Category Archives: 2009

2009

by | February 12, 2010 · 10:33 am

Ginny Aiken. Someone to Trust. New York: Steeple Hill Books, 2009.

The otherwise peaceful (fictional) town of Loganton, North Carolina, has been turned upside down with a recent rash of crimes. First, the beloved historic theater goes up in flames, hurting not only the owner but the fire chief, Joe Caldwell. An investigation finds that the blaze was caused by an explosion in the basement, which was the site of a hidden crystal meth lab. As Cate Caldwell, heartbroken over her father’s serious injuries and this new side of Loganton, attempts an inspection of her own, she puts herself in danger. The perpetrator is angered by Cate’s meddling, and he attacks her multiple times to try to get his point across to her. When otherwise good high school students begin overdosing on ecstasy-like drugs, resulting in the death of one student, Cate refuses to sit by and watch. Mixed in with Cate’s concern for her safety and the good of the community is the romantic tension she shares with Rand Mason, the fire investigator. Rand has suspicions of his own when it comes to Cate, who was a wild child in high school. The two make an odd couple as they investigate the underground drug scene in Loganton, but they find the person behind the terror and see that he meets justice. Cate and Rand discover that they work well together in other ways, too.

Someone to Trust is the third book in Ginny Aiken’s Carolina Justice series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Aiken, Ginny, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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by | February 5, 2010 · 4:11 pm

Gail Godwin. Unfinished Desires. New York: Random House, 2009.

One of the blessings of old age is that memories of one’s teenage years fade.  Not so for Suzanne Ravenel.  Mother Ravenel had been a student, teacher, and headmistress of Mount St. Gabriel’s School in the fictitious Mountain City, North Carolina.  Now Mount St. Gabriel’s has closed, and some of the old girls persuade Mother Ravenel that her memories have value not just as a record of her life but also that of the school.

Mount St. Gabriel’s was a respected institution, serving day and boarding students from a range of families, including some of the area’s best.  On the surface, it was a place of good manner and superior education, but as with any school, the young people there had their insecurities, longings, jealousies, and capacity for pettiness and cruelty.  As Mother Ravenel dictates her memoirs, she is forced to consider one particularly unhappy year in the early 1950s.  Although the drama and toxicity of that year have haunted Mother Ravenel, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that some of the turmoil of  that year had its origin in Mother Ravenel’s own teenage years when she was a classmate of the mothers and aunts of some of the troublesome girls.

Normally multi-generational sagas focus on a family, but Unfinished Desires shows that the form works well to tell the story of schools girls whose youthful actions haunt the women they become.

Gail Godwin grew up in Asheville, where she attended school at St. Genevieve’s of the Pines.  The school is thought to be the model for Mount St. Gabriel’s.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Buncombe, Godwin, Gail, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places

by | · 9:42 am

Leigh Bridger. Soul Catcher. Memphis, TN: Bell Bridge Books, 2009.

Livia Belane has lived many lives, but this current one is among the worst. Demons have picked off her family, and Livia has been accused of the fire that killed her mother and brother.  Back in Asheville after a time in an institution, Livia wants only to survive and take revenge on the demon who has tormented her.  Her inclination is to go it alone, but after she is brutally raped, she finds that Asheville is full of souls–young and old–who help her.  The most important of these is Ian, her husband in a previous life and true soul-mate.  Unfortunately, Ian’s soul now resides in the body of Livia’s assailant. Violent incidents from past and present lives pile up; nothing will be easy for Livia as she tries to beat the demon called Pig Face.

Leigh Bridger is the pen name of Deborah Smith, who is best known for her novels The Crossroads Cafe, A Place to Call Home, and On Bear Mountain.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Bridger, Leigh, Buncombe, Horror, Mountains, Science Fiction/Fantasy

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by | · 9:39 am

Kent E. Omer. Outer Banks: A Test of Faith. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2009.

The eagerly anticipated week of summer vacation has arrived, and the Harris and Carr families have made the long trip from Virginia to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The two families are enjoying the ocean when suddenly an enormous mushroom cloud appears, turning the sky orange and making the earth vibrate. What they do not realize is that the entire east coast of the United States has just been hit by a terrorist attack. The group quickly makes its way back to the beach house only to discover that, in addition to having no cell phone service, the shelter has lost electricity. As the Harrises and Carrs face survival in the usually pristine coastal location, the rest of the country addresses mass destruction caused by the multiple strikes. The comfort of friendship and their faith in God must carry them through this harrowing experience.

Ending in a cliffhanger, a second part to the story is expected.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Dare, Omer, Kent E., Religious/Inspirational, Suspense/Thriller

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by | February 1, 2010 · 8:58 am

Edith Edwards. From Hallowed Ground. April Publishing Company, 2009.

The death of a loved one results in grief, and the length and magnitude of this response varies for every person. Deep depression sets in for Lucy James after the death of her husband, and her friends become very concerned about her well-being. After a few months of mourning, they suggest that she get out of the house and confront what her life will be like without Charlie. Spending more time with, Dottie, her English Setter, seashell collecting, committees, after-school tutoring, and running for the school board are some of the projects that Lucy undertakes to appease her friends’ concern. As she involves herself in more community activities, Lucy finds that she is able to live without the constant cloud of sorrow hanging over her. In fact, she identifies signs – the sound of his voice or the presence of a red rose – that Charlie is still with her. She needs the comfort of his spirit when the ugliness of the election and opposition to her work with a slave reburial site is compounded by her violent rape and the sexual abuse of one of her tutoring students. As Lucy faces her future without Charlie, she finds her purpose in opening her heart and in serving others.

Edwards’ first book, The Ghosts of Turtle Nest, introduced readers to Lucy James.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Brunswick, Coast, Cumberland, Edwards, Edith, Religious/Inspirational

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by | January 29, 2010 · 1:46 pm

Edward Vaughn. The Paths of Glory. Charleston, SC: BookSurge, 2009.

The reader is introduced to Mac McDermott as he is contemplating suicide. Although he once led a happy, successful life, Mac’s nasty divorce from his vindictive second wife, Martha, his estrangement from his son and two stepsons, and the loss of his high-paying job has led to a deep depression. The mounting bills and his dependence on alcohol have not helped his situation, and he concludes that a boating accident is his best way “out.” While at sea, Mac is mysteriously saved by the spirit of his stepfather, who encourages Mac to abandon his plans. That night, Mac wins the lottery. The $40 million prize takes care of his money problems, and he finds a new lease on life, which includes trying to make peace with his former wives.

Things are going well for Mac and his girlfriend, Loretta, until Martha is found dead in her swimming pool the day after Mac’s visit. He is immediately suspected of her murder, and after a quick trial, the jury finds him guilty. Z, the private investigator Mac enlisted before and during the trial, will not rest after Mac is put on death row, and he continues searching for clues. Z reaches the conclusion that Martha faked her death to collect her life insurance money and that she had no problem incriminating Mac in her scheme. Her plan almost works, but Z finds justice for Mac, and he is once again able to find contentment.

The Paths of Glory is Edward Vaughn’s fourth novel in his “Cumberland County Series.”

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Vaughn, Edward

by | January 25, 2010 · 8:53 am

Jean Reynolds Page. The Last Summer of Her Other Life. New York: Avon, 2009.

Julie Maries (Jules) Fuller returns to her hometown of Ekron, North Carolina to be with her mother who is dying.  Jules has put her life in the film industry in Los Angeles on hold to nurse her mother, but she also hopes her mother will show her how to be a good mother to the baby she is carrying.  Jules’ mother dies too quickly to help her, and Jules soon finds that she is facing a challenge greater than single parenthood.  A young boy who is in a class where she has been a guest teacher accuses her of making sexual advances.

The accusation against Jules spreads fast across the little town.  The locals start to talk, not just about this incident, but also about other things about the Fullers that have been problematic to some people: Mr. Fuller’s drinking and accidental death, Jules’ “wild” youth, her brother Lincoln’s homosexuality. Jules has her defenders, including her brother, her high school boyfriend, and the uncle of the boy making the accusation.  Soon the reader finds that the men and their families are connected to Jules’, and that the Fullers are not the only family in Ekron with turmoil and secrets.

The author handles some difficult material–family violence, child sexual abuse, intolerance, and the cruelty of gossip–with grace, producing a rewarding novel in which several characters find their way to emotional maturity and peace with the past.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Page, Jean Reynolds

by | · 8:48 am

Fern Michaels. Vanishing Act. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009.

The women of the Sisterhood hate to see innocent individuals suffer. When Harry Wong, boyfriend of Sisterhood member Yoko Akia, discovers that his entire life savings has vanished due to identity theft, the women are upset.  Their concern turns to anger when they learn that the criminals behind Harry’s misfortune are the ringleaders of an enormous enterprise that involves stealing the identity of foster children. The Sisters go undercover in Washington, D.C. to catch the thieves. Those thieves will pay for taking the savings of their friend and countless others, and for putting those innocents in the financial hell of a compromised identity, false credit cards, and low credit scores.

This is the fifteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

by | · 8:47 am

Wyatt Harvey. Blood Rains: A Mick Priest Novel. New York: Eloquent Books, 2009.

Mikhael (Mick) Priest has a fabulous spread in Durham County–a large chateau on ten acres, with room for horses.  Good work for a private detective turned novelist.  Mick is proud of what he has achieved through hard work, patience, and religious faith.  It could be an idyllic life, but Mick, like Hamlet, has bad dreams.  As the novel opens, Mick has a dream of a former friend who has been brutally murdered.  Shortly after waking, another of Mick’s old friends, a police detective in Wilmington, calls.  Yes, Amanda Kenan, the woman in the dream, has been murdered.  The detective asks Mick to come to Wilmington to help with the investigation.

Wilmington is full of traps for Mick–old girlfriends, former colleagues, old enemies, a reporter looking for a big story.  And there might be a very big story.  Amanda is just the latest well-to-do local woman to have been murdered on a rainy night.  It appears that a serial killer is picking off women from some of Wilmington’s oldest, best families, women who are connected through a group called the Violettes.  But there is also evidence that the killer may have been inspired by London’s infamous Jack the Ripper.  Are these murders tied to the past, or is the motive for the crimes something quite ordinary? As Amanda continues to appear to Mick in dreams, Mick struggles to maintain his equilibrium and find the killer.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Harvey, Wyatt, Mystery, New Hanover, Suspense/Thriller

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by | January 22, 2010 · 11:14 am

Fern Michaels. Razor Sharp. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2009.

The United States of America finally has a female president, and members of the Sisterhood could not be happier.  The group, which seeks justice for mistreated women at any cost, is thrilled that their friend, Martine Conner, is the new commander-in-chief.  However, when Martine asks the Sisters not to prosecute members of her cabinet and other influential Washington politicians who are involved in an illicit prostitution ring, the women question her judgment.  Although they do not want the first female president’s term to be overshadowed by a sex scandal, the Sisters also do not want the “johns” to get off scot-free while “the girls” are charged with crimes.  As the women search for more clues, they discover that the vice president is behind the entire scandal; it is part of his plan to succeed the shamed Martine.  The Sisterhood must return to Washington, D.C., from Big Pine Mountain in Yancey County to put the disgraced politicians where their careers are headed: in the Dumpster.

This is the fourteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey

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