J.A. Jance; Rachel Kushner: Monday in Books

Ali Reynolds, the plucky ex-newscaster from Sedona, Ariz., is back for the eighth time in “Deadly Stakes,” the latest in one of J.A. Jance's series of mysteries. This time, Reynolds is in Phoenix investigating a couple of cases that overlap, as cases often do in Jance’s fiction. Reynolds has a team of friends to help her and puts them to good use in a novel that draws on recurrences from earlier in the series.

7 p.m. Monday, Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Highway. 

Rachel Kushner follows "Telex From Cuba," her 2008 debut, with "The Flamethrowers," another imaginative, fast-moving novel. The main character is Reno, a motorcycle rider from Nevada who comes to New York in 1975 and gets involved in the exploding downtown art scene. Her Italian boyfriend, Sandro, is an artist as well and takes her to his home country, where another new movement, terrorism, attracts her. Kushner is a Eugene native who spent her early childhood in Oregon before moving to San Francisco with her family.
