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Week of July 30, 2018

New in Paperback

Week of July 30, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of July 30th include Y IS FOR YESTERDAY, which finds private investigator Kinsey Millhone confronting her darkest and most disturbing case, and marks the end of the Alphabet mysteries following the passing of Sue Grafton in December 2017; AN ODYSSEY by award-winning memoirist and critic Daniel Mendelsohn, a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading --- and reliving --- Homer's epic masterpiece; AT THE STRANGER’S GATE, Adam Gopnik’s vivid memoir that captures the romance of New York City in the 1980s; and Nate Blakeslee’s AMERICAN WOLF, the enthralling story of the rise and reign of O-Six, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her.

American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee - Science/Nature

July 31, 2018

Once abundant in North America, wolves were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought them back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West. Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves: O-Six, who is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter and a doting mother. But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers, who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves, who are vying for control of the park’s stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley.

At the Strangers' Gate: Arrivals in New York by Adam Gopnik - Memoir

July 31, 2018

When Adam Gopnik and his soon-to-be-wife, Martha, left the comforts of home in Montreal for New York, the city then, much like today, was a pilgrimage site for the young, the arty and the ambitious. But it was also becoming a city of greed, where both life's consolations and its necessities were increasingly going to the highest bidder. AT THE STRANGERS’ GATE builds a portrait of this particular moment in New York through the story of this couple's journey --- from their excited arrival as aspiring artists to their eventual growth into a New York family.

The Blind by A.F. Brady - Psychological Thriller

July 31, 2018

Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan's most challenging psychiatric institution. She believes if she can't save herself, she'll save someone else. It's this savior complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil. When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. But she can't figure out why Richard appears to be so normal in a hospital filled with madness. As Sam gets pulled into Richard's twisted past, she can't help but analyze her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her.

A Casualty of War: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd - Historical Mystery

July 31, 2018

Though the Great War is nearing its end, the fighting rages on. While waiting for transport back to her post, Bess Crawford meets Captain Alan Travis from the island of Barbados. Later, when he’s brought into her forward aid station disoriented from a head wound, Bess is alarmed that he believes his distant English cousin, Lieutenant James Travis, shot him. Then the Captain is brought back to the aid station with a more severe wound, once more angrily denouncing the Lieutenant as a killer. But when it appears that James Travis couldn’t have shot him, the Captain’s sanity is questioned. Still, Bess wonders how such an experienced officer could be so wrong.

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett - Historical Fiction

July 31, 2018

In 1558, as power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty and love. Ned Willard wants nothing more than to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But when the lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the religious conflict dividing the country, Ned goes to work for Princess Elizabeth. When she becomes queen, all Europe turns against England. Over a turbulent half century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. Elizabeth clings to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents.

The Core: Book Five of The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett - Fantasy/Adventure

July 31, 2018

Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

Dark in Death by J. D. Robb - Mystery/Thriller

July 31, 2018

On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck. As Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime --- from the pages of her own book. The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband, Roarke, have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama.

Dark Light: Dawn by Jon Land - Supernatural Thriller

July 31, 2018

Since the dawn of time, good and evil have challenged the free will of man. Now the time has come for one man to choose for all human kind. With an uncanny ability to survive any combat situation, Max Younger has built a heroic life for himself as a Navy SEAL. That is, until a rogue rescue operation plunges him back into a past he thought he’d escaped forever. Waiting for him back home in New York are terrible, long-hidden truths rooted in the tragic death of his father. But the origin of those truths lie even further back than that, and Max finds himself ensnared in a sinister plot involving nothing less than the biblical apocalypse.

Death on Bull Path: A Hamptons Murder Mystery by Carrie Doyle - Mystery

August 1, 2018

After the craziness of August, the end of summer is supposed to bring peace and tranquility to the posh seaside enclave of East Hampton, New York. Antonia Bingham, chef and proprietor of the town’s prestigious Windmill Inn, has been lining up new recipes to try in the quiet, golden days of September, and looks forward to putting murder and mayhem behind her so she can focus on herself and her business. But when a Labor Day visit by two slick Wall Streeters ends with their gruesome deaths in a summer rental house, Antonia is pulled back to the dark side. With mysterious guests (and possible suspects) popping in and out of the inn, Antonia has no choice but to put back on her sleuthing cap and try to decipher who butchered these men.

The Locksmith's Daughter by Karen Brooks - Historical Fiction

July 31, 2018

Mallory Bright is the only daughter of London's most ingenious locksmith, and has apprenticed with her father since childhood. After scandal destroys her reputation, Mallory has returned to her father's home and lives almost as a recluse. But Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster and a frequent client of Mallory's father, draws her into his world of danger and deception. Mallory's loyalty wavers when she witnesses the brutal and bloody public execution of three Jesuit priests and realizes the human cost of her espionage. And later, when she discovers the identity of a Catholic spy and a conspiracy that threatens the kingdom, she is forced to choose between her country and her heart.

Mayhem: A Memoir by Sigrid Rausing - Memoir

July 31, 2018

In the summer of 2012, a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, Hans’ sister, the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened. In MAYHEM, she asks the difficult questions those close to the world of addiction must face. Who can help the addict, consumed by a shaming hunger, a need beyond control? And who can help their families, so implicated in the self-destruction of the addict?

Nothing Stays Buried: A Monkeewrench Novel by P. J. Tracy - Mystery/Thriller

July 31, 2018

When Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called to a crime scene in a heavily wooded city park, everything about the setting is all too familiar. And when they discover a playing card on the victim's body, their worst fears are confirmed --- there’s a serial killer operating in the city for the first time in years. Weary of the darker side of their computer work for law enforcement, Grace MacBride and her unconventional partners at Monkeewrench Software agree to take on a private missing-persons case in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota. As the violence accelerates in Minneapolis, Magozzi and Gino soon realize their killer is planning to complete the deck, and they enlist Monkeewrench to help stop the rampage.

An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn - Memoir

July 31, 2018

When 81-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate ODYSSEY seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, this return to the classroom is his "one last chance" to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth --- and a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a writer and classicist. But through the sometimes-uncomfortable months that the two men explore Homer's great work together, it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: Jay's responses to both the text and their travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last.

Ranger Games: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime by Ben Blum - True Crime/Memoir

July 31, 2018

Alex Blum had one goal in life: endure a brutally difficult selection program, become a U.S. Army Ranger, and fight terrorists for his country. He poured everything into achieving his dream. In the first hours of his final leave before deployment to Iraq, Alex was supposed to fly home to see his family and girlfriend. Instead, he got into his car with two fellow soldiers and two strangers, drove to a local bank in Tacoma, and committed armed robbery. Why would he ruin his life in such a spectacularly foolish way? In the midst of his own personal crisis, and in the hopes of helping both Alex and his splintering family cope, Ben Blum, Alex’s first cousin, delved into these mysteries, growing closer to Alex in the process.

Shadow of the Lions by Christopher Swann - Literary Thriller/Mystery

July 31, 2018

When Matthias Glass’ best friend, Fritz, vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past, guilty, responsible, alone. Almost 10 years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies and buried secrets --- and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

Sleeping in the Ground: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson - Mystery/Thriller

July 31, 2018

At the doors of a charming country church, an unspeakable act destroys a wedding party. A huge manhunt ensues. The culprit is captured. The story is over. Except it isn't. For Alan Banks, still struggling with a tragic loss of his own, there's something wrong about this case --- something unresolved. Reteaming with profiler Jenny Fuller, the relentless detective dives deeper into the crime...deep enough to unearth long-buried secrets that reshape everything Banks thought he knew about the events outside that chapel. And when at last the shocking truth becomes clear, it's almost too late.

Sunburn by Laura Lippman - Psychological Thriller

July 31, 2018

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays --- drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other --- dangerous, even lethal, secrets. Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away --- or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

They Won't Be Hurt by Kevin O'Brien - Thriller

July 31, 2018

Scott Singleton, former NFL star turned television evangelist, lies dead. The bodies of his wife and four of their five children are found on the second floor, bound, gagged and stabbed repeatedly. The oldest daughter was shot downstairs. And the police’s main suspect --- the property caretaker --- has disappeared. In her secluded vineyard home two hours away, Laura Gretchell is on edge. Her husband is out of town on business, and the children are understandably shaken. Laura tries to tell herself there’s no reason to fear. Then the door handle rattles, and the real terror begins. They’re in her house, holding her children hostage, and Laura has only one option: do exactly what the intruders say.

Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton - Mystery

July 31, 2018

Y IS FOR YESTERDAY begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a 14-year-old classmate --- and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence, and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace. Now it’s 1989, and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents --- until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help.

Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone - Apocalyptic Thriller/Horror

July 31, 2018

The only thing more terrifying than millions of spiders is the realization that those spiders work as one. But among the government, there is dissent: Do we try to kill all of the spiders, or do we gamble on Professor Guyer’s theory that we need to kill only the queens? For President Stephanie Pilgrim, it’s an easy answer. She’s gone as far as she can --- more than two dozen American cities hit with tactical nukes --- and the only answer is to believe in Professor Guyer. Unfortunately, Ben Broussard and the military men who follow him don’t agree, and Pilgrim, Guyer and the loyal members of the government have to flee, leaving the question: What’s more dangerous, the spiders or ourselves?