 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| January |
| May Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish Tripathi |
| February |
| June The Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher |
| March |
| July Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson |
| April |
| September An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris |
| October Crestwood Lake 2: Satan's Revenge by Mark R. Vogel |
| November Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury |
| December |
| September |
| Suspense Central Selections for 2019 *2019 selections for Suspense Central are listed below by month. If you have difficulty seeing a title and/or author, all selections are listed on our meetup site. |
| Recaps, comments |
| An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris Thursday, September 5, 2019 - 8p Uncle Giuseppe's Marketplace, 10 Triangle Plaza (Route 17 North) · Ramsey, NJ Full line-up of 2019 titles is listed below - please scroll down This group meets on the first Thursday of each month to discuss a specific mystery, horror, or intrigue novel. Join Moderator Aurelia Long as we discuss this month's featured selection. This month's selection is book 1 of a new series by Charlaine Harris - An Easy Death. The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the inspiration for HBO’s True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy adapted for NBC’s Midnight, Texas, has written a taut new thriller—the first in the Gunnie Rose series—centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose. Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life. As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive. |
| August Nightwise by R.S. Belcher |
| Nightwise by R.S. Belcher 8/1/19 recaps AM Our August selection for the month's theme of Deep, Dark Magic was Nightwise by R.S. Belcher. It was a perfect start! Nightwise introduces readers to main character Laytham Ballard. It is quite clear Laytham is not one of the good guys, yet somehow manages to keep the reader involved in the story. Maybe that's because Laytham is self aware and freely admits he's an a-hole. The supporting characters are all richly developed and vary from the deplorable - Dusan Slorzack - to the fun - Ichi. The story begins with Laytham making a promise to a dying friend, Boj, that puts him on the trail of Dusan Slorzack - a guy so bad, even the devil thinks he's bad! Finding Slorzack seems impossible and sets off a chain of events in a world where magic exists, monsters exist - the human and demon - and plenty of intrigue. Belcher brings the real and fantasy worlds together seamlessly. Masons, Knights Templar, demons, a visit from Satan, plot twists and the Rock Star of the Magic World come together for a satisfying read. The discussion was animated and almost non-stop for over an hour! Gene, who hadn't read the book commented on the urban fantasy aspects and asked some thoughtful questions about the story and characters. Ratings averaged in the 7 & 8 range. We would read a sequel. Chris H We began our dark magic theme with Nightwise by R.S. Belcher. We had just read his Six-Gun Tarot in June and thought we'd try another of his novels. The main character, Laytham, was a self-named bad person, and we certainly agreed with his assessment. A general consensus of '7' seemed an about right rating. |
| Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 7/1/19 recap Chris H Our pirate theme for the month was well represented by what may be the ultimate pirate adventure, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Great start for Shiver me Timbers in July. The exploits of Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver are legendary. In fact, it was clear that Treasure Island is the gold standard for pirate lore and has influenced most pirate themed books, movies and the like that followed. Some examples named: Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Captian Blood. Kathleen at one point stated "I thought that was a Disney song!" when she read yo ho, yo ho! in Treasure Island. Everyone attending enjoyed the book on it's reread, in that all had read it years ago for school. Great to revisit a classic. |
| September - 2019 |
