Skip to main content

Week of September 21, 2020

New in Paperback

Week of September 21, 2020

Paperback releases for the week of September 21st include Thomas Harris' CARI MORA, a pulse-pounding thriller from the author of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in which a resilient young woman must outwit a sadistic psychopath; FRANKISSSTEIN by Jeanette Winterson, an audacious love story that weaves together disparate lives into an exploration of transhumanism, artificial intelligence and queer love; Julia Kelly's latest historical novel, THE WHISPERS OF WAR, which follows three friends who struggle to remain loyal as one of them is threatened with internment by the British government at the start of World War II; and CLEAR MY NAME by Paula Daly, a page-turning work of psychological suspense about an investigator who, in order to free her client, must confront secrets she has struggled a lifetime to hide.

Cari Mora by Thomas Harris - Thriller

September 22, 2020

Twenty-five million dollars in cartel gold lies hidden beneath a mansion on the Miami Beach waterfront. Ruthless men have tracked it for years. Leading the pack is Hans-Peter Schneider. Driven by unspeakable appetites, he makes a living fleshing out the violent fantasies of other, richer men. Cari Mora, caretaker of the house, has escaped from the violence in her native country. She stays in Miami on a wobbly Temporary Protected Status, subject to the iron whim of ICE. She works at many jobs to survive. Beautiful and marked by war, Cari catches the eye of Hans-Peter as he closes in on the treasure. But Cari Mora has surprising skills, and her will to survive has been tested before.

The Chain by Adrian McKinty - Psychological Thriller

September 22, 2020

Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything. It's a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn't do as she's told, the boy will die. Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals --- and is making someone else very rich in the process.

Clear My Name by Paula Daly - Psychological Thriller

September 22, 2020

When Carrie was accused of brutally murdering her husband’s lover, she denied it. Now she’s three years into her 15-year sentence, gradually losing hope and separated from her pregnant daughter, but she is still maintaining her innocence. Tess is the only paid employee of Innocence UK, a charity that helps clear people wrongfully convicted of crimes, and accepts Carrie’s case. Meanwhile, Tess is also paired with Avril, a naïve young investigator-in-training, but unexpectedly bolts when she’s tipped off to a witness who could possibly prove Carrie didn’t commit the crime. While Tess and Avril work the case, re-interviewing witnesses and testing assumptions made at the time of the arrest, the tension ratchets up in both the case and Tess’ personal life.

Elements of Fiction by Walter Mosley - Writing/Reference

September 22, 2020

In his essential writing guide, THIS YEAR YOU WRITE YOUR NOVEL, Walter Mosley supplied aspiring writers with the basic tools to write a novel in one year. In this complementary follow-up, he guides the writer through the elements of not just any fiction writing, but the kind of writing that transcends convention and truly stands out. In a series of instructive and conversational chapters, Mosley demonstrates how to master fiction's most essential elements: character and character development, plot and story, voice and narrative, context and description, and more. The result is a vivid depiction of the writing process from the blank page to the first draft to rewriting and rewriting again.

Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic by Ben Westhoff - Social Science/Current Affairs

September 22, 2020

A deeply human story, FENTANYL, INC. is the first deep-dive investigation of a hazardous and illicit industry that has created a worldwide epidemic, ravaging communities and overwhelming and confounding government agencies that are challenged to combat it. Drugs like fentanyl, K2 and Spice --- and those with arcane acronyms like 25i-NBOMe --- were all originally conceived in legitimate laboratories for proper scientific and medicinal purposes. Their formulas were then hijacked and manufactured by rogue chemists, largely in China, who change their molecular structures to stay ahead of the law, making the drugs’ effects impossible to predict. Ben Westhoff has infiltrated this shadowy world.

Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson - Horror/Romance

September 22, 2020

Lake Geneva, 1816. Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley is inspired to write a story about a scientist who creates a new life-form. In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI and carrying out some experiments of his own in a vast underground network of tunnels. Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with his mom again, is set to make his fortune launching a new generation of sex dolls for lonely men everywhere. Across the Atlantic, in Phoenix, Arizona, a cryogenics facility houses dozens of bodies of men and women who are medically and legally dead… but waiting to return to life. What will happen when homo sapiens is no longer the smartest being on the planet?

Mortmain Hall: A Rachel Savernake Golden Age Mystery by Martin Edwards - Historical Mystery

September 22, 2020

In 1930, a chilling encounter on London's Necropolis Railway leads to murder, and a man escapes the gallows after a witness gives sensational evidence. After this string of strange, fatal events, journalist Jacob Flint discovers that he has been framed for murder. To save himself, he flees to Mortmain Hall, a remote estate on the northern coast. There, an eccentric female criminologist hosts a gathering of eclectic people who have all escaped miscarriages of cruel justice. When a body is found beneath the cliffs near the house, it seems this gathering might be an ingenious plot to get away with murder. Jacob must now set out to uncover the labyrinthine of secrets within Mortmain Hall, alongside Rachel Savernake, a woman whose relentless quest for the truth might just bring down the British establishment.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva - Historical Fiction

September 22, 2020

Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, and relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses. And a serious bout of writer’s block sets in. Frazzled and filled with self-doubt, Dickens seeks solace in his great palace of thinking, the city of London itself. On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs.

The Nobodies by Liza Palmer - Fiction/Humor

September 22, 2020

If there's one thing Joan Dixon knows about herself, it's that she is a damn good journalist. But when she is laid off from yet another soon-to-be-shuttered newspaper, and even the soulless, listicle-writing online jobs have dried up, she is left with few options. So she goes to work as a junior copywriter at Bloom, a Los Angeles startup where her bosses are all a decade younger. For once, Joan has a steady paycheck and a stable job. She befriends a group of misfit coworkers and even begins a real relationship. But once a journalist, always a journalist, and as Joan starts to poke beneath Bloom’s bright surface, she realizes that she may have accidentally stumbled onto the scoop of her lifetime. Is it worth risking everything for the sake of the story?

Rag and Bone: A Jay Porter Novel by Joe Clifford - Mystery/Thriller

September 22, 2020

Having spent 10 months on the run after he was framed for the murder of an estate-clearing associate, handyman Jay Porter returns to his hometown of Ashton, New Hampshire. During his time as a fugitive, he searched for a hard drive --- evidence that would put his longtime nemeses Adam and Michael Lombardi behind bars. But he came up empty-handed. With his reputation tarnished and employment opportunities nonexistent, Jay takes a charity assignment from old friend/flame Alison Rodgers and learns of a fire at Alison’s former rehab farm. Jay is convinced that the Lombardis started the fire as a scare tactic to pressure Alison to sell. But he soon discovers that evil isn’t so easy to define, and sometimes we need to take the law into our own hands if we want justice.

The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly - Historical Fiction

September 22, 2020

In August of 1939, as Britain watches the headlines in fear of another devastating war with Germany, three childhood friends must choose between friendship or country. Erstwhile socialite Nora is determined to find her place in the Home Office’s Air Raid Precautions Department, matchmaker Hazel tries to mask two closely guarded secrets with irrepressible optimism, and German expat Marie worries that she and her family might face imprisonment in an internment camp if war is declared. When Germany invades Poland and tensions on the home front rise, Marie is labeled an enemy alien, and the three friends find themselves fighting together to keep her free at any cost.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: And Other Questions About Dead Bodies by Caitlin Doughty - Sociology

September 22, 2020

Everyone has questions about death. In WILL MY CAT EAT MY EYEBALLS?, bestselling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty answers the most intriguing questions she’s ever received about what happens to our bodies when we die. She explores everything from ancient Egyptian death rituals and the science of skeletons to flesh-eating insects and the proper depth at which to bury your pet if you want Fluffy to become a mummy. Now featuring an interview with a clinical expert on discussing these issues with young people --- the source of some of our most revealing questions about death --- the book confronts our common fear of dying with candid, honest and hilarious facts about what awaits the body we leave behind.