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Week of June 28, 2021

New in Paperback

Week of June 28, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of June 28th include John Grisham's latest legal thriller, A TIME FOR MERCY, in which Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy; ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, the 16th entry in Louise Penny's series starring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec, who this time is investigating a sinister plot in the City of Light; THE EVENING AND THE MORNING, the thrilling prequel to Ken Follett's THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, which is set in England at the dawn of a new era --- the Middle Ages; DADDY, a remarkable story collection from Emma Cline, who portrays moments when the ordinary is disturbed and daily life buckles, revealing the perversity and violence pulsing under the surface; and THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS by Lisa Wingate, a dramatic account of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives.

All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny - Mystery

June 29, 2021

On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Armand knows is no accident. When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession, it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, deep into the secrets that Armand’s godfather has kept for decades. A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized. Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit.

Bad Moon Rising: A Bad Axe County Novel by John Galligan - Mystery/Thriller

June 29, 2021

Sheriff Heidi Kick has a dead body on her hands, a homeless young man last seen alive miles from the Bad Axe. Chillingly, the medical examiner confirms what Sheriff Kick has been experiencing in her own reoccurring nightmares of late: the victim was buried alive. As the relentless summer heat bears down and more bodies are discovered, Sheriff Kick also finds herself embroiled in a nasty reelection campaign. These days her detractors call her “Sheriff Mommy,” and as her family troubles become public, vicious rumors threaten to sway the electorate and derail her investigation. Vietnam veteran Leroy Fanta, editor-in-chief of the local paper, believes that Heidi’s strange case might be tied to a reclusive man writing deranged letters to the opinions section for years.

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir by Michele Harper - Memoir

June 29, 2021

Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldn't move with her. In the ensuing years, as Harper learned to become an effective ER physician, she came to understand that each of us is broken. How we recognize those breaks, how we try to mend them, and where we go from there are all crucial parts of the healing process. THE BEAUTY IN BREAKING is the poignant true story of Harper's journey toward self-healing.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse - Historical Fantasy

June 29, 2021

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate - Historical Fiction

June 29, 2021

From the bestselling author of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS comes a new historical novel: the dramatic story of three young women searching for family amid the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who learns of their story and its vital connection to her students’ lives. Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar - Literary Thriller

June 29, 2021

Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely --- an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth, hope and humor --- has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear.

Daddy: Stories by Emma Cline - Fiction/Short Stories

June 29, 2021

An absentee father collects his son from boarding school after a shocking act of violence. A nanny to a celebrity family hides out in Laurel Canyon in the aftermath of a tabloid scandal. A young woman sells her underwear to strangers. A notorious guest arrives at a placid, not-quite rehab in the Southwest. In DADDY, Emma Cline portrays moments when the ordinary is disturbed, when daily life buckles, revealing the perversity and violence pulsing under the surface. She explores characters navigating the edge, the limits of themselves and those around them. They want connection, but what they provoke is often closer to self-sabotage. What are the costs of one’s choices? Of the moments when we act, or fail to act?

The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase - Fiction

June 29, 2021

When the Harrington family discovers an abandoned baby deep in the woods, they decide to keep her a secret and raise her as their own. But within days a body is found in the grounds of their house, and their perfect new family implodes. Years later, Sylvie, seeking answers to nagging questions about her life, is drawn into the wild beautiful woods where nothing is quite what it seems. Will she unearth the truth? And dare she reveal it?

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett - Historical Fiction

June 29, 2021

It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined. Thirty years ago, Ken Follett published his most popular novel, THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH. Now, his new prequel, THE EVENING AND THE MORNING, takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that will end where THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH begins.

The Fiancée by Kate White - Psychological Thriller

June 29, 2021

Summer is looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son arrive at the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate. But this year, Gabe’s brother Nick has invited his new flame Hannah, whom Summer immediately recognizes from a few years before. Oddly, her brother-in-law’s girlfriend claims not to know her. Yet she charms the other family members, and after Nick announces that he’s proposed to Hannah, Summer doesn’t have much choice but to grin and bear it. Then the reunion is rocked by tragedy when a family member is found dead. Though the doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, a grieving Summer fears that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved, even as Gabe dismisses her suspicions.

The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton - Mystery

June 29, 2021

Mason "Mace" Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid is coming off a taxing year --- mourning the death of a beloved springer spaniel, as well as the dissolution of his marriage. He adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past --- a golden retriever named Vira. And when Reid begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is. Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira's abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.

Half Moon Bay by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman - Mystery/Thriller

June 29, 2021

Clay Edison has his hands full. He has a new baby who won't sleep and is working the graveyard shift. Then comes the first call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there? No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call --- this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing fifty years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. It’s a little complicated. Clay’s relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. And it can be murderous.

It Takes Two to Mango: A Tropical Island Cozy Mystery by Carrie Doyle - Cozy Mystery

June 29, 2021

After Plum Lockhart's job as a travel magazine editor is eliminated in corporate cuts, she decides she's sick of cold winters in NYC and fruitless swiping on dating apps --- what she needs is a dramatic change of scenery. On a whim, she accepts a job as a villa broker and moves to a beautiful Caribbean island. However, paradise isn't as perfect as it seems: the slow pace of island life, the language barrier and a cutthroat office rival make Plum question leaving her old life behind. But when a client is found dead in the jacuzzi of Casa Mango --- a property Plum manages --- she knows she's really in a jam. With a killer loose on the island, Plum will have to deal with a stonewalling police chief, a string of baffling clues and a handsome Director of Security to solve this deadly case.

Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan - Fiction

June 29, 2021

In the summer of 1979, Jackie Pierce spent three months of infinite freedom at her bohemian uncle’s sprawling estate on the California coast. She and her cousin Willa fell into a fast friendship…until the summer abruptly ended in tragedy, and Willa silently slipped away into the night. Twenty years later, Jackie unexpectedly inherits The Sandcastle and returns there to ready it for sale. It turns out that before her estranged aunt’s death, she had promised an up-and-coming producer he could record a tribute album to her late uncle at the property’s studio. When a piece of the past resurfaces and sparks new questions about Willa’s disappearance, Jackie must discover if the dark secret she’s kept ever since is even the truth at all.

Lost River by J. Todd Scott - Thriller

June 29, 2021

When the small town of Angel, Kentucky, is rocked by the vicious killing of an entire infamous local crime family, the bloody aftermath brings together three people already struggling with Angel's opioid epidemic: Trey, a young medic-in-training with secrets to hide; Special Agent Casey Alexander, a DEA agent who won't let the local law or small-town way of doing things stand in her way; and Paul Mayfield, a former police chief who's had to watch his own young wife succumb to addiction. Over the course of 24 hours, loyalties are tested, the corrupt are exposed, and the horrible truth of the largest drug operation in the region is revealed.

Marauder: A Novel of the Oregon Files by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison - Thriller/Adventure

June 29, 2021

While interrupting an attack on a Kuwaiti oil tanker, Juan Cabrillo and his team discover something even more dangerous: a ruthless billionaire's dying wish has allowed a paralyzing chemical to end up in the hands of a terrorist group. When an Oregon crew member falls victim to the poison, Juan Cabrillo will stop at nothing to find an antidote before it is too late. He and his team must connect an ancient mystery with a cunning modern enemy in order to save millions of innocent lives, including their own.

Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini - Historical Fiction

June 29, 2021

In May 1875, Elizabeth Todd Edwards reels from news that her younger sister Mary, former First Lady and widow of President Abraham Lincoln, has attempted suicide. Mary’s shocking act followed legal proceedings arranged by her eldest and only surviving son that declared her legally insane. Although they have long been estranged, Elizabeth knows Mary’s tenuous mental health has deteriorated through decades of trauma and loss. Yet is her suicide attempt truly the impulse of a deranged mind, or the desperate act of a sane woman terrified to be committed to an asylum? And --- if her sisters can put past grievances aside --- is their love powerful enough to save her?

Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg - Thriller

June 29, 2021

On a cold day in 1997, student Sara Morgan was killed in the woods surrounding her liberal arts college in upstate New York. Her boyfriend, Blake Campbell, confessed, his plea of temporary insanity raising more questions than it answered. In the wake of his acquittal, the case comes to haunt a strange and surprising network of community members, from the young woman who discovers Sara's body to the junior reporter who senses its connection to convicted local serial killer John Logan. Others are looking for retribution or explanation: Sara's half-sister, stifled by her family's bereft silence about Blake, poses as a babysitter and seeks out her own form of justice, while the teenager Sara used to babysit starts writing to Logan in prison.

Shakeup: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods - Thriller/Adventure

June 29, 2021

Upon returning from a dangerous coastal adventure, Stone Barrington is looking forward to some normalcy with the leading lady in his life. But when a grisly crime arrives on his doorstep, along with some suspicious new clients eager for his help, Stone realizes peace and quiet are no longer an option. As it turns out, the mastermind behind the malfeasance rocking New York City and the nation's capital wields a heavy hand of influence. And when Stone is unable to recruit those closest to the case to his side, he is left with few leads and a handful of dead-ends. But with the help of important people in high places --- and the expertise of alluring new friends --- Stone is more than ready to rise to the occasion.

Stealth Attack: A Jonathan Grave Thriller by John Gilstrap - Political Thriller

June 29, 2021

El Paso, Texas, is a battleground. It’s an open market for Mexican drug cartels to sell their wares. It’s also a destination for teens looking for fun. Venice Alexander’s 13-year-old son, Roman, was there on a school trip. Now, he and a fellow student have vanished without a trace. Assuming the kidnapping is retaliation for his past incursions against Mexico’s underworld, Jonathan Grave leads his covert operatives to rescue their teammate’s son. But the trail Jonathan follows leads him down unexpected paths where he ends up in the crossfire of a deadly vendetta.

A Time for Mercy: A Jake Brigance Novel by John Grisham - Legal Thriller

June 29, 2021

Clanton, Mississippi. 1990. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. His fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security and the safety of his family on the line.

To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne - Romantic Comedy

June 29, 2021

When Gracie Cooper’s father dies, she sets aside her dreams of pursuing her passion for art to take over his Midtown Manhattan champagne shop. She soon finds out that the store’s profit margins are being squeezed perilously tight, and a giant corporation headed by the impossibly handsome but irritatingly arrogant Sebastian Andrews is proposing a buyout. But Gracie can’t bear the thought of throwing away her father’s dream like she did her own. So she seeks advice and solace from someone she’s never met --- the faceless “Sir,” with whom she connected on a blind dating app. Although Gracie finds herself slowly falling for Sir online, she has no idea she’s already met him in real life…and they can’t stand each other.

True Love by Sarah Gerard - Fiction/Dark Humor

June 29, 2021

Nina is a struggling writer, a college drop-out, a liar and a cheater. More than anything, she wants love. She deserves it. From the burned-out suburbs of Florida to the anonymous squalor of New York City, she eats through an incestuous cast of characters in search of it: her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule; Odessa, a single mom with even worse taste in men than Nina; Seth, an artist whose latest show is comprised of three Tupperware containers full of trash; Brian, whose roller-coaster affair with Nina is the most stable “relationship” in his life; and Aaron, an aspiring filmmaker living at home with his parents, with whom Nina begins to write her magnum opus.

When She Was Good by Michael Robotham - Psychological Thriller

June 29, 2021

Who is Evie Cormac, the girl with no past, running from? She was discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Her ability to tell when someone is lying helped criminal psychologist Cyrus Haven crack an impenetrable case in GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL. Now, the closer Cyrus gets to uncovering answers about Evie’s dark history, the more he exposes Evie to danger, giving her no choice but to run. Ultimately, both will have to decide if some secrets are better left buried and some monsters should never be named.

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne - Psychological Thriller

June 29, 2021

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents' deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family's sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns --- as her mother did years earlier --- that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt - Fiction

June 29, 2021

Stella is a nurse who has long suppressed her own needs and desires to nurture the dreams of her partner, Simon, the bass player for a rock band that has started to lose its edge. But when Stella falls into a coma just as Simon is headed to a gig that could revive his career, Simon must learn the meaning of sacrifice, while Stella’s best friend, Libby, a doctor who treats Stella, must also make a difficult choice as the coma wears on. When Stella at last awakes from her two-month sleep, she emerges into a striking new reality where Simon and Libby have formed an intense bond, and where she has acquired a startling artistic talent of her own: the ability to draw portraits of people in which she captures their innermost feelings and desires.