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PrintJune 2017 Local Authors
New and recent book releases by local authors
THE CUTTHROAT
Innocence meets evil in turn-of-the-century New York
Born in Aurora but now making his home in Arizona and Colorado, national bestselling author Clive Cussler is the creator of turn-of-the century ace detective Isaac Bell. The latest thriller in the popular series, co-written with
Justin Scott, is set in 1911, as the allure of Broadway draws hopeful young actresses to New York in search of fame, fortune and freedom. Hired by her millionaire father to track down the beautiful runaway heiress Anna Pape,
Bell acts too late and is distraught by the discovery of her mutilated body.
Possessed — and vowing to bring the killer to justice — he initiates a full-blown manhunt, which brings him into increasingly more alarming territory. Anna was not a lone victim but falls into a familiar pattern of other recent crimes. Bell soon realizes Anna is a “type” — barely of age, blond, lovely and, most important, star-struck, with a head full of dreams of performing on Broadway. As he digs deeper, Bell uncovers some disturbing and blood-curdling facts about the killings that send a chill through the crime-solving team at the Van Dorn Detective Agency. If Bell is right, there’s a serial killer at work and the city-wide investigation has just provoked him.
Cussler brings to life a vivid picture of New York in the chaotic and, at times, terrifying days of the early twentieth century, unveiling the tawdry world of the emerging theatre district. With a page-turning plot, rapid-fire action, a charismatic sleuth and a set of carefully drawn characters, this book ticks all the right boxes for enthusiasts of crime fiction in a unique historical setting.
FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips of Naperville
In this fresh and heartwarming contemporary love story, a feisty female detective goes head-to-head with a legendary sports hero who always gets what he wants. Moving from the bustling streets of Chicago to a windswept lighthouse on Lake Superior to the glistening waters of Biscayne Bay, two people who can’t stand to lose discover that winning isn’t always what matters most.
I BELIEVE IN BUTTERFLIESI
by Marian L. Thomas of Oak Park
In this emotionally resonant novel, three women navigate love and race. The lives of the elderly Emma Lee Baker and her daughter Honour Blue are upended by a shocking discovery. Twenty-three-year-old Lorraine has hedged her bets on three things: love, butterflies and the fact that she’s a white woman. When she finds out that her long-held beliefs are nothing but fallacies, she is forced to seek out a new life.
FORGING A PRESIDENT
by William Hazelgrove of St. Charles
Historian William Hazelgrove uses Roosevelt’s own reflections to immerse readers in the formative period that America’s twenty-sixth president spent in “the broken country” of the Wild West. Born into wealth in Manhattan, it wasn’t until he lived as a cattle rancher and deputy sheriff in the wilderness of Dakota Territory that Theodore Roosevelt became the man who would be president.
FROM BUD TO BLOW
by Brian Connor of Hinsdale
This debut novel explores the dark side of college life, as young Cory Carter steps on to campus at a Big Ten university, where he can’t wait to pledge a fraternity. The frat he chooses looks perfect from the outside, but soon a hazing leads to blood. Blood leads to regret. Regret leads to transformation. And for the first time in his life, Cory loses control. Parties, drugs and danger mark his descent into a new reality.
