Get Ready, Get Set, It's Pittacus Lore Time!!

It’s coming August 23^rd!

SYNOPSIS:

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorians, who scattered on Earth and went into hiding, who look like ordinary teenagers, but who have extraordinary skills. The Mogadorians killed Number One, Number Two, and Number Three. They tried to kill Number Four, John Smith ...and failed.

Following a massive battle at the end of I AM NUMBER FOUR that proved that the Mogadorians have found him at last, John joined forces with Number Six. Now the fate of Lorien—and Earth— rests in the hands of these two teens.

Already John and Six have inspired a fellow Lorien—Marina, Number Seven—who has been hiding in Spain. She’s been following the news of what’s happening in the US, and she’s certain it’s the sign she’s been waiting for.

We are excited to announce that THE POWER OF SIX, the sequel to the #1 New York Times best selling book, I AM NUMBER FOUR, will be available everywhere on August 23rd. Following a massive battle at the end of I AM NUMBER FOUR that proved the Mogadorians have found him at last, John joined forces with Number Six. Now the fate of Lorien—and Earth— rests in the hands of these two teens.

To get a taste of what's to come, check out the novella-length digital original I AM NUMBER FOUR: The Lost Files: Six’s Story, available NOW exclusively as an ebook. Taking place before the adventures of I AM NUMBER FOUR, the novella is the riveting story of Six’s harrowing capture and eventual escape from the Mogadorians.

SYNOPSIS:

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorians; nine who scattered on Earth and went into hiding; nine who live among us and look like ordinary teenagers, but who have extraordinary skills. The Mogadorians found and killed Numbers One, Two, and Three. Then they found Number Six. They followed her, they hunted her down—and they caught her.

Taking place before the adventures of the New York Times bestseller I AM NUMBER FOUR, I AM NUMBER FOUR: The Lost Files: Six’s Story is the riveting story of Six’s harrowing capture and eventual escape from the Mogadorians. Perfectly timed to get fans excited for THE POWER OF SIX and custom-made for the those who loved the I AM NUMBER FOUR ebook, I AM NUMBER FOUR: The Lost Files: Six’s Story is a novella-length digital original available exclusively as an ebook.
Sneak a peek at Six’s story with this exciting excerpt and get ready for the upcoming release of THE POWER OF SIX:

CHAPTER ONE

Katarina says there is more than one way to hide.

Before we came down here to Mexico, we lived in a suburb of Denver. My name then was Sheila, a name I hate even more than my current name, Kelly. We lived there for two years, and I wore barrettes in my hair and pink rubber bracelets on my wrists, like all the other girls at my school. I had sleepovers with some of
them, the girls I called “my friends.” I went to school during the school year, and in the summer I went to a swimmers’ camp at the YMCA. I liked my friends and the life we had there okay, but I had already been moved around by my Cêpan Katarina enough to know that it wasn’t going to be permanent. I knew it wasn’t my real life.

My real life took place in our basement, where Katarina and I did combat training. By day, it was an ordinary suburban rec room, with a big comfy couch and a TV in one corner and a Ping-Pong table in the other. By night, it was a well-stocked combat training gym, with hanging bags, floor mats, weapons, and even a makeshift pommel horse.

In public, Katarina played the part of my mother, claiming that her “husband” and my “father” had been killed in a car accident when I was an infant. Our names, our lives, our stories were all fictions, identities for me and Katarina to hide behind. But those identities allowed us to live out in the open. Acting normal.

Blending in: that was one way of hiding.

But we slipped up. To this day I can remember our conversation as we drove away from Denver, headed to Mexico for no other reason than we’d never been there, both of us trying to figure out how exactly we’d blown our cover. Something I said to my friend Eliza had contradicted something Katarina had said to Eliza’s
mother. Before Denver we’d lived in Nova Scotia for a cold, cold winter, but as I remembered it, our story, the lie we’d agreed to tell, was that we’d lived in Boston before Denver. Katarina remembered differently, and claimed Tallahassee as our previous home. Then Eliza told her mother and that’s when people started to get suspicious.

It was hardly a calamitous exposure. We had no immediate reason to believe our slip would raise the kind of suspicion that could attract the Mogadorians to our location. But our life had gone sour there, and Katarina figured we’d been there long enough as it was.

So we moved yet again.

                                                                   ---------------
The sun is bright and hard in Puerto Blanco, the air impossibly dry. Katarina and I make no attempt to blend in with the other residents, Mexican farmers and their children. Our only regular contact with the locals is our once-a-week trip into town to buy essentials at the small store. We are the only whites for many miles, and though we both speak good Spanish, there’s no confusing us for natives of the place. To our neighbors, we are the gringas, strange white recluses.

“Sometimes you can hide just as effectively by sticking out,” Katarina says.

She appears to be right. We have been here almost a year and we haven’t been bothered once. We lead a lonely but ordered life in a sprawling, single-level shack tucked between two big patches of farmland. We wake up with the sun, and before eating or showering Katarina has me run drills in the backyard: running up
and down a small hill, doing calisthenics, and practicing tai chi. We take advantage of the two relatively cool hours of morning.

Morning drills are followed by a light breakfast, then three hours of studies: languages, world history, and whatever other subjects Katarina can dig up from the internet. She says her teaching method and subject matter are “eclectic.” I don’t know what that word means, but I’m just grateful for the variety. Katarina is a quiet, thoughtful woman, and though she’s the closest thing I have to a mother, she’s very different from me.

Studies are probably the highlight of her day. I prefer drills.

After studies it’s back out into the blazing sun, where the heat makes me dizzy enough that I can almost hallucinate my imagined enemies. I do battle with straw men: shooting them with arrows, stabbing them with knives, or simply pummeling them with my bare fists. But half-blind from the sun, I see them as Mogadorians, and I relish the chance to tear them to pieces. Katarina says even though I am only thirteen years old, I’m so agile and so strong I could easily take down even a well-trained adult.

One of the nice things about living in Puerto Blanco is that I don’t have to hide my skills. Back in Denver, whether swimming at the Y or just playing on the street, I always had to hold back, to keep myself from revealing the superior speed and strength that Katarina’s training regimen has resulted in. We keep to ourselves out here, away from the eyes of others, so I don’t have to hide.

Today is Sunday, so our afternoon drills are short, only an hour. I am shadowboxing with Katarina in the backyard, and I can feel her eagerness to quit: her moves are halfhearted, she’s squinting against the sun, and she looks tired. I love training and could go all day, but out of deference to her I suggest we call it a day.

“Oh, I suppose we could finish early,” she says. I grin privately, allowing her to think I’m the tired one. We go inside and Katarina pours us two tall glasses of agua fresca, our customary Sunday treat. The fan is blowing full force in our humble shack’s living room. Katarina boots up her various computers while I kick off my dirty, sweat-filled fighting boots and collapse to the floor. I stretch my arms to keep them from knotting up, then swing them to the bookshelf in the corner and pull out a tall stack of the board
games we keep there. Risk, Stratego, Othello. Katarina has tried to interest me in games like Life and Monopoly, saying it wouldn’t hurt to be “well-rounded.” But those games never held my interest. Katarina got the hint, and now we only play combat and strategy games. Risk is my favorite, and since we finished early today I think Katarina will agree to playing it even though it’s a longer game than the others.

“Risk?”

Katarina is at her desk chair, pivoting from one screen to the next.

“Risk of what?” she asks absently.

I laugh, then shake the box near her head. She doesn’t look up from the screens, but the sound of all those pieces rattling around inside the box is enough for her to get it.

“Oh,” she says. “Sure.”

I set up the board. Without asking, I divvy up the armies into hers and mine, and begin placing them all across the game’s map. We’ve played this game so much I don’t need to ask her which countries she’d like to claim, or which territories she’d like to fortify. She always chooses the U.S. and Asia. I happily place her
pieces on those territories, knowing that from my more easily defended territories I will quickly grow armies strong enough to crush hers.

I’m so absorbed in setting up the game I don’t even notice Katarina’s silence, her absorption. It is only when I crack my neck loudly and she neglects to scold me for it—“Please don’t,” she usually says, squeamish about the sound it makes—that I look up and see her, staring openmouthed at one of her monitors.

“Kat?” I ask.

She’s silent.

I get up from the floor, stepping across the game board to join her at her desk. It is only then that I see what has so completely captured her attention. A breaking news item about some kind of explosion on a bus in England.

I groan.

Katarina is always checking the internet and the news for mysterious deaths. Deaths that could be the work of the Mogadorians. Deaths that could mean the second member of the Garde has been defeated. She’s been doing it since we came to Earth, and I’ve grown frustrated with the doom-and-gloom of it.

Besides, it’s not like it did us any good the first time.

I was nine years old, living in Nova Scotia with Katarina. Our training room there was in the attic. Katarina had retired from training for the day, but I still had energy to burn, and was doing moores and spindles on the pommel horse alone when I suddenly felt a blast of scorching pain on my ankle. I lost my balance and came crashing down to the mat, clutching my ankle and screaming in pain.

My first scar. It meant that the Mogadorians had killed Number One, the first of the Garde. And for all of Katarina’s web scouring, it had caught us both completely unaware.

We waited on pins and needles for weeks after, expecting a second death and a second scar to follow in short order. But it didn’t come. I think Katarina is still coiled, anxious, ready to spring. But three years have passed—almost a quarter of my whole life—and it’s just not something I think about much.

I step between her and the monitor. “It’s Sunday. Game time.”

“Please, Kelly.” She says my most recent alias with a certain stiffness. I know I will always be Six to her. In my heart, too. These aliases I use are just shells, they’re not who I really am. I’m sure back on Lorien I had a name, a real name, not just a number. But that’s so far back, and I’ve had so many names since then, that I can’t remember what it was.

Six is my true name. Six is who I am.

Katarina bats me aside, eager to read more details.

We’ve lost so many game days to news alerts like this. And they never turn out to be anything. They’re just ordinary tragedies.

Earth, I’ve come to discover, has no shortage of tragedies.

“Nope. It’s just a bus crash. We’re playing a game.” I pull at her arms, eager for her to relax. She looks so tired and worried, I know she could use the break.

She holds firm. “It’s a bus explosion. And apparently,” she says, pulling away to read from the screen, “the conflict is ongoing.”

“The conflict always is,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Come on.”

She shakes her head, giving one of her frazzled laughs. “Okay,” she says. “Fine.”

Katarina pulls herself away from the monitors, sitting on the floor by the game. It takes all my strength not to lick my chops at her upcoming defeat: I always win at Risk.

I get down beside her, on my knees.

“You’re right, Kelly,” she says, allowing herself to grin. “I needn’t panic over every little thing—”

One of the monitors on Katarina’s desk lets out a sudden ding! One of her alerts. Her computers are programmed to scan for unusual news reports, blog posts, even notable shifts in global weather—all sifting for possible news of the Garde.

“Oh come on,” I say.

But Katarina is already off the floor and back at the desk, scrolling and clicking from link to link once again.

“Fine,” I say, annoyed. “But I’m showing no mercy when the game begins.”

Suddenly Katarina is silent, stopped cold by something she’s found.

I get up off the floor and step over the board, making my way to the monitor.

I look at the screen.

It is not, as I’d imagined, a news report from England. It is a simple, anonymous blog post. Just a few haunting, tantalizing words:

“Nine, now eight. Are the rest of you out there?”


THE POWER OF SIX, by Pittacus Lore, is the second installment in the thrilling, action-packed Lorien Legacies series that launched with the #1 New York Times bestseller I AM NUMBER FOUR, and the heart-pounding suspense has never been higher. Now John Smith is joining forces with some of his lost companions as they battle against the alien force bent on eliminating them.

For more insight into Sarah's mind and to see what she really thought of John when she first met him, sign up for Pittacus Lore's AuthorTracker at http://iamnumberfourfans.com/ and get entries from her journal sent to you each week leading up to the release of THE POWER OF SIX on August 23rd.

Upcoming Releases - January 17 - 23

I don't think there will be a week in January where I will not be looking forward to many new releases.  This is going to be quite a year for upcoming releases.  Take a look to see what is going to be released this week:

Shadowfever (Book 5, MacKayla Lane Series)
by Karen Marie Moning
Release Date: January 18, 2011

In Dreamfever, Karen Marie Moning has left listeners with the most heart-stopping cliff-hanger to date. Shadowfever will answer all the questions fans have been dying to know in the final chapter of MacKayla Lane's shockingly suspenseful and deeply satisfying adventure.

I don't know about you, but I wanted to throw book 4 against the wall in frustration when I finished it because the suspense almost killed me.  Soon we will have all the answers!!!!


The Witch's Daughter
by Paula Brackston
Release Date: January 18, 2011

In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate: the Warlock Gideon Masters. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he will be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life. Her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl named Tegan starts hanging around. Against her instincts, Elizabeth teaches Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories - and demons - long thought forgotten.

Prophecy: Clash of Kings (Book 1, Merlin Series)
by M.K. Hume
Release Date: January 20, 2011

Amid the bloody battlefields of Britain, Merlin is marked for greatness...


In the town of Segontium, a fugitive is washed ashore. He brutally rapes the granddaughter of the king of the Deceangli tribe, leaving her to bear his son, Myrddion. Spurned as a demon seed, the boy is raised by his grandmother and he is apprenticed to a skilled healer who hones his remarkable gift. Meanwhile, the High King of the Celts, Vortigern, is rebuilding the ancient fortress at Dinas Emrys. According to a prophecy, he must use the blood of a demon seed to make the towers stand firm. Myrddion's life is in jeopardy. But the boy has a prophecy of his own and a richer destiny to fulfil. Soon Vortigern shall be known as the harbinger of chaos, and Myrddion must use his gifts for good in a kingdom besieged by evil. So begins the healer's journey to greatness...

Midnight (Book 2, Jack Nightingale Series)
by Stephen Leather
Release Date: January 20, 2011

Jack Nightingale found it hard enough to save lives when he was a cop. Now he needs to save a soul - his sister's. But to save her he has to find her and they've been separated since birth.


When everyone Jack talks to about his sister dies horribly, he realises that someone, or something, is determined to keep them apart.

If he's going to save his sister, he's going to have to do what he does best - negotiate. But any negotiation with the forces of darkness comes at a terrible price. And first Jack must ask himself the question: is every soul worth saving?

How To Woo A Reluctant Lady
by Sabrina Jeffries
Release Date: January 18, 2011

When a charming rogue proposes she marry him to meet her grandmother's ultimatum, the Sharpe clan's strong-willed sister makes a tempting counter-offer that preserves her inheritance and ignites his imagination.


Lady Minerva Sharpe has the perfect plan to thwart her grandmother's demands: become engaged to a rogue! Surely Gran would rather release her inheritance than see her wed a scoundrel. And who better to play the part of Minerva's would-be husband than wild barrister Giles Masters, the very inspiration for the handsome spy in the popular Gothic novels she writes? The memory of his passionate kiss on her nineteenth birthday has lingered in Minerva's imagination, though she has no intention of really falling for such a rakehell, much less marrying him. Little does she know, he really is a covert government operative. When they team up to investigate the mystery behind her parents' deaths, their fake betrothal leads to red-hot desire. Then Minerva discovers Giles's secret double life, and he must use all the cunning tricks of his trade to find his way back into her heart.

After Hours (Book 3, The Party Room)
by Morgan Burke
Release Date: January 18, 2011
 
THE PARTY ROOM. On Manhattan's Upper East Side. Everybody's fabulous. No one gets carded. Then someone dies.


Kirsten is still recovering from the death of her best friend, Samantha. And trying desperately to forget that she hooked up with Kyle -- before she knew he was the Prep School Murderer. Kirsten's out every night hitting the clubs and the Party Room. She's partying hard to forget the pain.

Then one night in the Hamptons, Kyle shows up. He tells Kirsten a different story. He's not the one who killed all those girls. Kirsten wants to believe him.

But then, it's too late....

Other Eyes
by Barbara D'Amato
Release Date: January 18, 2011
 
Blue Eriksen is a famous forensic archaeologist based at Northwestern University. She and her team are traveling the globe, testing mummies to research the use of hallucinogens in the development of ancient religions. Armed with evidence from ancient peoples, Blue has become convinced that psilocybin--a hallucinogen derived from mushrooms--can prevent or cure drug addiction. She hopes to develop testing and treatment centers.

Leeuwarden Ltd. is the cover name for a deeply secret international organization that facilitates the production, delivery, and sale of illegal drugs worldwide, much as OPEC facilitates the sale of oil. Leeuwarden considers Blue a long-term threat and sends Felix Hacker--one of their enforcers--to kill her. Blue has no idea she's being stalked and prepares for a dig high in the Peruvian mountains...

Upcoming Releases: January 3 - 9

As always, there are some great books being released this week and I can't wait to get my hands on them.  Thank goodness I have some gift certificates left from Christmas (as if I need any more books to add to my TBR pile!!).  Here are some that I am looking forward to reading:

Awakened (Book 8, House of Night Series)
by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Release Date: January 4, 2011

At the start of Awakened, the pulse-pounding eighth installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey has returned, mostly whole, from the Otherworld to her rightful place as High Priestess at the House of Night. Her friends are just glad to have her back, but after losing her human consort, Heath, will Zoey - or her relationship with her super-hot Warrior, Stark - ever be the same? Stevie Rae is drawn even closer to Rephaim, the Raven Mocker with whom she shares a mysterious and powerful Imprint, but he is a dangerous secret that isolates her from her school, her red fledglings, and even her best friends. When the dark threat of Neferet - who is coming closer and closer to achieving her twisted goal of immortality - and Kalona returns, what will it take to keep the House of Night from being lost forever, and what will one desperate girl do to keep her heart from being irreparably broken?

Unearthly
by Cynthia Hand
Release Date: January 4, 2011

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place - and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make - between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

The Lost Gate (Book 1, Mithermages Series)
by Orson Scott Card
Release Date: January 4, 2011

Danny grew up in a family compound in Virginia, believing that he alone of his family had no magical power. But he was wrong. Kidnapped from his high school by a rival family, he learns that he has the power to reopen the gates between Earth and the world of Westil.


 

Deadly Little Games (Book 3, Touch Series)
by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Release Date: January 4, 2011

Camelia and Ben have discovered a powerful bond: They both possess the power of psychometry, the ability to sense things through touch. For Ben, the gift is a frightening liability. When he senses a strong threat or betrayal, he risks losing control and hurting people. Camelia's gift is more mysterious. When she works with clay, her hands sculpt messages her mind doesn't yet comprehend.

Before either teen has a chance to fully grasp these abilities, an unresolved family tragedy resurfaces in Camelia's life, irrevocably changing everything she cares about...

The Guardians
by Andrew Pyper
Release Date: January 4, 2011

There's no such thing as an empty house...

Trevor, Randy, Ben and Carl grew up together in the small town of Grimshaw as many boys do - playing hockey and forging friendships that run deep. Twenty-four years later, when Ben commits suicide, the three remaining friends gather once again in their hometown. But going home means going back, and that's not always easy. The three men are forced to confront their memories of a sinister crime that happened in an abandoned house in their neighbourhood - a crime that claws its way into the present, leaving its indelible mark on everyone.

Left Neglected
by Lisa Genova
by January 4, 2011

Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children - Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny - her new, true life - may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

The Razor Gate
by Sean Gregan
Release Date: January 6, 2011

The second brilliant novel from the author of The Levels -- Sean Cregan In Newport City men and women walk the streets, their lives literally ticking away. The Clocks are victims of a new serial crime, their existence kept secret by the authorities for fear of a wave of panic spreading through the US East coast city. Kidnapped by the mysterious Curator and subjected to the Curse - a medical procedure which ensures a fatal drug will be released into their nervous system one year after implantation -- they are headed for certain death. But now they are fighting back. A suicidal Clock, determined to bring their plight to the public's attention, has detonated a bomb, killing dozens. Journalist Maya Cassinelli, whose ex-boyfriend is one of the dead, and cop Charlie Garrett, whose Clock girlfriend is about to die, are on a desperate search for answers, closely shadowed by members of the elite Foundation, who want control of the Curse's revolutionary and lucrative bio-technology. With everyone hunting the Cure, who will find it first? The Clocks are ticking...

Upcoming releases - December 27 - January 2

Wow! I'm now entering new releases in 2011.  Where in the world did 2010 go?  I am really excited about many of the books being released in 2011 and can't wait for their release dates.  Here are some of the books I am looking forward to reading this week:

In Too Deep (Book 1, Arcane Society: Looking Glass Trilogy)
by Jayne Ann Krentz
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Scargill Cove is the perfect place for Fallon Jones, confirmed recluse and investigator of the paranormal. It's a hot spot, a convergence point for unusually strong currents of energy, which might explain why the town attracts misfits and drifters like moths to a flame. Now someone else has been drawn to the Cove - Isabella Valdez, on the run from some very dangerous men.


When she starts working as Fallon's assistant, Isabella impresses him by organizing his pathologically chaotic office - and doesn't bat an eye at the psychic element of his job. She's a kindred spirit, a sanctuary from a world that considers his talents a form of madness. But after a routine case unearths an antique clock infused with dark energy, Fallon and Isabella are dragged into the secret history of Scargill Cove and forced to fight for their lives, as they unravel a cutthroat conspiracy with roots in the Jones family business.and Isabella's family tree.


Secrets to the Grave (Book 2, Deeper Than the Dead Series)
by Tami Hoag
Release Date: December 28, 2010

When Marissa is found brutally murdered, with her young daughter, Haley, resting her head on her mother's bloody breast, she sends the idyllic California town of Oak Knoll into a tailspin. Already on edge with the upcoming trial of the See- No-Evil killer, residents are shocked by reports of the crime scene, which might not have been discovered for days had it not been for a chilling 911 call: a small child's voice saying, "My daddy hurt my mommy."


Sheriff's detective Tony Mendez faces a puzzle with nothing but pieces that won't fit. To assist with his witness, Haley, he calls teacher-turned-child advocate Anne Leone. Anne's life is hectic enough-she's a newlywed and a part- time student in child psychology, and she's the star witness in the See-No-Evil trial. But one look at Haley, alone and terrified, and Anne's heart is stolen.

As Tony and Anne begin to peel back the layers of Marissa Fordham's life, they find a clue fragment here, another there. And just when it seems Marissa has taken her secrets to the grave, they uncover a fact that puts Anne and Haley directly in the sights of a killer: Marissa Fordham never existed.

Sapphique (Book 2, Incarceron)
by Catherine Fisher
Release Date: December 28, 2010
 
Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside.

The Lost Saint (Book 2, Dark Divine)
by Bree Despain
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She gave her soul to the wolf to save him and lost her beloved mother. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven. Desparate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot - a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel begins to crumble. Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities - not realizing that an old enemy has returned and deadly trap is about to be sprung.


Rosebush
by Michelle Jaffe
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.


Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface - not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.


Prospero Burns (Warhammer: Horus Heresy Series)
by Dan Abnett
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Dan Abnett returns to the best-selling Horus Hersey series in this latest instalment of the saga!

 Bloody Valentine (Book 6, Blue Bloods)
by Melissa de la Cruz
Release Date: December 28, 2010

Vampires have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shapeshift and more. But in matters of the heart, no one, not even the strikingly beautiful and outrageously wealthy Blue Bloods, has total control.

Broken Fences
by Camilla Noli
Release Date: December 30, 2010

Clair lives in the leafy suburbs and has worked hard to create the perfect life for her husband and two children. She knows it's a big bad world out there and her beautifully painted garden fences keep that world out. While her children are young, Clair is determined to do everything she can to keep them safe. But then a new family move in next door. The first time she sees Chelsea, Clair has her pegged as a spoilt only child who is used to getting her own way from her doting parents, beautiful yet spiteful. As Chelsea befriends Clair's children over the fence, Clair's unease increases. The girl is not a good influence, and she has Clair's son in her sights. Soon the children are running in and out of each other's gardens. But then events take a tragic turn. A terrible event shatters the cosy suburban community, proving Clair was right to remain vigilant. To protect her family, Clair tightens her grip on her children. The more she reins them in, the more they rebel. And the less control she has. Teetering on the edge of madness, Clair will do anything to save her family, and in doing so risks destroying all their lives.


Prom and Prejudice
by Elizabeth Eulberg
Release Date: January 1st, 2011

After winter break, the girls at very prestigious, very wealthy, girls-only Longbourn Academy are suddenly obsessed with the prom, which they share with the nearby, equally elitist, all-boys Pemberly school. Lizzie Bennett, who attends Longbourn on scholarship, isn't exactly interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be - especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London. Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance, but less than impressed by Will Darcy, Charles's friend, who's as snobby and pretentious as his friend is nice. He doesn't seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it's because her family doesn't have money. It doesn't help that Charles doesn't seem to be asking Jane to be his prom date, or that Lizzie meets George Wickham, who tells her that Will Darcy sabotaged his scholarship at Pemberly. Clearly Will Darcy is a pompous jerk who looks down on the middle class--so imagine Lizzie's surprise when he asks her to the prom!

Upcoming Releases: December 20-26

Take a look at some of the books that are being released this week.  I am definitely looking forward to the third book in the "Wondrous Strange" series, especially after I had the pleasure of meeting Lesley Livingston in October when she came for a visit at our local library. 

Out For Blood (Drake Chronicles, Book 3)
by Alyxandra Harvey
Release Date: December 21, 2010

Hunter Wild is the youngest in a long line of elite vampire hunters, a legacy that is both a blessing and a curse at the secret Helios-Ra Academy, where she excels at just about everything. Thanks to her friendship with Kieran Black, Hunter receives a special invitation to attend the coronation of Helena Drake, and for the first time, she sees the difference between vampires that must be hunted and vampires that can become friends - or even more. When students at the academy fall victim to a mysterious illness, Hunter suspects they are under attack from within. She will need someone she can trust to help her save the future of Helios-Ra . . . help that shockingly comes in the form of Quinn Drake, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire. Who said senior year would be easy?


Tempestuous (Wondrous Strange, Book 3)
by Lesley Livingston
Release Date: December 21, 2010

"I don't love Sonny Flannery." That's the lie Kelley Winslow told to protect the boy she loves from a power he doesn't know he possesses. Devastated, Sonny retreats - to a haven for Lost Fae that's hidden deep underneath New York City.


But Kelley's not about to let things end in heartbreak. To get Sonny back, she's got to find out who's after his magick - and how to use her own. She's got to uncover who's recruiting Janus Guards to murderously hunt innocent Faerie. She's got to help rebuild the shattered theater company she called family. And she's got to do it all without getting dangerously distracted by the Fennrys Wolf, whose legendary heart of stone seems to melt whenever he's around Kelley.


The Legacy (Book 3, Declaration Series)
by Gemma Malley
Release Date: December 21, 2010

When a Pincent Pharma lorry is ambushed by the Underground, its contents come as a huge surprise - not drugs, but corpses in a horrible state. It appears Longevity isn't working and the drugs promising eternal youth are failing to live up to their promises. A virus is sweeping the country, killing in its wake, and Longevity is powerless to fight it. When Richard Pincent of Pincent Pharma suggest that the Underground has released the virus, something has to be done to put the story straight and once and for all alert everyone to the truth.


The Diviner's Tale
by Bradford Morrow
Release Date: December 23, 2010
Walking a lonely forested valley on a spring morning in upstate New York, having been hired by a developer to dowse the land, Cassandra Brooks comes upon the shocking vision of a young girl hanged from a tree. When she returns with authorities to the site, the body has vanished, leaving in question Cassandra's credibility if not her sanity. The next day, on a return visit with the sheriff to have another look, a dazed, mute missing girl emerges from the woods, alive and the very picture of Cassandra's hanged girl.


When Cassandra's dark forebodings take on tangible form, she is forced to confront a life spiraling out of control. And soon she is locked in a mortal chess match with a real-life killer who has haunted her since before she can remember.

Upcoming Releases - December 13 - 20

I love this time of week when I get to explore the books that are being released.  I am always looking for new books even though I haven't finished most of what is on my own bookshelves.  But isn't that half the fun of being a book blogger, looking to see what is going to be released?  And with Christmas coming, my wish list is growing by leaps and bounds.  Here are some of the books being released this week that I am looking forward to reading.

The Gift (Witch & Wizard, Book 2)
by James Patterson
Release Date: December 13, 2010

When Whit & Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kids kidnapped and brutally imprisoned by the New Order.

But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion.

Entice (Need Pixies, Book 3)
by Carrie Jones
Release Date: December 13, 2010

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not quite how things have worked out.

For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned. She's Astley's queen.

Vixen (Flappers, Book 1)
by Lila Fine
Release Date: December 14, 2010

Every girl wants what she can't have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle - and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she's engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago's most powerful families, Gloria's party days are over before they've even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria's goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch - but Clara isn't as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she'll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria's social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria's shadow. When Lorraine's envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone's going to be very sorry. . . .

The Watcher (Brodie MacLennan, Book 3)
by Grace Monroe
Release Date: December 15, 2010

Four days before Christmas, a young woman's body is found in a ditch in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle, the discovery rendered even more terrifying by the message 'More Will Die' written on her body in blood. Soon, the prophecy is fulfilled, more young women disappear - all redheads - their bodies later found bludgeoned to death, their feet severed. Quickly dubbed 'The Edinburgh Ripper', the murders bring the city to its knees. It might be the season of goodwill but its citizens live in fear of becoming the latest victim. Headstrong young lawyer Brodie McLennan teams up with DI Duncan Bancho in an effort to discover the identity of this warped killer. Soon, their investigations uncover a ring of human traffickers, selling Eastern European women as sex slaves, a depraved group called the 'Hobbyists' and a clandestine internet chat room. Unbeknownst to Brodie, the killer's web is spinning ever closer to her and her teenaged half sister Connie, recently back in her life. When Connie is reported missing, Brodie must quickly uncover the Ripper's identity - before her own flesh and blood becomes the latest victim.

Getting Away With It
by Julie Cohen
Release Date: December 15, 2010

Liza Haven couldn't wait to escape the small village where she grew up with her perfect identical twin sister, Lee. Her life in LA as a stunt woman is reckless, fast and free - and that's just the way she likes it. But when a near-fatal mistake drives her home, she finds Lee gone and everyone in the village mistaking her for her twin sister. Liza has to deal with her ailing mother, the family ice cream business, and Lee's dangerously attractive boyfriend. Liza's always been the bad twin, but as she struggles to keep up the masquerade and puzzle out where her sister has gone, she realises it's not so simple. She's spent her whole life getting away with it - is it finally time to face up to who she really is and where she really belongs?

Upcoming Releases: December 6 - 12

A snowy day in my world today had me staying indoors and staying put in front of the computer and marking pretty much the entire day.  I did manage to take a few sneak peeks into the book world to see what was being released this week and this is what I found. 

Stonewielder (Book 3, Malazan Empire Series)
by Ian C. Esslemont
Release Date: December 6, 2010

Greymane believed he'd outrun his past. With his school for swordsmanship in Falar, he was looking forward to a quiet life, although his colleague Kyle wasn't as enamoured with things outside the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. However, it seems it is not so easy for an ex-Fist of the Malazan Empire to disappear, especially one under sentence of death from that same Empire. For there is a new Emperor on the throne of Malaz, and he is dwelling on the ignominy that is the Empire's failed invasion of the Korel subcontinent. In the vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, lie the answers to that disaster. And out of this buried history surfaces the name Stonewielder. In Korel, Lord Protector Hiam, commander of the Stormguard, faces the potential annihilation of all that he holds dear. With few remaining men and a crumbling stone wall that has seen better days, he confronts an ancient enemy: the sea-borne Stormriders have returned. Religious war also threatens these lands. The cult of the Blessed Lady, which had stood firm against the Riders for millennia, now seeks to eradicate its rivals. And as chaos looms, a local magistrate investigating a series of murders suddenly finds himself at the heart of a far more ancient and terrifying crime - one that has tainted an entire land...

Sprinkle With Murder (Book 1, Cupcake Mystery Series)
by Jenn McKinley
Release Date: December 6, 2010
 
Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She's a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding.


When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead-by-cupcake, she becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.


Trickster's Girl (Book 1, Raven Duet Series)
by Hilary Bell
Release Date: December 6, 2010

In the year 2098 America isn't so different from the USA of today. But, in a post-9/11 security-obssessed world, "secured" doesn't just refer to borders between countries, it also refer to borders between states. Teenagers still think they know everything, but there is no cure for cancer, as Kelsa knows first-hand from watching her father die.


The night Kelsa buries her father, a boy appears. He claims magic is responsible for the health of Earth, but human damage disrupts its flow. The planet is dying.

Kelsa has the power to reverse the damage, but first she must accept that magic exists and see beyond her own pain in order to heal the planet.

Last Sacrifice (Book 6, Vampire Academy Series)
by Richelle Mead
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Who has not been waiting for this one?

The Lying Game (Book 1, Lying Game Series)
by Sara Shepard
Release Date: December 7, 2010

The worst part of being dead is that there's nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It's enough to kill a girl all over again. But I'm about to get something no one else does - an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.


Now Emma's desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me - to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she's the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?

Queen Hereafter
by Susan Fraser King
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Shipwrecked on the Scottish coast, a young Saxon princess and her family - including the outlawed Edgar of England - ask sanctuary of the warrior-king Malcolm Canmore, who shrewdly sees the political advantage. He promises to aid Edgar and the Saxon cause in return for the hand of Edgar's sister, Margaret, in marriage.


A foreign queen in a strange land, Margaret adapts to life among the barbarian Scots, bears princes, and shapes the fierce warrior Malcolm into a sophisticated ruler. Yet even as the king and queen build a passionate and tempestuous partnership, the Scots distrust her. When her husband brings Eva, a Celtic bard, to court as a hostage for the good behavior of the formidable Lady Macbeth, Margaret expects trouble. Instead, an unlikely friendship grows between the queen and her bard, though one has a wild Celtic nature and the other follows the demanding path of obligation.

Torn between old and new loyalties, Eva is bound by a vow to betray the king and his Saxon queen. Soon imprisoned and charged with witchcraft and treason, Eva learns that Queen Margaret - counseled by the furious king and his powerful priests - will decide her fate and that of her kinswoman Lady Macbeth. But can the proud queen forgive such deep treachery?

Seer of Sevenwaters
by Juliet Marillier
Release Date: December 7, 2010

The young seer Sibeal is visiting an island of elite warriors, prior to making her final pledge as a druid. It's there she finds Felix, a survivor of a Viking shipwreck, who's lost his memory. The scholarly Felix and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate, but Sibeal's vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.


As Felix fully regains his memory, Sibeal has a runic divination showing her that Felix must go on a perilous mission-and that she will join him. The rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal's own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her soul-her spirituality and a chance at love...

Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.


Threats at Three (A Lois Meade Mystery)
by Ann Purser
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Lois Meade has worked through all the days of the week, turning up clues and scrubbing up both messes and murderers in the village of Long Farnden. But crime is a persistent stain...


When a dead body is found in a canal, Detective Cowgill believes the murder is connected to a suspicious fire and a heated dispute over saving the local village hall. Time to turn to the ever reliable Lois Meade to sort out the culprits and pick up the loose ends-before their village hall turns into a funeral hall...

Star of the Morning
by Lynn Kurland
Release Date: December 7, 2010
Neroche's kingdom is threatened by the darkness of an evil Black Mage- and all hope lies in the legend of two magical swords. Miach, the archmage of Neroche, carries one. And he's found a Wielder for the other in Morgan, a young woman and feared mercenary herself. Now, Miach must choose between endangering the woman who has captured his heart, and defending the kingdom he's sworn to protect.



Forever Yours
by Rita Bradshaw
Release Date: December 9, 2010

A tragic house fire kills both her parents, but Constance Shelton escapes, rescued by her eight-year-old neighbour, Matt Heath. She is brought up by her grandparents, but the two children become inseparable and, as she enters her teens, these strong feelings turn into love. But Matt sees her only as a sister and Constance can do nothing when he proposes to another girl. When Constance discovers that the fire that killed her parents wasn't an accident, but in fact the actions of a jealous man, she finds herself in terrible danger and is forced to leave the village and everyone she knows. Although Constance makes a good life for herself elsewhere, her heart remains with the only man she has ever loved. But what will it take for Matt to realise his true feelings for her?

Upcoming Releases - November 29 - December 5

Hard to believe it's almost December, and soon we will be celebrating another New Year's.  I can't say that I will be sad to see the end of 2010 as there have been some major 'bleeps' along the path this year, but there have also been some great moments too.  I celebrate my kids and the growth I see in them every day; I love watching them grow and develop into young adults as it's just amazing.  My friends tell me I'll feel differently for a few years when they become teenagers (lol), but for now I can enjoy being around them and feel joy in their presence. 

As always, I love to scour the web for new and upcoming releases.  I haven't been able to do this feature for the past several weeks as I've been to busy at work, but thought it was time to get back into it again.  So, here a couple of books I am looking forward to reading that are being released this week:

Matched (Matched, Book 1)
by Ally Condie
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Shadowheart (Shadowmarch, Book 4)
by Tad Williams
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Southmarch Castle is about to be caught between two implacable enemies, the anchient, immortal Qar and the insane god-king, the Autarch of Xis. Meanwhile, its two young defenders, Princess Briony and Prince Barrick, are both trapped far away from home and fighting for their lives. And now, something is awakening underneath Southmarch Castle, something powerful and terrible that the world has not seen for thousands of years. Can Barrick and Briony, along with a tiny handful of allies, ordinary and extraordinary, find a way to save their world and prevent the rise of a terrible new age - an age of unending darkness?

The Sherlockian
by Graham Moore
Release Date: November 30

When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world's leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold - using wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories - who takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer.

The Darkfall Switch
by David Lindsley
Release Date: November 30, 2010

After a power cut kills dozens of people in the London Underground, engineer Dan Foster uncovers a web of deception centred on a department of the US administration. The blackout may have been initiated by accident, but the trigger is part of a scheme that someone is now desperate to conceal - even if it involves murder. Foster's probes take him to the headquarters of a powerful industrial corporation in the Rocky Mountains, where he finds the plot goes deeper than he could have possibly imagined. The question is: will he be able to unveil the ugly truth before it's too late?

A Piggly Wiggly Christmas
by Robert Dalby
Release Date: November 30, 2010

When the big MegaMart off the interstate starts to drain away business from Second Creek's historic town square, Laurie Lepanto approaches the mayor, Hale Dunbar-previously the proprietor of Second Creek's Piggly Wiggly supermarket-with a scheme to revitalize the area.

But when an electrical fire devastates the square's beautiful old buildings a week before Christmas, everything is thrown into chaos. It falls to the town's indefatigable army of matrons-the Nitwitts-to find a way to revive the holiday spirit and raise money to rebuild. It will take a miracle... But it's Christmas in Second Creek, where everyday miracles are a way of life.

Black Wings
by Christina Henry
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Escorting souls into the afterlife leaves Maddy little time for socializing-until devilishly handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in her building. But when demons start appearing on Maddy's front lawn, she realizes there's more to her new tenant than meets the eye.

Lucid Intervals (A Stone Barrington Novel)
by Stuart Woods
Release Date: November 30, 2010

It seems like just another quiet night at Elaine's. Stone Barrington and his former cop partner, Dino, are enjoying some pasta when in walks former client-and all around sad sack-Herbie Fisher...with a briefcase containing $14 million in cash.


Herbie claims to have won the money on a lucky lotto ticket, but he also says he needs a lawyer-and after a single gunshot breaks the window above his head and send diners scrambling, Stone and Dino suspect Herbie might need a bodyguard and a private investigator, too.

The Millenium Set
by Stieg Larsson
Release Date: November 30, 2010

Purchase Stieg Larsson's internationally bestselling Millennium Trilogy.