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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of December 10th and December 17th 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 End-of-the-Year contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2018. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 45 books, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. The deadline for your entries is Monday, January 7th at noon ET.
And for those of you who are doing online holiday shopping, if you use the store links above, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
This Week's Bonus News:
Enter to Win Our End-of-the-Year Celebration,
Featuring All 45 "Bets On" Titles from 2018
We are thrilled to announce a very special contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2018. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 45 books, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 7th at noon ET.
Here are this year's Bookreporter.com Bets On titles:
Click here to enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of December 10th in Hardcover
December 11th
THE DAY THE SUN DIED written by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas (Fiction)
In a little village nestled in the Balou mountains, 14-year-old Li Niannian and his parents run a funeral parlor. One evening, he notices a strange occurrence. Instead of preparing for bed, more and more neighbors appear in the streets and fields, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn’t already set. Li Niannian watches, mystified. As hundreds of residents are found dreamwalking, they act out the desires they’ve suppressed during waking hours. Before long, the community devolves into chaos, and it’s up to Li Niannian and his parents to save the town before sunrise.
Grove Press | 9780802128539
DO NO HARM: A Dr. Katie LeClair Mystery by Dawn Eastman (Mystery)
Balancing the responsibilities of a new house and the joys of a new romance, Dr. Katie LeClair is finally ready to start enjoying life. But danger arrives just as the town of Baxter, Michigan, is gearing up for its annual Halloween festival --- and once again, this doctor-turned-sleuth will have to unmask a killer in their midst. Trouble comes in threes this Halloween. Katie sees a new patient who has just been released from prison for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Inexplicably, the patient suddenly goes missing. And matters take an even more sinister turn when a college student who had been investigating Katie’s old murder case is found dead in the woods near Baxter.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781683317876
THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY: A Clandestine Operations Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Historical Thriller/Adventure)
A month ago, special agent James Cronley Jr. managed to capture two notorious Nazi war criminals, but not without leaving some dead bodies and outraged Austrian police in his wake. However, somebody --- Odessa, the NKGB, the Hungarian Secret Police? --- has broken the criminals out of jail, and he must track them down again. There's more to it than that, though. Evidence has surfaced that in the war's last gasps, Heinrich Himmler had stashed away a fortune to build a secret religion, dedicated both to Himmler and to creating the Fourth Reich. That money is still out there in the hands of Odessa, and that infamous organization seems to have acquired a surprising --- and troubling --- ally.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735213067
A MOMENT IN CRIME: A Santa Fe Revival Mystery by Amanda Allen (Historical Mystery)
The golden age of cinema is dawning, and Santa Fe is in the grip of movie fever when director Luther Bishop arrives for the filming of his new cowboy flick. Maddie Vaughn-Alwin’s cousin, Gwen Astor, is in town with a bit part in the movie --- but Gwen finds herself caught in a whirlwind of mischief before shooting even begins. However, the plot only thickens when the detestable director is found hanging in his office. When it comes to light that Gwen was having a torrid affair with Luther, she gets pegged as the prime suspect, much to Maddie’s dismay. But Maddie knows that Luther had his fair share of enemies, and there’s no shortage of contenders.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781683318811
PANDEMIC by Robin Cook (Medical Thriller)
When an unidentified, seemingly healthy young woman collapses suddenly on the New York City subway and dies upon reaching the hospital, her case is an eerie reminder for veteran medical examiner Jack Stapleton of the 1918 flu pandemic. Fearful of a repeat on the 100th anniversary of the nightmarish contagion, Jack autopsies the woman within hours of her demise and discovers some striking anomalies: first, that she has had a heart transplant, and second, that her DNA matches that of the transplanted heart. Although the facts don't add up to influenza, Jack must race against the clock to identify the woman and determine what kind of virus could wreak such havoc --- a task made more urgent when two other victims succumb to a similar rapid death.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525535331
A SPELL OF MURDER: A Witch Cats of Cambridge Mystery by Clea Simon (Cozy Mystery)
Becca, newly single and newly unemployed, wants to believe she has psychic powers. With nothing but time, and a desire for empowerment, she’s studying to become a witch. What she doesn’t know is that her three cats --- Harriet, Laurel and Clara --- are the ones with the real power. And when Harriet --- “a cream-colored longhair with more fur than commonsense” --- conjures a pillow for her own comfort, Becca believes her spells are finally working. Could that be why Trent, the coven’s devilishly handsome leader, has been showing her special attention? Or why Suzanne, a longtime coven member, draws her aside to share a secret --- a confidence that may lead to murder?
Polis Books | 9781947993327
A SUSPICION OF SILVER: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery by P.F. Chisholm (Historical Mystery)
Sir Robert Carey has just foiled a double plot against King James. He rides for Leith hunting the would-be assassin now identified as Joachim Hochstetter, also known as Jonathan Hepburn. Has he taken ship for the Continent, or ridden nearly 130 miles south and west into England? There at Keswick, his family, originally from Augsburg, runs a mining operation that pays a royalty to Queen Elizabeth in gold. It's ruled by the widow Radagunda Hochstetter, his mother. Sir Robert's other problem? His dour, difficult and now treasonous henchman, Sergeant Henry Dodd, has disappeared somewhere on the snowy moors. Why can't anyone find Dodd's body?
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464210433
On Sale the Week of December 10th in Paperback
December 11th
CHARLES DARWIN: VICTORIAN MYTHMAKER by A.N. Wilson (Biography)
With the publication of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, Charles Darwin --- hailed as the man who "discovered evolution" --- was propelled into the pantheon of great scientific thinkers, alongside Galileo, Copernicus and Newton. A. N. Wilson challenges this long-held assumption. He argues that Darwin was not an original scientific thinker, but a ruthless and determined self-promoter who did not credit the many great sages whose ideas he advanced in his book. Furthermore, Wilson contends that religion and Darwinism have much more in common than it would seem, for the acceptance of Darwin's theory involves a pretty significant leap of faith.
Harper Perennial | 9780062433503
THE LAST MAN IN TEHRAN by Mark Henshaw (Thriller)
An attack on an Israeli port throws the Middle East into chaos. The Mossad, Israel’s feared intelligence service, responds with a campaign of covert sabotage and assassination, determined to protect the homeland. But evidence quickly turns up suggesting that a group of moles inside Langley are helping Mossad wage its covert war. Convinced that Mossad has heavily penetrated the CIA’s leadership, the FBI launches a counterintelligence investigation. New Red Cell Chief Kyra Stryker turns to her former mentors --- now-retired Red Cell Chief Jonathan Burke and his wife, former CIA Director Kathryn Cooke --- to help uncover who is trying to tear the CIA apart from the inside out.
Touchstone | 9781501161278
THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD: A Memoir written by Maude Julien, translated by Adriana Hunter (Memoir)
Maude Julien's parents were fanatics who believed it was their sacred duty to turn her into the ultimate survivor --- raising her in isolation, tyrannizing her childhood and subjecting her to endless drills designed to "eliminate weakness." But they could not rule her inner life. Befriending the animals on the lonely estate as well as the characters in the novels she read in secret, young Maude nurtured in herself the compassion and love that her parents forbid as weak. And when, after more than a decade, an outsider managed to penetrate her family's paranoid world, Maude seized her opportunity.
Back Bay Books | 9780316466639
RED SKY AT NOON by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Historical Fiction)
Imprisoned in the Gulags for a crime he did not commit, Benya Golden joins a penal battalion made up of Cossacks and convicts to fight the Nazis. He enrolls in the Russian cavalry, and on a hot summer day in July 1942, he and his band of brothers are sent on a suicide mission behind enemy lines. But is there a traitor among them? The only thing Benya can truly trust is his horse, Silver Socks, and that he will find no mercy in onslaught of Hitler’s troops as they push East.
Pegasus Books | 9781681779072
TEXAS RANGER by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle (Western/Thriller)
Across the ranchlands and cities of his home state, Rory Yates' discipline and law-enforcement skills have carried him far: from local highway patrolman to the honorable rank of Texas Ranger. He arrives in his hometown to find a horrifying crime scene and a scathing accusation: he is named a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife, Anne, a devoted teacher whose only controversial act was ending her marriage to a Ranger. In search of the killer, Yates plunges into the inferno of the most twisted and violent minds he's ever encountered, vowing to never surrender. That code just might bring him out alive.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538713877
AN UNCOMMON READER: A Life of Edward Garnett, Mentor and Editor of Literary Genius by Helen Smith (Biography)
During the course of a career spanning half a century, Edward Garnett --- editor, critic and reader for hire --- would become one of the most influential men in 20th-century English literature. Known for his incisive criticism and unwavering conviction in matters of taste, Garnett was responsible for identifying and nurturing the talents of a generation of the greatest writers in the English language, from Joseph Conrad to John Galsworthy, Henry Green to Edward Thomas, T. E. Lawrence to D. H. Lawrence. In AN UNCOMMON READER, Helen Smith brings to life Garnett’s intimate and at times stormy relationships with those writers.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374537999
WALLIS IN LOVE: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy by Andrew Morton (Biography)
Before she became known as the woman who enticed a king from his throne and birthright, Bessie Wallis Warfield was a prudish and particular girl from Baltimore. From a young age, she was in want of nothing but stability, status and social acceptance as she fought to climb the social ladder and take her place in London society. As irony would have it, she would gain the love and devotion of a king, but only at the cost of his throne and her reputation. In WALLIS IN LOVE, acclaimed biographer Andrew Morton offers a fresh portrait of Wallis Simpson in all her vibrancy and brazenness as she transformed from a hard-nosed gold-digger to charming chatelaine.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781455566952
On Sale the Week of December 17th in Hardcover
December 18th
INFLUENZA: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Dr. Jeremy Brown (History/Health)
While influenza is now often thought of as a common and mild disease, it still kills over 30,000 people in the US each year. Dr. Jeremy Brown, currently Director of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, expounds on the flu's deadly past to solve the mysteries that could protect us from the next outbreak. In INFLUENZA, he talks with leading epidemiologists, policy makers, and the researcher who first sequenced the genetic building blocks of the original 1918 virus to offer both a comprehensive history and a roadmap for understanding what’s to come.
Touchstone | 9781501181245
On Sale the Week of December 17th in Paperback
December 18th
FRESHWATER by Akwaeke Emezi (Fiction)
Ada has always been unusual. As an infant in southern Nigeria, she is a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents successfully prayed her into existence, but something must have gone awry, as the young Ada becomes a troubled child, prone to violent fits of anger and grief. Born “with one foot on the other side,” she begins to develop separate selves. When Ada travels to America for college, a traumatic event crystallizes the selves into something more powerful. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these alters --- now protective, now hedonistic --- move into control, Ada’s life spirals in a dangerous direction.
Grove Press | 9780802128997
HUNTING ANNABELLE by Wendy Heard (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Sean Suh is done with killing. After serving three years in a psychiatric prison, he’s determined to stay away from temptation. But he can’t resist Annabelle, who alone can see past the monster to the man inside. Then Annabelle disappears. Sean is sure she’s been kidnapped --- he witnessed her being taken firsthand --- but the police are convinced that Sean himself is at the center of this crime. And he must admit, his illness has caused him to “lose time” before. What if there’s more to what happened than he’s able to remember? Though haunted by the fear that it might be better for Annabelle if he never finds her, Sean can’t bring himself to let go of her without a fight.
Mira | 9780778369349
THE ICE HOUSE by Laura Lee Smith (Fiction)
Johnny MacKinnon might be on the verge of losing it all. The ice factory he married into, which he’s run for decades, is facing devastating OSHA fines following a mysterious accident and may have to close. The only hope for Johnny’s livelihood is that someone in the community saw something, but no one seems to be coming forward. He hasn’t spoken to his son Corran back in Scotland since Corran’s heroin addiction finally drove Johnny to the breaking point. And now, after a collapse on the factory floor, it appears Johnny may have a brain tumor. But this may be his last chance to bridge the gap with Corran --- and to have any sort of relationship with the baby granddaughter he’s never met.
Grove Press | 9780802128645
MICKEY SPILLANE’S MIKE HAMMER: THE NIGHT I DIED written by Max Allan Collins, with illustrations by Marcelo Salaza and Marcio Freire (Graphic Novel/Hard-boiled Mystery)
Paperback Original
Mickey Spillane's tough-talking, brawling, skirt-chasing private detective Mike Hammer returns to comics in this thrilling noir series, based on an original plot by Mickey Spillane, written by Max Allan Collins. When a chance encounter with a captivating femme fatale leads to a violent mob retaliation, hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer finds himself dodging both bullets and hard broads as he undertakes the most dangerous case of his career.
Titan Comics | 9781785866449
THE NINE OF US: Growing Up Kennedy by Jean Kennedy Smith (Memoir)
Before Joe and Rose Kennedy’s children emerged as leaders on the world stage, they were a loving circle of brothers and sisters who played football, swam, read and pursued their interests. They were children inspired by parents who instilled in them a strong work ethic, deep love of country, and intense appreciation for the sacrifices their ancestors made to come to America. "No whining in this house!" was their father’s regular refrain. It was his way of reminding them not to complain, to be grateful for what they had, and to give back. In THE NINE OF US, Jean Kennedy Smith --- the last surviving sibling --- revisits this singular time in their lives.
Harper Perennial | 9780062444233
THE POPE OF PALM BEACH by Tim Dorsey (Mystery/Humor)
Perpetually hunting Floridian arcana and lore, Serge A. Storms and his sidekick, Coleman, are on a frenzied literary pilgrimage that leads them back to Riviera Beach, the cozy seaside town where the boys spent their formative years. Growing up, Serge was enthralled by the Legend of Riviera Beach, aka Darby, a welder at the port who surfed the local waves long before the hot spots were hot. Meanwhile, there was a much murkier legend that made the rounds of the schoolyards from Serge’s youth --- that of the crazy hermit living in a makeshift jungle compound farther up the mysterious Loxahatchee River than anyone dared to venture. Serge moved away but never forgot, and is back now, with those legends looming larger than ever in the rearview mirror of his memory.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062429261
THE TERMINAL LIST by Jack Carr (Thriller)
On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush that also claimed the lives of the aircrew sent in to rescue them. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government. Now, with no family and free from the military’s command structure, Reece applies the lessons that he’s learned in over a decade of constant warfare toward avenging the deaths of his family and teammates.
Pocket Books | 9781501180828
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