I read some really good thrillers over the summer -- but of course, mysteries are great anytime.

HarperCollins publicist Danielle Bartlett promised me that C.S. Graham's thriller, "The Archangel Project," (Harper, 2008, $7.99) delivered the goods -- and it did. I read it almost in one sitting.

Jax Alexander, a CIA agent, and October "Tobie" Guinness team up to catch a killer. Tobie, a veteran of the war in Iraq, is what is called a "remote viewer," who is helping a Tulane professor, Henry Youngblood, with his experiments in the field.

It seems that during the 1970s and '80s both Russia and the U.S. pursued the idea of training operatives in a psychic method of gathering intelligence. Henry was trying to revive that idea -- until he was murdered.

Now Tobie is in danger as well.

C.S. Graham is actually a husband-and-wife team -- Candice Proctor and Steven Harris. He worked in Army Intelligence for several years.

This is a book filled with action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Kathryn Fox's "Skin and Bone" (Harper, 2008, $7.99) was a gripping read.

Detective Kate Farrer has returned to duty after a three-month leave of absence. She discovers that she has been partnered with Oliver Parke, a newbie to homicide. The two are immediately thrown into a murder investigation and then asked to assist in the disappearance of a teenage girl and baby. Kate, who is really just getting her head back in the game after dealing with her own kidnapping, must face down her fears.

Lawrence Block, a prolific author, scores again with "Hit and Run" (William Morrow, 2008, $24.95).

A hit man finds himself on the run for a murder he actually didn't commit -- even though the evidence points to him.

John Keller takes his job seriously. He's a professional hit man after all. When he is asked to go to Des Moines for a hit, he uses a fake name, changes hotels, the whole works.

The chase is on, and it will take everything Keller has not to be caught.

It's fun to find yourself pulling for the "bad guy."

Scotland Yard detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid return in "Where Memories Lie" (William Morrow, 2008, $24.95). Author Deborah Crombie has made these characters so real for her readers that we almost feel they are our neighbors.

Gemma's friend Erika Rosenthal asks for her help in acquiring a brooch made by her father, which is up for auction. When a young woman (who took the brooch) is killed, it looks as though it was a hit-and-run, but is it really?

Kincaid and his partners must investigate the crime, and as Gemma looks further into the Rosenthals' background, another murder takes place.

Though her novels are set in Great Britain, Crombie was actually born in Texas and now lives there. She still travels to England several times a year.

Susan Crandall, author of "Back Roads," returns with "Pitch Black" (Grand Central Publishing, 2008, $6.99).

Journalist Madison Wade and her adopted son, Ethan, move from Philadelphia to the small Tennessee town of Buckeye. Sheriff Gabe Wyatt tries to make them feel welcome. Ethan makes a new friend, Jordan, but when a camping trip goes badly awry, everything changes.

Crandall will make her readers happy.

Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com or 693-2475.