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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 22nd and October 29th 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 New Release Spotlight of B. A. Shapiro's latest historical art thriller, THE COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE, which includes our review, an excerpt, the book trailer and more.
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This Week's Bonus News:
Our New Release Spotlight of
THE COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE by B. A. Shapiro
THE COLLECTOR’S APPRENTICE by B. A. Shapiro (Historical Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Xe Sands
From the New York Times bestselling author of THE ART FORGER and THE MURALIST comes a new novel of art and intrigue, shifting identities and desire --- THE COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE.
It’s the summer of 1922, and 19-year-old Paulien Mertens finds herself in Paris --- broke, disowned and completely alone. Everyone in Belgium, including her own family, believes she stole millions in a sophisticated con game perpetrated by her then-fiancé, George Everard. To protect herself from the law and the wrath of those who lost everything, she creates a new identity, a Frenchwoman named Vivienne Gregsby, and sets out to recover her father’s art collection, prove her innocence --- and exact revenge on George.
When the eccentric and wealthy American art collector Edwin Bradley offers Vivienne the perfect job, she is soon caught up in the Parisian world of expatriates and post-Impressionists --- including Gertrude Stein and Henri Matisse, with whom Vivienne becomes romantically entwined. As she travels between Paris and Philadelphia, where Bradley is building an art museum, her life becomes even more complicated: George returns with unclear motives...and then Vivienne is arrested for Bradley’s murder.
B. A. Shapiro has made the historical art thriller her own. In THE COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE, she gives us an unforgettable tale about the lengths to which people will go for their obsession, whether it be art, money, love or vengeance.
- Click here to read a review.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to watch the book trailer.
- Click here to read B. A. Shapiro’s bio.
- Click here to visit B. A. Shapiro’s website.
- Connect with B. A. Shapiro on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.
On Sale the Week of October 22nd in Hardcover
October 23rd
A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL by Jean Thompson (Fiction)
Evelyn set aside her career to marry, late, and motherhood never became her. Her daughter Laura felt this acutely and wants desperately to marry, but she soon discovers her husband Gabe to be a man who expects too much of everyone in his life, especially his musician son. Grace has moved out from Laura and Gabe’s house, but can’t seem to live up to her potential --- whatever that might be. In A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL, we see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights and heartbreaks, marital disappointments and infidelities, familial dysfunction, mortality.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501194368
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS AND ART AND ARCANA: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson and Sam Witwer (Art/Gaming)
From one of the most iconic game brands in the world, this official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS illustrated history provides an unprecedented look at the visual evolution of the brand, showing its continued influence on the worlds of pop culture and fantasy. Inside the book, you’ll find more than 700 pieces of artwork --- from each edition of the core role-playing books, supplements and adventures; as well as Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels; decades of Dragon and Dungeon magazines; and classic advertisements and merchandise; plus never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts and more from the now-famous designers and artists associated with "Dungeons & Dragons."
Ten Speed Press | 9780399580949
AN EMPIRE FOR RAVENS: A John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer (Historical Mystery)
Emperor Justinian's former Lord Chamberlain, John, gets a letter from his longtime comrade, Felix. For years a Captain of the Excubitors at the court in Constantinople, Felix has achieved his ambition to become a General when Justinian sends him to serve under General Diogenes in fighting for Rome against the besieging Goths. John's covert entrance into Rome is ambushed, driving him deep into ancient catacombs before he exits into the heart of the city. Arrested and brought before Diogenes, John learns that Felix is missing. Then a young woman servant, also missing, is found dead. John has many mysteries to solve before Diogenes' courier to Justinian can return and prompt John's immediate execution.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211102
THE FOX by Frederick Forsyth (Thriller)
Adrian Weston, former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, is awoken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the Prime Minister. The Pentagon, the NSA and the CIA have been hacked simultaneously, their seemingly impenetrable firewalls breached by an unknown enemy known only as "The Fox." Even more surprisingly, the culprit is revealed to be a young British teenager, Luke Jennings. Extradition to the U.S. seems likely --- until Weston has another idea: If Luke can do this to us, what can he do to our enemies? After conferring with both the American President and the Prime Minister, Weston is determined to use "The Fox" and his talents to the advantage of the two nations. But doing so places the boy on a geopolitical minefield.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525538424
GO TO MY GRAVE by Catriona McPherson (Gothic Mystery/Thriller)
Donna Weaver has put everything she has into restoring The Breakers, an old bed and breakfast on a remote stretch of beach in Galloway. Donna's guests, a contentious group of estranged cousins, soon realize that they’ve been here before, years ago. Decades have passed, but that night still haunts them: a 16th birthday party that started with peach schnapps and ended with a girl walking into the sea. Each of them had made a vow of silence: “lock it in a box, stitch my lips, and go to my grave.” But now someone has broken the pact. Amid the home-baked scones and lavish rooms, someone is playing games, locking boxes, stitching lips. And before the weekend is over, at least one of them will go to their grave.
Minotaur Books | 9781250070005
HOUSE OF GOLD by Natasha Solomons (Historical Fiction)
Vienna, 1911. Greta Goldbaum has always dreamed of being free to choose her own life's path, but the Goldbaum family, one of the wealthiest in the world, has different expectations. So Greta moves to England to wed Albert, a distant cousin. Defiant and lonely, she longs for connection and a place to call her own. When Albert's mother gives Greta a garden, things start to change. But just as she begins to taste an unexpected happiness, war is looming, and even the influential Goldbaums can't alter its course. For the first time in 200 years, the family will find themselves on opposing sides, and Greta will have to choose: the family she's created, or the one she was forced to leave behind.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735212978
THE LINE: A Sueño and Bascom Investigation Set in South Korea by Martin Limon (Historical Mystery)
A battered corpse is found a few feet north of the line dividing North and South Korea. When 8th Army CID Agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom pull the body to the South Korean side on orders from their superiors, they have no idea of the international conflict their small action will spark. Before war breaks out, they must discover who killed Corporal Noh Jong-bei, a young Korean soldier working with the US Army. The murderer could be from either side of the DMZ. But without cooperation between the governments involved, how can two US military agents interrogate North Korean witnesses? What George and Ernie discover gets them pulled off the case, but fearing they’ve put the wrong man behind bars, they disobey orders in an attempt to discover the truth.
Soho Crime | 9781616959661
LISTEN TO THE MARRIAGE by John Jay Osborn (Fiction)
Gretchen and Steve have been married for a long time. Living in San Francisco, recently separated, with two children and demanding jobs, they’ve started going to a marriage counselor. Unfolding over the course of 10 months and taking place entirely in the marriage counselor’s office, John Jay Osborn’s LISTEN TO THE MARRIAGE is the story of a fractured couple in a moment of crisis, and of the person who tries to get them to see each other again.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374192020
LITTLE by Edward Carey (Historical Fiction)
In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and…at the wax museum, heads are what they do.
Riverhead Books | 9780525534327
MARILLA OF GREEN GABLES by Sarah McCoy (Historical Fiction)
Marilla Cuthbert is 13 years old when her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and she suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth "Izzy" Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape to the bustling city of St. Catharines. Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world. Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. However, she soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition --- jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe.
William Morrow | 9780062697714
PULSE by Michael Harvey (Thriller)
In a small apartment in Boston, 16-year-old Daniel Fitzsimmons is listening to his landlord describe a seemingly insane theory about invisible pulses of light and energy that can be harnessed by the human mind. He longs to laugh with his brother Harry about it, but Harry doesn’t know he’s there. None of that matters, though, because the next night Harry, a Harvard football star, is murdered in an alley. Detectives “Bark” Jones and Tommy Dillon are assigned to the case. The veteran partners thought they’d seen it all, but they are stunned when Daniel wanders into the crime scene. Even stranger, Daniel claims to have known the details of his brother’s murder before it ever happened.
Ecco | 9780062443038
THE RECKONING by John Grisham (Historical Thriller/Mystery)
Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son --- a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor and faithful member of the Methodist church. Then, one cool October morning, he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed his pastor and friend, the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder wasn’t shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete's only statement about it --- to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury and to his family --- was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.
Doubleday | 9780385544153
RED MOON by Kim Stanley Robinson (Science Fiction/Space Opera)
It is 30 years from now, and we have colonized the moon. American Fred Fredericks is making his first trip, his purpose to install a communications system for China's Lunar Science Foundation. But hours after his arrival, he witnesses a murder and is forced into hiding. It is also the first visit for celebrity travel reporter Ta Shu. He has contacts and influence, but he too will find that the moon can be a perilous place for any traveler. Finally, there is Chan Qi. She is the daughter of the Minister of Finance, and without doubt a person of interest to those in power. She is on the moon for reasons of her own, but when she attempts to return to China, in secret, the events that unfold will change everything.
Orbit | 9780316262378
THE THREE BETHS by Jeff Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
My mom would never leave me. This has been Mariah Dunning's motto. So when she glimpses her mother --- who's been missing for the past year --- on the other side of a food court, Mariah's conviction becomes stronger than ever. Or is she losing her mind? When Beth Dunning disappeared without a trace, suspicion for her murder immediately fell upon Mariah's father. Until Mariah stumbles upon two other recent disappearances from Lakehaven. And all three women had the same name: Beth. Mariah would give anything to find out what happened to her mother and clear her father's name. But the truth may be more devastating than she could have imagined.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538728697
VENDETTA by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
With his dying breath, Carl Venable, head of the CIA task force on terrorism and Jude Brandon’s final link to terrorist ringleader Max Huber, gives Brandon a mandate: keep his daughter, Rachel, safe at any cost. But Rachel Venable has a shocking, twisted past of her own, one that comes rushing back after her medical clinic in Guyana is attacked by Huber --- the same man who murdered her father and kept her imprisoned for months. Brandon and Catherine Ling, Rachel’s longtime ally and fierce protector, are determined to keep Rachel out of danger, but she knows that it’s impossible to stay hidden when Max Huber wants you dead.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250075871
On Sale the Week of October 22nd in Paperback
October 22nd
RECORD SCRATCH by J.J. Hensley (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
The sister of a murdered musician expects Trevor Galloway not only to solve her brother's homicide, but to recover a vinyl record she believes could ruin his reputation. Galloway knows he should walk away, but when the client closes the meeting by putting a gun under her chin and pulling the trigger, his sense of obligation drags him down a path he may not be ready to travel. As Galloway pieces together the final days of rock and roll legend Jimmy Spartan, he struggles to sort through his own issues. The stoic demeanor that earned Galloway the nickname The Tin Man is tested as he reunites with an old flame, becomes entangled in a Secret Service investigation, and does battle with old enemies.
Down & Out Books | 9781948235358
October 23rd
CRIMES OF THE FATHER by Thomas Keneally (Historical Fiction)
Sent away from his native Australia to Canada due to his radical preaching against the Vietnam War, apartheid and other hot-button issues, Father Frank Docherty made for himself a satisfying career as a psychologist and monk. When he returns to Australia to lecture on the future of celibacy and the Catholic Church, he is unwittingly pulled into the lives of two people, both of whom claim to have been sexually abused by a prominent monsignor. As a member of the commission investigating sex abuse within the Church, and as a man of character and conscience, Docherty decides he must confront each party involved. What follows will shake him to the core and call into question many of his own choices.
Washington Square Press | 9781501128493
THE FIRST DAY by Phil Harrison (Fiction)
Outside an east Belfast mission hall, pastor and family man Samuel Orr meets Anna, a young Beckett scholar. They embark on an intense, passionate affair, their connection both intellectual and erotic. When Anna falls pregnant, the affair is revealed. The repercussions are slow to emerge but inescapable, and the fallout, when it finally comes, is shocking. Over 30 years later, their son Sam is in New York, living a steady, guarded life, his childhood and family safely abandoned. But when the past once more crashes into his life, he is forced to confront the fears he has kept close all these years.
Mariner Books | 9781328505767
FRIDAY BLACK: Stories by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice and painful absurdities that black men and women contend with every day in this country. These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In “The Finkelstein Five,” Adjei-Brenyah gives us an unforgettable reckoning of the brutal prejudice of our justice system. In “Zimmer Land,” we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And “Friday Black” and “How to Sell a Jacket as Told by Ice King” show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Mariner Books | 9781328911247
FRIENDS DIVIDED: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood (Biography)
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation.
Penguin Books | 9780735224735
HANK AND JIM: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart by Scott Eyman (Biography/Entertainment)
Henry Fonda and James Stewart were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood for 40 years. They got along famously, with a shared interest in elaborate practical jokes and model airplanes, among other things. Fonda was a liberal Democrat, Stewart a conservative Republican, but after one memorable blow-up over politics, they agreed never to discuss that subject again. For HANK AND JIM, biographer and film historian Scott Eyman spoke with Fonda’s widow and children as well as three of Stewart’s children, plus actors and directors who had worked with the men --- in addition to doing extensive archival research to get the full details of their time together.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501102189
HIDDENSEE: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker by Gregory Maguire (Historical Fantasy)
Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in WICKED and to Wonderland in AFTER ALICE, Gregory Maguire now takes us to the realms of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffmann --- the enchanted Black Forest of Bavaria and the salons of Munich. HIDDENSEE imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann's mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier --- the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet --- who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062684370
THE MIDNIGHT WITNESS by Sara Blaedel (Thriller)
Paperback Original
A young woman is found strangled in a park, and a male journalist has been killed in the backyard of the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Detective Louise Rick is put on the case of the young girl, but very soon becomes entangled in solving the other homicide too when it turns out that her best friend, journalist Camilla Lind, knew the murdered man. Louise tries to keep her friend from getting too involved, but Camilla has never been one to miss out on an interesting story. And this time, Camilla may have gone too far.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538759790
PROMISE NOT TO TELL by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy has spent years battling the demons that stem from her childhood time in a cult and the night a fire burned through the compound, killing her mother. And now one of her artists has taken her own life, but not before sending Virginia a last picture: a painting that makes Virginia doubt everything about the so-called suicide --- and her own past. Like Virginia, private investigator Cabot Sutter was one of the children in the cult who survived that fire...and only he can help her now. Thrown into an inferno of desire and deception, Virginia and Cabot draw ever closer to the mystery of their shared memories --- and the shocking fate of the one man who still wields the power to destroy everything they hold dear.
Berkley | 9780399585289
SISTERS FIRST: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush (Memoir)
Born into a political dynasty, Jenna and Barbara Bush grew up in the public eye. As small children, they watched their grandfather become president; just 12 years later, they stood by their father's side when he took the same oath. They spent their college years watched over by Secret Service agents and became fodder for the tabloids, with teenage mistakes making national headlines. But the tabloids didn't tell the whole story. In SISTERS FIRST, Jenna and Barbara take readers on a revealing, thoughtful and deeply personal tour behind the scenes of their lives, as they share stories about their family, their unexpected adventures, their loves and losses, and the sisterly bond that means everything to them.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538711422
STILL ME by Jojo Moyes (Romance)
Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life. As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home.
Penguin Books | 9780399562464
STRANGERS IN BUDAPEST by Jessica Keener (Psychological Thriller)
Eight months after their move from Boston to Budapest, Annie and Will’s efforts to assimilate are thrown into turmoil when they receive a message from friends in the US asking that they check up on an elderly man, a fiercely independent Jewish American WWII veteran who helped free Hungarian Jews from a Nazi prison camp. They soon learn that the man, Edward Weiss, has come to Hungary to exact revenge on someone he is convinced seduced, married and then murdered his daughter. What Annie does not anticipate is that in helping Edward she will become enmeshed in a dark and deadly conflict that will end in tragedy and a stunning loss of innocence.
Algonquin Books | 9781616208646
WINTER SOLSTICE by Elin Hilderbrand (Fiction)
It's been too long since the entire Quinn family has been able to celebrate the holidays under the same roof, but that's about to change. With Bart back safe and sound from Afghanistan, the Quinns are preparing for a holiday more joyous than any they've experienced in years. And Bart's safe return isn't the family's only good news. Kevin is enjoying married life with Isabelle; Patrick is getting back on his feet after paying his debt to society; Ava thinks she's finally found the love of her life; and Kelley is thrilled to see his family reunited at last. But it just wouldn't be a Quinn family gathering if things went smoothly.
Back Bay Books | 9780316435468
On Sale the Week of October 29th in Hardcover
October 30th
ALICE ISN’T DEAD by Joseph Fink (Horror/Thriller)
Keisha Taylor lived a quiet life with her wife, Alice, until the day Alice disappeared. After months of searching, presuming she was dead, Keisha held a funeral, mourned and gradually tried to get on with her life. But that was before Keisha started to see her wife, again and again, in the background of news reports from all over America. Alice isn’t dead, and she is showing up at every major tragedy and accident in the country. Following a line of clues, Keisha takes a job with a trucking company and begins searching for Alice. She eventually stumbles on an otherworldly conflict being waged in the quiet corners of our nation’s highway system --- uncovering a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.
Harper Perennial | 9780062844132
BRIGHT YOUNG DEAD: A Mitford Murders Mystery by Jessica Fellowes (Historical Mystery)
Meet the Bright Young Things, the rabble-rousing hedonists of the 1920s whose treasure hunts were a media obsession. One such game takes place at the 18th birthday party of Pamela Mitford, but ends in tragedy as cruel, charismatic Adrian Curtis is pushed to his death from the church neighboring the Mitford home. The police quickly identify the killer as a maid, Dulcie. But Louisa Cannon, chaperone to the Mitford girls and a former criminal herself, believes Dulcie to be innocent, and sets out to clear the girl's name…all while the real killer may be only steps away.
Minotaur Books | 9781250170811
DARK SACRED NIGHT: A Ballard and Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly (Thriller)
Detective Renée Ballard is working the night beat and returns to Hollywood Station to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard can't let him go through department records, but when he leaves, she looks into the case herself and feels a deep tug of empathy and anger. The murder, unsolved, was of 15-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally killed. Now Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy, and to finally bring her killer to justice. But this new partnership is put to the test when the case takes an unexpected and dangerous turn.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316484800
ELEVATION by Stephen King (Fiction)
Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, Scott is engaged in a low-grade --- but escalating --- battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. They are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face --- including his own --- he tries to help.
Scribner | 9781982102319
FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang (Fiction)
Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he’s worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley’s family is nervous. As his death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they value most.
William Morrow | 9780062855251
MAD, BAD, DANGEROUS TO KNOW: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce by Colm Tóibín (Biography)
Colm Tóibín begins MAD, BAD, DANGEROUS TO KNOW with a walk through the Dublin streets where he went to university and where three Irish literary giants also came of age. Oscar Wilde, writing about his relationship with his father, William Wilde, stated: “Whenever there is hatred between two people there is bond or brotherhood of some kind…you loathed each other not because you were so different but because you were so alike.” W.B. Yeats wrote of his father, painter John Butler Yeats: “It is this infirmity of will which has prevented him from finishing his pictures. The qualities I think necessary to success in art or life seemed to him egotism.” John Stanislaus Joyce, James’ father, was widely loved, garrulous, a singer and drinker with a volatile temper, who drove his son from Ireland.
Scribner | 9781476785172
THE RAIN WATCHER by Tatiana de Rosnay (Fiction)
Linden Malegarde has come home to Paris from the United States. It has been years since the whole family was all together. Now the Malegarde family is gathering for Paul, Linden’s father’s 70th birthday. Each member of the Malegarde family is on edge, holding their breath, afraid that one wrong move will shatter their delicate harmony. Their hidden fears and secrets slowly unravel as the City of Light undergoes a stunning natural disaster, and the Seine bursts its banks and floods the city. All members of the family will have to fight to keep their unity against tragic circumstances.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250200013
SLOWHAND: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton by Philip Norman (Biography)
For half a century, Eric Clapton has been acknowledged to be one of music's greatest virtuosos, the unrivalled master of an indispensable tool, the solid-body electric guitar. Winner of 17 Grammys, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's only three-time inductee, he is an enduring influence on every other star soloist who ever wielded a pick. Now, with Clapton's consent and access to family members and close friends, rock music's foremost biographer returns to the heroic age of British rock and follows Clapton through his distinctive and scandalous childhood, early life of reckless rock 'n' roll excess, and twisting and turning struggle with addiction in the ’60s and ’70s.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316560436
UNEASY LIES THE CROWN: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander (Historical Mystery)
The year is 1901, and the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch has sent the entire British Empire into mourning. But for Lady Emily and her dashing husband, Colin Hargreaves, the grieving is cut short as another death takes center stage. A body has been found in the Tower of London, posed to look like the murdered medieval king Henry VI. When a second dead man turns up in London's exclusive Berkeley Square, his mutilated remains staged to evoke the violent demise of Edward II, it becomes evident that the mastermind behind the crimes plans to strike again. With the killer leaving a trail of dead kings in his wake, will Edward be the next victim?
Minotaur Books | 9781250164704
WELL-READ BLACK GIRL: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves edited by Glory Edim (Essays)
Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives --- but not everyone regularly sees themselves in the pages of a book. Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature. Whether it’s learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in THE COLOR PURPLE, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, the subjects of each essay remind us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation.
Ballantine Books | 9780525619772
WHEN WOMEN RULED THE WORLD: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney (History)
Female rulers are a rare phenomenon --- but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly, repeatedly and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But throughout human history, women in positions of power were more often used as political pawns in a male-dominated society. What was so special about ancient Egypt that provided women this kind of access to the highest political office? What was it about these women that allowed them to transcend patriarchal obstacles? What did Egypt gain from its liberal reliance on female leadership, and could today's world learn from its example?
National Geographic | 9781426219771
THE WHITE DARKNESS by David Grann (Biography)
Henry Worsley spent his life idolizing Ernest Shackleton, the 19th-century polar explorer, who tried to become the first person to reach the South Pole, and later sought to cross Antarctica on foot. Worsley was related to one of Shackleton's men, Frank Worsley, and spent a fortune collecting artifacts from their epic treks across the continent. In 2008, Worsley set out across Antarctica with two other descendants of Shackleton's crew, battling the freezing, desolate landscape, life-threatening physical exhaustion, and hidden crevasses. Yet, when he returned home, he felt compelled to go back. On November 13, 2015, at age 55, Worsley bid farewell to his family and embarked on his most perilous quest: to walk across Antarctica alone.
Doubleday | 9780385544573
November 1st
DAUGHTERS OF THE LAKE by Wendy Webb (Gothic Mystery/Thriller)
After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together --- only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. Only Kate can identify the woman, who she has seen before in her dreams. One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781503900820
RIVER BODIES by Karen Katchur (Mystery/Thriller)
A body just turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania. The crime is eerily similar to a 20-year-old cold case, and lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders. The past meets the present when Becca Kingsley, who returns to Portland to be with her estranged but dying father, runs into Parker, her childhood love. As the daughter of the former police chief, Becca is quickly drawn into the case. Coming home has brought something ominous to the surface --- memories long buried, secrets best kept hidden. Becca starts questioning all of her past relationships, including one with a man who has watched over her for years. For the first time, she wonders if he is more predator than protector.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781503902398
On Sale the Week of October 29th in Paperback
October 29th
PULP ACCORDING TO DAVID GOODIS by Jay A. Gertzman (Literary Criticism/Cultural Studies)
Paperback Original
PULP ACCORDING TO DAVID GOODIS starts with six characteristics of 1950s pulp noir that fascinated mass-market readers, making them wish they were the protagonist, and yet feel relief that they were not. His thrillers are set in motion by suppressed guilt, sexual frustrations, explosions of violence and the inaccessible nature of intimacy. Extremely valuable is a gangster-infested urban setting. Uniquely, Goodis saw a still-vibrant community solidarity down there. Another contribution was sympathy for the gang boss, doomed by his very success. The book delineates the noir profundity of the author's work in the context of Franz Kafka's narratives. Goodis' precise sense of place and painful insights about the indomitability of fate parallel Kafka's.
Down & Out Books | 9781948235365
October 30th
AMERICAN DRIFTER by Heather Graham and Chad Michael Murray (Thriller)
River is a young US Army veteran suffering from PTSD. Demon-haunted, he drifts around Brazil, struggling to make peace with the insanity of the world. At last, his life seems to be coming together. Then he falls in love with the enchanting and spirited Natal, a gangster’s mistress. They flee together into the interior of Brazil, where they are pursued by the drug lord, Tio, and his men. When River is forced to kill one of the gangsters' men, the chase becomes even deadlier. Not only is the powerful, sadistic drug boss after them, the Brazilian government is on their trail as well. Will the two lovers escape --- and will River ever be free of the bloody memories that haunt him?
Forge Books | 9780765374882
DEAD IN THE DARK: A Cooper & Fry Mystery by Stephen Booth (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Ten years ago, Reece Bower was accused of killing his wife, a crime he always denied. Extensive police searches near his home found no trace of Annette Bower's remains, and the case against him collapsed. But now memories of the original investigation have been resurrected for Detective Inspector Ben Cooper --- because Reece Bower himself has disappeared, and his new wife wants answers. Cooper can't call on the Major Crime Unit and DS Diane Fry for help unless he can prove that a murder took place --- which is impossible without a body. As his search moves into the caves and abandoned mines in the isolated depths of Lathkilldale, the question is: Who would want revenge for the death of Annette Bower?
Witness Impulse | 9780062876119
EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
Laurie Moran’s television show “Under Suspicion” is a hit, both in the ratings and its record of solving cold cases. But her romantic break from former host Alex Buckley has left her with on-air talent she can’t stand --- Ryan Nichols --- and a sense of loneliness. Now Ryan has suggested a new case. Three years ago, Virginia Wakeling, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one of the museum’s most generous donors, was found dead in the snow. The leading suspect then and now is her much younger boyfriend and personal trainer, Ivan Gray. Laurie’s skepticism about the case is upended by a tip from her father’s NYPD connection, and soon Laurie realizes there are a bevy of suspects --- including Virginia’s trusted inner circle.
Pocket Books | 9781501171734
THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE: Stories by Daniel Alarcón (Fiction/Short Stories)
Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcón’s hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In "The Thousands," people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives' mysterious deaths and his father's mental breakdown and incarceration in "The Bridge." A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.” And in "The Auroras," a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman.
Riverhead Books | 9780525534624
MUNICH by Robert Harris (Historical Thriller)
Hugh Legat is a rising star of the British diplomatic service, serving at 10 Downing Street as a private secretary to the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Rikard von Holz is on the staff of the German Foreign Office --- and secretly a member of the anti-Hitler resistance. The two men were friends at Oxford in the 1920s, but have not been in contact since. Now, when Hugh flies with Chamberlain from London to Munich, and Rikard travels on Hitler's train overnight from Berlin, their paths are set on a disastrous collision course.
Vintage | 9780525436430
OATHBRINGER: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy/Adventure)
Dalinar Kholin’s Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar’s blood-soaked past and stand together --- and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past --- even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.
Tor Books | 9781250297143
THE PROPOSAL by Jasmine Guillory (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part --- they've only been dating for five months. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans. At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up --- in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes.
Berkley | 9780399587689
THE SPITE GAME by Anna Snoekstra (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Mercilessly bullied in high school, Ava knows she needs to put the past behind her and move on, but she can’t until she’s exacted precise, catastrophic revenge on the people who hurt her the most. First, she watches Saanvi, who has it all together on the surface. But everyone does bad things when they think no one is watching, and Ava only wants what’s fair --- to destroy Saanvi’s life the way her own was destroyed. Next, she watches Cass. She’s there as Cass tries on wedding dresses, picks out a cake and betrays her fiancé. She’s the reason Cass’ entire future comes crashing down. Finally, Ava watches Mel, who was always the ringleader. But one tiny slip-up and Ava realizes the truth: Mel knows she’s being watched, and she’s ready to play Ava’s games to the bitter end.
Mira | 9780778369967
SECRETS OF CAVENDON by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
It’s 1949. Things have run smoothly at Cavendon Hall for years, with very few quarrels, dramas or upsets between the two families. But since the end of World War II, change is inevitable. A new generation of Inghams and Swanns is at the helm, and also at the forefront of new scandal and intrigue. With romance, betrayal, heartbreak and even murder threatening to tear them apart, the families will have to find a way to come together and protect one another, once and for all.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250091468
SOMETIMES I LIE by Alice Feeney (Psychological Thriller)
Amber Reynolds wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from 20 years ago, Alice Feeney's debut psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?
Flatiron Books | 9781250144850
START WITHOUT ME by Joshua Max Feldman (Fiction)
Adam is a former musician and recovering alcoholic who is home for Thanksgiving for the first time in many years. Marissa is a flight attendant whose marriage is strained by simmering tensions over race, class and ambition. Heading to her in-laws for their picture-perfect holiday family dinner, her anxiety is intensified by the knowledge she is pregnant from an impulsive one-night stand. In an airport restaurant on Thanksgiving morning, Adam and Marissa meet. Over the course of this day fraught with emotion and expectation, these two strangers will form an unlikely bond as they reckon with their family ties, their pasts and the choices that will determine their way forward.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062668738
THE THIRD VICTIM by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
A battered and bound woman stumbles onto a dark road in rural Oregon, and tells a horrific story about being kidnapped, then tortured, until she finally managed to escape. She identifies the house where she was held captive, and the owner, Alex Mason --- a prominent local attorney --- is arrested. Although he loudly insists upon his innocence, his wife’s statements about his sexual sadism and the physical evidence found at the scene are damning. Regina Barrister, a legendary criminal defense attorney, has a secret, one that threatens her skill, her reputation and, most of all, her clients. And she’s agreed to take on the seemingly impossible task of defending Alex Mason.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250118868
TYPHOON FURY: A Novel of the Oregon Files by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison (Thriller/Adventure)
Hired to search for a collection of paintings worth half a billion dollars, Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon soon find themselves in much deeper waters. The vicious leader of a Filipino insurgency is not only using them to finance his attacks, he has stumbled upon one of the most lethal secrets of World War II: a Japanese-developed drug, designed, but never used, to turn soldiers into super-warriors. To stop him, the Oregon must take on not only the rebel commander, but also a South African mercenary intent on getting his own hands on the drug, a massive swarm of torpedo drones targeting the U.S. Navy, an approaching megastorm --- and, just possibly, a war that could envelop the entire Asian continent.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780399575594
WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Politics/Essays)
“We were eight years in power” was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America’s “first white president.” The book also examines the new voices, ideas and movements for justice that emerged over this period --- and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation’s old and unreconciled history.
One World | 9780399590573
THE WEIGHT OF AN INFINITE SKY by Carrie La Seur (Fiction)
The only son of a cattle rancher, Anthony Fry chafed against the expectation that he would take over the business that had belonged to his family for generations. While his ancestors planted deep roots in the unforgiving Montana soil, Anthony wanted nothing more than to leave Billings for the excitement, sophistication and culture of city life. After college he fled to New York, hoping to turn his lifelong love of the theater into a career. But New York wasn’t the dream Anthony thought it would be. Now, with the unexpected death of his father, Anthony suddenly finds himself back in the place he swore he’d left behind. His uncle Neal, always the black sheep of the Fry family, has become alarmingly close with Anthony’s mother, and a predatory mining company covets the Fry land.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062323484
WHERE THE PAST BEGINS: Memory and Imagination by Amy Tan (Memoir)
In WHERE THE PAST BEGINS, Amy Tan reveals the ways that our memories and personal experiences can inform our creative work. Drawing on her vivid impressions of her upbringing, she investigates the truths and inspirations behind her writing while illuminating how we all explore, confront and process complex memories, especially half-forgotten ones from childhood. With candor, empathy and humor, Tan sheds light on her own writing process, sharing her hard-won insights on the nature of creativity and inspiration while exploring the universal urge to examine truth through the workings of imagination --- and what that imaginative world tells us about our own lives.
Ecco | 9780062319319
WHITE HOUSES by Amy Bloom (Historical Fiction)
Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on Franklin Roosevelt’s first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, “Hick,” as she’s known to her friends and admirers, is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But then, as her connection with the future First Lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780812985696
THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (Psychological Thriller)
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement --- a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. THE WIFE BETWEEN US exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage --- and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250130945
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