Mystery

Title: The Traiteur's Ring
Author: Jeffrey Wilson
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1936564173

A man who has spent his life defending his country discovers that fate has presented him with an even higher calling. Ben Morvant is not what you would call ordinary and as a Navy SEAL, he never expected an ordinary life. But when a routine mission to protect a local village in a war-torn region of Africa goes terribly wrong, Ben is presented with truths beyond what his military training and experience have prepared him to accept. With his dying breath, a village elder passes to Ben a gift--a simple ring, unremarkable except for its ever changing color and the feeling of power emanating from within.

Soon after accepting the ring dark visions begin to haunt Ben's dreams. Images of pain and death, of evil and destruction. But some of the visions are hauntingly familiar. Soon Ben must return to his childhood home in Louisiana to face a dark secret from his past, one that may explain why he has the power to heal with a touch of the hand . . . or kill with a single thought. After discovering the truth about his family and himself, he comes to realize that he is a soldier in a greater battle than he could ever have imagined. And if he cannot find a way to wield the power concealed within him, the forces that prey on mankind's anger and fear will destroy not only him, but everything he holds dear.

Title: Child Finder Revelation
Author: Mike Angley
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Reviewer: Joyce Faulkner

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1590957547

Child Finder: Revelation is the highly-anticipated conclusion to the Child Finder Trilogy. The Library Journal called the series first novel, Child Finder, a compelling debut novel, and, a real find, and placed it on its prestigious Summer Reads List for 2009. Both the debut novel and the trilogy s second story, Child Finder: Resurrection, earned national level book awards. In Child Finder: Revelation, United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Patrick O Donnell faces his most challenging and life-threatening mission. North Korean terrorists stage a brazen attack on the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, stealing his twin daughters in the assault. The eight-year-old girls are powerful psychics with amazing extrasensory gifts, and it is clear that the North Koreans abducted them because of these abilities. Only one man can rescue them. Patrick O Donnell is the government s top agent with his own psychic abilities...skills crucial to finding the Ambassador s daughters deep inside North Korea. From the outset of the operation, O Donnell senses there is much more about these girls that goes unspoken. Head nods. Winks. Secrets shared between his boss, the President of the United States, and the Vatican. These are all signs of a mystery to which he is not privy. One thing is made clear in abundance: he must rescue the girls and bring them back to America with an urgency he has never experienced before. He seeks guidance and counsel in his Catholic faith, and during his recitation of the Holy Rosary, the Virgin Mary speaks to him. Her words carry as much seriousness about the rescue as his conversations with his mentor and the President. The one thing the Mother of God seems unwilling to tell him; however, is whether or not he will come back from his mission alive. Will Agent O Donnell be successful in rescuing the Ambassador's daughters? If so, will he return with them to see his family again? Will he be able to unravel the intrigue between the Oval Office and the Vatican? Other than their obvious psychic abilities, what makes the twins so special that their rescue consumes Washington, DC and Rome? Perhaps O Donnell will receive a revelation that will explain it all...and if he does, it may be something he wishes he never knew.

Title: Cold Winter's Kill
Author: Bob Doerr
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Reviewer: Kathy Rodgers

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1590957628

A fast paced thriller that takes place in the scenic mountains of Lincoln County, New Mexico. It was one of those phone calls former Air Force Special Agent Jim West never wanted to receive -- an old friend calling to ask if West could drive down to Ruidoso to help locate his daughter who has disappeared while on a ski trip with friends. Jim found himself heading to Ruidoso even though he believed, much like the local authorities, that if she had gone missing in the mountains in December, her chances for survival were slim. He didn't want to be there when they found her but still he drove on.

Once in Ruidoso, Jim discovers a sinister coincidence that changes everything. It appears that someone is abducting and killing one young blonde every year around Christmas. The race is on -- can Jim locate his friend's daughter on time? Jim can't wait for the local authorities to raise the priority of their search, or for the pending blizzard to pass. In his haste he puts himself in the killer's sights. Will he, too, suffer from a cold winter's kill?

Title: Dead Men Can Kill
Author: Bob Doerr
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Reviewer: Mary Sullivan

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1590957598

When Jim West, a former Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, moves back to New Mexico, his goal is simple: start an easy going second career as a professional lecturer on investigative techniques to colleges and civic organizations. He never envisioned that his practical demonstration of forensic hypnosis on stage with a state university student would stir up memories of an 18 year old murder mystery. When the student is murdered three days later, West finds himself ensnared in a web of intrigue that pits him and the small town's authorities against a ruthless, psychotic killer.

Title: The Cyrus Caper
Author: Karl Boyd
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Reviewer: David Tschanz

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0557091411

In "The Cyrus Caper" - (the second lighthearted crime novel of the "Yes, we 'con'" trilogy), Roger Booth, his partner in crime, Carl James, plus most members of "The Nearly Perfect Plan" gang are running amok, again. This time aboard a cruise ship.
After successfully escaping from prison and eluding the FBI for two years, at the urging of their wives, Maria and Julie, Roger and Carl decide their notoriety has died down sufficiently for them to take a cruise to get away from the boredom of their self-imposed exile in the small Italian town of Reggio de Calabria.

When their "fun" cruise turns out to be a disaster, Roger and Carl make plans to get even with the Cyrus Cruise Lines by hijacking the same ship and robbing the passengers, casino, jewelry boutique and the Purser's office.

During a visit to Spain to requisition a WWII submarine to use for their escape, Roger and Carl are noticed and identified by agents of Interpol, who, in turn, inform the FBI of where their two most wanted fugitives from justice are residing.

In a surprise move, Roger and Carl are given a chance to complete their plans under the supervision of their old nemesis, FBI agent Jake Polk in hopes of capturing a most wanted Middle East terrorist.

The pair of con men agrees to assist the law, but true to his nature, Roger has other more devious plans. Double and triple crosses abound in the rollicking tale of deception, scheming and subterfuge. As always, with Roger and Carl, nothing is as it seems.