NBS recommends soul-stirring stories
Sidney Sheldon’s Angel Of The Dark
By Tilly Bagshawe
P335
MANILA, Philippines - A thrilling tale of murder, lies, and lust from master storyteller Sidney Sheldon. When an elderly multimillionaire is found brutally murdered in his Hollywood home, his young wife raped and beaten, and his art and jewels stolen, the motive seems pretty clear. But when the investigation doesn’t turn up a single lead, the case is closed and his stunning widow vanishes.
Nearly a decade later, the victim’s son, Matt Daley, makes a shocking discovery: three murders identical to his father’s have taken place across the globe in recent years. In each case the widow, the sole beneficiary of the will, donates everything to children’s charities. As the case is reopened and another murder discovered, Matt becomes besotted with the latest widow until she, too, disappears. It’s only a matter of time before the killer strikes again.
Cosmopolis: A Novel
By Don DeLillo
P595
It is an April day in the year 2000 and an era is about to end. The booming times of market optimism when the culture boiled with money and corporations seemed more vital and influential than governments are poised to crash. Eric Packer, a billionaire asset manager at age 28, emerges from his penthouse triplex and settles into his lavishly customized white stretch limousine. Today he is a man with two missions: to pursue a cataclysmic bet against the yen and to get a haircut across town. Stalled in traffic by a presidential motorcade, a music idol’s funeral and a violent political demonstration, Eric receives a string of visitors — experts on security, technology, currency, finance and a few sexual partners — as the limo sputters toward an increasingly uncertain future.
Sparkle
By Denene Millner
P595
Detroit, 1968. The Motown sound is sweeping the nation. Girl groups are hotter than ever. Over their mother’s objections, three beautiful sisters — Delores, Sister and Sparkle — are taking the local music scene by storm. But their dreams are bigger than Detroit. Their manager, Stix, is just as ambitious and will do whatever it takes to make it to the big time, even if it means using the girls — and his love for Sparkle — as the foundation of a new musical empire.
Behind the music and lights, the recording industry is a ruthless and unforgiving place, just as Mama had warned her girls. Sister, with her good looks and voice, is the natural headliner of the trio, yet her complicated personal life threatens to overshadow her talent; Delores has her sights set on a different kind of life outside the spotlight; and young Sparkle must push past her deepest fears if she is to fulfill her destiny—does she really have what it takes to go all the way?
Riveting and soul-stirring, this timeless tale reminds us of the unbreakable bonds between family, the high price of fame and what can happen when we dare to show the world how brightly we can sparkle.
The Fallen Angel
By Daniel Silva
P725
After narrowly surviving his last operation, Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, has taken refuge behind the walls of the Vatican, where he is restoring one of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces. But early one morning he is summoned to St. Peter’s Basilica by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII. The body of a beautiful woman lies broken beneath Michelangelo’s magnificent dome. The Vatican police suspect suicide, though Gabriel believes otherwise. So, it seems, does Donati. But the monsignor is fearful that a public inquiry might inflict yet another scandal on the Church, and so he calls upon Gabriel to quietly pursue the truth—with one caveat.
