New Book: The Art of Disappearing is Out - Review Coming Soon

I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing The Art of Disappearing soon. Click on the title of this article to go to Ivy's page and you can click to find her on Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads and Library Thing, etc...

I am reviewing this book via SheBlogs...


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mary Bisbee-Beek
mbisbee.beek@gmail.com or (734) 369-8238
wwwivypochoda.com

The Art of Disappearing

by Ivy Pochoda
St. Martin’s Press


In her elegant debut novel, The Art of Disappearing, Ivy Pochoda asks how love can be real if so much else is an illusion.

Toby Warring seems too young and too attractive to be sending drinks to strange women in a small-town Nevada saloon, but that is exactly how he meets Mel Snow, a textile designer who is selling her wares throughout the country. In a brief but strangely familiar conversation, Toby shows Mel that he is a rare “real” magician – actually creating the wine he places in front of her – and explains that all he has ever wanted is to perform in Las Vegas. They marry the next day.

Soon they learn what – or rather, whom – they are each searching for in the desert. Years before, Toby performed the classic trick of making his lovely assistant disappear…except that this time, she didn’t come back. Racked with guilt, he wonders when and where she might turn up, if ever. Mel has been waiting for a miracle in the least likely of places. After the childhood loss of her brother, who was always more comfortable in water, Mel still expects him to appear somewhere in the dry Nevada land.

When Toby’s magic slips dangerously out of his control during his Las Vegas debut, he swears off magic and the pair flee the desert’s gaudy heat for the mysterious weather of Amsterdam. They meet an enclave of elderly magicians who, like Toby, could once manifest their illusions before their talents faded. But as they encourage Toby to return to his craft, Mel feels her marriage begin to unravel. The growing distance between the couple prompts her to ask, in such a malleable world, is love a constant, or is it susceptible to Toby’s magic?

Ivy Pochoda graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Classical Greek and English. After graduation, she spent time in the Netherlands, pursuing a career in professional squash. She was the Spring 2009 James Merrill House Writer-in-Residence. Currently she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

“…The Art of Disappearing is a terrific page turner…”
Lisa Shea -- Elle, September 2009

Review: Sassy! By Gloria Mallette - Great Psychological Whodunit!

Sassy
By Gloria Mallette
Gemini Press
ISBN: 9780967878935
312 Pages

“For the umpteenth time, Sassy told herself she could not have made up this drama if she tried.” (p. 270)

Sassy Davenport is a romance novelist who sometimes has a little trouble writing her romantic scenes; that is, until she meets the man of her dreams. Norris Yoshito showed up at one of Sassy’s book signings and asked that she sign all ten books he was buying. Naturally, she was intrigued; her friend Kenneth wouldn’t read her books, nor even talk about them—especially since he spent most of his time talking about whether to financially support a plan for his brother or sister, expecting Sassy to listen and respond at appropriate times. It was quite easy for Sassy to be swayed by attention from Norris!

Not only was Yoshito drop-dead gorgeous, he quickly won Sassy over with his close attention, his caring ways, and, later, his wonderful lovemaking!

That is, until the night he showed up, kicked Kenneth out of her apartment and turned aggressively toward Sassy, scaring and hurting her with his nasty words and anger.

When Norris told her that he had not been at her apartment and that he didn’t know who Kenneth was, Sassy was caught between her love for him and what she knew had actually happened at her apartment. Although Norris worked hard to explain what he thought was happening, it still was hard for Sassy to accept.

Until Norris became involved in taking care of Sassy’s cousin/best friend, Bernard, who was dying from AIDS. Here too, she compared Norris with Kenneth, who refused to be around Bernard, and her love continued to grow and allowed Sassy’s trust to grow. This was difficult to do because the police were after Norris for murder! In fact, a number of people close to Norris had been murdered—and his father and stepmother were the latest!

Sassy is a great whodunit! Readers may begin to review the possibilities as to who is behind the murders. Is Norris a multiple personality (dissociative disorder) since there are so many witnesses that have seen the man believed to be the murderer (including Sassy!) and have described or named Norris? Is it his half-brother who has hated Norris since he was brought into his home as an orphan when his own mother died? Is it a childhood friend who had run the streets of Japan with him as a mixed-blood, shunned youth who now hated Norris for being able to go to America and it was payback time? The only thing Sassy knew for sure was that the murderer had come after her once and it was very possible that he would do so again! Had she married a murderer?

Aside from the wonderful exciting action for readers, the relationship between Sassy and Bernard adds greatly to this drama. The scene between Bernard’s son and him is beautifully created and the personal interactions between Bernard, Sassy, Norris and his son’s mother are extremely moving and realistic.

Gloria Mallette is a winner of the USA Best Book Award and the Indie Excellence Award. She just may have a winner in the suspense/thriller genre for Sassy! Check it out ‘cause it’s a great read!

G. A. Bixler

2007 National Best Book Award Winner, Gloria Mallette, Releases New Book - Sassy!

Author GLORIA MALLETTE
Releases New Book
May 22, 2009

Sassy


National Best-Selling Author GLORIA MALLETTE, the 2007 National Best Book Award Winner and the 2008 Indie Excellence Award Winner for Living, Breathing Lies, is back with an edge-of-the-seat suspense—SASSY.

Fans of Mallette’s powerful dramas are once again set to get caught up in her realistic portrayal of her characters’ lives. The murder of two women in New York City has Detective Frank Keifer looking for a vicious killer while Sassy Davenport, a popular romance novelist, has finally met the man of her dreams.

When architect Norris Yoshito, on a whim, steps off the street into one of Sassy’s book signings, he is instantly smitten and Sassy is curiously intrigued. A passionate relationship develops but when Sassy’s life is threatened by a man who looks uncannily like Norris, she is thrust into a world of uncertainty and doubt. While key people associated with Norris are brutally murdered, Sassy hides away in Norris’s Blue Mountain home not knowing if she is truly safe. Norris appears to have two personalities—one is that of a violent man, the other a man of great compassion who helps Sassy with her cousin who is dying of AIDS. Unwittingly, Sassy finds herself caught up in a nightmare of deception and danger where romance takes a back seat and the real world of murder thrust her into a desperate fight for her life.

In 2000, Mallette self-published her second novel, Shades of Jade; sold 13,000 copies and was picked up by Random House. With the 2007 release of Living, Breathing Lies, Mallette’s ninth novel, Mallette returned to the self-publishing arena to remain true to the stories she is passionate about writing. Mallette has made several national bestseller’s lists; and she has been profiled in USA Today, the New York Daily News, Today’s Black Woman, UpScale Magazine, and The Pocono Record.

Publisher’s Weekly has said, “Mallette's great strength is her willingness to reveal the weaknesses and occasional petty vindictiveness of all her protagonists. . .,” and “Mallette's balanced perspective and well-rounded characters will keep fans riveted.”

For more about Gloria Mallette, click the title of this article to go to her web site!

Note: My review of Sassy coming soon!