When the Britannia Theatre's balcony collapses, killing over a dozen people, the fingers point at the architect. He should have known better, should have made it safer, should have done something. Douglas Layton knows the flaw wasn't in his design, but he can't fight a guilty verdict. When he is finally released from prison, he has nothing: no job, no family, nowhere to go. He needs to assume a new identity and rebuild his life. But he soon finds himself digging up the past in a way he never anticipated. If the collapse was not an accident, who caused it? And why? And what if they find out who he used to be?
When Paula picks up her last passenger of the night, all she sees is a few more dollars to put toward her husband's medical bills. That's before she recognizes the quiet stranger in her back seat as a world-famous musician and realizes the woman waiting at his destination is not his equally famous wife. So, Paula does what any down-on-her-luck woman would do. She asks for money in exchange for silence. But when a woman is murdered in the same building days later, Paula discovers she is the only witness to the secret affair --- an affair that incriminates the musician. Now, Paula's silence comes at a much more dangerous price.
A battered corpse is found a few feet north of the line dividing North and South Korea. When 8th Army CID Agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom pull the body to the South Korean side on orders from their superiors, they have no idea of the international conflict their small action will spark. Before war breaks out, they must discover who killed Corporal Noh Jong-bei, a young Korean soldier working with the US Army. The murderer could be from either side of the DMZ. But without cooperation between the governments involved, how can two US military agents interrogate North Korean witnesses? What George and Ernie discover gets them pulled off the case, but fearing they’ve put the wrong man behind bars, they disobey orders in an attempt to discover the truth.
When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first it looks like an accident, but when the body of 18-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside --- burned alive --- Kate suspects murder. But who would want a well-liked, hardworking Amish man dead? Kate delves into the investigation and discovers Daniel had a dark side. He was a sexual predator. His victims were mainly Amish women, too afraid to come forward, and he’s been getting away with it for far too long. Now someone has stopped him, but who? The women he victimized? Their boyfriends? Their parents? As Kate wades through a sea of suspects, she’s confronted by her own violent past and an unthinkable possibility.
The New York Times bestselling mother-daughter duo presents more hilarious, witty and true tales from their lives. Whether they are attempting to hike the Grand Canyon, setting up phone calls with their dogs, or learning what “adulting” means, Lisa and Francesca are guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and appreciate the funniest moments in life. Like the perfect glass of rosé, they’re always here to help you escape from your own busy, modern life and instead, get lost in theirs.
By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice and painful absurdities that black men and women contend with every day in this country. These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In “The Finkelstein Five,” Adjei-Brenyah gives us an unforgettable reckoning of the brutal prejudice of our justice system. In “Zimmer Land,” we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And “Friday Black” and “How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Ice King” show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Every autumn, John Pentecost returns to the farm where he grew up, to help gather the sheep down from the moors for the winter. Very little changes in the Endlands, but this year, his grandfather --- the Gaffer --- has died and John's new wife, Katherine, is accompanying him for the first time. Each year, the Gaffer would redraw the boundary lines of the village, with pen and paper but also through the remembrance of tales and timeless communal rituals, which keep the sheep safe from the Devil. But as the farmers of the Endlands bury the Gaffer and prepare to gather the sheep, they begin to wonder if they've let the Devil in after all.
Midwestern movie house owner Virgil Wander is “cruising along at medium altitude” when his car flies off the road into icy Lake Superior. Virgil survives, but his language and memory are altered. Awakening in this new life, he begins to piece together his personal history and the lore of his broken town, with the help of a cast of affable and curious locals --- from Rune, a twinkling, pipe-smoking, kite-flying stranger investigating the mystery of his disappeared son; to Nadine, the reserved, enchanting wife of the vanished man, to Tom, a journalist and Virgil’s oldest friend; and various members of the Pea family who must confront tragedies of their own. Into this community returns a shimmering prodigal son who may hold the key to reviving their town.
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from December 19th to January 9th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM by Laura Dave and SKYLARK by Paula McLain.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
December's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Housemaid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, 100 Nights of Hero,The Chronology of Water and Not Without Hope; the series premiere of Paramount+'s "Little Disasters"; the season premiere of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" on Disney+ and Hulu; the season finales of HBO's "IT: Welcome to Derry" and Apple TV+'s "Down Cemetery Road"; the midseason finales of "Tracker" and "Watson" on CBS; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Karen Kingsbury's The Christmas Ring and Black Phone 2.