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Week of March 4, 2019

New in Paperback

Week of March 4, 2019

Paperback releases for the week of March 4th include THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn, a twisty Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house; AFTER ANNA, a groundbreaking domestic thriller, as well as a novel of emotional justice and legal intrigue, from Lisa Scottoline, who keeps readers on their toes until the final shocking page; US AGAINST YOU, an instant New York Times bestseller penned by Fredrik Backman, who reveals how loyalty, friendship and kindness can carry a town through its most challenging days; the powerful and provocative memoir HEAVY, in which genre-bending essayist and novelist Kiese Laymon explores what the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies and deception does to a black body, a black family and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse; and FLY GIRLS by Keith O'Brien, the untold story of five women who fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and '30s --- and won.

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline - Thriller

March 5, 2019

Dr. Noah Alderman has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie Ippolitti. Despite her longing for the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, Maggie is happy too, and she’s even more overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets another chance to be a mother to the child she thought she'd lost forever: her only daughter, Anna. But events take a heartbreaking turn when Anna is murdered, and Noah is accused and tried for the heinous crime. Maggie must face not only the devastation of losing her daughter, but the realization that Anna's murder may have been at the hands of a husband she loves. In the wake of this tragedy, new information drives Maggie to search for the truth, leading her to discover something darker than she ever could have imagined.

Awayland: Stories by Ramona Ausubel - Fiction/Short Stories

March 5, 2019

Ramona Ausubel’s stories span the globe and beyond, from small-town America and sunny Caribbean islands to the Arctic Ocean and the very gates of Heaven itself. And though some of the stories are steeped in mythology, they remain grounded in universal experiences. Crisscrossing the pages of AWAYLAND are travelers and expats, shadows and ghosts. A girl watches as her homesick mother slowly dissolves into literal mist. The mayor of a small Midwestern town offers a strange prize, for stranger reasons, to the parents of any baby born on Lenin's birthday. A chef bound for Mars begins an even more treacherous journey much closer to home. And a lonely heart searches for love online --- never mind that he's a Cyclops.

Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe - Thriller

March 5, 2019

Duke McKenna has run more guns, cooked more meth and killed more men than anyone around. His daughter, Harley, has been working for him since she was 16 --- collecting debts, sweet-talking her way out of trouble, and dreading the day he'd deem her ready to rule the rural drug empire he's built. The Springfields, her family's biggest rivals, are moving in. Years ago, they were responsible for her mother's death, and now they're coming for her. Harley is forced to confront the truth: that her father's violent world will destroy her. If she wants to survive and protect the people she loves, she must take out Duke's operation and the Springfields.

Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story by Chris Nashawaty - Entertainment/History

March 5, 2019

Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working class kids and the white collar buffoons who make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn’t start out that way. In CADDYSHACK: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story, Chris Nashawaty goes behind the scenes of the iconic film, chronicling the rise of comedy’s greatest deranged minds as they form The National Lampoon, turn the entertainment industry on its head, and ultimately blow up both a golf course and popular culture as we know it.

Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg - Speculative Historical Fiction

March 5, 2019

Jack Sheppard and Edgeworth Bess were the most notorious thieves, jailbreakers and lovers of 18th-century London. Yet no one knows the true story; their confessions have never been found. Until now. Reeling from heartbreak, a scholar named Dr. Voth discovers a long-lost manuscript --- a gender-defying exposé of Jack and Bess’ adventures. Is Confessions of the Fox an authentic autobiography or a hoax? As Dr. Voth is drawn deeper into Jack and Bess’ tale of underworld resistance and gender transformation, it becomes clear that their fates are intertwined --- and only a miracle will save them all.

Everybody's Son by Thrity Umrigar - Fiction

March 5, 2019

During a terrible heat wave in 1991, 10-year-old Anton has been locked in an apartment in the projects alone for seven days. Hot, hungry and desperate, he shatters a window and climbs out. Juanita, his mother, is discovered in a crack house less than three blocks away, nearly unconscious and half-naked. Though the bond between mother and son is extremely strong, Anton is placed with child services while Juanita goes to jail. Desperate to have a child in the house again after the tragic death of his teenage son, Judge David Coleman uses his power and connections to keep his new foster son, Anton, with him and his wife --- actions that will have devastating consequences in the years to come.

First Person by Richard Flanagan - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Kif Kehlmann, a young, penniless writer, thinks he’s finally caught a break when he’s offered $10,000 to ghostwrite the memoir of Siegfried “Ziggy” Heidl, the notorious con man and corporate criminal. Ziggy is about to go to trial for defrauding banks for $700 million; they have six weeks to write the book. But Ziggy is easily distracted by his still-running “business concerns” --- which Kif worries may involve hiring hitmen from their shared office. Worse, Kif finds himself being pulled into an odd, hypnotic and ever-closer orbit of all things Ziggy. As the deadline draws near, Kif becomes increasingly unsure if he is ghostwriting a memoir, or if Ziggy is rewriting him --- his life, his future and the very nature of the truth.

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien - History

March 5, 2019

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. While male pilots were lauded as heroes, the few women who dared to fly were more often ridiculed --- until a cadre of women pilots banded together to break through the entrenched prejudice. FLY GIRLS weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcée; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at her blue blood family’s expectations; and Louise Thaden, a young mother of two. Together, they fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes --- and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

March 5, 2019

They were six university students from Oxford spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway...until they met Severine, the girl next door. But after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate Channing knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive. And there are some people you can't forget...like Severine, who was never seen again. A decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts all around her.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Poornima and Savitha have three strikes against them: they are poor, they are ambitious, and they are girls. After her mother’s death, Poornima has very little kindness in her life. She is left to care for her siblings until her father can find her a suitable match. So when Savitha enters their household, Poornima is intrigued by the joyful, independent-minded girl. Suddenly their Indian village doesn't feel quite so claustrophobic, and Poornima begins to imagine a life beyond arranged marriage. But when a devastating act of cruelty drives Savitha away, Poornima leaves behind everything she has ever known to find her friend.

God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright - History

March 5, 2019

GOD SAVE TEXAS is a journey through the most controversial state in America. It is a red state, but the cities are blue and among the most diverse in the nation. Oil is still king, but Texas now leads California in technology exports. Low taxes and minimal regulation have produced extraordinary growth, but also striking income disparities. Texas looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create. Bringing together the historical and the contemporary, the political and the personal, Texas native Lawrence Wright gives us a colorful, wide-ranging portrait of a state that reflects our country not only as it is, but as it may become --- and shows how the battle for Texas’s soul encompasses us all.

Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast - Graphic Memoir

March 5, 2019

New Yorker cartoonist and New York Times bestselling author Roz Chast, native Brooklynite-turned-suburban commuter deemed the quintessential New Yorker, has always been intensely alive to the glorious spectacle that is Manhattan --- the daily clash of sidewalk racers and dawdlers, the fascinating range of dress codes, and the priceless, nutty outbursts of souls from all walks of life. Told through Chast's singularly zany, laugh-out-loud, touching and true cartoons, GOING INTO TOWN is part New York stories (the "overheard and overseen" of the island borough), part personal and practical guide to walking, talking, renting and venting --- an irresistible, one-of-a-kind love letter to the city.

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon - Memoir

March 5, 2019

In HEAVY, Kiese Laymon writes about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his trek to New York as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing and ultimately gambling. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this country actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.

Hold Back the Dark: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel by Kay Hooper - Supernatural Thriller

March 5, 2019

Trapped in a nightmare they can't escape, the residents of Prosperity are killing one another, waking up with no memory of the monstrous acts they've committed --- or the reasons why. Chief Deputy Katie Cole knows that whatever evil is afoot is beyond her expertise, and beyond the understanding of Sheriff Jackson Archer. They need help. The Special Crimes Unit is called in for its specific brand of investigation, to aid the Chosen as well as the once-peaceful mountain town. It will take all the agents' training, all their experience, and every extra sense they can call on to get to the bottom of things in Prosperity.

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea - Fiction

March 5, 2019

In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly 100, passes away, leading to a farewell doubleheader in a single weekend. Among the guests is Big Angel's half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo, shared a life. Across two bittersweet days, the revelers mingle among the palm trees and cacti, celebrating the lives of Big Angel and his mother, and recounting the many inspiring tales that have passed into family lore.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu - Supernatural/Historical Thriller

March 5, 2019

Evil is invisible, and it is everywhere. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the wagon train known as the Donner Party. Depleted rations, bitter quarrels and the mysterious death of a little boy have driven the isolated travelers to the brink of madness. Though they dream of what awaits them in the West, long-buried secrets begin to emerge, and dissent among them escalates to the point of murder and chaos. They cannot seem to escape tragedy...or the feelings that someone --- or something --- is stalking them. As members of the group begin to disappear, the survivors start to wonder if there really is something disturbing, and hungry, waiting for them in the mountains.

The Italian Party by Christina Lynch - Historical Fiction

March 5, 2019

Newly married, Scottie and Michael are seduced by Tuscany's famous beauty. But the secrets they are keeping from each other force them beneath the splendid surface to a more complex view of ltaly, America and each other. When Scottie’s Italian teacher --- a teenager with secrets of his own --- disappears, her search for him leads her to discover other, darker truths about herself, her husband and her country. Michael’s dedication to saving the world from communism crumbles as he begins to see that he is a pawn in a much different game. Driven apart by lies, Michael and Scottie must find their way through a maze of history, memory, hate and love to a new kind of complicated truth.

The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Conceived while his father, Bear, cavorted around Rome in the 1950s, Pinch learns quickly that Bear's genius trumps all. After Bear abandons his family, Pinch strives to make himself worthy of his father's attention --- first trying to be a painter himself; then resolving to write his father's biography; eventually settling, disillusioned, into a job as an Italian teacher in London. But when Bear dies, Pinch hatches a scheme to secure his father's legacy --- and make his own mark on the world.

The Lieutenant's Nurse by Sara Ackerman - Historical Fiction

March 5, 2019

November, 1941. Newly enlisted as an Army Corps nurse, Eva Cassidy is stunned by the splendor she experiences aboard the steamship SS Lurline --- and even more so by Lt. Clark Spencer, a man she is drawn to but who clearly has secrets of his own. But Eva’s past, and the future she’s trying to create, means that she’s not free to follow her heart. Clark is a navy intelligence officer, and he warns her that the United States won’t be able to hold off joining the war for long, but nothing can prepare them for the surprise attack that will change the world they know. Amid the chaos and heartbreak, Eva will have to decide whom to trust and how far she will go to protect those she loves.

Memento Park by Mark Sarvas - Fiction

March 5, 2019

After receiving an unexpected call from the Australian consulate, Matt Santos becomes aware of a painting that he believes was looted from his family in Hungary during the Second World War. To recover the painting, he must repair his strained relationship with his harshly judgmental father, uncover his family history, and restore his connection to his own Judaism. Along the way to illuminating the mysteries of his past, Matt is torn between his doting girlfriend, Tracy, and his alluring attorney, Rachel, with whom he travels to Budapest to unearth the truth about the painting and, in turn, his family.

The New Me by Halle Butler - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Thirty-year-old Millie just can't pull it together. Misanthropic and morose, she spends her days killing time at a thankless temp job until she can return home to her empty apartment, where she oscillates wildly between self-recrimination and mild delusion, fixating on all the little ways she might change her life. Then she watches TV until she drops off to sleep, and the cycle begins again. When the possibility of a full-time job offer arises, it seems to bring the better life she's envisioning --- one that involves nicer clothes, fresh produce, maybe even financial independence --- within reach. But with it also comes the paralyzing realization, lurking just beneath the surface, of just how hollow that vision has become.

The Only Story by Julian Barnes - Fiction

March 5, 2019

One summer in the ’60s, 19-year-old Paul comes home from university and is urged by his mother to join the tennis club. There he is partnered with Susan Macleod, a fine player who is married with two nearly adult daughters. She is a warm companion, her bond with Paul immediate. And soon, inevitably, they are lovers. Basking in the glow of one another, they set up house together in London. Decades later, Paul looks back at how they fell in love and how everything fell apart. As he turns over his only story in his mind, examining it from different vantage points, he finds himself confronted with the contradictions and slips of his own memory --- and the ways in which our narratives and our lives shape one another.

The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Thriller

March 5, 2019

Gideon Crew --- brilliant scientist, master thief, intrepid adventurer --- is shocked when his former employer, Eli Glinn, vanishes without a trace, and Glinn's high-tech lab Effective Engineering Solutions shuts down seemingly overnight. Fresh off a diagnosis that gives him only months to live, Crew is contacted by one of his former coworkers at EES, Manuel Garza, who has a bead on one final treasure hinted at in EES's final case, the long-awaited translation of a centuries-old stone tablet of a previously undiscovered civilization: The Phaistos Disc. What lies at the end of the trail will either save Gideon's life or bring it to a sudden, shocking close.

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza - Fiction

March 5, 2019

As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?

The Quintland Sisters by Shelley Wood - Historical Fiction

March 5, 2019

Reluctant midwife Emma Trimpany is just 17 when she assists at the harrowing birth of the Dionne quintuplets: five tiny miracles born to French farmers in hardscrabble Northern Ontario in 1934. Emma cares for them through their perilous first days, and when the government decides to remove the babies from their francophone parents, she signs on as their nurse. Over 6,000 daily visitors come to ogle the identical “Quints” playing in their custom-built playground; at the height of the Great Depression, the tourism and advertising dollars pour in. As the fight over custody and revenues turns increasingly explosive, Emma is torn between the fishbowl sanctuary of Quintland and the wider world, now teetering on the brink of war.

The Rising Sea: A Kurt Austin Adventure by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown - Thriller/Adventure

March 5, 2019

An alarming rise in the world's sea levels sends Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA scientific team rocketing around the globe in search of answers. What they find at the bottom of the East China Sea, however, is even worse than they imagined: a diabolical plan to upset the Pacific balance of power --- and in the process displace as many as a billion people. A rare alloy unlike anything else on earth, a pair of 500-year-old Japanese talismans, an assassin so violent even the Yakuza has disowned him, an audacious technological breakthrough that will become a very personal nightmare for Kurt Austin --- the NUMA team must risk everything to head off the coming catastrophe.

Small Country by Gaël Faye - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Burundi, 1992. For 10-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expatriate neighborhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister Ana is something close to paradise. These are carefree days of laughter and adventure --- sneaking Supermatch cigarettes and gorging on stolen mangoes --- as he and his mischievous gang of friends transform their tiny cul-de-sac into their kingdom. But dark clouds are gathering over this small country, and soon their peaceful existence will shatter when Burundi, and neighboring Rwanda, are brutally hit by civil war and genocide.

Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Raised by two attentive parents, Niru is a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school. Bound for Harvard in the fall, his prospects are bright. But Niru has a painful secret: he is queer --- an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents. No one knows except Meredith, his best friend and the one person who seems not to judge him. When his father accidentally discovers Niru is gay, the fallout is brutal and swift. As Niru and Meredith struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves speeding toward a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine.

Tom Clancy Line of Sight: A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel by Mike Maden - Thriller/Adventure

March 5, 2019

Twenty-six years ago, Dr. Cathy Ryan restored the eyesight of a young Bosnian girl who had been injured during an attack in the Bosnian War. Today, her son, Jack Ryan Jr., has agreed to track down the young woman and deliver a letter from his mother. What he finds shocks them both. The helpless child has grown into a remarkable woman. Aida Curic is a self-possessed beauty with a big heart and an even bigger secret who runs a controversial refugee agency near Sarajevo. Jack is deeply drawn to both her and her country, but soon finds himself in the crosshairs of the seething ethnic tensions and ancient blood feuds of the Balkans, the region of Europe where empires go to die.

Unmasked: A Memoir by Andrew Lloyd Webber - Memoir

March 5, 2019

One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita," "Cats," "The Phantom of the Opera" --- Broadway’s longest running show --- and, most recently, "School of Rock." In UNMASKED, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance that brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him.

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that Beartown ice hockey might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team, take in that fact. But then a newcomer arrives who gives Beartown hockey a surprising new coach and a chance at a comeback. As the big game approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt intensifies. By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead.

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn - Psychological Thriller

March 5, 2019

Anna Fox lives alone --- a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times...and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother and their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble --- and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, no one --- and nothing --- is what it seems.

The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss - History/Politics

March 5, 2019

Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have approved the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. One last state --- Tennessee --- is needed for women's voting rights to be the law of the land. The suffragists face vicious opposition from politicians, clergy, corporations and racists who don't want black women voting. And then there are the "Antis" --- women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing that suffrage will bring about the nation's moral collapse. And in one hot summer, they all converge for a confrontation, replete with booze and blackmail, betrayal and courage.

Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes - Fiction

March 5, 2019

Kit Raine, an American writer living in Tuscany, is working on a biography of her close friend, a complex woman who continues to cast a shadow on Kit’s own life. Her work is waylaid by the arrival of three women --- Julia, Camille and Susan --- all of whom have launched a recent and spontaneous friendship that will uproot them completely and redirect their lives. Susan, the most adventurous of the three, has enticed them to subvert expectations of staid retirement by taking a lease on a big, beautiful house in Tuscany. With Kit’s friendship and guidance, the three friends launch themselves into Italian life, pursuing passions long-forgotten --- and with drastic and unforeseeable results.