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THE AMERICAN GIRL by Kate Horsley (Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller)
Seventeen-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch. Barefoot, bloodied and unable to say what has happened to her, Quinn’s appearance creates quite a stir, especially since the Blavettes --- the French family with whom she’s been staying --- have mysteriously disappeared. Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl had anything to do with her host family’s disappearance. When she is arrested for the murders of the Blavette family, she finds an unlikely ally in journalist Molly Swift, who must unravel the disturbing secrets of the town’s past in an effort to clear Quinn’s name. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Prentice Onayemi
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job, even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.
BULLSEYE: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Danny Mastrogiorgio
Snow blankets the avenues of Manhattan's exclusive Upper West Side. The storm is the perfect cover for a fashionable, highly trained team of lethal assassins as they prowl the streets, hunting their prey. Stepping directly into the line of fire, the president of the United States is in New York for a summit at the United Nations with his Russian counterpart. Detective Michael Bennett must trace the source of a threat that could rip the country apart --- and ignite a war the likes of which the world has never seen. With allegiances constantly in doubt and no one above suspicion, only Bennett can save the president --- and the country --- before the assassins' deadly kill shot hits its mark. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR by Shari Lapena (Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller)
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all --- a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE DOLLHOUSE by Fiona Davis (Fiction)
Fiona Davis' debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries and editors lived side-by-side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon's glitzy past. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO by Amy Schumer (Essays, Humor, Nonfiction)
Audiobook available, read by Amy Schumer
In THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO, Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress and writer Amy Schumer mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships and sex, and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is --- a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh. Ranging from the raucous to the romantic, the heartfelt to the harrowing, this highly entertaining and universally appealing collection is the literary equivalent of a night out with your best friend. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
A GREAT RECKONING by Louise Penny (Fiction, Mystery)
When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. It leads the former Chief of Homicide for the Sûreté du Québec to places even he is afraid to go. But must. And there he finds four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, and a dead professor. And, with the body, a copy of the old, odd map. Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets. Guarded and angry, Amelia is more likely to be found on the other side of a police line-up. And yet she is in the academy. A protégée of the murdered professor. The frantic search for answers takes the investigators back to Three Pines and a stained glass window with its own horrific secrets. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
HARMONY by Carolyn Parkhurst (Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Cassandra Campbell, Abigail Revasch and Jorjeana Marie
How far will a mother go to save her family? The Hammond family is living in DC, where everything seems to be going just fine, until it becomes clear that the oldest daughter, Tilly, is developing abnormally --- a mix of off-the-charts genius and social incompetence. Once Tilly --- whose condition is deemed undiagnosable --- is kicked out of the last school in the area, her mother is out of ideas. The family turns to Camp Harmony and the wisdom of child behavior guru Scott Bean for a solution. But what they discover in the woods of New Hampshire will push them to the very limit. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
A HOUSE WITHOUT WINDOWS by Nadia Hashimi (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Ariana Delawari and Susan Nezami
For two decades, Zeba was a loving wife, a patient mother and a peaceful villager. But her quiet life is shattered when her husband, Kamal, is found brutally murdered. A shocked Zeba is unable to account for her whereabouts at the time of his death. Her children swear she could not have committed such a heinous act. Kamal’s family is sure she did and demands justice. Barely escaping a vengeful mob, Zeba is arrested and jailed. As she awaits trial, she meets a group of women whose own misfortunes have also led them to these bleak cells. Is Zeba a cold-blooded killer, these young ladies wonder, or has she been imprisoned, as they have been, for breaking some social rule? Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
HOW I BECAME A NORTH KOREAN by Krys Lee (Fiction)
Yongju is an accomplished student from one of North Korea's most prominent families. Jangmi, on the other hand, has had to fend for herself since childhood, most recently by smuggling goods across the border. Then there is Danny, a Chinese-American teenager whose quirks and precocious intelligence have long made him an outcast in his California high school. These three disparate lives converge when they flee their homes, finding themselves in a small Chinese town just across the river from North Korea. But will they find their way to the better lives they risked everything for? Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.
I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU FROM ALL THIS: A Memoir by Nadja Spiegelman (Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Nadja Spiegelman
For a long time, Nadja Spiegelman believed her mother was a fairy. More than her famous father, Maus creator Art Spiegelman, and even more than most mothers, hers --- French-born New Yorker art director Françoise Mouly --- exerted a force over reality that was both dazzling and daunting. As Nadja’s body changed, their relationship grew tense. Unwittingly, they were replaying a drama from her mother’s past, a drama Nadja sensed but had never been told. Then, after college, her mother suddenly opened up to her. Françoise recounted her turbulent adolescence caught between a volatile mother and a playboy father. The weight of the difficult stories she told her daughter shifted the balance between them. Reviewed by Bianca Ambrosio.
KILLER LOOK by Linda Fairstein (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Barbara Rosenblat
New York City is one of the fashion capitals of the world, well-known for its glamour and style. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the runway, where American haute couture continually astounds with its creativity, daring and innovation in the name of beauty. Yet high fashion means high stakes, as Alex Cooper quickly discovers when businessman and designer Wolf Savage is found dead in an apparent suicide, mere days before the biggest show of his career. When the man's daughter insists Savage’s death was murder, the case becomes more than a media sensation: It is a race to find a killer in a world created entirely out of fantasy and illusion. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
THE MANNINGS: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family by Lars Anderson (Biography, Nonfiction, Sports)
What the Kennedys are to politics, the Mannings are to football. Two generations have produced three NFL superstars: Archie Manning, the Ole Miss hero–turned–New Orleans Saint; his son Peyton, widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game; and Peyton’s younger brother, Eli, who won two Super Bowl rings of his own. And the oldest Manning child, Cooper --- who was forced to quit playing sports after he was diagnosed at age 18 with a rare spinal condition --- might have been the most talented of them all. In THE MANNINGS, longtime Sports Illustrated writer Lars Anderson gives us, for the first time, the never-before-told story of this singular athletic dynasty. Reviewed by John Bentlyewski.
THE NIX by Nathan Hill (Fiction)
Meet Samuel Andresen-Anderson: stalled writer, bored teacher at a local college, obsessive player of an online video game. He hasn’t seen his mother, Faye, since she walked out when he was a child. But then one day there she is, all over the news, throwing rocks at a presidential candidate. The media paints Faye as a militant radical with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother never left her small Iowa town. Which version of his mother is the true one? Determined to solve the puzzle --- and finally have something to deliver to his publisher --- Samuel decides to capitalize on his mother’s new fame by writing a tell-all biography, a book that will savage her intimately, publicly. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
NOTHING SHORT OF DYING: A Clyde Barr Novel by Erik Storey (Fiction, Suspense, Thriller)
Clyde Barr has been away from Colorado for 16 years, running from a past filled with haunting memories. But now he’s back, having roamed across three continents as a hunter, adventurer, soldier of fortune and most recently, unjustly imprisoned convict. Clyde receives a frantic phone call from his sister Jen. No sooner has she pleaded with him to come rescue her than the line goes dead. Clyde doesn’t know how much time he has, or where Jen is located, or even who has her. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her. Joining Clyde in his against-all-odds quest is a young woman named Allie whose motivations for running this gauntlet are fascinatingly complex. As the duo races against the clock, it is Allie who gets Clyde to see what he has become and what he can still be. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE PECULIAR MIRACLES OF ANTOINETTE MARTIN by Stephanie Knipper (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Andi Arndt and Cassandra Campbell
Sisters Rose and Lily Martin were inseparable when growing up on their family’s Kentucky flower farm, yet became distant as adults when Lily found herself unable to deal with the demands of Rose’s unusual daughter. But when Rose becomes ill, Lily is forced to return to the farm and confront the fears that had driven her away. Rose’s daughter, 10-year-old Antoinette, has a form of autism that requires constant care and attention. She has never spoken a word, but has a powerful gift that others would give anything to harness --- she can heal with her touch. Her gift, though, comes at a price, since each healing puts her own life in jeopardy. Reviewed by Amy Haddock.
REPO MADNESS by W. Bruce Cameron (Fiction, Humor)
Ruddy McCann, former college football star, now Michigan repo man, is finally getting his life back on track. He has a beautiful fianceé, Katie Lottner, a somewhat stable job stealing cars and a lazy, lovable basset hound. With his job suddenly in jeopardy, his fiancé wanting a break and a new court-ordered psychiatrist insisting he take his medication, Ruddy finds himself missing the one thing he thought he would be happy to be rid of --- the voice of Alan Lottner, dead realtor and Ruddy's future father-in-law. When Ruddy finds out that the tragedy defining his life may be a lie, he soon discovers that his own redemption may be within reach. Alan's voice returns, and Ruddy and Alan work together to bring down a corrupt banker, win back Katie's love and stop a serial killer before he can strike again. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
RISE THE DARK by Michael Koryta (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Robert Petkoff
Rise the dark. These were the last words written in Lauren Novak's notebook before she was murdered in a strange Florida village. They've never meant anything to the police or to her husband, investigator Markus Novak. Now the man he believes killed her is out of prison, and draws Markus to the place he's avoided for so long: the lonely road where his wife was shot to death. In Red Lodge, Montana, Sabrina Baldwin is abducted by Garland Webb, the man Markus believes killed his wife. Drawing them all together is a messianic villain who understands that you can never outpace your past. You can only rise against the future. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
ROB THY NEIGHBOR: A Charlie Henry Mystery by David Thurlo (Mystery)
Charlie Henry and his friends are enjoying a cookout when a gunshot rings out in the neighborhood. As he and best friend Gordon run to the source of the shot, they happen upon two masked intruders in their next-door neighbor's house. The men seem to be there to kidnap Sam Randall, but they abandon their mark and get away in a waiting van. Detective DuPree has been investigating a string of similar home invasions in the area, but this one seems out of the ordinary. Sam hires Charlie and Gordon to investigate the crime, not trusting the police to keep him and his wife safe. The investigation reveals Ray Geiger, son of retired NYPD cop Frank Geiger, as the prime suspect. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Bahni Turpin
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood --- where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned --- Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
THE WIDOWER’S WIFE by Cate Holahan (Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller)
Ana Bacon, a young housewife, tumbles off a cruise ship into the dark and deadly waters. But did she take her secrets with her? Investigator Ryan Monahan is a numbers man. So when his company sends him the Bacon case, which could net a $10-million payout, Monahan doubts that her death is just a tragic accident. But the husband has a substantial alibi, and a number of witnesses claim to have seen Ana fall. So the official ruling seems to be substantiated. Still, the more Monahan uncovers about Ana’s life, the more he realizes how many people would kill to keep her secrets hidden. And the closer he gets to the truth, the greater the odds grow that he, too, will take a fatal fall. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
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