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Week of January 1, 2024

New in Paperback

Week of January 1, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of January 1st include CODE 6, a bold thriller from James Grippando that asks at what price do we open our lives to Big Data; HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix, a gripping novel that explores the way your past --- and your family --- can haunt you like nothing else; CHILDREN OF THE STATE, Jeff Hobbs' timely, insightful and groundbreaking look at the school-to-prison pipeline and life in the juvenile “justice” system; Sarah Levy's DRINKING GAMES, an intimate and darkly funny memoir about how one woman drank and lived --- and how, for her, the last drink was just the beginning; and the paperback original THE LOST VAN GOGH by Jonathan Santlofer, a riveting tale based on rumors that Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait before his death, one that has since been lost to time --- or the black market.

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor - Thriller

January 2, 2024

New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all --- just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold. Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, AGE OF VICE is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family --- loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all. In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined.

The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen - True Crime

January 1, 2024

In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner’s report: natural causes. Ida’s husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed. The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli’s shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli’s subsequent cross-country journey of death --- including that of his own son --- have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman? With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Gregg Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth --- about Ida’s murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for 45 years.

Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs - Biography/Social Science

January 2, 2024

For many kids, a mistake made at age 13 or 14 --- often resulting from external factors coupled with a biologically immature brain --- can resonate through the rest of their lives, making high school difficult, college nearly impossible, and a middle-class life a mere fantasy. In CHILDREN OF THE STATE, Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works --- and demonstrates in brilliant, piercing prose that no one so young should ever be considered irredeemable. He presents three different true stories that show the day-to-day life and the challenges faced by those living and working in juvenile programs: educators, counselors and --- most importantly --- children.

Code 6 by James Grippando - Thriller

January 2, 2024

Aspiring playwright Kate Gamble is struggling to launch a script she’s been secretly researching her entire life. Her father is Christian Gamble, CEO of Buck Technologies, a private data integration company whose clients include the CIA and virtually every counter-terrorism organization in the Western World. Kate’s father adores her, and a play about the dark side of Big Data would be the ultimate betrayal in his eyes. But Kate is compelled to tell this story --- not only as an artist exploring the personal information catastrophe that affects us all, but as a daughter trying to understand her mother’s apparent loss of purpose. Then Patrick Battle comes back into her life, changing everything she has ever thought about her play, her father and her mother’s tragic death.

Drinking Games: A Memoir by Sarah Levy - Memoir

January 2, 2024

On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job and socializing every weekend. But Sarah had a secret: her relationship with alcohol was becoming toxic. And only she could save herself. DRINKING GAMES explores the role alcohol has in our formative years and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking. It’s an examination of what our short-term choices about alcohol do to our long-term selves and how they challenge our ability to be vulnerable enough to discover what we really want in life.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - Mystery

January 2, 2024

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it?

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - Gothic Thriller/Horror

January 2, 2024

When Louise finds out that her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale. But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them.

The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer - Thriller

January 2, 2024

For years, there have been whispers that, before his death, Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait. Curators and art historians have savored this rumor, hoping it could illuminate some of the troubled artist's many secrets, but even they have to concede that the missing painting is likely lost forever. But when Luke Perrone, artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa, and Alexis Verde, daughter of a notorious art thief, discover what may be the missing portrait, they are drawn into a most epic art puzzle. When only days later the painting disappears again, they are reunited with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith in a dangerous and deadly search that will not only expose secrets of the artist's last days but draw them into one of history's darkest eras.

Love, Clancy: Diary of a Good Dog by W. Bruce Cameron - Fiction

January 2, 2024

You’ve probably never met someone like Clancy. He’s keeping a diary, he’s falling in love, there are rivals for his affections, he lives with his best friend and his worst enemy. Even taken together, these factors are maybe not that unusual, except that Clancy is a dog. His point of view is therefore perhaps…different. A tremendous cast of wonderful characters find themselves jointly and separately navigating the challenges of life, love and…other pets, including Clancy's “worst enemy” --- one very disdainful cat. It’s a lot to keep track of, especially when things start to spin hilariously out of control. But fortunately we have the observations of Clancy, a very good dog, who shares a valuable perspective on what is really important.

Nonfiction by Julie Myerson - Fiction

January 2, 2024

Two parents stand by powerlessly as their only child seems intent on destroying herself. As the mother --- a novelist --- attempts to understand her daughter, she finds herself revisiting her own uneasy, unresolved relationship with her mother. Weaving between childhoods past and present, laced with temptation and betrayal, NONFICTION is an unflinching account of a mother, daughter, wife and author reckoning with the world around her. But can a writer ever be trusted with the truth of her own story?

Small World by Laura Zigman - Fiction

January 2, 2024

A year after her divorce, Joyce is settling into being single again and has developed a secret comforting hobby: trolling the neighborhood social networking site Small World for posts that help solve life’s easiest problems. When her older sister, Lydia, calls to tell her she’s moving back east after almost 30 years away, Joyce invites Lydia to temporarily move into her Cambridge apartment. But instead of forging the bond she always dreamed of having with Lydia, their relationship frays. And they rarely discuss the loss of their sister, Eleanor, who was significantly disabled and died when she was only 10 years old. When new revelations from their family’s history come to light, will those secrets further split them apart, or course-correct their connection for the future?

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall - Thriller

January 2, 2024

Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her 17 stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes. And they were liars. For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods --- no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.

Where the Dead Sleep by Joshua Moehling - Mystery/Thriller

January 2, 2024

When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue a quiet life, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants. There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.