‘Price of Innocence’ is sixth
in Lisa Black’s thriller series
No sooner have Theresa MacLean and her detective cousin, Frank, left the site of an apparent suicide in an upscale Cleveland apartment than the building explodes, leaving seven dead, not counting the suicide. Later, while attending another probable suicide, the uniformed cop she’s with steps outside and is shot to death.
In The Price of Innocence, sixth in Lisa Black’s series about a forensic scientist in the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, something’s blowing up at least every couple of chapters, and more people are dying. Theresa takes a tour of a building owned by an entrepreneur billed as “Cleveland’s answer to Bill Gates,” and narrowly misses disaster again.
Theresa meets an attractive man at the cop’s funeral, a woman with a crack habit and her homeless friend. Among the things they seem to have in common is a variety of meth that’s even nastier than the regular stuff, a fire that killed a Cleveland State student decades ago and a whiff of iodine that follows Theresa wherever she goes. There are a few similarities to the plot of The Prague Project, an e-book Black released in the spring under the name Beth Cheylan.
Lisa Black, who also wrote two previous mysteries under her real name, Elizabeth Becka, used to work in the Cleveland coroner’s office and now lives in Florida, where she is a latent print examiner for the Cape Coral Police Department.
The Price of Innocence (240 pages, hardcover) costs $28.95 from the English publisher Severn House. Black’s earlier books in the series from U.S. publishers like HarperCollins were much more reasonably priced, and a return to a domestic publisher would be welcome.
Children’s story looks at autism
Former Cuyahoga Falls resident Lori DeMonia’s first daughter, Leah, was diagnosed with autism when she was 2 years old. DeMonia has written Leah’s Voice, a children’s book based on her family. The story begins when excited sister Logan welcomes her friend Abby, who has come to play, and introduces her to Leah. The girls are playing a board game when Leah leaves the room without a word.
Logan explains that Leah just needs a break, and that sometimes Leah has trouble using words. When Leah returns, Abby scolds her and talks about her as if she’s not there. She tells Logan she doesn’t want to come to her house again, but when she sees an article about Leah’s artwork in the newspaper, Abby realizes that her treatment of Leah was wrong, and she apologizes.
Leah’s Voice (28 pages, softcover) costs $12.95 from online retailers. The bright pastel-colored illustrations, some based on DeMonia’s former Cuyahoga Falls home, are by Cleveland Institute of Art graduate Monique Turchan. Lori DeMonia now lives in Oxford, Pa.
Picture book about blended family
Former Akron resident Carrie Shultz has written V.I.P. Stepkid, a picture book that deals with a boy’s uncertainty about being part of a blended family, as well as the concept of Jesus being the son of Joseph on earth.
Joey is stressing out at school because of the upcoming Family Night; he doesn’t want to explain that his parents are divorced and he lives with his mother and stepfather, who have a different last name. Though his classmates don’t see what the issue is, Joey’s still a little upset.
Soon he sees that his father and stepfather are on friendly terms, and when he looks at a Nativity display at church, it occurs to him that Jesus had a stepfather in Joseph, so he feels a lot better.
V.I.P. Stepkid (24 pages, softcover) costs $10.95 in softcover. Shultz, who now lives in Tennessee, will sign her book from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Belles of Ireland Christmas Faire at the Hibernian Club, 2000 Brown St., Akron.
Events
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library (3512 Darrow Road, Stow) — Bob Grau, author of Five Million Steps on a Journey of Hope: Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail, talks about his hike and signs his book, 7 p.m. Monday.
Medina County District Library (Brunswick branch, 3649 Center Road) — Nancy Marion, professor of political science at the University of Akron, discusses assassinations and signs her book (with Willard Oliver) Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Middleburg Heights branch, 15600 East Bagley Road) — “A Feast of Stories” features Barbara Warny (Women in Prison), Sophie Pace (When Will I Wear Red Again) and historian Beverly Sadowski, who will talk about the Kennedy assassination. 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday. Registration required; call 440-234-3600.
Barnes & Noble (198 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake) — Elizabeth Cotter reads from and signs her debut children’s book Don’t Push the Button, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Brimfield Police Chief David Oliver signs No Mopes Allowed, 1 to 3 p.m. Friday; children’s author Lindsay Ward signs Please Bring Balloons, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday; Stow author Les Roberts talks about Win, Place, or Die, the 17th in his Milan Jacovich series, 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights) — “Indies First” event to promote independent bookstores features authors who also will recommend the works of others: Maria Doria Russell (Doc; Children of God), 2 to 5 p.m. Friday; Megan Whalen Turner (Newbery Honor Award-winning The Thief), 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday; and Susan Petrone (A Body at Rest) and Sarah Willis (The Sound of Us), during store hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Other guests are pending.
Barnes & Noble (28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere) — Artie Lang talks about and signs his memoir (with Anthony Bozza) Crash and Burn, 7 p.m. Friday.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights) — “Indies First” event on Small Business Saturday features Brad Ricca (Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, The Creators of Superman), 10 to 11 a.m., Thrity Umrigar (The Weight of Heaven, The World We Found), 11 a.m. to noon, and Erin O’Brien (The Irish Hungarian Guide to the Domestic Arts), noon to 1 p.m. From 1 to 3 p.m., Jeremy Meckler, author of Still Dots, an analysis of the film The Third Man, will give a presentation, and from 4 to 5 p.m., Gail Bellamy, author of Cleveland Christmas Memories and Cleveland Food Memories, talks about and signs her books.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.