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Week of September 3, 2018

New in Paperback

Week of September 3, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of September 3rd include ROBICHEAUX, which marks the return of James Lee Burke's most beloved character in a gritty, atmospheric mystery set in the towns and backwoods of Louisiana; IN THE MIDST OF WINTER by Isabel Allende, a sweeping novel about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil; THE VENGEANCE OF MOTHERS, the stunning sequel to Jim Fergus' award-winning novel, ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN; Alice McDermott's THE NINTH HOUR, a powerfully affecting story spanning the 20th century of a widow and her daughter and the nuns who serve their Irish-American community in Brooklyn; and THE FIRST MAJOR, John Feinstein's dramatic chronicle of the bitterly fought 2016 Ryder Cup pitting a U.S. team out for revenge against the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands.

After the Eclipse: A Memoir by Sarah Perry - Memoir

September 4, 2018

When Sarah Perry was 12, she saw a partial eclipse; she took it as a good omen for her and her mother, Crystal. But that moment of darkness foreshadowed a much larger one: two days later, Crystal was murdered in their home in rural Maine. It took 12 years to find the killer. In that time, Sarah rebuilt her life amid abandonment, police interrogations and the exacting toll of trauma. She dreamed of a trial, but when the day came, it brought no closure. It was not her mother’s death she wanted to understand, but her life. She began her own investigation, one that drew her back to Maine, deep into the darkness of a small American town.

An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice by Khizr Khan - Memoir

September 4, 2018

In fewer than 300 words, Khizr Khan electrified viewers around the world when he took the stage at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. And when he offered to lend Donald Trump his own much-read and dog-eared pocket Constitution, his gesture perfectly encapsulated the feelings of millions. But who was that man, standing beside his wife, extolling the promises and virtues of the U.S. Constitution? In this urgent and timeless immigrant story, we learn that Khizr Khan has been many things: a loving father, a patriot, and a fierce advocate for the rights, dignities and values enshrined in the American system.

American History by J.L. Abramo - Historical Crime Fiction

September 3, 2018

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean and the American continent, from Sicily to New York City and San Francisco, the fierce hostility and mistrust between the Agnello and Leone families parallel the turbulent events of the 20th century in a nation struggling to find its identity in the wake of two world wars. A multi-generational saga of loyalty and deceit, law breakers and enforcers, and families torn apart or bound together in a 100-year battle for survival. AMERICAN HISTORY is a historical novel and an epic crime novel in the tradition of EAST OF EDEN, THE IMMIGRANTS and THE GODFATHER.

The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall - Fiction

September 4, 2018

George Woodbury, a beloved science teacher at a prep school, has been charged with sexual misconduct with students from his daughter’s school. As he sits in prison awaiting trial and claiming innocence, his wife Joan vaults between denial and rage as friends and neighbors turn cold. Their daughter, 17-year-old Sadie, is a popular high school senior who becomes a social outcast --- and finds refuge in an unexpected place. Her brother Andrew, a lawyer in New York, returns home to support the family, only to confront unhappy memories from his past. A writer tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist group attempts to recruit Sadie for their cause.

The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse by Rich Cohen - Sports/Memoir

September 4, 2018

When Rich Cohen was eight years old, his father took him to see a Cubs game. On the way out of the park, his father asked him to make a promise. "Promise me you will never be a Cubs fan. The Cubs do not win,” he explained, “and because of that, a Cubs fan will have a diminished life determined by low expectations. That team will screw up your life.” As a result, Cohen became not just a Cubs fan but one of the biggest Cubs fans in the world. In this book, he captures the story of the team, its players and crazy days.

Dinner at the Center of the Earth by Nathan Englander - Political Thriller

September 4, 2018

In the Negev desert, a nameless prisoner languishes in a secret cell, his only companion the guard who has watched over him for a dozen years. Meanwhile, the prisoner’s arch nemesis --- The General, Israel’s most controversial leader --- lies dying in a hospital bed. From Israel and Gaza to Paris, Italy and America, Nathan Englander provides a kaleidoscopic view of the prisoner’s unlikely journey to his cell.

The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith - Historical Fiction

September 4, 2018

In May 1943, Marijke de Graaf and her husband are arrested and deported to different concentration camps in Germany. Marijke is given a terrible choice: to suffer a slow death in the labor camp or join the camp brothel. SS officer Karl Müller arrives at the camp hoping to live up to his father’s expectations of wartime glory. When he encounters the newly arrived Marijke, this meeting changes their lives forever. Woven into the narrative is Luciano Wagner’s ordeal in 1977 Buenos Aires, during the heat of the Argentine Dirty War. In his struggle to endure military captivity, he searches for ways to resist from a prison cell he may never leave.

Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s by Jason Turbow - Sports

September 4, 2018

The Oakland A’s of the early 1970s: Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball’s establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that played out on the field was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office. Under the visionary leadership of owner Charles O. Finley, the team assembled such luminary figures as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue, and with garish uniforms and revolutionary facial hair, knocked baseball into the modern age. However, Finley’s insatiable need for control made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency. Within two years, his dynasty was lost.

An Echo of Murder: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry - Historical Mystery

September 4, 2018

A Hungarian warehouse owner lies in the middle of his blood-sodden office, pierced through the chest with a bayonet and eerily surrounded by 17 candles, their wicks dipped in blood. Suspecting the murder may be rooted in ethnic prejudice, Commander William Monk turns to London’s Hungarian community in search of clues but finds his inquiries stymied by its wary citizens and a language he doesn’t speak. Only with the help of a local pharmacist acting as translator can Monk hope to penetrate this tightly knit enclave, even as more of its members fall victim to identical brutal murders. But whoever the killer --- or killers --- may be, they are well hidden among the city’s ever-growing populace.

The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup by John Feinstein - Sports

September 4, 2018

The rivalry between the U.S. and European teams was at an all-time high even before the first swing of the 2016 Ryder Cup. The Americans had lost an astounding six out of the last seven matches. With the U.S. team out for revenge and the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands, the showdown took place in Hazeltine, Minnesota --- just days after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer. It became one of the most raucous and heated face-offs in the Cup’s history. Award-winning author John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes, providing an inside view of the dramatic stories as they unfolded.

A Good Country by Laleh Khadivi - Fiction

September 4, 2018

Laguna Beach, California, 2010. Alireza Courdee, a 14-year-old straight-A student and chemistry whiz, takes his first hit of pot. In as long as it takes to inhale and exhale, he is transformed from the high-achieving son of Iranian immigrants into a happy-go-lucky stoner. For the first time, Reza --- now Rez --- feels like an American teen. But then he changes again, falling out with the bad boy surfers and in with a group of kids more awake to the world around them, who share his background and whose ideas fill him with a very different sense of purpose. Within a year, Reza and his girlfriend are making their way to Syria to be part of a Muslim nation rising from the ashes of the civil war.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - Fiction

September 4, 2018

Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half a globe away, Isma’s worst fears are confirmed. Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to --- or defy. Suddenly, two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined.

In Her Bones by Kate Moretti - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

September 4, 2018

Fifteen years ago, Lilith Wade was arrested for the brutal murder of six women. After a death row conviction, media frenzy and the release of an unauthorized biography, her 30-year-old daughter Edie Beckett is just trying to survive out of the spotlight. She’s a recovering alcoholic with a dead-end city job and an unhealthy codependent relationship with her brother. Edie also has a disturbing secret: a growing obsession with the families of Lilith’s victims. She’s desperate to see how they’ve managed --- or failed --- to move on. While her escalating fixation is a problem, she’s careful to keep her distance. That is, until she crosses a line and a man is found murdered.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende - Fiction

September 4, 2018

During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his 60s, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. What at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love.

Logical Family: A Memoir by Armistead Maupin - Memoir

September 4, 2018

Born in the mid-20th century and raised in the heart of conservative North Carolina, Armistead Maupin lost his virginity to another man "on the very spot where the first shots of the Civil War were fired." Realizing that the South was too small for him, this son of a traditional lawyer packed his earthly belongings into his Opel GT and took to the road in search of adventure. It was a journey that would lead him from a homoerotic Navy initiation ceremony in the jungles of Vietnam to that strangest of strange lands: San Francisco in the early 1970s. Reflecting on the profound impact those closest to him have had on his life, Maupin shares his candid search for his "logical family," the people he could call his own.

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty - Fiction

September 4, 2018

A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly from their home in Scotland to Amsterdam for a long weekend. But over the course of these four days, we discover the deep uncertainties that exist between them. Gerry, once an architect, is forgetful and set in his ways. Stella is tired of his lifestyle, worried about their marriage, and angry at his constant undermining of her religious faith. Things are not helped by memories that have begun to resurface of a troubled time in their native Ireland. As their midwinter break comes to an end, we understand how far apart they are --- and can only watch as they struggle to save themselves.

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott - Fiction

September 4, 2018

On a dim winter afternoon, a young Irish immigrant opens the gas taps in his Brooklyn tenement. He is determined to prove --- to the subway bosses who have recently fired him and to his badgering, pregnant wife --- that “the hours of his life belonged to himself alone.” In the aftermath of the fire that follows, Sister St. Saviour appears, unbidden, to direct the way forward for his widow and his unborn child. In Catholic Brooklyn in the early part of the 20th century, decorum, superstition and shame collude to erase the man’s brief existence, and yet his suicide, though never spoken of, reverberates through many lives --- testing the limits and the demands of love and sacrifice, of forgiveness and forgetfulness, even through multiple generations.

The Prometheus Man by Scott Reardon - Thriller

September 4, 2018

When a pile of bodies is found in Paris, CIA Agent Tom Blake hustles his way onto a major case: tracking a man with enhanced abilities, the test subject of a secret government program. There's just one problem: the man using Agent Blake's identity is not Agent Blake. He's Tom Reese, a man without a family or a home. Reese is searching for his brother's killer. He stole Agent Blake's identity two months ago and has bluffed his way onto the team investigating his only lead. But soon the CIA will find out that Agent Blake is in two places at once. Soon the augmented man will come looking for him. And soon both will discover that Tom Reese carries a secret even he doesn't know about. He is the last test subject of Project Prometheus.

Queens of the Conquest: England's Medieval Queens Book One by Alison Weir - History

September 4, 2018

The lives of England’s medieval queens were packed with incident, but their stories have been largely obscured by centuries of myth and omission. Now Alison Weir restores these women to their rightful place in history. Spanning the years from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the dawn of a new era in 1154, when Henry II succeeded to the throne and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the first Plantagenet queen, was crowned, QUEENS OF THE CONQUEST brings to vivid life five women, including Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king; Matilda of Scotland, revered as “the common mother of all England”; and Empress Maud, England’s first female ruler, whose son King Henry II would go on to found the Plantagenet dynasty.

Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet: A Jesse Stone Novel by Reed Farrel Coleman - Mystery

September 4, 2018

Jesse Stone, still reeling from the murder of his fiancée by crazed assassin Mr. Peepers, must keep his emotions in check long enough to get through the wedding day of his loyal protégé, Suitcase Simpson. The morning of the wedding, Jesse learns that a gala 75th birthday party is to be held for folk singer Terry Jester. Jester has spent the last 40 years in seclusion after the mysterious disappearance of the master recording tape of his magnum opus, The Hangman's Sonnet. That same morning, an elderly Paradise woman dies while her house is being ransacked. What are the thieves looking for? And what's the connection to Terry Jester and the mysterious missing tape?

Robicheaux by James Lee Burke - Thriller

September 4, 2018

Between his recurrent nightmares about Vietnam, his battle with alcoholism, and the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Molly, Dave Robicheaux’s thoughts drift from one irreconcilable memory to the next. Images of ghosts at Spanish Lake live on the edge of his vision. During a murder investigation, Robicheaux discovers he may have committed the homicide he’s investigating, one that involved the death of the man who took Molly’s life. As he works to clear his name and make sense of the murder, Robicheaux encounters a cast of characters and a resurgence of dark social forces that threaten to destroy all of those whom he loves.

The Romanov Ransom: A Sam and Remi Fargo Adventure by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell - Thriller/Adventure

September 4, 2018

In 1918, a ransom of enormous size was paid to free the Romanovs from the Bolsheviks. But the Romanovs died anyway. And the ransom? During World War II, the Nazis stole it from the Russians, and after that, it vanished. Until now. When a modern-day kidnapping captures the attention of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo, the couple soon learn that these long-lost riches may be back in play, held in trust by the descendants of a Nazi guerrilla faction called the Werewolves. It is their mission to establish the Fourth Reich, and their time is coming soon. This quest is greater than anything the Fargos have ever done; it is their chance to make someone answer for unspeakable crimes, and to prevent them from happening again.

Savage Country by Robert Olmstead - Historical Fiction

September 4, 2018

In September 1873, Elizabeth Coughlin, a widow bankrupted by her husband’s folly and death, embarks on a buffalo hunt with her estranged and mysterious brother-in-law, Michael. With no money, family, job or security, she hopes to salvage something of her former life and the lives of the hired men and their families who depend on her. Elizabeth and Michael plunge south across the aptly named Deadline demarcating Indian Territory from their home state of Kansas. Nothing could have prepared them for the dangers. They’re on borrowed time: the Comanche are in winter quarters, and the cruel work of slaughtering the buffalo is unraveling their souls. They must get back alive.

The Scarred Woman: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

September 4, 2018

In a Copenhagen park, the body of an elderly woman is discovered. The case bears a striking resemblance to another unsolved homicide investigation from over a decade ago, but the connection between the two victims confounds the police. Across town, a group of young women are being hunted. The attacks seem random, but could these brutal acts of violence be related? Detective Carl Mørck of Department Q is charged with solving the mystery. Meanwhile, after an earlier breakdown, their colleague Rose is still struggling to deal with the reemergence of her past --- a past in which a terrible crime may have been committed. It is up to Carl, Assad and Gordon to uncover the dark and violent truth at the heart of Rose’s childhood before it is too late.

Seventh Decimate: The Great God's War by Stephen R. Donaldson - Fantasy

September 4, 2018

For centuries, the realms of Belleger and Amika have been at war, with sorcerers from both sides harnessing the Decimates to rain blood and pain upon their enemy. But somehow, in some way, the Amikans have discovered and invoked a seventh Decimate, one that strips all lesser sorcery of its power. And now the Bellegerins stand defenseless. Prince Bifalt, eldest son of the Bellegerin King, would like to see the world wiped free of sorcerers. It is he who is charged with finding the repository of all of their knowledge, to locate the book of the seventh Decimate --- and reverse the fate of his land. But the legendary library, which may or may not exist, lies beyond an unforgiving desert and treacherous mountains --- and beyond the borders of his own experience.

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon - Fiction

September 4, 2018

Amber Green loves working at Smith’s, London’s ultra-exclusive boutique frequented by everyone who’s anyone, including Mona Armstrong, the stylist to the stars. When Mona’s latest assistant walks out, Amber finds herself agreeing to work for one of the most infamous --- and volatile --- women in Hollywood. As she begins to enjoy life in the dressing rooms of the hottest stars, Amber discovers she’s the one in the spotlight when she catches the attention of two very different men. But Mona’s behavior is growing increasingly erratic, and unless Amber can out-style everyone in Hollywood, she’s in danger of being Mona’s latest fashion victim.

Summer at the Garden Cafe by Felicity Hayes-McCoy - Fiction

September 4, 2018

Still recovering from a car accident, and reeling from her father’s disclosures about his long-time affair, 21-year-old Jazz --- daughter of the town’s librarian Hanna Casey --- has taken a job at The Old Forge guesthouse and begun to develop feelings for a man who’s strictly off-limits. Meanwhile, involved in her own new affair with architect Brian Morton, Hanna is unaware of the turmoil in Jazz’s life --- until her manipulative ex-husband, Malcolm, reappears trying to mend his relationship with their daughter. Rebuffed at every turn, Malcolm must return to London, but his mother, Louisa, is on the case. Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, she hatches a plan, finding an unlikely ally in Hanna’s mother, the opinionated Mary Casey.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - Historical Fiction

September 4, 2018

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive. One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

Tell Me You're Mine by Elisabeth Norebäck - Psychological Thriller

September 4, 2018

Stella Widstrand is a psychotherapist and a happily married mother to a 13-year-old son. But when a young woman named Isabelle steps into her clinic to begin therapy, Stella's placid life begins to crumble. She is convinced that Isabelle is her daughter, Alice --- the baby who tragically disappeared more than 20 years ago on a beach during a family vacation. Stella has always believed that Alice is alive, somewhere, but everyone around her worries she's delusional. Could this be Alice? Stella will risk everything to answer that question, but in doing so she will set in motion a sequence of events beyond her control, endangering herself and everyone she loves.

Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks - Fiction/Short Stories

September 4, 2018

A small-town newspaper columnist with old-fashioned views of the modern world. A World War II veteran grappling with his emotional and physical scars. A second-rate actor plunged into sudden stardom and a whirlwind press junket. Four friends traveling to the moon in a rocketship built in the backyard. These are just some of the stories that Tom Hanks captures in his first work of fiction: a collection of shorts that explore the human condition in all its foibles. The stories are linked by one thing: in each of them, a typewriter plays a part --- sometimes minor, sometimes central.

Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney - Historical Fiction/Adventure

September 4, 2018

A whaler's daughter, Flora Mackie first crossed the Arctic Circle at the age of 12. Years later, in 1892, determination and chance lead her back to northern Greenland as a scientist at the head of a British expedition. Geologist Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan. Yearning for wider horizons, he joins a rival expedition. Jakob and Flora's paths cross. It is a fateful meeting, where passion and ambition collide and an irresistible attraction is born. The violent extremes of the north obsess them both: perpetual night and endless day; frozen seas and coastal meadows, and the strange, maddening pull it exerts on the people trying to make their mark on its vast expanses --- a pursuit of glory whose outcome will reverberate for years to come.

Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova - Memoir

September 4, 2018

Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at just 17 years old, in an astonishing upset against the reigning champion Serena Williams --- the match that kicked off their legendary rivalry and placed Sharapova on the international stage. At 18, she reached the number one WTA ranking for the first time, and has held that ranking many times since. In UNSTOPPABLE, the five-time Grand Slam winner recounts the story of her phenomenal rise to success, narrated with the same no-holds-barred, fiercely provocative attitude that characterizes her tennis game.

The Vengeance of Mothers: The Journals of Margaret Kelly & Molly McGill by Jim Fergus - Historical Fiction

September 4, 2018

In 1873, Margaret Kelly participated in the U.S. government's "Brides for Indians" program, the conceit of which was that the way to peace between the United States and the Cheyenne Nation was for One Thousand White Women to be given as brides in exchange for 300 horses. These "brides" were mostly fallen women --- women in prison, prostitutes, the occasional adventurer, or those incarcerated in asylums. No one expected this program to work. And the brides themselves thought of it simply as a chance at freedom. But many of them fell in love with their Cheyenne spouses and had children with them...and became Cheyenne themselves.