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Week of June 25, 2012

New in Paperback

Week of June 25, 2012

From THE LITIGATORS by John Grisham, a young but already burned-out attorney who walked away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm --- the “boutique law firm” of Finley & Figg is ready to tackle a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. 

In this gripping Rizzoli & Isles thriller from Tess Gerritsen, THE SILENT GIRL, a brilliantly twisted killer stalks the streets of Boston.

Back of Beyond by C. J. Box - Thriller

 

Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. When clues found at the scene link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a wilderness trip into the remote corners of Yellowstone National Park --- a pack trip that includes his son --- Cody is desperate to get on their trail and stop the killer.

The Burning Soul: A Charlie Parker Thriller by John Connolly - Thriller

Randall Haight has a secret: He is a convicted murderer, a man with the blood of a young girl on his hands. He has built a new life for himself in the small Maine town of Pastor’s Bay, but someone has discovered the truth about him. In a town built on blood and shadowed by old ghosts, one detective must unravel a twisted history of violence and deceit involving the police and the FBI, a doomed mobster and his enemies, and Randall Haight himself.

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller -

 

In this follow-up to DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, we accomapny the Fuller family as they travel around Africa, trying to establish a home for their family.  War, hardship, and tragedy follows the fullers even as Nicola fights to hold onto her children, her land, and her sanity, all the while hoping that Africa will soothe and nurture her and her family again.

Flashback by Dan Simmons - Suspense/Thriller

 

It’s the not-too-distant future and the United States is near total collapse. But 87 percent of the population don’t care: they’re addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the past. Ex-detective Nick Bottom knows about flashback addiction firsthand. But can he resist temptation long enough to solve an old murder without losing his soul in the process? Reviewed by Ray Palen.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey - Fiction


When Gemma Hardy is orphaned and left to fend for herself, she moves to the Orkney Islands, where she is hired as an au pair for the niece of charming London businessman Hugh Sinclair. Everyone in the island community, including Gemma, is intrigued by the enigmatic Hugh, and soon, Gemma and Hugh begin a complex relationship that will change Gemma’s life forever.

A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano - Fiction

In the Milledgeville, Georgia of the early 1960s, ailing writer Flannery O’Connor and three other townspeople enter into relationships with disastrous consequences --- for them and the rest of their small town.

Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel by Faye Kellerman - Mystery
 
Peter Decker of the LAPD and his wife, Rina Lazarus, confront the case of a rash of shocking adolescent suicides at an elite Los Angeles private school. They also struggle with Gabriel Whitman, the enigmatic son of a troubled former friend, whom they have brought into their home. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
The Kid by Sapphire -


THE KID brings us deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones, son of Sapphire’s unforgettable heroine, Precious. Left alone by his mother’s death to navigate in a world where love and hate sometimes hideously masquerade, forced to confront unspeakable violence, his history, and the dark corners of his own heart, Abdul claws his way toward adulthood.

The Litigators by John Grisham - Legal Thriller

Things are looking up for partners Finley & Figg when a new young lawyer joins their “boutique” --- aka tiny and unimportant --- Chicago law firm. They begin to investigate the manufacturer of a popular cholesterol medication, hoping to file a class-action suit. Yet the pharmaceutical industry is no picnic, and soon the trio finds itself in situations it can’t just argue out of. Stuart Shiffman has our review and says, “Grisham's novels are no longer just suspense-packed adventures. He now uses the pages of his bestsellers as a pulpit for commentary on contemporary legal issues. The lecture subject of THE LITIGATORS is mass tort litigation, a system that makes millionaires out of lawyers on both sides of the legal battle but does little to compensate the actual victims.”

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young - Fiction

The lives of two very different couples are irrevocably intertwined and forever changed in this stunning World War I epic of love and war.

The Night Eternal: Book Three of the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan - Horror

 

THE NIGHT ETERNAL is the conclusion to Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan's much-talked-about vampire trilogy. As the final battle dawns, the group’s only hope is the intervention of an unexpected race of beings --- avenging “angels” --- who arrive to help them defeat the vampires and reclaim the planet for humanity.

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf - Fiction

 

In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.

Private Games by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan - Thriller

 

Private, the world's most renowned investigation firm, has been commissioned to provide security for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. When a high-ranking member of the games’ organizing committee is killed, Peter Knight is on the case.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - Historical Fiction


On the last night of 1937, 25-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society --- where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon - Thriller

 

The facts of what has just occurred are horrible: a blushing bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist and just minutes from hearing her congratulatory toast, is found decapitated. Though investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed her in a fit of jealous fury, the victim's mother is having none of it. Reluctantly drawn in, Dave Gurney is quickly buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarrely monstrous into the monstrously bizarre.

The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen - Mystery

 

In an alley lies a female’s severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand: a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair --- not human --- cling to her body. Cracking a crime resonating with bone-chilling echoes of an ancient Chinese legend, Rizzoli and Isles must outwit an unseen enemy with centuries of cunning --- and a swift, avenging blade.

A Simple Act of Violence by R.J. Ellory - Thriller

 

Washington, embroiled in the mid-term elections, did not want to hear about serial killings. But when the newspapers reported a fourth murder, when they gave the killer a name and details of his horrendous crimes, there were few people who could ignore it. Detective Robert Miller is assigned to the case and rapidly uncovers a complication --- the victims do not officially exist.

Split Second: An FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter - Thriller

 

FBI agents must bring down a serial killer with ties to Ted Bundy, while one of the agents also discovers some shocking, violent secrets about her own family.

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins -

 

In this first adult novel by the bestselling author of the Crank trilogy, three female friends face midlife crises in a no holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.

Victory and Honor: An Honor Bound Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV - Thriller/Action & Adventure

 

Wars come to an end. But then new ones begin. Just weeks after Hitler's suicide, Cletus Frade and his colleagues in the OSS find themselves up to their necks in battles every bit as fierce as the ones that just ended. One slip and everyone becomes a casualty of war.

Welcome Back to Pie Town by Lynne Hinton - Contemporary Fiction

 

There are pies in the diner again, the church has been rebuilt, and single mother Trina Lockhart has found a home for herself and her baby daughter. Trina has even found love with Raymond Twinhorse, who has returned from Afghanistan after being injured and is trying to form a real family with her. However, Raymond is a different man since coming back and when he is implicated in a crime, it will take all of Pie Town to help and heal him.