In My Mailbox 37

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

Bought

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

Pub. date: May 2009

My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.
With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.
Well, if she believed in that stuff.

Saw this in the bargain stacks at Books-A-Million and thought it sounded good.

Borrowed

White Cat by Holly Black
Pub. date: May 2010

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

I suggested this at my library a while ago, and they recently bought a copy. Because my librarians are awesome, they put it on hold so I could read it first. I can't wait to read it!

The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horowitz

Pub. date: July 2004

Tim Diamond is possibly the world's worst detective. He's dense, he's distracted, he's unbelievably dim-it's a good thing his younger brother Nick is around! Nick knows there'll be trouble when Tim's entrusted with a package worth over five million dollars, but he doesn't know how much trouble. When the owner of the package is murdered, Tim gets the blame, Nick gets the package, and every crook in town is out to get them! Can Nick outwit them and turn this candy caper into a sweet deal for the Diamond Brothers?
Full of humor and non-stop action, this mystery series by the author of Stormbreaker will leave readers eagerly awaiting more.

I love Anthony Horowitz's books! I heard about this a few years ago, and wanted to read it, but could never find it at bookstores. I found out my library had it last year, but haven't had a chance to get it until now. I'll be reading this as soon as I finish Another Faust and White Cat.

Eclectically yours,