PATRON PICKS -- Chasing the Night

Cathy's Pick:  Chasing the Night, by Iris Johansen

Synopsis:

A CIA agent’s two-year-old child was stolen in the night as a brutal act of vengeance. Now, eight years later, this torment is something Catherine Ling awakens to every day. Her friends, family, and colleagues tell her to let go, move on, accept that her son is never coming back. But she can’t. Catherine needs to find someone as driven and obsessed as she is to help her— and that person is Eve Duncan. She knows that Eve shares her nightmare, since closure is also something that eludes Eve after the disappearance of her daughter Bonnie. Now, Eve must take her talents as a forensic sculptor to another level, using age progression as a way to unite Catherine with her child. As Eve gets drawn deeper into Catherine’s horror, she must face looming demons of her own.

Bonnie’s killer is still out there. And a new killer is taunting Eve and Catherine at every turn. Is Catherine’s son alive, or not? These two women endure the worst fear any mother can imagine in Iris Johansen’s latest thrill ride, a gut-wrenching journey into the darkest places of the soul.

Cathy says: Johansen's latest Eve Duncan thriller does not disappoint--action and suspense make you eager to turn the page.

PATRON PICKS -- Blue's Clues

Sebastian's book pick is Blue's Clues because it has a puppy!

A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor

Against the background of the infamous Dryfus Affair in Belle Epoque France, Taylor has written a tale of intrigue, romance and transformation. The "Man in Uniform" is a successful bourgeios Parisian lawyer, Francois Dubon, who leads a sedate and settled life. He is visited by a mysterious widow who inveigles him to prove Dryfus innocent of the charge of treason that has condemned him to solitary confinement on Devil's Island in French Guiana. There are flashes of humor as well in the efforts Dubon makes to play detective. Evocative of its time and place, this is a book which will draw you in and on to its satisfying completion.

PATRON PICKS -- Cleopatra: A Life

Christine's Pick:  Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff

Synopsis:
Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.
 
Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and—after his murder—three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.
 
Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

Christine says:  Clearly historical, but well-written and engaging.  Cleopatra is even more fascinating when placed in her proper historical context.

In Search of Eden, by Linda Nichols

I have recently read this book and loved it. This is one of those feel good books. It is a story of a young woman looking for a child she had when she was 15. Her mother insisted she give it up for adoption; she didn't have a choice, didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, only got to hold her baby for a minute. Each chapter is written in the voice of a different character, so the author really keeps you involved in the book. I was always interested to know what was going to happen next to each character.
There is a bit of a religious overtone, but I quickly got used to it, and felt that it gave some depth to the characters. This book does raise some interesting questions on the topic of adoption.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Diana

PATRON PICKS -- Black Hole Sun

Patrick's Pick:  Black Hole Sun, by David Macinnis Gill (YA)

Synopsis:
Durango is playing the cards he was dealt. And it’s not a good hand.
He’s lost his family.
He’s lost his crew.
And he’s got the scars to prove it.
You don’t want to mess with Durango.

Patrick says:  It was a very interesting storyline.  He used a lot of detail and really described the characters.  I could hardly put it down!

PATRON PICKS -- Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Erin's Pick:  Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, by Morgan Matson (YA)

Synopsis:
Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

Erin says:  It was a really cute story and the characters were very relatable!  It was a good read for the summer...I want it to be a movie!