Two Fun New Fantasies

Debut author John Brown signed his fantasy debut, Servant of a Dark God ($26 Signed).

"In Brown's engrossing debut, the first installment of the Dark Gods saga, one of the mysterious Divines, god-like rulers capable of harvesting a person's life force, has vanished. Young Talen's relatively idyllic life is turned upside down when his family is accused of being soul-eaters who worship a twisted god. Pursued by fearful clansmen and a nightmarish earthen monstrosity known only as Hunger, Talen begins to investigate his latent world-changing abilities. Soon he learns of his family's extensive role in the enigmatic Order, whose mission is to break the yoke of the Divines, and the nature of the dark power that hunts them. Brown's narrative takes a few hundred pages to get up to speed, but the latter parts are breakneck-paced and action-packed. Patient readers will be rewarded with a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy adventure." - PW

While Larry Correia signed Monster Hunter International (Baen $7.99)

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.
It's actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem. An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta. Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way. With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.

Business is good . . . Welcome to Monster Hunter International.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Poisoned Pen

May your holiday be filled with fun! Happy Thanksgiving from the Poisoned Pen Bookstore.

Don't Miss This New Anthology with a Signed Story by Diana Gabaldon

Dragon Book Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois

Never before published stories by New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Stroud, Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Diana Gabaldon, and others.

Whether portrayed as fire-breathing reptilian beasts at war with humanity or as noble creatures capable of speech and mystically bonded to the warriors who ride them, dragons have been found in nearly every culture's mythology. In modern times, they can be found far from their medieval settings in locales as mundane as suburbia or as barren as post-apocalyptic landscapes-and in The Dragon Book, today's greatest fantasists reignite the fire with legendary tales that will consume readers' imaginations.

With original stories by New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Stroud, Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Diana Gabaldon, Tamora Pierce, Harry Turtledove, Sean Williams, and Tad Williams as well as tales by Naomi Novik, Peter Beagle, Jane Yolen, Adam Stemple, Cecelia Holland, Kage Baker, Samuel Sykes, Diana Wynne Jones, Mary Rosenblum, Tanith Lee, Andy Duncan, and Bruce Coville.

** The Poisoned Pen Bookstore has this book (1st edditon) Signed by Samuel Sykes and Diana Gabaldon! Call now 888 560 9919 for your signed copy

A Wonderful Review from PP Customer Jayne Kyl

German, Norman. A Savage Wisdom

An imaginative reconstruction of the life of the only woman executed in Louisiana's electric chair from Thunder Rain Publishing Corp

Toni Jo Henry, born Annie Beatrice Mc Quiston, was a prostitute, drug addict and murderess who, in 1942, became the first and only woman to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair. In A Savage Wisdom, Norman German's fictionalized Toni Jo is a beautiful young innocent whose boredom with small town life makes her an easy target for the flimflam man who plucks her from the Time-Out Cafe and promises her the moon. In what he refers to as an "imaginative reconstruction" of the real Toni Jo, German gives us a character driven to murder by a tormenter who schools her in the demons of obsession, humiliation and betrayal. Harold Nevers, shape shifting devil, is one of those characters so richly crafted that he can make us forget we're reading fiction. German's carefully researched and enticingly sensory descriptions of Depression-era Louisiana create the same suspension of disbelief. This novel's title bespeaks the legacies of deception and the timelessness of desperate people.

David Jerome signs Roastbeef's Promise

David Jerome popped in after his TV event and signed his book Roastbeef's Promise: When Your Dad's Dying Wish Is to Have His Ashes Sprinkled in Each State, What's a Son to Do?($24 Signed First)

When Jim "Roastbeef" Hume embarks on a quest to sprinkle his father's ashes in each of the forty-eight contiguous states, he has no idea that a series of bizarre and ridiculous adventures await. But nothing will deter him from fulfilling the promise he made to his dying father--not a brief incarceration in Iowa or a punctured lung in South Dakota.

As he travels across the country, he picks up numerous new friends, presides over the ultimate frat party, poses as a lesbian's boyfriend, and gives away a very pregnant bride in a Las Vegas wedding. And who could have dreamed that somewhere amidst the craziness of dropping ashes from a crop duster and finding Elvis's toenail, Roastbeef would stumble upon a lucrative career?

Join Roastbeef as he drives, bikes, hitchhikes, rides the rails, and mo-peds his way around the country. This is one warm and funny road-trip you don't want to miss.

SIGNED BOOKS JUST IN

Bradford, Barbara Taylor. Breaking the Rules ($28 Signed)

Following a terrifying encounter in the quiet English countryside, a young woman flees to New York in search of a new life. Adopting the initial M as her name, and reinventing herself, she embarks on a journey that will lead her to the catwalks of Paris, where she becomes the muse and star model to France's iconic designer Jean-Louis Tremont. When M meets the charming and handsome actor, Larry Vaughan in New York they fall instantly in love and marry. Soon, they become the most desired couple on the international scene, appearing on the cover of every celebrity magazine, adored by millions. With a successful career and a happy marriage, M believes she has truly put the demons of her past behind her. But M's fortunes are about to take another dramatic twist. A series of bizarre events turn out not to be accidents at all, but assaults on M and her family. The dark figure from M's past, a psychopath with deadly intent, has made a vow: to shatter M's world forever. But M also makes a vow: she will do everything to keep them all safe. When those you love are threatened and at risk, there's nothing you won't do to protect them... you'll even resort to breaking the rules! Moving from New York to the chic fashion capitals of London and Paris, to the exotic locations of Istanbul and Hong Kong, this new tale from a renowned storyteller is a genuine pageturner...

Boyle, Gerry. Port City Shake Down ($27 Signed)

Down East books is proud to publish the first book in a new series by veteran crime writer Gerry Boyle. Set in and around the dark waterfront in Portland, Maine, the book introduces Brandon Blake, a lean loner who lives on his old wooden cruiser, the Bay Witch. Blake is a man with baggage. Raised from the age of three by his alcoholic grandmother after his mother was lost at sea, he learned early to depend on no one. Largely self-educated, he decides to take a law enforcement class at a community college. When - during a ride-along assignment with a patrolman - he gets involved in a fight, Blake is marked for payback by a soon-to-be-released convict. Meanwhile, some questions surface about his mother's disappearance at sea.

Limon, Martin. G.I. Bones ($24 Signed)

"Easily the best military mysteries in print today."-Lee Child

"Martin Limón does what the best storytellers do: take you away to a brand new world."-Michael Connelly

A Korean fortune-teller is being bothered by a dead American soldier who wants his bones found and buried. An underage officer's daughter is missing together with a Latino soldier. Several of the leading Korean gangsters who own the bars in the ville have been killed. Sueño and Bascom of Military Intelligence must go back to the founding of Itaewon, Seoul's red-light district, in order to learn who killed the soldier, who's taking revenge on the gang lords, and where to find the missing girl.

Jecks, Michael. The Bishop Must Die ($45 Signed)

1326. As the threat of war hangs over England, Sir Baldwin and Bailiff Puttock must work desperately to prevent murder, in Michael Jecks' latest thrilling mystery in this hugely popular series.

In France, King Edward II's estranged wife Queen Isabella shames him by refusing to return to England, and humiliates him further by flaunting her adulterous relationship with the king's sworn enemy, traitor Sir Roger Mortimer. When the king hears she has betrothed their son to the daughter of the Count of Hainault, all England fears an invasion of Hainault mercenaries. Meanwhile the Treasurer of England's life is threatened. He has made many enemies in a long political life and Sir Baldwin and Simon must do all they can to find the would-be assassin before he can strike...

Lamplighter. L. Jagi. Prospero Lost ($27 Signed)

This title earned a starred Review from PW, "Lamplighter's powerful debut draws inspiration from Shakespeare and world mythology, infused with humor and pure imagination. Four centuries after the events of The Tempest, Prospero's daughter Miranda runs Prospero Inc., a company with immense influence in the supernatural world. When she discovers a mysterious warning from her father, who has gone missing, Miranda sets forth accompanied by Mab, an Aerie Spirit manifested as a hard-boiled PI, to warn her far-flung, enigmatic siblings that the mysterious Shadowed Ones plan to steal their staffs of power. Every encounter brings new questions, new problems and a greater sense of what's at stake. Featuring glimpses into a rich and wondrous world of the unseen, this is no ordinary urban fantasy, but a treasure trove of nifty ideas and intriguing revelations. A cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for sequels."

Mosse, Kate. The Winter Ghosts ($35 Signed)

From the bestselling author of LABYRINTH and SEPULCHRE - a compelling story of ghosts and remembrance. Illustrated throughout by Brian Gallagher. The Great War took much more than lives. It robbed a generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson's case, it took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. In the winter of 1928, still seeking resolution, Freddie is travelling through the French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. He stumbles through woods, emerging in a tiny village. There he meets Fabrissa, a beautiful woman also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, he will have stumbled across a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries. By turns thrilling, poignant and haunting, this is a story of two lives touched by war and transformed by courage. THE WINTER GHOSTS is a gorgeous illustrated novel inspired by The Cave, Kate Mosse's short story written for the Quick Reads Initiative for adult emergent readers.

Page, Katherine Hall. The Body in the Sleigh ($18 Signed)

It's Christmastime, and the Fairchild family is spending the holidays on idyllic Sanpere Island in Maine while the Reverend Thomas Fairchild recuperates from surgery. His caterer wife, Faith, is rejoicing in the rare, holiday family-time together-watching ice boaters, snowshoeing, and doing plenty of reading in front of the fire.
But Faith's high spirits are dampened when she discovers the body of a young woman in an antique sleigh in front of the Sanpere Historical Society. The victim, Norah, was a teenage drug addict who apparently died by her own hand. Beloved by many, her untimely death rocks the isolated, tight-knit island community...

Roberts, David. Sweet Sorrow ($43 Signed)

This is the tenth and final murder mystery featuring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne.

August 1939, the last hot days of a perfect English summer, war is now certain, this week, next week . . . soon. Lord Edward Corinth, newly married, is determined to spend these last days of peace quietly with Verity in their new house, The Old Vicarage, in the sleepy Sussex village of Rodmell, a honeymoon of sorts. Fight against it as he might, for Edward it turns out to be a busman's holiday. The poet, Byron Gates is bizarrely murdered after the village fete - executed, in fact, his head chopped off on a wooden block, and Edward is asked to investigate. Alas, murder is not yet done with Verity and Edward. For even in the hallowed studios of Broadcasting House, murder dares to rear its ugly head while Verity is being interviewed about her interesting life as a war correspondent. And before she can take up her new foreign posting, reporting on the international crisis for the New Gazette, there are more deaths, and the intrepid couple embark on one of their most dangerous investigations to date.

Thompson, Richard A. Frag Box ($25 Signed)

In Thompson's compelling second mystery to feature St. Paul, Minn., bail bondsman Herman Jackson (after 2008's The Fiddle Game), Jackson investigates the murder of one of his more unusual repeat customers, soul-wounded Charlie Victor, a homeless Vietnam vet. Jackson, to whom Victor bequeathed a mysterious box, immediately receives visits from the FBI, an odd bully who wants to take over Jackson's business and a band of heavily armed mercenaries of unknown origin. When the police appear to lose interest in Victor's case, Jackson enlists the aid of comely Anne Packard, a fearless newspaper reporter. Jackson and Packard follow the scant clues to Victor's past, hoping to solve the brutal killing, uncover a buried secret and separate the good guys, if there are any, from the bad. A dash of romance, plenty of action and an appealing, wise-cracking hero enhance this detective story with an old-fashioned noir flavor.- PW

Winslow, Don. The Gentlemen's Hour ($26 Signed)

Boone Daniels, the most laid-back of private investigators, gathers with his surfing buddies on Pacific Beach, California as per usual. There's no surf to speak of, but the Dawn Patrol are out in force anyway...it's what they do. Having no work at the moment, and no real reason to go to the office other than to see the red ink getting redder, Boone sticks around for the second shift on the daily surfing clock - the Gentlemen's Hour, frequented by the older veteranos and successful entrepreneurs - and ends up taking on a hated matrimonial case. But that soon becomes the least of his worries. When The Sundowner, symbolic icon of the San Diego surf scene, sees a dispute between a young surfer and a member of the territorial Rockpile Crew - a dispute that ends in murder - the painful truth that violence is seeping into the surf community can no longer be ignored. So when lawyer Petra Hall, who has a thing with Boone, asks him to help the defence on that particular case, Boone knows he'll be courting outrage from the community...and from the rest of the Dawn Patrol. As his closest friendships begin to fray, and he digs deeper into the murkier side of surfing culture, Boone sees his two cases overlap in unexpected ways and finds himself struggling to stay afloat as the water gets deeper and deeper...and more deadly.

Signed Firsts are a Wonderful Gift

Here are a few hard-to-find SIGNED first editions that will make wonderful gifts:

Cussler, Clive. The Wrecker (Putnam $28 SIGNED)

Following his refreshing and exciting foray into early 20th-century California with The Chase, Cussler returns to the land of yesteryear. Someone is out to destroy a major railroad by wrecking trains, blowing up tunnels and bridges, and killing people. Railroad detective Isaac Bell is brought in to bring the Wrecker to justice. He is ably assisted by much of the same group who appeared in The Chase... Cussler's latest offers a welcome change of pace from the Dirk Pitt books. A very enjoyable romp. -- Library Journal

Sanderson, Brandon. The Gathering Storm (Tor $29.99 SIGNED)

Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordan's editor---his wife, Harriet McDougal---to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so here is the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of Time, the preeminent fantasy epic of our era. Technically this volume is called #12 in the series. This title is number 1 on the NY times best seller list.

Drinking with George, A Barstool Professional's Guide to Beer by George Wendt (Norm from Cheers)

Need a unique gift for the holidays? The Poisoned Pen Bookstore has signed first editions of Drinking with George, A Barstool Professional's Guide to Beer by George Wendt (Norm from Cheers) Signed $25

George Wendt and beer have shared a lot over the years: good times, great stories, useless trivia, and a successful show business career. In Drinking with George, Wendt invites readers to crack open a cold one and pull up a seat at the bar as he celebrates the indelible, intoxicating beverage.

Through personal stories and fascinating facts, Wendt delivers an ode to beer and all its irresistible peculiarities. In between spinning hilarious and frank tales of his own imbibing adventures -- from taking a first sip of his grandfather's Bud as a child in Chicago to a beer-fueled impromptu performance with Woody Harrelson and the U.S. Women's Synchronized Swimming Team -- he leaves no stone unturned in his quest to reveal and relish every detail about his favorite beverage.

What's the real difference between lager, stout, and ale? How do you convert your lady into a beer-lover? How many different ways are there to say "drunk"? What do you do when your beer is warm and you want to drink it now? Wendt answers all of these questions and more as he explores the vast cultural history of brews and tackles basic bar theory.

The next best thing to a barstool and a pint, Drinking with George is all the fun -- without the hangover.

C.S. Harris has a new book, What Remains of Heaven and we have it Signed

C.S. Harris has a new book, What Remains of Heaven and we have it Signed ($26)

Fifth in the "fast-moving"(Publishers Weekly, starred review) British-set historical mystery series starring "a charismatic hero."(Kirkus Reviews starred review)

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to help in the investigation of two corpses found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop's favored but controversial successor. The identity of the other seems lost in time.

Sebastian amasses a list of suspects that range from some of the Prince Regent's closest cronies to William Franklin, embittered son of famous American patriot Ben Franklin-and finds himself confronting the well-guarded secrets of his own family's history. Now each step he takes toward the killer brings him closer to a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who-and what-he really is.

True Blue by David Baldacci signed

David Baldacci signed his new book, David True Blue ($30 Signed)

A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation's capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci's new, heart-stopping thriller.

TRUE BLUE

Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything-her badge, her career, her freedom-and spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: A vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars. Then Roy Kingman enters her life.

Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital.

Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.

New Signed Books at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore

Delany, Vicki. Winter of Secrets ($25) Signed

Siblings Wendy and Jason Wyatt-Yarmouth and their friends are in the peaceful mountain town of Trafalgar, B.C. enjoying a two-week vacation. Tragedy strikes the group of privileged students when two of them crash through the ice into the frozen river.

Walter, Jess. The Financial Lives of the Poets ($28) Signed

Meet Matt Prior. He's about to lose his job, his wife, his house, maybe his mind. Unless . . .

In the winning and utterly original novels Citizen Vince and The Zero, Jess Walter ("a ridiculously talented writer"—New York Times) painted an America all his own: a land of real, flawed, and deeply human characters coping with the anxieties of their times. Now, in his warmest, funniest, and best novel yet, Walter offers a story as real as our own lives: a tale of overstretched accounts, misbegotten schemes, and domestic dreams deferred.

A few years ago, small-time finance journalist Matthew Prior quit his day job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse. When his big idea—and his wife's eBay resale business— ends with a whimper (and a garage full of unwanted figurines), they borrow and borrow, whistling past the graveyard of their uncertain dreams. One morning Matt wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. Is this really how things were supposed to end up for me, he wonders: staying up all night worried, driving to 7-Eleven in the middle of the night to get milk for his boys, and falling in with two local degenerates after they offer him a hit of high-grade marijuana?

Or, he thinks, could this be the solution to all my problems?

Following Matt in his weeklong quest to save his marriage, his sanity, and his dreams, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a hysterical, heartfelt novel about how we can reach the edge of ruin—and how we can begin to make our way back.

John Connolly at The Pen

New Signed Books from the Poisoned Pen Bookstore

Harris, Charlaine. Grave Secret ($27) Signed

This is book 4 of the Harper Connelly Mysteries.

Lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver take a break from looking for the dead to visit the two little girls they both think of as sisters. But, as always happens when they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface.

To make matters worse, Tolliver learns from his older brother that their father is out of jail and trying to reestablish contact with other family members. Tolliver wants no part of the man- but he may not have a choice in the matter.

Soon, family secrets ensnare them both, as Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister, Cameron, so many years before.

And what she finds out will change her world forever.

Manfredo, Lou. Rizzo's War ($27) Signed

Rizzo’s War, Lou Manfredo’s stunningly authentic debut, partners a rookie detective with a seasoned veteran on his way to retirement in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

“There’s no wrong, there’s no right, there just is.” This is the refrain of Joe Rizzo, a decades-long veteran of the NYPD, as he passes on the knowledge of his years of experience to his ambitious new partner, Mike McQueen, over a year of riding together as detectives in the Sixty-second Precinct in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. McQueen is fresh from the beat in Manhattan, and Bensonhurst might as well be China for how different it is. They work on several cases, some big, some small, but the lesson is always the same. Whether it’s a simple robbery or an attempted assault, Rizzo’s saying always seems to bear out.

When the two detectives are given the delicate task of finding and returning the runaway daughter of a city councilman, who may or may not be more interested in something his daughter has taken with her than in her safety, the situation is much more complex. By the end of Rizzo and McQueen’s year together, however, McQueen is not surprised to discover that even in those more complicated cases, Rizzo is still right—there’s no wrong, there’s no right, there just is.

Rizzo’s War is an introduction to a wonderful new voice in crime fiction in the Big Apple, ringing with authenticity, full of personality, and taut with the suspense of real, everyday life in the big city.

Rimington, Stella. Present Danger ($35 Quercus) Signed

MI5 intelligence officer Liz Carlyle has just been despatched to Northern Ireland. It's a promotion, and she'll be running agents - her favourite activity - but it also means being separated from Charles Wetherby, her old boss, recently widowed and a very close friend. Attachments in the Intelligence Services are not encouraged: it seems her superiors know more about Liz's life than she thinks. In Belfast, Liz and her team are monitoring the brutal breakaway Republican groups who never accepted the peace process and want to continue their 'war'. Intelligence is focused on the shady Fraternity, with links to drug-running, arms-dealing and organised crime. With some help from Special Branch and a volunteer informant who seems to be legit, the Fraternity's leader is identified as a cold, calculating and ruthless American, hijacking the Cause for his own financial ends. It is a perilous group to become involved with. Especially if your informant turns tail...

The Body in the Sleigh signed by Katherine Hall Page

The Body in the Sleigh signed by Katherine Hall Page (A Faith Fairchild Mystery) $18

Murder is combined with a timeless Christmas story in this enchanting installment of the popular mystery series by award-winning author Katherine Hall Page

The Body in the Sleigh

It's Christmastime, and the Fairchild family is spending the holidays on idyllic Sanpere Island in Maine while the Reverend Thomas Fairchild recuperates from surgery. His caterer wife, Faith, is rejoicing in the rare, holiday family-time together—watching ice boaters, snowshoeing, and doing plenty of reading in front of the fire.

But Faith's high spirits are dampened when she discovers the body of a young woman in an antique sleigh in front of the Sanpere Historical Society. The victim, Norah, was a teenage drug addict who apparently died by her own hand. Beloved by many, her untimely death rocks the isolated, tight-knit island community.

Meanwhile, Mary Bethany, a local spinster who raises goats, happens upon a newborn baby boy lying in the manger of her barn on Christmas Eve. The only clues to his identity are a note in the basket asking her to take care of him, as well as an alarming amount of cash. As Faith helps Mary locate the baby's mother, she soon finds that the truth behind the abandonment is connected to Norah's last days—and that, just as death and life are intertwined on Sanpere, so are evil and redemptive goodness.