Still Alive, Barely

I brought a nasty case of flu home with me from Baltimore that I still haven't shaken. But I wanted to share this STARRED Publishers Weekly review of Where Serpents Sleep, which hits the stores the first Tuesday in November. I could have done without the "predictable" line (excuse me?!) but since they gave it a star, I can't really complain!

"Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery C.S. Harris. NAL/Obsidian. The savage murder of eight prostitutes at a London house of refuge provides Sebastian St. Cyr with yet another challenging puzzle in Harris's outstanding fourth mystery to feature the Regency-era gentleman sleuth. St. Cyr, who's been despondent ever since a stunning personal revelation toward the end of 2007's Why Mermaids Sing, is roused from his funk by Hero Jarvis, the fearless and independent daughter of his mortal enemy. Jarvis, who was doing research at the house of refuge at the time of the murders and barely survived the massacre herself, asks for St. Cyr's help in tracking down those responsible. The amateur detective finds no shortage of suspects, ranging from the pimp of some of the dead girls to Bow Street magistrate Sir William Hadley, who had patronized them. While the developing attraction between St. Cyr and Jarvis is a little too predictable, Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist. (Nov.)"

Another PW Review--and this one's starred!

Okay, this is really weird. The latest edition of Publishers Weekly has another review of The Archangel Project, slightly different from the first. I'm not complaining because this is a starred review--very important to both New York editors and the people who place the orders for bookstores. I'm not sure exactly what happened--maybe they meant to give it a star the first time, and ran the review again when they realized it'd been left off? Anyway, here's the new, starred version:

The Archangel Project C.S. Graham. Harper, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-135120-4
Novelist Candice Proctor (Why Mermaids Sing and others as C.S. Harris) and her husband, army intelligence officer Steven Harris, collaborate on this rollicking suspense novel. October “Tobie” Guinness is a remote viewer who sees unpredictable flashes of things miles away. When she discovers a conspiracy by key defense industry and government personnel to plan a 9/11-type attack in New Orleans and turn public sentiment against Iran, the conspirators decide that she and the professor training her must die. Jax Alexander, a CIA agent one mistake away from being fired, goes to New Orleans to investigate the professor's death and stumbles into the plot. Jax and Tobie run for their lives, trying to stay one step ahead of the killers, piece together the plot and avert an unjust war. While Tobie is trapped by circumstances, shockingly capable and intelligent but tormented by her gift, Jax is the consummate skeptical patriot. Conspiracy fans will love this impressive series opener.(Oct.)

Archangel's Publishers Weekly Review

The Publishers Weekly review of The Archangel Project is already out, and it's a good one. Here it is...

The Archangel Project
C.S. Graham. Harper, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-135120-4
Vietnam vet Steven Harris and Candice Proctor (of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries, written as C.S. Harris) write here as Graham and deliver rollicking good suspense. October “Tobie” Guinness is a navy vet of the Iraq War with remote viewing skills, meaning she can see into rooms from miles away. She can't hone in with complete exactness, though, and a viewing session unintentionally leads her to discover a conspiracy involving key defense industry and government personnel. They, in turn, quickly dispatch former special ops man Lance Palmer to “clean up” the situation. Jax Alexander is a CIA agent one mistake away from being fired, who goes down to New Orleans to investigate the death of Tobie's former professor and stumbles into the plot. Jax and Tobie run for their lives, trying to stay one step ahead of the conspirators, piece together the plot and eventually save the life of the vice president and avert an unjust war. Tobie, tormented by her gift, is terrifically capable and intelligent, while Jax is the consummate skeptic who still loves his country and believes in his job. The credible, fast-moving plot gives them ample opportunities to show off their skills. (Sept.) -- Publishers Weekly, 6/2/2008

ARCHANGEL Attracts More Hollywood Attention

Jason Anthony mentions THE ARCHANGEL PROJECT in his column, The Hollywood Reader, in this week's PW. So far, we've had five more production companies express interest.

That makes the refrigerator thing a lot easier to take.