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December 29, 2015 |
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The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of December 28th and January 4th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.
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Happy Holidays!
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On Sale the Week of December 28th in Hardcover
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December 29th
AFTER SHE'S GONE by Lisa Jackson (Thriller)
Cassie Kramer and her younger sister, Allie, learned the hazards of fame long ago. Together, they’d survived the horror of a crazed fan who nearly killed their mother. Still, Cassie moved to L.A., urging Allie to follow. As a team, they’d take the town by storm. But Allie, finally free of small-town Oregon and just that little bit more beautiful, also proved to be more talented --- and driven. Where Cassie got bit parts, Allie rose to stardom. But now her body double has been shot on the set of her latest movie --- and Allie is missing.
Kensington * 9781617734656
FALSE POSITIVE by Andrew Grant (Thriller)
Alabama detective Cooper Devereaux may have met his match in fellow detective Jan Loflin, who’s fresh off a long undercover stint in Vice when they’re partnered on a case that will test them both beyond their direst nightmares. A seven-year-old boy has disappeared from his home in the Birmingham suburbs. But the more Devereaux digs into the missing child’s background, the more he discovers about his own, eventually shaking loose a series of harrowing truths --- about bloodlines, mass murder, obsession, and what two damaged detectives have in common with the innocent victim they’re so desperate to save.
Ballantine Books * 9780345540751
THE FIRST HOSTAGE: A J. B. Collins Novel by Joel C. Rosenberg (Thriller)
“The president of the United States…is missing.” With these words, New York Times journalist J. B. Collins, reporting from the scene of a devastating attack by ISIS terrorists in Amman, Jordan, puts the entire world on high alert. As the U.S. government faces a constitutional crisis and Jordan battles for its very existence, Collins must do his best to keep the world informed while working to convince the FBI that his stories are not responsible for the terror attack on the Jordanian capital.
Tyndale House Publishers * 9781496406156
THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
A Special Forces soldier is killed on an operation in Afghanistan, and complicit in the attack is a government official of an allied nation. While the US administration wants to forget the casualty, one Taskforce member will not. When he sets out to avenge his brother's death, his actions threaten to not only expose the Taskforce's activities, but also destroy a web of alliances against a greater evil. Pike Logan is now forced to choose between his friend and the administration he's sworn to protect, while unbeknownst to either of them, the soldier's death is only the beginning.
Dutton * 9780525954910
THE HUNTING TRIP: A Novel of Love and War by William E. Butterworth III (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
At the tender age of 16, Philip W. Williams III is expelled from boarding school for committing a prank. It never enters his mind that he will become a world-class marksman and a special agent of the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps in postwar Germany; play a key role in the defection of a Soviet officer and then court danger as a courier for the CIA; marry an Austrian ballet dancer of ferocious mien; become a renowned bestselling novelist; and meet the love of his life on a hunting trip to Scotland.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399176234
MAGGIE SMITH: A Biography by Michael Coveney (Biography)
No one does glamour, severity, girlish charm or tight-lipped witticism better than Dame Maggie Smith. Michael Coveney's biography shines a light on the life and career of a truly remarkable performer, one whose stage and screen career spans six decades. From her days as a West End star of comedy and revue, Dame Maggie's path would cross with those of the greatest actors, playwrights and directors of the era. Whether stealing scenes from Richard Burton, answering back to Laurence Olivier, or playing opposite Judi Dench in Breath of Life, her career can be seen as a "Who's Who" of British theatre.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250081483 |
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On Sale the Week of December 28th in Paperback
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December 29th
BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT by Neal Griffin (Thriller)
Ben Sawyer was a big-city cop, until he nearly killed a helpless suspect in public. Now a detective in the tiny Wisconsin town where he and his wife grew up, Ben suspects that higher-ups are taking payoffs from local drug lords. Before long, Ben is off the force. His wife is accused of murder. His only ally is another outcast, a Latina rookie cop. Worse, a killer has escaped from jail with vengeance on his mind, and Newburg --- and Ben Sawyer --- in his sights.
Tor Books * 9780765381583
BLACK SCORPION: The Tyrant Reborn written by Jon Land, created by Fabrizio Boccardi (Thriller/Adventure)
Five years have passed since Michael Tiranno saved the city of Las Vegas from a terrorist attack. And now a new enemy has surfaced in Eastern Europe in the form of an all-powerful organization called Black Scorpion. Once a victim of human trafficking himself, the shadowy group's crazed leader, Vladimir Dracu, has become the mastermind behind the scourge's infestation on a global scale. And now he's set his sights on Michael Tiranno for reasons birthed in a painful secret past that have scarred both men.
Forge Books * 9780765370914
BRUTE FORCE: A Jericho Quinn Thriller by Marc Cameron (Thriller)
Paperback Original
In the aftermath of a devastating biological attack, America stands on the brink of disaster. The President of the United States is controlled by terrorists. The Vice President, global mastermind Lee McKeon, is plotting his next move. And special agent Jericho Quinn is running for his life. Desperate to clear his name --- and expose the conspirators in the White House --- Quinn must race against time before McKeon can execute his evil plan. It begins with heightened security, mass surveillance and the establishment of a brutal police state. It can only end in the takeover of America.
Pinnacle * 9780786035298
THE CAVENDON WOMEN by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
THE CAVENDON WOMEN, the sequel to Barbara Taylor Bradford’s CAVENDON HALL, follows the Inghams’ and the Swanns’ journey from a family weekend in the summer of 1926 through to the devastation of the Wall Street crash of 1929. It all begins on a summer weekend in July of 1926 when, for the first time in years, the earl has planned a family weekend. As the family members come together, secrets, problems, joys and sorrows are revealed.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks * 9781250032379
COLD BETRAYAL: An Ali Reynolds Novel by J.A. Jance (Thriller)
Ali Reynolds’ longtime friend and Taser-carrying nun, Sister Anselm, rushes to the bedside of a young pregnant woman hospitalized for severe injuries after she was hit by a car on a deserted Arizona highway. The girl had been running away from The Family, a polygamous cult with no patience for those who try to leave its ranks. Something about her strikes a chord in Sister Anselm, reminding her of a case she worked years before when another young girl wasn’t so lucky.
Pocket Books * 9781476745060
THE ENEMY INSIDE: A Paul Madriani Novel by Steve Martini (Thriller)
One of the most successful lawyers in the country, Olinda Serna is a master at managing money as well as her influential clients. So when she’s killed in a crash, powerful heads in Washington begin to panic, worried that their secrets may not be safe anymore. Alex Ives, a friend of defense attorney Paul Madriani’s daughter, is accused of vehicular manslaughter in Serna’s death. To save an innocent young man’s life, Madriani must uncover everything he can about Serna and her clients, leading him to a devious killer poised to strike again.
William Morrow * 9780062328953
I, RIPPER by Stephen Hunter (Historical Thriller)
I, RIPPER is a vivid reimagining of Jack the Ripper’s personal story entwined with that of an Irish journalist who covered the case, knew the principals, charted the investigation, and, at last stymied, went off in a bold new direction. These two men stalk each other through a city twisted in fear of the madman’s blade, a cat-and-mouse game that brings to life the sounds and smells of the fleshpot tenderloin of Whitechapel and all the lurid acts that fueled the Ripper headlines.
Pocket Books * 9781476764863
THE ICE QUEEN by Nele Neuhaus (Mystery)
Ninety-two-year-old Jossi Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor and an American citizen, is found shot to death execution-style in his house near Frankfurt. The autopsy reveals an old and unsuccessfully covered tattoo on the body’s arm --- a blood type marker once used by Hitler's SS. Two more, similar murders happen, and slowly the connections between the victims become evident: All of them were lifelong friends with Vera von Kaltensee --- baroness, well-respected philanthropist, and head of an old, rich family that she rules with an iron fist.
Minotaur Books * 9781250081308
IT WAS ME ALL ALONG: A Memoir by Andie Mitchell (Memoir)
All her life, Andie Mitchell had eaten lustily and mindlessly. But when she stepped on the scale on her 20th birthday and it registered a shocking 268 pounds, she knew she had to change the way she thought about food and herself --- that her life was at stake. IT WAS ME ALL ALONG takes Andie from working class Boston to the romantic streets of Rome, from morbidly obese to half her size, from seeking comfort in anything that came cream-filled and two-to-a-pack to finding balance in exquisite (but modest) bowls of handmade pasta.
Clarkson Potter * 9780770433253
LAST ONE HOME by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Growing up, Cassie Carter and her sisters, Karen and Nichole, were incredibly close --- until one fateful event drove them apart. After high school, Cassie ran away from home to marry the wrong man, throwing away a college scholarship. Now 31, Cassie is living in Seattle with her daughter and hoping to leave her past behind. Despite the strides she has made, she hasn’t been able to make peace with her sisters. Then one day, Cassie receives a letter from Karen, offering what Cassie thinks may be a chance to reconcile.
Ballantine Books * 9780553391909
LOSING FAITH by Adam Mitzner (Legal Thriller)
Aaron Littman is the premier lawyer of his generation and the chairman of Cromwell Altman, the most powerful law firm in New York City, when a high-profile new client threatens all that he’s achieved --- and more. Nicolai Garkov is accused of laundering funds for the Russian Mafia and financing a terrorist bombing in Red Square. He admits his guilt to Aaron but has a plan for exoneration that includes blackmailing the presiding judge, the Honorable Faith Nichols. If the judge won’t do his bidding, Garkov promises to go public with irrefutable evidence of an affair between Aaron and Faith.
Pocket Books * 9781476764269
MADEMOISELLE CHANEL by C. W. Gortner (Historical Fiction)
Coco Chanel was a woman with a vision who fought every convention of her time to become the most iconic fashion designer the world has ever known. She hit her stride in the 1920s with a style that freed women and money that brought her a freedom she had never known. As her reputation and business reached new heights, Chanel became the woman every man wanted and every woman wanted to be.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062356437
MOTIVE: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller)
Ursula Corey is a successful, attractive divorcée who has been executed. Two suspects emerge: the dead woman’s business partner/ex-husband and her divorce lawyer/secret lover. But just as psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis think they’re zeroing in on the perp, a bizarre new clue stirs up eerie echoes of a previously unsolved murder. And the discovery of yet another crime scene bearing the same taunting signature raises the specter of a serial killer on a mission.
Ballantine Books * 9780345541390
THE NAKED EYE by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen (Thriller)
Kendra Michaels was instrumental in bringing serial killer Eric Colby to justice. And yet, despite his apparent execution, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The problem is that she can't prove it. Even her razor-sharp powers of observation --- developed to an amazing capacity during the 20 years she spent blind and now in constant demand by law enforcement agencies --- have gotten her nowhere. But then a reporter who very publicly humiliated Kendra is murdered. Visiting the crime scene in search of anything that might link the brutal homicide to Colby, Kendra instead finds evidence that points to her.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks * 9781250079015
NO FORTUNATE SON: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
Not long after veteran operator Pike Logan and partner Jennifer Cahill are released from the Taskforce --- their longtime employer and one of the world's foremost top secret counterterrorist units --- a high-profile hostage crisis throws the U.S. government into turmoil. Why were Logan and Cahill let go so suddenly? Can they still help decipher the web of lies and chaos spread by a mysterious enemy? And what are the real costs of diffusing such a threat?
Dutton * 9780451467690
THE PATRIOT THREAT by Steve Berry (Thriller/Adventure)
Cotton Malone, once a member of an elite intelligence division within the Justice Department known as the Magellan Billet, is now retired and owns an old bookshop in Denmark. But when his former boss asks him to track down a rogue North Korean who may have acquired some top secret Treasury Department files --- the kind that could bring the United States to its knees --- Malone is vaulted into a harrowing 24-hour chase that begins on the canals in Venice and ends in the remote highlands of Croatia.
Minotaur Books * 9781250058447
THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES by Sally Hepworth (Fiction)
THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES tells the story of three generations of women devoted to delivering new life into the world --- and the secrets they keep. Neva, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy --- including the identity of the baby’s father --- hidden for as long as possible. Her mother, Grace, finds it impossible to let this secret rest. For Floss, Neva’s grandmother, Neva’s situation thrusts her back 60 years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter’s --- a secret that, if revealed, will change everything.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250051912
SEIZED: The Profiler, Book 3 by Elizabeth Heiter (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
What should have been a routine investigation for FBI profiler Evelyn Baine turns ominous when she's kidnapped by a dangerous cult of survivalists. As her worst nightmares become a reality, she begins to question what she's seeing. As the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team closes in, Evelyn suspects she's stumbled onto an emerging terrorist threat --- and a cult leader who has a score to settle with the FBI. If Hostage Rescue breaches the compound, Evelyn is dead for sure. If they don't, the cult may unleash a surprise attack that could leave the whole country shattered.
Mira * 9780778318620
THE SONG OF HARTGROVE HALL by Natasha Solomons (Fiction)
Paperback Original
New Year’s Eve, Dorset, England, 1946. Harry Fox-Talbot and his brothers have returned from World War II determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But the arrival of beautiful Jewish wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, and leads to a devastating betrayal. Fifty years later, now a celebrated composer, Fox reels from the death of his adored wife, Edie. Until his connection with his four-year old grandson --- a music prodigy --- propels him back into life, and ultimately to confront his past.
Plume * 9780147517593
TRUST NO ONE by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Awkward doesn’t begin to describe Grace Elland’s evening with venture capitalist Julius Arkwright. She has nothing in common with a man who lives to make money, but the intense former Marine does have some skills that Grace can use --- and he’s the perfect man to help her when it becomes clear she is being stalked. Ultimately, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only her, but also everyone around her.
Jove * 9780515155815
THE UNDOING by Averil Dean (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Best friends since childhood, Eric, Rory and Celia have always been inseparable. Together they've coped with broken homes and damaged families, clinging to each other as they've navigated their tenuous lives. When the trio decides to follow Celia's dream of buying and renovating the Blackbird, a dilapidated hotel that sits on the perilous cliffs of Jawbone Ridge, new jealousies arise and long-held suspicions start to unravel their relationship. Soon they find themselves pushed to the breaking point, where trust becomes doubt, longing becomes obsession, and someone will commit the ultimate betrayal.
Mira * 9780778317395
THE UNQUIET DEAD by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Mystery)
Detective Rachel Getty is asked by her boss, Esa Khattak, to look into the death of Christopher Drayton, who may have been a war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. But as Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into Drayton’s life and death, every question seems to lead only to more questions. Had the specters of Srebrenica returned to haunt Drayton at the end, or had he been keeping secrets of an entirely different nature?
Minotaur Books * 9781250055187
THE WEREWOLF OF BAMBERG: A Hangman's Daughter Tale written by Oliver Pötzsch, translated by Lee Chadeayne (Historical Mystery)
Paperback Original
In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in Bamberg is leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the deaths are the work of a werewolf, Jakob must prove the superstition wrong and embarks on a search for the “devil of Bamberg.”
Mariner Books * 9780544610941
WEST OF SUNSET by Stewart O’Nan (Historical Fiction)
In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a troubled, uncertain man whose literary success was long over. In poor health, with his wife consigned to a mental asylum and his finances in ruins, he struggled to make a new start as a screenwriter in Hollywood. By December 1940, he would be dead of a heart attack. Those last three years of Fitzgerald’s life, often obscured by the legend of his earlier Jazz Age glamour, are the focus of Stewart O’Nan’s novel.
Penguin Books * 9780143128243
December 31st
HAUNTING INVESTIGATION: A Chesterton Holte Mystery by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Historical/Paranormal Mystery)
Paperback Original
Poppy Thornton is determined to make a name for herself as a serious crime reporter, but is stuck reporting on garden parties and ladies' fashion. Then one day, her editor assigns her to collect background information on the suicide of a prominent businessman. She soon discovers it was actually a murder...but her surprising source for this information is the ghost of a man killed alongside her father during the Great War. As their investigation into a string of murders narrows in on an all-too-familiar suspect, Poppy becomes a target herself and wonders if her ghost of a partner will appear in time to keep her from joining him in the afterlife.
Cleveland Writers Press * 9781943052004 |
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On Sale the Week of January 4th in Hardcover
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January 4th
ALIVE, ALIVE OH!: And Other Things That Matter by Diana Athill (Memoir/Essays)
Diana Athill charmed readers with her prize-winning memoir, SOMEWHERE TOWARDS THE END, which transformed her into an unexpected literary star. Now, on the eve of her 98th birthday, Athill has written a sequel every bit as unsentimental, candid and beguiling as her most beloved work. Writing from her cozy room in Highgate, London, Athill begins to reflect on the things that matter after a lifetime of remarkable experiences, and the memories that have risen to the surface and sustain her in her very old age.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393253719
January 5th
AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
A night flight from Istanbul bound for Paris, filled with 169 holiday travelers, plummets into the Swiss Alps. The sole survivor is a three-month-old girl who is thrown from the plane onto the snowy mountainside before fire rages through the aircraft. But two infants were on board. Is the miracle baby Lyse-Rose or Emilie? Both families step forward to claim the child --- one poor, one powerful, wealthy and dangerous.
Hachette Books * 9780316309677
BLACKOUT by David Rosenfelt (Thriller)
New Jersey state police officer Doug Brock has been after infamous criminal Nicholas Bennett for years. When Bennett kills someone close to Doug, Doug's investigation --- and his life --- starts spiraling out of control. It isn’t long before Doug is found in a hotel room, shot and in critical condition. When Doug finally awakens from his coma, he has no memory of the case, or even the last several years of his life. But the pull of what he might have discovered is too strong, and he finds himself immersed in a desperate search for truth once again, regardless of the danger.
Minotaur Books * 9781250055316
THE CINEMATIC LEGACY OF FRANK SINATRA by David Wills (Photography/Entertainment)
In THE CINEMATIC LEGACY OF FRANK SINATRA, author David Wills presents a stunning collection highlighting the work of one of Hollywood's greatest stars. Pairing more than 200 first-generation photos with reflections on Frank Sinatra from co-stars and work associates, and including contributing essays by his children, it is an unforgettable showcase of the actor's transformation from world-famous singer, to movie star, to Academy Award winner, and finally to one of the most enduring icons in cinema history.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250070807
CITY OF THORNS: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlence (Current Affairs/Ethnic Studies)
Situated hundreds of miles from any other settlement, deep within the inhospitable desert of northern Kenya, Dadaab is a city like no other. Over the course of four years, Ben Rawlence became a first-hand witness to a strange and desperate limbo-land, getting to know many of those who have come there seeking sanctuary. In CITY OF THORNS, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp and to sketch the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped there.
Picador * 9781250067630
THE CYCLOPS INITIATIVE: A Jim Chapel Mission by David Wellington (Thriller/Adventure)
Jim Chapel, the one-armed Special Forces soldier turned spy, is on the wrong side of the law. The person he trusts most in the world, the brilliant hacker known only as Angel, is suspected of terrorism. When his boss calls for Angel’s arrest, Chapel --- certain it’s a frame job --- has only one option: to go rogue. With the aid of old friends and his ex-lover, the search to find who framed Angel leads Chapel to a conspiracy with deep roots that shocks even this hardened veteran --- and a plan that will destroy the United States as we know it if it succeeds.
William Morrow * 9780062248831
THE FAMILY TREE: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth by Karen Branan (History)
Harris County, Georgia, 1912. A white man, the beloved nephew of the county sheriff, is shot dead on the porch of a black woman. Days later, the sheriff sanctions the lynching of a black woman and three black men, all of them innocent. In trying to figure out what led to this unthinkable crime, Karen Branan --- the great-granddaughter of that sheriff --- was forced to confront her own deep-rooted beliefs surrounding race and family, a process that came to a head when she learned a shocking truth: she is related not only to the sheriff, but also to one of the four who were murdered.
Atria Books * 9781476717180
THE FIRST ORDER by Jeff Abbott (Thriller)
Two brothers. One dead, executed by extremists on a grainy video. The other forged into a top undercover agent. But now, Sam Capra has reason to believe that his brother, Danny, may be alive. His desperate search for Danny leads him into a modern heart of darkness: the Russian elite inner circle, a group of ruthless ex-KGB billionaires who owe fealty to Russia's corrupt president, Morozov. One of these men wants Morozov dead. And Danny will be the one to kill him --- on American soil.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455558414
FLOODPATH: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th-Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles by Jon Wilkman (History)
Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam, a 12-story-high concrete structure just 50 miles north of Los Angeles, suddenly collapsed, releasing a devastating flood that roared 53 miles to the Pacific Ocean, destroying everything in its path. What caused this unexpected catastrophe, and why are the facts largely missing from history books? With research gathered over more than two decades, award-winning writer and filmmaker Jon Wilkman revisits the deluge that claimed nearly 500 lives.
Bloomsbury Press * 9781620409152
THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENIUS: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley by Eric Weiner (Memoir/Travel)
In THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENIUS, acclaimed travel writer Eric Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places --- like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley --- to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. And he walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo and Leonardo remains.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451691658
THE GUEST ROOM by Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother’s bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. What she does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, her husband sharing a dangerously intimate moment in the guest room, and two women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night. In the aftermath, Kristin and Richard’s life rapidly spirals into nightmare.
Doubleday * 9780385538893
THE GUN written by Fuminori Nakamura, translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell (Thriller)
On a nighttime walk along a Tokyo riverbank, a young man named Nishikawa stumbles on a dead body, beside which lies a gun. From the moment Nishikawa decides to take the gun, the world around him blurs. Knowing he possesses the weapon brings an intoxicating sense of purpose to his dull university life. But soon his personal entanglements become unexpectedly complicated. Through it all, he can’t stop thinking about the gun --- and the four bullets loaded in its chamber. As he spirals into obsession, his focus is consumed by one idea: that possessing the gun is no longer enough --- he must fire it.
Soho Crime * 9781616955908
MIDNIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto (History)
After their father’s death, Harry, Frank and Pierce Fukuhara moved to Hiroshima, their mother’s ancestral home. Eager to go back to America, Harry returned in the late 1930s. Then came Pearl Harbor. Harry was sent to an internment camp until a call came for Japanese translators, and he dutifully volunteered to serve his country. Back in Hiroshima, Frank and Pierce became soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army. Before the Fukuharas would have to face each other in battle, the U.S. detonated the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, gravely injuring tens of thousands of civilians, including members of their family.
Harper * 9780062351937
MR. SPLITFOOT by Samantha Hunt (Gothic Horror)
Ruth and Nat are orphans, packed into a house full of abandoned children run by a religious fanatic. To entertain their siblings, they channel the dead. Decades later, Ruth’s niece, Cora, finds herself accidentally pregnant. After years of absence, Aunt Ruth appears, mute and full of intention. She is on a mysterious mission, leading Cora on an odyssey across the entire state of New York on foot. Where is Ruth taking them? Where has she been? And who --- or what --- has she hidden in the woods at the end of the road?
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780544526709
NFL CONFIDENTIAL: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by Johnny Anonymous (Sports/Memoir)
In NFL CONFIDENTIAL, a current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football --- the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season --- sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League.
Dey Street Books * 9780062422415
ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART by Ed Tarkington (Fiction)
Eight-year-old Rocky worships his older brother, Paul. One day, in an act of vengeance against their father, Paul picks up Rocky from school and nearly abandons him in the woods. Afterward, Paul disappears. Seven years later, Rocky has a lover: the wealthy neighbors’ daughter, 10 years his senior. Unbeknownst to both of them, their affair will set in motion a course of events that rains catastrophe on both their families. After a mysterious double murder brings terror and suspicion to their small town, Rocky and his family must reckon with the past and find out how much forgiveness their hearts can hold.
Algonquin Books * 9781616203825
THE PAST by Tessa Hadley (Fiction)
In Tessa Hadley’s latest novel, three sisters, a brother and their children assemble at their country house. These three weeks may be their last time there; the upkeep is prohibitive, and they could be forced to sell this beloved house filled with memories of their shared past (their mother took them there to live when she left their father). Yet beneath the idyllic pastoral surface, hidden passions, devastating secrets and dangerous hostilities threaten to consume them.
Harper * 9780062270412
THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL by Roberto Costantini (Mystery)
Teenager Michele Balistreri has suffered a succession of personal blows that will scar him for life --- none more so than an innocent blood pact he made as a teenager. Four decades later, journalist Linda Nardi is drawn to an irresistible story assignment: covering the collapse of Colonel Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship. It is only a matter of time before Nardi's research and Balistreri's investigative work as a police commissario bring them into contact. Together they unearth a deadly conspiracy that neither of them will ever be able to forget.
Quercus * 9781623658816
SAILOR AND FIDDLER: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author by Herman Wouk (Memoir)
In the same year he has celebrated his 100th birthday, Herman Wouk finally reflects on the life experiences that inspired his most beloved novels. Written with the wisdom of a man who has lived through two centuries and the wit of someone who began his career as a professional comedy writer, the first part of Wouk’s memoir (“Sailor”) refers to his Navy experience and writing career, the second (“Fiddler”) to what he’s learned from living a life of faith.
Simon & Schuster * 9781501128547
SHAME AND WONDER: Essays by David Searcy (Essays)
The pieces in SHAME AND WONDER are born of a vast, abiding curiosity, one that has led David Searcy into some strange and beautiful territory, where old Uncle Scrooge comic books reveal profound truths and the vastness of space becomes an expression of pure love. Whether ruminating on an old El Camino pickup truck, those magical prizes lurking in the cereal boxes of our youth, or a lurid online ad for “Sexy Girls Near Dallas,” Searcy brings his unique blend of affection and suspicion to the everyday wonders that surround and seduce us.
Random House * 9780812993943
THE SOUND OF GRAVEL: A Memoir by Ruth Wariner (Memoir)
Ruth Wariner was the 39th of her father’s 42 children. After Ruth’s father is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries. In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where Ruth’s mother collects welfare and her stepfather works a variety of odd jobs. As she begins to doubt her family’s beliefs and question her mother’s choices, Ruth struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to forge a better life for herself.
Flatiron Books * 9781250077691
SPARK JOY: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (Self-Help/Inspirational)
Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo’s THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP has revolutionized homes --- and lives --- across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to her acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets. She also provides advice on frequently asked questions, such as whether to keep “necessary” items that may not bring you joy.
Ten Speed Press * 9781607749721
STORIES I TELL MYSELF: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson by Juan F. Thompson (Memoir)
From the outset, Hunter S. Thompson was the Wild Man of American journalism with a journalistic appetite that touched on subjects that drove his sense of justice and intrigue. He lived larger than life and pulled it up around him in a mad effort to make it as electric, anger-ridden and drug-fueled as possible. Now Juan Thompson tells the story of his father and of their getting to know each other during their 41 fraught years together. He writes of the many dark times, how far they ricocheted away from each other, and how they found their way back before it was too late.
Knopf * 9780307265357
WAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD: Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea, 1942-1945 by James P. Duffy (History)
New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the Empire’s strategy to knock Australia out of the war. Allied Commander-in-Chief General Douglas MacArthur committed 340,000 Americans, as well as tens of thousands of Australian, Dutch and New Guinea troops, to retake New Guinea at all costs. What followed was a four-year campaign that involved some of the most horrific warfare in history.
NAL * 9780451418302
January 8th
FORTY THIEVES by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Last spring, a body was recovered from one of Los Angeles’s overwhelmed storm sewers. The victim was identified as James Ballantine, a middle-aged African-American who worked as a research scientist for a prestigious company. But two bullets to the back of the head looked like nothing if not foul play. Now, with the case turning cold, Ballantine’s former employers bring in detectives Sid and Ronnie Abel to succeed where the police have failed. Meanwhile, assassins-for-hire Ed and Nicole Hoyt’s mysterious contractors want to make sure that the facts about Ballantine’s death stay hidden.
Mysterious Press * 9780802124524
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On Sale the Week of January 4th in Paperback
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January 4th
MARCHING HOME: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War by Brian Matthew Jordan (History)
Following the Civil War, Union veterans --- tending rotting wounds, battling alcoholism, campaigning for paltry pensions --- tragically realized that they stood as unwelcome reminders to a new America eager to heal, forget and embrace the freewheeling bounty of the Gilded Age. Mining previously untapped archives, Civil War historian Brian Matthew Jordan uncovers anguished letters and diaries, essays by amputees, and gruesome medical reports, all deeply revealing of the American psyche.
Liveright * 9781631491467
WATERLOO: Wellington, Napoleon, and the Battle that Saved Europe by Gordon Corrigan (History)
The Duke of Wellington remarked that Waterloo was “a damned nice thing,” meaning uncertain or finely balanced. He was right. For his part, Napoleon reckoned “the English are bad troops and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast.” He was wrong, and this gripping and dramatic narrative history by veteran historian Gordon Corrigan shows just how wrong.
Pegasus * 9781605989396
January 5th
AMERICAN RECKONING: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity by Christian G. Appy (History)
How did the Vietnam War change the way we think of ourselves as a people and a nation? Christian G. Appy, author of the widely praised oral history of the Vietnam War, PATRIOTS, now examines the relationship between the war’s realities and myths, and its impact on our national identity, conscience, pride, shame, popular culture and postwar foreign policy.
Penguin Books * 9780143128342
ANGELS BURNING by Tawni O'Dell (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
When a girl is beaten to death, Chief Dove Carnahan is faced with solving the worst crime of her law enforcement career. She identifies the young lady as a daughter of the Truly family, a notoriously irascible dynasty of rednecks and petty criminals. During her investigation, the man convicted of killing Dove’s mother years earlier is released from prison. Still proclaiming his innocence, he approaches Dove with a startling accusation and a chilling threat that forces her to face the parallels between her own family’s trauma and that of the Trulys.
Gallery Books * 9781476755953
BLACK RIVER by S. M. Hulse (Western)
When Wes Carver returns to Black River, he carries two things in the cab of his truck: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the prison parole board. The convict who held him hostage during a riot 20 years ago is being considered for release. How can a man who once embodied evil ever come to good? How can he pay for such crimes with anything but his life? As Wes considers his own choices and grieves for all he’s lost, he must decide what he believes and if he can let Bobby Williams walk away.
Mariner Books * 9780544570238
BLOOD ON SNOW by Jo Nesbø (Thriller)
This is the story of Olav, an extremely talented “fixer” for one of Oslo’s most powerful crime bosses. But Olav is also an unusually complicated fixer. He has a capacity for love that is as far-reaching as is his gift for murder. He has an “innate talent for subordination,” but running through his veins is a “virus” born of the power over life and death. And while his latest job puts him at the pinnacle of his trade, it may be mutating into his greatest mistake.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard * 9780804172554
THE BURIED GIANT by Kazuo Ishiguro (Historical Fantasy/Adventure)
Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the best novelists working today, is also one of the most surprising. He has written drawing-room novels, dystopian fiction, surrealist works, and now a post-Arthurian tale of knights and ogres, of elderly villagers searching for their long-lost son, and of a she-dragon rumored to be the cause of a mist of forgetfulness that has plagued the land. As in past books, Ishiguro uses his story to meditate on memory and loss.
Vintage * 9780307455796
THE DAYLIGHT MARRIAGE by Heidi Pitlor (Fiction)
After a magical honeymoon, Hannah and Lovell settled in the suburbs to raise their two children. But over the years, their conversations have become charged with resentments and unspoken desires. Until, after one explosive argument, Hannah vanishes. As Lovell tries to piece together what happened to his wife --- and to their lives together --- readers follow Hannah through that single day when the smallest of decisions takes her to places she never intended to go.
Algonquin Books * 9781616205317
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Elisabeth de Mariaffi (Literary Thriller)
Rookie crime beat reporter Evie Jones is haunted by the unsolved murder of her best friend, Lianne Gagnon, who was killed in 1982, back when both girls were 11. The suspected killer, a repeat offender named Robert Cameron, was never arrested, leaving Lianne’s case cold. Now 21 and living alone for the first time, Evie is obsessively drawn to finding out what really happened to Lianne. She leans on another childhood friend, David Patton, for help --- but every clue they uncover seems to lead to an unimaginable conclusion.
Touchstone * 9781476779096
EMPIRE OF DECEPTION: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation by Dean Jobb (History/True Crime)
It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. As Model Ts rumbled down Michigan Avenue, gang war shootings announced Al Capone’s rise to underworld domination. Bedecked partygoers thronged to the Drake Hotel’s opulent banquet rooms, corrupt politicians held court in thriving speakeasies, and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people to invest as much as $30 million in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama.
Algonquin Books * 9781616205355
THE EMPTY THRONE by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
It's a time of change for Britain in the early 10th century. There are new raids by the Vikings from Ireland, and turmoil among the Saxons over the leadership of Mercia. A younger generation is taking over. When Æthelred, the ruler of Mercia, dies, he leaves no legitimate heir. The West Saxons want their king, but Uhtred has long supported Æthelflaed, sister to King Edward of Wessex and widow of Æethelred. Widely loved and respected, Æthelflaed has all the makings of a leader --- but can Saxon warriors ever accept a woman as their ruler? The stage is set for rivals to fight for the empty throne.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062250728
EVERY DAY I FIGHT by Stuart Scott, with Larry Platt (Memoir)
Shortly before he passed away, on January 4, 2015, Stuart Scott completed work on this memoir. It was both a labor of love and a love letter to life itself. Struck by appendiceal cancer in 2007, Stuart endured countless surgeries, enervating chemotherapies, and endless shuttling from home to hospital to office and back. He continued to defy fate, pushing himself through exercises and workout routines that kept him strong. He wanted to be there for his teenage daughters, Sydni and Taelor, not simply as their dad, but as an immutable example of determination and courage.
Blue Rider Press * 9781101983171
FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen (Fiction)
Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies, though it’s costing her the everyday joys of her family. With each passing day, her half-sister, Sydney, longs more for a baby, while her daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250019851
HOUSE OF EIGHT ORCHIDS by James Thayer (Historical Thriller)
Paperback Original
In 1912, John Wade and his brother, William --- children of the American consul --- were kidnapped off the street in Chungking, China, and raised in the house of Eunuch Chang, the city’s master criminal. Twenty-five years later, John is the eunuch’s most valuable ward, a trained assassin and swindler, and William has become a talented forger. On the brink of World War II, China is in chaos. When William betrays Eunuch Chang and escapes to central China --- a place of ferocious warlords and bandits --- John begins a desperate search to save his brother, while Eunuch Chang hunts them both.
Thomas & Mercer * 9781503948266
INSIDE THE O’BRIENS by Lisa Genova (Fiction)
A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their 20s, and respected police officer, Joe O'Brien begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s disease.
Gallery Books * 9781476717791
MAN AT THE HELM by Nina Stibbe (Fiction)
Soon after her parents' separation, nine-year-old Lizzie Vogel moves with her siblings and newly single mother to a tiny village in the English countryside, where the new neighbors are horrified by their unorthodox ways and fatherless household. Lizzie's theatrical mother only invites more gossip by spending her days drinking whiskey, popping pills and writing plays. The one way to fit in, the children decide, will be to find themselves a new man at the helm.
Back Bay Books * 9780316286701
A PLEASURE AND A CALLING by Phil Hogan (Psychological Thriller)
Mr. Heming is a real estate agent who has the keys to every home he's ever sold in town. He has kept them all so he can observe his neighbors, not just on the street, but also behind locked doors. His disturbing hobby soon begins to form a clear pattern, and the reasons behind it come into focus. But when the quiet routine of the village is disrupted by strange occurrences, including a dead body found in the backyard of a client's home, Mr. Heming realizes it may be only a matter of time before his secrets are found out.
Picador * 9781250081520
THE SECRET WISDOM OF THE EARTH by Christopher Scotton (Fiction)
The town of Medgar, Kentucky, is beset by a massive Mountaintop Removal operation that is blowing up the hills and back filling the hollows. Fourteen-year-old Kevin's grandfather and others in town attempt to rally the citizens against the “company” and its powerful owner to stop the plunder of their mountain heritage. When Kevin’s friend, Buzzy, witnesses the brutal murder of the opposition leader, a sequence is set in play that tests Buzzy and Kevin to their absolute limits in an epic struggle for survival in the Kentucky mountains.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455551910
SILENT CREED: A Ryder Creed Novel by Alex Kava (Thriller/Adventure)
Among the buildings consumed by a devastating mudslide in North Carolina was a top-secret government research facility, and Ryder Creed has been hired to find what’s left of it. Then rescuers recover the body of a scientist from the facility who was obviously dead before the landslide. The FBI sends Agent Maggie O’Dell to investigate, and she and Creed are soon caught in a web of lies, secrets and murder that may involve not only the government facility, but decades-old medical experiments that are the subject of current congressional hearings.
Putnam * 9780515155945
A SLANT OF LIGHT by Jeffrey Lent (Historical Fiction)
At the close of the Civil War, weary veteran Malcolm Hopeton returns to his home in western New York State to find his wife and hired man missing and his farm in disrepair. A double murder ensues, the repercussions of which ripple through a community with spiritual roots in the Second Great Awakening. Hopeton has gone from the horrors of war to those far worse, and arrayed around him are a host of other people struggling to make sense of his crime.
Bloomsbury USA * 9781620404980
STARS OVER SUNSET BOULEVARD by Susan Meissner (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Los Angeles, Present Day. When a hat worn by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister's vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie. Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield goes to Hollywood after her dream of having a family falls apart. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star. Their adventures together among Hollywood's glitterati enthrall Violet...until each woman's deepest desires collide.
NAL * 9780451475992
THE SWEETHEART by Angelina Mirabella (Historical Fiction)
It’s 1953, and 17-year-old Leonie Putzkammer is cartoonishly tall and curvaceous, destined to spend the rest of her life waiting tables and living with her widowed father in their Philadelphia row house. Until the day a legendary wrestling promoter walks into the local diner and offers her the chance of a lifetime. When Leonie becomes The Sweetheart, one of America’s most infamous female wrestlers, she attracts the fans she desires but complicates all of her relationships.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476733906
THE TRAIN TO CRYSTAL CITY: FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II by Jan Jarboe Russell (History)
Combining big-picture World War II history with a little-known event in American history that has long been kept quiet, THE TRAIN TO CRYSTAL CITY reveals the war-time hysteria against the Japanese and Germans in America, the secrets of FDR’s tactics to rescue high-profile POWs in Germany and Japan, and how the definition of American citizenship changed under the pressure of war.
Scribner * 9781451693676
TRUTH OR DIE by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Thriller)
After a serious professional stumble, attorney Trevor Mann has found happiness with his girlfriend Claire Parker, a beautiful, ambitious journalist. But when Claire's newest story leads to a violent confrontation, Trevor's newly peaceful life is shattered as he tries to find out why. Chasing Claire's leads, Trevor unearths evidence of a shocking secret that --- if it actually exists --- every government and terrorist organization around the world would do anything to possess.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455584963
WAR OF THE ENCYCLOPAEDISTS by Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite (Fiction)
At 23, best friends Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy had planned to move together to Boston for graduate school, but global events have intervened. Montauk has just learned that his National Guard unit will deploy to Baghdad at the end of the summer. Meanwhile, Corderoy’s girlfriend, Mani, has just been evicted, and he must decide whether or not to abandon her when she needs him most. He turns to Montauk for help. His decision that night, and its harrowing outcome, sets in motion a year that will transform all three of them.
Scribner * 9781476775432
WORLD GONE BY by Dennis Lehane (Historical Thriller)
Ten years have passed since Joe Coughlin’s enemies killed his wife and destroyed his empire, and much has changed. The former crime kingpin works as a consigliore to the Bartolo crime family, traveling between Tampa and Cuba, his wife’s homeland. He has everything --- money, power, a beautiful mistress and anonymity. But success cannot protect him from the dark truth of his past. Ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062351814
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