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Week of March 6, 2023

New in Paperback

Week of March 6, 2023

Paperback releases for the week of March 6th include THE CANDY HOUSE, a “sibling novel” to Jennifer Egan's A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, an electrifying, deeply moving book about the quest for authenticity and meaning in a world where memories and identities are no longer private; ONE ITALIAN SUMMER by Rebecca Serle, a powerful novel about the transformational love between mothers and daughters set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast; THE LIES I TELL, a twisted domestic thriller from Julie Clark that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future; THE WEDDING VEIL by Kristy Woodson Harvey, a sweeping novel following four women across generations, bound by a beautiful wedding veil and a connection to the famous Vanderbilt family; and Abe Streep's BROTHERS ON THREE, the story of coming of age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community.

Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum - Fiction

March 7, 2023

In 1986, renowned nuclear scientist Anna Berkova is sleeping in her bed in the Soviet Union when Chernobyl’s reactor melts down. It’s the exact moment she tears through time --- and it’s an accident. When she opens her eyes, she’s landed in 1992 only to discover Molly, her estranged daughter, shot in the chest. Molly, with her dying breath, begs Anna to go back in time and stop the disaster, to save Molly’s daughter Raisa, and put their family’s future on a better path. As these remarkable women work together to prevent the greatest nuclear disaster of the 20th century, they grapple with the power their discoveries hold. Just because you can change the past, does it mean you should?

The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin - History

March 7, 2023

The story of the Boston Massacre --- when on a late winter evening in 1770, British soldiers shot five local men to death --- is familiar to generations. But from the very beginning, many accounts have obscured a fascinating truth: the Massacre arose from conflicts that were as personal as they were political. Professor Serena Zabin draws on original sources and lively stories to follow British troops as they are dispatched from Ireland to Boston in 1768 to subdue the increasingly rebellious colonists. And she reveals a forgotten world hidden in plain sight: the many regimental wives and children who accompanied these armies.

Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana by Abe Streep - Biography

March 7, 2023

March 11, 2017, was a night to remember. In front of the hopeful eyes of thousands of friends, family members and fans, the Arlee Warriors would finally bring the high school basketball state championship title home to the Flathead Indian Reservation. The game would become the stuff of legend, with the boys revered as local heroes. The team’s place in Montana history was now cemented, but for starters Will Mesteth, Jr. and Phillip Malatare, life would keep moving on --- senior year was only just beginning. In BROTHERS ON THREE, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future.

The Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan - Historical Fiction

March 7, 2023

Helen Campbell is the eldest and most practical of three sisters, daughters of hard-working Irish emigrants living in New York City in the 1950s. She does what she can to keep the wild-child middle sister, Carolyn, in line and support the youngest, Peggy, as she pursues her dreams of becoming a doctor. Then Helen meets Charlie. While it's love at first sight for those two, Carolyn's antics threaten to derail all the sisters' future happiness. However, through thick and thin, the three sisters strive to prevail, though not necessarily in the ways they thought they wanted.

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan - Fiction

March 7, 2023

Bix Bouton's company, Mandala, is so successful that he is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is 40, with four kids, restless and desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious” --- which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share your memories in exchange for access to the memories of others --- has seduced multitudes. In the world of Jennifer Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires, and there are “eluders,” those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House.

A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart - Domestic Thriller

March 7, 2023

Nadine Walsh’s summer garden party is in full swing. But she finds herself standing over a dead body in her basement while her guests clink glasses upstairs. What happened? How did it come to this? Rewind to that morning when Nadine is in her kitchen, making last-minute preparations before she welcomes more than a hundred guests to her home to celebrate her mother’s birthday. But only her mother knows that today isn’t just a birthday party. It marks another anniversary as well. Still, Nadine will focus just on tonight. Everyone deserves a celebration after the year they’ve had. A chance for fun. A chance to forget. But it’s hard to forget when Nadine’s head is swirling with secrets, haunting memories, and concerns about what might happen when her guests unite.

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse - Historical Fantasy

March 7, 2023

The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent. The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded? As sea captain Xiala is swept up in the chaos and currents of change, she finds an unexpected ally in the former Priest of Knives. For the Clan Matriarchs of Tova, tense alliances form as far-flung enemies gather and the war in the heavens is reflected upon the earth. And for Serapio and Naranpa, both now living avatars, the struggle for free will and personhood in the face of destiny rages.

Friendly Fire: A Nik Byron Investigation by Mark Pawlosky - Thriller

March 7, 2023

When Geoffrey Tate, one of the world’s richest individuals and the CEO of Yukon --- the country’s preeminent artificial intelligence company --- is shot and killed by his young trophy wife, it’s going to grab headlines. And seasoned Newshound reporter Nik Byron intends to be the one generating them. But Nik’s investigation quickly leads him down a treacherous path he didn’t foresee. The sensational trial that follows Tate’s death threatens to derail Bullwhip --- the military’s next generation of AI-inspired war machines --- and scramble the fortunes of political heavyweights and Pentagon brass alike. His journalistic instincts aroused, Nik embarks on an uncertain hunt for the truth that takes him deep into the murky worlds of Washington lobbyists, the military-industrial complex and the Saudi intelligence apparatus.

The Goodbye Coast: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Joe Ide - Hard-boiled Mystery

March 7, 2023

In THE GOODBYE COAST, Philip Marlowe is a quiet, lonely and remarkably capable and confident private detective. However, he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective who has given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother. Marlowe, against his better judgment, accepts two missing person cases --- the first, a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet; the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father. At the center of the novel is Marlowe’s troubled and confounding relationship with his father, a son who despises yet respects his dad, and a dad who’s unable to hide his bitter disappointment with his grown boy.

Goodnight from Paris by Jane Healey - Historical Fiction

March 7, 2023

Paris, 1939. Hollywood actress Drue Leyton, married to Frenchman Jacques Tartière, lives as an expatriate in love. But when her husband is dispatched to Brittany to work as a liaison for the British military, Drue finds herself alone with her housekeeper. With her career and fame 4,500 miles away, she accepts an opportunity that will change her life forever. Befriended by seasoned wartime journalist Dorothy Thompson and urged on by political operative Jean Fraysse, Drue broadcasts radio programs to the United States. Her duty: shake America from its apathy and, as Nazis encroach and France is occupied, push for resistance and help from the US. As Drue and Jean fall under suspicion, Hitler sends his own message: when Drue’s adopted country is conquered, she will be executed.

The Gospel of Orla by Eoghan Walls - Fiction

March 7, 2023

A stunning debut novel from the Northern Irish poet Eoghan Walls, THE GOSPEL OF ORLA is the coming-of-age story of a young girl, Orla, and the man she meets who has an astonishing and unique ability. It is also a road novel that takes us across the north of England after the two flee Orla’s village together. Here the mysteries of faith charge full bore into the vagaries of contemporary mores.

Hostile Intent: A Matt Drake Novel by Don Bentley - Political Thriller

March 7, 2023

When a mysterious walk-in to the US embassy in Vienna claims to have critical information about a Russian intelligence operation, he raises eyebrows. But when he asks for Matt Drake by name and calls himself the Irishman, he gets the DIA’s premier case officer on a one-way flight. Matt arrives to find Austria’s charming capital lousy with intelligence officers, all swirling around Nolan Burke --- a one-time member of the real IRA. But before Matt can debrief Nolan, the Irishman is kidnapped by a Russian direct action team. Now, Matt must find a way to repay the debt of honor he owes Nolan while stopping World War III in the process.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel - Historical Fiction

March 7, 2023

The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, Kaikeyi is raised on tales of the gods. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, and listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear. Desperate for some measure of independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With this power, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat and most favored queen. But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family.

The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories by Ladee Hubbard - Fiction/Short Stories

March 7, 2023

These 13 gripping tales deftly chronicle poignant moments in the lives of an African American community located in a “sliver of southern suburbia.” Spanning from 1992 to 2007, the stories represent a period during which the Black middle class expanded while stories of "welfare Queens," "crack babies" and "super predators" abounded in the media. Characters spotlighted in one story reappear in another, providing a stunning testament to the enduring resilience of Black people as they navigate the “post-racial” period that THE LAST SUSPICIOUS HOLDOUT so vividly portrays.

Lessons at the School by the Sea: The Third School by the Sea Novel by Jenny Colgan - Fiction

March 7, 2023

Beloved high school teacher Maggie Adair had been comfortably, if somewhat ambivalently, engaged to her dependable long-distance boyfriend, Stan. But in the heat of summer, Maggie’s attraction to her colleague David McDonald has caught fire. Now both are facing an uncertain future as they try to figure out how to stay committed to their careers --- and each other. Meanwhile, the girls of Downey House --- mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice and shy, hard-working Simone --- have had long summers at home, which weren’t quite the respite they had been hoping for. But the new school year is thankfully here, and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh challenges for students and teachers alike at the school by the sea.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark - Domestic Thriller

March 7, 2023

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be. A college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything. Kat Roberts has been waiting 10 years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow - Fiction

March 7, 2023

Ten-year-old Joan, her mother and her younger sister flee her father’s explosive temper and seek refuge at her mother’s ancestral home in Memphis. Half a century earlier, Joan’s grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass --- only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in the city. Joan tries to settle into her new life, but family secrets cast a longer shadow than any of them expected. As she grows up, Joan finds relief in her artwork. One of her subjects is their enigmatic neighbor Miss Dawn, who claims to know something about curses, and whose stories about the past help Joan see how her passion, imagination and relentless hope are, in fact, the continuation of a long matrilineal tradition.

Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan - Fiction

March 7, 2023

In the first line of OCEAN STATE, we learn that a high school student was murdered, and we find out who did it. The story that unfolds from there is thus one of the build-up to and fallout from the murder, told through the alternating perspectives of the four women at its heart. Angel, the murderer; Carol, her mother; and Birdy; the victim all converge in a climax both tragic and inevitable. Watching over it all is the retrospective testimony of Angel’s younger sister Marie, who reflects on that doomed autumn of 2009 with all the wisdom of hindsight. Angel and Birdy love the same teenage boy and are compelled by the intensity of their feelings to extremes neither could have anticipated.

Off the Map by Trish Doller - Romantic Comedy

March 7, 2023

Carla Black has been traveling the world on her own in her vintage Jeep Wrangler for nearly a decade, stopping only long enough to replenish her adventure fund. She doesn’t do love, and she doesn’t ever go home. Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. His work helps people find their way, but he’s the one who’s lost his sense of direction. He’s unhappy at work, recently dumped, and his one big dream is stalled out --- literally. Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in Dublin for her best friend’s wedding, and Eamon is tasked with picking her up from the airport. But what should be a simple drive across Ireland quickly becomes complicated with chemistry-filled detours, unexpected feelings and a chance at love --- if only they choose it.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle - Fiction

March 7, 2023

When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone. But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. And then Carol appears --- in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned and 30 years old. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. Soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young lady who does not yet have a clue.

Robert B. Parker's Revenge Tour: A Sunny Randall Novel by Mike Lupica - Mystery

March 7, 2023

PI Sunny Randall owes a favor. Her landlord and former client, famous novelist Melanie Joan Hall, is being threatened and blackmailed, and it is up to Sunny and her best friend Spike to ensure her protection. But as Sunny looks into the identity of Melanie Joan’s stalker, she learns that much of the author’s past is a product of her amazing imagination, and her loyalty to her old friend is challenged as she searches for the truth. At the same time, Sunny springs into action when her aging ex-cop father, Phil, is threatened by a shady lawyer with a desire to settle an old score. Fighting crimes on two fronts, Sunny must use all of her savvy, and the help of her friends, in order to protect those she loves.

Rules of Engagement by Stacey Abrams, writing as Selena Montgomery - Romantic Suspense

March 7, 2023

Dr. Raleigh Foster, an operative for a top-secret intelligence organization, knows that her undercover work has its risks. So she doesn't hesitate when asked to infiltrate Scimitar, the terrorist group that has stolen lethal environmental technology. But when she's assigned a partner --- brooding, sexy Adam Grayson --- to pose as her lover, Raleigh discovers that the most dangerous risk of all...is falling in love. Adam blames himself for the botched mission that got his best friend killed by Scimitar, and he believes that Raleigh may have contributed to the man's death. But the closer he works with his alluring partner, the more his suspicions turn to trust --- and intense desire.

Sundial by Catriona Ward - Gothic Horror/Psychological Thriller

March 7, 2023

Rob has spent her life running from Sundial, the family’s ranch deep in the Mojave Desert, and her childhood memories. But she’s worried about her daughter, Callie, who collects animal bones and whispers to imaginary friends. It reminds her of a darkness that runs in her family, and Rob knows it’s time to return. Callie is terrified of her mother. Rob digs holes in the backyard late at night and tells disturbing stories about growing up on the ranch. Soon Callie begins to fear that only one of them will leave Sundial alive.

Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas - Fiction

March 7, 2023

It’s in the water where she first sees him: a local man almost 20 years her senior. Adrift in the summer after finishing college, a young woman is on holiday with her mother in an isolated Australian coastal town. Finding herself pulled to Jude, the man in the water, she begins losing herself in the simple, seductive rhythms of his everyday life. As their relationship deepens, life at Sailors Beach offers her the stability she has been craving as the daughter of two drifters --- a loving but impulsive mother and an itinerant father. But the arrival of Maeve, a friend from Jude’s past, threatens to rock their fragile, newfound intimacy. And when she witnesses something she doesn’t fully understand, she finds herself questioning everything.

Thrill of the Hunt by Rita Mae Brown - Mystery

March 7, 2023

It’s the start of fox-hunting season, and “Sister” Jane Arnold is training a new generation of hounds in eager anticipation of Opening Hunt. But before they make it to that exciting day, several members of the hunt club receive ominous videos in which they appear to be doing scandalous, career-ending deeds. The videos are doctored, but does it matter? The unknown blackmailer promises to publish the clips if they don’t get paid, and even the most upstanding citizen can be brought down by the court of public opinion. While Sister and her friends try to unmask the dastardly mind behind the videos, mysteries abound in their beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain town home.

The Way from Here by Jane Cockram - Fiction

March 7, 2023

Growing up, the Anderson sisters could not have been more different. Susie had an adventurous life, while Camilla --- Mills --- followed a safer path. When Susie suddenly dies, Mills falls apart. Until she receives a bundle of mysterious letters from her estranged sister to be read in the case of her death. Each letter instructs her to visit a place special to Susie, both to spread her ashes but also to uncover some truths Susie has long kept hidden from her family. Their mother Margaret has secrets of her own. When living in Swinging Sixties London, she too made a decision about her life that not only haunts her, but will reverberate through the generations. One family, three very different women. What choices and secrets connect them?

The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey - Fiction

March 7, 2023

Julia Baxter’s wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But on the morning of her wedding day, something tells her that even the veil’s good luck isn’t enough to make her marriage last forever. Overwhelmed and panicked, she escapes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head. Meanwhile, her grandmother Babs is also feeling shaken. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, she decides to move out of the house they once shared and into a retirement community. Though she hopes it’s a new beginning, she does not expect to run into an old flame, dredging up the same complicated emotions she felt a lifetime ago.

The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton - Fiction

March 7, 2023

When Laura Stearns arrives at St. Dunstan’s Academy in Maine, she dreams that life there will echo her favorite novel, All Before Them, the sole surviving piece of writing by St. Dunstan’s alum Sebastian Webster. She soon finds the intensity she is looking for among the insular, Webster-worshipping members of the school’s chapel choir, which is presided over by Virginia Strauss. A neurotic overachiever, Virginia inducts Laura into a world of transcendent music and arcane ritual, illicit cliff-diving and midnight crypt visits. But when a new school chaplain challenges Virginia’s hold on the “family” she has created, and Virginia’s efforts to wield her power become increasingly dangerous, Laura must decide how far she will let her devotion to Virginia go.