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Week of August 17, 2020

New in Paperback

Week of August 17, 2020

Paperback releases for the week of August 17th include IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY? by Candace Bushnell, which follows a cohort of female friends --- Sassy, Kitty, Queenie, Tilda Tia, Marilyn and Candace --- as they navigate the ever-modernizing phenomena of midlife dating and relationships; THE LAST ODYSSEY, the 15th installment in James Rollins’ Sigma Force series --- to save the world and our future, Sigma Force must embark on a dangerous odyssey into an ancient past whose horrors are all too present; TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE, a suburban mystery from Susan Isaacs that finds a retired FBI agent turned Long Island housewife tapping into her investigative past when she begins to suspect that her neighbor is harboring criminal secrets; and THEIR LITTLE SECRET, the 16th entry in Mark Billingham's series featuring DI Tom Thorne, whose investigation into a seemingly straightforward suicide turns into a chilling story of obsession, deception and murder.

Animalia written by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, translated by Frank Wynne - Fiction

August 18, 2020

The small village of Puy-Larroque, southwest France, 1898. Éléonore is a child living with her father, a pig farmer whose terminal illness leaves him unable to work, and her God-fearing mother, who runs both farm and family with an iron hand. When World War I breaks out and the village empties, Éléonore gets a taste of the changes that will transform her world as the 20th century rolls on. In the second part of the novel, which takes place in the 1980s, the untamed world of Puy-Larroque seems gone forever. Now, Éléonore has herself aged into the role of matriarch, and the family is running a large industrial pig farm, where thousands of pigs churn daily through cycles of birth, growth and death.

The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen - Fiction

August 18, 2020

In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve meets pottery student Murtagh Moone. As their relationship progresses, marriage and motherhood come in quick succession, but for Maeve, with the joy of children also comes the struggle to hold on to the truest parts of herself. Decades later, on a small Irish island, the Moone family are poised for celebration but instead are struck by tragedy. Each family member must find solace in their own separate way, until one dazzling truth brings them back together. But as the Moone family confront the past, they also journey toward a future that none of them could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself.

Death in the Family: A Shana Merchant Novel by Tessa Wegert - Mystery/Thriller

August 18, 2020

Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she has taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York. But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge. As the gale intensifies outside, Shana starts conducting interviews and discovers that the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.

The Expectations by Alexander Tilney - Fiction

August 18, 2020

St. James is an exclusive New England boarding school known for grooming generations of leaders. Ben Weeks is a true insider --- his ancestors helped found St. James, his older brother taught him all the slang, and he's just won a national championship in squash. But after 14 long years of waiting, Ben arrives at school only to find that the reality of St. James doesn't quite match up with his imaginings. At the same time, his new roommate, Ahmed Al-Khaled, the son of a fabulously wealthy Emirati sheik, can't navigate the unspoken rules of New England blue bloods. Even as Ben and Ahmed struggle to prove themselves in the place they have revered for so long, each of them must face losing it forever.

Honestly, We Meant Well by Grant Ginder - Fiction

August 18, 2020

Family vacation always comes with baggage. The Wright family is in ruins. Sue Ellen Wright has what she thinks is a close-to-perfect life. A terrific career as a Classics professor, a loving husband and a son who is just about to safely leave the nest. But then disaster strikes. She learns that her husband is cheating, and that her son has made a complete mess of his life. So when the opportunity to take her family to a Greek island for a month presents itself, she jumps at the chance. This sunlit Aegean paradise --- with its mountains and beaches --- is, after all, where she first fell in love with both a man and an ancient culture. Perhaps Sue Ellen’s past will provide the key to her and her family’s salvation.

Is There Still Sex in the City? by Candace Bushnell - Fiction

August 18, 2020

Set between the Upper East Side of Manhattan and a country enclave known as The Village, IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY? follows a cohort of female friends --- Sassy, Kitty, Queenie, Tilda Tia, Marilyn and Candace --- as they navigate the ever-modernizing phenomena of midlife dating and relationships. There’s “Cubbing,” in which a sensible older woman suddenly becomes the love interest of a much younger man; the “Mona Lisa” Treatment, a vaginal restorative surgery often recommended to middle-aged women; and what it’s really like to go on Tinder dates as a fifty-something divorcée.

Jackie and Maria: A Novel of Jackie Kennedy & Maria Callas by Gill Paul - Historical Fiction

August 18, 2020

Jackie Kennedy was contemplating leaving her ambitious young senator husband. Life in the public eye with an overly ambitious --- and unfaithful --- man was breaking her spirit. So when she's offered a holiday on the luxurious yacht owned by billionaire Ari Onassis, she says yes. Maria Callas is at the height of her operatic career and widely considered to be the finest soprano in the world. And then she's introduced to Aristotle Onassis, the world’s richest man. Stuck in a childless, sexless marriage, she finds her life being turned upside down by this hyper-intelligent and impeccably charming man. Little by little, Maria’s and Jackie’s lives begin to overlap, and they come closer and closer until everything they know about the world changes on a dime.

The Last Odyssey by James Rollins - Thriller/Adventure

August 18, 2020

In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day researchers stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half-mile below the ice. Inside the captain’s cabin is a clockwork gold map embedded with an intricate silver astrolabe. Once activated, the moving map traces the path of Odysseus’ famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal a fiery river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. It is the subterranean world of Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. When word of Tartarus spreads, the phantasmagoric horrors found in Homer’s tales are all too real --- and whoever possesses them can use their awesome power to control the future of humanity. Now, Sigma Force must prevent a tyrant from igniting a global war and cross the very gates of Hell.

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan - Psychological Thriller

August 18, 2020

She is a stay-at-home mother of three with boundless reserves of patience, energy and love. After being friends for a decade, this is how Liz sees Jess. Then one moment changes everything. Dark thoughts and carefully guarded secrets surface --- and Liz is left questioning everything she thought she knew about her friend, and about herself. The truth can’t come soon enough.

The Search Party by Simon Lelic - Psychological Thriller

August 18, 2020

The entire town thinks 16-year-old Sadie Saunders is dead. Missing now for a week, they say she was murdered. And they think they know who did it. Sadie's five best friends aren’t so sure, and they vow to find out the truth. So they pack their bags and head into the woods where Sadie was last seen. But they’re not just friends, they’re suspects. And each of them has a secret. As the landscape opens up, and the darkness closes in, the reality of their situation becomes clear. This was never really a search party. It’s a witch hunt. And not everyone will make it home alive.

The Second Mother by Jenny Milchman - Psychological Thriller

August 18, 2020

Julie Weathers isn't sure if she's running away or starting over, but moving to a remote island off the coast of Maine feels right for someone with reasons to flee her old life. The sun-washed, sea-stormed speck of land seems welcoming, the lobster plentiful, and the community close and tightly knit. She finds friends in her nearest neighbor and Callum, a man who appears to be using the island for the same thing as she: escape. But as Julie takes on the challenge of teaching the island's children, she comes to suspect that she may have traded one place shrouded in trouble for another, and she begins to wonder if the greatest danger on Mercy Island is its lost location far out to sea, or the people who live there.

A Single Light by Tosca Lee - Dystopian Thriller

August 18, 2020

Six months after vanishing into an underground silo with 60 others, Wynter and Chase emerge to find the area abandoned. There is no sign of Noah and the rest of the group that was supposed to greet them when they emerged --- the same people Wynter was counting on to help her locate the IV antibiotics her gravely ill friend, Julie, needs in order to live. As the clock ticks down on Julie’s life, Wynter and Chase embark on a desperate search for medicine and answers. But what they find is not a nation on the cusp of recovery thanks to the promising new vaccine Wynter herself had a hand in creating, but one decimated by disease. What happened while they were underground?

Takes One to Know One by Susan Isaacs - Fiction

August 18, 2020

Just a few years ago, Corie Geller was busting terrorists as an agent for the FBI. But at 35, she traded in her badge for the stability of marriage and motherhood. Between cooking meals and playing chauffeur, Corie scouts Arabic fiction for a few literary agencies and, on Wednesdays, has lunch with her fellow Shorehaven freelancers at a so-so French restaurant. Pete Delaney, a milquetoast package designer, always shows up early, sits in the same spot (often with a different phone in hand), and keeps one eye on the Jeep he parks in the lot across the street. Corie intuitively feels that Pete is hiding something. But does Pete really have a shady alternate life, or is Corie just imagining things, desperate to add some spark to her humdrum suburban existence?

Their Little Secret: A Tom Thorne Novel by Mark Billingham - Mystery/Thriller

August 18, 2020

When DI Tom Thorne arrives at the metro station, where a woman named Philippa Goodwin threw herself in front of an underground train, he inexplicably senses something awry and feels compelled to dig deeper. He soon discovers that she was the victim of a callous conman who preys on vulnerable women, and whose deception plunged Philippa to her end. Thorne enlists DI Nicola Tanner to help him track down the swindler and bring him to justice. But the detective duo gets more than they bargained for when a young man’s bludgeoned body turns up on the shore of a nearby seaside town. The two cases come together in a way that neither of the detectives could have foreseen.