Category Archives: 2009

2009

Deborah J. Ledford. Staccato. Kernersville, NC: Dagger Books, 2009.

Millionaire Alexander Kalman is a master manipulator who thinks that he can settle all of his problems by having people removed. Elaine, his niece, has become too much of a distraction for his protégé, Nicholas. As a world-class pianist, Nicholas provides Alexander with everything that matters most to him – money, fame, and glory for the family name. Although they are not related, Alexander convinced his sister (Elaine’s mother) to adopt Nicholas, giving the boy their surname and covering up Nicholas’ parents’ deaths. When Nicholas discovers the truth of his father’s disappearance, he and Elaine make plans to escape. However, before they can get away, Alexander orders Elaine killed, forcing his servants to do the dirty work. He then charges Timothy, a less-favored piano student, with the task of disposing of the body. When Timothy alters the plans with the hope that it will impress Alexander and incriminate his rival, he jeopardizes the clean cover-up. Nicholas, now aware of Elaine’s death, is distraught and eager to avenge the senseless murder of his beloved. What follows is a terrifying game of cat and mouse.  Alexander has loyal employees who will do anything that he wants, but he realizes that he is loosing control of Timothy.  Plus, Elaine’s mother has asked the sheriff’s department to investigate her daughter’s disappearance.  Deputy Sheriff Steven Hawk is given the case, and it is his diligence, plus Nicholas’s desire to live his own, true life,  that is Alexander’s undoing.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Ledford, Deborah J., Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Swain

Joyce M. Jacobs. Trailer Park Brats. Risingmeadow Books,2009.

Robin has heard the mean things that have been said about trailer parks. She has seen the “snotty expressions” people have when they find out that she lives in one. But the tweenager is very happy in her trailer park, Mobile Acres. She appreciates the sense of community that she and her mother share with her neighbors, and she loves living so close to her best friend, Tawana. When Gloria, an “Army brat” moves to their Shallotte, North Carolina, trailer park, the three quickly become pals, calling themselves the Trailer Park Brats. Over the course of the summer, Robin and Tawana introduce Gloria to the neighborhood and enjoy a few adventures, including alerting a friend to a fire at his trailer, spying on a loner neighbor who they are convinced is a vampire, and witnessing a drug dealer trying to sell marijuana to a friend. Through their fun and their trials, the Trailer Park Brats learn life lessons and form a deep bond. By the time school is about to start, the three decide that their summer at Mobile Acres has been their best yet.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Brunswick, Children & Young Adults, Coast, Jacobs, Joyce M.

Diana Gabaldon. An Echo in the Bone. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.

War is upon the Carolinas in this, the seventh novel in the Outlander series.  Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling wife Claire leave North Carolina aboard the inappropriately named Tranquil Teal. Jamie and Claire’s experiences at sea are part of the mix, along with much about the war in the northern colonies, and Brianna’s new life in twentieth century Scotland.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coastal Plain, Gabaldon, Diana, Historical, Novels in Series, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Edith M. Hemingway. Road to Tater Hill. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.

Although Annie Winters is in her favorite place on earth – visiting her grandparent’s house on Tater Hill – her summer is not going well. Annie’s family is in the midst of a tragedy. Her baby sister, Mary Kate, was born prematurely and died a day after her birth. With her father in Germany with the Air Force, Annie and her grandparents must help her mother through her debilitating grief while dealing with their own sadness. Annie, independent at ten, feels as though no one understands her sorrow. One day, she runs into the woods to escape her feeling of loss and is surprised to find an old woman. Over time she builds the courage to talk to her and discovers the stranger, Miss Eliza, has an unusual past. In spite of this, Annie secretly befriends Miss Eliza, who shares her love of reading. Annie’s unlikely friend helps her address her confusion and sadness at losing her sister and, in a sense, her mother.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Children & Young Adults, Hemingway, Edith M., Mountains, Watauga

Tom Lewis. Zena’s Law. New Bern, NC: McBryde Publishing, 2009.

Zena Carraway has every reason to question her decision to move to the little town of Tryon’s Cove.   The single mother of two, a nurse, moved to this coastal North Carolina town to work for Dr. Jim O’Brien, a general practitioner and town native.  Dr. O’Brien has lived elsewhere, so he brought new ideas with him when he moved back to Tryon’s Cove, but he knows how to gently work those ideas into the mix without upsetting people.  Not so Zena.  Her involvement in the PTA and Little League causes people to resent her and when she rebuffs some of the men in town, she makes a few very dangerous enemies.  Jim tries to protect her, but after she experiences violence and intimidation once too often, Zena takes matters into her own hands.  This novel portrays small town life in an unflattering way that leaves the reader wondering how much the twenty-first century South is like earlier, unhappy times.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Lewis, Tom, Novels Set in Fictional Places

E. M. Schorb. Fortune Island. Williamsburg, VA: Cherokee McGhee, 2009.

Jessie Judas is certainly the most famous person from Fortune Island, a small part of the Outer Banks.  At sixty, Jessie is an internationally known marine biologist whose books have reached a broad audience and shaped public debate about the environment.  Fortune Island was barely inhabited when Jessie was growing up, but those few people–good and evil–shaped her life.  A loving but sick mother, the midwife who brought her into the world, and Ruth, an educated woman who came from Boston to study the folklore of the area, nurtured her and sought to protect her. But as Jessie reached her teens, she misunderstood the adults around her, precipitating a crisis that deprived Ruth of the man she loved and haunts Jessie the rest of her life.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Schorb, E. M.

Lynn Boyd. The Awakened Heart.Mustang,OK:Tate Publishing, 2009.

This brief, moving novel recounts the early adult years of a Halifax County man.  Told in the form of a memoir, seventy-five year old Vernon Lee (Buddy) Young reflects on working on his family’s farm, serving in the Korean War, and meeting and marrying the love of his life, Emma Jean.  Buddy’s life was hard. His family was poor and his father was cruel.  Meeting Emma Jean changed Buddy–he found acceptance and love, and through Emma Jean’s influence he came to believe in a loving God.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Boyd, Lynn, Coastal Plain, Halifax, Religious/Inspirational

Jimmy C. Waters. New Bern: 1710 in the Carolinas. Toccoa, GA: Currahee Books, 2009.

This novel takes on a little-known but interesting period in North Carolina history.  Through the experiences of Martin Bender, a young immigrant to the Carolina Colony, the author unravels a complicated tale of religion, war, piracy, and the simple struggle for survival.  Historical persons such as Thomas Cary, Baron de Graffenreid, John Lawson, and Blackbeard figure in the novel as Martin comes to adulthood fighting the Tuscaroras inland and then pirates along the coast.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

2 Comments

Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Craven, Historical, Waters, Jimmy C.

Bethany Campbell. One Track Mind. Toronto: Harlequin, 2009.

Halesboro has seen better days.  In its heyday the racetrack in town was part of the NASCAR circuit, bringing crews, spectators, and publicity that made the businesses on Main Street thrive.  Lori Garland’s family owned the track, and Lori was the unofficial town princess. Kane Ledger was a poor boy, from a troubled family; he left Halesboro under a cloud, without even finishing high school.

My how things change.  In his final years, Lori’s father made some bad business decisions.  He lost the NASCAR contract, and the track became rundown.  Lori quit her job as a schoolteacher to try to save the track, but she can’t make a go of it.  In steps Kane, now a successful lawyer and sports agent in Charlotte.  He buys the racetrack and hires Lori to run the track for a year.

Lori and Kane have a history together (after all, this is a romance novel), but their attempts to work together are clouded by more than the high school romance that was squelched by her parents.  Vandalism at the track is becoming a common occurrence and it’s getting more violent.  Also, the town has suddenly come to the notice of outside investors who are trying to buy up downtown real estate and the nice mansion on the hill.  Lori wonders if Kane has anything to do with this, and if he is somehow getting revenge on her and the town. Before the novel ends, all the pieces fall into place.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Comments Off on Bethany Campbell. One Track Mind. Toronto: Harlequin, 2009.

Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Campbell, Bethany, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship

Tamara Leigh. Leaving Carolina. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2009.

Piper Wick (formerly Pickwick) has built a nice life for herself in Los Angeles.  Her public relations firm has a lot of politicians and Hollywood people as clients, and one professional relationship, with Colorado Congressman Grant Spangler, has recently turned into a romance.  Piper has no interest in returning to her hometown of Pickwick, North Carolina, a place she fled twelve years ago.

Piper returns only because Uncle Obe, the odd ball of his generation (as Piper is of hers), has drafted a new tell-all will.  Uncle Obe plans to make amends for financial shenanigans, tax evasion, and non-support of two illegitimate children.  Making amends will reduce the inheritance of the surving family members.  Piper doesn’t care about that, but she is alarmed when she learns that Uncle Obe plans to reveal one of her teenage misadventures.  Back to Pickwick she heads, to dissuade him.

Like most of her family members, she blames Uncle Obe’s newly-found conscience on the influence of his godson, Obediah Axel Smith.  Piper sets a private investigator to find out about this Smith character, but as she spends time in Pickwick she finds herself attracted to him and to the righteousness that he urges on her.  When Piper starts thinking in a new way, small town Pickwick and her crazy family don’t seem so bad.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Leigh, Tamara, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship