June Publications
Three 30-something blonde bombshells meet up in their hometown of Ely, Minn., to schmooze, booze and have wild sex with younger men in Susan Johnson's chaotic contemporary, Blonde Heat. The "mind-blowing" sex that Lily, Ceci and Serena share with their male counterparts, Billy, Zuber and Frankie, begins on page 25, which is not unusual for Johnson's novels, but the lovers' angst-ridden confrontations, hasty bouts of make-up sex and perpetual drunkenness will wear on readers by mid-book. Johnson's latest (after Seduction in Mind) reads like a continual frat party—no work and plenty of excess—but sorority sisters looking for a racy read may find some temporary thrills. (Bantam, $6.50 384p ISBN 0-553-58255-4)
Drawing on his experience as a journalist and crime writer, Rick Mofina (Cold Fear) brings a gritty realism to the printed page in Blood of Others, his third thriller featuring hard-hitting newspaper journalist Tom Reed and homicide detective Walt Sydowski. The plot centers around their pursuit of an obsessed, dying man who murders shy, solitary women targeted via internet chat rooms. The murders shake up San Francisco, but when Sydowski's methods prove too old school to capture the conscientious criminal, Ben Wyatt, a disgraced detective and computer specialist, steps up to the plate. A subplot involving a romance between Olivia, a woman who fits the killer's profile, and Ben adds a touch of warmth to this chilling read, and Mofina's flawed but sympathetic characters draw readers into the action. (Pinnacle, $6.99 480p ISBN 0-7860-1267-6)
Pages upon pages of pseudoscientific explanations and stale dialogue clutter up Whisper of Evil, the newest in Kay Hooper's paranormal mystery series (after Touching Evil). Reluctant psychic Nell Gallagher never planned to return home to Silence, especially not to settle the affairs of her father, whom she hated, or to help solve a string of murders that has the local sheriff scratching his head. But before long, she teams up with her old high school flame, Max Tanner, to root out the killer. While the romantic tension between Nell and Max is strong, the book's action is virtually nonexistent. Instead, Hooper fills her story with unwieldy discussions of psychic powers, energy fields and electric brain impulses. (Bantam, $7.50 408p ISBN 0-553-58346-8)
A destitute, half-mad spaceship captain and a Farseer team up to battle dark forces in William King's whirlwind adventure. When Auric, an elf-like seer, visits Janus Darke in a drug-ridden dive, tells him that their futures are entwined and offers him a fortune to journey into the deadly Eye of Terror, Janus writes Auric off as insane. Still, Janus goes along with Auric's plan and soon finds himself contending with a powerful force that is determined to steal the one thing he has left to lose—his soul. Although the political structure of King's (Dragonslayer) fanciful world never fully comes into focus, he paints a bleak but compelling portrait of life in the 41st century. (Black Library [www.blacklibrary.com], $6.95 288p ISBN 0-7434-4306-3)
Alternating between the real world and the netherworld of Xibalba, a hellish realm where demons torture unfortunate souls, Teri Jacobs's debut novel, The Void, covers the gamut of gruesome ways to die. And there are many, which this book describes with blood-curdling clarity. There's something special about photographer Leslie Starr, but only the demons of Xibalba and Coatl, the Dark Man who plagues her every step, know what that something is. Determined to bring Leslie's soul to Xibalba, Coatl draws her back to her ghostly hometown by killing those closest to her. Jacobs paints Xibalba with relish, but at times she waxes lyrical on the horrors that are doled out there ("They grappled her with razor claws and stripped off ribbons of her flesh.... The demons wrapped the fleshy bows around their tongues, and her blood dripped from their cavernous mouths like spit"). (Leisure, $5.99 368p ISBN 0-8439-5024-2)
