Name that book?

[badgoodDeb]

No, but it sounds rather interesting. Following ....

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I am trying to remember the title of an audiobook I listened to within the past few years. It was a suspense thriller that opened with a woman taking photos of a dead body she found in her apartment upon returning from a vacation (honeymoon?) with her husband. (She is a professional photographer.) She then becomes obsessed with finding out who the dead man was and how he came to be in her apartment.

Probably the author is a woman--probably British, because I'm fairly sure the setting is London. The book was new-ish when I read it. I've been going through my lists of books read, but I've read a few hundred books in the last few years and I'm not finding it.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks.

I think it's City of Strangers. by Louise Millar

When Grace and her childhood sweetheart Mac come home from their honeymoon in Thailand, they’re shocked to find a dead body beside their pile of unopened wedding presents. The police are unable to ID the man, so it is assumed that he was a burglar who died from natural causes. Little do they know that evidence for a rather different story is hidden right beneath their apartment…

Three months later, Grace finds a card that, in place of well wishes, bears the message: “That man was Lucian Grabole.” A newspaper reporter fearing for her job, Grace lands on an idea that could answer some questions, and save her career as well. She’ll pitch a story to her boss called “Who was the man in my kitchen?”

Soon Grace is trekking across Europe, talking to strangers and piecing together clues as she tries to unravel the mystery of who Lucian Grabole was, and why he met such a macabre end. Suddenly, with two more deaths linked to the case, it becomes clear that Grabole most certainly did not die a natural death. And the answer to the mystery of who the killer is, and why, lies back in Grace’s apartment...

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think it's City of Strangers. by Louise Millar

YES! Thank you so much.

I read it earlier this year, and it's right there on my list, but somehow my eyes kept skipping over it. Duh.

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think it's City of Strangers. by Louise Millar

I have not read this but it has been added to my TBR list. Or maybe that is my to be listened list

to JSWolf & Catlady.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Catlady

YES! Thank you so much.

I read it earlier this year, and it's right there on my list, but somehow my eyes kept skipping over it. Duh.

I used your description and did a search and a link for the book at Goodreads came up.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I used your description and did a search and a link for the book at Goodreads came up.

I tried Google and Goodreads searches with various terms and got nothing.

Originally Posted by KyBunnies

I have not read this but it has been added to my TBR list. Or maybe that is my to be listened list

to JSWolf & Catlady.

It was good, but I liked it least of the Louise Millar books I read, the others being The Playdate and Accidents Happen.

[Dorinthia]

I read a great series of sci fi books a long time ago. They take place after nuclear war and have mutants. Some parts I remember are the hero is searching for his son (I think) and has a mutant woman with him. They go to the Rocky Mountains where humans survived due to the fall out not reaching their valley. T
I think they also travel to New York. Any help would be greatly appreciated since this has been nagging me for years!

[haertig]

I am trying to remember a book I read years ago. I don't have much to go on. And I may even be confusing two different books into one. It was action/adventure fiction, like Clive Cussler or James Rollins. Good guys trying to save the world from something, who often meet up with bad guys that like to get into shootouts and such. (OK - that describes about everything Cussler and Rollins have ever written!)

The biggest thing I remember is the male protagonist, some manly or military type guy, had an FN Five Seven handgun. And I also remember some stone structure like an old tomb or something that was partially above and partially below water. Some people (ladies?) took a boat and were exploring the structure to find a clue to something, then got chased deeper into this structure by some bad guys. Probably in the first third of the book. They of course got out of it somehow, and the book went onto other adventures that I can't recall.

I'm hoping these two remembrances - the 5.7 and the structure - are in the same book and not a merging of two separate books in my mind.

Any hints on what this book (or books) may be?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by haertig

I am trying to remember a book I read years ago. I don't have much to go on. And I may even be confusing two different books into one. It was action/adventure fiction, like Clive Cussler or James Rollins. Good guys trying to save the world from something, who often meet up with bad guys that like to get into shootouts and such. (OK - that describes about everything Cussler and Rollins have ever written!)

The biggest thing I remember is the male protagonist, some manly or military type guy, had an FN Five Seven handgun. And I also remember some stone structure like an old tomb or something that was partially above and partially below water. Some people (ladies?) took a boat and were exploring the structure to find a clue to something, then got chased deeper into this structure by some bad guys. Probably in the first third of the book. They of course got out of it somehow, and the book went onto other adventures that I can't recall.

I'm hoping these two remembrances - the 5.7 and the structure - are in the same book and not a merging of two separate books in my mind.

Any hints on what this book (or books) may be?

Is it any of the books mentioned on this page?

[haertig]

I've been wracking my brains on this, going so far as to dig out books from a box of previously read books in my basement. Not the most sure way for me to find the book, since I give many away after I'm done with them. But there are still some left in that basement box.

Two I found there, I cannot remember the plot line. "Deep Fathom" by James Rollins and "Deep Storm" by Clive Cussler. So I looked those up on Wikipedia. This sounds somewhat familiar, regarding "Deep Fathom":

...Undeterred by earthquakes, they escape from patrols and get to the boat which Karen had hired to take them to the twin dragons, submerged pyramids which had come above the sea level along with a whole city. When they get there they go to a large pyramid to explore but are interrupted with three men come from nowhere and ask them to leave. The women refuse and after being chased deep into the pyramid, they find a star-shaped crystal. Using the crystal, the women escape and return to Okinawa...

This seems to match my "partially submerged stone structure" recollection. And then I found some references to Clive Cussler novels, the "Oregon Files" series specifically, protagonist Juan Cabrillo, who (possibly?) preferred a 5.7 handgun. I remember reading one book from the Oregon Files series (I think), but I can't remember which one. So maybe I am indeed confusing two separate books into one in my mind.

[John F]

This is a weird one (for me). I just read a short story: James Penney's New Identity by Lee Child.

Major spoiler (but please read it so you can help me out).

Spoiler:

Jack Reacher is in it. A guy gets fired from his job. He burns his house down, and leaves town in his Firebird. He checks into a hotel and someone steals his car so he starts hitchhiking. The police are setting up road blocks looking for the guy (he ended up burning down his neighbors houses also). Reacher picks him up. Reacher has a dead guy in the trunk. He gives the identity to the guy on the run, and gets him thru a roadblock.

I could have sworn I read this story before in one of the other Reacher books, but searching for "Firebird" turned up nothing.

Anyone recall the book?

Thanks.

[Witty Username]

Originally Posted by John F

This is a weird one (for me). I just read a short story: James Penney's New Identity by Lee Child.

I could have sworn I read this story before in one of the other Reacher books, but searching for "Firebird" turned up nothing.

Anyone recall the book?

Thanks.

If you look at the pdf download of short stories on Lee Child's website it shows that story has been published in two anthologies - Fresh Blood 3 in 1999 and Thriller in 2006. You probably read it in one of those books.

ETA It was also released digitally 2011 on its own for UK and territories. But you don't give a location so you may not have had access to that.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

If you look at the pdf download of short stories on Lee Child's website it shows that story has been published in two anthologies - Fresh Blood 3 in 1999 and Thriller in 2006. You probably read it in one of those books. ...

I didn't read it in either of those.

... ETA It was also released digitally 2011 on its own for UK and territories. But you don't give a location so you may not have had access to that.

I don't think I previously read it as a short story. I recall that the story continues with the stolen car, and Reacher ends up after the thief for some reason (someone burns up in the stolen car, and they mis-identify the burned up body).

[jabberwock_11]

I work nights and listen to a lot of audiobooks while at work. The upside to this is that I stumble upon quite a few books that I might not have otherwise found. The downside is that, unlike with regular books, I tend to look at titles of audiobooks a lot less often.

Right now I am dealing with the consequences of not looking at the titles of audiobooks that I listen to. I am desperately trying to recall the title of a book that I really enjoyed. I am pretty sure that I used Overdrive to listen to it, but my public library account seems to believe that my borrowing history is non-existent, and Overdrive seems to agree.

What I can recall about the book is that it was humorous, the main character is a thief who is immune to magic, he gets busted and starts working for a paranormal government agency, he occasionally works with a ghost who resides in his head on gigs, in one of the books there was a desk squid, there were a few inept cults that were occasional antagonists, and zombies tended to work in the mail room.

I know that this is not a ton of information, but any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[meeera]

Richard Kadrey’s Another Coop Heist series?