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Week of October 19, 2020

New in Paperback

Week of October 19, 2020

Paperback releases for the week of October 19th include THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, a shocking thriller from Harlan Coben about a man with a mysterious past who must find a missing teenage girl; NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite; THE OLD SUCCESS, the 25th mystery in Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series, in which an unlikely trio of detectives teams up to solve three puzzling murders that span three counties across England; MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN, an essay collection from Leslie Jamison that explores the oceanic depths of longing and the reverberations of obsession; and ATTICUS FINCH, in which historian Joseph Crespino draws on exclusive sources to reveal how Harper Lee's father provided the central inspiration for each of her books.

Atticus Finch: The Biography: Harper Lee, Her Father, and the Making of an American Icon by Joseph Crespino - Biography

October 20, 2020

The publication of GO SET A WATCHMAN in 2015 forever changed how we think about Atticus Finch. Once seen as a paragon of decency, he was reduced to a small-town racist. In ATTICUS FINCH, historian Joseph Crespino draws on exclusive sources to reveal how Harper Lee's father provided the central inspiration for each of her books. A lawyer and newspaperman, A. C. Lee was a principled opponent of mob rule, yet he was also a racial paternalist. Harper Lee created the Atticus of WATCHMAN out of the ambivalence she felt toward white southerners like him. But when a militant segregationist movement arose that mocked his values, she revised the character in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD to defend her father and to remind the South of its best traditions.

The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben - Thriller

October 20, 2020

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing. No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father --- with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde, with whom she shares a tragic connection, to use his unique skills to help find Naomi. Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi, he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions.

Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan - Fiction

October 20, 2020

On a tiny, beautiful and remote island, a new hotel opening is a big event. New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother, Fintan, are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas. Its impressive kitchens throw together two unlikely new friends. Isla Gregor is a hardworking young girl who has been a waitress in the island's cafe, dreaming of a bigger, better life. Konstantin Pederson is working his way up in the hotel's kitchens too…but he is also, secretly, the only son of the Duke of Utsire. Konstantin has been sent to learn what it is to work hard for a living, before receiving his inheritance. As the island’s residents and special VIP guests gather for the grand opening gala, Christmas is in the air. But so are more than a few small-town secrets.

The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White - Fiction

October 20, 2020

The ongoing excavation of the centuries-old cistern in the garden of Melanie Trenholm’s historic Tradd Street home has been a huge millstone, both financially and aesthetically. Local students are thrilled by the possibility of unearthing more Colonial-era artifacts at the cistern, but Melanie is concerned by the ghosts connected to it that have suddenly invaded her life and her house. A past adversary is convinced there is a long-lost Revolutionary War treasure buried somewhere on the property Melanie inherited --- untold riches rumored to have been brought over from France by the Marquis de Lafayette himself and intended to help the Colonial war effort. This person will stop at nothing to possess it, even if it means destroying everything Melanie and Jack hold dear.

The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann - Biography

October 20, 2020

The most influential movie actor of his era, Marlon Brando changed the way other actors perceived their craft. His approach was natural, honest and deeply personal, resulting in performances --- most notably in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront --- that are without parallel. Brando’s impact on American culture matches his professional significance; he both challenged and codified our ideas of masculinity and sexuality. Brando was also one of the first stars to use his fame as a platform to address social, political and moral issues, courageously calling out America’s deeply rooted racism. William Mann’s biography of the Hollywood legend illuminates this culture icon for a new age.

The Cookbook Club: A Novel of Food and Friendship by Beth Harbison - Fiction

October 20, 2020

Margo Everson sees the call out for The Cookbook Club and knows she has found her people. Recently dumped by her self-absorbed husband, she has little to show for her marriage but a dilapidated old farm house and a collection of well-loved cookbooks. Aja Alexander just hopes her new-found friends won’t notice that she gets queasy every time she looks at food. It’s hard hiding a pregnancy, especially one she can’t bring herself to share with her wealthy boyfriend and his snooty mother. Trista Walker left the cutthroat world of the law behind and decided her fate was to open a restaurant…not the most secure choice ever. The women bond immediately, but it’s not all popovers with melted brie and blackberry jam.

Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West by H. W. Brands - History

October 20, 2020

In DREAMS OF EL DORADO, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes us from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush. He shows how the migrants' dreams drove them to feats of courage and perseverance that put their stay-at-home cousins to shame --- and how those same dreams also drove them to outrageous acts of violence against indigenous peoples and one another. The West was where riches would reward the miner's persistence, the cattleman's courage, the railroad man's enterprise. But El Dorado was at least as elusive in the West as it ever was in the East.

The German House written by Annette Hess, translated by Elisabeth Lauffer - Historical Fiction

October 20, 2020

Eager for her wealthy suitor, Jürgen Schoormann, to propose, Eva Bruhns dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva’s plans are turned upside down when an investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial. As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family’s silence on the war and her future. Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience, joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice --- a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.

Girl by Edna O'Brien - Fiction

October 20, 2020

I was a girl once, but not anymore. So begins GIRL, Edna O’Brien’s harrowing portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram. Set in the deep countryside of northeast Nigeria, this is a brutal story of incarceration, horror and hunger; a hair-raising escape into the manifold terrors of the forest; and a descent into the labyrinthine bureaucracy and hostility awaiting a victim who returns home with a child blighted by enemy blood.

How the Dead Speak: A Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Novel by Val McDermid - Mystery/Thriller

October 20, 2020

Construction is suddenly halted on the redevelopment of an orphanage after dozens of skeletons are found buried in the grounds. Forensic examination reveals they date from between 20 and 40 years ago, when the nuns were running their repressive regime. But then a different set of skeletons are discovered in a far corner, young men from as recent as 10 years ago. When newly promoted DI Paula McIntyre learns that one of the male skeletons is that of a killer who is supposedly alive and behind bars --- and the subject of one of Carol Jordan’s miscarriage investigations --- it brings Tony Hill and Carol irresistibly into each other’s orbit once again.

The Innocents by Michael Crummey - Historical Fiction

October 20, 2020

A brother and sister are orphaned in an isolated cove on Newfoundland's northern coastline. Their home is a stretch of rocky shore governed by the feral ocean, by a relentless pendulum of abundance and murderous scarcity. Still children with only the barest notion of the outside world, they have nothing but the family's boat and the little knowledge passed on haphazardly by their mother and father to keep them alive. Muddling through the severe round of the seasons, through years of meager catches and storms and ravaging illness, it is their fierce loyalty to each other that motivates and sustains them. But as seasons pass and they wade deeper into the mystery of their own natures, even that loyalty will be tested.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays by Leslie Jamison - Essays

October 20, 2020

In its kaleidoscopic sweep, MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN creates a profound exploration of the oceanic depths of longing and the reverberations of obsession. Among Leslie Jamison's subjects are 52 Blue, deemed "the loneliest whale in the world"; the eerie past-life memories of children; the devoted citizens of an online world called Second Life; the haunted landscape of the Sri Lankan Civil War; and an entire museum dedicated to the relics of broken relationships. Jamison follows these examinations to more personal reckonings --- with elusive men and ruptured romances, with marriage and maternity --- in essays about eloping in Las Vegas, becoming a stepmother and giving birth.

Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery by Agatha Christie - Mystery/Short Stories

October 20, 2020

There’s a chill in the air, and the days are growing shorter. It’s the perfect time to curl up in front of a crackling fire with these wintry whodunits from the legendary Agatha Christie. But beware of deadly snowdrifts and dangerous gifts, poisoned meals and mysterious guests. This chilling compendium of short stories --- some featuring beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple --- is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect holiday gift for mystery lovers.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo - Supernatural Thriller/Dark Fantasy

October 20, 2020

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs and much, much worse. In fact, by age 20, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. She arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, but their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

The Old Success: A Richard Jury Mystery by Martha Grimes - Mystery

October 20, 2020

When the body of a French woman washes up on a wild inlet off the Cornish coast, Brian Macalvie, divisional commander with the Devon-Cornwall police, is called in. While he stands in the Sicily Islands, Inspector Richard Jury --- 20 miles away on Land’s End --- is at The Old Success pub, sharing a drink with the legendary former CID detective Tom Brownell, a man renowned for solving every case he undertook. Except one. In the days following the mysterious slaying of the Parisian tourist, two other murders take place: first, a man is shot on a Northhamptonshire estate, then a holy duster turns up murdered at Exeter Cathedral in Devon. Macalvie, Jury and Bronwell set out to discover if these three killings, though very different in execution, are connected.

Pursuit by Joyce Carol Oates - Supernatural Thriller

October 20, 2020

As a child, Abby had the same recurring nightmare night after night, in which she wandered through a field ridden with human skulls and bones. Now an adult, Abby thinks she’s outgrown her demons, until, the evening before her wedding, the terrible dream returns and forces her to confront the dark secrets from her past she has kept from her new husband, Willem. The following day --- less than 24 hours after exchanging vows --- Abby steps out into traffic. As his wife lies in her hospital bed, sleeping in fits and starts, Willem tries to determine whether this was an absentminded accident or a premeditated plunge, and he quickly discovers a mysterious set of clues about what his wife might be hiding.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James - Supernatural Thriller

October 20, 2020

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City. To help pay for it, she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary. Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.

Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller - History

October 20, 2020

Vicksburg, Mississippi, was the last stronghold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented the Union from using the river for shipping between the Union-controlled Midwest and New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The Union navy tried to take Vicksburg, which sat on a high bluff overlooking the river, but couldn’t do it. General Grant moved his army south and joined forces with Admiral Porter, but even together they could not come up with a successful plan. At one point, Grant even tried to build a canal so that the river could be diverted away from Vicksburg. In VICKSBURG, Donald L. Miller tells the full story of this year-long campaign to win the city.

Wrecked: A Faye Longchamp Mystery by Mary Anna Evans - Mystery

October 20, 2020

The suspicious drowning death of Captain Edward Eubank breaks archaeologist Faye Longchamp's heart. It also confuses her, because he was found in scuba gear and she's never heard him even mention scuba diving. During their last conversation, he told her that he believed he'd found a storied shipwreck, but when Faye checks it out, she finds nothing there. If there's no treasure, then why is her friend dead? But the situation quickly escalates beyond a murder mystery. Surrounded by a community struggling in the aftermath of a major hurricane that has changed the very landscape, Faye grapples not only with the loss of her friend, but with her fears for her daughter, who is being romanced by a man who may be very dangerous.