A Face to Die For

January 1, 2022

In Bentley's Tom Clancy Zero Hour, Jack Ryan Jr. is interviewing a Campus prospect in Seoul when North Korea's leader is devastatingly injured, prompting a power struggle among sleeper agents in South Korea. In Berry's The Omega Factor, UNESCO investigator Nicholas Lee is following a lead to the long-missing 12th panel of the relentlessly plundered Ghent Altarpiece when he stumbles upon a centuries-old conflict between some no-nonsense nuns called the Maidens of Saint-Michael and the Vatican, desperate to grab a secret the maidens guard (200,000-copy first printing). Having appeared in six best-selling DeMille novels, retired NYPD Homicide Detective John Corey is hanging out at his uncle's waterfront estate on Long Island when he heeds a call to help find a serial killer who is dispatching prostitutes and burying them along the beach in The Maze (originally scheduled for June 2021; 500,000-copy first printing). Pulled from the icy Pacific and presumed dead, a revived Elle can remember little except her name in Dodd's stand-alone, Point Last Seen, but it surely looks to rescuer Adam like someone tried to kill her (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). What could be Red on the River in the next exemplar of Romantic suspense from Feehan, which is set in the Sierra Nevada mountains? When tomb raiders kill archaeologist Riley Smith's father after he discovers the burial site of Helen of Troy, Riley seeks revenge while asking forensic sculptor Eve Duncan to reconstruct A Face To Die For (100,000-copy first printing). Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch have their hands full in Knott's Robert B. Parker's Opium Rose when the daughter of Virgil's half-brother arrives in Appaloosa, having fled San Francisco following the death of her lawyer husband; apparently, he was involved in a big opium operation. In Escape, a follow-up to Patterson's Black Book, a rich-as-Croesus crime lord breaks out of jail and leaves a taunting note for crack Chicago detective Billy Harney, who he knew would be called to the scene (300,000-copy first printing). In Quirk's Red Warning, CIA officer Sam Hudson is nearly blown up in Geneva as he obsessively tracks Russian mole Konstanin, then dodges bombs back in Washington, DC, when Konstanin follows him home (125,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 20, 2022
Coming fast on the heels of the shocking conclusion of The Bullet (2021), Johansen's latest Eve Duncan tale portrays the forensic sculptor as the mouse to one very big cat. Sociopathic U.S. President Madlock still has Duncan in his crosshairs, perversely hoping to eliminate her before a miracle pharmaceutical created by her husband Joe Quinn's ex-wife can be released to cure rising global pandemics. His plot to trap Eve relies on the simultaneous capture of archaeologist Riley Smith during her quest to unearth the treasure-filled tomb of Helen of Troy. When Eve is recruited-slash-coerced into creating a forensic sculpture portraying the iconic beauty of Greek mythology, Madlock's henchman, international bounty hunter Ralph Dakar, races to snatch Troy's riches away from Riley and her crew. As loyal Johansen fans know, the real power plays occur during lengthy, emotionally charged wars of words and wills prior to any lethal action. With a Homeric inspiration, Johansen's newest trademark tale of exotic adventure pursued in the service of forensic science is more cerebral than violent.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 13, 2022
Myth meets reality in bestseller Johansen’s riveting 28th thriller featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (after 2021’s The Bullet). While in central Africa working on a reconstruction case, Eve is sought out by Riley Smith. Three months earlier, Riley’s father, an archaeologist who thought highly of Eve’s forensic skills, was murdered by tomb robbers in Azerbaijan. Riley believes her father was killed because he was close to discovering the location of the tomb of Helen of Troy, who he believed was a real queen. Eve agrees to help Riley search for the elusive tomb—and reconstruct Helen’s face if their quest succeeds. In Azerbaijan, the stakes rise as the two women have to contend with Ralph Dakar, the leader of a gang of ruthless tomb robbers, and agents of a power-hungry U.S. president, Adam Madlock, who’s hunting for Eve because of her connection to the “silver bullet” cure to all illnesses developed by the ex-wife of Eve’s husband, Joe Quinn. Johansen does a fine job breathing life into the premise of Helen of Troy being a historical figure. This no-holds-barred suspense yarn is a good starting place for newcomers. Agents: Andrea Cirillo and Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency.