Skip to main content

Week of January 20, 2020

New in Paperback

Week of January 20, 2020

Paperback releases for the week of January 20th include ONE GOOD DEED, a fast-paced historical thriller from David Baldacci, who introduces readers to Aloysius Archer, a WWII veteran forced to investigate a small-town murder --- or risk returning to prison; MAID, Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America; OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, a provocative novel from T.C. Boyle that explores the first scientific and recreational forays into LSD and its mind-altering possibilities; CAMELOT'S END by Jon Ward, the captivating story of Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign for president against the incumbent Jimmy Carter, told in full for the first time; and Joe Ide's WRECKED, in which the case of a young artist's missing mother sets Isaiah Quintabe (IQ for short) on a collision course with his own Moriarty.

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis - Romance

January 21, 2020

Piper Manning raised her siblings, and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it and then she’s free. When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all, but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny. And her siblings…well, they need each other. Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam.

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher - Dystopian Fiction

January 21, 2020

My name's Griz. My childhood wasn't like yours. I've never had friends, and in my whole life I've not met enough people to play a game of football. My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs. Then the thief came. There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you. Because if we aren't loyal to the things we love, what's the point?

The Burglar by Thomas Perry - Thriller

January 21, 2020

Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. But Elle is no petty thief --- with just the right combination of smarts, looks and skills, she can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home for plucking the most valuable items. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around. Somebody is searching for her. As Elle realizes that her knowledge of the high-profile murder has made her a target, she races to solve the case before becoming the next casualty.

Camelot's End: The Democrats' Last Great Civil War by Jon Ward - Politics/History

January 21, 2020

The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Ted Kennedy. It was the last time an American president received a serious reelection challenge from inside his own party, the last contested convention, and the last all-out floor fight, where political combatants fought in real time to decide who would be the nominee. It was the last gasp of an outdated system, an insider's game that old Kennedy hands thought they had mastered, and the year that marked the unraveling of the Democratic Party as America had known it. CAMELOT'S END details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge --- what led to it, how it unfolded and its lasting effects.

Country Strong by Linda Lael Miller - Western Romance

January 21, 2020

Cord Hollister is a true cowboy at heart. As a man who has devoted his life to training horses under the big skies of Montana, he thrives on the stability of ranch life. But when a girl arrives in Painted Pony Creek with a shocking secret, Cord’s orderly life is upended. She’s the spitting image of the first woman who broke his heart --- a woman he hasn’t seen in years --- and he’ll do whatever he can to help her. Shallie Fletcher left heartbreak where it belongs --- in the past. And she’s done everything she can to reinvent herself and move on. But when an opportunity arises to partner with a therapeutic riding program for kids, Shallie can’t resist seeking out Cord for lessons. Back in school, he was the crush she couldn’t forget, even though he only had eyes for her best friend. Seeing him now floods her with memories…and fills her with hope.

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell - Historical Thriller

January 21, 2020

Czechoslovakia, 1935: Psychiatrist Viktor Kosárek arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane, which houses six inmates --- the country's most treacherous killers --- known to the terrified public as the Devil's Six. Viktor intends to use a new medical technique to prove that these patients share a common archetype of evil, a phenomenon he calls The Devil Aspect. Yet as he begins to learn the stunning secrets of these patients, he must face the unnerving possibility that they may share a darker truth. Meanwhile, in Prague, fear grips the city as a phantom serial killer emerges in the dark alleys. Police investigator Lukas Smolak, desperate to locate the culprit (a copycat of Jack the Ripper), turns to Viktor and the doctors at Hrad Orlu for their expertise with the psychotic criminal mind.

Freefall by Jessica Barry - Mystery/Thriller

January 21, 2020

When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, everyone assumes Allison Carpenter is dead. But Maggie, Allison’s mother back home in Owl Creek, Maine, refuses to believe them. Maggie knows her daughter --- or she used to, anyway. For the past two years, the two women have been estranged, and while Maggie doesn’t know anything about Allison’s life now --- not even why she was on a private plane to begin with --- she still believes in her girl’s strength, and in their love for each other. As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers about the world in which Allison has been involved. What was she running from? And can Maggie uncover the truth in time to save her?

Hark by Sam Lipsyte - Fiction/Satire

January 21, 2020

In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental catastrophe and spiritual confusion, so many of us find ourselves anxious and distracted, searching desperately for peace, salvation and focus. Enter Hark Morner, a failed stand-up comic turned mindfulness guru whose revolutionary program is set to captivate the masses. But for Fraz and Tovah, a middle-aged couple slogging through a very rough patch, it may take more than the tenets of Hark’s “Mental Archery” to solve the riddles of love, lust, work and parenthood on the eve of civilizational collapse. And given the sudden power of certain fringe players, it just might be too late. But what’s the point of a world, even a blasted-out post-apocalyptic world, if they don’t try with all their might to keep their marriage alive?

Henry VIII: And the Men Who Made Him by Tracy Borman - Biography

January 21, 2020

Henry VIII is best known in history for his tempestuous marriages and the fates of his six wives. However, as acclaimed historian Tracy Borman makes clear in her illuminating new chronicle of Henry’s life, his reign and reputation were hugely influenced by the men who surrounded and interacted with him as companions and confidants, servants and ministers, and occasionally as rivals --- many of whom have been underplayed in previous biographies. These relationships offer a fresh, often surprising perspective on the legendary king, revealing the contradictions in his beliefs, behavior and character in a nuanced light. They show him capable of fierce but seldom abiding loyalty, of raising men up only to destroy them later.

A Justified Murder: A Medlar Mystery by Jude Deveraux - Mystery

January 21, 2020

The small town of Lachlan, Florida, was rocked last year when two bodies were uncovered in the roots of a fallen tree. Despite their lack of investigative experience, Sara Medlar; her niece, Kate; and Jack Wyatt found themselves at the center of the mystery, working together to reveal the truth behind a decades-old secret in the sleepy town. They vowed to never again involve themselves in something so dangerous --- until Janet Beeson is murdered. The sweet little old woman has been shot, stabbed and poisoned, but no one can imagine who would want to harm one of the town’s kindest, most helpful residents. It isn’t long before Sara, Kate and Jack begin to see that there are more secrets buried in quiet Lachlan than anyone could have imagined.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land - Memoir

January 21, 2020

At 28, Stephanie Land turned to housekeeping to make ends meet. With a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly. She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor. MAID explores the underbelly of upper-middle-class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them.

No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen - Mystery/Thriller

January 21, 2020

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than "getting in touch with her feelings." For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

The Nowhere Child by Christian White - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

January 21, 2020

Kimberly Leamy is a photography teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-six years earlier, Sammy Went, a two-year-old girl, vanished from her home in Manson, Kentucky. An American accountant who contacts Kim is convinced she was that child, kidnapped just after her birthday. On April 3, 1990, Jack and Molly Went’s daughter, Sammy, disappeared from their Kentucky home. Jack did his best to raise and protect his other daughter and son while Molly found solace in her faith. The Church of the Light Within, a Pentecostal fundamentalist group, provided that faith. Now, with proof that she and Sammy are in fact the same person, Kim travels to America to reunite with a family she never knew she had.

One Good Deed by David Baldacci - Historical Thriller

January 21, 2020

When World War II veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he is sent to Poca City on parole. The small town quickly proves more complicated and dangerous than Archer's years serving in the war or his time in jail. Within a single night, his search for gainful employment --- and a stiff drink --- leads him to a local bar, where he is hired for what seems like a simple job: to collect a debt owed to a powerful local businessman, Hank Pittleman. Soon Archer discovers that recovering the debt won't be so easy. When a murder takes place right under Archer's nose, police suspicions rise against the ex-convict, and Archer realizes that the crime could send him right back to prison...if he doesn't use every skill in his arsenal to track down the real killer.

Outside Looking In by T.C. Boyle - Historical Fiction

January 21, 2020

In 1943, LSD is synthesized in Basel. Two decades later, a coterie of grad students at Harvard are gradually drawn into the inner circle of renowned psychologist and psychedelic drug enthusiast Timothy Leary. Fitzhugh Loney, a psychology Ph.D. student, and his wife, Joanie, become entranced by the drug’s possibilities such that their “research” becomes less a matter of clinical trials and academic papers and instead turns into a free-wheeling exploration of mind expansion, group dynamics and communal living. Is LSD a belief system? Does it allow you to see God? Can the Loneys’ marriage --- or any marriage, for that matter --- survive the chaotic and sometimes orgiastic use of psychedelic drugs?

The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs - Fiction

January 21, 2020

Caroline Shelby thought she’d left Oysterville, Washington, forever. Ten years ago, Caroline launched a career in the glamorous world of fashion. But her success imploded on a wave of scandal, forcing her to flee to the only safe place she knows. And in the backseat of her car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment: five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She’s now their legal guardian --- a role she’s not sure she’s ready for. Caroline returns to the sewing shop where she first discovered her passion, and discovers that even in an idyllic beach town, there are women living with the deepest of secrets. Thus begins the Oysterville Sewing Circle --- where women can join forces to support one another through the troubles they keep hidden.

The Sweet Indifference of the World written by Peter Stamm, translated by Michael Hofmann - Fiction

January 21, 2020

In Stockholm's Woodland Cemetery, Christoph tells Lena his story, which is also somehow hers. Twenty years before, he loved a woman named Magdalena --- an actress like Lena, with her looks, her personality, her past. Their breakup inspired him to write his first novel, about the time they were together, and in its scenes Lena recognizes the uncanny, intimate details of her own relationship with an aspiring writer, Chris. Is it possible that she and Chris are living the same lives as Magdalena and Christoph two decades apart? Are they headed towards the same scripted separation? Or, in the fever of writing, has Christoph lost track of what is real and what is imagined?

Together: A Memoir of a Marriage and a Medical Mishap by Judy Goldman - Memoir

January 21, 2020

When Judy Goldman’s husband of almost four decades has a routine spinal injection to alleviate back pain, he is instantly paralyzed from the waist down --- a phenomenon no doctor can explain or undo. She’s forced to take over, navigating the byzantine medical world they suddenly find themselves in. Her husband is forced to give in. This is the starting point for TOGETHER, which looks at the changes every couple faces --- the slow, ordinary ones brought about by time and the sudden, dramatic ones that take us by surprise. Identities shift; roles switch. How do we adjust? How do we let go of the if-onlys?

Wrecked: An IQ Novel by Joe Ide - Mystery

January 21, 2020

Isaiah Quintabe --- IQ for short --- has never been more successful, or felt more alone. A series of high-profile wins in his hometown of East Long Beach have made him so notorious that he can hardly go to the corner store without being recognized. Dodson, once his sidekick, is now his full-fledged partner, hell-bent on giving IQ’s PI business some real legitimacy. So when a young painter approaches IQ for help tracking down her missing mother, it’s not just the case Isaiah’s looking for, but the human connection. And when his new confidant turns out to be connected to a dangerous paramilitary operation, IQ falls victim to a threat unlike anything he’s ever encountered.