Park County Library System

Fiction
Broken Heartland: A Mad Dog and Englishman Mystery by J.M. Hayes
“Mad Dog” is a born again Cheyenne, and Englishman is Sheriff English of Benteen County, Kansas. The Sheriff is up for reelection and is subject to a smear campaign from the Christian right, and, as if that wasn’t enough, he’s also dealing with a deputy who’s just crashed into a school bus, a hostage situation at the school, and something sinister going on at a farmhouse outside of town. This is one for those who like zany characters and multiple plots.

Three Sisters by James Doss
There’s something about mystery novels that seems to bring together peculiar characters. This one has a TV psychic; her sister, a woman who seems to have been attacked by a bear and is now dead; a third sister who is trying to woo her dead sister’s husband; and of course tribal investigator Charlie Moon; best friend, chief of police Scott Parris; and his Aunt Daisy, a shaman. With its Colorado setting, this one is a natural for fans of western Native American mysteries.

Die With Me by Elena Forbes
A man who calls himself simply Tom has a ghastly scheme going: he befriends lonely, desperate women, convinces them to enter a suicide pact with him, and then when the time comes, kills them instead. Detective Mark Tartaglia is on the case, and he isn’t too pleased when he’s assigned to work with Detective Carolyn Steele–until Steele herself becomes a target.

Custer’s Brother’s Horse by Edwin Shrake
It’s 1865, the end of the Civil War, and Edward Varney is an English novelist accused of stealing the horse of Tom Custer, General Custer’s brother. Also in line to hang with is Confederate Captain Jerod Robin. A judge spares them at the last moment, and they make their escape, accompanied by fortune-teller Flora Blowprie. Along the road they pick up another woman, Isabella Bushkin, and then the four must fight their way through all manner of adventures in this fast-paced western.

The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
Koontz’s latest thriller includes, in addition to the usual psychopaths and good guys, a magical golden retriever named Nickie.

Garcia’s Heart by Liam Durcan
A neurologist now working as a biotech entrepreneur goes to the Hague to witness the war crimes trial of the man who inspired him to study medicine. One critic describes Durcan as a cross between John le Carré and Ian MacEwan.

Toehold by Stephen H. Foreman
Toehold, Alaska is kind of what Meeteetse would be like if it were a) even smaller, b) located inside the Arctic Circle, and c) involved more gun shots.

Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger
Cork O’Connor, a northern Minnesota PI, is approached by his friend and spiritual adviser Henry Meloux, an Ojibwe. Meloux wants to find the son he fathered seventy years ago. O’Connor finds the son–and also finds that he’s a prime suspect in an attempt on Meloux’s life.

Third Degree by Greg Iles
A 35-year-old woman with twins is taken hostage by her husband (who may or may not be the father of the child she is currently pregnant with), who is himself on the lam from the Feds.

Robert Ludlum’s the Arctic Event: A Covert-One Novel by James Cobb
Robert Ludlum continues to be prolific even though he died in 2001. These posthumous novels are generally either based on drafts he left or are written in the Ludlum spirit.

Double Cross by James Patterson
Speaking of prolific authors (one shudders to think what will happen when Patterson dies), James Patterson is out with his latest novel about Alex Cross.

Last Breath: A Sherry Moore Novel by George D. Shuman
Sherry Moore is a blind woman with a remarkable kind of sight: she can see the final moments of any dead body she comes across. Now she’s out to see if she can find a ruthless serial killer.

Love Falls by Esther Freud
Esther Freud is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and the author of Hideous Kinky, which was made into a movie starring Kate Winslet. In her new novel, she follows what happens when 17-year-old Lara is invited to spend the summer in Tuscany. To her delight, she finds herself living next to a group of glamorous siblings, the children of a millionaire with a penchant for fun and adventure.

Nonfiction
Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism by Jenny McCarthy
The actress discusses her son’s autism diagnosis and treatment.

The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President: Where the Candidates Come From, What They Believe, and How to Make Your Choice by Mark Halperin
Halperin, a news analyst for Time magazine and ABC, provides background information and a position checklist for each of the presidential candidates. The leading contenders get a lot more space than do their less-well-known/funded counterparts (only 7 candidates are pictured on the cover, though the book covers 16; also missing are potential candidates from small parties that have not yet declared). I am from Iowa and hence am used to meeting presidential candidates at park shelters or people’s backyards, so election season in Wyoming is a bit different from me–but with the Republican primary scheduled for January 5, election season may be a little different for a lot of us. If coming to the library to get a book seems like too much work, you can also cruise through candidate biographies, voting records, and survey responses at Project Vote Smart.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben published a book about global warming in 1990 (which makes him early, but not the earliest–awhile back I weeded three or four books about global warming with publication dates before 1990). Now he tackles the world economy, suggesting that only by developing more sustainable alternatives to the way we now live.

On the Wealth of Nations by P.J. O’Rourke
P.J. O’Rourke reads Adam Smith’s classic economic treatise The Wealth of Nations so that–as the Atlantic Monthly is pitching this first in a series–you don’t have to.

Kerplunk! by Patrick F. McManus
McManus is back with another hilarious collection of essays from Outdoor Life. Think Dave Barry plucked from southern Florida and dropped in the woods with a fishing pole and a rifle–and happy about it.

The Climb of My Life: Scaling Mountains With a Borrowed Heart by Kelly Perkins
The author’s memoir of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (among others!) after a heart transplant.

Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton
There is probably a point in the narrative arc of any great rock and roller’s career when the time comes to write a memoir. The time has come for guitar hero Clapton, and this the well-reviewed result. For yet more, including interview clips, songs, and an excerpt from the book, check out NPR Music.

See You in a Hundred Years: Four Seasons in Forgotten America by Logan Ward
A New York City freelance writer and his family decide to try to live in rural Virginia as if it were 1900, with both predictable and unusual results.

The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What’s So Good About the Good News? by Peter J. Gomes
The minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church argues that we have to go above and beyond the gospels.

The Car: A History of the Automobile by Jonathan Glancy
This is a gorgeous large-format book packed full of photographs and information. Even if you’re not interested in cars, you will probably still enjoy flipping through the pages to look at the old street scenes and advertisements and beehive hairdos.

Horses and Horsemanship by M. Eugene Ensminger
We continue to work on updating some of our nonfiction. Here’s a tome we picked as part of our animal husbandry updating.

Plus. . .
Small Gas Engine Repair by Paul Dempsey
In case you get a hankering to work on your lawnmower.

Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology by A. Bowdoin Van Riper

Candle Making: A Step by Step Guide from Beginner to Expert by Bob Sherman

The Complete Book of Papercraft: Over 50 Designs for Handmade Paper, Cards, Gift-wrapping, Decoupage, and Manipulating Paper by Lynn Garner