to describe it in only one word. Set in the late 1970s, a 13-year-old boy named Robin MacKenzie is caught in the middle of turmoil between his family and two other 'bad-boys,' Todd Spicer and Scott Schatz. When his pesky little brother Jackson ends up in a coma, Robin has to deal with his slowly-tearing-apart family while confused with his own coming-out problems. While he sometimes blames himself for what happened to Jackson, partly because he wanted it to at some level, he is preoccupied with two fascinations in his life - next door neighbor Todd, the 17 year old brother of his long-time best friend Veronica, and Scott, an abused, 'lone-wolf' drug-dealing tough-guy. Through his emotionally charged ride, he learns much more than he planned on - about society, Scott, his family, and himself.

If you're good at handling addictions, i test you at this! TRY *NOT* TO PUT IT DOWN! (i sure couldn't!!!) this book is so honest and real, it gave me such a taste for that other side of fiction. it's making me itch for more...

I normally read the likes of Dale Brown, Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler and so on; this was something totally different. It was superb and highly engrossing; Richard Price has obviously done his research well. I loved the movie, but the book is much better. The main difference here is that Rocco Klein, the hardworking hassled cop is the good guy and Strike is the protagonist. As the mystery unfolds as to why Victor Dunham confessed to a drug-related murder the cop thinks Strike committed, the ending will surprise you no end. Well done Richard Price; this is a classic book by anyone`s standards.

Richard Price has an ear for street dialogue and he knows how to give his characters depth and dimension. As much as I loved Price's "Freedomland", this book is an even greater accomplishment.

There are no one-dimensional characters here. Everyone is real. Strike, the clocker, deals drugs and damages the life of a young boy. Yet there is goodness, awareness and a glimmer of hope inside him. Sometimes we hate him, sometimes we pity him, sometimes we admire him. Rocco the homicide cop is equally vivid, a hero in some ways, a tragic figure in others. These are people we care about because they're so full and real. Even Rodney, Strike's boss, a badass dude for sure, dispenses some truths and solid advice when he's recruiting clockers in lockup.

As deep as the characterizations run, the book surprisingly evolves into a whodunit. By the time you realize this, you're so involved with the characters, you have a steep investment in how it all turns out. There were times I laughed out loud, there were times I cried, and there were times I had to put this book down and reflect on the poignant truths that reveal themselves to these people.

As a fan of crime fiction and police procedurals, this book stands apart from the genre. There is action, to be sure, but "Clockers" is a character study in a gritty environment, and you feel the threat and wear of imminent violence on every page. Yet you'll find some decency as well.

For an exciting and totally involving journey into the inner city and the world of cops and dealers, it doesn't get any better than this.

Richard Price's "Clockers" is easily one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It is a riveting tale of ruthless detectives, the guilty, the innocent, racism, drugs and hope.It is a book that makes us care about its characters including Strike, Det. Rocco Klein and many others. It is a book about the state of the drug problem in America as well as a tight, captivating murder mystery. Spike Lee made a wonderful, gritty film from the novel and both are urban masterpeices.

its fun and quick and keeps you entertained while making you think about your life and remeber your own expieriences

If you grew up in the 70's (and graduated high school at the end of the decade), this book is for you. It truly captures the essence of growing up in the post war era and deals perfectly with the mundane realities of the teenage experiance. If you are from North Jersey, the stories are even more meaningful. Read it and read it again.

The book, Bad Haircut, by Tom Perrotta is an excellent book. Bad Haircut is a book filled with short stories about Tom?s life growing up in the 1970s. The first chapter is called The Wiener Man. This is about when Buddy?s (the main character) mom was the den mother of his Boy Scout troop. The troop went to go visit the Wiener Man, but it ended up that the Wiener Man was an old friend of his mother?s. They sit and talk about their life stories. This is just an example of the types of stories Tom included in Bad Haircut. My favorite chapter is Forgiveness. Forgiveness is about when Buddy is on the football team and meets Wendy, the girl who was suspended for not standing for the Pledge. In this chapter Buddy is faced with moral issues verse what this peers are doing. The controversy in within the football team proves that Buddy knows the difference between right and wrong.
This book is a very quick and easy read. This was the fastest book I have ever read. Bad Haircut is the type of book you don?t ever want to set down. I felt that I could really connect with Buddy because even though I have grown up in the 1990s, I feel I have gone through a lot of the same situations he has. I recommend this book for 15 year olds and older. It does have some inappropriate topics for younger children. Some of the stories would be fine for all ages, just not the whole book. Bad Haircut is a great book and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This story was pretty predictable but still enjoyable moving along at a steady pace. It was interesting enough to keep my attention but nothing out of the ordinary happened, just everyday life for these characters. Dave & Julie have been sweethearts since high school. The words "I Love You" have always come easy to both of them. Their love for each other was always there, even though they had several on and off breakups. Dave's always loved music and plays in a small wedding band called "The Wishbones." He's always had the freedom to play his music and live a half-way decent life by still living at home with his parents. Everything changes when the words slip out from Julie, "Let's get married." Will Dave decide to marry Julie, or continue to live the single life playing in the band? It's a decision he makes too quickly and then regrets after meeting Gretchen and having an affair with her. Now his decision becomes even harder.

I would definitely recommend this well-written book for those out there who haven't decided to get married yet. Did Dave make the right decision or didn't he? You can make that decision after finishing this book. Maybe Tom Perrotta is giving a good lesson here-people should not get married just to be married. Where's the fire?

This is, essentially, a coming of age story-the fact that most of the primary characters are in their 30's notwithstanding.

Tom Perrotta's The Wishbones follows the various travails of Dave Raymond. Though in his 30's, Dave still lives at homes with his rather long suffering parents. Dave also has a long suffering girlfriend of 20 years. Actually, virtually everyone Dave knows well is long suffering--that appears to be the price you pay for having a son/friend who hasn't quite grown up.

Saddled with a dead-end day job, Dave's life actually revolves around his Band, The Wishbones, which plays wedding gigs on the weekends.

Dave is intelligent and aware enough to recognize his shortcomings--he's a good, not great guitarist with no original music vision of his own whatsoever--but not yet sufficiently emotionally mature=or secure-enough to toss in the towel on his dreams of musical stardom.

As event unfold, Dave finally gets up the nerve to propose to his girlfriend--then immediately stars getting cold feet.

There is not one single surprise to be found anywhere in this entire novel. Yet, the book is anything but boring. Perrotta has a wonderful talent for developing intricate, interesting and engaging characters, skillfully evokes the sense of Dave's New Jersey neighborhood, has a finely tuned sense of comedic flair and is adept with dialog. This is one of those books that proves that predictable doesn't have to be boring.

In point of fact, a lot of surprise and unexpected plot machinations would not have worked anyway, making what is, and was always meant to be, on ordinary, daily life sort of story seem contrived and hokey.

The ending is rather anti-climatic even so, and there are some rough passages to be gotten through--Dave's whole flirtation with joining a Christian rock band seems out of place, for instance. But these are minor flaws in an otherwise competent, witty and engaging story.

So, tune into the Wishbones and enjoy a pleasant read!

This is an enormously likeable book about love, music, and, especially, the choices required by time, money, and cultural expectations. Despite these "heavy" undertones, this is light reading at its best, full of distinct, interesting characters, humorous unexpected developments, and a brisk pace.

The story involves Dave Raymond, the 31-year old lead guitarist for "The Wishbones," a wedding band in which Dave feels both stuck and exhilarated. He has his own pre-wedding anxieties, as he finally proposes to his high school sweetheart, and then worries that he will settle into a bland suburban life sans music. At a gig, he meets Gretchen (nom de plume: Marlene Fragment!), an aspiring bohemian poet, who seems Dave's last chance at prolonging and preventing some touch choices.

Perrota is great at irony, and he almost overplays this, but the book moves so quickly that one doesn't mind. Although some of the book covers familiar "rites of passage" decisions, there's some outrageous (and I've heard, fairly realistic) wedding scenes, an unexpectedly tense gig with an unusual audience, and the musical aspirations of the singer (think "Springtime for Hitler," but in somewhat better taste. I liked the comparable "High Fidelity" more; it better captures the depth of rock and roll obsession, but this is close--An appealingly light look at marriage, weddings, and some awful 70's music. Highly recommended.

The Tetherballs of Bogainville is an odd book. To say the least! It is a so-called "genre-buster" in that it is one of a new class of novels that strive to be completely unclassifiable. Tetherballs does this fairly successfully.

The protagonist of the novel is Mark, a thirteen-year-old highly precocious boy who strides around in leather pants and no shirt. The entire novel is told from his perspective and it seems to be one bizarre tangent after another! I can't even remember a fraction of them. The humor is sophisticated, but so absurdist that I have found myself breaking out into guffaws at many points!

But because of it's ridiculous nature, tangents, etc., it is sometimes a bit hard to read - you start getting numb to the roller coaster ride that Leyner puts you on. So I have had to limit my exposure and put the book aside for a few days after reading each chapter or two.

This book is not for the weak of stomach or the uptight. However, if you have a good sense of humor and like your humor dry yet absurd, with a ton of references thrown in from the historical to the scientific, and you don't mind mixing your reality with a good deal of fantasy, you will find Tetherballs a fascinating read!

No one writes a brochure on the post death penalty system like Mark Leyner's protagonist, 13-year old Mark Leyner. This book made me not only want to read more by the author, but also ingnited my love of tetherball, which had lain dormant for many years prior to reading Mr. Leyner's book. I put it in my top 5 books of all time.

"The Tehterballs of Bougainville" while far from your standard fiction novel is still Mark Leyner's most accessable book and most plot driven.

The narrative is, as usual with Leyner, taut with jackhammer style bursts of narrative. Leyner dispenses with detail and spends his time creating vivid, drug-like situations.

A execution goes wrong and the person to be executed is given a letter explaining he will be killed at a later date of the state's choosing without his knowledge, it may be while he's eating, etc.
The young protagonist gets it on with the female warden in a drug stupored sex scene.
The young protagonist is constantly interrupting procedings to take calls from his agent.

These are Mark Leyner themes. They crop up in all his work but here he manages to keep the narrative together and still deliver on the super-charged writing style that at once reads like a travel poster and a crazed rant.

Read the excerpts to see if this appeals to you. Leyner has some readers that dismiss him as fast food, faux literature. You may be one of these people, or you may appreciate the style which some newer authors have taken note of or have been influenced by.

Read Leyner and then read Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk is still a dense, fast read but seems languid compared to Leyner. Intentional or not these authors remind me of one another for their terse prose and cutural obsessions. Leyner tends to stick to seemingly lighter subjects but in fact makes the same points with the use of broader comedy and absurdism.

A fun, quick read that can be enjoyed more than once.

This was my first Valerie Wilson Wesley mystery and I was looking forward to finding a good new series based on the reviews I read. I like her style of writing, I liked her characters--though the mysterious boyfriend was a bit much. I had a big problem with what another reviewer referred to as "her lack of deductive reasoning". Tamara's assignment is to find Gabriella who is most likely holed up with her friend Rook. When Tamara (in a giant coincidence) spots Rook with Gabriella's stepmother she follows him. But rather than grabbing her big chance at tailing Rook back to Gabriella she instead stops to talk to him and, of course, scares him off. Huh? I found myself yelling at the book!

AA Newark PI Tamara Hayle is at it again. This time she's in the glitz, grime and sin of Atlantic City trying to locate the runaway daughter of a wealthy client. And as always Tamara's delicious dark guardian angel Basil Dupre is not far behind, showing up just when Tamara needs him.I think this is the best Tamara Hayle mystery in the series. The Devil Riding finds Tamara on one of her most dangerous assignments. She has to go undercover and mingle with crime bosses, druggies, the late night ladies and all of the underbelly people in Atlantic City. When her car is literally blown to pieces as a warning, she knows that she is in over her head. Yet as frightening as the worse scenario is, it still can't touch the horror she finds in the runaway's own home with her "loving" family.The Devil Riding finally gives us a further peek into Basil's life. This time around although he's here to help Tamara he is also here to find a daughter he never knew he had.This is excellent writing and very good reading.Vannie(~.~)

I loved this book. At first, I thought it was going to be boring, but it ended up being really good. I'm starting to love these Tamara Hayle mysteries and I don't usually like mysteries. The story had a a great plot and memoriable characters.