CHECK IT OUT:

The Newport Coast Community Center is now open, and local residents will find lots of great programs and services available to them at this beautiful new facility.

One of those new services is offered by the Newport Beach Public Library.

It’s called “Concierge Service,” and it means you can now order library materials with just a click of your computer mouse and a short trip to the new Community Center at 6401 San Joaquin Hills Road to pick them up.

There’s also a book drop outside the new facility where customers can return their library materials. Customers can put items on hold via the library’s website at www.newportbeachlibrary.org any time, day or night, and pick them up at the community center during Recreation Department hours, Monday through Saturday.

Need a few suggestions for books to order?

Place a hold on one of these new page-turning, fictional suspense novels guaranteed to keep your heart pumping and your mind racing with each plot twist and turn.

“Body of Lies: A Novel” by David Ignatius: Do you long for international thrillers a la Graham Greene and Frederick Forsyth? Here’s a modern-day spy/terrorist story to keep you up at night. After fighting in Iraq, the CIA wants Roger Ferris to infiltrate a terrorist organization in Jordan. Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe are starring in the soon-to-be-released Ridley Scott film based on this book. Read the book before the movie!

“The Blue Zone” by Andrew Gross: The Federal Witness Protection Program only works when all of the family members agree to disappear into new lives. Kate Rabb refuses to do that. What follows when the past, in the form of a Colombian drug lord, comes knocking at the door?

“The Good Guy” by Dean Koontz: Mothers warn against talking to strangers. Timothy Carrier didn’t heed that advice, which leads to his mistaken identity as a contract killer. So what does he do with the envelope full of cash and a photograph of a beautiful woman? Author Koontz leaves the horror genre for a truly tight and gripping suspenseful tale.

“Los Angeles Noir” edited by Denise Hamilton: Explore 21st Century Los Angeles in classic Raymond Chandler noir fashion with marvelous authors such as Michael Connelly, Robert Ferrigno, Susan Straight, Denise Hamilton and others. Seventeen stories speak of the danger beneath the swaying palms and sunny Southern California streets. Atmospheric settings include Beverly Hills, Koreatown, San Marino and West Hollywood.

“Patient 002” by Floyd Skloot: Is this a medical thriller or an indictment of drug companies’ blind medical studies? And what happens when the patients fight back? Enter the world of Sam Kiehl’s degenerative brain disease, and prepare to turn the pages reflecting on the issues of mortality and illness.

“Yiddish Policeman’s Union” by Michael Chabon: Step into an alternative Jewish homeland in Alaska and follow Detective Meyer Landsman investigation of a heroin addict’s death. Chabon uncovers the basic goodness in his hero and at the same time, a plot gone global.

CHECK IT OUT is written by Newport Beach reference librarian Mary Ellen Bowman. Use your Newport Beach Public Library card to reserve these titles at www.newportbeachlibrary.org or call (949) 717-3800 and press 2.