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May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012

The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of May 14th and May 21st that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.

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On Sale the Week of May 14th in Hardcover

May 15th

AS THE CROW FLIES: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson
Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire's daughter, Cady, is getting married to the brother of his undersheriff, Victoria Moretti. When he sets out to find a new site for the nuptials on the Cheyenne Reservation, the scouting expedition ends in horror as he witnesses a young Crow woman plummeting from Painted Warrior’s majestic cliffs.
Viking Adult * 9780670023516

THE BLUE CASCADE: A Memoir of Life After War by Mike Scotti
Upon returning from the Iraq war, Mike Scotti ignored the creeping depression and numbness he called "The Blue Cascade" and charged ahead toward his goal to get an MBA, secure a high-paying finance job, and retire young and rich. But scenes of drunken emotion and raging violence were becoming more and more frequent, and he eventually found himself contemplating suicide.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455503483

THE CHEMISTRY OF TEARS by Peter Carey
In two-time Booker Prize winner Peter Carey’s latest novel, an automaton --- in its beautiful, uncanny imitation of life --- will link two strangers confronted with the mysteries of creation, the miracle and catastrophe of human invention, and the body’s astonishing chemistry of love and feeling.
Knopf * 9780307592712

THE COLUMBUS AFFAIR by Steve Berry
When a controversial report from a war-torn region is exposed as a fraud, investigative journalist Tom Sagan's professional reputation crashes and burns. He is haunted by bad decisions and the shocking truth he can never prove: that his downfall was a deliberate act of sabotage by an unknown enemy. But before Sagan can end his life, fate intervenes in the form of an enigmatic stranger with a request that cannot be ignored.
Ballantine Books * 9780345526519

THE COTTAGE AT GLASS BEACH by Heather Barbieri
Nora Keane’s carefully constructed life falls to pieces when she --- along with the rest of the world --- learns that her husband, a prominent Massachusetts attorney general, has been cheating on her. Heartbroken and humiliated, Nora takes refuge with her maternal aunt on Burke’s Island in Maine, a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.
Harper * 9780062107961

FATHER’S DAY: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son by Buzz Bissinger
The author of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS journeys across the country and into the psyche of his son and traveling companion, where he finds not only the remarkable skills and debilities known as savantism, but a host of admirable qualities as well.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780547816562

LEFTY: An American Odyssey by Vernona Gomez and Lawrence Goldstone
Born to a small-town California ranching family, Vernon “Lefty” Gomez rode his powerful arm and jocular personality right across America to the dugout of the New York Yankees. Lefty baffled hitters with his blazing fastball, establishing himself as the team’s ace. Now his daughter and co-author Lawrence Goldstone vividly re-create the life and adventures of the irreverent southpaw.
Ballantine Books * 9780345526489

ON PAR: The Everyday Golfer's Survival Guide by Bill Pennington
From equipment and instruction, to the rules and language of golf, to camaraderie and psychology, to the short game/long game debate, Bill Pennington informs and entertains as he gets to the essence of this mercurial game, including golf’s holy grail: the hole in one.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780547548449

ONE SHOT AT FOREVER: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard
In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen became the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands.
Hyperion * 9781401324384

RAILSEA by China Miéville
On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can’t shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea.
Del Rey * 9780345524522

STOLEN PREY by John Stanford
In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed. To Lucas Davenport, the scene looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he has seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit. Until it does.
Putnam Adult * 9780399157684

THE TALIBAN CRICKET CLUB by Timeri N. Murari
When the head of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announces that the winner of a cricket tournament will travel to Pakistan to train and play at an international level, Rukhsana develops a plan to win. The tournament is the only escape for her brother and young cousins, facing the corrupting influences of the Taliban, and Rukhsana herself, who the terrifying minister seeks to marry.
Ecco * 9780062091253

 
On Sale the Week of May 14th in Paperback


May 15th

BRIGHT’S PASSAGE by Josh Ritter
Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter’s debut novel tells the story of Henry Bright, a World War I veteran and West Virginia farmer, fleeing the demons of his wartime experience and the wrath of a vengeful enemy.
Dial Press Trade Paperback * 9780812981841

DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND by Lisa Unger
After giving up his post at the Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He’s having trouble facing a horrible event from his past and finding a second act. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in FRAGILE, comes to him with predictions about his future --- some of which are dire.
Broadway * 9780307465184


EXPLOSIVE EIGHTEEN: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich
On the way back from a trip to Hawaii, her dream vacation-turned-nightmare, Stephanie Plum is roped into a complex case when her seatmate on the flight is found dead in a garbage can after the L.A. layover --- and she alone may hold critical evidence.
Bantam * 9780345527738

THE LAST GUNFIGHT: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral --- and How It Changed the American West by Jeff Guinn
In a vacant lot in Tombstone, Arizona, a confrontation between eight armed men erupted in a deadly shootout. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral shaped how future generations came to view the old West. But as THE LAST GUNFIGHT makes clear, the real story of the O.K. Corral and the West is far different from what we’ve been led to believe by TV westerns and Hollywood films.
Simon & Schuster * 9781439154250


MY LUCKY LIFE IN AND OUT OF SHOW BUSINESS: A Memoir by Dick Van Dyke
MY LUCKY LIFE IN AND OUT OF SHOW BUSINESS is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a "simple song-and-dance man," but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.
Three Rivers Press * 9780307592248

NEXT TO LOVE by Ellen Feldman
Three young women who live in a small town in Massachusetts all send the men they love off to fight in World War II. Not everyone returns, and those who do are profoundly changed, reminding us that the scars of war run deeper than the day that victory is won.
Spiegel & Grau * 9780812982411

REAMDE by Neal Stephenson
A small group of ingenious Asian hackers has just unleashed Reamde, a virus that encrypts all of a player's electronic files and holds them for ransom. Its repercussions will be felt all around the globe, setting in motion a devastating series of events involving Russian mobsters, computer geeks, secret agents and Islamic terrorists.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062191496

STARDUST by Carla Stewart
Shortly after burying her unfaithful husband, Georgia Peyton unexpectedly inherits the derelict Stardust motel from a distant relative. Despite doubts from the community and the aunt who raised her, she is determined to breathe new life into it. But the guests who arrive aren't what Georgia expects.
FaithWords * 9781455504282

On Sale the Week of May 21st in Hardcover

May 22nd

ABDICATION by Juliet Nicolson
1936 began with the death of a beloved king and the ascension of a charismatic young monarch who was sympathetic to the needs of the working class. By year’s end, the world would be stunned as it witnessed that new leader give up his throne in the name of love, just as the unrest and violence that would result in a Second World War were becoming impossible to ignore.
Atria Books * 9781451658835

ALPHA by Greg Rucka
For the visitors to Wilsonville, the largest theme park in the world, the day began with a smile. By the end, they wonder if they'll be able to escape with their lives. Retired Delta Force operator Master Sergeant Jonathan "Jad" Bell is Wilsonville's lead undercover security officer. The threat begins with the announcement of a hidden dirty bomb, but quickly becomes something far, far worse.
Mulholland Books * 9780316182287

BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE by Elizabeth Lowell
Archaeologist Lina Taylor has devoted her life to studying ancient Mayan artifacts, but the professor’s structured, studious life spins out of control when some valuable and important Mayan artifacts go missing. Lina is recruited to recover the missing pieces, which, she discovers, may be being used by fanatics determined to create chaos and usher in annihilation.
William Morrow * 9780061629860

CALLING INVISIBLE WOMEN by Jeanne Ray
Clover, a mom in her early 50s, wakes up one morning to discover she's invisible --- truly invisible. Her husband and son don't even notice that anything is wrong, and she is crushed by the realization that they never really look at her. As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role.
Crown * 9780307395054

CANADA by Richard Ford
When 15-year-old Dell Parsons' mother and father rob a bank, his sense of a happy, knowable life is forever shattered. Undone by the calamity of his parents' criminal actions and arrest, Dell struggles under the vast prairie sky to remake himself and define the adults he thought he knew.
Ecco * 9780061692048

DAN GETS A MINIVAN: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad by Dan Zevin
A coming-of-middle-age tale told with warmth and wit, DAN GETS A MINIVAN provides the one thing every parent really needs: comic relief. Whether you’re a dude, a dad, or someone who’s married to either, fasten your seat belt and prepare to crack up.
Scribner * 9781451606461

DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR A MURDER by Catriona McPherson
Aristocratic amateur sleuth Dandy Gilver is caught between two feuding families in the second mystery of this charming and funny series. When the heiress to one of the stores goes missing, Dandy is summoned to Dunfermline, where two warring families run rival department stores. As Dandy starts to unravel family secrets, she begins to discover disturbing connections.
Minotaur Books * 9781250007377

DARK MAGIC by James Swain
A magician by day, Peter Warlock is a member of an underground group of psychics who gaze into the future to help prevent crimes. No one, not even his live-in girlfriend, knows the truth about Peter --- until the séance when he foresees an unspeakable act of violence that will devastate the city.
Tor Books * 9780765329943

FEARLESS: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown by Eric Blehm
FEARLESS is the story of a man of extremes, whose courage and determination was fueled by faith, family, and the love of a woman. It’s about a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses and persevered to reach the top tier of the US military. Always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments, Adam’s final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice.
WaterBrook Press * 9780307730695

LAST CALL FOR THE LIVING by Peter Farris
For bank teller Charlie Colquitt, it was just another Saturday. For Hobe Hicklin, an ex-con with nothing to lose, it was just another score. For Hobe's drug-addled, sex-crazed girlfriend, it was just more lust, violence and drugs. But in this gripping narrative, nothing is as it seems.
Forge Books * 9780765330079

THE LONGEST SHOT: Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan, and Pro Golf's Greatest Upset at the 1955 U.S. Open by Neil Sagebiel
With the overlooked Jack Fleck still playing the course, NBC-TV proclaimed that the legendary Ben Hogan had won his record fifth U.S. Open and signed off from San Francisco. Undaunted, the forgotten Iowan rallied to overcome a nine-shot deficit over the last three rounds --- still a U.S. Open record --- and made a pressure-packed putt to tie Hogan on the final hole of regulation play.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9780312661847

THE LOWER RIVER by Paul Theroux
When his wife and child leave him, Ellis Hock journeys back to Malawi on the remote Lower River, an area he hasn’t returned to since his years with the Peace Corps. But when he arrives, he finds that poverty and apathy have transformed the village he once so idealized.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780547746500

THE RECKONING by Jane Casey
Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan takes on an investigation everyone else would rather avoid. Two sex offenders who have served their time have been tortured and killed in one morning. So is their killer someone who's trying his own hand at justice?
Minotaur Books * 9780312622008

THE ROCK STAR IN SEAT 3A by Jill Kargman
The night before her flight, Hazel’s boyfriend gave her a free pass if she ever met rock star Finn Schiller, her idol. She never would have thought the very next day the rock god would be sitting next to her on the plane. Now, when fantasy becomes real attraction, Hazel must decide what she wants.
William Morrow * 9780062007209


May 24th

A SMALL FORTUNE by Rosie Dastgir
Harris, the presumed patriarch of his large extended family in both England and Pakistan, has unexpectedly received a “small fortune” from his divorce settlement with an English woman: £53,000. As a devout Muslim, Harris views this sum as a “burden of riches” that he must unload on someone else as quickly as possible. But deciding which relative to give it to proves to be a burden of its own.
Riverhead Hardcover * 9781594488108

STRINDBERG’S STAR by Jan Wallentin
Cave diver Erik Hall finds a dead body wearing an ancient ankh, buried deep in an abandoned mine. Religious symbol expert Don Titelman seeks out Erik to study the ankh --- but finds Erik dead. Don is the prime suspect, and soon he’s being chased across Europe to escape a secret society that will do anything to get their hands on the ankh.
Viking Adult * 9780670023578


May 25th

THE CHESSMAN by Jeffrey B. Burton
Hidden forces are willing to kill any and all who stand in the way of untold billions of dollars. To toss the authorities off track, they borrow the modus operandi of a brutal serial killer --- The Chessman --- who stalked the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. some years earlier. The ruse is working brilliantly except for one minor detail: the real Chessman is not pleased.
MacAdam/Cage Publishing * 9781596923706

 
On Sale the Week of May 21st in Paperback

May 22nd

COMING UP FOR AIR
by Patti Callahan Henry
After the sudden loss of her formidable mother, Lillian, Ellie discovers the late woman’s diary, which opens up a whole side to her mother she never knew. She decides to return to the summer house in coastal Alabama where Lillian spent the summer of 1961, in the hopes of learning more about her mother and, perhaps, find some closure for herself.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250007841

DROWNED by Therese Bohman
A single young woman visits her older sister, who is married to a writer as charismatic as he is violent. As the young woman falls under her brother-in-law’s spell, the plot unfolds in a series of precisely rendered turns. The reader, anticipating the worst, hopes against hope that disaster can be averted.
Other Press * 9781590515242

FULL BLACK by Brad Thor
There are some missions so deadly, so sensitive, that they simply don’t exist. When one such mission goes horribly wrong, a wave of dramatic terrorist attacks is set in motion. Their goal: the complete and total collapse of the United States. Scot Harvath launches an audacious plan to infiltrate the terrorists’ network and prevent one of the biggest threats the United States has ever faced.
Pocket Books * 9781416586623

I’LL NEVER GET OUT OF THIS WORLD ALIVE by Steve Earle
Doc Ebersole lives with the ghost of Hank Williams, and not just because he is rumored to have given Hank the final morphine dose that killed him. Ten years after Hank's death, Doc himself is wracked by addiction. But when a young Mexican immigrant appears in the neighborhood, miraculous things begin to happen.
Mariner Books * 9780547754437

KILL ALEX CROSS by James Patterson
The President's children are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service and CIA to keep him off the case. Meanwhile, a deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Alex discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455510207

THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta
In his sixth novel (following THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER), Tom Perrotta returns to the familiar suburban territory he’s visited in novels like LITTLE CHILDREN with a thoughtful look at what the world might feel like to ordinary people left behind after a Rapture-like event.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9780312363550

LONG GONE
by Alafair Burke
After a layoff, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. Everything is perfect until the morning she arrives at work to find the owner’s dead body on the floor. Her dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062120151

NEVER KNOWING by Chevy Stevens
Sara Gallagher has always wondered about her birth parents and why she was given up for adoption. But after months of research, she discovers the devastating truth: her mother was the only victim to escape a killer who has been hunting women for decades. Soon, Sara realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her serial-killing father is him finding out about her.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250009319

ONE DOG NIGHT
by David Rosenfelt

Noah Galloway is living with a horrible secret and the fear that his rebuilt life could be shattered. Now his dread has become a certainty, as he finds himself arrested for the arson murder of 26 people. Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter is not in the market for a new client, so Noah plays his hole card: a shared love for Andy’s golden retriever and the knowledge of what her life was like before Andy rescued her.
Minotaur Books * 9781250006592

RAFA by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin
What makes a champion? What does it take to be the best in the world at your sport? Rafael Nadal has the answers. In his memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin, he reveals the secrets of his game and shares the inspiring personal story behind his success.
Hyperion * 9781401310929

STRONG AT THE BREAK: A Caitlin Strong Novel by Jon Land

Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong and her notorious friend, Cort Wesley Masters, reunite to rescue Masters’s son, Dylan Torres --- and wipe out a radical militia movement bent on destroying the fabric of America. The movement is headed by Malcolm Arno, a ruthless and soulless man capable of the most vile crimes.
Forge Books * 9780765363183

TABLOID CITY by Pete Hamill
In a 24-hour period, the lives of a dozen people will cross paths in New York City in this latest novel from bestselling author and legendary newspaperman Pete Hamill. There will be a murder at a good address, a terrorist plot racing toward its murderous conclusion, and the death of one of the last great daily newspapers in the city.
Back Bay Books * 9780316020763

TRAIN DREAMS: A Novella by Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson’s TRAIN DREAMS, originally published in the Paris Review in 2002 and a PEN/O. Henry Prize winner, is the exquisitely told story of one man’s extraordinary, ordinary life, spanning a wide swath of the 20th century in the rugged forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux * 9781250007650

TUNNEL VISION by Gary Braver

Following a biking accident on icy Boston streets, a grad student lapses into a coma. When he wakes up on Easter muttering the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, the media is set abuzz about the “Miracle Man,” and a small team of neuroscientists use him to secretly research near-death experiences. But sinister forces have taken an interest, too --- forces to whom near-death experiences are deceptions by Satan himself.
Tor Books * 9780765348555

THE WILD ROSE by Jennifer Donnelly
THE WILD ROSE concludes the sweeping, multi-generational saga that began with THE TEA ROSE and continued with THE WINTER ROSE. It is London, 1914, when World War I looms on the horizon, women are fighting to vote, and explorers are pushing the limits of endurance in the most forbidding corners of the earth. Into this volatile time, Jennifer Donnelly places her vivid and memorable characters.
Hyperion * 9781401307479

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