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Reviews

Reviews

by Michael Korda - History, Nonfiction

May 1940 was a month like no other. The superior German war machine blazed into France, as the Maginot Line, supposedly "as firmly fixed in place as the Pyramids," crumbled in days. With the fall of Holland and Belgium, the imminent fall of Paris, the British Army stranded at Dunkirk, and Neville Chamberlain’s government in political freefall, Winston Churchill became prime minister on this historical nadir of May 10, 1941. Britain, diplomatically isolated, was suddenly the only nation with the courage and the resolve to defy Hitler. Against this vast historical canvas, Michael Korda relates what happened and why.

by David Rosenfelt - Fiction, Mystery

Lawyer Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend, Willie Miller. All kinds of dogs make their way to the foundation, and it isn’t that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog’s embedded chip and discover that he is the “DNA dog,” which helps renew the search for a missing child. Goaded by his wife’s desire to help a friend and fellow mother, and Andy’s desire to make sure the real kidnapper is in jail, Andy and his team enter the case. But what they start to uncover is far more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected.

by Jesse Eisinger - Law, Nonfiction, True Crime

Why were no bankers put in prison after the financial crisis of 2008? Why do CEOs seem to commit wrongdoing with impunity? The problem goes beyond banks deemed “Too Big to Fail” to almost every large corporation in America --- to pharmaceutical companies and auto manufacturers and beyond. THE CHICKENSHIT CLUB --- an inside reference to prosecutors too scared of failure and too daunted by legal impediments to do their jobs --- explains why. A character-driven narrative, the book tells the story from inside the Department of Justice. It spans the last decade and a half of prosecutorial fiascos, corporate lobbying, trial losses and culture shifts that have stripped the government of the will and ability to prosecute top corporate executives.

by Jennifer Kitses - Fiction

In the vein of Richard Russo and Tom Perrotta, SMALL HOURS is a gripping and suspenseful debut novel --- told hour-by-hour over the course of a single day --- in which a husband and wife try to outrun long-buried secrets, sending their lives spiraling into chaos.

by John Grisham - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts. Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. A generous offer of money convinces her to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets. But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise.

by Wayne Flynt - Memoir, Nonfiction

The violent racism of the American South drove Wayne Flynt away from his home state of Alabama, but the publication of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee’s classic novel about courage, community and equality, inspired him to return in the early 1960s and craft a career documenting and teaching Alabama history. His writing resonated with many Alabamians, in particular three sisters: Louise, Alice and Nelle Harper Lee. Beginning with their first meeting in 1983, a mutual respect and affection for the state’s history and literature matured into a deep friendship between two families who can trace their roots there back more than five generations.

by Ron Kaplan - History, Nonfiction, Sports

Hank Greenberg was coming off a stellar season where he’d hit 40 home runs and 184 RBIs, becoming only the 13th player to ever hit 40 or more homers. From his first day in the big leagues, the New York-born Greenberg had dealt with persecution for being Jewish; he always did his best to shut the noise out and concentrate on baseball. But in 1938, that would be more difficult than he ever could have imagined. Adolf Hitler had taken direct control of Germany’s military in February 1938. He then began his methodic takeover of all neighboring countries, spreading Nazism and the early stages of World War II and the Holocaust. Ron Kaplan’s latest book chronicles the events of 1938, both on the baseball diamond and the streets of Europe.

by Tom Callahan - Biography, Nonfiction, Sports

The winner of more than 90 championships, including four Masters Tournaments, Arnold Palmer was a legend in 20th-century sports: a supremely gifted competitor beloved for his powerful hitting, his nerve on the greens, and his great rapport with fans. Perhaps above all others, Palmer was the reason golf’s popularity exploded, as the King of the links helped define golf’s golden age along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. In addition to his talent on the golf course, Palmer was a brilliant entrepreneur off it, and one of the first sportsmen to create his own successful marketing brand. But beyond his business acumen, Palmer was always a larger-than-life character, and ARNIE recounts a host of unforgettable anecdotes from a long life in the spotlight.

by Becky Masterman - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn, now happily settled in Tucson, doesn’t visit her family in Florida much. But her former partner on the force, Laura Coleman --- a woman whose life she has saved and who has saved her life in turn --- is living there now. So when Laura calls about a case that is not going well, Brigid doesn’t hesitate to get on a plane. On leave from the Bureau, Laura has been volunteering for a legal group trying to prove the innocence of a man who is on death row for killing his family. Laura is firmly convinced that he didn’t do it, while Brigid isn’t so sure. But the date for his execution is coming up so quickly that they’ll have to act fast to find any evidence that may absolve him before it’s too late.

by Anton Piatigorsky - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

AL-TOUNSI tells the behind-the-scenes story of U.S. Supreme Court Justices as they consider a landmark case involving the rights of detainees held in an overseas U.S. military base. Inspired by a true case from 2008 addressing Guantanamo Bay, the fictional lawsuit of Al-Tounsi v. Shaw pits Majid Al-Tounsi, an Egyptian prisoner, against the President of the United States. It challenges U.S. laws that apply to non-citizens under wartime circumstances and the extent of executive power. As the controversial case maneuvers through the minds and hands of the Justices, the novel explores in detail how the personal life dramas, career rivalries and political sympathies of these judicial titans blend with their philosophies to create the most important legal decisions of our time.