In My Mailbox #1

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren.  This is my first time participating, and I’m quite excited! It’s a fun way to share books that you have received recently.  In the past week I have received and am looking forward to reading and reviewing:

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington. Release date: 3/6/12. Received an ARC from the publisher.  Jessica Shirvington is Australian and I believe this is the first book she has had published in America. It looks pretty good.  Here is the description from Goodreads:

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”

Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.

Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.

A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry. Release date: Now available.  Received an e-book review copy from the author.  Mary wrote me a very nice email and asked me to review her book. She has also written a book called The Gods of Fire based her experiences as a firefighter, which has been optioned for film by Bill Mechanic.  I’m really looking forward to this one. Here’s the description from Goodreads:

The Earthquake Machine tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation. Determined to find her friend Jesús, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Boquillas, Mexico. There a peyote-addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that explores the borders between the United States and Mexico, adolescence and adulthood, male and female, English and Spanish, and adult coming-of-age and Young Adult novels.

The Day of First Sun by Sheryl Steines.  Release date: Now available.  Received a paperback review copy from the author. This book looks like a lot of fun! I got a very nice email from Sheryl’s publicist, Donna Brown, asking if I’d like to read and review Sheryl’s book. Then Sheryl herself mailed me a copy of the paperback with another very nice note it in.  Here’s what the book’s about:

When Princess Amelie of Amborix is murdered by magical means, Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard are called in by the FBI. Their job is to help solve the crime while keeping the non-magical world from discovering the existence of the Wizard Council.

During their investigation, Annie and Cham discover that Princess Amelie’s death is connected to a series of other crimes in the Chicago area. A larger plot involving, a vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soul-less zombies is revealed, but can Annie and Cham discover who is responsible before The Day of First Sun?

Street Creds by Zach Fortier.  Release date: Now available.  Received a paperback review copy from the author.  I reviewed another book of Zach’s recently, Curbchek, and even though I considered my review to be on the harsh side, Zach wanted me to read and review Street Creds as well.  How could I say no?  Here’s the description from Goodreads:

Street Creds is a look inside the world of street gangs and the cops that work them. I worked the street for many years before I entered the Gang Task Force, joining it with the idea that I could rise to the level of violence of any banger I encountered – a really stupid idea. I wanted to “earn back” the respect of the citizens for the police; I grew up in this city, and I worked its streets the best way I knew how, feeling that I had a firsthand understanding of what the citizens were experiencing. The increasing frustration at gang crimes, drive bys, robberies, never feeling safe with your kids in your own neighborhood – I wanted to do what I could to make that fear go away.

Once I was inside the task force, though, the reality was a rude awakening for me. The task force was poorly managed and staffed by detectives mostly out for themselves, and the internal politics made success incredibly difficult and almost impossible – almost, but not quite.
Street Creds is my story. Against the odds, outnumbered by gang members, and with very few allies in the department and only the bare minimum of support. Having witnessed bad cops, brutal crimes, and realizing the department had been compromised, the cost was much higher for me personally than I anticipated; however, while on the task force, I achieved a 100% conviction rate of every case on which I made an arrest.

Seven Ways to Die by William Diehl. Release date: Now available.  Received an e-book from the publisher for review.  William Diehl passed away in 2006, and this is the book he was working on at the time.  It was finished by Ken Atchity and is now being released exclusively as an e-book from Barnes & Noble. I don’t read a lot of mystery, and I’ve never read Diehl before, but I’ve heard great things about him. Here’s what the book is about:

From the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Idaho to New York’s Central Park is a straight line right through Bill Diehl’s last and most intriguing lead character, Micah Cody.

There are seven basic ways to die. In 1969 Dr. John C. Cavanaugh catalogued them all in his Primer of Forensic Pathology-Cast Studies for the Novice M.E.

Micah Cody is a 30-something NYPD captain of homicide, who’s founded a special unit known as TAZ with city-wide license to take over any investigation at all, with special focus on serial killers. Now its ultimate challenge is on the loose in Manhattan, with three victims already whose causes of death seem like intentional defiance of TAZ’s existence—and four to go in four deadly days leading up to Halloween. Chronicling it all with great amusement is the Capote-like award-winning crime writer Ward Hamilton who, egged on by his sexually voracious socialite bedmate, is determined to bring TAZ to its knees journalistically.

Captain Micah Cody’s Nez Perce name is “Youngest Wolf” from his ability to communicate with the animals and read nature’s signs. As all hell is breaking loose in Manhattan, the wolves in Central Park howl, the peregrine falcons shriek their warnings—and Micah is listening.

Seven Ways to Die is a non-stop, sexy read with Diehl doing to the end what he did best throughout his bestselling career.

And how will I find the time to read all these, you ask? Good question! I have even more books in line ahead of these, so off I go to read…