Anchorage Daily News

Whisper to the Blood

Click to enlarge

Out at Night By Susan Arnout Smith (Minotaur Books, $25.95)

Click to enlarge

The Haunting: Poetic Images of Alaska By Merle P. Martin (BookSurge Publishing, $10.99)

Click to enlarge

Whisper to the Blood By Dana Stabenow (Minotaur Books, $24.95)

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

By Dana Stabenow (Minotaur Books, $24.95)

The blurb: "Inside Alaska's biggest national park, around the town of Niniltna, a gold mining company has started buying up land. The residents of the Park are uneasy. 'But gold is up to $900 an ounce,' is the refrain of Talia Macleod, the popular Alaskan skiing champ the company has hired to improve their relations with Alaskans and pave the way for the mine's expansion. And she promises much-needed jobs to the locals. But before she can make her way to every village in the area to present her case at town meetings and village breakfasts, there are two brutal murders, including that of a long-standing mine opponent."

Excerpt: "She reached for the .30-06 at the same time she switched on the porch light, which revealed Bobby's snow machine stopped in the yard, engine running, one person dismounting and running to the stairs. A frisson of nameless fear shivered up her spine. She put the rifle back and opened the door. 'What's wrong?' she said before Dinah had her foot on the bottom step. Dinah looked up and without preamble said, 'Johnny triggered his PLB. Jim got the word and the location and he's on his way there with Bobby.' Kate ran upstairs and found clothes, ran back downstairs, pulled on bibs, parka and boots, grabbed her gloves, goggles and rifle and ran outside."

The Haunting: Poetic Images of Alaska

By Merle P. Martin (BookSurge Publishing, $10.99)

The blurb: "Alaska -- the Great Land, the Final Frontier. Its grandeur and rigor are such that you do not change Alaska -- it changes you. This book of poetry captures the author's 15 years living in this state. It speaks to the majesty of Alaska's setting; the self-reliant, determined Alaskan people; and the soaring highs of the total Alaskan experience."

Excerpt: "Ghostly echoes on colding nights. Aurora Borealis igniting skies. Late sunrise breaching Chugiak heights. Sunsets flaming the Sleeping Lady. Aurora Borealis. Porpoises bounding Prince William Sound. Glaciers cleaving cloud-shrouded peaks. Tides reprising Turnagain arm. Dahl Sheep bleaching Gunsight Pass. Glaciers cleaving. Beluga whales framing office windows. Ice fog stealing downtown streets. Denali claiming rare clear days. The blink of glistening autumn. Ice fog stealing. Alaska. It haunts me still. Alaska."

Out at Night

By Susan Arnout Smith (Minotaur Books, $25.95)

The blurb: "It's the dead of night, and Professor Thaddeus Bartholomew is frantically crawling through a field to stay alive. With mere moments to act, he has only enough time to type out a text message -- a name -- before his stalker overcomes him. Later he is found with a hole in his chest, shot with a crossbow, and burned to death. Meanwhile, San Diego crime-scene tech Grace Descanso has gone on vacation with her daughter, but the FBI feels far from guilty about interrupting them after her name turns up on the professor's phone."

Excerpt: "Whatever Grace's uncle needed her to do in Palm Springs was far less important than the likelihood of Mac forging a bond with Katie that forever altered the relationship she had with her daughter. 'I'll be back to drive you to the water taxi, which will take you to Eleuthera. On Eleuthera, there's transport waiting to drop you directly at the plane. They're holding it for you.' 'Am I supposed to go right to Palm Springs?' He handed her a sealed letter with an FBI insignia on it. 'That, I do not know, madam.' 'How much time do I have?' He glanced silently at the villa. Mac and Katie had disappeared inside, the balcony empty. He looked at her neutrally. 'Enough time to say good-bye.' "

ADVERTISEMENT