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Reviews

Reviews

by Erica Katz - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Emma Caan is a forger, an artist who specializes in 19th-century paintings. But she isn’t a criminal; her copies are commissioned by museums and ultra-wealthy collectors protecting their investments. Emma has more than mastered a Gauguin brushstroke and a van Gogh wheat field, but her work is sometimes a painful reminder of the artistic dreams she once chased for herself. When oligarch art collector Leonard Sobetsky unexpectedly appears with an invitation, Emma sees a way out --- a new job, a new path for herself, and access to the kind of money she needs to support her unstable and recently widowed mother. But every invitation incurs an obligation…and Emma isn’t prepared for what’s to come.

by Jay Newman - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

When a U.S. airdrop of billions of dollars disap­pears in the desert sands of Syria, only a small group of military operatives knows its ultimate destination or why it has been stolen. Their goal is no less than the restoration of America’s geopolitical dominance on the global stage. Essential to this scheme are Greta Webb, a sophisticated CIA operative who is an expert on dark money, and Elias Vicker, the damaged, dangerous soul who runs the world’s largest hedge fund. To achieve its goals, the group must form dangerous alliances. One is with the hidden family that manages the largest private pool of capital that has ever existed. Another is with Fyodor Volk, the ruthless founder of Russia’s most successful private military company, a mercenary with ties to Vladimir Putin.

by Tom Rosenstiel - Fiction, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Billionaire entrepreneur David Traynor has big dreams for fixing a broken government in his first term as president of the United States. Everyone in the capital is scrambling to adapt to the new disruptor in chief’s bold agenda, though many also want to see him fail. Unsure of whom he can trust, Traynor intends to turn to an unusual group of people to advise him, including the savvy and sometimes ruthless DC fixers Peter Rena and Randi Brooks. Though he is at the height of his career, Rena finds his world in chaos. When malicious, untraceable cyberattacks related to his past start seeping from the dark corners of the internet, his doubts overwhelm him. Then an unpredictable tragedy throws the country into crisis, and he must come out of his stupor.

by Laurence Leamer - Biography, Nonfiction

Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill --- they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. These women captivated and enchanted Truman Capote --- and at times, they infuriated him as well. He befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible. Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S in 1958 and IN COLD BLOOD in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block.

by Ruth Ozeki - Fiction, Magical Realism

One year after the death of his beloved musician father, 13-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices that belong to the things in his house. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. Benny tries to ignore them, but the voices follow him outside the house, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library. There, Benny discovers a strange new world. He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he meets his very own Book --- a talking thing --- who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

by Mary Adkins - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Rebecca and her husband, Mickey, typify struggling, 30-something New Yorkers --- he’s an actor, and she’s a freelance journalist. But after the arrival of their baby son, the couple decides to relocate to Palm Beach, where Mickey has been offered a sweet deal managing the household of a multimillionaire Democratic donor. Once there, he quickly doubles his salary by going to work for venture capitalist Cecil Stone. Rebecca, a writer whose beat is economic inequality, is initially horrified: she pillories men like Stone, a ruthless businessman famous for crushing local newspapers. So no one is more surprised than her when she accepts a job working for Cecil’s wife as a ghostwriter. As she and Mickey are pulled deeper into this topsy-turvy household, they become increasingly dependent on their problematic benefactors.

by Tahmima Anam - Fiction

Meet Asha Ray. Brilliant coder and possessor of a Pi tattoo, Asha is poised to make a scientific breakthrough when she is reunited with her high school crush, Cyrus Jones. Before she knows it, Asha has abandoned her lab, exchanged vows with Cyrus, and gone to work at an exclusive tech incubator called Utopia to develop an app called WAI --- “We are Infinite.” WAI creates a sensation, with millions of users logging on every day. Will Cyrus and Asha’s marriage survive the pressures of sudden fame, or will she become overshadowed by the man everyone is calling the new messiah?

by Chris Offutt - Fiction, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren’t getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take the case. Are they convinced she can’t handle it, or is there something else at work? She calls on Mick who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer’s increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders. And he needs to talk to his wife.

by Jake Tapper - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Political Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Attorney General Robert Kennedy needs Charlie and Margaret Marder to look into a potential threat not only to the presidency, but to the security of the United States itself. At the center of their investigation is Frank Sinatra, a close friend of President John F. Kennedy and a rumored mob crony, whom Charlie and Margaret must befriend to get the inside scoop. Drinks by the pool at the Sands and late-night adventures with the Rat Pack soon lead to a body in the trunk of their car. As the Academy Awards loom, and someone near and dear to Margaret goes missing, Charlie and Margaret find that the clock is not only ticking but running out. Someone out there knows what they’ve uncovered and can’t let them leave alive.

by Bryan Christy - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Tom Klay is a celebrated investigative wildlife reporter for the esteemed magazine The Sovereign. But his reporting is cover for an even more dangerous job: CIA agent. Klay's press credentials make him a perfect spy. But while on assignment in Kenya, he is attacked and his closest friend is murdered. Soon his carefully constructed double life unravels as his ambition turns to revenge. Klay is offered a devil's bargain to capture the man who killed his friend by infiltrating the offices of the woman he once loved, South Africa's special prosecutor Hungry Khoza. But Klay soon discovers that he and Hungry are part of a larger, more lethal game --- one that involves a ruthless mercenary and a global superpower.