HOT READS

Fiction Picks:

» Suburban Secrets
by Donna Birdsell
Harlequin Next   (September 2006)

The most fun you've had since the Eighties!

My advice is to run, don't walk, to the nearest store to buy this book before it flies off the shelves. Donna Birdsell's first foray into the contemporary scene is a hilarious combination of adventure, sexual sizzle and absurdity that will have you chuckling through to the last page! Reading like an old episode of the TV series Moonlighting combined with a touch of Desperate Housewives, Suburban Secrets follows the trail of Grace Becker on a zany jaunt from the ritzy Philly suburbs to the shadier side of the Center City Philadelphia crime scene. References to movies, songs and TV shows from the Eighties spice up the narrative and keep the laughs coming

Grace, on the verge of divorce, has had it up to here. Soon to be left penniless by her rich, cheating husband, she succumbs to her ex's bribery in exchange for her skills at forgery--a dubious talent that once sent her to jail. Disgusted with herself, she dumps the kids on her mother for a long weekend and takes off for a girls' nite out with her three best friends from high-school. After a few too many drinks, she finds herself accepting a dare to slip her panties into the pocket of a hot younger man, Nick Balboa (Ya know, like Rocky?).

Unfortunately for Grace, Nick's involved in something illegal--and has a detective on his tail. Pete Slade is investigating an identity fraud operation--and he can't believe that the beautiful Grace, once slammed with a forgery arrest, isn't in on the deal. What follows is a wild, madcap adventure--from a suburban thrift shop specializing in designer clothing, to a city row house, to the lair of a Russian mobster, to a seedy strip joint, Grace is in waaaaay over her head. Will the signature she forged send her back to jail? Will her talent for Russian gourmet cooking save her from a new pair of concrete shoes? And what about her newly revived libido? Will it be Nick or Pete who floats her boat?

Suburban Secrets book starts off a series--in future books, Grace's three high-school friends each get their turn to make you laugh. Don't miss this fantastic start to the journey!

(posted 9/06/06)

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» Bad Twin
by Gary Troup
Hyperion, May 2006

A fast-paced mystery and a marketing ploy to advertise a TV cult phenomenon? Yes! Television, marketing, and bookstore collide in Bad Twin by Gary Troup. The book is part of The Lost Experience, a world-wide interactive marketing effort by the creators of ABC's hit television series, LOST. You don't have to be a LOST fan to enjoy Bad Twin, but you'll get a bigger kick from the book if you are!

When was the last time a book by a fictitious author hit the NYT bestseller list? Die hard fans of LOST won't miss the fact that "Gary Troup" is an anagram for "purgatory." Nor will they miss the many connections between the book and the TV series. The book appeared as a manuscript on the TV show, in the hands of one of the LOST castaways, Sawyer. He spent some time on the beach reading it, but never got to the end--another character, Jack, threw it in the fire just as Sawyer was getting to "who done it."

While the book's mystery has nothing to do with the TV show's mystery, there are more than a few oblique references to the TV show in the book. For one thing, the book cover announces that the author was killed in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, the doomed flight of the LOST survivors. Most of the book's scenes take place on islands, and there are numerous references to The Hanso Foundation, the vaguely sinister corporation that is responsible for the hatches on the LOST island. You will also find mentions of various books that appeared on the TV show and also a quote from philosopher John Locke, who shares his name with one of LOST's characters. Clues to what's up on LOST? Maybe.

The story itself? Well, it's pretty good, though I'm not sure it would have ended up on the NYT list all on its own. It's a Maltese Falcon-type story about down-on-his-luck private investigator Paul Artisan. Artisan is unexpectedly handed a missing person case that becomes more and more convoluted as each page is turned. His client is Clifford Widmore, the arrogant, filthy rich scion of a blue-blood dynasty. Cliff, the "good son," has devoted his life to the family business and his increasingly eccentric father. Meanwhile, his identical twin brother, Zander, has made a career of being a monumental screw up. (LOST fans will no doubt note that Cliff and Zander, who are Scots-American, share the same last name as Desmond's rich Scottish girlfriend, as revealed during the season two finale.)

Now Zander is missing and Cliff, in the spirit of family loyalty, wants Artisan to find him. Or does he? When the dead bodies start piling up, Artisan has to wonder which twin is really the bad one. Nothing is what it seems in Bad Twin, and if the book has a theme that relates back to the TV show, it would be that a given set of facts can logically lead to more than one correct--if completely opposite--conclusion.

Bad Twin is well-written in an engaging conversational style that manages to delve beyond the story at hand to examine aspects of philosophy and life. I enjoyed the character of Manny Weissman, Paul Artisan's aging classics professor who stands ready and able to link Paul's latest case to dead philosophers and old tales such as Homer's Odyssey. There's a hastily thrown together love interest subplot toward the end of the book that seems totally unnecessary, however. The ending is logical, if not earth-shattering. Bad Twin is a quick, fun summer read. For LOST fans, searching for buried LOST clues is an added bonus that will help tide you over until LOST returns in the fall.

(posted 6/01/06)

Read more of Joy's Fiction Picks in the archives...

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Nonfiction Pick:
» Adrenaline Adventures by Fran Capo. Okay, I’ll admit it — I got this book because I’m in it!

Fran Capo is a stand-up comedian, travel writer and novelist, a motivational speaker, and the Guinness Book of World Records Fastest Talking Woman. I met Fran when her tamest adventure intersected with my most daring one — at wilderness survival school! Our mutual adventures are detailed in Chapter 35 of Adrenaline Adventures. Other chapters include skydiving, ghost hunting, racecar driving, swimming with sharks, and much, much more. Fran’s one incredible woman.

(posted 4/07/05)

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MOVIES, TELEVISION & MUSIC

Top TV Pick:

» LOST. Without a doubt, my favorite show is the ABC series LOST!

How can anyone not love a show that’s part Gilligan’s Island, part X-Files, and part Lord of the Flies? And the eye candy doesn’t hurt either. Hmmm, whom to drool over next. Sawyer, Sayid, or Jack? Hurley and Charlie are great for laughs, too. Just what’s going on with the Dharma Initiative, the “Others” who leave no tracks, and the cursed lottery numbers that have to be entered into a computer every 108 minutes? And just where did Desmond take off to? It’s a big island, and who knows what’ll pop up next.

(posted 10/31/05)

Top Movie Pick:
» Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. This movie has everything — adventure, romance, humor, dead pirates who won’t stay dead, a sassy heroine and two hot heroes to boot! Johnny Depp AND Orlando Bloom — be still my heart! (Hey Johnny, nice hat!)

(posted 4/07/05)

When it comes to music, I love men with rough, sexy voices.

Hot Music Pick:
» Matchbox Twenty, for Rob Thomas’s throaty vocals and edgy lyrics.

Favorite CD: More Than You Think You Are

(posted 4/07/05)

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