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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of July 23rd and July 30th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our reviews of A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay and BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney, both of which will be Bookreporter.com Bets On selections. You can read Carol Fitzgerald's Bets On commentaries in the August 3rd Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
Also, we encourage you to enter our Word of Mouth and Sounding Off on Audio contests for an opportunity to win some fabulous hardcovers and audiobooks. And please be sure to vote in our latest poll about paid subscription services. To which do you subscribe?
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
This Week's Bonus News: Our Reviews of
A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay
and BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney
A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay (Psychological Thriller)
College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s "normal" existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, desperate to cheer him up, brings home a vintage typewriter --- complete with ink ribbons and heavy round keys --- to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write.
However, the typewriter itself is a problem. Paul swears it’s possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs; Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries he’s going off the rails.
Paul believes the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago. The killer had made his victims type apologies to him before ending their lives. Has another sick twist of fate entwined his life with the killer. Could this be the same machine? Increasingly tormented but determined to discover the truth and confront his nightmare, Paul begins investigating the deaths himself.
But that may not be the best thing to do. Maybe Paul should just take the typewriter back to where his wife found it. Maybe he should stop asking questions and simply walk away while he can.
Click here to read the review.
BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney (Psychological Thriller)
A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.
Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions.
The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.
Then the game changes.
When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.
Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap?
But who is the decoy...and who is the prey?
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read the review.
A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS and BELIEVE ME
will be Bookreporter.com Bets On picks.
Don’t miss Carol Fitzgerald's commentaries in the August 3rd
Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
On Sale the Week of July 23rd in Hardcover
July 24th
BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney (Psychological Thriller)
A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected. Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide. Then the game changes. When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.
Ballantine Books | 9781101966310
CHARLOTTE WALSH LIKES TO WIN by Jo Piazza (Fiction)
Charlotte Walsh is running for Senate in the most important race in the country during a midterm election that will decide the balance of power in Congress. Once the campaign gets underway, Charlotte is blindsided by just how dirty her opponent is willing to fight, how harshly she is judged by the press and her peers, and how exhausting it becomes to navigate a marriage with an increasingly ambivalent and often resentful husband. When the opposition uncovers a secret that could threaten not just her campaign but everything Charlotte holds dear, she has to decide just how badly she wants to win and at what cost.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501179419
GHOSTED by Rosie Walsh (Fiction)
When Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it's mutual: It's as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn't call. Sarah's friends tell her to forget about him, but she can't. She knows something has happened --- there must be an explanation. Minutes, days, weeks go by as Sarah becomes increasingly worried. But then she discovers she's right. There is a reason for Eddie's disappearance, and it's the one thing they didn't share with each other: the truth.
Pamela Dorman Books | 9780525522775
HANGMAN by Daniel Cole (Thriller)
Detective Emily Baxter is still reeling from the Ragdoll case, and from the disappearance of her friend, William “Wolf” Fawkes. Despite her reluctance to jump into another gruesome case, she’s summoned to a meeting of a new FBI/CIA/UK law enforcement task force in New York. There, she is presented with photographs of the latest copycat murder: a body contorted into a familiar pose, strung up from the Brooklyn Bridge, the word “BAIT” carved deep into its chest. As the media pressure intensifies, Baxter is ordered to assist with the investigation and attend the scene of another murder, again with a victim inscribed with a word: “PUPPET.” Baxter must shake off the grief and fear that have paralyzed her for the last year so she can stop another terrible killer before it’s too late.
Ecco | 9780062653987
HITS AND MISSES: Stories by Simon Rich (Fiction/Short Stories)
Humorist Simon Rich is back with a hilarious new collection of stories about dreaming big and falling flat, about ordinary people desperate for stardom, and the stars who are bored by having it all. Inspired by Rich's real experiences in Hollywood, HITS AND MISSES chronicles all the absurdity of fame and success alongside the heartbreaking humanity of failure. From a bitter tell-all by the horse Paul Revere rode to greatness, to a gushing magazine profile of everyone's favorite World War II dictator, these stories roam across time and space to skewer our obsession with making it big --- from the days of ancient Babylon to the age of TMZ.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316468893
JELL-O GIRLS: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom (Memoir)
In 1899, Allie Rowbottom's great-great-great-uncle bought the patent to Jell-O from its inventor for $450. The sale would turn out to be one of the most profitable business deals in American history, and the generations that followed enjoyed immense privilege --- but they were also haunted by suicides, cancer, alcoholism and mysterious ailments. More than 100 years later, Allie's mother Mary was diagnosed with the same cancer that had claimed her own mother's life. Determined to combat what she had come to consider the "Jell-O curse," Mary started researching her family's past. Before she died, Mary began to send Allie boxes of her research and notes, hoping that her daughter might write what she could not. JELL-O GIRLS is the liberation of that story.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316510615
MARY B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice by Katherine J. Chen (Historical Fiction)
Mary Bennet possesses neither the beauty of her eldest sister, Jane, nor the high-spirited wit of second-born Lizzy. Even compared to her frivolous younger siblings, Kitty and Lydia, Mary knows she is lacking in the ways that matter for single, not-so-well-to-do women in 19th-century England who must secure their futures through the finding of a husband. As her sisters wed, one by one, Mary pictures herself growing old, a spinster with no estate to run or children to mind, dependent on the charity of others. At least she has the silent rebellion and secret pleasures of reading and writing to keep her company. But even her fictional creations are no match for the scandal, tragedy and romance that eventually visit Mary’s own life.
Random House | 9780399592218
A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay (Psychological Thriller)
College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s "normal" existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, brings home a vintage typewriter to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write. However, Paul swears that it is possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs; Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries he’s going off the rails. Paul believes the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago.
William Morrow | 9780062678256
ONLY TO SLEEP: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Lawrence Osborne (Hard-boiled Mystery)
The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe --- now in his 72nd year --- is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has his name written all over it. For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song. His mission is to investigate the death of Donald Zinn --- supposedly drowned off his yacht, and leaving behind a much younger and now very rich wife. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils?
Hogarth | 9781524759612
PROUD: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad, with Lori L. Tharps (Sports/Memoir)
Growing up in New Jersey as the only African American Muslim at school, Ibtihaj Muhammad always had to find her own way. When she discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved for the wealthy, she had to defy expectations and make a place for herself in a sport she grew to love. From winning state championships to three-time All-America selections at Duke University, Ibtihaj was poised for success, but the fencing community wasn't ready to welcome her with open arms just yet. As the only woman of color and the only religious minority on Team USA's saber fencing squad, Ibtihaj had to chart her own path to success and Olympic glory.
Hachette Books | 9780316518963
WHISTLE IN THE DARK by Emma Healey (Psychological Thriller)
Jen and Hugh Maddox have just survived every parent’s worst nightmare. Their 15-year-old daughter, Lana, was found bloodied, bruised and disoriented after going missing for four days during a mother-daughter vacation in the country. She lies mute in her hospital bed, unwilling or unable to articulate what happened to her during that period. Even when she returns to the family home and her school routine, Lana only provides the same frustrating answer over and over: "I can’t remember." Without telling Hugh or their pregnant older daughter Meg, Jen sets off to retrace Lana’s steps, a journey that will lead her to a deeper understanding of her youngest daughter, her family and herself.
Harper | 9780062309716
On Sale the Week of July 23rd in Paperback
July 23rd
FLIGHT OF THE FOX by Gray Basnight (Thriller)
Paperback Original
College professor Sam Teagarden stumbles upon a decades-old government cover-up when an encoded document mysteriously lands in his inbox, followed by a cluster of mini-drones programmed to kill him. That begins a terrifying flight from upstate New York, to Washington, to Key West, as Teagarden must outfox teams of hitmen equipped with highly sophisticated technology. While a fugitive, he races to decode the journal, only to realize the dreadful truth --- it’s the reason he’s being hunted because it details criminal secrets committed by the U.S. in the 20th century. If he survives and publishes the decoded diary, he’ll be a heroic whistleblower. But there is no guarantee. He may also end up dead.
Down & Out Books | 9781946502612
July 24th
THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Cecilia Wilborg has it all --- a loving husband, two beautiful daughters and a gorgeous home in the affluent Norwegian town of Sandefjord. However, one mistake from her past could bring it all crashing down around her. Annika Lucasson lives a dark life with her abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend. She's lost everything one too many times, and now she has one last chance to save herself, thanks to Cecilia. Annika knows her secret --- and just how much she's willing to do to make it all go away. When someone forgets to pick up their little boy at the local pool, Cecilia agrees to take him home, only to find an abandoned, empty house. It's the first step in the unraveling of her meticulously crafted life, as her and Annika's worlds collide.
Berkley | 9780451491794
CITY OF ENDLESS NIGHT: A Pendergast Novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller)
It begins as a manhunt for Grace Ozmian, the missing daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire. At first, the NYPD assumes that Grace has simply sped off on another wild adventure. But the case becomes something altogether different when the young woman's body is discovered, the head nowhere to be found. Lieutenant CDS Vincent D'Agosta quickly takes the lead. He knows his investigation will attract fierce scrutiny, so D'Agosta is delighted when FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast shows up at the crime scene also assigned to the case. But neither are prepared for what lies ahead, as it quickly becomes clear that a diabolical presence is haunting the greater metropolitan area.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538731857
CLASS MOM by Laurie Gelman (Fiction)
Jen Dixon is not your typical Kansas City kindergarten class mom --- or mom in general. Jen already has two college-age daughters by two different (probably) musicians, and it’s her second time around the class mom block with five-year-old Max --- this time with a husband and father by her side. Though her best friend and PTA President sees her as the “wisest” candidate for the job (or oldest), not all of the other parents agree. Throw in an old flame from Jen’s past, a hyper-sensitive “allergy mom,” a surprisingly sexy kindergarten teacher, and an impossible-to-please Real Housewife-wannabe, causing problems at every turn, and the job really becomes much more than she signed up for.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250192561
DAY OF THE DEAD by Nicci French (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
A decade ago, psychologist Frieda Klein was sucked into the orbit of Dean Reeve, a psychopath who was obsessed with her. In the years since, Frieda has worked with --- and sometimes against --- the London police in solving their most baffling cases. But now she's in hiding, driven to isolation by Reeve. When a series of murders announces his return, Frieda must emerge from the shadows to confront her nemesis. Criminology student Lola Hayes has tracked Frieda down with a single-minded pursuit: she wants to delve inside the mind of a woman besieged by darkness. But in following every move Frieda makes, Lola is exposing herself to the same terrors --- and the same twisted fixation of a diabolical psychopath.
Penguin Books | 9780062676702
DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander (Historical Mystery)
After the final curtain of “Swan Lake,” an animated crowd exits the Mariinsky theatre brimming with excitement from the night’s performance. But outside the scene is somber. A ballerina’s body lies face down in the snow, blood splattered like rose petals over the costume of the Swan Queen. Amongst the theatergoers is Lady Emily, accompanying her dashing husband Colin in Russia on assignment from the Crown. But it soon becomes clear that Colin isn’t the only one with work to do. When the dead ballerina’s aristocratic lover comes begging for justice, Emily must apply her own set of skills to discover the rising star’s murderer.
Minotaur Books | 9781250146151
DUNBAR by Edward St. Aubyn (Fiction)
Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he hands over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, but as relations sour he starts to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in Meadowmeade, an upscale sanatorium in rural England, with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first --- his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate?
Hogarth | 9781101904305
FIERCE KINGDOM by Gin Phillips (Thriller)
The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours, she keeps on running. Joan’s intimate knowledge of her son and of the zoo itself --- the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines --- is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger.
Penguin Books | 9780735224520
GATHER THE DAUGHTERS by Jennie Melamed (Dystopian Fiction)
Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, 10 men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers --- chosen male descendants of the original 10 --- are allowed to cross to the wastelands. The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. At the end of one summer, little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.
Back Bay Books | 9780316463683
THE ICE-CREAM MAKERS by Ernest van der Kwast (Fiction)
As the heir to a proud Northern Italian ice-cream dynasty, Giovanni Calamine’s family is none too happy when he decides to break with tradition and travel the world as a notable poet. So when Giovanni receives an unexpected call from his brother, he is faced with a difficult decision: return home to serve in his family’s interests or continue on his own path in life once and for all.
Atria / 37 INK | 9781501169830
THE LAST THING I TOLD YOU by Emily Arsenault (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian has been bludgeoned to death in his office. But that doesn’t stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him --- in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? She committed a shockingly violent act when she was 16, and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse. Meanwhile, Detective Henry Peacher discovers that shortly before he died, Fabian pulled the files of two former patients: Nadine Raines and Johnny Streeter, the latter of whom is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. Could there be a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter? Maybe that would explain why Fabian ended up dead two days after Nadine’s return.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062567369
LITTLE GIRL LOST by Wendy Corsi Staub (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
May 1968: In Harlem, a church janitor finds an innocent newborn in a basket. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, an elusive serial killer prowls slumbering families, leaving a trail of blood and a twisted calling card. October 1987: Amelia Crenshaw embarks on a search to discover the truth about the birth mother who abandoned her, never suspecting she’s on a collision course with a killer. Detective Stockton Barnes, a brash young NYPD detective, trails a missing millionaire whose disappearance is rooted in a nightmare that began 20 years ago. The past returns with a brutal vengeance as a masked predator picks off victims whose fates intertwine with a notorious murder spree solved back in ’68. Or was it?
William Morrow | 9780062742056
LOCKDOWN by Laurie R. King (Psychological Suspense)
A year ago, Principal Linda McDonald arrived at Guadalupe determined to overturn the school’s reputation for truancy, gang violence and neglect. One of her initiatives is Career Day --- bringing together children, teachers and community presenters in a celebration of the future. But there are some in attendance who reject McDonald’s bright vision. A principal with a secret. A husband with a murky past. A cop with too many questions. A kid under pressure to prove himself. A girl struggling to escape a mother’s history. A young basketball player with an affection for guns. Even the school janitor has a story he dare not reveal. But no one at the gathering anticipates the shocking turn of events that will transform a day of possibilities into an explosive confrontation.
Bantam | 9780804177955
THE LONG DROP by Denise Mina (Historical/Psychological Thriller)
In 1950s Glasgow, a household of women were found slaughtered in their beds. The father, William Watt, had a cast iron alibi, but police were convinced he was guilty. Determined to clear his name, Watt let it be known that he would pay for information. Step forward career criminal Peter Manuel, with compelling details only the murderer could know. Watt agreed to meet him. They spent 12 hours together, driving and drinking in Glasgow pubs and clubs. No one knows what happened that night. The next time they met was in the High Court where Manuel was defending himself against the murder charges. He called Watt as a witness and quizzed him about their long, shady night together.
Back Bay Books | 9780316380591
NEED TO KNOW by Karen Cleveland (Thriller)
Vivian Miller. High-powered CIA analyst, happily married to a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes a shocking discovery that makes her question everything she believes. She thought she knew her husband inside and out. But now she wonders if it was all a lie. How far will she go to learn the truth? And does she really need to know?
Ballantine Books | 9781524797041
NIGHTBLIND by Ragnar Jonasson (Mystery/Thriller)
Ari Thor Arason is a local policeman who has an uneasy relationship with the villagers in an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland --- where no one locks their doors. The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by a murder. One of Ari’s colleagues is gunned down at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark Arctic waters closing in, it falls to Ari Thor to piece together a puzzle that involves a new mayor and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik. It becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all.
Minotaur Books | 9781250193339
NOW MY HEART IS FULL: A Memoir by Laura June (Memoir)
Paperback Original
Laura June’s daughter, Zelda, was only a few moments old when she held her for the first time, looked into her eyes, and thought, I wish my mother were here. It wasn’t a thought she was used to having. Laura was in second grade when she realized her mother was an alcoholic. As the years went by, she spiraled deeper --- and by the time of her death, before Zelda’s birth, the two had drifted apart entirely. In NOW MY HEART IS FULL, Laura June explores how raising her daughter forced her to confront this tragic legacy and recognize the connective tissue that binds generations of women together.
Penguin Books | 9780143130918
UNLOCKED: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome by John Scalzi (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Not long from now, a virus will sweep the globe. Most will suffer no worse than flu-like symptoms, but an unlucky one percent will be changed forever. Hundreds of millions become "locked in," awake, aware, but completely unable to control their bodies. This is the story of the doctors, scientists, engineers, politicians and heroes who remade the world. It is the story of the chaotic outbreak, the fight for a cure, the changes that followed. It is an oral history, straight from the mouths of those who survived the most dynamic period in human history.
Tor.com | 9781250307996
YOUR SECOND LIFE BEGINS WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU ONLY HAVE ONE by Raphaelle Giordano (Fiction)
Paperback Original
At 38 and a quarter years old, Paris native Camille has everything she needs to be happy, or so it seems: a good job, a loving husband, a wonderful son. Why then does she feel as if happiness has slipped through her fingers? All she wants is to find the path to joy. When Claude, a French Sean Connery look-alike and routinologist, offers his unique advice to help get her there, she seizes the opportunity with both hands. Camille's journey is full of surprising escapades, creative capers and deep meaning, as she sets out to transform her life and realize her dreams one step at a time.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780525535591
On Sale the Week of July 30th in Hardcover
July 31st
BLOODY SUNDAY by Ben Coes (Thriller)
Dewey Andreas, still reeling from recent revelations about his own past, is ready to retire from the CIA. But he's the only available agent with the skills to carry out the CIA's plan to stop North Korea from launching a nuclear attack on the United States. The plan is to inject a singular designer poison into the head of the North Korean military and, in exchange for the nuclear plans, provide him with the one existing dose of the antidote. But it goes awry when Dewey manages to inject a small amount of the poison into himself. Now, to survive, Dewey must get into North Korea and access the antidote and, while there, thwart the nuclear ambitions of both North Korea and Iran. And he has less than 24 hours to do so.
St. Martin’s Press | 9781250140760
BROTHER by David Chariandy (Fiction)
One sweltering summer in the Park, a housing complex outside of Toronto, Michael and Francis are coming of age and learning to stomach the careless prejudices and low expectations that confront them as young men of black and brown ancestry. Propelled by the beats and styles of hip hop, Francis dreams of a future in music. Michael's dreams are of Aisha, the smartest girl in their high school whose own eyes are firmly set on a life elsewhere. But the bright hopes of all three are violently, irrevocably thwarted by a tragic shooting, and the police crackdown and suffocating suspicion that follow.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781635572049
A DOUBLE LIFE by Flynn Berry (Psychological Thriller)
Claire’s father is one of the most notorious murder suspects in the country, though no one knows it. Nearly 30 years ago, while Claire and her brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family's townhouse. The next morning, her father's car was found abandoned near the English Channel, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she'd seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since. When the police tell Claire they've found him, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture.
Viking | 9780735224964
FREEFALL by Adam Hamdy (Thriller)
Eight months after confronting Pendulum, John Wallace is losing himself in a dangerous warzone in a misguided attempt at penance for what he has done. But an assassination attempt makes Wallace realize that he has been targeted for death once again. This time, Wallace is prepared; tracking down his would-be assassin, he discovers a link to his nemesis, Pendulum. The link is the missing piece of a puzzle that has tormented FBI Agent Christine Ash ever since they confronted Pendulum, but with no Bureau support she has been unable to pursue her case. Wallace's proof breaks it, but also exposes them both to terrible danger.
Quercus | 9781635060003
FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Fiction)
Seven-year-old Chula and her older sister, Cassandra, enjoy carefree lives thanks to their gated community in Bogotá. But the threat of kidnappings, car bombs and assassinations hover just outside the neighborhood walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar continues to elude authorities and capture the attention of the nation. When their mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city's guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona's mysterious ways. As both girls' families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy that will force them both to choose between sacrifice and betrayal.
Doubleday | 9780385542722
IMMIGRANT, MONTANA by Amitava Kumar (Fiction)
The young man is Kailash, from India. His new American friends call him Kalashnikov, AK-47, AK. He takes it all in his stride: he wants to fit in --- and, more than that, to shine. In the narrative of his years at a university in New York, AK describes the joys and disappointments of his immigrant experience; the unfamiliar political and social textures of campus life; the indelible influence of a charismatic professor --- also an immigrant, his personal history as dramatic as AK's is decidedly not; the very different natures of the women he loved, and of himself in and out of love with each of them. Telling his own story, AK is both meditative and the embodiment of the enthusiasm of youth in all its idealism and chaotic desires.
Knopf | 9780525520757
THE INCENDIARIES by R.O. Kwon (Fiction)
Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet during their first month at prestigious Edwards University. A grieving Phoebe, who blames herself for her mother’s recent death, is increasingly drawn into a religious group --- a secretive extremist cult --- founded by a charismatic former student who has an enigmatic past that involves North Korea and Phoebe's Korean American family. Meanwhile, Will struggles to confront the fundamentalism he's tried to escape, and the obsession consuming the one he loves. When the group bombs several buildings in the name of faith, killing five people, Phoebe disappears. Will devotes himself to finding her, seeking answers to what happened to Phoebe and if she could have been responsible for this violent act.
Riverhead Books | 9780735213890
A MEASURE OF DARKNESS by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman (Mystery/Thriller)
A wild party in a gentrifying East Bay neighborhood. A heated argument that spills into the street. Gunshots. Chaos. For Clay Edison and his fellow coroners, it’s the start of a long night and the first of many to come. The victims keep piling up. Then the smoke clears and the real mystery emerges --- one victim’s death doesn’t match the others. And it falls to Clay to give her a name and a voice. Haunted by the cruelty of her death, he embarks upon a journey into the bizarre, entering a hidden world where innocence and perversity meet and mingle. There, his relentless pursuit of the truth opens the gateway to a dark and baffling past --- and brings him right into the line of fire.
Ballantine Books | 9780399594632
PARADOX by Catherine Coulter (Thriller)
Chief Ty Christie of Willicott, Maryland, witnesses a murder at dawn from the deck of her cottage on Lake Massey. When dragging the lake, not only do the divers find the murder victim, they also discover dozens of bones. Even more shocking is the identification of a unique belt buckle found among the bones. Working together with Chief Christie, Savich and Sherlock soon discover a frightening connection between the bones and the escaped psychopath.
Gallery Books | 9781501138126
THE QUIET SIDE OF PASSION: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery)
Isabel Dalhousie and her husband, Jamie, hire a new au pair, and Isabel brings on an intelligent assistant editor to share her workload. Both women, though, have romantic entanglements that threaten to interfere with their work, and Isabel must decide how best to navigate this tricky domestic situation. Meanwhile, Isabel makes the acquaintance of Patricia, the mother of her son Charlie’s friend Basil. She tries to be supportive, especially given that Patricia is raising her son on her own, without the help of his father, a well-known Edinburgh organist also named Basil. But when Isabel sees Patricia in the company of an unscrupulous man, she begins to rethink her assumptions.
Pantheon | 9780307908964
SHE WAS THE QUIET ONE by Michele Campbell (Mystery)
For Rose Enright, enrolling in a prestigious New England boarding school is the opportunity of a lifetime. But for Rose’s vulnerable twin sister Bel, Odell Academy is a place of temptation and danger. When Bel falls in with a crowd of wild rich kids who pressure her into hazing Rose, the sisters’ relationship is shattered. Rose turns to her dorm mother, Sarah Donovan, for advice. But Bel turns to Sarah’s husband Heath, a charismatic and ambitious teacher. Is Heath trying to help Bel or take advantage of her? In a world of privilege, seduction and manipulation, only one sister will live to tell the truth.
St. Martin’s Press | 9781250081834
THE SHORTEST WAY HOME by Miriam Parker (Fiction)
Hannah is finally about to have everything she ever wanted. With a high-paying job, a Manhattan apartment, and a boyfriend about to propose, all she and Ethan have to do is make it through the last couple of weeks of grad school. But when, on a romantic weekend trip to Sonoma, Hannah is spontaneously offered a marketing job at a family-run winery and doesn't immediately refuse, their meticulously planned forever threatens to come crashing down. And then Hannah impulsively does the unthinkable --- she takes a leap of faith. Soon, the mission to rescue the failing winery becomes a mission to rescue Hannah from the life she thought she wanted.
Dutton | 9781524741860
August 1st
BEAUTIFUL EXILES by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction)
Key West, 1936. Headstrong, accomplished journalist Martha Gellhorn is confident with words but less so with men when she meets disheveled literary titan Ernest Hemingway in a dive bar. Their friendship flourishes into something undeniable in Madrid while they’re covering the Spanish Civil War. Martha reveres him. The very married Hemingway is taken with Martha. And as Hemingway tells her, the most powerful love stories are always set against the fury of war. With their romance unfolding as they travel the globe, Martha establishes herself as one of the world’s foremost war correspondents, and Hemingway begins the novel that will win him the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781503900837
A KILLER'S MIND by Mike Omer (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, the FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate. Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe is a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum is a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer’s psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe’s childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781503901902
THE KING TIDES by James Swain (Thriller)
Wherever she goes, Nicki Pearl is being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing --- their alarming obsession with her. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help --- his way. Unlicensed and unrestricted, he plays dirty. But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents? Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781503901698
On Sale the Week of July 30th in Paperback
July 31st
AMERICAN WOLF: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee (Science/Nature)
Once abundant in North America, wolves were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought them back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West. Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves: O-Six, who is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter and a doting mother. But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers, who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves, who are vying for control of the park’s stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley.
Broadway Books | 9781101902806
AT THE STRANGERS’ GATE: Arrivals in New York by Adam Gopnik (Memoir)
When Adam Gopnik and his soon-to-be-wife, Martha, left the comforts of home in Montreal for New York, the city then, much like today, was a pilgrimage site for the young, the arty and the ambitious. But it was also becoming a city of greed, where both life's consolations and its necessities were increasingly going to the highest bidder. AT THE STRANGERS’ GATE builds a portrait of this particular moment in New York through the story of this couple's journey --- from their excited arrival as aspiring artists to their eventual growth into a New York family.
Vintage | 9781400075744
THE BLIND by A.F. Brady (Psychological Thriller)
Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan's most challenging psychiatric institution. She believes if she can't save herself, she'll save someone else. It's this savior complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil. When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. But she can't figure out why Richard appears to be so normal in a hospital filled with madness. As Sam gets pulled into Richard's twisted past, she can't help but analyze her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her.
Park Row | 9780778369806
A CASUALTY OF WAR: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)
Though the Great War is nearing its end, the fighting rages on. While waiting for transport back to her post, Bess Crawford meets Captain Alan Travis from the island of Barbados. Later, when he’s brought into her forward aid station disoriented from a head wound, Bess is alarmed that he believes his distant English cousin, Lieutenant James Travis, shot him. Then the Captain is brought back to the aid station with a more severe wound, once more angrily denouncing the Lieutenant as a killer. But when it appears that James Travis couldn’t have shot him, the Captain’s sanity is questioned. Still, Bess wonders how such an experienced officer could be so wrong.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062678799
A COLUMN OF FIRE by Ken Follett (Historical Fiction)
In 1558, as power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty and love. Ned Willard wants nothing more than to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But when the lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the religious conflict dividing the country, Ned goes to work for Princess Elizabeth. When she becomes queen, all Europe turns against England. Over a turbulent half century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. Elizabeth clings to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents.
Penguin Books | 9780451477996
THE CORE: Book Five of The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett (Fantasy/Adventure)
Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.
Del Rey | 9780345531513
DARK IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck. As Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime --- from the pages of her own book. The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband, Roarke, have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250161543
DARK LIGHT: DAWN by Jon Land (Supernatural Thriller)
Since the dawn of time, good and evil have challenged the free will of man. Now the time has come for one man to choose for all human kind. With an uncanny ability to survive any combat situation, Max Younger has built a heroic life for himself as a Navy SEAL. That is, until a rogue rescue operation plunges him back into a past he thought he’d escaped forever. Waiting for him back home in New York are terrible, long-hidden truths rooted in the tragic death of his father. But the origin of those truths lie even further back than that, and Max finds himself ensnared in a sinister plot involving nothing less than the biblical apocalypse.
Forge Books | 9780765367143
THE LOCKSMITH’S DAUGHTER by Karen Brooks (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Mallory Bright is the only daughter of London's most ingenious locksmith, and has apprenticed with her father since childhood. After scandal destroys her reputation, Mallory has returned to her father's home and lives almost as a recluse. But Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster and a frequent client of Mallory's father, draws her into his world of danger and deception. Mallory's loyalty wavers when she witnesses the brutal and bloody public execution of three Jesuit priests and realizes the human cost of her espionage. And later, when she discovers the identity of a Catholic spy and a conspiracy that threatens the kingdom, she is forced to choose between her country and her heart.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062686572
MAYHEM: A Memoir by Sigrid Rausing (Memoir)
In the summer of 2012, a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, Hans’ sister, the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened. In MAYHEM, she asks the difficult questions those close to the world of addiction must face. Who can help the addict, consumed by a shaming hunger, a need beyond control? And who can help their families, so implicated in the self-destruction of the addict?
Vintage | 9781101972618
NOTHING STAYS BURIED: A Monkeewrench Novel by P.J. Tracy (Mystery/Thriller)
When Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called to a crime scene in a heavily wooded city park, everything about the setting is all too familiar. And when they discover a playing card on the victim's body, their worst fears are confirmed --- there’s a serial killer operating in the city for the first time in years. Weary of the darker side of their computer work for law enforcement, Grace MacBride and her unconventional partners at Monkeewrench Software agree to take on a private missing-persons case in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota. As the violence accelerates in Minneapolis, Magozzi and Gino soon realize their killer is planning to complete the deck, and they enlist Monkeewrench to help stop the rampage.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780735212473
AN ODYSSEY: A Father, A Son, and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn (Memoir)
When 81-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate ODYSSEY seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, this return to the classroom is his "one last chance" to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth --- and a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a writer and classicist. But through the sometimes-uncomfortable months that the two men explore Homer's great work together, it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: Jay's responses to both the text and their travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last.
Vintage | 9780345806215
RANGER GAMES: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime by Ben Blum (True Crime/Memoir)
Alex Blum had one goal in life: endure a brutally difficult selection program, become a U.S. Army Ranger, and fight terrorists for his country. He poured everything into achieving his dream. In the first hours of his final leave before deployment to Iraq, Alex was supposed to fly home to see his family and girlfriend. Instead, he got into his car with two fellow soldiers and two strangers, drove to a local bank in Tacoma, and committed armed robbery. Why would he ruin his life in such a spectacularly foolish way? In the midst of his own personal crisis, and in the hopes of helping both Alex and his splintering family cope, Ben Blum, Alex’s first cousin, delved into these mysteries, growing closer to Alex in the process.
Anchor | 9780804169691
SHADOW OF THE LIONS by Christopher Swann (Literary Thriller/Mystery)
When Matthias Glass’ best friend, Fritz, vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past, guilty, responsible, alone. Almost 10 years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies and buried secrets --- and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.
Algonquin Books | 9781616208615
SLEEPING IN THE GROUND: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery/Thriller)
At the doors of a charming country church, an unspeakable act destroys a wedding party. A huge manhunt ensues. The culprit is captured. The story is over. Except it isn't. For Alan Banks, still struggling with a tragic loss of his own, there's something wrong about this case --- something unresolved. Reteaming with profiler Jenny Fuller, the relentless detective dives deeper into the crime...deep enough to unearth long-buried secrets that reshape everything Banks thought he knew about the events outside that chapel. And when at last the shocking truth becomes clear, it's almost too late.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062395085
SUNBURN by Laura Lippman (Psychological Thriller)
They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays --- drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other --- dangerous, even lethal, secrets. Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away --- or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062389985
THEY WON'T BE HURT by Kevin O'Brien (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Scott Singleton, former NFL star turned television evangelist, lies dead. The bodies of his wife and four of their five children are found on the second floor, bound, gagged and stabbed repeatedly. The oldest daughter was shot downstairs. And the police’s main suspect --- the property caretaker --- has disappeared. In her secluded vineyard home two hours away, Laura Gretchell is on edge. Her husband is out of town on business, and the children are understandably shaken. Laura tries to tell herself there’s no reason to fear. Then the door handle rattles, and the real terror begins. They’re in her house, holding her children hostage, and Laura has only one option: do exactly what the intruders say.
Pinnacle | 9780786038855
Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton (Mystery)
Y IS FOR YESTERDAY begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a 14-year-old classmate --- and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence, and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace. Now it’s 1989, and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents --- until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780525536703
ZERO DAY by Ezekiel Boone (Apocalyptic Thriller/Horror)
The only thing more terrifying than millions of spiders is the realization that those spiders work as one. But among the government, there is dissent: Do we try to kill all of the spiders, or do we gamble on Professor Guyer’s theory that we need to kill only the queens? For President Stephanie Pilgrim, it’s an easy answer. She’s gone as far as she can --- more than two dozen American cities hit with tactical nukes --- and the only answer is to believe in Professor Guyer. Unfortunately, Ben Broussard and the military men who follow him don’t agree, and Pilgrim, Guyer and the loyal members of the government have to flee, leaving the question: What’s more dangerous, the spiders or ourselves?
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781501125126
August 1st
DEATH ON BULL PATH: A Hamptons Murder Mystery by Carrie Doyle (Mystery)
Paperback Original
After the craziness of August, the end of summer is supposed to bring peace and tranquility to the posh seaside enclave of East Hampton, New York. Antonia Bingham, chef and proprietor of the town’s prestigious Windmill Inn, has been lining up new recipes to try in the quiet, golden days of September, and looks forward to putting murder and mayhem behind her so she can focus on herself and her business. But when a Labor Day visit by two slick Wall Streeters ends with their gruesome deaths in a summer rental house, Antonia is pulled back to the dark side. With mysterious guests (and possible suspects) popping in and out of the inn, Antonia has no choice but to put back on her sleuthing cap and try to decipher who butchered these men.
Dunemere Books | 9781947936027
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