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Week of February 27, 2017

New in Paperback

Week of February 27, 2017

Paperback releases for the week of February 27th include THE BLACK WIDOW, another spellbinding international thriller from Daniel Silva that finds art restorer, spy and assassin Gabrial Allon grappling  with an ISIS mastermind; MOST WANTED by Lisa Scottoline, a thriller that poses an ethical and moral dilemma: What would you do if the biological father of your unborn child was a killer?; SEX OBJECT, a memoir that reveals the painful, embarrassing and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Jessica Valenti’s adolescence and young adulthood in New York City; and THE FAMILY TREE, the provocative true account of the hanging of four black people by a white lynch mob in 1912, written by Karen Branan, the great-granddaughter of the sheriff charged with protecting them.

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva - Thriller/Adventure

February 28, 2017


Art restorer, spy and assassin Gabriel Allon is poised to become the chief of Israel’s secret intelligence service. But on the eve of his promotion, events conspire to lure him into the field for one final operation. ISIS has detonated a massive bomb in the Marais district of Paris, and a desperate French government wants Gabriel to eliminate the man responsible before he can strike again.

The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe: A Biography by Elaine Showalter - Biography

February 28, 2017


Julia Ward was an heiress and aspiring poet when she married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, an internationally acclaimed pioneer in the education of the blind. Authorship of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" made her celebrated and revered. But Howe was also continuing to fight a civil war at home; she became a pacifist, suffragist and world traveler. She came into her own as a tireless campaigner for women’s rights and social reform. Esteemed author Elaine Showalter tells the story of Howe’s determined self-creation and brings to life the society she inhabited and the obstacles she overcame.

Day Four by Sarah Lotz - Thriller

February 28, 2017


Hundreds of pleasure-seekers board The Beautiful Dreamer cruise ship for relaxation and fun in the Caribbean. For three sun-filled days, the journey seems to deliver all that the brochure promised. Until Day Four. Without warning, the ship stops dead. Electricity and communications are cut off. Smoke pours out of the engine room. The passengers and crew have no way to call for help and are stranded in the Gulf of Mexico. At first, all aboard are certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait. Supplies soon run low, the toilets stop working and a virus plagues the ship, but when the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin, irritation escalates to panic. There's a murderer on board The Beautiful Dreamer...and maybe something worse.

Death of a Nurse: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery by M. C. Beaton - Mystery

February 28, 2017


James Harrison has recently moved to a restored hunting lodge in Sutherland with his gorgeous private nurse, Gloria Dainty. When Hamish Macbeth visits Mr. Harrison to welcome him to the neighborhood, the old man treats him very rudely. Gloria apologizes for her employer's behavior, and Hamish invites her out for dinner. On the appointed evening, Hamish waits for Gloria at the restaurant, but she never shows up. Four days later, Gloria's body washes up on the beach near Braikie. Hamish must find out who killed the beautiful new resident of Sutherland, and why, before the murderer strikes again.

Dishonorable Intentions: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods - Thriller

February 28, 2017


Stone Barrington’s latest lady friend is full of surprises, but she also has some unfinished business with a temperamental man who believes Stone is an intolerable obstacle in the way of his goals. In a cat-and-mouse game that trails from sun-drenched Bel-Air to a peaceful European estate and gorgeous Santa Fe, Stone and his friend remain just one step ahead of their opponent. But their pursuer is not a man who can stand to be thwarted. Tensions are mounting and may soon reach the boiling point.

Expecting to Die: A Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli Novel by Lisa Jackson - Thriller

February 28, 2017


Detective Regan Pescoli is counting the days until her maternity leave. Exhausted and emotional, the last thing she needs is another suspected serial killer. Especially when her daughter, Bianca, is swept up in the media storm. When a reality show arrives in town, the chaos only makes it harder for Pescoli and her partner, Selena Alvarez, to distinguish rumor from truth. Another body is found, followed by another. And as the nightmare strikes closer to home, Pescoli races to find the terror lingering in the darkness, where there are too many places to hide…and countless places to die.

The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth by Karen Branan - History

February 28, 2017


Harris County, Georgia, 1912. A white man, the beloved nephew of the county sheriff, is shot dead on the porch of a black woman. Days later, the sheriff sanctions the lynching of a black woman and three black men, all of them innocent. In trying to figure out what led to this unthinkable crime, Karen Branan --- the great-granddaughter of that sheriff --- was forced to confront her own deep-rooted beliefs surrounding race and family, a process that came to a head when she learned a shocking truth: she is related not only to the sheriff, but also to one of the four who were murdered.

Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh - Fiction

February 28, 2017


Forty years ago, Bakerton coal fueled the country. Then the mines closed, and the town wore away like a bar of soap. Now Bakerton has been granted a surprise third act: it sits squarely atop the Marcellus Shale, a massive deposit of natural gas. To drill or not to drill? Prison guard Rich Devlin leases his mineral rights to finance his dream of farming. He doesn’t count on the truck traffic and nonstop noise, his brother’s skepticism, or the paranoia of his wife, Shelby, who insists the water smells strange and is poisoning their frail daughter. Meanwhile, his neighbors, organic dairy farmers Mack and Rena, hold out against the drilling --- until a passionate environmental activist disrupts their lives.

A Hero of France by Alan Furst - Historical Thriller

February 28, 2017


1941. The City of Light is dark and silent at night. But in Paris, and in the farmhouses, barns and churches of the French countryside, small groups of ordinary men and women are determined to take down the occupying forces of Adolf Hitler. Mathieu, a leader of the French Resistance, leads one such cell, helping downed British airmen escape back to England. As the German military police heighten surveillance, Mathieu and his team face a new threat, dispatched by the Reich to destroy them all.

An Honorable Man by Paul Vidich - Historical Thriller

February 28, 2017


In 1953, the CIA is reeling from a double agent within their midst. Someone is selling secrets to the Soviets, compromising missions around the globe. Undercover agents have been assassinated, and anti-Communist plots are being cut short in ruthlessly efficient fashion. George Mueller seems to be the perfect man to help find the mole: Yale-educated, extensive experience running missions in Eastern Europe, an operative so dedicated to his job that it left his marriage in tatters. Mueller, though, has secrets of his own, and as he digs deeper into the case, suspicion begins to fall on him as well.

If I Could Tell You by Elizabeth Wilhide - Historical Fiction

February 28, 2017


England, 1939: Julia Compton has a beautifully well-ordered life. Once a promising pianist, she now has a handsome husband, a young son she adores, and a housekeeper who takes care of her comfortable home. Then, on the eve of war, a film crew arrives in her coastal town. She falls in love. The consequences are devastating. Penniless, denied access to her son, and completely unequipped to fend for herself, she finds herself adrift in wartime London with her lover, documentary filmmaker Dougie Birdsall. While Dougie seeks truth wherever he can find it, Julia finds herself lost. As the German invasion looms and bombs rain down on the city, she faces a choice --- succumb to her fate, or fight to forge a new identity in the heat of war.

The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble - Psychological Thriller

February 28, 2017


The Maguire brothers each have their own driving, single-minded obsession. For Jonathan, it is his magnificent, talented and desirable wife, Harriet. For Roger, it is the elaborate universe he has constructed in a shed in their parents' garden, populated by millions of tiny insects. Following a series of strange and disturbing incidents, Jonathan begins to question every story he has ever been told about his brother --- and if he has so completely misjudged Roger's mind, what else might he have overlooked about his family and himself?

Kill and Be Killed by Louis Begley - Thriller

February 28, 2017


The man who brutally murdered Uncle Harry is dead. In an effort to recover from the confrontation and collect himself, Jack Dana takes refuge on Torcello, a small island in the Venetian lagoon, to return to his writing career. Even more urgently, he wants to win back Kerry, the beautiful lawyer who rejected him after the bloody episode with Harry's assassin. But events beyond Jack's control intervene: Kerry loses her life in circumstances that contradict everything Jack thinks he knew about her. Soon death begins to stalk Jack himself. It is impossible not to recognize in its drumbeat the machinations of Abner Brown, the man who orchestrated Harry's demise.

Long Time Gone: The Cimarron Legacy, Book Two by Mary Connealy - Historical Romance/Western

February 28, 2017


The Boden clan thought their problems had ended with the death of a dangerous enemy, but have they uncovered the real plot to take their 1880s New Mexico ranch? Justin Boden is a top rancher and a rugged man, and yet with his brother, Cole, shot and in mortal danger, even a tough man faces doubts. And it doesn't help that Angie DuPree, the assistant to the doctor trying to save Cole, is as distracting a woman as Justin ever laid eyes on. With her and the doc's timely skills, Cole looks to be on the mend. Now Justin and the rest of the Bodens can turn their attention back to the threats facing them. Can they pull together all the pieces before danger closes in on them, or is the risk of losing the ranch even greater than any of them could imagine?

Lost Along the Way by Erin Duffy - Fiction

February 28, 2017


All through childhood and adolescence, Jane, Cara and Meg swore that their friendship would stand the test of time. But once they hit their 20s, life got more complicated and the BFFs began to grow distant. When Jane eloped with her slick, wealthy new boyfriend and didn’t invite her oldest friends to the ceremony, the small cracks and fissures in their once rock-solid relationship became a chasm that tore them apart. Ten years later, when her husband is arrested and publicly shamed for defrauding his clients, Jane comes crawling back to her childhood friends seeking forgiveness. But Cara and Meg have troubles of their own.

Mike Hammer: Murder Never Knocks by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins - Hard-boiled Mystery

February 28, 2017


A failed attempt on his life by a contract killer gets Mike Hammer riled up. But it also lands him an unlikely job: security detail for a Hollywood producer having a party to honor his beautiful fiancée, a rising Broadway star. But it’s no walk in the park, as Hammer finds violence following him and his beautiful P.I. partner Velda into the swankiest of crime scenes. In the meantime, Hammer is trying to figure out who put the hitman on him. Is there a connection with the death of a newsstand operator who took a bullet meant for him? A shadowy figure looking for the kill of his life?

A Million Little Things by Susan Mallery - Fiction

February 28, 2017


Zoe Saldivar is alone. She recently broke up with her longtime boyfriend, she works from home, and her best friend Jen is so obsessed with her baby that she has practically abandoned their friendship. The day Zoe accidentally traps herself in her attic with her hungry-looking cat, she realizes that it's up to her to stop living in isolation. Her seemingly empty life takes a sudden turn for the complicated --- her first new friend is Jen's widowed mom, Pam. The only guy to give her butterflies in a very long time is Jen's brother. And meanwhile, Pam is being very deliberately seduced by Zoe's own smooth-as-tequila father. Pam is flustered, Jen is annoyed, and Zoe is beginning to think that "alone" doesn't sound so bad after all.

Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline - Thriller

February 28, 2017


When a woman and her husband, desperate for a baby, find themselves unable to conceive, they decide to take further steps. Since it is the husband who is infertile, the heroine decides to use a donor. And all seems to be well. Three months pass, and she is happily pregnant. But a shocking revelation occurs when she discovers that a man arrested for a series of brutal murders is her donor --- the biological father of the child she is carrying. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, the heroine must face her worst fears, and confront a terrifying truth.

Pacific Burn: A Jim Brodie Thriller by Barry Lancet - Thriller

February 28, 2017


In recognition for his role in solving the Japantown murders in San Francisco, antiques dealer and sometime-PI Jim Brodie has just been brought on as the liaison for the mayor’s new Pacific Rim Friendship Program. He recruits his friend, the renowned Japanese artist Ken Nobuki, who ends up being shot by a sniper and lies comatose in the hospital. Brodie soon realizes that, with the suspicious and untimely death of Nobuki’s oldest son a week earlier in Napa Valley, someone may be targeting his friend’s family --- and killing them off one by one.

The Pursuit: A Fox and O'Hare Novel by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg - Thriller

February 28, 2017


Nicolas Fox --- international con man, thief and one of the top 10 fugitives on the FBI’s most-wanted list --- has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn’t know is that Nick has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn’t long before Nick’s covert partner, Special Agent Kate O’Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man. The trail leads to Belgium, France and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against their deadliest adversary yet: Dragan Kovic, an ex–Serbian military officer. He’s plotting a crime that will net him billions…and cost thousands of American lives.

Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began by Alex Cooper with Joanna Brooks - Memoir

February 28, 2017


When Alex Cooper was 15 years old, life was pretty ordinary in her sleepy suburban town and nice Mormon family. But something was gnawing at her that made her feel different. These feelings exploded when she met Yvette, a girl who made her feel alive in a new way, and with whom she would quickly fall in love. She was driven from her home in Southern California to Utah, where, against her will, her parents handed her over to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality in an unlicensed “residential treatment program." SAVING ALEX is a courageous memoir that tells Alex’s story in the hopes that it will bring awareness and justice to this important issue.

Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti - Memoir

February 28, 2017


Jessica Valenti has been leading the national conversation on gender and politics for over a decade. Now, in her memoir, she explores the toll that sexism takes on women’s lives, from the everyday to the existential. From subway gropings and imposter syndrome to sexual awakenings and motherhood, SEX OBJECT reveals the painful, embarrassing and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Valenti’s adolescence and young adulthood in New York City.

War, Spies and Bobby Sox: Stories about World War II at Home by Libby Fischer Hellmann - Historical Mystery

February 27, 2017


As World War II rages across Europe and the Pacific, its impact ripples through communities in the heartland of America. A farm girl is locked in a dangerous love triangle with two German soldiers held in an Illinois POW camp. Another German, a war refugee, is forced to risk her life spying on the developing Manhattan Project in Chicago. And espionage surrounds the disappearance of an actress from the thriving Jewish community of Chicago’s Lawndale. In this trio of tales, acclaimed thriller author Libby Fischer Hellmann depicts the tumultuous effect of war on the home front and illustrates how the action, terror and tragedy of World War II was not confined to the front lines.

What We Find by Robyn Carr - Fiction

February 28, 2017


Neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan has hit a wall. When an emergency high-risk procedure results in the death of a teenager, she finds herself in the middle of a lawsuit. Maggie knows she needs to slow down before she burns out completely, and the best place to do that is Sullivan's Crossing. But shortly after arriving, Maggie's world is rocked once again, and she must take on more responsibility than she had planned. Though relieved that a quiet and serious-looking hiker, Cal Jones, is willing to lend a hand, Maggie is suspicious of this mysterious man's eagerness to help --- until she finds out the true reason for his deliberate isolation.