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Week of August 9, 2021

New in Paperback

Week of August 9, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of August 9th include THE RETURN by Nicholas Sparks, in which an injured Navy doctor meets two extremely important women whose secrets will change the course of his life; BROKEN, a collection of tales from Don Winslow that are connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption; Gilly Macmillan's TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, a serpentine thriller that cleverly blends atmosphere, tarnished memories, mystery and twisty secrets from the past into a potent, intense read that will leave you questioning everything you believe; and THE SOCRATES EXPRESS, which finds Eric Weiner embarking on a rollicking intellectual journey, following in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers and showing us how each --- from Epicurus to Gandhi, Thoreau to Beauvoir --- offers practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times.

1st Case by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts - Thriller

August 10, 2021

Angela's graduate school days at MIT come to an abrupt end when she uses her hacking skills on another student's computer. Yet her mentor, Eve Abajian, arranges a new beginning for her --- as an intern in the FBI's Boston field office. Her new supervisor, Assistant Special Agent in Charge William Keats, sees in Angela a fellow prodigy. But Angela's skills come with a natural curiosity, which is also a dangerous liability. With little training, Angela is quickly plunged into a tough case: tracking murderous brothers who go by the Poet and the Engineer. When Keats tells her to "watch and listen," Angela's mind kicks into overdrive. The obsessive thinking that earned her A’s on campus can prove fatal in the field.

Afterland by Lauren Beukes - Dystopian Thriller/Science Fiction

August 10, 2021

Twelve-year-old Miles is one of the last boys alive, and his mother, Cole, will protect him at all costs. On the run after a horrific act of violence --- and pursued by Cole's own ruthless sister, Billie --- all Cole wants is to raise her kid somewhere he won't be preyed on as a reproductive resource or a sex object or a stand-in son. Someplace like home. To get there, Cole and Miles must journey across a changed America in disguise as mother and daughter. From a military base in Seattle to a luxury bunker, from an anarchist commune in Salt Lake City to a roaming cult that's all too ready to see Miles as the answer to their prayers, the two race to stay ahead at every step…even as Billie and her sinister crew draw closer.

The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals by Becky Mandelbaum - Fiction

August 10, 2021

It’s late 2016 when Ariel discovers that her mother Mona’s animal sanctuary in Western Kansas has not only been the target of anti-Semitic hate crimes, but that it’s also for sale, due to hidden financial ruin. Estranged from her mother for six years, Ariel knows she has to return to her childhood home --- especially since her own past may have played a role in the attack on the sanctuary. Ariel expects tension, maybe even fury, but she doesn’t anticipate that her first love, a ranch hand named Gideon, will still be working at the Bright Side. Meanwhile, Ariel’s charming but hapless fiancé, Dex, grows paranoid about her sudden departure. After uncovering Mona’s address, he sets out to confront Ariel, but instead finds her grappling with the life she’s abandoned.

Broken by Don Winslow - Thriller

August 10, 2021

In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, BROKEN is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best. Here, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.

Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar - Fiction

August 10, 2021

Welcome to Cobble Hill. In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her husband, Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones everywhere. Roy, a newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, a nervous, introverted industrial designer, struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife, Elizabeth.

Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World by Lesley M.M. Blume - History

August 10, 2021

Just days after the United States decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the U.S. government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. The cover-up intensified as Occupation forces closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing leaks about the horrific long-term effects of radiation that would kill thousands during the months after the blast. For nearly a year the cover-up worked --- until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world.

Hanging Falls: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima - Mystery

August 10, 2021

Officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, stumble upon a body floating at the edge of a lake. Robo catches human scent, which leads to an enigmatic forest-dweller who quickly becomes the prime suspect. Mattie identifies the victim and discovers an odd religious cult whose dress and manners harken back to the 19th century. As the list of suspects grows, an unexpected visit from members of Mattie's long-lost family sheds new light on her childhood as they help Mattie piece together details of the fateful night when she was abducted at age two. The tangled threads of the investigation and family dynamics begin to intertwine --- but darkness threatens to claim a new victim before Mattie and Robo can track down the killers.

Here We Are by Graham Swift - Historical Fiction

August 10, 2021

It is 1959 in Brighton, England, and the theater at the end of the famous pier is having its best summer season in years. Ronnie, a brilliant young magician, and Evie, his dazzling assistant, are top of the bill, drawing a full house every night. And Jack is everyone’s favorite master of ceremonies, holding the whole show together. But as the summer progresses, the drama among the three begins to overshadow their success onstage, setting in motion events that will reshape their lives.

Jane Austen at Home: A Biography by Lucy Worsley - Biography

August 10, 2021

Take a trip back to Jane Austen's world and the many places she lived as historian Lucy Worsley visits Austen's childhood home, her schools, her holiday accommodations, the houses --- both grand and small --- of the relations upon whom she was dependent, and the home she shared with her mother and sister towards the end of her life. In places like Steventon Parsonage, Godmersham Park, Chawton House and a small rented house in Winchester, Worsley discovers a Jane Austen very different from the one who famously lived a "life without incident." She examines the rooms, spaces and possessions that mattered to her, and the varying ways in which homes are used in her novels as both places of pleasure and as prisons.

Life in a Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford: The Biography by Laura Thompson - Biography

August 10, 2021

Nancy Mitford was, in the words of her sister Lady Diana Mosley, “very complex.” Her highly autobiographical early work, the biographies and novels of her more mature French period, her journalism, and the vast body of letters to her family, to friends such as Evelyn Waugh, and to the great love of her life, Gaston Palewski, all tell an intriguing story. Drawing from these, as well as conversations with Mitford’s two surviving sisters, acquaintances and colleagues, prize-winning author Laura Thompson has fashioned a portrait of a contradictory and courageous woman.

The Light of Luna Park by Addison Armstrong - Historical Fiction

August 10, 2021

New York City, 1926. Nurse Althea Anderson's heart is near breaking when she witnesses another premature baby die at Bellevue Hospital. So when she reads an article detailing the amazing survival rates of babies treated in incubators in an exhibit at Luna Park, Coney Island, it feels like the miracle she has been searching for. But the doctors at Bellevue dismiss Althea and this unconventional medicine, forcing her to make a choice between a baby's life and the doctors' wishes that will change everything. Twenty-five years later, Stella Wright is falling apart. Her mother has just passed, she quit a job she loves, and her marriage is struggling. Then she discovers a letter that brings into question everything she knew about her mother, and everything she knows about herself.

Never Turn Back by Christopher Swann - Domestic Thriller/Mystery

August 10, 2021

Ethan Faulkner is a precocious child with a brilliant but troublesome sister, a war vet for a father, and a weary mother trying to manage their family. One night a young woman rings their doorbell, desperate to hide from two men who are pursuing her, when one of the two barges in after her. The struggle leaves both of Ethan's parents dead. Years later, Ethan hasn't quite followed through on his promise to his dying father --- to take care of his sister. Quite frankly, he wants her to suffer for preventing him from getting to his dad before he died all those years ago. When news of a brutal murder breaks with evidence pointing to Ethan as the prime suspect, all the painful memories of his past come rushing to meet him.

The Night We Burned by S. F. Kosa - Psychological Thriller

August 10, 2021

Dora is always aware of the line between fact and fiction. As a fact checker at an online magazine, her job depends on it. And as a woman outrunning her secrets, so does her life. But when a colleague decides to pursue a story about a murder in her hometown, one linked to a deadly fire at a cult compound 20 years prior, suddenly all of Dora's carefully spun deceptions are at risk. And if she can't stop the story, her entire life is on the line. As Dora works with her colleague, altering facts to hide her past along the way, she's thrown back into a world she tried desperately to leave behind. As her lies pile up, so do the murders. Until Dora realizes she won't be lucky enough to escape twice.

One Year Gone by Avery Bishop - Mystery/Thriller

August 10, 2021

“Sometimes teenagers run away…. Give her a few days. She’ll be back.” That’s what the police tell Jessica Moore when her 17-year-old daughter, Wyn, vanishes. All signs point to this being true. But days become weeks. Weeks become months. And Jessica begins to fear the terrible truth --- that she may never see her daughter again. Then, one year later, Jessica gets a flurry of text messages from Wyn that freeze her blood: mom. please help. i think he’s going to kill me. But Wyn’s terrified plea comes with a warning not to call the police. Her kidnapper wears a badge. Delving into the months leading up to Wyn’s disappearance, Jessica stumbles upon information that could put her own life in danger.

The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding - Psychological Thriller

August 10, 2021

Thomas and Viv Adler are the envy of their neighbors. Until one morning, when they wake up to find their porch has been pelted with eggs. Thomas insists it’s a prank. But when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and their car’s tires are punctured, the family begins to worry. Surveillance cameras show nothing but grainy images of shadowy figures in hoodies. And the police dismiss the attacks, insisting they’re just the work of bored teenagers. Unable to identify the perpetrators, the Adlers are helpless as the assaults escalate into violence, and worse. And each new violation brings with it a growing fear. Because everyone in the Adler family is keeping a secret --- not just from the outside world, but from each other.

The Return by Nicholas Sparks - Romance

August 10, 2021

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local. Yet, from their very first encounter, he feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But she remains frustratingly distant, making him wonder what she's hiding. Trevor hopes that Callie, a sullen teenage girl who lives down the road, can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death. She offers few clues --- until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of her past.

Shadow Hill: A Geneva Chase Crime Reporter Mystery by Thomas Kies - Mystery

August 10, 2021

Just days before an oil executive is scheduled to give a pseudo-scientific report to Congress, aiming to delay crucial action on climate change for decades, he and his wife are found shot to death in their Greenwich, Connecticut home. It's ruled a murder-suicide, but their son refuses to accept this conclusion and hires Geneva Chase, ex-journalist-turned-detective, to prove otherwise. With the report still due to Congress, the lead scientist of the study gone missing, climate activists turning violent, and members of the executive's family seeking revenge, Geneva races to find answers, stay alive and stop the report from reaching Washington.

The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers by Eric Weiner - Philosophy/Essays

August 10, 2021

We turn to philosophy for the same reasons we travel: to see the world from a different perspective, to unearth hidden beauty, and to find new ways of being. We want to learn how to embrace wonder. Face regrets. Sustain hope. Eric Weiner combines his twin passions for philosophy and global travel in a pilgrimage that uncovers surprising life lessons from great thinkers around the world, from Rousseau to Nietzsche, Confucius to Simone Weil. Traveling by train (the most thoughtful mode of transport), he journeys thousands of miles, making stops in Athens, Delhi, Wyoming, Coney Island, Frankfurt and points in between to reconnect with philosophy’s original purpose: teaching us how to lead wiser, more meaningful lives.

This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire: A Memoir by Nick Flynn - Memoir

August 10, 2021

When Nick Flynn was seven years old, his mother set fire to their house. The event loomed large in his imagination for years, but it’s only after having a child of his own that he understands why. He returns with his young daughter to the landscape of his youth, reflecting on how his feral childhood has him still in its reins, and forms his memories into lyrical bedtime stories populated by the both sinister and wounded Mister Mann. THIS IS THE NIGHT OUR HOUSE WILL CATCH FIRE unravels the story of the fire that Flynn had to escape, and the ways in which, as an adult, he has carried that fire with him until it threatens to burn down his own house.

To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan - Psychological Thriller

August 10, 2021

Lucy Harper’s talent for writing bestselling novels has given her fame, fortune and millions of fans. It’s also given her Dan, her needy, jealous husband whose own writing career has gone precisely nowhere. Now Dan has vanished. But this isn’t the first time that someone has disappeared from Lucy’s life. Three decades ago, her little brother Teddy also went missing and was never found. Lucy, the only witness, helplessly spun fantasy after fantasy about Teddy’s disappearance. But now Lucy is a grown woman who can’t hide behind fiction any longer. The world is watching, and her whole life is under intense scrutiny. Could she have hurt Teddy? Did she kill Dan? Finally, now, Lucy Harper is going to tell the truth.

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson - Historical Fantasy

August 10, 2021

Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens. Ten years later, Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything --- not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams. Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side --- and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late. Is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?

Where I Come From: Stories from the Deep South by Rick Bragg - Essays

August 10, 2021

In this irresistible collection of wide-ranging and endearingly personal columns culled from his best-loved pieces in Southern Living and Garden & Gun, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Rick Bragg muses on everything from his love of Tupperware to the decline of country music; from the legacy of Harper Lee to the metamorphosis of the pickup truck; and from the best way to kill fire ants to why any self-respecting Southern man worth his salt should carry a good knife. WHERE I COME FROM celebrates “a litany of great talkers, blue-green waters, deep casseroles, kitchen-sink permanents, lying fishermen, haunted mansions, and dogs that never die, things that make this place more than a dotted line on a map or a long-ago failed rebellion, even if only in some cold-weather dream.”