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Week of January 6, 2025

New in Paperback

Week of January 6, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of January 6th include YELLOWFACE, a chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R. F. Kuang that grapples with questions of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media; KING: A Life by Jonathan Eig, the first major biography in decades of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. --- and the first to include recently declassified FBI files; NONE OF THIS IS TRUE, an unputdownable psychological thriller from Lisa Jewell that follows a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast; Lisa Gardner's STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE, a twisty novel of suspense featuring missing persons expert Frankie Elkin, who is tasked with locating the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time; and MY FRIENDS by Hisham Matar, a luminous novel of friendship, family and the unthinkable realities of exile.

Argylle by Elly Conway - Thriller

January 7, 2025

A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny. A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland. A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades. One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events that will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who just may have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first.

The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri - Fiction

January 7, 2025

In present-day Greece, deep in an ancient forest, lives a family: Irini, a musician, who teaches children to read and play music; her husband, Tasso, who paints pictures of the forest, his greatest muse; and Chara, their young daughter, whose name means joy. On the fateful day that will forever alter the trajectory of their lives, flames chase fleeing birds across the sky. The wildfire that will consume their home, and their lives as they know it, races toward them. Months later, as the village tries to rebuild, Irini stumbles upon the man who started the fire, a land speculator who had intended only a small, controlled burn to clear forestland to build on but instead ignited a catastrophe. He is dying, although the cause is unclear, and in her anger at all he took from them, Irini makes a split-second decision that will haunt her.

Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux - Historical Fiction

January 7, 2025

At age 19, young Eton graduate Eric Blair set sail for India, dreading the assignment ahead. Along with several other young conscripts, he would be trained for three years as a servant of the British Empire, overseeing the local policemen in Burma. Navigating the social, racial and class politics of his fellow British at the same time as he learned the local languages and struggled to control his men would prove difficult enough. But doing all of this while grappling with his own self-worth, his sense that he was not cut out for this, is soon overwhelming for the young Blair. Eventually, his clashes with his superiors, and the drama that unfolds in this hot, beautiful land, will change him forever.

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering - Domestic Thriller

January 7, 2025

On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It's her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she's just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering --- with a jolt of fear --- that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world. Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind --- including Billie, who no longer fits into her world. But Billie knows the worst thing Cassie has ever done, and she will do whatever it takes to restore their friendship.

The Capital of Dreams by Heather O'Neill - Dystopian Fiction

January 7, 2025

Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can 14-year-old Sofia ever hope to win her mother’s love? When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother’s most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost.

Death of a Spy: A Hamish Macbeth Murder Mystery by M. C. Beaton with R.W. Green - Mystery

January 7, 2025

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is worried about how the folks of Lochdubh will react to his new assistant officer: the enigmatic American James Bland, whose true mission is to track down the members of a Russian spy network. In the meantime, he and Bland deal with the usual crop of traffic incidents, lost wallets, lost dogs and lost people, but a spate of burglaries committed by a man dubbed “Spiderman” give Hamish cause for serious concern. Hamish has to use all of his contacts and every ounce of his Highland guile to find the robber and protect the village.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan - Gothic Horror/Mystery

January 7, 2025

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits. Sana finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: to the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects --- and to the door at its end, locked for decades. Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Sana digs into the past, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.

The Fetishist by Katherine Min - Fiction

January 7, 2025

On a cold, gloomy night, 23-year-old Kyoko stands in the rain with a knife in her hoodie’s pocket. Her target is Daniel, who seduced Kyoko’s mother and then callously dropped her, leading to her death. But tonight there will be repercussions. Following the unsuspecting Daniel home, Kyoko manages to get a rash kidnapping plot off the ground…and then nothing goes as planned. THE FETISHIST is the story of three people --- Kyoko, a Japanese American punk-rock singer full of rage and grief; Daniel, a philandering violinist forced to confront the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel’s life, a Korean American cello prodigy long adored for her beauty, passion and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved.

Goodbye Girl: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando - Legal Thriller

January 7, 2025

Jack Swyteck’s latest client, Imani Nichols, is a Grammy-winning pop star whose career has skyrocketed. Despite her success, she’s the most underpaid superstar on the planet because of an onerous record contract she signed as a teenager with her now ex-husband, Shaky Nichols. Preferring to see thieves profit from her music than let her ex-husband pocket one more dime, Imani takes to social media and tells her millions of fans to “go pirate” and download her music illegally. Her hardball tactic leads to scorched-earth litigation, and now she needs Jack’s help. The case takes a deadly turn when salacious allegations of infidelity send Imani and Shaky down a path of mutual assured destruction, each implicating the other in the unsolved murder of Imani’s extramarital lover 12 years ago.

Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson - Humor/Essays

January 7, 2025

Amy Wilson believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first, do what she was told, finish what she started, and look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not. Along the way, Amy started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. Still, when she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was particularly interested in taking them. And when she asked for help, in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor, quit nagging and stop trying to be perfect. Amy dutifully took on these goals --- with varying degrees of failure --- until the day she started to question if something else needed to be fixed besides herself. HAPPY TO HELP is a collection of essays about how you can be the one everyone else depends on and still be struggling --- how you can be “happy to help,” even when, for your own sake, you shouldn’t.

Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton - Fiction

January 7, 2025

Raised --- and often neglected --- by a wayward mother, Rose finally has built the life she’s always wanted. Her sister Cecilia, on the other hand, has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love. When Cecilia declares she’s come home for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia finally might be ready to face adulthood. But then Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon, a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe, and soon vanishes --- one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself. But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too.

Hero by Thomas Perry - Thriller

January 7, 2025

Justine Poole provides security for wealthy and high-profile Hollywood stars. When she prevents a brazen robbery at the Beverly Hills home of two of her clients --- killing two of the five armed robbers in the process --- she is initially lauded in the media as a local hero. But the spotlight soon puts her in the crosshairs of the crime kingpin behind the burglaries. Unable to stand the embarrassment of his lackeys having been defeated by a lone woman, Mr. Conger puts in a call to the one man who can make his problems disappear. Known for his swiftness and subtlety, Leo Sealy will kill anyone for a price. Luckily for him, the local news is as eager as he is for any information about the heroic bodyguard --- and quick to broadcast their findings, regardless of what it might mean for her safety. But Sealy isn’t prepared for just how quick and resourceful Justine can be.

Holiday Country by İnci Atrek - Fiction

January 7, 2025

Ada adores spending every summer in a Turkish seaside town with her mother and grandmother at the family villa. The glittering waters, endless olive groves and her spirited friends make it easy to leave her idle life in California behind. But no matter how much Ada feels that she belongs to the country where her mother grew up, deep down, her connection to the culture feels as fleeting as the seasons. When Levent, a mysterious man from her mother’s past, shows up in their town, Ada can’t help but imagine a different future for her mother --- one that promises a return to home, to love, to happiness. But while playing matchmaker, Ada has to come to terms with her own intensifying attraction to Levent. Does the future she’s fighting for belong to her mother --- or to her alone?

Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh - Psychological Thriller

January 7, 2025

One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: If you kill for me, I’ll kill for you. In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig - Biography

January 7, 2025

Jonathan Eig’s KING: A LIFE is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. --- and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. The bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins, as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father and fellow activists. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma and Memphis, Eig dramatically recreates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father --- as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns - Fiction

January 7, 2025

It’s 1990, and 17-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town is three men standing on a rooftop. The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface, and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance.

My Friends by Hisham Matar - Fiction

January 7, 2025

One evening, as a young boy growing up in Benghazi, Khaled hears a bizarre short story read aloud on the radio, about a man being eaten alive by a cat. Obsessed by the power of those words --- and by their enigmatic author, Hosam Zowa --- Khaled eventually embarks on a journey to pursue a life of the mind at the University of Edinburgh. There, thrust into an open society that is miles away from the world he knew in Libya, Khaled begins to change. He attends a protest against the Qaddafi regime in London, only to watch it explode into tragedy. In a flash, Khaled finds himself injured and clinging to life. When a chance encounter in a hotel brings Khaled face to face with Hosam Zowa, the author of the fateful short story, he is subsumed into the deepest friendship of his life.

No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones - History

January 7, 2025

Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation’s hub of radical abolitionism. In fact, however, the city was far from a beacon of equality. In NO RIGHT TO AN HONEST LIVING, historian Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small: a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive. Before, during and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunity for Black Bostonians, condemning most of them to poverty. Still, Jones finds, some Black entrepreneurs ingeniously created their own jobs and forged their own career paths.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell - Psychological Thriller

January 7, 2025

Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and Alix can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets. Before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life --- and into her home. But as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix realize that her life and her family’s lives are under mortal threat.

Nonna Maria and the Case of the Lost Treasure by Lorenzo Carcaterra - Mystery

January 7, 2025

As Nonna Maria’s longtime pal and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino, who is in charge of the local carabinieri, never wanted to see harm brought to the doorstep of everyone’s favorite amateur sleuth. But when you live a long life, you’re bound to make a few enemies. And when those enemies come calling, you have to rely on friends. Faced with an assassin seeking revenge for a decades-old grudge, Captain Murino has no choice but to turn to Maria, who must use all her neighborly resources, clever faculties and web of connections to save him from his perilous predicament. On the other side of the island, a second mystery begins to unfold at the deathbed of another of Maria’s old friends, as he hands his granddaughter a yellowed map and tells her of a treasure to be found in one of Ischia’s secret caverns. However, there are traps and pitfalls.

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

January 7, 2025

On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, speed through the streets of Manhattan to the Down and Dirty club, where a joyful, boisterous pre-wedding girls’ night out has turned into a murder scene. One of the brides lies in a pool of blood, garroted in a private room where she was preparing a surprise for her fiancée --- two scrimped and saved-for tickets to Hawaii. Despite the dozens of people present, useful witnesses are hard to come by. Eve knows that the level of violence and the apparent premeditation involved suggest a volatile mix of hidden, heated passion and ice-cold calculation. This is a crime that can be countered only by hard detective work and relentless dedication. Eve will not stop until she finds the killer who destroyed this couple’s dreams before the honeymoon even began.

The Perfect Home by Daniel Kenitz - Domestic Thriller

January 7, 2025

Dawn Decker is an American everywoman and the salt to her husband Wyatt’s sweet, media-friendly charm on their Tennessee-based home renovation reality TV show, “The Perfect Home.” But the couple faces infertility issues stemming from Wyatt’s low sperm count. He secretly orders experimental fertility drugs, and they conceive, but his personality takes a dark turn --- he becomes moody, withdrawn and even cruel. When Dawn discovers his horrifying plot to manufacture a tragedy in order to skyrocket their celebrity status, she takes their infant twins and goes on the run. Wyatt appears on national television to turn the public against her, painting Dawn as an unstable kidnapper suffering from postpartum psychosis. His charm is so compelling that even Dawn’s closest friends doubt her.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - Historical Fiction/Horror

January 7, 2025

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

River of Lies by James L'Etoile - Mystery/Thriller

January 7, 2025

When the homeless camps spread throughout the city of Sacramento fall victim to a string of devastating arson attacks, Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Javier Medina, dive into the investigation and become acquainted with the real people whose lives have been destroyed. The attacks only begin to draw attention when two of the victims are identified as the city’s former anti-homeless mayor and a camp social worker. But rather than strengthening the push for justice, the movement to completely abolish the camps intensifies. The investigation becomes politically charged when Emily discovers who stands to gain from burning the homeless out of their shelters. It uncovers an unlikely suspect and a reluctant witness standing between Emily and the shocking truth.

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner - Mystery/Thriller

January 7, 2025

Missing persons expert and nomadic loner Frankie Elkin travels the country searching for the lost ones the rest of the world has forgotten. Her specialty: cold cases that generally end sadly. But this one could be different. Kaylee Pierson, “The Beautiful Butcher,” confessed from the start to enticing 18 men home before slitting their throats. As the clock winds down to her death, Pierson finally has received a lead on her baby sister, abducted years ago. Kaylee’s dying wish: to know Leilani is safe and sound. Frankie is eager to possibly rescue a teenage girl, even if it involves flying to a remote atoll in the Pacific, where a charming tycoon is constructing an eco-resort --- and possibly holding Leilani against her will. But now Frankie is trapped on an island with a dozen strangers and numerous deadly deceptions. As the danger mounts, she faces her toughest challenge.

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura - Romantic Comedy

January 7, 2025

While her mentor may be the world’s most badass archaeologist, the only thing bad about Dr. Miriam Jacobs are her corny jokes. But when Miri is charged with leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon for the fabled Lost City of the Moon, she finally has her chance to prove to her colleagues that she’s capable. Journalist Rafael Monfils has joined the archaeological team to chronicle their search for the lost city. Or at least that’s what they think he’s doing. Rafa’s real goal? Make sure the team does not reach the Cidade da Lua, stopping the desecration of the holy city and protecting his mother’s legacy. All he needs to do is keep them on the wrong path. If only the endearingly quirky Dr. Jacobs wasn’t so damn tenacious. But they’re not the only crew hunting for the lost city, and soon the untamed jungle --- and their untamed hearts --- might be the least of their worries.

Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts - Fiction

January 7, 2025

Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island’s small, close-knit community. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together was once all she needed. But now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out. One night, an idealistic sailor appears on her doorstep asking her to call him Ishmael. Yet her careful illusion suddenly begins to fracture. He soon sails away with Ahab to hunt an infamous white whale, and Evangeline is left to forge a new life from the pieces that remain. Her choices ripple through generations, across continents and into the depths of the sea.

Wild Houses by Colin Barrett - Fiction

January 7, 2025

As Ballina prepares for its biggest weekend of the year, introspective loner Dev answers his door on Friday night to find Doll English --- the younger brother of small-time local dealer Cillian English --- bruised and in the clutches of Gabe and Sketch Ferdia, County Mayo’s fraternal enforcers and Dev’s cousins. Dev’s quiet homelife is upturned as he is quickly and unwillingly drawn headlong into the Ferdias' frenetic revenge plot against Cillian. Meanwhile, Doll’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Nicky --- reeling from a fractious Friday and plagued by ghosts and tragedy of her own --- sets out on a feverish mission to save Doll, even as she questions her future in Ballina.

The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes - Political Thriller

January 7, 2025

If, like Kane, you’re a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again --- by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide --- and when to shoot. But some places don’t play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane’s experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place --- a place where violence is the only way to survive. Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West, but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang - Fiction

January 7, 2025

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But while Athena is a literary darling, June is literally nobody. When June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song --- complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her.

You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America by Paul Kix - History

January 7, 2025

It’s one of the iconic photographs of American history: a Black teenager, a policeman and his lunging German Shepherd. Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963. In May 2020, as reporter Paul Kix stared at a different photo --- that of a Minneapolis police officer suffocating George Floyd --- he kept returning to the other photo taken half a century earlier, haunted by its echoes. What, Kix wondered, was the full legacy of the Birmingham photo? And of the campaign it stemmed from? In YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO DIE BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO LIVE, Paul Kix takes the reader behind the scenes as he tells the story of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s pivotal 10-week campaign in 1963 to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.

You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley - Fiction

January 7, 2025

After a lifetime of taking care of his impossible but irresistible sister and his cherished niece, Tom is ready to put himself first. An architect specializing in tiny houses, he finally has an opportunity to build his masterpiece. Assuming, that is, he can stick to his resolution to keep the demands of his needy family at bay. Naturally, that’s when his phone rings. His niece, Cecily --- the real love of Tom’s life, as his boyfriend reminded him when moving out --- is embroiled in a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches that threatens her career and relationship. And after decades of lying, his sister wants him to help her tell Cecily the real identity of her father. Tom does what he’s always done --- answers the call. Thus begins a journey that will change everyone’s life.