Reviews
The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons –
BOLO Books Review
Every so often, you come across a book in which you know from the very first page that the story within is going to be a pure joy to experience. The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons, the new Bernie Rhodenbarr novel by Lawrence Block, is just such a novel. Readers will...
Blood of the Lamb –
BOLO Books Review
Readers would be forgiven for thinking that they have already seen every possible permutation of the vampire legend, and yet authors continue to find ways to mine this mythos for our reading entertainment. The latest author to succeed on this front is Sam Cabot and...
BOLO Books’ Top Reads of 2013 – Part 2
From the Booking Desk: The above slideshow reveals the covers of BOLO Books' choices for Top Reads of 2013. The are presented in alphabetical order by author name. Follow the...
BOLO Books’ Top Reads of 2013 – Part 1
From the Booking Desk: It is hard to believe that it is that time again, but as the snowfall on the lawn indicates, winter is coming and along with it, the end of the year. As you have no doubt noticed, the end of the year also brings out those Best Of lists from...
The Murder Code –
BOLO Books Review
It would not be a stretch to assume that most fans of crime fiction appreciate the sense of justice found in many of the genre novels. There is something eminently satisfying in witnessing the “wrong-doer” being exposed and punished. Readers are used to crimes that...
Once Upon a Lie –
BOLO Books Review
Fans of Maggie Barbieri’s Murder 101 series have come to expect impeccably crafted mysteries with an added emphasis on humor and romance. When those readers come to Once Upon a Lie, the first in her new series, they may experience a bit of a shock. Barbieri has...
The Absence of Mercy –
BOLO Books Review
One of the debut novels found in many Bouchercon swag bags this year was The Absence of Mercy by John Burley. This stand-alone novel is a tightly constructed serial killer story, as well as a portrait of a small town besieged. Both of these constructs are filtered...
Cross and Burn –
BOLO Books Review
When it comes to series novels, readers have a variety of motivations for returning book after book, but what most fans agree on is that the central reason for the success of a series resides with the characters themselves. Val McDermid’s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan...
S. – BOLO Books Review
There are as many different ways to approach reading S. as there are unique readers out there to consume the book. No two people are going to work their way through S. in the same manner. Conceived by J.J. Abrams and written by Doug Dorst, S. is a wholly immersive...
Dead Harvest / Chris F. Holm – BOLO Books Inter(Re)view
From The Booking Desk: The saying goes "there is nothing new under the sun," but this is not necessarily true. You may have noticed that the title of this post does not indicate if it is an interview or a review. That is because it is BOTH. In an effort to try...
The Heavens Rise –
BOLO Books Review
As an after effect of the tragedy, there is now an ever-growing body of writing which celebrates post-Katrina New Orleans. Readers will not be surprised to hear that Christopher Rice has added a compelling paranormal tale to this heart-felt lineage of literature. The...
The Cutting Room Floor –
BOLO Books Review
The Cutting Room Floor is the debut novel by Dawn Klehr. Marketed as a young adult title, this fast-paced novel will appeal to anyone looking for a quick read. It will be of particular interest to readers who are also film fans, as well as those interested in...
The Preservationist – BOLO Books Review
From the Booking Desk: This week, the blog has certainly been dominated by one new title, The Preservationist. First there was the BOLO listing; then the book appeared on this reading list; then the author, Justin Kramon, stopped by for an interview; and today, we...
Apple Tree Yard –
BOLOBooks Review
On the surface, Louise Doughty’s Apple Tree Yard reads as a fairly standard story of a love affair gone wrong; but just under the surface, readers will find a complex examination of human nature and the emotions related to it. The novel highlights how the choices we...
YOU – BOLOBooks Mini-Review
From The Booking Desk: I don't often cover older books here, because by nature, this blog is designed to highlight recent releases newly available to the reading public. But, since it is my blog, I do reserve the right to make exceptions. In this case, when I heard...
The Clockwork Scarab – BOLOBooks Review
There is a long-standing tradition of novels that alter an existing literary canon to suit the needs of a newer story. The Young Adult literary field is rife with this type of tweaking (not twerking). The latest example of this is The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen...
Help For The Haunted – BOLOBooks Review
Like many books that come out every year, John Searles’ Help For the Haunted, appears to be one thing, when it fact it is really much deeper than that surface impression may imply. In this case, what appears from its description to be a paranormal story is actually...
A Skeleton in the Family – BOLOBooks Review
There is little doubt that for those of us who are crime fiction fans, there are times when our brains need a break from peering into the dark souls of depraved human beings. So, when a book comes along that still has those mystery elements, but also has humor and a...
Leigh Perry –
BOLOBooks Interview
From The Booking Desk: I am a huge fan of Toni L. P. Kelner's Where Are They Now? mystery books. And I have long admired the editorial work she and Charlaine Harris do on their anthologies. So when I heard earlier this year that she was starting a new series about...
The Wrong Girl –
BOLOBooks Review
Last year, when Hank Phillippi Ryan released The Other Woman, it was a dramatic shift in her story-telling style. Gone were the days of the first-person narrator readers found in her much-loved Prime Time series; and in its place was a much more complex storyline...