ALL OUR WRONG TODAYS by Elan Mastai (Science Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Elan Mastai
In Tom Barren’s 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks and moon bases. But he just can’t seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a dystopian wasteland. But when he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career, and --- maybe, just maybe --- his soul mate, Tom has a decision to make. Does he fix the flow of history, bringing his utopian universe back into existence, or does he try to forge a new life in our messy, unpredictable reality? Reviewed by Amy Haddock.
ALWAYS by Sarah Jio (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley
Enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, Kailey Crain can’t believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a journalist and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As she and Ryan leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what --- and whom --- she wants. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
AUGUST SNOW by Stephen Mack Jones (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Mirron Willis
August Snow joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. It’s not long before he’s summoned to the palatial Grosse Pointe Estates, home of business magnate Eleanore Paget. Powerful and manipulative, Paget wants August to investigate the increasingly unusual happenings at her private wealth management bank. But detective work is no longer August’s beat, and he declines. A day later, Paget is dead of an apparent suicide --- which August isn’t buying for a minute. What begins as an inquiry into Eleanore Paget’s death soon drags August into a rat’s nest of Detroit’s most dangerous criminals, from corporate embezzlers to tattooed mercenaries. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
AUTUMN by Ali Smith (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Melody Grove
Autumn. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. That’s what it felt like for Keats in1819. How about Autumn 2016? Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic, once-in-a-generation summer. Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand-in-hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever. Ali Smith’s new novel is a meditation on a world growing ever more bordered and exclusive, on what richness and worth are, on what harvest means. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE DARK AND OTHER LOVE STORIES by Deborah Willis (Fiction/Short Stories)
The characters in these 13 stories exist on the edge of danger, where landscapes melt into dreamscapes and every house is haunted. A drug dealer’s girlfriend signs up for the first manned mission to Mars. A girl falls in love with a man who wants to turn her into a bird. A teenaged girl and her best friend test their relationship by breaking into suburban houses. A wife finds a gaping hole in the floor of the home she shares with her husband, a hole that only she can see. Full of longing and strange humor, these tales --- about the love between a man and his pet crow, an alcoholic and his AA sponsor, a mute migrant and a newspaper reporter --- show how love ties us to each other and to the world. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
DESPERATION ROAD by Michael Farris Smith (Gothic Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Robin Bloodworth
Russell Gaines’ 11-year sentence is now up, and he believes his debt has been paid. But when he returns home, he soon discovers that revenge lives and breathes all around him. On the same day that Russell is released from prison, a woman named Maben and her young daughter trudge along the side of the interstate under the punishing summer sun. Desperate and exhausted, the pair spend their last dollar on a room for the night, a night that ends with Maben running through the darkness holding a pistol, and a dead deputy sprawled in the middle of the road. With the dawn, destinies collide, and Russell is forced to decide whose life he will save --- his own or those of the woman and child. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE DEVIL CREPT IN by Ania Ahlborn (Mystery/Horror)
Audiobook available, read by Eric Michael Summerer
Young Jude Brighton has been missing for three days, and while the search for him is in full swing in the small town of Deer Valley, Oregon, the locals are starting to lose hope. Stevie Clark knows what each ticking moment may mean for his cousin, Jude. There was Max Larsen, a young boy who was found dead after also disappearing under mysterious circumstances. And then there were the animals: pets gone missing out of yards. For years, the residents of Deer Valley have murmured about these unsolved crimes…and that a killer may still be lurking around their quiet town. For Stevie, who is determined to find out what really happened to Jude, the awful truth may be too horrifying to imagine. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE DIME by Kathleen Kent (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Cynthia Farrell
Dallas, Texas is not for the faint of heart. Good thing for Betty Rhyzyk she's from a family of take-no-prisoners Brooklyn police detectives. But her Big Apple wisdom will only get her so far when she relocates to The Big D, where Mexican drug cartels and cult leaders, deadbeat skells and society wives all battle for sunbaked turf. Betty is as tough as the best of them, but she's deeply shaken when her first investigation goes sideways. Battling a group of unruly subordinates, a persistent stalker, a formidable criminal organization, and an unsupportive girlfriend, the unbreakable Detective Betty Rhyzyk may be reaching her limit. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
ECHOES IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Susan Ericksen
As Lt. Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke are driving home, a young woman suddenly stumbles out in front of their car. Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for her husband, Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil.” While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling and widely disliked, this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse. What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITIES: A Linda Wallheim Mystery Set in Mormon Utah by Mette Ivie Harrison (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kirsten Potter
Mormon bishop's wife Linda Wallheim is stunned to learn that her son, Kenneth, has gotten engaged to a young woman from a polygamous family. Stephen Carter, Naomi's father, invites the Wallheims over to their family compound; he wishes to extend an olive branch to his future in-laws and introduce them to his five wives and 22 children. Upon their arrival, Linda has her eyes peeled for signs that Stephen's wives and children are unhappy or abused. Although she can't find concrete evidence of mistreatment, Linda's gut instinct tells her that something on the Carter family compound is deeply wrong. She can't quite put her finger on what --- until it's too late, and one of the family members is found murdered. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.
GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS by Deborah Crombie (Mystery)
Audiobook available, performed by Gerard Doyle
A young woman named Reagan Keating has been murdered in one of Notting Hill’s private gardens, and the lead detective, DI Kerry Boatman, turns to Gemma James for help. Gemma soon discovers that Reagan’s death is the second tragedy in this exclusive London park; a few months before, a young boy died in a tragic accident. But when still another of the garden residents meets a violent end, it becomes clear that there are more sinister forces at play. While his wife is consumed with her new case, Duncan Kincaid finds himself plagued by disturbing questions about several previous --- and seemingly unrelated --- cases involving members of the force. If his suspicions are correct and the crimes are linked, are his family and friends in mortal danger as well? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by John Rubinstein
At nearly 100 years old, Thalia Mars is a far cry from the patients who child psychologist Alex Delaware normally treats. But the charming, witty woman convinces Alex to meet with her in a suite at the Aventura, a luxury hotel with a checkered history. What Thalia wants from Alex are answers to unsettling questions --- about guilt, patterns of criminal behavior and victim selection. When Alex asks the reason for her morbid fascination, Thalia promises to tell all during their next session. But when he shows up the following morning, he discovers Thalia dead in her room. Alex and homicide detective Milo Sturgis must peel back the layers of a fascinating but elusive woman’s life and embark on one of the most baffling investigations either of them has ever experienced. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
I SEE YOU by Clare Mackintosh (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Rachel Atkins
Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, and finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her. During her commute home one night, while glancing through her local paper, Zoe sees her own face staring back at her --- a grainy photo along with a phone number and a listing for a website called FindTheOne.com. Other women begin appearing in the same ad, and Zoe realizes they’ve become the victims of increasingly violent crimes --- including murder. With the help of a determined cop, she uncovers the ad’s twisted purpose and is sure that someone close to her has set her up as the next target. Reviewed by Katherine B. Weissman.
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by George Saunders (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, and a full cast
It’s February 1862, and the Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved 11-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. The boy finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state --- called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo --- a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie’s soul. Reviewed by Alex Bowditch.
THE LOST WOMAN: A Louise Rick Novel by Sara Blaedel (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Christine Lakin
A housewife is the target of a shocking, methodical killing. Though murdered in England, it turns out that the woman, Sofie Parker, is actually a Danish citizen who's been on the Missing Persons list for almost two decades --- so Louise Rick is called on to the case. Then, in an unexpected twist, the police discover that Sofie had been reported missing 18 years ago by none other than Eik, Louise’s police colleague and lover. Impulsive as ever, Eik rushes to England and ends up in jail on suspicion of Sofie's murder. Louise must set aside her own emotional turmoil if she hopes to find the killer in what will become her most controversial case yet. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
MOST DANGEROUS PLACE: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by Jonathan Davis
In MOST DANGEROUS PLACE, Jack Swyteck takes on a new client tied to his past. It begins at the airport, where Jack is waiting to meet his old high school buddy, Keith Ingraham, a high-powered banker based in Hong Kong, coming to Miami for his young daughter’s surgery. But their long-awaited reunion is abruptly derailed when the police arrest Keith’s wife, Isabelle, in the terminal, accusing her of conspiring to kill the man who raped her in college. Jack quickly agrees to represent Isa, but soon discovers that to see justice done, he must separate truth from lies --- an undertaking that proves more complicated than the seasoned attorney expects. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE MOTHER'S PROMISE by Sally Hepworth (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Barrie Kreinik
All their lives, Alice Stanhope and her daughter, Zoe, have been a family of two. Zoe has always struggled with crippling social anxiety, and her mother has been her constant and fierce protector. With no family to speak of, and the identity of Zoe’s father shrouded in mystery, their team of two works until it doesn’t. Until Alice gets sick and needs to fight for her life. Desperate to find stability for Zoe, Alice reaches out to two women who are practically strangers, but who are her only hope: Kate, a nurse, and Sonja, a social worker. As the four of them come together, they must confront their sharpest fears and secrets about abandonment, abuse, estrangement and the deepest longing for family. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
MY NOT SO PERFECT LIFE by Sophie Kinsella (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Fiona Hardingham
Everywhere Katie Brenner looks, someone else is living the life she longs for, particularly her boss, Demeter Farlowe. But just as she’s finding her feet --- not to mention a possible new romance --- Demeter fires Katie. Shattered but determined to stay positive, Katie retreats to her family’s farm in Somerset to help them set up a vacation business. London has never seemed so far away --- until Demeter unexpectedly turns up as a guest. Secrets are spilled and relationships rejiggered, and as the stakes for Katie’s future get higher, she must question her own assumptions about what makes for a truly meaningful life. Reviewed by Melanie Reynolds.
THE NIGHTWALKER written by Sebastian Fitzek, translated by Jaime Lee Searle (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Robert Glenister
As a young man, Leon Nader suffered from insomnia. As a sleepwalker, he even turned to violence during his nocturnal excursions and had psychiatric treatment for his condition. Eventually, he was convinced he had been cured --- but one day, years later, Leon's wife disappears from their apartment under mysterious circumstances. Could it be that his illness has broken out again? In order to find out how he behaves in his sleep, Leon fits a movement-activated camera to his forehead --- and when he looks at the video the next morning, he makes a discovery that bursts the borders of his imagination. His nocturnal personality goes through a door that is totally unknown to him and descends into the darkness. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE NIGHT BIRD by Brian Freeman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Joe Barrett
When a series of bizarre deaths rock San Francisco --- as seemingly random women suffer violent psychotic breaks --- homicide detective Frost Easton looks for a connection that leads him to psychiatrist Francesca Stein. Frankie’s controversial therapy helps people erase their most terrifying memories…and all the victims were her patients. As Frost and Frankie carry out their own investigations, the case becomes increasingly personal --- and dangerous. Long-submerged secrets surface as someone called the Night Bird taunts the pair with cryptic messages pertaining to the deaths. Soon Frankie is forced to confront strange gaps in her own memory, and Frost faces a killer who knows the detective’s worst fears. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE ORPHAN’S TALE by Pam Jenoff (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by Jennifer Wydra and Kyla Garcia
After discovering a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, 16-year-old Noa is reminded of the child who was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night. Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another --- or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
A PIECE OF THE WORLD by Christina Baker Kline (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by Polly Stone
To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Instead, for more than 20 years, she was host and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth, and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the 20th century. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
THE REFUGEES by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, read by Viet Thanh Nguyen
In THE REFUGEES, Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds: the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half-sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will, these stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.
RISE: How a House Built a Family by Cara Brookins (Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Cara Brookins
After escaping an abusive marriage, Cara Brookins had four children to provide for and no one to turn to but herself. In desperate need of a home but without the means to buy one, she did something incredible. Equipped only with YouTube instructional videos, a small bank loan and a mile-wide stubborn streak, Cara built her own house from the foundation up with a work crew made up of her four children. With no experience nailing together anything bigger than a bookshelf, she and her kids poured concrete, framed the walls and laid bricks for their two-story, five-bedroom house. She had convinced herself that if they could build a house, they could rebuild their broken family. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.
RUSH OF BLOOD by Mark Billingham (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Toby Longworth
Three British couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on Easter Sunday, the last day of their vacation, tragedy strikes: the 14-year-old daughter of an American vacationer goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves. When the shocked couples return home to the UK, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties, they come to know one another better. But buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some unusual kinks and unpleasant vices. Then a second girl goes missing, in Kent --- not far from where any of the couples lives. Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE SECRET LIFE OF SOULS by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee (Psychological Suspense)
Audiobook available, read by Casey Turner
Eleven-year-old actress Delia Cross is beautiful, talented and charismatic. A true star in the making, her days are a blur of hard work on set, auditions and tutors. Her family --- driven, pill-popping stage mother Pat, wastrel dad Bart, and introverted twin brother Robbie --- depends on her for their upscale lifestyle. Delia, in turn, depends on Caity, her beloved ginger Queensland Heeler --- and loyal friend --- for the calming private space they share. Delia is on the verge of a professional breakthrough. But just as the contracts are about to be signed, there is a freak accident that puts Delia in the danger zone with only Caity to protect her. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
SETTING FREE THE KITES by Alex George (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Ari Fliakos
For Robert Carter, life in his coastal Maine hometown is comfortably predictable. But in 1976, on his first day of eighth grade, he meets Nathan Tilly, who changes everything. Nathan is confident, fearless, impetuous --- and fascinated by kites and flying. Robert and Nathan’s budding friendship is forged in the crucible of two family tragedies, and as the boys struggle to come to terms with loss, they take summer jobs at the local rundown amusement park. It’s there that Nathan’s boundless capacity for optimism threatens to overwhelm them both, and where they learn some harsh truths about family, desire and revenge. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
WHAT YOU BREAK by Reed Farrel Coleman (Hard-boiled Noir Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Keith Szarabajka
Gus Murphy and his girlfriend, Magdalena, are put in harm’s way when Gus is caught up in the distant aftershocks of heinous crimes committed decades ago in Vietnam and Russia. Gus’ ex-priest pal, Bill Kilkenny, introduces him to a wealthy businessman anxious to have someone look more deeply into the brutal murder of his granddaughter. The businessman, Spears, offers big incentives if Gus can supply him with what the cops cannot --- a motive. Later that same day, Gus witnesses the execution of a man who has just met with his friend, Slava. As Gus looks into the girl’s murder and tries to protect Slava from the executioner’s bullet, he must navigate a minefield populated by hostile cops, street gangs, and a Russian mercenary who will stop at nothing to do his master’s bidding. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR by Yewande Omotoso (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Anna Bentinck and Bea Holland
Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbors. One is black, the other white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed, and are living with questions, disappointments and secrets that have brought them shame. And each has something that the woman next door deeply desires. Sworn enemies, the two share a hedge and a deliberate hostility, which they maintain with a zeal that belies their age. But, one day, an unexpected event forces Hortensia and Marion together. As the physical barriers between them collapse, their bickering gradually softens into conversation and eventually the two discover common ground. But are these sparks of connection enough to ignite a friendship, or is it too late to expect these women to change? Reviewed by Norah Piehl.