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Week of December 28, 2015

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Week of December 28, 2015

Releases for the week of December 28th include THE PATRIOT THREAT by Steve Berry, in which an individual has unearthed a secret that calls into question the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, and it's up to Cotton Malone to learn the truth; LAST ONE HOME, an inspiring stand-alone novel from Debbie Macomber about the enduring bond between sisters, the power of forgiveness, and a second chance at love; and MADEMOISELLE CHANEL, C. W. Gortner's work of fiction that imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel --- the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman’s daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and became one of the most influential and controversial figures of the 20th century.

Benefit of the Doubt by Neal Griffin - Thriller

December 29, 2015


Ben Sawyer was a big-city cop, until he nearly killed a helpless suspect in public. Now a detective in the tiny Wisconsin town where he and his wife grew up, Ben suspects that higher-ups are taking payoffs from local drug lords. Before long, Ben is off the force. His wife is accused of murder. His only ally is another outcast, a Latina rookie cop. Worse, a killer has escaped from jail with vengeance on his mind, and Newburg --- and Ben Sawyer --- in his sights.

Black Scorpion: The Tyrant Reborn written by Jon Land, created by Fabrizio Boccardi - Thriller/Adventure

December 29, 2015


Five years have passed since Michael Tiranno saved the city of Las Vegas from a terrorist attack. And now a new enemy has surfaced in Eastern Europe in the form of an all-powerful organization called Black Scorpion. Once a victim of human trafficking himself, the shadowy group's crazed leader, Vladimir Dracu, has become the mastermind behind the scourge's infestation on a global scale. And now he's set his sights on Michael Tiranno for reasons birthed in a painful secret past that have scarred both men.

Brute Force: A Jericho Quinn Thriller by Marc Cameron - Thriller

December 29, 2015


In the aftermath of a devastating biological attack, America stands on the brink of disaster. The President of the United States is controlled by terrorists. The Vice President, global mastermind Lee McKeon, is plotting his next move. And special agent Jericho Quinn is running for his life. Desperate to clear his name --- and expose the conspirators in the White House --- Quinn must race against time before McKeon can execute his evil plan. It begins with heightened security, mass surveillance and the establishment of a brutal police state. It can only end in the takeover of America.

The Cavendon Women by Barbara Taylor Bradford - Historical Fiction

December 29, 2015


THE CAVENDON WOMEN, the sequel to Barbara Taylor Bradford’s CAVENDON HALL, follows the Inghams’ and the Swanns’ journey from a family weekend in the summer of 1926 through to the devastation of the Wall Street crash of 1929. It all begins on a summer weekend in July of 1926 when, for the first time in years, the earl has planned a family weekend. As the family members come together, secrets, problems, joys and sorrows are revealed.

Cold Betrayal: An Ali Reynolds Novel by J.A. Jance - Thriller

December 29, 2015


Ali Reynolds’ longtime friend and Taser-carrying nun, Sister Anselm, rushes to the bedside of a young pregnant woman hospitalized for severe injuries after she was hit by a car on a deserted Arizona highway. The girl had been running away from The Family, a polygamous cult with no patience for those who try to leave its ranks. Something about her strikes a chord in Sister Anselm, reminding her of a case she worked years before when another young girl wasn’t so lucky.

The Enemy Inside: A Paul Madriani Novel by Steve Martini - Thriller

December 29, 2015


One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. So when she’s killed in a crash, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore. Alex Ives, a friend of defense attorney Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. To save an innocent young man’s life, Madriani must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients, leading him to a devious killer poised to strike again.

Haunting Investigation: A Chesterton Holte Mystery by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Historical/Paranormal Mystery

December 31, 2015


Poppy Thornton is determined to make a name for herself as a serious crime reporter, but is stuck reporting on garden parties and ladies' fashion. Then one day, her editor assigns her to collect background information on the suicide of a prominent businessman. She soon discovers it was actually a murder...but her surprising source for this information is the ghost of a man killed alongside her father during the Great War. As their investigation into a string of murders narrows in on an all-too-familiar suspect, Poppy becomes a target herself and wonders if her ghost of a partner will appear in time to keep her from joining him in the afterlife.

I, Ripper by Stephen Hunter - Historical Thriller

December 29, 2015


I, RIPPER is a vivid reimagining of Jack the Ripper’s personal story entwined with that of an Irish journalist who covered the case, knew the principals, charted the investigation, and, at last stymied, went off in a bold new direction. These two men stalk each other through a city twisted in fear of the madman’s blade, a cat-and-mouse game that brings to life the sounds and smells of the fleshpot tenderloin of Whitechapel and all the lurid acts that fueled the Ripper headlines.

The Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus - Mystery

December 29, 2015


Ninety-two-year-old Jossi Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor and an American citizen, is found shot to death execution-style in his house near Frankfurt. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the body’s arm --- a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS. Two more, similar murders happen, and slowly the connections between the victims become evident: All of them were lifelong friends with Vera von Kaltensee --- baroness, well-respected philanthropist, and head of an old, rich family that she rules with an iron fist.

It Was Me All Along: A Memoir by Andie Mitchell - Nonfiction

December 29, 2015


All her life, Andie Mitchell had eaten lustily and mindlessly. But when she stepped on the scale on her 20th birthday and it registered a shocking 268 pounds, she knew she had to change the way she thought about food and herself --- that her life was at stake. IT WAS ME ALL ALONG takes Andie from working class Boston to the romantic streets of Rome, from morbidly obese to half her size, from seeking comfort in anything that came cream-filled and two-to-a-pack to finding balance in exquisite (but modest) bowls of handmade pasta.

Last One Home by Debbie Macomber - Romance

December 29, 2015


Growing up, Cassie Carter and her sisters, Karen and Nichole, were incredibly close --- until one fateful event drove them apart. After high school, Cassie ran away from home to marry the wrong man, throwing away a college scholarship. Now 31, Cassie is living in Seattle with her daughter and hoping to leave her past behind. Despite the strides she has made, she hasn’t been able to make peace with her sisters. Then one day, Cassie receives a letter from Karen, offering what Cassie thinks may be a chance to reconcile.

Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner - Legal Thriller

December 29, 2015


Aaron Littman is the premier lawyer of his generation and the chairman of Cromwell Altman, the most powerful law firm in New York City, when a high-profile new client threatens all that he’s achieved --- and more. Nicolai Garkov is accused of laundering funds for the Russian Mafia and financing a terrorist bombing in Red Square. He admits his guilt to Aaron but has a plan for exoneration that includes blackmailing the presiding judge, the Honorable Faith Nichols. If the judge won’t do his bidding, Garkov promises to go public with irrefutable evidence of an affair between Aaron and Faith.

Mademoiselle Chanel by C. W. Gortner - Historical Fiction

December 29, 2015


Coco Chanel was a woman with a vision who fought every convention of her time to become the most iconic fashion designer the world has ever known. She hit her stride in the 1920s with a style that freed women and money that brought her a freedom she had never known. As her reputation and business reached new heights, Chanel became the woman every man wanted and every woman wanted to be.

Motive: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman - Psychological Thriller

December 29, 2015


Ursula Corey is a successful, attractive divorcée who has been executed. Two suspects emerge: the dead woman’s business partner/ex-husband and her divorce lawyer/secret lover. But just as psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis think they’re zeroing in on the perp, a bizarre new clue stirs up eerie echoes of a previously unsolved murder. And the discovery of yet another crime scene bearing the same taunting signature raises the specter of a serial killer on a mission.

The Naked Eye by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen - Thriller

December 29, 2015


Kendra Michaels was instrumental in bringing serial killer Eric Colby to justice. And yet, despite his apparent execution, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The problem is that she can't prove it. Even her razor-sharp powers of observation --- developed to an amazing capacity during the 20 years she spent blind and now in constant demand by law enforcement agencies --- have gotten her nowhere. But then a reporter who very publicly humiliated Kendra is murdered. Visiting the crime scene in search of anything that might link the brutal homicide to Colby, Kendra instead finds evidence that points to her.

No Fortunate Son: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor - Thriller/Adventure

December 29, 2015


Not long after veteran operator Pike Logan and partner Jennifer Cahill are released from the Taskforce --- their longtime employer and one of the world's foremost top secret counterterrorist units --- a high-profile hostage crisis throws the U.S. government into turmoil. Why were Logan and Cahill let go so suddenly? Can they still help decipher the web of lies and chaos spread by a mysterious enemy? And what are the real costs of diffusing such a threat?

The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry - Thriller/Adventure

December 29, 2015


Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired and owns an old bookshop in Denmark. But when his former boss asks him to track down a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files --- the kind that could bring the United States to its knees --- Malone is vaulted into a harrowing 24-hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.

The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth - Fiction

December 29, 2015


THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES tells the story of three generations of women devoted to delivering new life into the world --- and the secrets they keep. Neva, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy --- including the identity of the baby’s father --- hidden for as long as possible. Her mother, Grace, finds it impossible to let this secret rest. For Floss, Neva’s grandmother, Neva’s situation thrusts her back 60 years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter’s --- a secret that, if revealed, will change everything.

Seized: The Profiler, Book 3 by Elizabeth Heiter - Psychological Thriller

December 29, 2015


What should have been a routine investigation for FBI profiler Evelyn Baine turns ominous when she's kidnapped by a dangerous cult of survivalists. As her worst nightmares become a reality, she begins to question what she's seeing. As the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team closes in, Evelyn suspects she's stumbled onto an emerging terrorist threat --- and a cult leader who has a score to settle with the FBI. If Hostage Rescue breaches the compound, Evelyn is dead for sure. If they don't, the cult may unleash a surprise attack that could leave the whole country shattered.

The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons - Fiction

December 29, 2015


New Year’s Eve, Dorset, England, 1946. Harry Fox-Talbot and his brothers have returned from World War II determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But the arrival of beautiful Jewish wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, and leads to a devastating betrayal. Fifty years later, now a celebrated composer, Fox reels from the death of his adored wife, Edie. Until his connection with his four-year old grandson --- a music prodigy --- propels him back into life, and ultimately to confront his past.

Trust No One by Jayne Ann Krentz - Romantic Suspense

December 29, 2015


Awkward doesn’t begin to describe Grace Elland’s evening with venture capitalist Julius Arkwright. She has nothing in common with a man who lives to make money, but the intense former Marine does have some skills that Grace can use --- and he’s the perfect man to help her when it becomes clear she is being stalked. Ultimately, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only her, but also everyone around her.

The Undoing by Averil Dean - Psychological Thriller

December 29, 2015


Best friends since childhood, Eric, Rory and Celia have always been inseparable. Together they've coped with broken homes and damaged families, clinging to each other as they've navigated their tenuous lives. When the trio decides to follow Celia's dream of buying and renovating the Blackbird, a dilapidated hotel that sits on the perilous cliffs of Jawbone Ridge, new jealousies arise and long-held suspicions start to unravel their relationship. Soon they find themselves pushed to the breaking point, where trust becomes doubt, longing becomes obsession, and someone will commit the ultimate betrayal.

The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan - Mystery

December 29, 2015


Detective Rachel Getty is asked by her boss, Esa Khattak, to look into the death of Christopher Drayton, who may have been a war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. But as Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into Drayton’s life and death, every question seems to lead only to more questions. Had the specters of Srebrenica returned to haunt Drayton at the end, or had he been keeping secrets of an entirely different nature?

The Werewolf of Bamberg: A Hangman's Daughter Tale written by Oliver Pötzsch, translated by Lee Chadeayne - Historical Mystery

December 29, 2015


In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in Bamberg is leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the deaths are the work of a werewolf, Jakob must prove the superstition wrong and embarks on a search for the “devil of Bamberg.”

West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan - Historical Fiction

December 29, 2015


In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a troubled, uncertain man whose literary success was long over. In poor health, with his wife consigned to a mental asylum and his finances in ruins, he struggled to make a new start as a screenwriter in Hollywood. By December 1940, he would be dead of a heart attack. Those last three years of Fitzgerald’s life, often obscured by the legend of his earlier Jazz Age glamour, are the focus of Stewart O’Nan’s novel.