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Week of December 27, 2021

New in Paperback

Week of December 27, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of December 27th include SUNFLOWER SISTERS, the final installment in Martha Hall Kelly’s trilogy of novels about Caroline Ferriday’s family, following LILAC GIRLS and LOST ROSES; FORGOTTEN IN DEATH, J. D. Robb's 53rd In Death mystery starring homicide detective Eve Dallas, who sifts through the wreckage of the past to find a killer; PRODIGAL SON, the sixth installment in Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X series featuring Evan Smoak, who, despite being forced into retirement, gets an urgent request for help from someone he didn't even suspect existed; Wendy Walker's DON'T LOOK FOR ME, a compelling and emotionally powerful novel about a daughter's desperate search to find her mother before it's too late; and YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson, the harrowing story of an enslaved woman who is forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

The Affair by Danielle Steel - Fiction

December 28, 2021

When Rose McCarthy’s staff at Mode magazine pitches a cover shoot with Hollywood’s hottest young actress, the actress’s sizzling affair with a bestselling French author is exposed. The author happens to be Rose’s son-in-law, which creates a painful dilemma for her. Her daughter Nadia, a talented interior designer, has been struggling to hold her marriage together, and conceal the truth from their young daughters, her family and the world. But Nicolas, her straying husband, is blinded by passion for a younger woman, who is pregnant with his child. Nadia’s three sisters fly to Paris to lend support and offer their widely divergent advice. In the end, though, Nadia needs to figure out what she herself thinks and what to do next.

And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

December 28, 2021

Isabel Lincoln is gone. But is she missing? It’s up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray’s search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman’s secrets and the truth she’s hidden from her friends and family. Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Rachel Howzell Hall's AND NOW SHE'S GONE explores the nature of secrets --- and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker - Psychological Thriller

December 28, 2021

They called it a “walk away.” The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to start over. But what really happened to Molly Clarke? The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man offering her a ride to safety. But when the doors lock shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake. A new lead brings Molly’s daughter, Nicole, back to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to renew the desperate search. The locals are sympathetic and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and Nicole comes closer to the truth about that night --- and the danger surrounding her.

Fast Ice: A Novel from the NUMA Files by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown - Thriller/Adventure

December 28, 2021

In the early days of World War II, the infamous German Luftwaffe embarks upon an expedition to Antarctica, hoping to set up a military base to support their goal of world domination. Though the military outpost never comes to fruition, what the Nazis find on the icy continent indeed proves dangerous...and will have implications far into the future. In the present day, Kurt Austin and his assistant, Joe Zavala, embark for the freezing edge of the world after a former NUMA colleague disappears in Antarctica. While there, they discover a photo of the Luftwaffe expedition of 1939, and are drawn into a decades-old conspiracy. Even as they confront perilous waters and frigid temperatures, they also are up against a terrifying man-made weapon --- a fast-growing ice that could usher in a new Ice Age.

Forgotten in Death by J. D. Robb - Mystery/Thriller

December 28, 2021

The body was left in a dumpster, the victim a woman known for offering paper flowers in return for spare change --- and for keeping the cops informed of any infractions she witnessed on the street. But the notebook where she scribbled her intel on litterers and other such offenders is nowhere to be found. Then Eve Dallas is summoned away to a nearby building site to view more remains unearthed by recent construction work. She isn’t happy when she realizes that the scene of the crime belongs to her husband, Roarke. Now Eve must enter a complex world of real estate development, family history, shady deals and shocking secrets to find justice for two women whose lives were thrown away.

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams - Psychological Thriller

December 28, 2021

Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge and jumped 200 feet to her death. That is the official police version, but Lena isn’t buying it. Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body. But Corporal Raymond Raycevic’s story seems a bit off. Perhaps most troubling of all, he is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister: Please Forgive Me. As her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival --- one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself.

The Hanged Man of Conakry written by Jean-Christophe Rufin, translated by Alison Anderson - Mystery

December 28, 2021

Aurel Timescu’s French is tinged with a Romanian accent, he has the disheveled air of a character from between the wars, and a past as a performer in piano bars. Nobody can quite understand how he got to be Consul. Now, he’s taken a position in French Guinea. He passes his time perspiring, drinking gallons of Tokay and composing librettos. Until, that is, a vacationer is found hanging from the mast of a sailboat. How did he end up dead, on a mast, on Aurel Timescu’s watch? Had his personal life been hanging by a thread? Was he hanging around waiting for love to be reciprocated? Had he been hanging out with the wrong crowd? Had he hung his hat on the peg of some quixotic dream?

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim - Fiction

December 28, 2021

The suspicious death of her mother, Mina, sends Margot Lee digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mother's life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother. Interwoven with Margot's present-day search is Mina's story of her first year in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. While she's barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a series of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

One in Me I Never Loved written by Carla Guelfenbein, translated by Neil Davidson - Fiction

December 28, 2021

In present-day New York, Margarita grapples with insecurities on her 56th birthday. She feels neglected by her husband and suspects he’s having an affair with one of his students. Mysteries surrounding two friends offer both a distraction and unexpected insight: Anne, the concierge of her apartment building, has suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving Anne’s mother to confront a long-held secret. Juliana, now in her 80s, is eager to find the woman who changed the course of her life more than 60 years ago.

The Paris Detective by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo - Thriller

December 28, 2021

The most revered detective in Paris puts his skills to the test in three thrilling cases. Very handsome and charming French detective Luc Moncrief joined the NYPD for a fresh start, but in “French Kiss,” someone wants to make his first big case his last. In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal --- before a coldblooded killer paints the town red --- in “The Christmas Mystery.” And in “French Twist,” gorgeous women are dropping dead at upscale department stores in New York City. Moncrief and Detective Katherine Burke are close to solving the mystery, but looks can be deceiving.

Prodigal Son: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz - Thriller

December 28, 2021

The highest power in the country has made Evan Smoak a tempting offer --- in exchange for an unofficial pardon, he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. But then he gets a call for help from a woman claiming to have given him up for adoption. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran, a man whose life has gone off the rails and who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother and sister assassination team are after him. With no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran’s only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he has fought for is on the line --- including his own life.

The Redemption of Philip Thane: The Penhallow Dynasty by Lisa Berne - Historical Romance

December 28, 2021

Philip Thane --- rogue, rake and scoundrel extraordinaire --- hadn’t wanted to visit some dumpy provincial town to give a speech, but he’d struck a devil’s bargain with old Henrietta Penhallow, the imperious family matriarch. Nor did he expect that once he got there, he’d somehow be living the same day over and over again. It’s strange! It’s terrible! On the other hand, it is giving him time to cozy up to the delectable and brainy Margaret Allen, in town to research the book she’s writing. Philip is sure she’ll fall starry-eyed into his arms, just as women always do. But to his amazement, Miss Allen stands firm against his wiles, day after day. How can she resist his seductive charm? Why won’t she change her mind? What must he do to win her heart?

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane - Psychological Thriller

December 28, 2021

Elisa Wright is convinced that her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée. Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more?

Run for Cover by Michael Ledwidge - Mystery/Thriller

December 28, 2021

Fresh from a lethal entanglement with some of the darkest players in the global intelligence services, Michael Gannon heads to the safest place he can think of: deep in the wilds of Utah on the ranch of one of his oldest and closest war buddies. But when his friend’s brother is found dead in the rocky foothills of Grand Teton, Gannon realizes there are some things more important than keeping your head down. Is his death just one in a string of grisly murders mysteriously occurring around national parks --- or a part of something even more sinister?

Shiver by Allie Reynolds - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

December 28, 2021

When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition. Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. Detailed instructions await them inside the hotel: an icebreaker game designed to draw out their secrets and remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead.

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes - Historical Fiction

December 28, 2021

As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it’s not until his death that she learns of something else she’s inherited --- a cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed “París Chiquito.” Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of World War I, she and her husband, Cristóbal, set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear that someone is angered by Puri’s claim to the estate. When a mercenary sent to murder her aboard the ship accidentally kills Cristóbal instead, Puri dons her husband’s clothes and assumes his identity, hoping to stay safe while she searches for the truth of her father’s legacy in Ecuador.

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly - Historical Fiction

December 28, 2021

The 2016 bestseller LILAC GIRLS introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday. Now, in SUNFLOWER SISTERS, Martha Hall Kelly tells the story of Ferriday’s ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse during the Civil War whose calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Anne-May Wilson, a Southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists. Inspired by true accounts, the novel provides a vivid, detailed look at the Civil War experience --- from the barbaric and inhumane plantations, to a war-torn New York City, to the horrors of the battlefield. It’s a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty.

The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs - Biography

December 28, 2021

Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King and Louise Little were all born at the beginning of the 20th century and forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women. These three extraordinary women passed their knowledge to their children with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning --- from Louise teaching her children about their activist roots, to Berdis encouraging James to express himself through writing, to Alberta basing all of her lessons in faith and social justice. They used their strength and motherhood to push their children toward greatness, all with a conviction that every human being deserves dignity and respect despite the rampant discrimination they faced.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell - Science Fiction/Space Opera

December 28, 2021

Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor's least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He's commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire's newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect. Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake, they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war and the long shadows of Jainan's past. And they'll have to do it together. So begins a legendary love story amid the stars.

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson - Historical Fiction

December 28, 2021

Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world. She’d been promised freedom on her 18th birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured and sold every day. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit her Jailer, and soon she faces the ultimate sacrifice.