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December 31, 2013

December 31, 2013

The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of December 30th and January 6th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.

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Happy New Year!

On Sale the Week of December 30th in Hardcover

December 31st

HAZARDOUS DUTY: A Presidential Agent Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Thriller/Adventure)
Mexican drug cartels are shooting up the streets of Laredo and El Paso. Somali pirates are holding three U.S. tankers for ransom. The President is fed up and has what he thinks is a pretty bright idea --- to get hold of Colonel Charley Castillo and his merry band and put them on the case. But everybody knows that the President hates Castillo’s guts, has just had him forcibly retired from the military, and now Castillo’s men are scattered far and wide, many of them in hiding.
Putnam Adult * 9780399160677

THE PURITY OF VENGEANCE: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
In 1987, Nete Hermansen plans revenge on those who abused her in her youth, including Curt Wad, a charismatic surgeon who was part of a movement to sterilize wayward girls in 1950s Denmark. More than 20 years later, Detective Carl Mørck is presented with the case of a brothel owner named Rita, who went missing in the ’80s. As he and his assistants sift through the disappearances, they get closer and closer to Curt, who is more determined than ever to see the vision of his youth take hold.
Dutton Adult * 9780525954019

ROSARITO BEACH: An Agent Kay Hamilton Novel by M. A. Lawson
(Thriller)
Tito Olivera, younger brother of drug czar Caesar Olivera, is within DEA agent Kay Hamilton’s grasp. If she takes down Tito, Kay is positive that Caesar will follow --- and when Caesar falls, so does the largest and most vicious cartel in Mexico. But when a mysterious stranger shows up on her doorstep, all of Kay’s carefully laid plans are thrown out the window.
Blue Rider Press * 9780399165733

THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing (Social History)
In THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING, Olivia Laing examines the link between creativity and alcohol through the work and lives of six extraordinary men: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Berryman, John Cheever and Raymond Carver. All six of these writers were alcoholics, and the subject of drinking surfaces in some of their finest work.
Picador * 9781250039569


January 1st

GOD'S WHISPERS TO A WOMAN'S HEART: A Devotional by Cindi McMenamin
(Devotional)
Every moment of every day, God is at your side, ready to speak to your heart. He knows exactly how you feel and longs to help --- whether you are in need of wisdom, encouragement, or comfort. In GOD'S WHISPERS TO A WOMAN'S HEART, author Cindi McMenamin shares what it means to experience the presence of God at all times, in all places. As you read of His many promises and assurances to you in the Bible, you'll come to realize just how much He loves you.
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736954501
On Sale the Week of December 30th in Paperback

December 31st

ALICE CLOSE YOUR EYES by Averil Dean (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Ten years ago, someone ruined Alice Croft's life. Now, she has a chance to right that wrong. She thinks she has found the perfect man to carry out her plan --- Jack Calabrese. However, it isn't long before she finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of terrifying surrender to a man who is more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.
Harlequin MIRA * 9780778315865

ANGELOPOLIS by Danielle Trussoni (Historical Fantasy/Thriller)
ANGELOLOGY unfurled a brilliant tapestry of myth and biblical lore on our present-day world and plunged two star-crossed heroes into an ancient battle against mankind’s greatest enemy: the fatally attractive angel-human hybrids known as the Nephilim. With ANGELOPOLIS, the conflict deepens into an inferno of danger and passion unbound.
Penguin Books * 9780143124863

A CASE OF REDEMPTION by Adam Mitzner (Thriller)
Dan Sorenson was once a high-powered New York defense attorney...but that was before a horrifying accident killed the two most important people in his life. As he approaches rock bottom, Dan is unexpectedly offered the opportunity of a lifetime: defend an up-and-coming rapper who swears he’s innocent of the brutal slaying of his pop star girlfriend. Dan realizes that this may be his only hope to put his own life back on track, but he soon learns that atonement comes at a very steep price.
Pocket Books * 9781451674804

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Detective Carl Mørck holds in his hands a bottle that contains an old and decayed message, written in blood. It is a cry for help from two young brothers, tied and bound in a boathouse by the sea. Who are these boys, and why weren’t they reported missing? Carl’s investigation will force him to cross paths with a woman stuck in a desperate marriage. He and his colleagues must use all of their resources to uncover the horrifying truth.
Plume * 9780142180815

THE COURIER by Andrew Britton (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Thanks to an incredible discovery in the Arctic, our global enemies now have a nuke, capable of unleashing unthinkable terror. To hunt down the devastating package before it can be used, Ryan Kealey forms an unlikely partnership with the young Farsi-speaking nuclear physicist Rayhan Jafari. But once on the ground, they're on their own --- trusting only their guts and each other --- to conduct the dirty business of combating horrific destruction.
Pinnacle * 9780786032174

COVER OF SNOW by Jenny Milchman (Psychological Suspense)
Nora Hamilton’s life is forever changed when her rock-solid policeman husband commits suicide. But the pieces don't add up. Relying on the methodical nature that serves her so well as a restorer of old homes, Nora struggles to understand what happened to her husband --- even as her insular, frigid mountain town is determined to keep its deadly secrets buried.
Ballantine Books * 9780345534224

DANGEROUS REFUGE by Elizabeth Lowell (Romantic Suspense)
Tanner is a hard-edged big city cop who has come home to the historic Davis family ranch to settle his uncle's estate. Shaye Townsend is working for an environmental conservancy that acquires and protects old ranches --- and she wants to preserve the Davis homestead. When the suspicious death of Tanner's uncle at his ranch throws the two opposites together, tempers flare and sparks fly. While they have trouble seeing eye to eye, Shaye and Tanner agree on one thing: They need to uncover the truth.
Avon * 9780062132734

EMPIRE AND HONOR: An Honor Bound Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Thriller/Adventure)
In the closing months of World War II, the United States made a secret deal with the head of German intelligence’s Soviet section. In exchange for a treasure trove of intelligence, his people would be spirited to safety. If word got out, the U.S. would lose some of its best sources, not to mention its most valuable secrets. It’s up to Cletus Frade and his colleagues in the OSS to keep them all safe. But some people have other ideas.
Jove * 9780515153231

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI by Helene Wecker (Historical Fantasy)
A lonely man’s desire for a wife is the catalyst for the creation of a golem like no other. When she’s left master-less on the streets of New York City, she fights her ingrained impulse to help and protect those around her. A jinni, captured and enslaved hundreds of years ago, is free of his flask but not truly free as the iron cuff that keeps him in human form remains on his wrist. The golem and the jinni are drawn to each other, kindred spirits of long-forgotten fairy tales.
Harper Perennial * 9780062110848

GUILT: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Mystery)
A backyard renovation unearths an infant’s body, buried 60 years ago. Soon thereafter in a nearby park, another disturbingly bizarre discovery is made not far from the body of a young woman shot in the head. Helping LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to link these eerie incidents is brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. But even the good doctor’s vast experience with matters both clinical and criminal might not be enough to cut down to the bone of this chilling case --- and draw out the disturbing truth.
Ballantine Books * 9780345505743

HUNTED by Elizabeth Heiter (Psychological Suspense)
Paperback Original
FBI rising star and criminal profiler Evelyn Baine knows how to think like a serial killer. But she's never chased anyone like the Bakersville Burier, who hunts young women and displays them, half-buried, deep in the woods. As the body count climbs, Evelyn's relentless pursuit of the killer puts her career --- and her life --- at risk. And the evil lurking in the Burier's mind may be more than even she can unravel.
Harlequin MIRA * 9780778315841

THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR by Barbara Claypole White (Romance)
Paperback Original
Bestselling author Will Shepard loses his young son in a car accident. But when his father's aging mind erases the memory, Will rewrites the truth. Holistic veterinarian Hannah Linden is a healer who can only watch as her grown son struggles with inner demons. When she rents her guest cottage to Will and his dad, she finds solace in trying to mend their broken world, even while her own shatters.
Harlequin MIRA * 9780778314752

THE KING'S DECEPTION by Steve Berry (Thriller/Adventure)
Cotton Malone and his 15-year-old son, Gary, are headed to Europe. As a favor to his former boss at the Justice Department, Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England. But after he is greeted at gunpoint in London, both the fugitive and Gary disappear, and Malone learns that he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown --- an international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets.
Ballantine Books * 9780345526557

A MATTER OF TRUST: A Mia Quinn Mystery by Lis Wiehl with April Henry
(Mystery)
One minute Mia Quinn is in her basement, chatting on the phone with a colleague at the prosecutor’s office. The next minute there’s a gunshot over the line, and Mia listens in horror as her colleague and friend Colleen bleeds to death. Despite much reluctance, Mia teams up with detective Charlie Carlson to investigate this tragedy. But the deeper they dig, the more complications unfold --- even the unsettling possibility that someone may be coming after her.
Thomas Nelson * 9781595549068

A MEMORY OF LIGHT: Book Fourteen, The Final Volume of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)
When Robert Jordan died in 2007, it was feared that the concluding scenes of his The Wheel of Time series would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. Following THE GATHERING STORM and TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, Sanderson now recreates the vision that Jordan left behind.
Tor Fantasy * 9780765364883

SHUNNING SARAH by Julie Kramer (Mystery)
When investigative reporter Riley Spartz hears that a young boy is trapped at the bottom of a sinkhole, she smells ratings. Little does she know just how big the story will be --- it involves not only a tragic murder, but the local Amish community as well. Once Riley is on the case, though, she sees that solving it will be anything but easy.
Pocket Books * 9781451664645

SLEIGHT OF HAND by Phillip Margolin (Thriller)
Charles Benedict --- criminal defense lawyer, amateur magician and professional hit man --- leads a seemingly charmed life, winning all of his important cases, and prosecutor Carrie Blair thinks she knows why. But before she has a chance to prove that he’s stacking the cards, she disappears. And all the evidence points to her ultra-rich husband. Open and shut? Hardly.
Harper * 9780062069931

SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
When the tomb of St. Tancred is opened at a village church in Bishop's Lacey, its shocking contents lead to another case for Flavia de Luce. Greed, pride and murder result in old secrets coming to light --- along with a forgotten flower that hasn't been seen for half a thousand years.
Bantam * 9780385344043

STARTER HOUSE by Sonja Condit
(Thriller)
Paperback Original
Shortly after Lacey and her husband move in to what they think is their dream home, the warm and welcoming house becomes cold and dark. There is something malevolent within these walls that wants to hurt Lacey’s unborn child --- a terrifying presence that only she can sense. To save her family, Lacey must discover the truth about the house and confront an evil that has lingered in wait for years.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062283054

STRANGER THINGS by Erin Healy
(Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
When a therapeutic walk in the woods leads her to a ruined house overtaken by criminals, Serena Diaz is assaulted and finds herself witness to the senseless murder of the one man who tries to help her. Hurled into a world of false accusations and hounded by the press, Serena must confront evil itself to unravel the mysterious visions --- and terrifying danger --- that pursue her. But she can’t ignore the most haunting question: Why would a mysterious stranger give his life to save hers?
Thomas Nelson * 9781401689582


A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki (Fiction)
A writer named Ruth discovers on a British Columbia beach a bag that contains the diary of Nao, a 16-year-old Japanese girl. The diary begins as Nao’s attempt to tell the story of her 104-year-old great-grandmother becomes instead a chronicle of Nao’s feelings of ostracism among family and schoolmates. This challenging novel combines Japanese mythology, quantum physics and the 2011 tsunami into a meditation on the vagaries of fate.
Penguin Books * 9780143124870

TRAINS AND LOVERS by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)
The rocking motion of the train as it speeds along, the sound of its wheels on the rails. There’s something special about this form of travel that makes for easy conversation, which is just what happens to the four strangers who meet in TRAINS AND LOVERS. As they journey by rail from Edinburgh to London, the four travelers pass the time by sharing tales of trains that have changed their lives.
Anchor * 9780345805812

UNSTOPPABLE: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action by Nick Vujicic
(Christian Life/Spiritual Growth)
Despite being born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic’s challenges have not kept him from enjoying great adventures, a fulfilling and meaningful career, and loving relationships. He credits his success in life to the power that is unleashed when faith takes action. But how does that happen? In UNSTOPPABLE, Nick addresses adversity and difficult circumstances that many people face today.
WaterBrook Press * 9780307730893

THE VENICE CONSPIRACY by Sam Christer (Thriller)
A brutal killer is on the loose, and ex-priest Tom Shaman finds himself in the midst of a series of ritualistic killings unlike anything Venice has ever seen. Enlisted by the Italian police, Tom teams up with young investigator Valentina Morassi to dig deep into the city's darkest history. As Valentina and Tom trace the killings through the centuries, they uncover a deadly secret that generations have killed to protect: a priceless mosaic known as the Gates of Hell.
Overlook TP * 9781468307061

WITCH WRAITH: The Dark Legacy of Shannara by Terry Brooks (Fantasy)
For centuries, the Four Lands enjoyed freedom from its demon-haunted past, protected by magic-enhanced borders from the dark dimension known as the Forbidding and the profound evil imprisoned there. But now the unthinkable is happening: The ancient wards securing the barrier between order and mayhem have begun to erode --- and generations of bloodthirsty, monstrous creatures, fueled by a rage thousands of years in the making, are poised to spill forth, seeking revenge for what was done to them.
Del Rey * 9780345523549

THE YELLOW EYES OF CROCODILES by Katherine Pancol
(Fiction)
Paperback Original
When the gorgeous and wealthy Iris charms a famous publisher into offering her a lucrative deal for a 12th-century romance, she offers her downtrodden sister, Joséphine, a deal of her own: Joséphine will write the novel and pocket all the proceeds, but the book will be published under Iris’s name. All is well --- that is, until the book becomes the literary sensation of the season.
Penguin Books * 9780143121558


January 1st

THE QUAKER AND THE REBEL: Civil War Heroines Series, Book 1 by Mary Ellis
(Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
After Emily Harrison’s life has been turned upside down, she accepts a position as a governess with a doctor’s family in slave-holding Virginia. Alexander Hunt, the doctor’s handsome nephew, wholeheartedly believes in Emily’s antislavery convictions. Amid their growing feelings for each other, can they find faith in God amid the challenges they face and trust in the possibility for a bright future together?
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736950503
On Sale the Week of January 6th in Hardcover

January 7th

THE ASCENDANT by Drew Chapman (Thriller)
When bond analyst Garrett Reilly discovers that US Treasury bonds are being sold off at an alarming rate, he sees a chance to become incredibly rich. But when the United States military arrives at his office, Garrett learns he has stumbled upon the first attack in a covert war of unthinkable proportions.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476725888

BELLE CORA by Phillip Margulies (Historical Fiction)
BELLE CORA is the story of a good girl who became a bad woman. At the old homestead, her name is never spoken and her picture is turned to the wall, but in the vast world beyond, everyone remembers her as the celebrated madam of the finest parlor house in San Francisco. Now, at the end of her life, after half a century of successfully hiding the details of her scarlet past, Belle has decided to reveal all her secrets.
Doubleday * 9780385532761

BINGO'S RUN by James A. Levine (Fiction)
Bingo, a drug runner in the slums of Kibera, Nairobi, faithfully serves Wolf, the drug lord of Kibera. He earns his keep by running “white” to a host of clients, including Thomas Hunsa, a reclusive artist whose paintings, rooted in African tradition, move him. But when Bingo witnesses a drug-related murder and Wolf sends him to an orphanage for “protection,” Bingo’s life changes and he learns that life itself is the “run.”
Spiegel & Grau * 9781400068838

THE BURGLARY: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI by Betty Medsger (History)
THE BURGLARY is the never-before-told full story of the 1971 history-changing break-in of the FBI offices in Media, Pennsylvania, by a group of unlikely activists --- quiet, ordinary, hardworking Americans --- that made clear the shocking truth and confirmed what some had long suspected: that J. Edgar Hoover had created and was operating his own shadow Bureau of Investigation.
Knopf * 9780307962959

DELIVERING DEATH by Julie Kramer (Mystery)
TV reporter Riley Spartz is a star investigative journalist for Channel 3 --- and no stranger to the seedier side of her hometown. But when she receives a package of human teeth in the mail at work, she’s quickly embroiled in a homicide investigation. Though the cops try to keep certain grisly details quiet, this murder has a strange twist --- it seems that the killer wants the crime publicized. Is it a revenge killing, or something more?
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781451664669

THE EXECUTION: A Jeremy Fisk Novel by Dick Wolf (Thriller)
It’s United Nations Week in Manhattan, and Jeremy Fisk can’t let grief over a devastating loss keep him from safeguarding his city. Complicating matters is the startling news of a mass murder in nearby Rockaway --- and the arrival of a disturbingly beautiful and assertive Mexican cop. To have a chance at finding an assassin responsible for 23 beheadings on the US border, these uneasy allies must learn to work together and fast.
William Morrow * 9780062064851

THE EXILES RETURN by Elisabeth de Waal (Historical Fiction)
Vienna is demolished by war, the city an alien landscape of ruined castles, a fractured ruling class, and people picking up the pieces. THE EXILES RETURN is the postwar story of Austria’s fallen aristocrats, unrepentant Nazis, and a culture degraded by violence. The novel follows a number of exiles, each returning under very different circumstances, who must come to terms with a city in painful recovery.
Picador * 9781250045782

FEAR NOTHING: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel by Lisa Gardner (Thriller)
The last thing Boston Detective D. D. Warren remembers is walking the crime scene after dark. She is later told she managed to discharge her weapon three times. All she knows is that she is seriously injured and unable to return to work. Six weeks later, a second woman is discovered murdered in her own bed, her room containing the same calling cards from the first. It soon becomes apparent that the killer isn’t just targeting lone women --- he is targeting D. D.
Dutton Adult * 9780525953081

THE FIRE DANCE: An Inspector Irene Huss Investigation Set in Sweden by Helene Tursten (Mystery)
Detective Inspector Irene Huss hasn’t seen Sophie Malmborg for over 15 years, but she’s still haunted by the strange young ballerina’s role in the fire that killed her stepfather. All her questions resurface when Sophie disappears, and the charred remains of a dancer are found in an abandoned warehouse. Irene has a startling realization that could shed light on the case that has been lingering in the back of her mind since the beginning of her career.
Soho Crime * 9781616950101

FROM THE DEAD: A Tom Thorne Novel by Mark Billingham (Mystery)
A decade ago, Alan Langford’s charred remains were discovered in his burnt-out car. His wife Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But before she is released, Donna receives a nasty shock: an anonymous letter containing a photo of her husband. How is it possible that he’s still alive? Where is he? Who sent the photo, and why?
Atlantic Monthly Press * 9780802122131

IN THE BLOOD by Lisa Unger (Psychological Thriller)
When Lana Granger’s closest friend, Beck, mysteriously disappears, Lana lies to friends, the police, and herself. The police have a lot of questions for Lana when the story about her whereabouts the night Beck disappeared doesn’t jibe with eyewitness accounts. Lana will do anything to hide the truth, but it might not be enough to keep her ominous secrets buried. Someone else knows about Lana’s lies --- and he’s dying to tell.
Touchstone * 9781451691177

THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd (Historical Fiction)
Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. On her 11th birthday, Sarah Grimke is given ownership of Handful. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next 35 years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies, and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
Viking Adult * 9780670024780

THE KEPT by James Scott (Historical Fiction)
In the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband and four of her children are murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men responsible.
Harper * 9780062236739

LITTLE FAILURE: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart (Memoir)
After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty and deeply poignant account of his life so far. Swinging between a Soviet home life and American aspirations, Shteyngart found himself living in two contradictory worlds, all the while wishing that he could find a real home in one. And somebody to love him. And somebody to lend him 69 cents for a McDonald’s hamburger.
Random House * 9780679643753

ON SUCH A FULL SEA by Chang-rae Lee (Dystopian Fiction)
In a future, long-declining America, society is strictly stratified by class. In this world lives Fan, a female fish-tank diver, who leaves her home in the B-Mor settlement when the man she loves mysteriously disappears. Fan’s journey to find him takes her out of the safety of B-Mor, through the anarchic Open Counties, where crime is rampant with scant governmental oversight, and to a faraway charter village, in a quest that will soon become legend to those she left behind.
Riverhead Hardcover * 9781594486104

OUT OF THE WOODS: A Memoir of Wayfinding by Lynn Darling (Memoir)
When her college-bound daughter leaves home, Lynn Darling, widowed over a decade earlier, finds herself alone and utterly lost, with no idea of what she wants or even who she is. Searching for answers, she leaves New York for the solitary woods of Vermont. Removed from the familiar, cocooned in the natural world, her only companions a new dog and a compass, she hopes to develop a sense of direction --- both in the woods and in her life.
Harper * 9780061710247

THE PAGAN LORD by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
At the onset of the 10th century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead, and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives, but peace cannot hold: the Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs. Uhtred, once Alfred’s great warrior but now out of favor with the new king, must lead a band of outcasts north to recapture his old family home.
Harper * 9780061969706

PRISCILLA: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare (Biography)
When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt’s personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. As a young boy, Shakespeare had always believed that his aunt was a member of the Resistance and had been tortured by the Germans. The truth turned out to be far more complicated.
Harper * 9780062297037

THE QUESTION THAT NEVER GOES AWAY by Philip Yancey (Christian Life/Spiritual Growth)
In his classic book, WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS?, Philip Yancey gave us permission to doubt, reasons not to abandon faith, and practical ways to reach out to hurting people. And now, 30 years after writing his first book, Yancey revisits our cry of "Why, God" in three places stunned into silence by the calamities that have devastated them.
Zondervan * 9780310339823

RADIANCE OF TOMORROW by Ishmael Beah (Fiction)
Benjamin and Bockarie are two longtime friends who return to their hometown of Imperi after the civil war in Sierra Leone. As more villagers begin coming back, they try to forge a new community by taking up their former posts as teachers, but they’re beset by such obstacles as a scarcity of food and a rash of murders, thievery, rape and retaliation. As Benjamin and Bockarie search for a way to restore order, they’re forced to reckon with the uncertainty of their past and future alike.
Sarah Crichton Books * 9780374246020

RED 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach (Psychological Thriller)
When three red-haired women receive chilling letters in the mail from a killer known only as the Wolf, their lives are upended as they spend every waking moment fearing that their lives could be snuffed out at any time. The Wolf is stalking them, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to complete his master plan. Yet the one thing this cunning and devious killer didn't plan for is the Reds discovering each other.
Mysterious Press * 9780802122056

RIVER ROAD by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
It’s been 13 years since Lucy Sheridan was in Summer River. The last time she visited her aunt Sara there, she’d been sent home suddenly after being dragged out of a wild party by the guy she had a crush on. Mason Fletcher was the overprotective type who thought he had to come to her rescue. Now, returning after her aunt’s fatal car accident, Lucy is learning there was more to the story than she realized at the time.
Putnam Adult * 9780399165122

ROBERT B. PARKER'S BULL RIVER by Robert Knott (Western)
No sooner do Territorial Marshal Virgil Cole and Deputy Everett Hitch remand notorious desperado Alejandro Vasquez into custody than a major bank robbery occurs. When their primary suspect is found severely beaten outside a high-class brothel and turns out to be using a false identity to escape a torrid past, it is Alejandro who becomes the key to their investigation.
Putnam Adult * 9780399165269

SOY SAUCE FOR BEGINNERS by Kirstin Chen (Fiction)
Adrift at the age of 30, Gretchen Lin leaves her floundering marriage in San Francisco to move back to her childhood home in Singapore and immediately finds herself face-to-face with the twin headaches she’s avoided her entire adult life: her mother’s drinking problem and the machinations of her father’s artisanal soy sauce business.
New Harvest * 9780544114395

STANDUP GUY: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller)
A polite, well-deported gentleman comes to Stone Barrington seeking legal expertise on an unusual --- and potentially lucrative --- dilemma. Stone points him in the right direction and sends him on his way, but it’s soon clear Stone hasn’t seen the end of the case. Several people are keenly interested in this gentleman’s activities and how they may relate to a long-ago crime. Some of them will stop at nothing to find the information they desire.
Putnam Adult * 9780399164156

STRINGER: A Reporter’s Journey in the Congo by Anjan Sundaram (Memoir)
In the powerful travel-writing tradition of Ryszard Kapuscinski and V.S. Naipaul, STRINGER is a haunting memoir of a dangerous and disorienting year of self-discovery in one of the world's unhappiest countries.
Doubleday * 9780385537759

THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM DYING: A Book About Life by David R. Dow (Memoir)
In THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EXECUTION, David Dow enraptured readers with a searing and frank exploration of his work defending inmates on death row. But when Dow's father-in-law receives his own death sentence in the form of terminal cancer, and his gentle dog Winona suffers acute liver failure, the author is forced to reconcile with death in a far more personal way --- both as a son and as a father.
Twelve * 9781455575244

UNREMARRIED WIDOW: A Memoir by Artis Henderson (Memoir)
In her memoir, Artis Henderson recounts not only the unlikely love story she shared with her husband Miles and her unfathomable recovery in the wake of his death --- from the dark hours following the military notification to the first fumbling attempts at new love --- but also reveals how Miles’s death mirrored her father’s death in a plane crash, which Artis survived when she was five years old and left her own mother a young widow.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451649284

THE WAY OF ALL FISH by Martha Grimes (Fiction/Humor)
In Martha Grimes's sequel to FOUL MATTER, hitmen Candy and Karl once again venture into the murky Manhattan publishing scene. This time they come to the aid of a writer who is being sued by her unscrupulous literary agent, a man determined to get a 15 percent commission for a book he didn’t sell. The contract killers join forces with a publishing mogul and a mega-bestselling writer to rid the mean streets of the agent, not by shooting him, but by driving him crazy.
Scribner * 9781476723952

WHAT I HAD BEFORE I HAD YOU by Sarah Cornwell (Fiction)
Olivia was only 15 the summer she left her hometown of Ocean Vista. Two decades later, on a visit with her children, her nine-year-old son Daniel, recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, disappears. Olivia’s search for him sparks tender and painful memories of her past --- of her fiercely loving and secretive mother, an erratic and beautiful psychic, and the discovery of heartbreaking secrets that shattered her world.
Harper * 9780062237842

THE WIND IS NOT A RIVER by Brian Payton (Historical Fiction)
Following the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley heads north to investigate the Japanese invasion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. While accompanying a crew on a bombing run, his plane is shot down. He survives only to find himself exposed to a harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Meanwhile, John’s wife, Helen, struggles with the burden of his disappearance and is forced to reimagine who she is --- and what she is capable of doing.
Ecco * 9780062279972


January 9th

THE LAST DEAD GIRL by Harry Dolan (Mystery/Thriller)
A chance encounter on a lonely road draws David into a romance with the enigmatic Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie --- until it’s too late. When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect. But as he sets out to uncover the truth about Jana, he begins to realize he’s treading a very dangerous path --- and that her killer is watching every move he makes.
Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam * 9780399157967

THE ROME PROPHECY by Sam Christer (Thriller)
A beautiful young woman covered in blood, who claims to be an ancient prophet in search of a mystical amulet, has been arrested in the streets of Rome. Ex-priest Tom Shaman teams up with a headstrong policewoman to unravel the mystery. But within Rome’s churches and corridors of power, stealthy enemies are conspiring against them. And soon, the woman’s deadly visions begin to come true.
Overlook Hardcover * 9781468301090
On Sale the Week of January 6th in Paperback

January 7th

ALL THINGS HIDDEN by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
After being stripped of his medical license and having his engagement broken off by his fiance, Dr. Jeremiah Vaughan accepts an invitation to join Dr. Hillerman's growing practice in the isolated Alaska Territory. Jeremiah and Hillerman's daughter, Gwyn, soon recognize a growing attraction to each other. But when rumors of Jeremiah's past begin to surface, they'll need more than love to face the threat of an uncertain future.
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764211195

CALLING ME HOME by Julie Kibler (Fiction)
Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle wants her hairdresser, Dorrie, a black single mom in her 30s, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow. Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle's guarded past, scarcely hesitates before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250020437

THE DANCING MASTER by Julie Klassen (Historical Romance/Mystery)
Paperback Original
London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past. Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul --- and hidden sorrows of her own.
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764210709

DARE TO LOVE AGAIN: The Heart of San Francisco, Book 2 by Julie Lessman
(Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
When Allison McClare takes a notion to explore the wild Barbary Coast, she quickly discovers she's no match for the unsavory characters that haunt the dark streets. Detective Nick Barone would rather do almost anything than teach this petite socialite self-defense, but it seems he has little choice. Sparks fly every time the two meet until a grudging friendship develops into something deeper. But is he just a fraud, or the one who will let her dare to love again?
Revell * 9780800721664

THE DESCENT: Book Three of the Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu (Supernatural Mystery)
Paperback Original
Alma Katsu’s The Taker Trilogy comes to a stunning conclusion, bringing Lanore McIlvrae to a final encounter with Adair, her powerful nemesis. Dismayed by Adair’s otherworldly powers and afraid of his passionate temper, Lanore has run from him across time, even imprisoning him behind a wall for two centuries to save Jonathan, her eternal love. But instead of punishing her for her betrayal, Adair declared his love for Lanore once more and set her free.
Gallery Books * 9781451651829

ENEMY OF MINE: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor (Thriller)
A tentative peace between Israel and Palestine has been brokered by the United States. But the Taskforce gets wind of an assassination attempt on the American envoy sent to solidify the treaty and must devote every resource to saving his life. Taskforce operator Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill, are charged with following the assassin’s flimsy trail through the Middle East, a trail that becomes more muddled at every turn.
Signet * 9780451419934

ISCARIOT: A Novel of Judas by Tosca Lee (Historical Fiction)
ISCARIOT is the story of Judas, from his tumultuous childhood to his emergence as the man known to the world as the betrayer of Jesus. But even more, it is a singular and surprising view into the life of Jesus that forces us to reexamine everything we thought we knew about the most famous --- and infamous --- religious icons in history.
Howard Books * 9781451683981

LIFE AFTER LIFE by Kate Atkinson (Historical Fiction)
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife but dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born and embarks upon a life that will be unusual. As she grows, she also dies --- repeatedly, in a variety of ways --- while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war. Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny?
Back Bay Books * 9780316176491

A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS: A Novella Collection by Karen Witemeyer, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings and Carol Cox (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can't keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she's also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764211768

NEWS FROM HEAVEN: The Bakerton Stories
by Jennifer Haigh (Fiction/Short Stories)
Jennifer Haigh returns to the vividly imagined world of Bakerton, Pennsylvania, a coal-mining town that has been rocked by decades of painful transition. With a revolving cast of characters, these stories explore how our roots --- the families and places in which we are raised --- shape the people we eventually become.
Harper Perennial * 9780060889630

NO ONE TO TRUST: Hidden Identity, Book 1 by Lynette Eason (Mystery/Romance)
Paperback Original
Summer Abernathy wakes up one morning to find her husband missing, three men in her home intent on finding him, and the life she's been living based on a lie. The search for her husband --- and answers --- takes Summer ever deeper into a world of organized crime where people are used one moment and discarded the next. And with her deepest relationship of trust already shattered, Summer doesn't know who to believe.
Revell * 9780800722081

ONCE UPON A WINTER'S HEART by Melody Carlson
(Romance)
Paperback Original
Emma Burcelli concludes that love is officially dead when her grandfather Poppi suddenly passes, leaving her grandmother Nona devastated. To help out, Emma works in the family bookstore, which Nona insists must be decked out in sweetheart décor as Poppi would have done for Valentine's Day. Emma quickly learns to enjoy the task with the help of a handsome family friend, Lane Forester, who shows her that hanging hearts is much more fun when done to the tune of Dean Martin.
Center Street * 9781455528110

A PROMISE KEPT by Robin Lee Hatcher (Romance)
Paperback Original
The day Allison issued her husband an ultimatum, she thought it might save him. She never expected he would actually leave. Now, living in the quiet mountain cabin she inherited from her Great Aunt Emma, Allison must come to terms with her grief. But when she finds a wedding dress and a collection of journals in Emma’s attic, a portrait of her aunt emerges that takes Allison completely by surprise: a portrait of a heartbroken woman surprisingly like herself.
Thomas Nelson * 9781401687656

THE REAL JANE AUSTEN: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne (Biography)
In this well-researched and highly entertaining biography, Paula Byrne gives us a Jane Austen many readers may not recognize: a woman who enjoyed black humor and was well aware of the political scene of her time. Byrne uses artifacts from Austen’s life as a starting point for her engaging chapters on the events that shaped Austen’s worldview and inspired some of the most beloved scenes and characters in all of English literature.
Harper Perennial * 9780061999109

RITA MORENO: A Memoir by Rita Moreno (Memoir)
In this luminous memoir, Rita Moreno shares her remarkable journey from a young girl with simple beginnings in Puerto Rico to Hollywood legend --- and one of the few performers, and the only Hispanic, to win an Oscar, Grammy, Tony and two Emmys. Here, for the first time, Rita reflects on her struggles to break through Hollywood’s racial and sexual barriers.
Celebra Trade * 9780451416391

SHE SHALL BE PRAISED: A Women of Hope Novel by Ginny Aiken (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
Socialite Emma Crowell, the victim of a kidnapping, is found by local rancher Peter Lowery, who has no intention of abandoning his livelihood to take her back to civilization until the fall. However, he will provide food, shelter and safety, and in return he expects Emma to earn her keep. As Emma aspires to the picture of womanhood shown in the 31st chapter of Proverbs, Peter comes to realize that he may be underestimating the strength and character behind this woman's beauty.
FaithWords * 9780892968466

SUSPECT by Robert Crais (Thriller)
After a shocking assault killed his partner and nearly killed him, LAPD cop Scott James is an angry emotional wreck. Maggie is a German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives, but when she lost her handler to an IED, she developed PTSD similar to Scott's. They are each other's last chance, and their case takes them through the darkest moments of their personal hells. Can the two survive together?
Berkley Trade * 9780425264690

A TEASPOON OF EARTH AND SEA by Dina Nayeri (Fiction)
Growing up in a small rice-farming village in 1980s Iran, 11-year-old Saba Hafezi and her twin sister, Mahtab, are captivated by America. When her mother and sister disappear, Saba is certain that they have moved there without her. As she grows up, falls in and out of love, and struggles with the limited possibilities in post-revolutionary Iran, Saba envisions that there is another way for her story to unfold.
Riverhead Trade * 9781594632327

TENTH OF DECEMBER: Stories by George Saunders (Fiction/Short Stories)
The 10 stories in George Saunders’s latest collection demonstrate why he is considered a modern master of short fiction. From “Victory Lap,” the tale of an attempted abduction, to “The Semplica Girl Diaries,” in which families employ Asian women as live garden ornaments, Saunders’s gift for inventive plots and vivid detail, and his ability to home in on moments that quickly define character, have never been used to more stunning effect. Believe the hype.
Random House Trade Paperbacks * 9780812984255

A WEEK IN WINTER by Maeve Binchy (Fiction)
When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger, a bad boy turned good, and her niece, Orla, Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms.
Anchor * 9780307475503

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