Skip to main content

Week of June 1, 2020

New in Paperback

Week of June 1, 2020

Paperback releases for the week of June 1st include THE DESERTER by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille, a blistering thriller featuring a brilliant and unorthodox Army investigator, his enigmatic female partner, and their hunt for the Army’s most notorious --- and dangerous --- deserter; John Sandford's BLOODY GENIUS, which finds Virgil Flowers investigating a college culture war turned deadly; THE GOLDEN HOUR, a dazzling epic of World War II from Beatriz Williams, in which a beautiful young “society reporter” is sent to the Bahamas, a haven of spies, traitors and the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor; THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS, Lisa Jewell's page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light; and THE PLAZA, journalist Julie Satow's thrilling history of how one illustrious hotel has defined our understanding of money and glamour, from the Gilded Age to the Go-Go Eighties to today's Billionaire Row.

A Beginner’s Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations by Pico Iyer - Travel/History

June 2, 2020

Pico Iyer has called Japan home for more than three decades. But, as he is the first to admit, the country remains an enigma even to its long-term residents. In A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO JAPAN, Iyer draws on his years of experience --- his travels, conversations, readings and reflections --- to craft a book of surprising, brief, incisive glimpses into Japanese culture. He recounts his adventures and observations as he travels from a meditation hall to a love hotel, from West Point to Kyoto Station, and from dinner with Meryl Streep to an ill-fated call to the Apple service center in a series of provocations guaranteed to pique the interest and curiosity of those who don’t know Japan --- and to remind those who do of its myriad fascinations.

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson - Thriller

June 2, 2020

Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner, Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes. Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network --- and back across the path of his old friend, Reggie.

Biloxi by Mary Miller - Fiction

June 2, 2020

Louis has been forlorn since his wife of 37 years left him, his father passed, and he impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. On a routine trip to Walgreens to pick up his diabetes medication, he stops at a sign advertising free dogs. Harry Davidson, a man who claims to have more than a dozen canines, offers only one: an overweight mixed breed named Layla. Without any rational explanation, Louis feels compelled to take the dog home, and the two become inseparable. He is dumbfounded to find himself in love --- bursting into song with improvised jingles, exploring new locales, and reevaluating what he once considered the fixed horizons of his life.

Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford - Mystery/Thriller

June 2, 2020

At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of science and medicine. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right? Then a renowned and confrontational scholar winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate. As he probes the recent ideological unrest, he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.

The Blues Don't Care by Paul D. Marks - Historical Mystery

June 1, 2020

Bobby Saxon lives in a world that isn't quite ready for him. He's the only white musician in an otherwise all-black swing band at the famous Club Alabam in Los Angeles during World War II --- and that isn't the only unique thing about him. And if that isn't enough to deal with, in order to get a permanent gig with the band, Bobby must first solve a murder that one of the band members is falsely accused of in that racially prejudiced society.

Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis - Fiction

June 2, 2020

In 1977 Uruguay, a military government has crushed political dissent with ruthless force. In an environment where citizens are kidnapped, raped and tortured, homosexuality is a dangerous transgression. And yet, Romina, Flaca, Anita "La Venus," Paz and Malena --- five cantoras, women who "sing" --- somehow, miraculously, find one another and then discover an isolated, nearly uninhabited cape, Cabo Polonio, which they claim as their secret sanctuary. Over the next 35 years, their lives move back and forth between Cabo Polonio and Montevideo, the city they call home. And throughout, again and again, the women will be tested --- by their families, lovers, society and one another --- as they fight to live authentic lives.

The Deserter by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille - Military Thriller

June 2, 2020

When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video released by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: Did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified Army intelligence has willfully disappeared. When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela by an old army buddy, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to bring Mercer back to America --- dead or alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience and by his suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes - Fiction/Humor

June 2, 2020

Recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her house nearly a year after her husband’s death. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them. Meanwhile, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. What starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more.

Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson - Science Fiction/Thriller

June 2, 2020

While undergoing a routine medical procedure, multibillionaire Richard “Dodge” Forthrast is pronounced brain dead and put on life support. Long ago, when a much younger Dodge drew up his will, he directed that his body be given to a cryonics company now owned by enigmatic tech entrepreneur Elmo Shepherd. Dodge’s family has his brain scanned and its data structures uploaded and stored in the cloud, until it can eventually be revived. In the coming years, technology allows Dodge’s brain to be turned back on. An eternal afterlife --- the Bitworld --- is created, in which humans continue to exist as digital souls. But this brave new immortal world is not the Utopia it might first seem.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - Psychological Thriller

June 2, 2020

Shortly after her 25th birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames, which is worth millions. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well --- and she is on a collision course to meet them. Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy 10-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone. But where?

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones - Psychological Thriller

June 2, 2020

For Alice, life has never been better. With her second husband, she has a successful business, two children and a beautiful house. Alice knows that life could have been different if her first husband had lived, but Nathan’s arrival into her life gave her back the happiness she craved. Through the ups and downs of life, from celebratory nights out to comforting each other through loss, Alice knows that with her best friend Beth by her side, they can survive anything together. So when Nathan starts acting strangely, Alice turns to Beth for help. But soon, Alice begins to wonder if her trust has been misplaced.

Game of Snipers: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel by Stephen Hunter - Thriller/Adventure

June 2, 2020

When Bob Lee Swagger is approached by a woman who lost a son to war and has spent the years since risking all that she has to find the sniper who pulled the trigger, he knows right away he'll do everything in his power to help her. But what begins as a favor becomes an obsession, and soon Swagger is back in the action, teaming up with the Mossad, the FBI and local American law enforcement as he tracks a sniper who is his own equal...and attempts to decipher that assassin's ultimate target before it's too late.

The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams - Historical Fiction

June 2, 2020

Newly widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in the Bahamas to investigate the Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires? But as she infiltrates the Duke and Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, Lulu uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly --- and even treasonous --- reality.

Gone to Darkness by Barbara Nickless - Thriller

June 2, 2020

Iraqi war vet and former railway cop Sydney Parnell is now the youngest homicide detective in Denver’s Major Crimes Unit. In the past, gut instinct has served her and her K9 partner, Clyde, well. But it’s not a trait that Len Bandoni, her old nemesis turned reluctant mentor, admires. Not until Sydney’s instincts lead to their first case: a man tortured and beaten to death, then left in a refrigerated train car with cryptic messages carved into his body. The victim is a well-liked member of an elite club called the Superior Gentlemen. At first glance, the club appears harmless. But beneath its refined surface swim darker currents. As Sydney, Clyde and Bandoni investigate the grisly murder, the three develop a bond that carries them through a shocking series of crimes and a horrifying conspiracy.

Her Perfect Life by Rebecca Taylor - Fiction

June 2, 2020

Reclusive Clare Collins crafts her novels like she crafts her life: perfectly. So the world is stunned when the famous author is found dead on the beach from a self-inflicted gunshot --- the morning after her latest book hits the shelves. Her sister, Eileen, is at a loss. Clare led a charmed life. Why would she throw it all away? But while reading through her sister's latest --- and greatest --- novel, Eileen discovers a clue that unravels the fiction and reveals the painful truth. Suddenly, the life that Eileen had envied doesn't seem so sparkling.

The House Guest by Mark Edwards - Psychological Thriller

June 3, 2020

When British twenty-somethings Ruth and Adam are offered the chance to spend the summer housesitting in New York, they can’t say no. Young, in love and on the cusp of professional success, they feel as if luck is finally on their side. So the moment that Eden turns up on the doorstep, drenched from a summer storm, it seems only right to share a bit of that good fortune. Beautiful and charismatic, Eden claims to be a friend of the homeowners, who told her she could stay whenever she was in New York. They know you’re not supposed to talk to strangers --- let alone invite them into your home --- but after all, Eden is only a stranger until they get to know her. As suspicions creep in that Eden may not be who she claims to be, they begin to wonder if they’ve made a terrible mistake.

Hush by James Patterson and Candice Fox - Thriller

June 2, 2020

Prison is a dangerous place for a former cop, as Harriet Blue is learning on a daily basis. So, following a fight for her life and a prison-wide lockdown, the last person she wants to see is Deputy Police Commissioner Joe Woods. The man who put her inside. But Woods is not there to gloat. His daughter, Tonya, and her two-year-old child have gone missing. He's ready to offer Harriet a deal: find his family to buy her freedom.

In the Full Light of the Sun by Clare Clark - Historical Fiction

June 2, 2020

In the turbulent years between the wars, nothing in Berlin is quite what it seems. Not for Emmeline, a wayward young artist freewheeling wildly through the city in search of meaning. Not for Julius, an eminent art connoisseur who finds it easier to love paintings than people. And most definitely not for Frank, a Jewish lawyer who must find a way to protect his family and his principles as the Nazis begin their rise to power. But the greatest enigma of them all is Matthias, the mercurial art dealer who connects them all. Charming and ambitious, he will provoke a scandal --- involving newly discovered paintings by Vincent van Gogh --- that turns all of their lives upside down.

It Started with a Secret by Jill Mansell - Fiction

June 2, 2020

Lainey and Kit arrive at their new jobs in blissful, summery Cornwall only to find themselves in the midst of a lovable but chaotic family --- where every member is having an identity crisis at the same time. Widowed mom Majella has done her best for years, but can't quite grasp why things are falling apart. It's what she doesn't know that's causing the chaos, because everyone is keeping secrets.

Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland - Thriller

June 2, 2020

Stephanie Maddox works her dream job policing power and exposing corruption within the FBI. A single parent, Steph has missed a lot of school events, birthdays and vacations with Zachary, who is now a teenager. But the truth is, she would move heaven and earth for him, including protecting him from an explosive secret in her past. It just never occurred to her that Zachary would keep secrets of his own. One day, while straightening her son’s room, Steph is shaken to discover a gun hidden in his closet. A loaded gun. Then comes a knock at her front door --- a colleague on the domestic terrorism squad, who utters three devastating words: “It’s about Zachary.”

Knife: A Harry Hole Novel by Jo Nesbø - Mystery/Thriller

June 2, 2020

Harry Hole is not in a good place. Rakel --- the only woman he's ever loved --- has ended it with him, permanently. He's been given a chance for a new start with the Oslo Police, but it's in the cold case office. What he really wants is to be investigating cases he suspects have ties to Svein Finne, the serial rapist and murderer who Harry helped put behind bars. And now, Finne is free after a decade-plus in prison --- free and, Harry is certain, unreformed and ready to take up where he left off. But things will get worse. When Harry wakes up the morning after a blackout, drunken night with blood that's clearly not his own on his hands, it's only the very beginning of what will be a waking nightmare the likes of which even he never could have imagined.

More News Tomorrow by Susan Richards Shreve - Fiction

June 2, 2020

On the morning of her 70th birthday, Georgianna Grove receives an unexpected letter that calls her back to Missing Lake, Wisconsin, where her mother was murdered 66 years earlier. Georgie’s father had confessed to the murder the next morning and was carted off to a state penitentiary. Determined to unearth the truth, Georgie takes her reluctant family on what will become a dangerous canoe trip up the swollen Bone River to return to the campsite that has haunted her memories.

Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky - Biography

June 2, 2020

Oliver Wendell Holmes escaped death twice as a young Union officer in the Civil War. He lived ever after with unwavering moral courage, unremitting scorn for dogma and an insatiable intellectual curiosity. During his nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, he wrote a series of opinions that would prove prophetic in securing freedom of speech, protecting the rights of criminal defendants, and ending the Court’s reactionary resistance to social and economic reforms. As a pioneering legal scholar, Holmes revolutionized the understanding of common law. As an enthusiastic friend, he wrote thousands of letters brimming with an abiding joy in fighting the good fight. Drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, Stephen Budiansky offers the fullest portrait yet of this pivotal American figure.

The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg - Fiction

June 2, 2020

An unnamed narrator writes a letter to an old college friend, Adam, at whose place he has been crashing since his abrupt return to the States from Israel. Now that the narrator is moving on to a new location, he finally reveals the events that led him to Adam's door, set in motion by a chance encounter with Uzi, an older man with whom the narrator has just had an intense sexual relationship. From his first meeting with Uzi, the narrator is overwhelmed by an animal attraction that will lead him to derail his life, withdraw from friends and extend his stay in a small town north of Tel Aviv. As he becomes increasingly entangled in Uzi's life --- and, by extension, the lives of Uzi's ex-wife and children --- his passion turns sinister, ultimately threatening all around him.

Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player by Pete Rose - Sports/Memoir

June 2, 2020

Pete Rose was a legend on the field. As baseball’s Hit King, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he’s also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer’s story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime. In PLAY HUNGRY, Rose tells us the story of how, through hard work and sheer will, he became one of the unlikeliest stars of the game.

The Plaza: The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel by Julie Satow - History

June 2, 2020

From the moment in 1907 when New York millionaire Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt strode through the Plaza Hotel's revolving doors to become its first guest, to the afternoon in 2007 when a mysterious Russian oligarch paid a record price for the hotel's largest penthouse, the 18-story white marble edifice at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street has radiated wealth and luxury. In this definitive history, award-winning journalist Julie Satow reveals how a handful of rich, dowager widows were the financial lifeline that saved the hotel during the Great Depression, and how, today, foreign money and anonymous shell companies have transformed iconic guest rooms into condominiums that shield ill-gotten gains.

The Red Daughter by John Burnham Schwartz - Historical Fiction

June 2, 2020

In one of the most momentous events of the Cold War, Svetlana Alliluyeva, the only daughter of the Soviet despot Joseph Stalin, abruptly abandoned her life in Moscow in 1967, arriving in New York to throngs of reporters and a nation hungry to hear her story. By her side is Peter Horvath, a young lawyer sent by the CIA to smuggle Svetlana into America. One day, an invitation from the widow of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright arrives, and Svetlana impulsively joins her cultlike community at Taliesin West. When this dream ends in disillusionment, Svetlana reaches out to Peter, the one person who understands how the chains of her past still hold her prisoner. Their relationship changes and deepens, unfolding under the eyes of her CIA minders.

Renewal: Your Unexpected Role in Saving the Planet by Sandeep Nath - Self-Help/Personal Growth

June 4, 2020

Is the human race conclusively set for self-annihilation? As futurists prophesize, are we only decades away from extinguishing the planet? Or are we capable of changing this trajectory because of what YOU start today? Renewal is about how each one of us can: Renew ourselves at a body-mind-spirit level. Renew our society and our environment. Renew the systems we operate with. Written to serve as a practical guide for everyone's day-to-day “karma,” RENEWAL is strung together by the charismatic Guru Pranachandra, whose discourse drives home the vital message: that the world is a mere 30 habits away from Renewal.

The Second-Worst Restaurant in France: A Paul Stuart Novel by Alexander McCall Smith - Fiction/Humor

June 2, 2020

Renowned Scottish cookbook writer Paul Stuart is hard at work on his new book, The Philosophy of Food, but complicated domestic circumstances are making that difficult. So when Paul's eccentric cousin Chloe suggests that he join her at the house she's rented in the French countryside, he jumps at the chance. The two quickly befriend the locals, including their twin-sister landladies, who also own the infamous local restaurant known to be the second-worst eatery in all of France. With all kinds of local drama to deal with, Paul finds it next to impossible to focus on his writing, and that's before he learns that Chloe's past is far more complicated than he'd ever imagined.

Seven Years of Darkness written by You-Jeong Jeong, translated by Chi-Young Kim - Psychological Thriller

June 2, 2020

When a young girl is found dead in Seryong Lake, the police immediately begin their investigation. At the same time, three men --- Yongje, the girl's father, and two security guards at the nearby dam, each of whom has something to hide about the night of her death --- find themselves in an elaborate game of cat and mouse as they race to uncover what happened to her. After a final showdown at the dam results in a mass tragedy, one of the guards is convicted of murder and sent to prison. For seven years, his son, Sowon, lives in the shadow of his father's shocking and inexplicable crime. When he receives a package that promises to reveal at last what really happened at Seryong Lake, Sowon must confront a present danger he never knew existed.

The Shameless: A Quinn Colson Novel by Ace Atkins - Thriller

June 2, 2020

Twenty years ago, Brandon Taylor was thought to be just another teen boy who ended his life too soon. That's what almost everyone in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, said after his body and hunting rifle were found in the Big Woods. Now two New York-based reporters show up asking Sheriff Quinn Colson questions about the Taylor case. What happened to the evidence? Where are the missing files? Who really killed Brandon? But Quinn is trying to shut down the criminal syndicate that has had a stranglehold on Tibbehah for years, trafficking drugs, stolen goods and young women through the MidSouth. Quinn has been fighting evil and corruption since he was a kid, at home or as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq. This time, evil may win out.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan - Historical Fiction

June 2, 2020

Mrs. Braithwaite, self-appointed queen of her English village, finds herself dethroned, despised and dismissed following her husband’s selfish divorce petition. Never deterred, the threat of a family secret being revealed sets her hot-foot to London to find the only person she has left --- her clever daughter Betty, who took work there at the first rumbles of war. But when she arrives, Betty’s landlord, the timid Mr. Norris, informs her that Betty hasn’t been home in days. With the chaos of the bombs, there’s no telling what might have befallen her. Aghast, Mrs. Braithwaite sets her bullish determination to the task of finding her only daughter.

The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis - Fiction

June 2, 2020

Brynn Turner desperately wishes she had it together, but her personal life is like a ping-pong match that’s left her scared and hurt after so many attempts to get it right. In search of a place to lick her wounds and get a fresh start, she heads back home to Wildstone. And then there’s Kinsey Davis, who, after battling serious health issues her entire 29 years of life, is tired of hoping for…well, anything. She's fierce and tough, and keeping more than one bombshell of a secret from Brynn --- her long-time frenemy. But then Brynn runs into Kinsey's best friend, Eli, renewing her childhood crush. When he gets her to agree to a summer-time deal to trust him to do right by her, no matter what, she never dreams it’ll result in finding a piece of herself she didn’t even know was missing.

Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink by Kevin Cook - Sports

June 2, 2020

It was a Thursday at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, mostly sunny with the wind blowing out. Nobody expected an afternoon game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979, to be much more than a lazy early-season contest matching two teams heading in opposite directions --- the first-place Phillies and the Cubs, those lovable losers --- until they combined for 13 runs in the first inning. “The craziest game ever,” one player called it. “And then the second inning started.” TEN INNINGS AT WRIGLEY is Kevin Cook’s vivid account of a game that only could have happened at this ballpark, in this era, with this colorful cast of heroes and heels.