Reading Recommendations: Criminal, a novel, Karin SlaughterWill Trent is a brilliant agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Newly in love, he is beginning to put a difficult past behind him. Then a local college student goes missing, and Will is inexplicably kept off the case by his supervisor and mentor, Deputy Director Amanda Wagner. Will Cannot fathom Amanda's motivation until the two of them literally collide in an abandoned orphanage they have both been drawn to for different reasons. Decades before, when his father was imprisoned for murder, this was Will's home.Flash back nearly forty years, in the summer Will Trent was born; Amanda Wagner is going to college, making Sunday dinners for her father, and taking her first steps in the boys' club that is the Atlanta Police Department. One of her first cases is to investigate a brutal crime in one of the city's worst neighborhoods. Amanda and her partner, Evelyn, are the only ones who seem to care if any arrest is ever made. Now the case that launched Amanda's career has suddenly come back to life, intertwined with the long-held mystery of Wills' birth and parentage. And these two dauntless investigators will each need to face down demons from the past if they are to prevent an even greater terror from being unleashed.Raw at times, a masterpiece of character, atmosphere and riveting suspense.And Death Makes the Cut, a mystery, Janice HamrickThe first bell of the new school year hasn't yet rung and Texas high school teacher Jocelyn Shore is already at the scene of a murder. Friend and fellow teacher Fred Argus has been found dead on campus; and it isn't long before the annoying, albeit attractive Austin police detective Colin Gallagher uncovers evidence that Fred might have been selling drugs to students. Shocked by her loss as well as the insinuation that Fred was a dealer who got what he deserved, Jocelyn starts asking the kinds of questions guaranteed to set fellow teachers, administrators, and parents on edge.With the school serving as the setting for a big time director's latest film, her investigation could hardly have come at a worse time. Jocelyn, however, finds clearing her friend's name far more important than the needs of a pesky movie crew and doesn't care who knows it. But its only when she's attacked while on set that she realizes someone is determined to make sure the secrets hidden by Fred's death remain hidden, no matter what the cost.Humor, romance and murder abound in Janice Hamrick's follow up to her Minotaur Books - Mystery Writers of America "First Crime Novel Award" winning debut, Death on Tour; Death Makes the Cut is a charming addition to this outstanding new series.Janice Hamrick was guest speaker here for one of the Friend's gatherings. She lives in Austin, Texas.And, The Great Comanche Raid, Boldest Indian Attack of the Texas Republic, Donaly E. BriceThe Great Comanche Raid of 1840 investigates the boldest and most concerted Indian depredation in the history of Texas, delving into its underlying causes as well as the immediate causes. Donaly's comprehensive book covers the raid from its beginnings in the Texas Hill Country to the destructive raids on Victoria and Linnville, and the Indians retreat and subsequent defeat at the Battle of Plum Creek. It discusses the follow up action taken by the Texans against the Commanches and puts into perspective the significance of these events to the history of Texas.One of the most significant causes of the great Comanche Raid was Mexican intervention into the Indian affairs of Texas. Activities of the Mexican Culturalist Party employed the use of Texas Indians as allies. This was a concerted effort to retard the settlement of Texas until the Mexican government was sufficiently able to return to Texas; and regain the territory which was wrested from them in 1836.These efforts were carried out by Mexican emissaries which were sent to circulate among the Indian tribes. Once it was ascertained as to what extent this Mexican-Indian alliance had progressed, President Mirabeau B. Lamar had the excuse he needed in initiating his anti-Indian policy against the tribes in Texas.This official government policy was brought about because of Lamar's dislike for the Indian, the intrigues between the Mexicans and the Indians, and the desire for the acquisition of fertile Indian lands in Texas to the flood of emigration into the Republic. From the Texas Bookshelves.See you at Rylander.